I finally get it!!

So I had originally thought that skinny jeans were just a fad that came to the US from Europe as most styles do. And yes, I partook and bought two pairs of skinny jeans. However, I was horribly wrong. I have found that skinny jeans here actually have a practical purpose. Both men and women wear them here. And this is why: 1. A lot of people walk here, if your jeans are skinny and don't drag on the ground, then they don't get dirty, because after walking for long periods of time here, my jeans have gotten horribly dirty at the bottom from the city ground. Disgusting. 2. A huge portion of the population bikes everywhere. If you wear skinny jeans they don't get caught in the gears while biking. 3. It rains/snows/precipitates here fairly often. Like number one if your jeans are skinny and not touching the ground they don't soak up all that water.

Also people here are particularly fond of boots for many of the same reasons (yes I will probably get some) and skinny jeans fit a lot better inside them than bootcut jeans.

Well there you have it! Oh the discoveries of living in Europe! Needless to say, I am happy I own two pair of skinny jeans and that I brought them both with! There is another phenomenon, for the guys here who do not want to wear the revealing skinny jeans, they simply continue wearing their baggy ones and tuck the bottoms into their socks. It looks rather strange, but I guess it's practical...

Random Danish Thoughts

Here are just a couple of random things I've been thinking about:

Pigeons. For some bizarre reason I have the overwhelming urge to take a running start and jump and stomp with both feet on a pigeon. I know it's cruel, and I would never do it, but they're everywhere and I can't help it.

I love the sound of: car tires on cobblestone roads, bike bells, the voice of the woman who announces the stops on the metro.

Pastries are the best things every invented. There are bakeries everywhere here and the pastries are soooo good. Yesterday I had a marzipan wrapped rich chocolate dough thing. On Friday I had a wonderful piece of chocolate cake, on Wednesday I had a really good cinnamon roll thing, and back and back. If I spend all my money here on pastries I'll feel like it was worth it. And walking by the bakery by my apartment everyday, with its wafting smells, is torturous.

Museums are great, I've been to quite a few since I've been here and have enjoyed them greatly, especially since a lot of them are free or are paid for by my program.

I like speaking in Danish even though I don't do it that often.

Western Denmark and New Discoveries

Well it's been a while since I last posted but I guess it's because I felt like there was nothing too exciting that I had done. But this past weekend I went to Western Denmark with 39 other Architecture and Design (AD) students and saw a number of buildings and sketched them to get their "essence". I have learned that I suck at on the fly sketching. Most of my drawings look like something that a five year old could do better. Oh, well, I guess I'll learn with practice. I met some other kids in the AD program and found out that I dislike more of them than I like. Looks like I understand why there is a stereotype of bros and hos coming to this program. Oh, well better to meet Danes than Americans anyway. I also went to this bar in Kolding called You'll Never Walk Alone and tried Strawberry flavored beer, which was DELICIOUS. Tasted like bubbly juice really. Most of the buildings we visited were absolutely amazing! My favorite was either the Koldinghus castle or the Trapholt Museum of Art, which had an awesome exhibit on shoes that I have pictures from in my Picasa web album, so you should check it out. I am feeling more settled here in Copenhagen. It's still weird living virtually on my own for the first time and I still can't really cook for myself, which is rather challenging. I've been mostly eating eggs and bread, with fruit and nuts thrown in there every so often. My classes are pretty interesting so far, but since we didn't have class on Friday, I haven't had class since last Tuesday, so I feel like I'm not even in school. I went to IKEA last weekend and Lyzz and I did a good job of getting a lot of stuff for pretty cheap. I spent under 20 bucks there! They had a down pillow, which I bought for 19 kroner which is like $4.50. Not bad. I'm pretty much the queen of cheap here since everything is so expensive. I just bought and alarm clock for $2, a winter coat for $27 and a skirt for $15. My architects ruler was the same price as my coat, which sucks but oh well. My goal is to begin to learn how to cook. There's a guy who lives on my floor who's got some of the most delicious smelling and amazing looking culinary creations I've ever seen, which makes me hungry even if I'm already eating. But that's about all that I've been up to, nothing too amazing, but I'm definitely learning to enjoy myself here a bit more than I had been the first couple of weeks. On to week four! At the end of this week I'll be a quarter done with my abroad time, weird.

Watch Where You Step!

Well, I'm finally settled in! We cleaned our apartment, which was satisfying, today we went grocery shopping and got some food, which means I ate dinner for the first time here (consisting of a bowl of cornflakes, an orange, and a slice of cheese. It's expensive being well-fed here). Some things I've learned about the Danish are that they will leave their baby carriages with baby inside outside on the street unattended while they go in a restaurant to eat or a store to shop. Dogs are allowed to poop on the sidewalk and they don't have to pick it up, and a cheap notebook is about 4 dollars. It has been sunny the past two days, which definitely doesn't make it seem as gloomy here. I've finished orientation and can now say a few key phrases such as: My name is Karen, I come from Minnesota, I'm studying architecture, and Can I have a [pastry] (insert other nouns here). I'm still getting used to this place where I don't know the language and I have to pay an arm and a leg for postage. Tomorrow is the first day of classes but I don't have class on Thursdays so I think I'll be out for an exploration to see what neat things I can find. I took a few pictures yesterday on our scavenger hunt (it was pretty dumb) but I'll take some more of my room and post them so you can see where I'm living!

Here at Last

So, after 3 flights, and 30 hours without sleep, I am finally in Copenhagen Denmark. My first day of orientation was a mess to say the least, but hopefully tomorrow will be less stressful. Lyzz (my roommate) and I are yet to unpack as our suite is pretty dirty and there is a lot of stuff that the previous people here left behind, so we've got some cleaning to do tomorrow (pictures will be up later). It rained and was rather dreary as far as weather goes but hopefully it'll be a little better the next few days as I try to become better acquainted with the city. Having only traveled to foreign countries where I understand the language, I feel at quite a loss as to what I should be doing. But it's been a long 30 hours and I'm looking forward to going to bed. More to come later!

Love to all!

Preparing to Leave

I hope that everyone is enjoying their breaks so far. As I am preparing for my trip I wanted to begin a blog in hopes that anyone interested can read it to see what I'm up to in Denmark. I am very nervous, happy, excited, scared, sad, and pretty much any other emotion at this point. I got my wisdom teeth out today, so I'm in a bit of pain and will be out of commission for a few days. But I hope that you find this interesting, and that it gives you a bit of insight into what I'm doing.