Sun is shining in Odense

It is so beautiful in Odense today that I actually enjoyed my bike ride back from the university. My hands were a tad cold, but that was trumped by good music and bright sunshine. It wild how windy it gets here though, and the wind is always blowing against you when you're riding your bike, no matter what direction your going. Thank you land just above sea level.

Class was Modern Scandinavian history today and it wasn't anything too special. Axel Moos is the most adorable prof ever though so just watching him lecture and smile to himself can be enjoyable. We learned about acquisitions of constitutions and economic development today. Not too exciting although curious to here the time lines other countries have on things like this. I'm not sure if it makes me feel better or worse that full voting rights were given to everyone in Scandinavia around the same time as the United States. Actually, the US is still pretty bunk on that front. So I guess Scandinavia wins again.

Back from class, I've been eating chocolate (too much) and I made myself some delicious Tikka Masala for early dinner and later. I just couldn't wait any longer. It's so good but I wish I could have made the sauce myself, I just don't know how and I don't have the resources so yea, I'll be eating from a jar for now. Watching Weeds again has been inspired by Rachel, I'm working my way through season 5 right now and I have to say, I'm pretty entertained. I've also started watching Dexter again. Being locked up in my room really makes for a lot of media-watching time.

Not sure what I'll do tonight. Perhaps watch a movie with Louis, only if it's a good one though. Or maybe I'll tuck myself in early and get rested for this three hour Intercultural Marketing class I have tomorrow. Regardless, I will not be booking hostels for Cam and I's autumn break around Europe. Why? Because we did it last night - feels so good to have that weight off my shoulders. And it was 77 bucks cheaper than I thought it would be. Now if I could only book this train from Zürich to Amsterdam...

Later

Planes, Trains, and Feet

Life as a pedestrian is taking a toll on the tootsies. I got back from a trip to London and Kobenhavn (Copenhagen) last night and I could not have been more tuckered out. Our flights were good, although coming back through Gatwick was quite the ordeal with Easyjet. Not so easy at all. Trains and tube were fun and I'll definitely miss that aspect of London. The English was pretty nice too. You don't realize how ostracized you feel by not speaking the native tongue until you get to a place where you do.

Our first night there, we found our hostel, St. Paul's Hostel, which was situated right next to St. Paul's cathedral. It was so nice to be so close to something so beautiful. We walked around some and I knew the Millennium Bridge was nearby cuz we walked on it in 2005. Knowing Cam is a big Harry Potter fan, I mentioned it and we headed there. It was such a nice night and we took some pictures on the bridge. Eventually we were all tuckered out so we headed to the hostel and passed out on our tiny little stacked beds. We had a crazy girl in our room who got out of bed once while we were there but whatever, the noisy Spanish girls in there were way worse. After digging for the headphones and iPod I fell asleep. Woke up to bells ringing at St. Paul's and a recycling trunk dumping glass bottles at all hours but I made it.

Skip to the next day. Thursday yielded some great sites. We walked everywhere. We headed down Cannon St. to see the Royal Courts of Justice, Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and we walked back along the Thames's north bank. I think we had the best weather anyone could have asked for in London. Not a single drop of rain and hardly a cloud in the sky. Trafalgar Square is my favorite place in London so I was quite excited to get there. I have been there a few times and I always wanted to climb the lions there and I finally can say that I have. It took a bit of effort to get up there but we made it happen. I loved it, like a little kid. The National Gallery was really nice and free is always appreciated. There were kids in their uniforms drawing and sketching all around and it was just so nice. Saw some Monet, Manet, Seurat, Picasso, and many more. It's just a shame we never made it to Tate Modern.

So we headed on down to Parliament and took some snapshots of Big Ben and popped into Westminster Abbey. Cam wasn't feeling too hot and my foot was killing me because I think I had tendinitis so we sped up our visit a bit but we saw so much in there. How many people have seen Queen Elizabeth I's tomb? Mom would've loved to see it and I feel badly that when we were young we didn't let her go in. Shame on us. After that we were dog-tired and walked along the Thames all the way back to our hostel where we took a much-needed nap. That evening we went to the London Eye and ran into Beth and Krista. Worked out very nicely. We flew the Eye and it was such a nice time of day, the sun was setting and it was gorgeous.

Afterward we looked into a restaurant we thought might be good but it was very businessy and too fancy for travelers like us. We walked all over looking for somewhere to eat and ended up going back to St.Paul's to a little place called Center Page. It was so cute and we ate alone downstairs. We had proper English food: fish and chips, and beef pie. It was all really delicious. When we went upstairs to pay for it all, a man from the Jersey Shore, living in London, came up to us, asked why were sitting alone downstairs and then proceeded to take our bill and pay for it if we agreed to do a shot...which he was also paying for. Sounded like a great deal so we all did a shot with the bar staff and got a free meal out of it. Thank you, Matt Day. It was such a nice way to end a very busy day.

Skip to the next morning, we set out to King's Cross to find Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter. It was way down at the end (not between platforms 9 and 10) and we weren't the only tourists there taking cheesy photos, thank god. There were even old people there being silly with the cart. We got some breakfast at Starbucks and McDonald's (how American) and hit the pavement once again. However, our stops for this day were much further apart so we bought a Tube pass for the day, good choice. We definitely got our money's worth that day.

We went to Buckingham Palace and watched the guard walk up on their horses. The palace was open to the public at this time of year so we got to tour the State rooms. It was nineteen rooms of pure luxury, I just wish that we'd been able to take photos because it really can't be described perfectly. I've thrown in an image of the throne room from online just to give you a taste. It was amazing to be a palace though. It really made me wish that the White House was more accessible. I would feel such a historical patriotism if I got to tour it. After the tour through the rooms we ended up out back in the Buckingham Gardens which weren't really gardens at all, just a lot of greenspace.

After Buckingham we went to Hyde Park and walked through a gorgeous rose garden in search of the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens. We found it eventually and walking along the water to get there was not unpleasant in the slightest. The Peter Pan was super cute and we had a nice rest next to it.

Went to the London Bridge and Tower of London next. We didn't tour or walk across the bridge, we just took some photos and then headed back to the hostel for a nap. Walking for 6 hours straight can really take a toll on a person.

That night, at midnight, Cam was turning 21 so we went to Picadilly Circus to find a nice place to eat and a bar to mess around in. We ended up finding a T.G.I. Friday and bars with high cover charges. It was so much fun getting ridiculous drinks at TGIF and having the staff all sing to Cameron. We went to TigerTiger for drinks and dancing afterward but were put off by the cover charge they asked for. Apparently if we'd gotten there like ten minutes earlier, we would've been in for free. Boooo. We walked all around and eventually midnight rolled over and we were on the Tube to Mansion House. Happy Birthday, Cameron. We ended up not drinking at all and got to the hostel earlier than we could have guessed. It was a very great day though, so it wasn't a bust by any means.

The next day our flight left London and the line for EasyJet was insane in the airport. We actually got called out of line so that we wouldn't miss our flight. So much for two hours being enough time to queue. Once safely on the plane to Copenhagen, we relaxed a bit. When we got to Copenhagen it was dreary and drab, much like our dispositions. We walked around for a bit and took pictures in Nyhavn (so cute), a palace, city hall, the stock exchange, and Tivoli. I think the combination of the weather, my stomach and general fatigue from travelling had finally taken over and we decided to head back to Odense a day early. We hopped on the train and ended up the in the family car, go figure, sitting across from a Polish father and son. I was mildly annoyed that this is where we sat but I ended up falling for this father-son duo. They were so cute playing Pokemon and learning to write words. I almost shed a tear at the kindness of it.

Once back in Odense we got some junk food and set off for Jagtvej and our familiar beds. There was a party in The Larmer as well so we headed down there around 1am or so to show our faces. We celebrated Cam's birthday the right way and had some Polish vodka to top it off. There was dancing and cards and shots and it was just an all around great time. Lots of laughter and pictures and we turned to each other at one point and just said, "There's nowhere I'd rather be."

Later.

Another day, another dollar

Today...today has had me in quite the funk. And the fact that the weather is taking a downward turn is not changing anything. I looks like it will be raining here soon and it couldn't be a better time to get out and fly to London. Although rain is frequent there as well. Whatever, getting out is getting out.

I got my bike today from City Cykler and I am so relieved to finally have a functional mode of transportation other than my feet. Especially since my left foot feels like someone stomped on it and broke it. It should be fun walking around London on it. I'm not so pessimistic now that I have the bike, though I am quite angry with the woman who sold it to me. It just seems so dirty to act like a bike is fine and then sell it to someone for a price that it should not be. I could've bought a brand new bike for about as much as I've paid now in repairs. Oh well, se la vie! On to better things!

Having a bike means that Cam and I can go to the zoo now and see some animals which is always good and takes me back to childhood. And they have Red Pandas and that's really what I want to see. Plus a petting zoo and no one is ever too old for a petting zoo. So that's at the top of the list of things to do as soon as we get back from London and Copenhagen. Along with that I imagine we should get around to seeing Hans Christian Andersen's childhood home, since that's what this tiny city is known for...

Cam and I are also reserving our hostels for our autumn break soon. We'll be going all over the close parts of Europe: Hamburg, Berlin, Prague, Munich, Zurich, and Amsterdam. It'll be really nice to travel with someone and I'm glad we've decided to go together. She's taking a side trip to Paris one day but overall, we'll be together.

I've got to plan other places I want to go as well. I hate that I am spending so much of my time here in my room. I need to suck it up and ride somewhere or hop on a train to somewhere. I hear the island of Æro is really nice and cute so maybe I'll take a ferry over to it sometime. It's supposed to be just precious and it's not too far from where I am. All this traveling is really a matter of money often times and I need to just go for I suppose. But for tonight, I'm just writing a paper and watching a movie while my laundry goes round and round. I need clothes for London!

Later.

So it's been about a month.

I'm going on a month in Odense and I feel like I've lived here for a year. I know my way to my shops and bars and everything in between. My classes are going...slowly to say the least. The professors are half and half - some are awfully dull and quiet to boot and the others are very engaging and even entertaining at times. Intercultural Marketing and Culture class are the best ones. It's really interesting learning about all the norms and laws different societies come up with. For example, Danish people...
1. Leave they're kids outside to sleep for the first three years of their lives. They're in prams but still...
2. Don't like to disagree with one another very often. They aren't argumentative in nature but highly egalitarian.
3. Have been listed as the happiest country in the world.
4. Are more blond that I ever could've inmagined.

Just a few things. Classes are only one-a-day for four days a week so most of my time is being spend 3 miles away at Teknisk, my dorm. I have a relatively large room, I've been told by quite a few people and yet it's so sparsely furnished, it seems worthless to give me a room so big. I've taken to watching a lot of movies online, and thank god I've found a site that plays Bengals games live. My movie database it expanding rather quickly though and I can't say I'm complaining. Some recent viewings are..."Pi", "Annie Hall", "Snatch", "Sex and the City", and "The Killing Room". Trying to mix it up.

I've made friends with quite a few people, from all over. There are french guys Ben, Ian, and Benoit. Saras from Lithuania is always good for a laugh. He's quite the enthusiastic dance floor patron when he's had a few drinks and it's very entertaining. Rasmus is our own, not-so-little Danish viking topped off with long blond hair and a frame to make an NFL defensive line. Louis is one of the bartenders in our dorm's basement bar, The Larmer, and he's quite the character. I told him we would be friends and he didn't know it and now we've become pretty fast friends. Good call, Leah.

I do pretty much everything with Cameron and it's quite nice having someone here who not only missing the States, but also Ohio and OU and Cincinnati. It's lucky to say the least. We miss Court St. and Skyline chili together and that makes it a bit easier to deal with. We go to A-Bar (Australian Bar) together and The Larmer and groceries at Foetex and Fakta. We indulge in fast food at a Take Away place sometimes and get fries and Kebabs and burgers, it's deelish.

The music is badass here and I love the club music. I hear great remixes to songs as well as new fabulous songs. Short list:
1.Cascada - Evacuate the Dancefloor
2.Medina- Kun for Mig
3.Ida Corr- Let Me Think About It
4.All David Guetta
It's nice to be able to hear American music as well as a healthy dose of dance music, you don't get that in Athens, OH.

Upcoming events? Cameron and I are going to London on Wednesday for her 21st birthday and it should be amazing! It'll be nice to be somewhere where the dominant language is English haha as well as a place I've been before. We've decided we need to do some more sight-seeing in Odense and around it as well so we'll have to find the zoo and whatnot soon.

Later.