I woke up yesterday August 17 at 8am, had trouble getting my boarding pass to my first flight from Minneapolis to Newark, paid $150 in overweight checked baggage charges, and waved goodbye to my sad parents.
Once on the flight, I realized I'd forgotten shampoo and conditioner.
At Newark, I had to take a tram to my gate, go through security again, and almost missed my flight to Duesseldorf, Germany. They had taken my baggage out of the airplane and were doing a last call for me (the last person to board) as I got out of security and bought a wrap labeled "Ham and Cheese" that was actually a chicken caesar salad wrap.
I watched "Admission" and started "Safe Haven", ate some airplane chicken (not too bad), felt sick and started dry heaving a little, then felt fine.
After I got off that flight, I had to take a bus to a little airplane and went to Copenhagen (cutting it close on time, but I was with a bus load of people on the same flight). I didn't have my boarding pass yet but I got it at the desk in front of the bus.
I think I will make sure I have all my boarding passes and a little more time between flights next time.
Anyway, after that short flight, I dragged my 120 pound luggage to the Hilton connected to the Copenhagen airport and got all my DIS stuff and went to an orientation.
My host Dad, Bjarne, picked me up and drove me around town a little as he told me about where he went on holiday for three weeks with his wife Linda.
They took a train with their motorcycle to Hamburg, Germany and then cycled through Spain and Portugal in very nice, warm weather.
That makes me want to get a motorcycle.
Here is my room! (I picked the smaller room with the better view and a deck).
Bjarne, Linda and I drank some french press coffee on their little patio that is glassed in overlooking their adorable courtyard. Bjarne built the patio, he said. I'm impressed. I need to take many more pictures; I didn't want to take pictures of the flight because it was awful.
Their 20 year old son, Simon, was asleep upstairs and I met him as I was writing this post. He looks very tall and very blonde.
Their daughter, Louise, is 23 (I haven't met her yet) and has a 3 year old daughter named Sne (the Danish word for "snow") who has adorable blonde ringlets and doesn't know any English words. Bjarne taught her to say "Hello" and some other phrases but she wouldn't talk to me, haha.
Bjarne and Simon speak English very well, and Linda speaks well but she doesn't speak as often.
I realize now I should have practiced some simple Danish before I came.
I'm terrible at unpacking. My stuff is all over this room.
I also learned that I should rent a bicycle, which is about $300 up front and you get about $200 back when you return it. I am very cheap, so this sounds like a lot for me, but hey, I'm sure I'd have a lot of fun biking around Copenhagen and getting to the train station quicker at 7am on Mondays and Thursdays for class.
So, we still have a lot to do before class starts. I guess I should clean up my room a little. I have yet to meet Chloe (her Facebook posts make it sound like she's traveling around Switzerland right now, that lucky duck), my DIS roommate who is sharing a host family with me.
I saw my Macalester roommate, Taylor, at the orientation session I went to, so I feel pretty comfortable here!
I'll try to write soon, with more pictures!
August 18, 2013
1:40pm Copenhagen
6:40am Minnesota
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