Observations

PEOPLE
Texas is so nice. I want to start by saying that. Polite people are all over that wide open space. This is not to say that the Danes are rude, because they are not. They do, however, come from a completely different culture. Coming from a socialist society makes them believe that introducing another person is like you are presenting them as inferior to yourself. In the Danish culture, you do not introduce others or yourself. Most of the time they don't even consider it proper to introduce yourself at a social event where you don't know anybody. This has posed several problems. I am unbelievably shy when it comes to meeting new people, much unlike my outgoing little sister. I have mostly overcome this fear and have forced myself upon several occasions to shake hands with a complete stranger and ask for their name. In doing this, I have met 5 Danish people (4 live on my floor in the Kollegium), a Chinese girl (also on my floor), and several Americans (most of whom are also in DIS). Once I introduced myself to the Danes, they opened up a bit more. They are more friendly once you jump off that first cliff. Some of you may feel like a cliff analogy is a bit exaggerated for introductions, but I know Papa sympathizes with me on that one.

SPORTS
I got very excited when I was told that our Danish class will be attending a football game. Little did I know that I would be attending futbol, meaning soccer instead of the beloved Friday night ball game. I am still very interested in going to see the game here in Denmark. Soccer is also played in courts all over the city, instead of the basketball courts I am accustomed to. Besides that, I have seen some people playing a sort of ping pong game, except it was outdoors and had no table (No, I don't mean tennis). These men simply had paddles and were hitting a small ball back and forth. Handball is also popular, but I haven't noticed anything else.

RELIGION
There are several churches here in town. There is a German church, Protestant church, Muslim church, Baptist church, Roman Catholic church, and many others. They are tall beautiful buildings of marble and copper, and there are so many of them. The funny thing is though, Danes don't really attend church. Many of them do believe in one religion or another, but very few of them regularly attend service. While on a walking tour, I was told that services were on Thursday, Friday, and sometimes Saturday, which I also found strange.


So there's a few things about Denmark. I'm sure the longer I am here the more I will learn, but in response Eddie...They can't teach this Texan anything I NEED to know. Besides, if it's not in Texas, you probably don't need it right?....and yes the ham is delicious, but I think we could season it better.

Topic Suggested By: Crystal Cee

Pictures of First 3 Days

I know you have all been waiting for it...couple of pics!! This was the first building we were taken to for new student orientation.

This is inside the building. It was a small cafe serving free coffee and fruit for us new kids! I have seen several disco balls around Copenhagen. Danish like discos??

So...the free coffee needed a bit of extra sweet! Danish coffee is stronger than I am used to having on Saturday mornings with mom and papa!

Keeley took this lovely picture. This lady was on the wall of the cafe.

He was also on the wall of the cafe.

I took this picture from the bus. It is a typical Copenhagen street.

This guard was in front of the mansions. The Queen, prince, and crowned prince each had a mansion.

This is one of the mansions. If the flag is raised, it means they are home. This seems unwise to me on account of safety, but I suppose they do have the guards to protect them.

This is the famous Little Mermaid from Hans Christian Anderson's story (Not quite the same story we all saw from Disney!). She has been vandalized many times. She has been beheaded twice. Once it was thrown in a bog and never found again, and another time when a reporter needed a story for his newspaper. Her arm has been stolen also. She has since been filled with concrete so one can no longer run off with any of her limbs.

This is Keeley and me in front of the mermaid.

This is one of the old barracks that were used for the small army.

Another street of Copenhagen.

Our Danish professor took us into a courtyard to show us how houses used to look.

This was the width of a typical roadway in between houses back in the day. I guess this explains why fires were so wide spread.

This is a doorway shielded from the rain for individuals to come out and enjoy a smoke during a break from practicing an instrument or painting.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I will post more as I get them, and the stories will continue. Today is my first day of classes, so I am sure I will have an anecdote for that after today! Love you all.

Molly Jean

Who is ninja?

Arrival

"Good Morning and welcome to Copenhagen," was the official greeting we received from the flight attendant once we landed. It was crazy to think that only seven hours earlier I was waving goodbye to Our Lady Liberty and to America for four months.
"So, It's a brand new day here in Copenhagen," commented a boy across the aisle, and I have never heard a more true statement. As I expected, everything is different, but nothing is as I expected. Bikes are everywhere. They even have their own lane on most of the streets. I hope to soon find out where I can get a bike of my own on which to explore the city. I live in the city, a short metro ride from downtown in a kollegium called Oresunds. Keeley and I share two small rooms, one the bedroom the other a living/study room. We found the kitchen on our floor and met Martin, the floor leader. He is Danish and informed us that most of the other floors treat Americans with hostility, but that this floor was friendly and accepting as long as we made the initial effort and introduction. I think we lucked out on that deal. So maybe I will end up with some Danish friends after all. I suppose we will see!

PS. After orientation is done on Wednesday, I will post my pictures from this week.

Predeparture

I am anticipating my departure for Denmark on Saturday. Cade and I packed a bag and weighed it today. I guess he isn't the only one living in another country for months at a time, but my trip will be a bit more fun! My predeparture packet from DIS (Danish Institute for Study Abroad) gave me a lot of useful information and helped to give me an idea of what to expect. I now know that if I want to make friends with the Danes, I will have to be the first to speak up, which will be a challenge for the shy Molly we all know. There will be a certain shift in my eating habits. There will be less beef and more seafood and pork. Classes will also be very different and extremely challenging. The professors are professionals in their field and teach their classes based on real-life situations in their current companies and businesses. I look forward to the challenges of the academics and the new environment.