Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen

The last post was a collection of things that I have learned so far, but the list goes on an on. I feel like every minute of the day is a learning experience, and I absolutely love it all! Even the most mundane things are exciting to me, and I feel like a little kid. The city is not at all laid out in a grid (something I learned first hand but also learned in my History of Copenhagen class today) and it is very easy to get lost  but I am getting more and more acclimated. It is not such a bad thing to get lost though, I have discovered many new places thanks to my inability to use a map. Everybody is so friendly

School

We started classes on 20 January. I was not really looking forward to my classes because exploring the city seems so much more appealing, but I actually really enjoyed them! I am taking Healthcare in Northern Europe, Tour Industry in Europe and Beyond, Biomedical Ethics, International Marketing, and History of Copenhagen. All of the teachers hold full time jobs and therefore have a lot of experience to share with us. My Tour Industry teacher is half Moroccan, half Danish, and has worked as a tour guide in Greece, Thailand and Morocco. My Marketing professor invited us to his house for a traditional Danish dinner, complete with beverages, of course, next week. They are all so welcoming and excited for us to be here.

People

Everyone is so friendly and know English, but I still try to make an attempt to use some Danish. I have already learned the words for hi, bye, mango, cheers, beer, thank you, no thank you, chicken, cat, and cozy. Some random words, but that because I have learned them from street vendors, waiters, and bus guides. The Danish are really into "hygge", which means "cozy", and one step outside into the cold weather will tell you why. They have candles everywhere, including the orientation lunch we had through DIS. 

The trees are very strange looking. They remind me of Dr. Seuss trees.

Copenhagen's Catherdral- The Church of Our Lady. This is where is the Crown Prince of Denmark was married here.

There are flower shops everywhere, despite the cold weather. 

Changing of the guard at noon at the Amalienborg Palace.  This is the Copenhagen Palace, and the royal family has several other palaces throughout Denmark.

Other random facts: 

The sun rises around 8:30 AM and sets around 4:30 PM and mostly it is cloudy. The few times the sun has peaked through has been amazing! 

There is no Danish translation for excuse me, if you bump into someone oh well. 

People eat ice cream while walking outside. There are even ice cream trucks.

Bike accidents do happen. My friends saw a biker get hit by a bus and then walk away. Ouch.

There are prams everywhere! And people really do leave their babies in them outside of stores.