cool adventures, parts 1 & 2
Part 1:
Because my room is freezing and my body refuses to let me have normal circulation, I was in desperate need of a space heater. Last night, a girl in my block, Asver, told me to go to some store beginning with an "S" that sells wood, but also space heaters, apparently. She gave me pseudo-directions, but all I could remember today was that I was to take a left out of the kollegium. Armed with this super-detailed information, I set out on my quest for warmth. I wandered aimlessly near my kollegium until I was able to find a main street. There, I encountered a woman who spoke English who mentioned that she thought there was a shopping center to the left. So...I walked left for a good ten minutes before encountering a blond Danish woman on a bike. But..just as I was about to ask her where to go, I saw a large "Sylvan" sign up ahead. Heyyyy...Sylvan begins with an S! The woman confirmed my suspicions that Sylvan = space heater, so off I went. When I got to Sylvan, a whole new plethora of problems emerged. Where, oh where, was I going to find English speaking help? Nowhere, it seemed, so I resorted to repeating phrases like "tiny," "warm," "heat." Eventually, I was directed to a heater that cost a mere $179 kroner, (or $33 American,) which seemed well worth it for the treck. Needless to say, I did not get lost going home, and now my room is happy!
Part 2:
So Parliamentary elections in Denmark are coming up on Tuesday, so to celebrate, Frederick, my Danish Politics and Society teacher, asked us to go to a political debate and write a paper about what we observed. Kirstine and I decided to attend a debate in Copenhagen tonight at 7:30, near Central Station. Like good little responsible girls, we left Albertslund at 6:35 to make a trip that SHOULD have lasted about 30 minutes. Ha. Ha haha. Ha ha. First, the train from Albertlund didn't come for about 25 minutes, (they usually run every ten). We only made it to Glostrup, (one stop over), where we stalled for 15 minutes before being informed that the train was to stop running. Also, heyyy there were no busses! We started talking to a girl about our age named Sara, who offered to split a cab with us. Of course, everyone else had the brilliant cab idea, as well, so we waited about 15 - 20 minutes for a cab. Also, cabs are friggin' expensive here in Copenhagen, so $40 later (for Kirstine and me), we made it to the debate! Woo!
Ok, but the debate was AWESOME. There were 7 candidates, (Denmark has 8 parties in Parliament right now!), and a few minutes into it, some guys offered to translate for a group of us. Our assignment is more centered around how the candidates presented themselves and how the crowd acted, etc, but it was great to see what everyone was saying. We talked about the differences between US and Danish politics for a while, and we were invited to an election night party in the city!
Ahhh but getting back from Copenhagen is often more difficult than getting in! We took a train from Central Station to Valby, and then a bus to Glostrup...but get this: a woman in a lovely animal-fur coat offered us a ride straight to our kollegium from Glostrup! We gladly accepted, because we are smart and know not to get into cars with pleasant strangers.
Anyways, now I am home and sleepy, and I must get all ready for my 8:45 film screening of "The French Lieutenant's Woman."
Night!!
Because my room is freezing and my body refuses to let me have normal circulation, I was in desperate need of a space heater. Last night, a girl in my block, Asver, told me to go to some store beginning with an "S" that sells wood, but also space heaters, apparently. She gave me pseudo-directions, but all I could remember today was that I was to take a left out of the kollegium. Armed with this super-detailed information, I set out on my quest for warmth. I wandered aimlessly near my kollegium until I was able to find a main street. There, I encountered a woman who spoke English who mentioned that she thought there was a shopping center to the left. So...I walked left for a good ten minutes before encountering a blond Danish woman on a bike. But..just as I was about to ask her where to go, I saw a large "Sylvan" sign up ahead. Heyyyy...Sylvan begins with an S! The woman confirmed my suspicions that Sylvan = space heater, so off I went. When I got to Sylvan, a whole new plethora of problems emerged. Where, oh where, was I going to find English speaking help? Nowhere, it seemed, so I resorted to repeating phrases like "tiny," "warm," "heat." Eventually, I was directed to a heater that cost a mere $179 kroner, (or $33 American,) which seemed well worth it for the treck. Needless to say, I did not get lost going home, and now my room is happy!
Part 2:
So Parliamentary elections in Denmark are coming up on Tuesday, so to celebrate, Frederick, my Danish Politics and Society teacher, asked us to go to a political debate and write a paper about what we observed. Kirstine and I decided to attend a debate in Copenhagen tonight at 7:30, near Central Station. Like good little responsible girls, we left Albertslund at 6:35 to make a trip that SHOULD have lasted about 30 minutes. Ha. Ha haha. Ha ha. First, the train from Albertlund didn't come for about 25 minutes, (they usually run every ten). We only made it to Glostrup, (one stop over), where we stalled for 15 minutes before being informed that the train was to stop running. Also, heyyy there were no busses! We started talking to a girl about our age named Sara, who offered to split a cab with us. Of course, everyone else had the brilliant cab idea, as well, so we waited about 15 - 20 minutes for a cab. Also, cabs are friggin' expensive here in Copenhagen, so $40 later (for Kirstine and me), we made it to the debate! Woo!
Ok, but the debate was AWESOME. There were 7 candidates, (Denmark has 8 parties in Parliament right now!), and a few minutes into it, some guys offered to translate for a group of us. Our assignment is more centered around how the candidates presented themselves and how the crowd acted, etc, but it was great to see what everyone was saying. We talked about the differences between US and Danish politics for a while, and we were invited to an election night party in the city!
Ahhh but getting back from Copenhagen is often more difficult than getting in! We took a train from Central Station to Valby, and then a bus to Glostrup...but get this: a woman in a lovely animal-fur coat offered us a ride straight to our kollegium from Glostrup! We gladly accepted, because we are smart and know not to get into cars with pleasant strangers.
Anyways, now I am home and sleepy, and I must get all ready for my 8:45 film screening of "The French Lieutenant's Woman."
Night!!