Second Week- 23rd to 29th

Notable Memories:

• Monday- Walking from the Glass Market to Paperion or Copenhagen Street Food aka Paper Island. I'm planning on spending a lot of money buying groceries at the Glass Market. There's so much fresh produce, cheese, and meat at an affordable price. I'm also looking forward to bringing my friends and family there when they visit me. 
• Finally bought my bike! It's a pink cruiser and I named it Nelly for 2 reasons: 1. Ride With Me by Nelly and 2. "Whoa, Nellie!" like what you call out to your horse when you want it to slow down. I didn't want to give it a female name but I believe this is a very suitable male name for a pink bike. 
• Monday Night- this was the first big night out- wow. We decided to pregame with our favorite Somersby Cider and spiking it with Vodka. My friend and I decided to ride our bikes to this Comedy Show organized by CBS and left early to go pick up more cans of cider. After pregaming more at the dorm with people, we made a terrible decision to bike to Norreport. This was our first trip downtown and our last while going out at night. We fell twice, I shattered my phone screen, and twisted my bike handles. The night ended with McDonald's. It was epic but also so sad. We were very fortunate and only ended up with a couple of bruises and scratches.
• We walked around downtown and attempted to see museums thinking they were free. It turns out that a lot of them were closed or expensive so we ended up at the Botanical Gardens and Cafe Bastard (which was a good time as we got to play board games and I finally tried Glog! yum!)
• Thursday- watch out! Another crazy one. We celebrated National Australian Day by starting at 1pm with Somersby Ciders (this will be a reoccurring theme) We ended up at Southern Cross Pub where we tried Meat Rolls, Meat Pies, and Lamingtons (which are a lot better as chocolate). We then proceeded to go to our CBS Buddy Dinners, which was nevertheless very interesting as we starting feeling our hangovers, but we pulled ourselves together and went out to the Lake Party at a place called the Chlymdia Castle. I survived the night without getting any STDs and danced the night away, although Meg and I had to wait outside for an hour and a half and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep on some girl's park for a minute as it was very crowded outside waiting to get into the venue. 
• On Friday, we traveled to Louisiana Museum of Modern Art- so cool! I can't wait to bring my family here. It was nice to get out of Copenhagen for a day and we got to see such cool instillations like Kusama Gleaming Lights of the Soul and Amateur Architecture, and saw pieces by artists like Louise Bourgeois. Katie and I both really liked pieces by Gerhard Richter and Alfred Jensen. We attempted to go to a Jazz Club that night but got there too late when it was full and ended up playing Never Have I Ever and ordered cocktails at a restaurant downtown.
• Saturday was devoted to getting my life together- I went for a 5.5 mile run (felt amazing and saw so much!), figured out how to do laundry and use a rack to dry it, and finally bought black booties that I desperately needed. Saturday Night was the final CBS event and we attended a dinner and went to Rost nightclub. It turned out to be an interesting night and I had a ton of fun and ate delicious food. We got to dance and I finally realized that I should only buy beer while out.
• Today is Sunday. I'm downtown in a coffee shop with Katie and am so content. I just finished tying some stuff together regarding VP ID for AXO and figured out textbooks for classes. I can't believe that the last 2 weeks that were filled with us just being tourists in our city are over and classes are starting. Here comes real life and I don't know if I'm ready yet. 

Things to keep in mind:

• Spend less monaaaaaaay
• Watch what I eat and drink (I'm really feeling the weight)
• Enjoy it all and be happy

First Week- the 16th to the 22nd

I've been so bad at keeping up with writing about my days. So I will attempt to hit the highlights right now.

I spent the majority of the week walking around Copenhagen and seeing sights, being a total tourist. I met a lot of people in Kathrine and other exchange students at the social events. I would say my favorite was bowling or hygge night.

Notable memories:

• We stopped for breakfast a couple of times at this bakery called Bodenhof Bageri. Very delicious pastries and coffee. 
• We were obnoxious tourists for most of the week. We saw a church called Helligaanskirken,  Nyhaven, walked Stroget, went on a tour around Rundetaarn and saw an exhibit of broken relationships, saw Amalianborg Palace, went to the Designmuseum Denmark and learned about the traditional Danish Chair, walked into Frederik's Church, walked around Norrebro and saw the Hans Christiansen Tombstone in Assistens Cementary, and saw the Frederksburg and Rosenburg Slots. I know I'm missing a lot of places we saw but it's hard to keep track of it all as we were mostly wandering most of the days. 
• Record Stores of the week: Beat Records and Sort Kaffe & Vinyl
• Favorite memory: Saturday. We went to the Carlsberg Brewery and had SO much beer, then went to the Women's March, and then went on a Bar Crawl. It was such a long day but so much fun. I was so tipsy for the March but it was great being there to experience it.
• Food Finds of the week: street hot dogs and Fleisch (in the meat packing district which we must explore a lot more)
• Going out memories: Lion King Remix at LA Tequila Bar, Bar Crawl, and the first Nexus party.
• Trips being planned: London and Iceland in February. Looking forward to the XX, Frost Festival, and Katie's bday in February. Also hoping to go to Malmo, Sweden and Louisiana Museum of Art this weekend

I'm about to go pick up my new hot pink bike that I'm renting and need to come up with a name for it. That's a work in progress but I'm exciting to ride it downtown at night wearing a black leather jacket.

This week was a little tough getting settled, adjusting to living here, and meeting people but I would say it's improving every day. I'm so much more happy than I was earlier in the week. I want to continue meeting people and growing relationships with the people who I have met.

Notable first weekend memories

• I arrived in Denmark and was totally fine getting off the plane to meet my buddy. When I got to my room and after my buddy left, and I realized I had no way of getting in touch with anyone then I was a little shaken up. Those are normal nerves and as the days have progressed I find myself not being so nervous but just wanting to settle and start becoming familiar with the city.
• The second day, I got up and just walked to city center. It was great. I walked through a big park that I'm hoping to run in when it gets a little bit warmer and walked down streets just window shopping. I finally saw the small little Copenhagen streets with the buildings of different colors. I ended up getting a beer and pancakes (cheapest option) for lunch.
• Order a coffee at a cafe and an employee asks me where I'm from. I reply "New Jersey" (there is never a correct answer) and he responds with "Oh! Like Bruce Springsteen." This is my city.
• Katie took me with her buddy to get dinner. I got a delicious burger and a nice beer. But I realized that if i keep drinking beer the kroner will start to add up.
• First night going out in Copenhagen: try getting into a club called Chateau Motel. Wait in line for a little over an hour just to realize it was 23 and over. I also didn't have my ID on me so I was going to borrow Katie's Wiscard to fake a form of identification (which would never work since my age isn't on it). After getting denied for not being 23, we ended up hanging out at a youth hostel and made it back to the dorm around 3:30pm. 
• On Sunday, we went to watch the Green Bay Packers Game with Rachel, Megan, Iggy, Mike, and Ryan. Katie and I met Rachel and Megan on Sunday. I'd never think I would watch the Packers game while in Copenhagen but the bar was packed with UW students abroad. Earlier that day, we just walked around Copenhagen and made dinner in the dorm. That was the first Skol of many of the semester. 

Arrived in Copenhagen

I really enjoyed traveling from JFK to Copenhagen, stopping for a layover in Iceland. Usually one doesn't say she enjoys traveling 8+ hours but, I don't know, maybe it was seeing Iceland or just finally arriving in Denmark. Or maybe it was some of the odder experiences like climbing over two people to get to my A seat or the funny hats that Icelandair flight attendants wear.

Five hours after landing in Copenhagen, I have figured out my cellphone service, the wifi, unpacked, made my bed, and picked up essentials from LIDL. That's a huge personal achievement as it took me 3 weeks to completely unpack over winter break. Cam 1 Copenhagen 0.

The dorm is very quiet right now as it's still the first night people will be arriving but I'm off for my second walk of the day. During my first walk, I quickly realized I knew no basic Danish words such as please and thank you. After some research, hopefully this will go better.

Retro post: I got stuck in a car wash and thought I would never make it to Copenhagen

Late morning. Saturday, January 7th. The $7 sparkle and shine wash at Ol' Miner Car Wash almost came in the way of Copenhagen and I. Both the entrance and exit doors closed and the machine only made low rumbling noises. I can't say this was my living nightmare as I've never dreamt of getting stuck in a car wash, but it definitely felt like one. With a little luck, my guardian angel (or a friendly employee at the wash) saved me and upgraded my wash (for free) to super suds. Nothing can stop me now.

A yellow dutch hat

It's all about the headgear...or so I've decided while packing for Copenhagen (an authentic viking hat from my youth is missing from the photo).

 I leave tomorrow night for NYC, followed by a Thursday flight to Copenhagen. I've actually been happy with my ability to pack pretty quickly. Usually, I have to consider my turtle to crew neck ratio or I feel guilty when I put a shirt in the "no" pile like it has feelings. I always end up saying "sorry" to inanimate objects that will not be making the trip.

While packing, I've been considering what I will miss about America. It's been hard to narrow it down as what makes me genuinely happy are people, experiences, and places. (Although a definite #1 is my squatty potty, hear me out...it's been my nonjudgemental confidant through long nights and has always been there when I needed it most). I'll miss my family, my friends, and my home university UW-Madison (Bucky, AXO, the people who make it special, Slow Food and obviously cheese curds). From my past travels to Europe, I missed the familiarity of the US but I think this is healthy as I was pushing my boundaries (and that was when I was with my family, so I'm very excited for my own future European adventures).

I'm also hoping to live to my new year's resolution of being mindful- to myself, to relationships, and to the earth. With every goal, this will take time, failures/successes but most importantly commitment. Hopefully the bike I'm about to invest a few hundred kroner in will help me fulfill this resolution.

However, right now, I think I've hit a point in my packing where I need to take a few sips of wine and make a few more apologies to the clothes that will not be making it.

Velkomst to my blog

Hi all!

Welcome to my abroad blog and thank you for taking time to read it. Sitting here, at home counting down the days until my Icelandair flight takes off, I hope to capture what I'm about to experience over the next 4 and a half months or so. Who knows how many times I'll be able to sit down and actually focus on recapturing my days and nights but I hope to have a a somewhat coherent piece of my life abroad that I can read in the future and remember the happy, maybe not so smart (?) but for the experience, educational, and carefree adventures that expanded my horizons and perspective on life. I also hope to entertain the couple of readers who find themselves here, perhaps because they're procrastinating some responsibility, interested in what I'm up to, or maybe just bored.

As I take a sip of a Zin, think "I'll be drinking pilsner for the next few months", and let its taste settle, I'm beyond excited to know I'm about to encounter odd situations, befriend amazing people, and develop what "me" means to me. I have no idea what to expect, but I'm hoping it's going to be some of the best months of my life.

At this point in the post... to my family at home, thank you for making it possible for me to go on this adventure and I hope to see you guys in Copenhagen. To friends at home, I'll bring back gifts for all. To my friends abroad, I wish you happiness, health, and beautiful foreign men. To my future friends, I'm so excited to meet you.  To my schoolwork, we'll see (just kidding, mom and dad). And to future Cam, let's a go-go.

Skål!

Camille