Wednesday was not terribly eventful. I tried this food that was described to me as a meatball made out of fish. I will say that it was quite good. It is not something I could ever see myself cooking due to my lack of culinary skills but I could see myself ordering it again. My plan of trying new and "exotic" danish foods is currently batting 1000%. Further explorations are however hampered by my limited budget and the fact that I am afraid to buy food at the grocery store if I can't a) tell what it is and b) know how to cook it. I'll probably have to bring along a Danish person with me to translate next time I go out shopping.
Thursday I went walking around Nyhavn with two of my friends from class who also hail from California (although both go to a much better school than I). It may have also been the coldest day of the month since I arrived on the 1st. I had fun exploring the area but the prices are much higher due to it being a tourist attraction. I've had a hard time adjusting to not being able to get large coffees for 2 dollars (or be a dollar menu millionaire) but it was more pricey than normal. I'm trying my best to not complain about the costs since I willfully moved to the most expensive city in Denmark and one of the most expensive in Europe but if I was able to murder someone for a free meal no one's life would be safe.
On Friday I slept through my Danish class. In my defense I set my alarm for 6:45 pm instead of am. It isn't much of a defense at all but I enjoyed my prolonged rest and finally caught up on my sleep schedule. Now I am back to my normal hours. I also used this day to go to the Student Hous which is a bar/club run by the University. They allow people to work there for free as bartenders and in return are given some free drinks, cheaper prices and no admission costs. I signed up to work on Wednesday the 20th so you can expect a post in a week about my failure to emulate Cocktail.
After a few rounds of drinks at the common room of a friend's residence hall, most of my Danish class went back to the Student Hous for the promise of more alcohol and good live music. It would be safe to say that half of the bargain was not held up. The first band's music can only be described as screamo music combined with a Sounds of the Ocean CD. The band was suppose to play for thirty minutes; I was told management made them get off after six. The second band was much better in the sense that they could not have been worse but that is the highest compliment I am willing to offer them. Maybe the Scandinavian music scene is much different than what I am used to but I am unwilling to adjust my musical sensibilities if it means liking the bands I had heard.
I went to the Staten Museum for Kunst the next day. It was interesting but I think I preferred the Ny Carlsberg. The art collection was larger at Staten but I felt like they just threw too many pieces up on the wall. I enjoyed it either way (especially since admission is free). I left the group early however to meet up with my mentor. The University has a program for international students where they are assigned a mentor who is able to help them get adjusted for city life. Thankfully the one I was assigned is a cool guy. He gave me a cell phone and took me out for drinks at a bodega with one of his friends. A few rounds of beers were consumed, I took a shot of some terrible Danish drink (a free shot of malice as I would call it), and I learned a lot about the Danish political system. It was a good night.
My Danish class decided to get together the next morning and gather for brunch. We found a place that had a buffet so we headed there. Much to my dismay it was a vegetarian buffet. The food was okay and I was able to eat a lot of it yet it wasn't the same knowing that no animal suffered for my appetite. Once that ended we continued our journey and headed to the Ny Carlsberg museum. Since I was the only one that had been there before I ended up showing two people around after the entire group splintered. I found a part of the museum with mummies that I had some how missed on my previous excursion.
That about sums up the last week or so since I posted. I'm starting to get adjusted to the high prices, smaller portion sizes and public transportation so that's a plus. I expect to come back to the States as one of those people who constantly references their time abroad even when it is completely out of context. Maybe I'll wax poetic about my semester at the University for added amusement. So far it has been worth the added debt that I am trying not to think about coming here. I might even be taking a trip to Amsterdam in two weeks with some classmates.
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