I have returned!

First Week: Ups and Downs

You might have noticed but I haven't blogged since we came back from Rome. It is not because I was lazy or because I didn't have time. It is because our housing didn't have internet for the WHOLE first week of class! OMG right? That honestly had alot of us upset. We couldn't talk to our families, check our e-mails, or go on facebook! You could imagine the horror. Not only did our internet not work, but upon arrival our housing was not clean. Since I had my aunties with me and my mom was still here, we were the ones mopping and dusting and sweeping my room. The bathrooms however were horrendous. The kitchen was just as horrible. As you can see, all of these things put together resulted in a pretty rough first week.

Bright side? of course! haha. The classes I'm taking (as well as Michelle, yup we didn't register for the same ones but they put us in the same ones...lol) are pretty interesting. We're taking Managing Across Cultures where we look at different cultures, see how they work together, analyze the conflicts and see how they resolve it pretty much. Our other class is Business in the European Union where we look at the EU, what it consists of, their rules and regulations, etc. Another bright note is that though our housing is not the greatest, the people are very nice. Michelle and I were planning to move out because we pretty much got fed up with everything but we decided to just stick it through. I'm glad we did. Another positive is the fact that my aunties live 2 bus stops away from our house so we were able to eat dinner there couple times (hurray for rice!).

Pros and Cons of Arriving Early

One of the benefits of arriving early is the fact that we were familiar with the bus routes and how to get around. My aunties also briefed us on alot of useful information about the stores and malls and some customs of the danish. Being here early helped us get into business pretty quick in regards to school since we traveled a bit before classes started.

On the other hand, it took away the excitement of being and studying in a new place. While the others took picture of anything and everything around them, I felt it a bit old because I saw everything already. That is why during the first week I didn't take very many pictures. Hard to believe I know, but ok continuing on.

International Dinner

As part of our social program at school we had an international dinner on Thursday. We were to cook and bring our favorite dish from our country. As awesome as michelle and I are, we do not know how to cook, BUT because we are from Hawaii, we were able to pull off bringing pineapple! I told this to my best friend and she goes "You know how to cut a pineapple?" YES, well kinda. I watch my uncles and dad do it all the time. I am a weakling though and the knifes in the kitchen aren't very sharp so it was still quite a challenge but we did it! I forgot to take a picture of it =( but here's a picture of my plate during the dinner.

McD's Cheeseburger and McNugget, sushi, fried rice, dessert!

My tummy was controlling my choice of food, not my desire to try different food.

Lessons Continued

Lesson 5: Denmark loves loves LOVES icecream!

On Friday, Michelle and I went to the city to just walk around. Literally every 1 out of 5 shops were icecream shops. They absolutely love it here! I can't complain because I share the same love for icecream. We're always eating icecream now.

this is me by the harbor eating icecream :D

I said icecream alot...

Sweden: Round Two

On Saturday some of us took the 30 minute train ride to Malmo. If you read my previous blogs, the first time I went to Malmo we got lost, so not the fondest of memories. This time around it was good though. Our friend Matt had a book with a little map and the different sites we could go to.

Little Prague!

I might not be able to make it to Prague during this trip but at least I got a taste of it :D

Malmo Castle

Ok so we kinda got lost trying to find this place, but check out the sign that we saw before we entered.

OMG right? Our two other companions were haole (white) so they had nothing to worry about but 3 of us were asians. You could imagine our confusion and even a bit of frustration when we saw this. We then found out that it was part of a Nelson Mandela exhibition and this was a real sign in South Africa.

inside the museum

of course I take pictures of the instruments. lol

St. Peter's Church

Oldest building in Malmo

We then walked around more, found a restaurant where we could eat and watch the World Cup game then went home when the game was finished. All in all, it was a very fun day.

NOTE: more Malmo photos on facebook.

Independence Day!

Sunday was of course the 4th of July. A bunch of us Americans were pretty sad because we weren't home to spend it with our families but we made the most of it. The school set up a picnic type deal at a deer park. It was quite beautiful. Acres and acres of land, deer running around and horse drawn carriages made it unique from all the other parks I suppose.

can you kind of see the deer? haha.

After, we went to Bakken which is the oldest amusement park in the world. We all headed home quite early and still felt incomplete because there was no barbecue or fireworks for our 4th of July. We then went on a pursuit to find some burgers and fries! I suggested McDonalds because that is seriously the most American thing we could have eaten in Denmark. Of course they were not up for that so we found a small restaurant that sold American Burgers :D

Our 4th of July Dinner!

Second Week: Promising

As we go into our 2nd week of school, it looks promising. Everyone's making an effort to clean our house. Our internet finally works. It's getting cooler (because it was scorching last week). I had to make a valid effort to get out of this state of discontentment and look at the brighter side EVEN MORE than I usually do. I only have 5 more weeks here and I seriously want to make the most of it. I'm enjoying my time here and although I miss home, I know I may never have this opportunity again so I'm going to embrace it.

Until next time folks, Aloha.