Week Before Finals...

I can't believe it, I'm leaving for home next week! With that being said, we have to hurry and do all the things we wanna do before we leave. This week was pretty eventful and I'm glad. It gives the feeling that I'm making use of the little time I have left in Copenhagen.

Tuesday, Tivoli

Michelle and I together with our friend Matt went to Tivoli. It's a small scale Disneyland and it is said that it is what inspired Walt Disney to make an amusement park when he visited Tivoli. We picked a perfect day to go. It wasn't too hot or cold, there was a bit of a drizzle for a little while but that's about it. It is also really pretty inside!

We bought the unlimited rides band so of course we had to take advantage by riding more than 10 rides, some even twice. My favorite was the drop one, where you go really high and you have no idea when you're gonna drop :D We rode that twice (to Michelle's dismay..lol sorry Michelle). I actually get a huge thrill of being up there and not knowing when we're gonna drop. At first it's extremely scary, but it's sooo much fun!

it was pretty high ;)

The ride that I disliked the most was the swings. So if you know me, I absolutely LOVE roller coasters. I really don't care how fast it goes or how high the drop is or how many loops there are, I just love them! I am however beyond afraid of heights. I can deal with being high for a moment, but not for a long duration, and the swings at Tivoli aren't like the ones at the 50th state fair. It goes super high as to give you an incredible view of the city, while swinging way up in the air. Not like I could enjoy it because I was way to scared to look from side to side...but I had to do it because it was the only way I could get Michelle to do the drop...lol

soo not like the 5oth state fair, just fyi. haha

We also did the plane ride thing where we could either choose to control ourselves or put it on autopilot so we chose autopilot. When it first starts, it flips you around and on your side then starts going around. It then goes really really fast that I couldn't even scream anymore because of the tremendous air pressure blowing on my face (it didn't stop me from screaming my head off when it started slowing down...). It was a very fun ride though.

We rode a whole bunch of other rides but these were the most memorable. We then found Little Mermaid! The real one is in China and won't be back until October or something but there's a replica at Tivoli. This was one of the reasons why I wanted to go. I refuse to leave Denmark without getting a picture with the Mermaid!

Oh did I mention the food at Tivoli is crazyyy expensive? So as wise college students, we ate lunch before we entered and then left before dinner so we could eat at home :D Worked out quite well I must say, since we already had to pay 300 kr to enter and ride.

Thursday, Valby Dinner

We thought it to be a good idea to have a nice formal dinner with everyone in our house (Valby), so Matt sent out a facebook invite. Our friend Andy found a place that looked really nice so Matt set up reservations for 22 people. I also wanted everyone to dress up so I kinda emphasized that. Then comes Thursday and lo and behold, everyones dressed nice! The guys wear nice shirts, some even with ties and the girls all dolled up with make-up and pretty clothes, I was very pleased :D Also, there were exactly 22 of us! Headache for the restaurant but a joy for me. The place turned out to be pretty expensive, but it was well worth the money. Most of us ordered the Veal.

A-stinking-mazing! How amazing you ask?

Yup, I wen pound um. Sorry had to speak pigeon,

There's no other words to accurately describe this picture...haha

You have no idea how happy I was that this dinner turned out to be a success. From the location, to everyone dressing up, to the amazing food, us not getting lost, everyone able to come, and having the exact amount of money for the humongous bill we had, it was truly an awesome night :D

Friday, Hamlet's Castle!

Ok so I didn't read Hamlet. I tried, but it was way to complicating for me. In any case, I still wanted to go and see it. It's actually called Kronborg in the city of Helsingor. We had a 1 hour private tour around the Castle.

I can't tell you much about the castle besides the fact that it was built by King Frederick II and altered by his son Christian IV. Once it became old fashioned for the Royal Family to live there, soldiers then moved in. It was quite fascinating I must say. After the Castle we had around 3 hours free time before we had to meet at the bus. That would have been cool if it wasn't so COLD! Man oh man, we were freezing our behinds off. We all just wanted to find a nice restaurant to have a good meal and warmth, and we did!

yup my food photos again.

I had grilled chicken with salad and baked potato for 15 euros, delicious!

Last thing, Random Thought

It's so funny because Denmark loves Hawaii! In Tivoli, they were selling leis! Plastic kinda ghetto ones of course but still, it was beyond shocking to see.

Lei Stand

Michelle and Matt rocking the shaka :D

aww Hawaii...

Then today at Helsingor we were walking and we came across this.

how random right?

I don't know if a local wanted to start up a business all the way here in Denmark or they just like Hawaiian words. In any case, It made us smile. We're so close to coming home and I can't help but get excited. At the same time I'm going to miss it so much here. Maybe not our dirty bathroom and kitchen, but even that I'm getting use to. It's so different here, but it seems like I've finally gotten use to it. Also, it's finally getting cold! At least one week I can use the 5 different jackets I brought from home because I thought it would be freezing these 6 weeks.

Finals week

We have a final on Tuesday morning from 9-1pm (YES 4 hours..oh em). We also have a 10 page paper on the EU due. After that's all pau, hopefully we can get more souvenir shopping and site-seeing before we go. Then an early flight on Sunday morning! 24 hours of traveling and I reach Hawaii Sunday night! So trippy....lol. Yay i caught up in my blog! Hope you enjoyed it :D

Aloha.

Why Hello There Berlin :D

Before I arrived in Copenhagen, the Social Program at the school offered a social package along with 2 weekend trips to Bornholm and Berlin. I initially was just interested in the social package as to save some money since the trips were 1500 kr each (about $300). Upon finding out all the people who were going to Berlin, I then regretted not taking up the opportunity. Then I got a text last Monday from my friend who said a girl in her class was willing to give me her spot since she bought a ticket to Sweden for that same weekend. OMG was my reaction, lol. Was I really going to be able to go to Berlin?! I immediately skyped my mom to see if it was ok and she said go for it, so I did! It was also very good that there was 1 other girl who was selling her spot, so Michelle got to come too! Talk about all things working for good no? Chee.

Since I registered late, I really had no idea what was going on, what we needed to pack, what was on the agenda, etc. The social coordinators were good to send me information right away though so I was able to get it 2 nights before we left.

Friday

Bus Ride

We needed to be at the meeting place 6:30am so we woke up at 4:30am to cook breakfast and pack lunch. If you know me, my classes start at 11:40 and 2:25, so my body was absolutely shocked that I was up 5 hours before I usually get up (never again...lol). We rode 2 hours on the bus, went on the ferry (which was pretty pimp I must say) for an hour, then back on the bus for another 4 hours before we reached Berlin.

our bus inside the ferry

inside the ferry, one of the food places

Berlin, First Reaction

After that long bus ride, we finally reach Berlin. Contrary to what all the German natives back in Copenhagen said, Berlin was SUPER cold! I looked at the weather and saw that it would be raining and such but when I asked people, they said it could not possibly be cold during this time. NOTE to self: listen to google weather.

Dinner

After we briefly settled into our rooms, we were off to our 3-course dinner at...

haha sounds great doesn't it?

It was actually very good. We started off with a salsa/tomato soup (cold), I had a goat cheese burger, then ended with apple pie and icecream :D

Brandenburg Gate at Night

After Dinner we decided to explore the city for just a bit. We decided to go Bradenburg Gate at night and boy was it a site to see!

Too bad the police car had to be there. There was an event in the morning that they were setting up for. It was a bit scary because the police were walking around with dogs. In all honesty though, since I didn't know I was going to Berlin till 3 days before we left, I didn't brush up on any of my Germany history. I'm glad we were accompanied by a friend who knew the significance of this place. I don't know if I'm getting this right but I believe it was the previous Nazi center and it was also the location where they announced the removal of the Berlin Wall. There is way more history than what I'm presenting to maybe it will spark your interest and you'd might wanna google it for yourself ;) tehe.

Saturday

Walking Tour

We woke up bright and early to get ready for our walking tour of Berlin. As you could imagine, there were many places where we stopped so I decided that I'm going to write about the places that I thought were interesting and that I could remember.

Holocaust Memorial

There is no explanation for why it is set up the way it is, so it is open for interpretation. Some people saw it as coffins, others saw it as Jews of all different shapes and sizes. You can't tell from this picture but as you go further in, the ground goes lower and the blocks become taller.

A friend of mine who is Jewish said that he saw it as what the Jews had to go through. Walking into it represented their hardship and persecution. When you reach the middle is where it was it's deepest, but then as you continue walking, you can finally see the other side until you've reached the end. Although it was such a terrible and dark time for the Jews, in the end they're still here. They still made it through and were able to rise from the adversity that hit them so hard and in a sense come out victorious.

No I do not take pictures of random pieces of land. Below this ground is a bunker where Adolf Hitler and his wife killed themselves. Our tour guide told us the story of Hitler's last birthday on earth and the main discussion of the night was how to effectively kill oneself. Hitler shot himself in the head and swallowed a cyanide pill as to not face the consequences of his actions.

The Berlin Wall

"Disappointed? Ya people expect to see the Great Wall of China" says our tour guide. So although the wall seems fairly short and not that hard to climb over, there were other factors that hindered East Germans to escape. There was actually another wall before this wall that they had to go over. If they did, the section between the two walls was essentially a death trap. If a person was seen in this area, the guards would immediately open fire. You couldn't really hide either because this section was covered with sand. If you somehow get to the wall, you would have difficulty grasping it because if you can see, the top of the wall had a round structure that makes it impossible to grip it.

The feeling of being so close to freedom...just on the other side of a wall.

Checkpoint Charlie

This was the main crossing point between East and West Germany. You could imagine all the escape stories that must of taken place here as well. Our tour guide said that East Germans would ask diplomats to saw them into the seat of their cars. Others would pretend to be American Soldiers and just walk right through. KEY is: Chew Gum. Then you are American, lol.

I am seriously proud to be American, for at least I know I'm free.. :D

Humboldt University of Berlin

This University is the oldest university in Berlin. It is home of 29 Nobel Prize Winners. The most interesting thing for me was the fact that Albert Einstein taught in this university.

Could you imagine being in Albert Einstein's class? oh em.

Rest of the Day

We went to many other places but these are the most memorable to me. After the tour we followed our tour guide to this restaurant where we had a german dish!

Schnitzel!

It was quite delicious I must say. We then spent the rest of our day shopping! 5 girls, 1 guy, so much fun ;) We of course went to H&M. What I noticed about Berlin was that there were a million H&Ms and a million Starbucks! From the short time I was in Berlin I saw 5 Starbucks. Then we went to a shopping street that reminded me of the Waikiki Strip without the beach and there were literally 5 H&Ms, on the same street! After the 3rd one I got pretty tired of it, lol. We then had dinner at an Italian Restaurant. We had 4 courses for just 9 euros! Amazing...

Sunday

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

On our way back to Copenhagen we stopped at a concentration camp and had a private tour. In reality, even if we were physically there and we had a whole lot of explanation, it was still difficult to fully grasped all that happened in that place. This particular camp's main purpose was for prisoners to work and not a death camp, yet there was of course mass murder that also occurred there. You couldn't expect anything but horror stories after horror stories, and it does get to your heart someway or another. The biggest thing that impacted me was the fact that these soldiers were brain washed to think that the prisoners were not considered human and should be treated like animals. Who has the right to say that a fellow human being is worthless? Especially in the case of the Jews. It just appalls me. It seemed like the whole world just watched it happen too. Also, the prisoners were stripped of their identity to the fullest. They were all given a number and from that time on that's all they were known as. My friend Lin and I were talking and said that we complain about so many things, but when you think about what other people had to go through, our problems are nothing compared to their hardship.

I'm so grateful for life, and freedom, and security...

map of the camp

11:07

time when the Soviets liberated the camp

work makes one free

this was on the gate of where prisoners entered

(soo not true...)

this is where the prisoners had to report every morning and night

each one of them had to be accounted for

pretty much a death trap

3 to a bed, so 9 to a bunk bed

and hundreds more on the floor

form of torture

they'd have their hands tied in the back, go on a stool and put their hands over the metal sticking out, then the stool would be kicked from below them breaking all parts of their body, leaving them in excruciating pain. This form of torture was used for when the soldiers wanted to find something out from a prisoner

jewish star

monument

After we left the concentration camp, it was another 8 hours until we got back to Copenhagen. I am very glad I was able to go to Germany though. Such rich history, though it may not be very pleasant, but we can't change the past, just improve for the future.

Aloha folks and thanks for reading!

3 more weeks!

OH NO my european experience is soon coming to a close =( Although I look forward to cooking without sterilizing everything before I touch it and spraying the bathroom with Ajax before I go in, I will miss it here.

Thursday. The school set up a mid-summer party for us at a place called Vega. It was fun, except the fact that there was no air conditioning whatsoever so it felt like an oven.

picture with kyle

oh Hawaii people, always find our way to each other

Friday was our "study" day, which actually turned out to be a sleep day. I didn't mind it ;) We then had dinner at my aunty's house and brought our Singaporean friend Lin with us. It is during these times when we eat an actual meal! Usually we eat small yet satisfying meals. When we go there, I get my rice! We also ate a pint of icecream, each -_- Thats how the Filipinos do it, feed you and feed you and feed you, and if you're filipino, you know that the polite thing to do is never say no....I was deceived when I thought I would lose weight when I came here, haha.

Saturday was shopping day!

Lesson 13: Everything closes at 5, except on Fridays where they close at 8, and Saturdays where they close at 3, and on Sundays where they're always closed, except the first Sunday of the month!

I really don't know the logic behind their store hour system, but we still have to accept it right? It's a bit confusing though because some places are open later on Saturdays, and there is 1 store we know that is open every day, so it's that type of thing that you just have to know from staying here a while. It also stinks because since everything is in danish, we can't really understand when they display their hours of operation, but I think we're getting it.

Sunday was the canal tour (round 2)! This time CBS (Copenhagen Business School) set it up. It pretty much went around the same route as I did last time so pictures are the same.

Week 4 The reality of school has now hit. I have to start working on a 10 page paper on the EU and a presentation about cross-cultural issues. I might be able to go to Berlin this weekend and Oslo, Norway the following weekend. We also want to go to Oxford to visit our fellow fish scholar Mariam so hopefully that materializes! Other than that, I still want to see the city..again. I want to be as touristy as possible these next couple weeks :D

Ok until next time, Aloha.

We are half way into our third week of summer school. Insane no? Time goes by so fast I can't keep up. From the last time I wrote, I said that the 2nd week of school looked promising and indeed it was! On Wednesday night, everyone and their mother (no joke) went to Ofelia Beach here in Copenhagen to watch the Germany versus Spain World Cup Match.

In this man-made beach, they set up a HUGE screen where everyone can come and watch the game for free and trust me, everyone took advantage of it. There were loads and loads of people! It was the first time Michelle and I went to watch a game there but they've been showing the game since the World Cup started.

a picture of the front and side of where we were sitting

As you can see, we were reppin Germany (and Hawaii apparently). There are about 3 people in our dorms that are from Germany and one of them painted the German flag on our faces. I kinda felt a connection with Spain just because I'm a little Spanish, but I dare not go against these group of people....

German fans standing

The whole area behind where we were sitting was filled with German fans! See the guy with the flag? That's our friend Mario who painted our faces.

Lesson 6: EVERYONE smokes

Back in Hawaii, we have this "Smoke-Free" law so I have been use to not smelling smoke for a long while now. I believe Denmark has the same type of law but it applies to workplaces and indoors. Outdoors however is a different story. During the whole 90 minutes of the game I could not get even one breath of fresh air. Everywhere I turned, right, left, back, front there was someone smoking. THE WHOLE 90 MINUTES. oh em I literally thought I was going to get lung cancer just by staying in that spot. I couldn't move either because that would mean straying from the group and if you saw the ending of the game, you know that there were many sad german fans =( sad story but still a great experience.

Lesson 7: Hotdogs are AMAZING!

Thursday. Since Michelle and I can't cook, we usually eat out. We heard that the hotdogs were good so we decided to try it and ho shucksness it was soo good! So aside from the hotdog, bun, ketchup, mustard and pickles, they have this special dressing that they put on it which makes all the difference! Plus they add fried onion bits that just tops the cake :D They also have fransk hotdog that are also good but I think I like these better.

Lesson 8: McDonald's Drive-Thru = McDrive (true story)

So for dinner (same day as hotdog..lol) we decided to find the McDonalds that's close to our dorm. Yup we're totally eating healthy..chee! But it's true, when we're home we never think of going to McD's, but when we're away we totally crave it. Comfort food I guess? So we walk in and look at the menu. 4 types of burgers. Yup, only 4. Big mac, some chicken sandwich, and 2 others that I couldn't read. Would you like to know the price of a meal? 55 kroners, around $10. Can you imagine?! SO guess what we got, 20 kroner cheeseburgers and baby carrots! Which is still quite expensive. We had to add the baby carrots so it felt "more healthy". Good news? Of course! The cheeseburger tasted EXACTLY like the one back home :D woooot!

Lesson 9: Daim Chocolate is the BEST McFlurry Ice Cream Topping

As shocking as this may be, they don't have Oreo Topping for McFlurry's here! But do not dismay, Daim is where it is at! It's like chocolate, caramel, toffee type deal. Simply amazing. I'm not sure if you can tell but this cup is mini compared to those in the states, and yet this also costs 20 kroners ($4). It was soooo worth it though...It's funny because Michelle and I share the same love for icecream. I'm extremely happy about it because I could be like "hmm, you wanna get icecream?" and she would never turn down the offer :D

Weekend. About half of the house went to Bornholm which is an island in Denmark while the other half of us stayed home. It was a good time to just chill and relax. We were able to do our laundry and shop (JOY! tehe). We also spent alot of time with my aunties. We ate dinner with them on Friday night, brunch on Saturday, then they brought us to a party with them in the afternoon. Meet my new friend!

Nikky, Chow Chow (seriously looks like a mini lion or bear..shoot)

On Sunday I was finally able to go to church! YAY! It was funny trying to figure out what to wear though. Some churches are chill and aren't really strict on what you wear yet others are. When we got there we found out it wasn't that strict so I'm glad I wasn't overdressed :D

3rd week. Time is seriously flying by. It's time to think about projects and papers. I'm actually up for it though. I also need to learn how to cook something before I leave. We asked our friend Matt to teach us how to bake so today we went to the grocery store to buy ingredients for cookies.

Lesson 10: EVERYTHING is in Danish.

So although everyone speaks english so there is no problem getting around, it is very difficult to go grocery shopping. We have no idea what anything is. Could you imagine trying to find confectioners sugar? Not only grocery stores but literally everything is in danish. Signs, announcements in the bus/train, laundry machines, menus! Everything on the labels are in danish. Guess what appelsin is. You would think apple right? Nope, its orange. No one warns you that you wouldn't be able to read anything here. The great thing is that the Danish people are sooo nice in helping. One danish lady saw our confused faces when looking at this box of sugar and we asked what kind it was and she goes "umm...sugar but white" and in total excitement i go "powdered sugar?!?!" and she says 'YES thats it" YAY!!

Lesson 11: They do not sell chocolate chips anywhere, no joke.

We asked the stores if they had and one store goes "we don't have but you can get regular chocolate and cut it up." That is exactly what we did!

We mixed a whole bunch of stuff together and refrigerated the dough. We had to wait 4 hours for it to cool so we watched a movie to kill time. FINALLY at 11pm we were able role up the dough, add MORE sugar, and bake for 12 minutes.

Lesson 12: We had to convert everything!

So apparently America is stubborn and we still use Fahrenheit and other forms of measurements that are different from the rest of the world. Our cookies still turned out good though!

Matt calls them "black and white." Original I know. They were good though! I ate like 5...after midnight...it is now almost 2 in the morning...and I'm not sleepy. LOL great job I know, but I really wanted cookies! And they taste the best when they just get out of the oven :D

Ok maybe I should go sleep, goodnight!