åh min gud.

just because i want to take a multiple choice test a month earlier, they're administering to me an oral exam next week!!! okaaayy time to read and review like hell 300+ pages of neuroscience... starting næste sondag.

wtf. omgomgomg. åmgåmgåmg.

det går ikke særlig godt!

who the hell had the audacity to steal the rolls i made two days earlier (for a VERY special guest, mind you) from the freezer?! ugh. first attempt ever at making bread, and i'm glad i documented this special moment, since i will never come across the chance to fully enjoy and savor every single bite:



in other news, lauren, susie, oliver, helena, and i made a day trip out to århus today. this entailed waking up at the buttcrack of dawn (oh wait, it was still dark) and biking over to the train station at 530am. it was still dark whilst obnoxious drunkies were wandering the streets and i was deathly afraid that someone might step out into the bike lane and i accidentally run them over..

sadly, that didn't happen.

århus is the second biggest city in all of denmark, 148 kilometers (92 miles) northwest of copenhagen; the city in itself houses nearly 300k inhabitants, while copenhagen has around 1.5 million. in fact, it is called the "smallest big city." i got to believe that when we only spent about five hours there and walked the city about three whole times. it literally took us 10 minutes to walk from one end to the other. i love how maps mislead you by depicting the area to be somewhat bigger than what it is in actuality.

saw a couple of churches, wandered, saw stupid ducks, århus university, the main squares.. i would have to say that the people, though, aren't as good-looking as the ones in copenhagen.




sygehus = sickhouse. hahahaha

this final picture isn't from today but from last weekend's trip to malmö, sweden. it was right outside the train station, and i thought it was pretty neat.



tomorrow: brunch, grocery shopping, READREADREAD for neuropsych, and the nice icelandic people next door are making us burritos!

ps- things are getting very hygglie (cosy cosy) with the hallmates

photo post (again!)

well... i've undoubtedly been learning to cook. just yesterday anjali and i made a thanksgiving dinner for the dorm. seven hours in the kitchen, can you imagine that? i would've taken pictures of the food but i was too lazy and tired by then to even care. oh, and it was all worth it for mia's 21st birthday :)

the day before, the EAP kids met up with the kids in lund, sweden. we had an all-out thanksgiving dinner then. i had two dinners, complete with two full plates of food and dessert. i don't think it's completely thanksgiving-esque and american until you stuff yourself until you feel like throwing up. and then doing it again only 20 minutes later. only problem is, i do that outside of turkey day...

here i am, after eating so much damn food and realizing i'm 10 kilos heavier than i should be.



okay here's a preview of what i've been making. last weekend's dinner was greek-themed:


mmmm pita.


clockwise: rice pilaf, feta chicken, pita chips, hummus, tzatziki, salad. mmmm feta.


apple pie i made last week. first attempt! it all disappared within two hours. there's only a slice left from last night's pie. and the pecan pie's all gone. UGH. it's even better the second day, i swear. i think it's better with brown sugar in place of corn syrup (for future reference)

okay and as promised, other pictures:


tietgen kollegiet, where i live. this was taken from the inside; from the outside it's pretty much a giant wooden donut.


nyhavn. literally translated, "new harbor." it's one of the more touristy and well-known places, i suppose. used to be the red-light district with trashy bars and the like. now it's classy restaurants and (trashy?) bars.


again, nyhavn. okay these photos were taken back in august, when i first arrived in cph. the weather looks NOTHING like that now, unfortunately. it's 10 degrees and cloudy when we're lucky. and by cloudy i mean no rain all day.. but that's a rarity, too.


christiania. a hippie commune in, ironically, christianshavn, a more affluent area of the city. they formed their own little community and is (was?) exempt from taxes and other laws. they were allowed to sell weed there until recently. now it's just full of old drunks.


a canal in christianshavn, next to one of the best bakeries of my LIFE.

okay i'm tired and it's late (as in 4am late). i need to go to the danish embassy tomorrow (today?) and get my residence permit extended. woohoo! oh and i also lost my wallet last weekend, boo. i'm almost positive i got pickpocketed. and how convenient is it to find out when i'm only in the best store of my life (topshop), getting ready to pay, and then finding out that my wallet is missing?

next exam is in two weeks, i think. i moved it up from january 12th, considering i don't fly back until the 13th. i should stop feeling useless and wisely use my time to study. it's strange not running all over the place, in between work and classes and seeing people. i attribute my ever-increasing weight to this. and the fact that i consume piskefloede on a weekly basis. that and my dormmates really can cook.

lynly is coming next week and i'm going back to holland with her for a couple of days! hollaaaa.

xoxox

quick update

i have an exam on monday. it's stressing me out a lot, considering it's the only thing that determines my final grade. hopefully i can hole myself up in my room for the duration of this weekend and try to get something done.

in other news, just wanted to let you guys know that i have a skype-in number. this means you can call it like you would every other u.s. phone. i've also set it up so all calls will be forwarded to my danish phone.. which is a lot cheaper for me.. and you won't get charged.. and we'll still get to chat. USE IT!

(909) 581-9693

wish me luck.

xox

st. petersburg, russia

i figure it's about time i made a post about my trip to russia. i seriously didn't think anyone reads this anymore, that's probably why i lag when it comes to posting pictures and stuff. thanks jaclyn for making me do this!

anyhow, st. petersburg was an interesting experience, to say the least. it is the biggest country in the world. they do have magnificent buildings and what have you. peter the great had a dream to "europeanize" his country and he did a hell of a good job of it. i think he'd be happy with what is around now.

however, it's all a facade. sure, there are grand palaces and lavish buildings, but there are also people starving and sleeping on the streets... and racism. i think it was the first time ever that i've experienced something like it. for being in the biggest country in the world, you'd think that people would be the least bit more tolerant. it's a bit sad, really. it makes me feel so lucky to have come from a place like southern california. of all the locals i've encountered in st. petersburg, i'd say that 2% are asian. same percentage in middle eastern people. other than that, everyone was caucasian. i've never received so many stares in my whole life.. but hey, i'm not living there.


i was just really glad that for once, i'm not sleeping in a hostel. this was the view from my hotel room. and yes, the weather was pretty much like that everyday that we were there. overcast, chilly, wet, blah. the air was really crisp, though, which i thoroughly enjoyed. one thing i know i won't miss for sure is the prevalent smell of gasoline EVERYWHERE.

i took this trip with a group of about 40 other people. it was nice to be on a study tour where you actually had a guide who knew what he was talking about.

here's a sample of what russian food looks like. i don't think i've ever eaten so badly in my whole life. i was mostly expecting really meager meals. bread or something. the one free meal we got a day. no, russkies really enjoy their red meat and potatoes and CABBAGE and beets. i will be detoxing for the next three weeks.


beef stroganoff with potatoes. it looks like dog shit, but it was good.


the bronze horseman! joseph brodsky wrote an essay called "a guide to a renamed city" that paints a picture of leningrad (now st. petersburg) really well. this is a statue of peter the great that catherine the great dedicated to him. not only was it a heresy to raise a statue of any non-religious figure, thereby immortalizing them, but notice that the inscription is in latin! the russians have nothing to do with catholicism since they belonged to the orthodox church.


catherine the great's winter palace, which houses one of the largest museums ever, the hermitage. you know, with picasso, michelangelo, rembrandt, all those big names. an aside: one thing that i did not expect whatsoever were the colors of all the different buildings. everything was so colorful; pastels, mostly.


this is a picture of the world war II memorial; i forget what the exact name is. more than half a million people are buried here in mass graves from the 900 days in which germany held leningrad under siege: soldiers, civilians, and children, all in different plots.


not only did catherine have a winter palace, but a summer palace! this one is blue. and yes, that is real gold paint. it was seriously so much of a gold overload that my eyes started hurting.


the summer palace, because obviously only the winter palace wasn't enough.


the gardens were beyond beautiful.


i absolutely love how you can actually see the different colored leaves. indicative of the fall season!

pasha, our student tour guide, took us up on a russian (!) rooftop about seven stories high where it was about 2 degrees and we drank vodka and cognac.


view from the roof. see that gold dome/church thing? we climbed that, and got an amazing view of the city.


okay, forget that i look super haggard and disgusting and i could very well be photoshopped into this picture, but i just love the background. by the way this is taken from the top of the dome thing.


up on the roof again. i don't know why i look agro. i swear i was not.


this is the street on which dostoevsky's fictional character from crime and punishment, raskolnikov, lived. we retraced the 730 steps it took to get from his apartment to the pawnbroker's place, where he killed her and her sister. it took us closer to 900. i thought it was pretty neat that the author used real street names and places in his book(s).


yes, i saw a russian ballet! it was one of the most beautiful things i've ever seen. this one was called "the fountain of bakhchisarai" by alexander pushkin. it was my first ballet ever, too. and how awesome is it to experience where the dance was originated? i was literally in a box right on top of the orchestra pit. the music was beautiful, the costumes and backdrops were so elaborately well-done. as dorky as it sounds, i teared up when the music first came on.. because it was just that beautiful. /ghey


this building i think pretty much epitomizes russia. favorite building ever. it's weird how you'd be walking along the streets and there are cars trying to run you over and essentially, there are normal-looking apartment buildings. and then BAM! this thing pops up out of nowhere, amongst other fancy buildings. you can't see it, but it's covered in all mosaics. the church is called "our saviour on spilt blood," in honor of alexander II who was killed on this spot. i love my hat. i think it saved me that day; not only was it zero-degree weather, it was windy and raining. snowing/hailing at some points!


farewell din din. again, the food looks pretty disgusting, but it was decent. it was complete with free bottles of vodka (they love their vodka there) and red wine.


russian beer! it was only 40 roubles. that's less than $2USD. everything was super-cheap, but i found out that the minimum wage there is about 1000 roubles/month. that's roughly $40, eesh. we all can easily spend 1000 roubles in a day.


i had trouble getting it down, since i was so full from dinner already.


here's pasha, our adorable tour guide. i wanted to put him in a bottle and take him home with me. he's only 20 and he's incredibly knowledgeable and intelligent. this isn't the most flattering picture of him as he was already completely waystered out of his mind. it's cute hearing him talk; he obviously isn't fond of public speaking, so he stuttered, said "uh" way too many times to count, and chain-smoked the hell out of his cigarettes. speaking of cigarettes, they were only about $1.50!


angela (switzerland), and laura (team america).


begga (iceland) and i at the airport, in our super-awesome yet touristy as f hats.

oh yeah, one more thing that i have to note is that they have private cabs there. so essentially, if one wanted to make some extra cash for the night (say, for groceries or something), they can operate as a cabby for the night. crazy, huh? they're not licensed, and the cars aren't labeled. it could be anyone! my first experience in one of those was pretty creepy. though there were four of us, the driver did not know where he was going, and we evidently could not communicate. it was awesome. that is all.

okay, i think that's it for now. i realize that i should put up some pictures of the city i'm living in, haha. and maybe clear things up a bit with some facts, since i know at least one of you is interested. okay. until the next entry....

xoxox

aarhus > london > rome > athens > london > copenhagen

so my trip to rome and athens for the last week was pretty out of control. MUCH traveling was done; i don't understand how people do it all the time -- it's so draining: both physically and fiscally! it was totally worth it though; and this time i finally have pictures to prove it (read: not too lazy to put them up)!

i stayed in a hostel in rome for four nights where i acquired probably about 15-20 mosquito bites. gross.


the roman forum

a trip to rome would not be complete, of course, without the colosseum and the trevi fountain.



i ate pizza, pasta, and gelato pretty much every single one of the four days that was there.


other visits included the pantheon, capitoline hills and museum, the spanish steps (flooded with what seemed like a million tourists), palatine hills, a handful of piazzas, basilicas, etc. etc. on the third day, i went to pompeii and naples with christian, an aussie from my hostel.




the sistine chapel and st. peter's literally took my breath away.

the vatican -


this basilica i visited, st. clementine, was actually built on top of another one from the 4th century! i would recommend checking that out should you ever head to rome. it was crazy; excavation is still in progress.

an aside: italian men are shameless! i think that if the guys were so forward in the states or even here in copenhagen (aka NOT TRASHY), i would die.

okay, on to greece. i technically stayed there for not even two days. i arrived late LATE on tuesday night (weds morning?), and giovanni from mexico city and i decided to catch a ferry to one of the neighboring islands. we ended up going to aegina.



notice how green the water is!

it was overcast and even cold (!), so the island was pretty deserted. giovanni wanted to check out the other end of the island where the beaches were, and it was even worse. the owners of the restaurants were hanging outside their doors practically begging us to go in at 4pm. we ended up in this place where we were served pretty much a home-cooked greek meal. and lots of wine. this means that christina missed the last bus to go back to the port to catch a boat back to athens. yep, it was pretty much amazing.

woke up early the next day and i decided to actually do a quick overview of the city. i saw this thing:


and this is what i saw on the trek up the hill to the acropolis.



changing of the guards at the parliament, in front of the tomb of the unknown soldier.

that job must suck. a lot. i was really impressed with the synchronization of it all.. but having to stand there in those killer uniforms in the heat for eight hours at a time? no thanks.

got a little bit cultured out at the national archealogical museum with too many statues of gods and emperors and vases and the like, and also saw the temple of zeus.

i shall conclude this entry with this shot of really good beer:


duh, and we can't forget the food:

i'm going to eat and then take a nap now, bye!

i've finally made the decision to extend my stay into the rest of the school year. but shh, don't tell anybody yet, because nothing has been finalized. i'm pretty sure that it will go through, though. i signed the papers yesterday. here's to hoping! i've booked my flight home for xmas break already, so mark your calenders for dec 20-jan 13. i cannot cannot wait to see everybody! that is all, bye.

det er dejligt vejr i dag, ikke?

actually the weather's gotten quite shittastic in the past two days. autumn has come.

even when it rains in the morning, it can clear up by the next two hours. the weather is temperate, quite unpredictable. when in doubt, always talk about the weather. it can make for good conversation here in copenhagen.

i've ended my reclusive streak this past weekend. woke up at 2 (!) on friday, grabbed "linner" and coffee with my german friend judith. then i met up with laura in the evening to check out the film, mother of mine (swedish/finnish) at the cinematek. the copenhagen film festival ended this wkend, and we thought it best to check out a movie and take in the danish experience of going to the cinema. you know you get to pick out your seats?? hah weird. i don't think i'd cried that much at the cinema in a long, long time and that was good. then it was off to the english departmental party. first taste of tequila. more beer. surprisingly, the liquor was good to me. i don't think i'd ever gotten so drunk since i'd been in europe, but it was a good drunk. i had fun. i woke up drunk, even! jesus. ann and i decided that i need to make a trip out to estonia eventually...

umm saturday invited the opportunity for recuperation. that night we went to a hip cafe where a friend's band performed. it was completely reminscent of a high school garage band practice, but it was still nice being out and enjoying the cocktails.

today i went to the park with margaret to "do homework" and bask in the sun and mainly chitchat about random shit by the lake. afterwards i went to check out a free movie that the culture course was offering. it was your exemplary danish "dogma" film. called "festen" (translated, the celebration). it was all sorts of fucked up, but it was a movie you had to see again to catch all the elements you missed earlier. we had a lecture on danish cinema last week, and it was really interesting to see how film has evolved over the last couple of decades. i wish i had time to take the danish film & cinema course.

and that was my weekend. i felt like i had to update. it's october. i'm ready to take on all this traveling: BRING IT ON.

hvad kan du fortale om reolen?

christian, i know you don't read this but i hope i got that correct for the sake of your attempt and patience in teaching me this language.

sure, being able to study abroad means that you get to travel.. and i'm not arguing against the fact that it has its perks. i'm coming to believe that i think i'm more into the culture and essentially, the danish way of living. i've met so many internationals here whose intentions are focused on getting trashed, hooking up (READ: being unfaithful), and then getting more trashed. i won't lie and say that i haven't entertained that idea.. but i will also be honest and say that's not why i'm here. i can meet americans in denmark. i can hang out with americans in denmark. however, i didn't come to denmark to meet americans (i think i've made it clear on that one.. somehow.. and i only have one good american friend. two maybe). just as how i can't possibly get shitfaced everynight when it's not a big pasttime/priority of mine back in the states.

i'm not sure where i'm getting with this. keep in mind that the clock just hit 4 a.m. it irks me when students come "abroad" just to mingle with people from their respective countries. that's.. not the point? there's the comfort zone, i guess. maybe it's easier for me in this aspect considering i don't particularly feel entirely comfortable anywhere? it's really odd/amazing/interesting that i am getting SO much more comfortable with my dormmates. i've always had trouble making friends in my life, and somehow it's more laidback for me here. like.. i'd have conversations with my hallmates that i wouldn't have had in a VERY long period of time had i been in california. it's refreshing, really. fuck, there's none of that meaningless surface conversation. these are conversation pieces i can reflect upon later. am i rambling? i'm rambling. i don't know what my point is anymore.

oh right, my point: i consider myself very, very lucky to be housed in such a wonderful environment. it's not because i'm in a student dormitory (the dynamics of dorm life is much, much different here. maybe i'll get into that later?); it's rather the fact that everyone is so extremely warm and welcoming. and patient. and accomodating. and everything that is nice. i just love life, i guess. it's 4:07. apparently it's also a good time to sound beyond lame.. but it's true. i want to immerse myself in this culture. i want to learn (atleast some of) the language. i could easily breeze through the next few months by speaking nothing but english, but i want to do more than order chocolate cake in danish! i want to be able to understand the jokes passed around, and i don't want a thorough translation of a conversation that was had two days ago. it's very exciting that i have this opportunity, and i'm going to milk it for all it's worth. i was afraid of extending because of the time + money factor. initially, i was trying to justify this by telling myself, "oh, christina, how many times in your life are you going to be in europe? it's not uncommon to graduate in 5 years nowadays." i'm looking at time in a different perspective: there's simply not enough time in one semester to take everything in. i can't believe that december is in three months. three. everything in the books can be postponed; the material will always be in the books. but life? no, right now. october 1st is approaching fast.

4:23.

ps- i'm cooking for everyone this sunday! right, my reaction exactly: "WTFOMG WHAT DO I DO?!"
pps- tomorrow! i'm going to see if i can land some volunteer work in tutoring english. and i cannot cannot wait until rasmus' birthday on friday! supposedly it's the "traditional" way to do it...

this is a serious post.

this is a serious post. im getting fat. no matter that i'm walking/biking everywhere; the options of freshly-made pastries, cakes, and cookies are limitless in the stores here. you absolutely cannot find a strawberry tart say at the phoenix grill (on-campus restaurant back in irvine), and the chocolate croissants are only about 9 kr at the cafeteria here. it's mindless now when it comes to picking up something sweet to accompany your meal... what's even worse is that junk food is incredibly cheap here. a package of cookies, easily 10 kr. a gimongous bag of chips, 6 kr. all this added beer is also conducive to the death of my arteries. anyway, i needed to make this post to realize that i need to stop my sweet tooth. now. thank you.

friendly reminder

not copenhagen-related, but i just thought i'd remind you guys (probably all two of you who read this!) to register to vote for the november election! last day to register is the 23rd of september.. i know i won't be in the states, but i'll be sending my absentee in!

on to other news, october is going to be a big month for me.

oslo, norway >> italy/switzerland or spain >> st. petersburg, russia

maybe i can squeeze in prague some weekend in september as well.. but shit time is going by fasttt.

news-bit no. 2: Christina reached a milestone last night.. THREE beerzzZz. that's right, three. i am getting kind of irritated that my tolerance is going up.. beer is NOT cheap here (well, nothing is)... but tuborg is so good!

no. 3: how is it possible that i seem to get along with the danes more than with most americans? case-in-point: 2am drunk munchies in the kitchen, and christian comes out with a schpiel about the bugs in his room. somehow led to cigz and a conversation on socioeconomic statuses, record collections, life, and vampires.

i'm really really really hoping that this is not just a phase :)

køkkenkasse?

tonight was building 10, floor 1's official first meeting. two girls from my floor were nice enough to organize a meeting on practical matters and cook dinner for all nine of us. i was a bit nervous about meeting them; what if they just excluded me from all their conversations and spoke only in danish? quite the contrary. they are so so so so nice. even before dinner started, rasmus said, "should we switch our language over to english now?" all of this just to accomodate me! there's a german exchange student in our group as well, but it seems like she speaks almost perfect danish... after one year of instruction. when they would start to converse in danish again, they said that i just have to speak up because they're not aware. it takes effort from both sides, and i'm going to do what i can to learn more of the native language. i'm quite surprised that i can pick up bits and pieces from their conversations already.

so i guess we're going to eat dinner together every sunday night.. and i don't have to be afraid anymore. i.... need to stop being so people-phobic. have i mentioned how much i'm beginning to love it here? i start class on wednesday. classes only two days out of the week thus far; possibly three, and the earliest hour of instruction begins at noon. that still leaves me a 4-5 day weekend. i'm really seriously considering on extending my stay. oh, logistics.

kanoon.dk

so i guess i'm living the european lifestyle now. it's 530am and i just got back from this bar/club called the happy pig. hahahahah. despite how ghey the name sounds, it was decent. i had fun.. for the most part. for some reason only gross guys are attracted to me, so i got cockblocked the whole night. dogdamn i really wanted to dance with that german/danish dude again. i'll probably never see him again, wah. at least i got a drink out of it? CHRISTINA IS WORKING THE ASIAN CARD. i swear copenhagen gets better by the day. going to christiania tomorrow! ..if it doesn't rain. everytime i get excited about a beautiful day, it rains. E V E R Y T I M E.

got a couple of pix0rz taken tonight for the website listed above so look for me or something.. considering i don't know how else to show you the good times here. i still need to get a usb cord.

hi i think some people should update me on their lives....

XOXOXO

jeg kan ikke cykler

allllright, so i bought a bike today. riding one is more of an arduous task than it looks. well for me, anyway. they should make more bikes for people of my height. it's freaking hard trying to balance that thing when i'm at the stop light.

i got lost on the way home and i fell twice trying to get on. how embarassing is that?

paris, france

there is certainly a lot to see in paris. more than i'd originally thought. had it not been for radiohead, it would not have been one of the top countries on my list.

prior to visiting "the city of lovers," i've heard left and right that the natives there are pretty much arrogant assholes. don't worry, they're right; i can vouch for that. if you don't speak the language? good luck; they won't bother to help. however, of the six days that i spent there, i must say that it was progressively getting better.

friday, aug 25: landed in paris sometime in the evening. found the hostel and decided to spend the night in, since i was utterly exhausted. i was waiting for lynly to et back from rock en seine anyhow.

saturday, aug 26: rock en seine. beck didn't go on stage until about a quarter till 8, but we got there around 330 because lynly wanted to see taking back sunday. it rained on and off...got muddy.. there were a LOT of people. by the time radiohead came on, one could even barely move. you want to go to the outskirts of the crowd? well, that didn't even exist. remember when they played coachella about two years ago? i think the crowd was about twice as big. eesh. the subway ride home was no better. in all, they played a good set though.

sunday, aug 27: eiffel tower all day. first real french meal. they're really into their cappuccinos and baguettes here. and crepes. i probably gained 5 lbs in the duration that i was in france. canal tour. brewskies in front of the tower amongst other people while waiting for the tower to light up. ghey. but nice.

monday, aug 28: the night before, lynly and i ran into some other eap kids from lynly's program. we met up with kristy and irina at 9ish to go to the cemetary (i forget the name). it was raining. the cemetary was a labyrinth. you ask why we went? jim morrison. oscar wilde. frederic chopin. amazing. then it was off to the picasso museum. and the louvre. the mona lisa is NOT that small, despite what everyone says. walked alllll the way to the arc of triumph and then dinner at a fancy schmancy restaurant complete with a piano dude. back to the louvre at night but sadly the pyramids were not lit.

tuesday, aug 29: we all met up again to go to the catacombs. that place is insane. it's a gravesite for about a few million people from the 18th century. it's underground, and it's nothing but bones, bones, and more bones. it was a bit creepy at first, but towards the end i got really sad. how weird is it to make this available to the public. i mean, tourists going "HAVE YOU TOUCHED A SKULL?" and taking flash pictures does not necessarily constitute a peaceful final resting place. made a detour to starbucks, where i had my first coffee there in a month (sadly i did not think that i would miss that place; it wouldn't be so bad if other coffeeshops offered to-go cups). then we trekked over to the orsay museum for a good handful of impressionist paintings, from monet to van gogh. other destinations: la chappelle, conciergie, notre dame! notre dame was amazing, from the inside and the outside. we got there just in time for mass.

tried to find the marc jacobs store (only one in europe), but it was closed by the time we got there. then we had din din in the latin quarter. indian food! lord knows we can't find anything ethnic once we return to our respective countries. afterwards we went for some drinks at the bar where the waiter called himself freddie mercury and fun times ensued.

weds, aug 30: the girls left in the morning, so it was just me for the day. i checked out the dali museum and then went and saw the thinker. how rad is that? then i wandered around town for a good few hours looking at little shops and my little feet were dead by the end of the day.

thurs: ummm flew back this morning. i'm dead. its about 3pm. i will take a nap.

i need to get a usb cable. i took 250 pix0rz in france! sheeesh.

XOXOX

jeg elsker kbh. og øl ..selvfølgelig

(i love copenhagen. and beer... of course)

surprisingly, it did not rain at all today. it's rare for copenhagen! anyway, just got back from the open air cinema. movie was all in danish, of course, but it was super-nice. sitting on wet grass.. at night... with a good number of people.. and beers.

i'm going to continue taking danish in the semester; it should be fun. i can't wait till the day i get to catch at least half of what the natives are saying around me. i get my results from the language final tomorrow. a bit nervous, but i'm more excited for the free food.

i should get ready for tomorrow. hello paris! stupid me bought grapes today but this only leaves me about 14 hours to eat them. good thing they were only 8 kr for a bunch the size of my head.

see youuuuuuu & i love you guyss!

jeg er træt (tired)

i bought a ticket to see sufjan stevens at vega, right in vesterbro, in november. i'm excited. he's one of my favorite artists and if i can't see him in the states, i'll catch little stevie here.

tomorrow concludes my last day of the danish language course. i was entertaining the idea of even possibly extending it into the semester... but naww, that's too much work (if you haven't caught on, im quite lazy). if i get into the classes i want, i'll only be in school two days out of the week: tirsdag og onsdag (tues & weds).

i'm going to be honest here. i'm finding it extreeeemely hard to meet people here. for those of you who actually know me, you KNOW that i'm quite possibly the shyest person you know. if not shy, then quiet. okay maybe until you get to know me/get me drunk, then that may be a different story. yeah, anyway, just one barrier to get across (this so-called anxiety, which i am sure will pass). for those of you who think i'm getting drunk and partying every night, i'm not. for those of you who think that i am hooking up with 324 different hot menz every week, i'm not. well, not yet. i hope i will get over this soon. i don't know, it could very well just be me; i haven't exactly found any people with whom i've "clicked." then again, you don't need to click with somebody in order to have a good time. it just gets old after awhile, i suppose. i'm ready to get past the standard small talk: what's your major? where are you from? why are you in copenhagen? and meeting actual danish people? apparently they're really difficult to get into. i guess i shall see when real school starts.

don't get me wrong though, it's not as if i'm being a recluse or anything. god forbid if i start doing that here!

on a better note, i'm flying to paris right after school on friday. radiohead! beck! shopping! baguettes! wine-tasting! lynz0r! yessss.

hvor har du været henne?

i just moved into my room. it's cavernous; everyone is moving in furniture and art decor and shit. all i have is a shower curtain. and no electricity. i am awesome because i just blew out my power.

this last week has been a blur. i can't believe that i've only been here for a bit over two weeks and so much shit has happened. so much that i have to get sick. i've probably been drunk for five nights in the past week.

haha ok bye. i think im going to go take a shower in the dark now.

hvad med dig?

pooja, i will hook up with 23423 hot danish menz for you and everyone else, duh.

okay! and i get to move into the dormitory next monday! i'm so fucking excited because not only is it 26 square meters for my own room & utilities (for a mere 2470 ddk/month! that's $411.67 USD), it comes with my own bathroom!!!

please do send me double-doubles, golden spoon, toilet seat covers, and california burritos at this address after the 20th:

Christina Tam
Tietgen Kollegiet
Rued Langgaards Vej 10, 1, 102
2300 København S
Denmark

det kan jeg godt (tale dansk)

okay i can't really speak danish.. i lied.. only a lidt (little).

so i'm pretty much exhausted. the last couple of days have been unreal.

tues: all the logistics of setting up my bank account, cpr number (like a social security) -- you know the govt here provides everything for "free" here? from health care to the university to social security. but of course, i believe denmark has the highest tax rate in the world. 50%, i believe. i was just informed last night that taxes on a purchased vehicle can go as high as 180%

weds: for some reason everyone thought that international night started this day. i presumed that the international house was still closed, but everyone kept telling me to go, soo.. everyone was there and it was closed. thus there were about a good 30-40 of us in the city centre square with beers in our hands. some of us wandered around for about a good hour and a half looking for a bar. but who can find a bar when theres a group of about 20 kids? surely everyone inside would be intimidated. anyway, the group dwindled down to about six of us, and we ended up by the canal in the nyhavn district. beer and hot dogs at midnight, yessss.

it was during this time that for the first time since i've been here, i'd never been more ashamed to call myself an american. is that bad? i mean, we are already attached with the stigma that we are completely oblivious of the outside world.. and that we are essentially retarded. a couple of us (or them, rather) were talking about european politics, and this austrian dude (i forget his name) asked me what i learned in school about europe. i had to be honest.. nothing.

thurs: canal tour! mediterranean buffet at this really classy restaurant called rizraz. im getting extremely hungry just thinking about it. ugh the beers were so small.

fri: some english bastard in my danish class said that us americans were "good for nothing." because of everything that had happened at heathrow airport in london, and i had no idea, to be honest. it was a bit difficult getting myself informed when i don't have access to the internet, television, or english newspapers. i shouldn't have cared because he's an arrogant asshole anyway, but it somewhat just fueled the fire of all things american that i'd been pondering the whole week.

following the advice of a resident californian, i went to club rust last night. seriously, the club does not get filled until after 1230am, and it's still really weird to comprehend that most clubs dont close until 5am here in copenhagen. and get this: for those who can't stop partying, other clubs open up at 5am and last until the next day at 3pm. crazy. i'm going to have to get used to this life! anyhowwww, a bunch of international kids were there, so it was fun. josef, a fellow dane, started talking to me and i'd like to think that we hit it off. we danced (!), exchanged numbers, but i think he's gay.

sat (today): excursion to the frederiksborg castle north of the city. this place is truly out of a faery tale. i'll try to post pictures soon. then off to the louisiana museum of modern art.

i think this is it for now. i want to eat dinner or something, but i must first figure out what to make. it's been raining here a lot. if the weather lets up a bit tomorrow, hopefully i'll be able to catch the gay pride parade!

xoxox christina

velkommen

one observation that i must note: i would say that at LEAST 80% of all the danish (wo)menzz here are hot. that's a good thing. the people i've talked to back in the states were not lying.

oh and before i forget, desi & jeff, they drive on the right side of the road here. they have no regard for pedestrians, whether you are behind the wheel or the handlebars of a bike. i need to get a bike, but i think i'm afraid to handle one of those things. i think i's even worse than driving a car here. they.. are.. so.. aggressive..

and so today concludes my first day of danish class. i must say, danish is the ugliest language of my life. (after dutch) nothing is pronounced phonetically! though you may see a "g" or "d" in a word, unless it's between two vowels or some other weird rule, it's silent.

i met some international students, so no danes today. just went through the ho-hum of orientation and all that fun stuff. met a finnish girl, linda i believe is her name for now (probably/most likely pronounced/spelled in the most finnish way possible), and we went grocery shopping. you have to pay for your own grocery bags and weigh your own produce! hah the luxuries of living in the states.. . not really but it was an interesting observation.

we wanted to get beerz but decided to reserve that for a night when we can meet some hot menz or something. naturally, everything is expensive here in europe. say a beer is 30 kroner (about five dollars) at the bar, but a six-pack of the same shit is 42 kr. i don't think that i can eat out ever again, either. a lunch here is easily ten u.s. dollars. and i'm talking about a mcdonald's lunch.

i got lost in the district of vesterbro yesterday. i was probably wandering around aimlessly for three hours. good for sight-seeing, i suppose. this is a relatively small city (and especially for a capital), so no matter where i am, i know that i can always find my way back. i think i've lost 5 lbs from all this walking already, from the time that i've arrived. oh and i made a detour into the museum erotica yesterday.. mostly danish history shit; it was interesting to say the least. i also experienced my first danish open-faced sandwich (they're apparently really into those).. and it wasn't that great. maybe it was the cafe?

hopefully, the next time i update, it will be more interesting. but this is all i have for now..i miss you all and i'll talk to you guys soon on aim when i get the internet.

byeee xoxox

i'm alive!

hey everybody,

so im sitting in an internet cafe right now, and it reeks of smoke, sweat, and nerd. anyhow, look at what this danish keyboard can do!: æå ø ÆÅ Ø ooohh shit.

yeah thus far everybody here has been uber-nice. for instance, since i got off the plane i've had 23894723 people help me with me 23423 lb. luggage. i met two hot swedish menzz on the train. seriously jet-jagged, and im totally not feeling this keyboard at all. i am so awesome to think that yesterday was the 4th (when indeed it was the 5th).. therefore meaning that i missed my check-in time on friday at the international office, classic christina style. i am so awesome. i start my danish course tomorrow, so hopefully i'll be able to meet some other rad international students such as myself.

quick update: i haven't been doing too much, just walking here and there and exploring copenhagen a bit. i love the architecture here, and i love how there is a plethora of mass transit. you can definitely not find that in irvine! sooo on the second day, after sleeping for about 312312 hours, i decided to go downtown and explore a little.. asked this girl camilla for help, and it turns out that she was going in the same direction. she ended up inviting me to a (karoake) bar with her. second danish word learned? "skol," meaning cheers (i know i completely butchered the spelling...), after tak, for thank you.

of course, i got drunk after about two beers, and theyre really good about buying you more beerz and smokez. my apartment here is literally a hole in that wall, but that's okay -- i'm moving into the lovely tietgen kollegium on the 20th. i'll post pix0rz later when my computer is juiced and whenever i get the internet. alright i'm off to the coast and maybe meet some new people; payce!

--christina
XOXOXO

7 days!

sooo just about a week left before i depart for europe. im sitting here drenching in sweat; i love southern california. anyway i just sold my bed today and it looks like i'll be sleeping on the floor for the rest of the week!

email me your address so i know where to send postcards and other goodies.
my email: allstarconnie(at)yahoo(dot)com

it's almost time to say adios, au revoir, goodbye, or in danish, farvel!

i'll try to make some posts in danish as time goes on, so get your search engines ready for "danish translation dictionary" or something or other.

of course, i have nothing packed, nothing ready. my first priorities are moving out of irvine and seeing as many people as i can...

until next time (i just wanted to test this out),
christina
xoox