Lapland pt. II

   The rest of my week in lapland was extraordinary. After my husky ride I had an arctic tour, which last one day, a ski/sledding day, a reindeer sleigh ride, and of course, the northern lights. On the arctic tour we crossed the border from Finland to Norway and spent a few hours in a small town on the beach. Here we got to swim, if you were brave enough, eat some homemade salmon soup at the church and walk around. The ocean was absolutely freezing but they had a sauna so all the crazy tourists that want to swim in the arctic ocean can not die of hypothermia. I guess I'm classified as a crazy tourist. After this we got to peer out the bus window for reindeer roaming the mountain side, view a bunch of magnificent scenery, and shop at a local store on our way back. I bought myself some nice Scandinavian mittens so my fingers wouldn't freeze off skiing the next day, good thing I remembered to bring gloves from home.... Anyways, skiing was incredible.
   They have awesome snow here considering it snows blizzard style almost every day. The powder was great and renting gear and a pass really wasn't all that expensive. I have some pictures from skiing but it will be a little while before I can get them from my Belgian friend to post. After skiing we went on the longest sledding hill in Europe, a 1.5 km long hill! Although going down on a one person sled with two people wasn't all that smart, it was still a blast. Walking back up the hill really wasn't that fun so I only went down a few times :)
  The very last night we were there we got to see the northern lights from the top of the hill (the picture is the best one a guy in our group could manage).We had our Italian physicist with us to explain what was happening with the ionization of the molecules so that was also very helpful. The northern lights were such a crazy/amazing thing so see, but the stars were equally as cool I thought. We were in a town near no other towns so there were no lights, no pollution, and we were directly under the northern star.    
 After we checked out and left our mountain villa, we traveled to a reindeer farm where we got to enjoy a nice sleigh ride in pairs. We picked the one with the biggest antlers because he looked awesome.. he turned out to be their meanest reindeer at the farm, go figure. After the sleigh ride, we went into a traditional style Saami house (the people of Lapland are called Saami people) and had sausages cooked by the fire, some tea, and learned about the reindeers, Saami culture, and got to hear the lady sing a traditional Saami song. It was all very fascinating. From here we ventured to Helsinki, toured the city and the national history museum and then headed to Copenhagen. After a long 27 hours, we finally made it home!

Arctic circle

   My second day in Lapland and I haven't turned into an icicle yet, so off to a good start! After traveling on a bus for a total of 24 hours, we visited the Kemi snow castle, Santa in the arctic circle with the official post office and tree and all, seen the northern lights, and got to mush a husky sleigh on a safari adventure. It has been an incredible experience despite the cold! At the Kemi snow castle they had a chapel, cafe area, an ice slide through tunnels (yes I went down), sculptures, rooms with beds (just for show I think), and more. My second picture is the "beauty and the beast" sculpture and all you see in the first three pictures is made from either snow or ice. It was surprisingly warm for being in a cave of snow. 

  In Santa's village there was a massive tree with flags from all around the world, a sign pointing to all main cities, a post office where his elves were working, and of course, his own building where he was talking with people from all around the world. Santa and I had a nice chat and took a photo, he's quite a jolly fellow :) I tried a reindeer burger also!! It was surprisingly really good... I felt kind of guilty being in Santa's circle in all though. It was snowing heavily but beautifully, which made it all the more magical.

  Then, arriving at midnight, we finally were at our resort! There is a group of 8 of us in a mountain villa at the top of Saariselkä, the name of the town we're in. We have an awesome view and at about 1 am we could go outside and see the northern lights. I then brushed up on my quantum physics so I could understand what exactly was happening. Extraordinary how the universe works. 

  We got up this morning and ventured out for our Husky safari, becoming experts on the sleigh. We partnered up and got to take turns mushing the huskies. I had a great time and would do it again in a heart beat. I got to pet all the puppies too so I was in heaven. I want one now... ahem.. mom, dad... :D       

  We warmed up in a log cabin with some warm cider and a cookie and then headed back home. I walked to the center for some wifi so I could update my blog and do some homework.. we'll see how much I can get done. Tonight we're heading out to walk to the top of the mountain to get a better view of the Northern lights. I hope I'll be able to get a picture but it may be too dark/too hard for my camera. 

Off for now, but there will be more to come!

Danish tour

   I am back from my Denmark adventure and now packing for my Finland adventure! It was a great weekend with awesome weather. We traveled first to Skagen, to the beaches and sand dunes. The beach was incredible and I got to stand at the northernmost tip where the North sea and Baltic sea meet. The water was a little cold, but it was worth it! At the dunes, we found a really steep hill and decided it was a good idea to roll down it... it was super fun, but finding sand the next 3 days in all my clothes was not. Definitely worth it though. From there we traveled to Aalborg. I loved it and thought it was very quaint. We stayed the night there and also got a tour of the city. The next day we headed to Aarhus, which is the second largest city in Denmark where we visited the ARoS art museum (it has a rainbow circular observation area at the top where I have one of my pictures) and toured the city. I met the Danish soccer team when we went out as well so that was pretty neat. I played fussball with the goalie of the team, but I think I need a little more practice... I wasn't a very good team mate. From there we went to Odense, the third and oldest city in Denmark, wandered around and got to see Hans Christian Andersen's house as well as the museum. The trip was an incredible few days full of new people and new places. I think I will definitely travel back to some of the cities at the end of the semester. Now I'm off for a week in Finland where it will be negative four degrees Fahrenheit to ten degrees, but it is supposedly the best year, and best weekend to see the Northern lights. I'm extremely excited and can't wait to share what I experience when I get home!

Danemerican

 

Hey all! Sorry it has been a while since I've posted. I've mainly just been attending class and having a lot of group dinners, so nothing extremely exciting to post about. I have now officially made an American "brinner" (breakfast for dinner) for me and a couple of buds, and they completely fell in love with it. They love pancakes and syrup. They wanted another one this week but I'm leaving so it will have to wait! Second picture is an awesome care package from my friends at KU. (You guys rock). I was starting to really have withdrawals from my normal peanut butter and chex mix, so it was very kind of them to aid in my unhealthy habits :) Next picture is from the Catalan dinner we had. Catalonia is really the region of Barcelona in Spain, but they like to consider themselves as more separate Marti informed me. We has Spanish omelets and I helped make the sangria! We also had toasted pieces of bread and you take a garlic clove and rub it against the toasted part of the bread and then take a tomato and do the same. You then drizzle some olive oil on it and bam! you have one gourmet piece of bread. There's also the option of putting a traditional Catalonian meat on top, or another kind of hard salami type meat.
   I leave for my Danish trip on Friday morning at 4am. That should be fun for me trying to wake up at 3 am and trying to go to bed at 8 the previous night... yeah right. Anyways, we have a whole agenda of sightseeing and museum attending throughout the 5 cities above. I'm extremely excited and it should be really neat. I'll have a lot more to say about it afterwards so keep checking in! I leave for Finland the following Monday and I can hardly wait for that as well. It'll be one busy week and a half for me, that's for sure.
   So far most of my pictures are of food, but I promise sightseeing is on its way! Tomorrow night is the Norwegian dinner and then off to pack! Hope everything and everyone is well and surviving the snow if you're in Colorado or Kansas.

Moving forward

 
   

    The first three pictures are from the library on campus and the inside of a building where I have classes. People watch the news on the big screen, and yes, those are giant bean bags. Each floor (3 floors) of the library are different noise levels, and have computers with two screens. The highest most level is the quiet floor soooo I usually am on the first floor. :)
    The picture with the colored chairs is the "lobby" or the middle of a bunch of classrooms on the first floor of what we call the "glass box". All the classrooms are surrounded by windows and have whiteboards, projectors, and flat screen TV's, although I don't know why because we have never used the TV. I think they should lend it to me to bring back to my container... just saying. There are group work tables and individual chairs outside of all of the classrooms. They are also obsessed with coffee so there is a coffee machine in basically every hallway, so when we are on break all the students can get coffee.
    The Danish are also addicted to fussball. There is a fussball table in literally every building I have class and every bar I have been to. I'm going to be so much better when I come home so I expect some fussball tournaments at the Grimm cabin. Also, if you don't score here, you have to crawl under the table.... I luckily have not had to do that yet. Knock on wood.
    Next is a traditional Japanese dish that I got to enjoy last night. My Japanese roommate, Takayuki, made homemade sushi and the dish above. I wish I could remember/spell the name of it. It was very good and it was his first time making it! I tried to learn how to make sushi so that I can make it when I come home. He layered the big dish with rice and thin strips of seaweed in the rice and then topped it with an assortment of fish and other items. One of my chinese roommates, Ablat, made another rice dish with shredded sweet carrots and chicken and then you put a type of yogurt in it. They made a chicken dish together as well. All of it was incredible.
    The last picture is the inside of the National library where you can study. It is spectacular inside! The ceilings have a bunch of art and there are multiple floors to study. There is also a restaurant.. its the perfect place for me because you can people watch, watch the river, study and eat.
    I signed up for the Danish trip which takes us to 5-6 main cities all over Denmark and then I signed up for a trip to Lapland where we can see the northern lights and a reindeer safari. I'm staying in some mountain village and each unit has 8-9 rooms I think. We're also taking and arctic tour and you can swim in the Arctic ocean! As if it isn't cold enough outside! I'm also planning on doing a husky safari which should be really neat.
    The other night we went into the city to watch some European football. The match was Madrid versus Manchester. It ended up being a tie so they will rematch later on. Watching football with Europeans is way different than watching American football with Americans... but it was still really fun. Tomorrow night we're going to experience the Copenhagen Dining Week at a restaurant called Le Cofoco.
    I'm also now a Danish resident and have my CPR number which allows me to take advantage of the free health care system if I get sick.
    Well, I'm off to finish up laundry (you should be proud of me mom, I'm not waiting till the last minute) and then head out to play some ping pong at the student house. Miss all of you!

First week of classes

     I had my 7th first day of a new school this Monday and it was great. The classes here are one day a week for four hours. It seems like a really long time, and it is, but we have lecture for two hours and then we work in groups for another two while periodically getting breaks. I have class Monday through Thursday so hopefully with my long weekends I can travel. All of my teachers are really cool. You're supposed to call your teachers by their first names because they're really laid back, so that will take some getting used to. They teach in pairs here so I have double the teachers in all my classes. They take turns lecturing and really emphasize team and group work here. I'm in a class called TEMO, its technology economics management and organization, and we have lecture in the morning for 3 hours then work in groups for another 4 in the afternoon. Companies give us case studies that we work on in groups of 6 and make a presentation for it. If the company likes the solution then sometimes they'll even have the students go back to head quarters and present the solution to the workers. I think it will be a very interesting course.
     We had our first "container dinner" with all the roomies which was really fun. Laura made Spanish omelets and Wenzhao made homemade pizzas with the rest of our help. I had authentic Korean food for the first time as well! The Koreans in my group made dinner for us Thursday night and it was wonderful. Spicy, but really great. They're trying to teach me some Korean words but once I get the pronunciation, I forget it 10 minutes later. I need to work on my language skills.
   There is a group on campus called ESN, and its international I'm pretty sure. Anyways, they coordinate group trips and events so I am trying to sign up for a few of those as well. The first one is a 3 day trip around all of Denmark, and the next one is a trip to Lapland. They also have a cruise later on in the semester with all the students from universities in Denmark.
Also- I'm going to take some pictures of where my classes are held so that everyone can sort of see what it's like!
   

Up to the Superbowl

   

Sorry that my picture configurations aren't very uniform, that's the best I can do with what time I have :) From my last post, when we visited Copenhagen to sight-see, I finally got around to posting some pictures of what we saw. The black glass building is the National Library in case you didn't get a chance to look it up and the other building is the Opera house. I definitely want to attend an opera, mainly just so I can go inside the building. Next is the Little Mermaid. I found out that Disney's version of the little mermaid is much happier than the real story by Hans Christian Andersen. More or less it is about how the Little Mermaid gives up her life in the sea to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince, all of which goes very poorly since he ends up marrying the princess. The Sea Witch gives her a knife to end the prince's life and to become a mermaid again and to cease all her suffering, but she does not do so because she still loves the Prince and throws herself into the sea instead. She does not drown but is made into a spirit, thus the statue. The story goes much more in depth, but I found it intriguing to read. 
    For the Superbowl, we went to a the "S-husen" in Copenhagen and they had projectors upstairs and downstairs in the bar with tables set up. They had face paint, american drinks, and a bunch of signs that said "AAA-Ask An American". It was interesting watching it with a bunch of Europeans. Hardly anyone knew what was happening and we had to explain the whole time instead of cheering. None the less it was still a great time and I made even more great friends. I'm telling them the Broncos are the best team ever and they should always root for the Broncos... :) I'm also trying to teach them Rock Chalk Jayhawk, go KU! It may take some practice. If anyone has any questions about anything at all don't hesitate to comment and ask!