dansk 4

It's crazy to think I've been here for nearly two weeks. In many ways it feels a lot longer than that and in other ways the time is flying by. I'm in class four days a week for four hours each day, but that time goes by quickly because we cover so much. The people in my class are so friendly and cool, and my teachers are great as well. I feel like the least talented/interesting person in the whole bunch--I'm so in awe of the things they're all doing or have done.

On Monday I thought it would be nice to celebrate memorial day on my own, so I wandered over to Assistens Kirkegård (a big cemetery in the Nørrebro neighborhood). There is a good metro system in the city, but it was a nice day and I really like walking, so I took the half hour journey from my school to the cemetery on foot. It was cool to explore a new part of town, and I might have convinced myself I deserved some is. The cemetery houses the remains of lots of famous Danes, but I was short on time, so I spent most of it with Søren Kirkegaard and Hans Christian Andersen. It's a really gorgeous cemetery, so I am planning on going back soon.

On Monday evening I went to the beach in Roskilde with Beth and the girls. The teenagers here do this thing on Facebook where they nominate each other to jump into the water and then you have to film it and post it within 48 hours or you have to buy the person dinner. Anyway, Mille got nominated, so we all went to the beach. I didn't get in the water because I came straight from the train station, but Mille nominated me, so at some point I'll do it.

Yesterday I visited den lille havfrue (the little mermaid) statue. There were about one billion tourists there besides me, but it was fun to see her. I didn't have anywhere to be, so I just sat and watched people take their picture with her for awhile, which was interesting and humorous and sometimes kind of sad. It took me awhile to find her, and I stumbled upon another mermaid statue that was NOT little and looked like something creepy that a rich old casino owner would buy for his backyard or something.

Anyways, the little mermaid is near some really beautiful parks, so I did a lot of aimless wandering. I found a cool church and ate lunch at a picnic table out front. I resisted is, but I am battling an honest addiction to licorice right now. The kind with cream in the middle. It's a problem.

Maria and I did baptisms in the Copenhagen temple on Saturday

Andersen's remains were moved here from another cemetery short after his death

Another shot from Assistens

Nørrebro

Me, Beth and Maria at the beach. 

See the level of glam I'm living with here? Meanwhile, I look like a hybrid of Gene Wilder/Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka.

This is the view from my window at 5 AM

 Pretty little houses in the city

 Den lille havfrue

Churchillparken <3

dansk 3

I can count to one hundred now (if you give me 20 minutes) and tell time, so the Danish is coming, slowly. I've finished my first week of classes and so far I've really loved it. There are students from all over the place, from Brazil to Afghanistan to Lithuania. Most everyone in my class is there because they married a Dane or else their spouse got a job here, so the government is paying for their language lessons. When I explain that I am here for the summer just to study Danish, they think I'm crazy.

I take the train into the city each day from the village where I live. The family I live with is letting me use a bike while I'm here to get to the station, and my favorite part of the day is riding home. The train rocks me right to sleep (every day, without fail), so it's nice to have some time on the bike to get refreshed and clear my head. Plus we've had some really gorgeous weather this week which makes it very pleasant to be outside.

Copenhagen is a really cool city and super accessible. I love walking, so this week after lessons I've been cruising around exploring different areas. I've found some nice parks to eat lunch in, and I also discovered my favorite place so far: the library. It has a nice quiet garden on one side where you can sit in the shadow of Kierkegaard and his hair, and on the other side is a canal and they have some comfy chairs you can sit and read in while you take in the sun. Inside is nice too, but it's been such great weather that I never want to be inside. Today I also walked past Tivoli (the world's oldest theme park, I think...I might have made that up) and saw my dude Hans Christian Andersen.

I live with a very sweet family and they are very good to me. We have girl talk and they make me count in Danish for them and we get along great.

 H.C. Andersen

 This is library garden where I like to eat lunch

 Here's the brick side of the library

(Side note: when it's hot everyone just takes off their clothes and sunbathes. Check the dude on the right)

Kierkegaard in all his glory. Actually if I was a statue I'd want to be in his spot.

dansk 2

I went into Copenhagen for the first time today to start my Danish class. I was nervous about finding my way to school so I arrived about 100 years early, but that gave me time to wander around the neighborhood for a bit. The city has a lot of character and the area I was in had some nice little parks/gardens, which is my favorite thing. I'm excited to explore more. I love what I've seen so far.

I'm happy to start learning Danish. It's very isolating to be unable to understand people and I feel so needy asking people to speak English. But now I can count to twenty (kind of), recite the alphabet (again...kind of), and tell people my name and where I'm from and ask them the same (in theory). ALSO, the three-year-old I live with taught me the two most important words: is (ice cream) and slik (candy). My favorite Danish word so far is spansk (it means Spanish, but I just think of Spanx). Pronunciation is a trip, but present tense verb conjugation is amazing (the word doesn't change!).

In other news, musli has made a big comeback in my life.

 me looking like a hobbit in front of what looks like a hobbit house

(I think it's a 5000 year old house or something, but I'm not sure...it was my first day, everything is a blur)

pretty fields by my house

 Nyhavn near my school

dansk 1

I arrived in Denmark this morning and I can't even do the math to figure out how many hours I've been awake. I figure since I'm back on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean it might be appropriate to start this thing up again.  A brief summary of my first impressions: the country is more beautiful than I even anticipated, I'm living my dream of having wood floors in my bedroom, and finally and most importantly, the family hosting me has blown me away with their kindness and generosity in the ten hours that we've known each other. Plus, we already listened to "Drunk in Love" together so, you know, soul mates.

post 14

I just can't tell you about the last few weeks...I'm sorry. Too much to do and too little time left. My plan is to enjoy my last few days in Europe, and then come home. I can't wait to see some of these faces, not pixilated. I made up the spelling to that world.

Caught Lolo on her way to the gym, she's still gorgeous.

Couldn't get google+ to work for me and Tan

Blabigail

Allison looking foxy. Also, you guys, my hair was huge.

Serious convo with my mama

Josh and Tanner

Favorite photo of Clay

Shelby <3

Dubes. Also, masks.

THESE GIRLS. Miss them too much.

post 13

Another week has gone by so quickly. I can’t believe how time is flying by and I am dreading my departure from Vienna. We have one more week here in Vienna before we take off on a night train to Italy and then to Salzburg. When we get back to Vienna, we only have a few more days and then I’m back to the States. I can’t think about leaving this city and my home and my sweet sweet host family and my friends and my life here or I will cry. Don’t worry, I will live it up these last few weeks.

Here’s the weekly recap:

Monday

The day was filled with school and homework. A few weeks ago, we bought some tickets for Norbert to see Elina Garanca at the Musikverein as an early birthday present. Unfortunately, he had a prior engagement and couldn’t come, so Becca and I had to go alone. We were sad Norbert couldn’t come see his favorite opera singer with us (he really loves her…he carries a picture of her in his wallet). She was really a remarkable singer and I enjoyed the concert very much. We were determined to get her autograph for Norbert, so we asked an usher and he told us where her dressing room was. We were unsuccessful in getting into her dressing room (apparently you have to be close friends for that kind of access), but she signed autographs in the lobby after the show and we got her to sign our ticket for Norbert. (We might have stretched the truth a little bit and told her it was our “father’s” birthday, but it was quicker than explaining the whole host father thing. I guess.)

Elina signing the ticket

The birthday ticket. We were stoked, which is my excuse for looking so pathetic.

After the concert we went and got gelato at Zanoni and Zanoni before heading home to deliver Elina’s message to Norbert. We couldn’t wait until his birthday on the 24^th, so we gave it to him as soon as we got home. I think he loved it.

Tuesday

Becca and I ran home from German class, which was actually faster than taking the U-Bahn. We went to the Hinckley’s for music class and left straight from there to Budapest. No running was involved in catching our train, which is a personal record. We were seated and breathing normally when the train left the station. Weird. But we arrived safely in Budapest three hours later where we made our way to our hostel, which was really nice and clean and felt like a clubhouse. Seriously, if you are going to Prague or Budapest soon, talk to me about hostels, because the places we’ve stayed have been very nice. Anyway, after we ate some homemade risotto at the hostel, we headed across the bridge to the Pest side of the city (did you KNOW that there’s a Buda side and a Pest side?!) and climbed up a little mountain to look out over the city. It was so warm and I took off my coat while we hiked. We enjoyed the view for a while before heading back down to try some Hungarian hot chocolate. It was more like hot chocolate pudding than a drink, but it was very rich and delicious.

View from the top

Becca and me at the top of the mountain (no coats!)

Wednesday

We got up and out into the city early so we could maximize our time. We headed up to the castle on the hill (I know no names from this trip. My brain has started to reject facts like names and dates because it is overloaded) and enjoyed looking out over the city again in the daylight.

Becca, Kiely and I split with the rest of the group to go meet up with Becca’s friend who is serving a mission for our church in Budapest. She and her companion had special permission to spend a couple hours with us, so we went to lunch and then they showed us a cute little bookshop in town. Then we went back up to Fisherman’s Bastian, which is really beautiful and I don’t know quite how to explain it, so just check out the pictures.

Fisherman's Bastian

We said goodbye to the sister missionaries and wandered back down to our hostel, stopping along at shops and stands that caught our eye. We joined up with the rest of our group and started the trek to the restaurant our professors recommended for dinner (they were here just last week). Along the way we accidentally found a booth that sold little pies. AND since it was Pi Day, we justified the purchase. They were really good and totally worth it.

Pies for Pi Day (and we know we should have rounded up to six, but we decided to truncate instead, so that we could each just use one hand).

Dinner was a little out of the way, but it was a very authentic place and I got a kind of catfish goulash, which was pretty tasty. We returned to our hostel and turned in pretty early.

Thursday

Becca, Alexa and I went out to check out the famous Hungarian baths in the morning. Luckily I have a strict policy that I always bring a bathing suit with me when I travel, because you never know when you will need it. I was very glad I had it because visiting the baths was my favorite thing we did. I can’t even tell you how amazing they were (or show you...I didn't take any pictures). They’re basically like outdoor public swimming pools, except that the water is really warm and there’s a bunch of old people there. And the old men play chess in the bath. Also, there was a sauna but it was about infinity degrees inside and I couldn’t even open my mouth inside because it felt like my insides were baking if I did. It was just so amazing to be outside in a swimsuit and not freeze to death. I even got a little sunburn, which I love and cherish. We met up with the rest of the girls and explored downtown, because it was a big holiday and there were lots of festivities going on everywhere.

Holiday festivities

We ate pretty much everything we saw, which is an unhealthy but an exciting way to live life. Kiely, Becca and I caught an evening train back to Vienna.

Lots of food on the train. Also, I wasn't trying to be cute, but a guy walked by and was staring at all our food so I had to defend us with my eyes.

Since we had a few extra forints, we grabbed some groceries to take on the train, but when we laid them out on the table, it was kind of embarrassing how much we had. Story of our lives, I guess. (Please note, again, that we did not have to run to catch any trains on this trip.)

Friday

We had our German final in the morning, and then Becca and I ran home. It’s about four miles (which is pretty long for me), so we count that as our workout. After we cleaned up, we went back into down. We rode the 37 strassenbahn, hopping off at a few thrift stores along the way. The weather was beyond perfect, so we did one of our Vienna walks for our class, and then we went to Tichy Eissalon. Ice cream stores here close for the winter season and open again in spring. Friday was opening day at Tichy’s, which was my parent’s favorite when they lived here. We waited out front for an hour (lines don’t really exist here; you just have to box people out to get to the counter and get your ice cream). It was worth the wait. We sat in the park across the street and I marveled at my very good fortune in life. We did a little shopping before going to the LDS outreach center for waffle night. We learned a traditional Austrian dance (the Schuheprater, I think it’s called) and ate waffles for dinner. I doubt I have to tell you it was a good night.

Becca and I are big fans of self-timer mode. Also, I am a big fan of her.

Saturday

Becca and I ate breakfast with Norbert and Liesl in the morning and then we went out to the Prater to rent bicycles. We rode them to the Donauinsle (the island in the middle of the big river in Vienna). The weather was too perfect and we brought a picnic and bought ice cream bars from the ice cream man.

Self-timer in a boat. It happened.

We rode up and down the island for four hours before returning the bikes and heading home. Later, we met up with some friends from Institute to go to Tichy’s again, and this time we sat inside. I got a banana split for the first time in like, sixteen years (I think the last time I had a banana split was at one of my brother’s Boy Scout activities or something). It was delicious and I loved it. Also, eating in an ice cream parlor is an experience everyone should have. After Tichy’s, we went to our friend’s birthday party, which was highly enjoyable. It felt like a regular weekend in Utah, which is pretty fun sometimes.

Sunday

Today we had church and the missionaries brought us a box of Schoko-Bananen, which is a really weird candy they have here. They’re like, banana flavored marshmallows covered in chocolate. Somehow they still manage to be a little bit gross. The elders knew that when they gave them to us…someone gave them a big case of them and they’ve been trying to get rid of them. When we got home, Norbert and Liesl had all their kids over for their son and granddaughter’s birthdays. We invited ourselves and sat out in the garden and ate yummy food and played with all their cute grandkids. In sum, my life is too good. I’m too lucky and too happy and I miss all of you and hope your lives are happy too.

post 12

Last week was pretty great. I'll just give you some highlights from each day. Stay tuned for a Budapest post at some point in the next few days.

Monday

We had school in the morning and homework during the afternoon, but that night Elder D. Todd Christofferson came to the outreach center in Vienna to talk to all the Mormon young adults in the area. We went early to work on homework and we were leaving to grab an orange and some yogurt at the Billa up the street before the meeting and right as we left, Elder Christofferson's car was pulling up. So we hung around and became the unofficial, unappointed welcoming committee. He was very kind even though I'm sure he is tired from traveling all over Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Becca invited him to get gelato with a group of us after the meeting and he said he'd ask his wife.

Paparazzi photo of Elder Christofferson

The meeting itself was very good and he and the other speakers did an excellent job and offered a lot of reassurance and advice. It was very powerful. Afterwards we went to shake his hand and politely declined our repeated invitation to gelato. A little group of us went to Zanoni & Zanoni anyways and it was delicious and fun. I like doing things that I would do in real life (since this is fake life), and getting ice cream with friends is one of those things that happens a lot in my real life. Then I Skyped with my top dudes, Tanner and Josh, for long hours and it was the best in the world.

Tuesday

In the morning we had class and then Becca and I were meeting some girls from our group at the train station to leave for Prague. We had looked at our tickets when we bought them and determined that we had enough time to run to Billa to get some snacks for the five hour train ride before we had to get to the station. We arrived at the Wien Mitte station and we checked the departure boards and didn't see Prague up there. We pulled out our tickets to see if the Prague station had a different name but discovered instead that we were at the wrong station. We booked it up the escalator back to the U-Bahn station and asked the first woman we saw how to find the Wien Meidling station. She gave us perfect directions, but told us it would take 20 minutes to get there. Problem: our train was scheduled to leave in 17 minutes. By some miracle, I had my cell phone with me (I always forget it and even thought that I had forgotten it that day until it started ringing in my pocket) and Paige called to ask where we were. I frantically explained the situation and she told us what platform the train was leaving from. The U-Bahn seemed to take forever and at one point we were packed in like cattle. When the doors slid open at Philidelphiasbruke, we started sprinting. Our huge backpacks full of everything we needed for the next three days were bouncing on our backs and I'm sure we looked like lunatics running through the station. I think I was yelling a prayer out loud that we would make it, but everything is kind of hazy. We sprinted up the escalator to the platform Paige told us, and we were relieved to see the train still there. But we didn't stop running because all I could imagine was watching it roll away with us heaving and panting on the platform. We ran past the ticket taker, who didn't even try to stop us (which is good because I couldn't speak and I might have thrown up on him if I'd tried). We made it onto the train with seriously 30 seconds to spare. It was madness.

Five hours later we arrived in Prague and our hostel looked like the Bernstein Bears built it (in the best way). It was clean and nice and we watched The Bachelor all together before going to bed.

Wednesday

SO gorgeous.

We lucked out with the weather and it was warm and sunny and nice. We went to a little lookout on a hill across the river from where we were staying in the Old Town and enjoyed the amazing view of the gorgeous city. Visually, I think I love Prague more than any city I've been to so far. Lots of red roofs.

Prague from the Charles Bridge. It can't help it how gorgeous it is.

We walked to the castle and explored that for awhile before heading over to the John Lennon wall and Charles Bridge. There was the sweetest band of old men playing on the bridge that you must see. Don't worry, they have a website. Also, Becca and I bought a CD if you are interested. I stood and listened to them with the perfect weather and the amazing sites around me and just felt really lucky.

John Lennon Wall

We went to Wenceslas Square where we found a stand that sold trdelnik (which we fondly call turtlenecks). It's a piece of dough wrapped around a rod and then spun over coals until the outside is toasty and the inside is still soft. Then it's rolled in sugar and almonds. So, basically it's heaven. We went to a restaurant for dinner where the drinks arrive at your table via model trains. Then we went out for dessert (not that we needed it) and returned to our treehouse hostel for the night.

Train Restaurant

Thursday

The weather was a little less gorgeous, but definitely enjoyable. We went to the Jewish Cemetary, and also every synagogue in Prague (I'm not being sarcastic, we really did see them all).

Jewish Cemetary

We went to a big church (cathedral?) in Weceslas Square, then we went to see the famous clock go off. The best part was the real live trumpeter that played a little song at the top of the tower.

The clock in Wenceslas Square

Then we took the metro out to Vyšehrad to check out the cemetary and church (thanks for the suggestion Drs. Hinckley!), which did NOT disappoint.

View from Vyšehrad

Vyšehrad Church

Something weird happened to some of my photos, so I don't know why the left side of this is purple, but it's still pretty.

From there we had to hurry back to the train station to get a train back to Vienna. Only we didn't realize that there was a connection on the train back, so Vienna didn't show up on the departure board. Surprise surprise...by the time we figured out what train we needed, we had to run to the platform to catch it. But then there was a snowstorm while we were in the train and it was so beautiful and it delayed us, but our connecting train waited and we made it back to Vienna safe and sound.

Friday

Becca and I ran around the Ringstrasse after class and then we did a walk for our Vienna Walks class and then we went home because we were tired and then we went to the Naschmarkt to get lunch and buy stuff to make curry that night.

Saturday

Homework, running, eating, resting. The musicians in our group gave a really impressive concert and a few of us went back to our favorite Mexican restaurant in the Prater afterwards.

Sunday

Church, Phantom of the Opera with Becca, Skyping with my old roommates/best friends and later with my family. Successful day.