Hej, venner! ("Hi, friends!" - See "ord af dagen"on August 21) 


Today was, overall, a great day as far as my immersion into Danish culture goes. Meaning, in short, I managed to maneuver from location to location without getting lost and using my map only once (this does not include my failed attempt to get some map guidance from a woman working in a yarn store who informed me of the following:"I cannot help you find your gym. Only yarn.").  


This morning was a bit rough, seeing as we had to be up at 7.30 and went to bed a little late (i.e., past 11.00 pm). Several residents of Ravnsbroggade (spelling correct, pronunciation still TBD) went to a bar downtown last night. Now, I have to be honest, I was expecting to just see several excited American students frolicking through the night, but my cronies and I did an impressive job, if I do say so myself, of mingling with the locals and the seemingly random assortments of young Europeans of various nationalities who were also soaking up the many perks of Danish nightlife. We met a lovely girl from Finland, a boy from France, a girl from the Netherlands, two Danish men (one of whom has a sister living in Austin, of all coincidences. These two boys were extremely enthusiastic about the American music scene and were, impressively, able to sing all of the words to "Party Rock Anthem," "I Gotta Feeling," and "Blue," among others. They took quite an interest in dancing with my friend Josie and I and their approach to said dancing was not unlike a pre-game football huddle. But I digress,) who are all studying at the business school in Copenhagen.  


Needless to say, after a long night of boogying, I was expecting little of my day today. However, after a lecture on cultural affairs and the monumental filling out of my visa application, I got coffee with a new friend at a really trendy little Danish coffee chain called 7/11 (pronounced "Seven Eleven"). Tre chic. Today I also joined a Danish gym that looks like it was cut straight out of Architectural Digest where I intend to continue my promising career in the competitive and cutthroat world of Kickboxing. After this, I managed to "stumble upon" H&M where I tried on a series of clothing items that I am approximately 4 feet too short to ever even dream of sporting. Fortunately, I was able to find a few size-appropriate items (Yes, Dad, only "a few"). I then successfully navigated the (not nearly as complicated as I had anticipated) bus station and FINALLY was able to find my way back to Ravnsbroggade solo (Miracles happen). 


Tonight, several of us made dinner together, which was a lot of fun. Fear not; frozen salmon day 2 was just as satisfying as frozen salmon day 1. Yes, I know that you have two words floating in your head right about now: "mercury" and "poisoning." However, in my defense I had every intention of making chicken teriyaki this evening, but no one warned me that frozen chicken breasts have a tendency to form an indestructible bond that prevents aspiring chefs such as myself from breaking off only one of said breasts without throwing the entire frozen mess against a concrete surface. Unfortunately, our water still shows some signs of e coli, making washing dishes extremely laborious (i.e., we have to boil water prior to partaking in the ritual cleansing). All in all, it was an enjoyable evening and now it is time to finish up my first homework assignment of the semester. My reading seems really interesting so far - some about the growth of "creative industries,"a little about social media and blogging, and a tad on the growth of selling "experiences" rather than goods and services as a business strategy. I posted an interesting article below. Think positive thoughts as I officially begin my formal Danish education tomorrow at 10.05 am. 


Farvel!




ord af dagen: "Selvfølgelig" [seh-FOO-lee] = "of course" (loose translation)


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jul/13/google-plus-online-identiy