goodbye denmark!

As I lay here in my Copenhagen bed, unable to fall asleep on my last night in Denmark, I find myself thinking of the night before I left for Denmark, another sleepless night.  What a great experience I have had. How blessed I am!  What wonderful friends I have made, and how sad it is to say goodbye.  What a great way to end the semester with beautiful snow on the ground and Christmas spirit in the air.  Bittersweet seems to be the word of the week.  I am finally coming home to family, friends, sun, mexican food, and peanut butter!  But it is not without saying tearful goodbyes to my dear friends that I have made aboard! I wish I could just take them to California with me! : ) I will also miss my daily danishes, my book cafe, my commute to school, shopping in between classes, my hans christian andersen class, living in Europe, pretending to be Danish, and paying $20 for my chicken burger at the laundry mat….well maybe not the $20 part : )

I am just reminded of how faithful the Lord is.  I was unsure about even coming to Denmark, I was so nervous.  But I know it has been the best decision I have made!  From traveling the world, to being able to grow as a person, I will never forget my four months abroad.  I am so grateful.

“Unfailing love comes with the morning, it’s your faithfulness we sing at night, it’s your kindness Lord that leads to our healing, all glory to our Maker, and a thousand Amens!”

… … …

I know I am missing some blog posts from past weekend trips (Dublin, Lubek, Malmo) so here are some of my favorite pictures:

DUBLIN FOR THANKSGIVING

LUBEK, GERMANY (christmas market!)

MALMO, SWEDEN

Here are some pictures from my last days in CPH! GOODBYE DENMARK! I WILL MISS YOU GIRLS!

The Clock

    For my Hans Christian Andersen class I had to write my own fairy tale inspired by him! I decided to write my fairy tale based off his famous tale called The Pine Tree. You can find the whole version of The Pine Tree here: http://kraftmstr.com/christmas/books/pinetree.html
(I recommend reading it, it was one of my favorites, but beware…it might not have the happiest ending, but that is classic Andersen!)

So I wanted to share with all of you my fairy tale! So here it is… WARNING: May have a sad ending!

The Clock
By: Brittany Allen
Inspired by: Hans Christian Andersen

    Once there was a clock who was very sad. He was a beautiful clock who was handmade by the best woodworker in all of Denmark. Everyone who entered his shop paid extra attention to him. No one would have thought that he was unhappy with all of the attention he was receiving. One day the richest man in all of Denmark – well the richest man besides the king – walked into the woodworker’s famous shop. Once he saw the sad clock he demanded to have it. The woodworker tried to warn him that he was very sad, but the rich man could not believe that something so beautiful could be so sad. “I must ask the clock why he is so sad!” said the rich man. The clock replied, “I am sad because my hands are in love and yet they are together for only a minute an hour, which is only twenty-four minutes a day!”
    The rich man could not believe that such a thing was possible. He assumed that the hands would be concentrating on their job of keeping time, not loving each other. “Well, is it true big hand, that you are in love with little hand?” The big hand could not even answer for he was thinking of her, the little hand. His mind was consumed with the passing of time. He wanted the time to go faster so he could be with his love again. Oh how the time seemed to go so slow when he wasn’t with her, and yet so fast when they were together. “Well, hello there, big hand!” shouted the rich man. “Can he not hear me?” the rich man asked the woodworker. “Oh no, he can, but he is just too grieved with being apart from her that he chooses not to listen. Now do you understand why the clock is so sad?” “I do indeed,” replied the rich man, “but I still want this clock. It will be perfect above my fireplace!”
    The woodworker thought he had warned the rich man enough about the sad clock and decided to sell it to him. “Now, you must remember to wind up the clock every eight days, can you remember to do that?” You see, the woodworker loved the sad clock and felt badly for the hands because they could not be together. But then again, that was the job they chose, so the woodworker felt he could do nothing to bring them together. But the woodworker always remembered to wind up the clock, guaranteeing that the hands continued to meet every week. He was concerned the rich man might forget. But the rich man replied, “Yes, every eight days, no problem.” The rich man left the woodworker’s shop and they never saw each other again.
    The rich man hurried home and placed the clock above the fireplace right where he said he would. He boasted, “I have found the most beautiful clock in all of Denmark!” The clock made the rich man very happy. You see, the rich man lived all by himself for his wife had recently died. Any new object in his house became part of his family and became a new companion for him. The rich man desperately wanted to make the clock happy for he hated seeing him so sad. “Big hand and little hand, you must not wish your life away waiting to be together! My love is dead but at least you two still have each other! Be happy that you have twenty-four minutes a day together!” But the hands could not even listen to the rich man’s advice because their minds were consumed with the pain of being apart.
    The fall came and went too quickly and time continued to move forward. It was now Christmas time, the rich man’s favorite time of year. He wished for the clock hands to move slower on Christmas day for it was his favorite day of the year. “Will you move slower hands? For today my grandchildren are coming over and I want to dance and sing all day with them!” The big hand replied, “No way, I need to see my love every hour or else I will die!” The rich man said, “Big hand, look around you, look at this beautiful pine tree, see how the tree has lights on it? Enjoy your surroundings, there is more to life than waiting!” Now the big hand was angry. He had not listened to the rich man’s advice before, but now that he could hear him, he wanted nothing to do with him. The big hand did not even thank the rich man for remembering to wind the clock every eight days. “Go away rich man, I want nothing to do with you, leave my love and I alone!” The rich man was surprised by the big hand’s reply and he decided it was best to give him some time alone, even though that is how the big hand spent most of his day.
    The big hand wasn’t going to see his love for forty-six minutes, for he had just seen her, so he decided to look around the room and open his ears to what was going on. He heard the pine tree say, “Oh, why doesn’t tonight come! The candles will be lit – I wonder what will happen then! Will I grow roots and stand here both summer and winter?” What a stupid tree, thought the big hand. He thinks he will stay lit all year long? But the big hand also sympathized with the tree for he wished for night as well so he could spend another minute with little hand.
    That night, the clock’s hands did not move slower for the rich man. The big hand did not even see the rich man’s grandchildren merrily dancing around the pine tree. Again he was consumed with the power of love, blind to all other feelings of life. But time was not a problem for the rich man, for every minute of Christmas day he relished. Joy and peace overwhelmed him, for even though his wife was not there to see their smiling grandchildren, he saw her in their faces. He knew she was with him always, and that he could always think of her whenever he wanted.
    Morning came and the big hand waited impatiently for the rich man to wake up and wind up the clock because it was the eighth day. The rich man was very diligent about winding the clock because he loved him. The big hand started to worry because the rich man was an hour late in winding him up. “Where is he? He must wind me up because if he does not, I can never see my love again! Wake up rich man, wake up!” The big hand thought maybe the rich man was mad at him because he had yelled at him the night before. “Why did I yell at him? He must hate me now. He must not love me anymore. Oh how awful I feel, where is he, where is he?”
    The rich man had passed away in his sleep Christmas night. But you must know, he died a happy man and is now dancing in heaven with his wife. But here on Earth, there was no one to wind up the clock. The big hand knew he was going to die apart from his love and his separation from her grieved him deeply. He thought “If only I could have been happy with her while I had a chance to be. Now it is all over and gone! Everything!” Abruptly, the hands stopped at six o’clock in the morning. The hands were on opposite sides of the clock and were never to see each other again.

my parents are in europe!

I know this post is very overdue but I wanted to say how much fun I had in both Copenhagen and Paris with my parents! I do not have any pictures of my parents in Copenhagen because my dad was taking the pictures on his camera but I have over 200 from Paris! I loved being able to show my parents around Copenhagen, my home for the past 4 months. I showed them my school, my favorite cafes, restaurants, museums, stores, and of course my favorite bakery! I was hoping and praying for some warmer weather when my parents came, but the weather was far from that! It actually snowed one day! But unlike typical Californian’s we didn’t bundle up inside when it started to drizzle, but we kept going through rain and snow and we had a blast! Then after a few days in Denmark, we boarded a plane to Paris.

Out of all of the places I have been, hands down, Paris takes the cake! I LOVED Paris! From the moment we stepped off the plane it was “Bon Jour Mademoisellel” “Merci!” I loved it! I was second guessing my choice of studying abroad in Denmark! From the food, to the art museums, and Paris Disney, it was heaven on earth! Oh and I made no hesitation in a croissant a day! That is what the Cal Poly gym is for when I get home! We were in Paris for 6 nights, and it was perfect. I was so glad we stayed there for that long because there is so much to do there! Here is a list of everything we did!

1. Climbed the Eiffle Tower
2. Louve Museum
3. Climbed the Notre Dame Bell Tower
4. Versailles for the day
5. Disney Paris
6. Orsay Museum
7. Pompidou (Modern Art Museum)
8. Climbed the Arc de Triumph
9. Le Orangie Museum
10. Ate GREAT food!
11. Shopping!
12. Overnight trip to the Loire Valley!

We did so much more than this and there are many more pictures which I did not post! I loved traveling Europe with my parents! We had so much fun! Love you Mom and Dad! Can’t wait to see you in 11 DAYS! MUAH!

less than a month…

I can’t even believe it, a month left! Well, less than a month left. I decided I’m not going to count down the exact days left because then I don’t think I could sleep at night! I would just be too excited! Four months ago I was kicking myself for even signing up for this.  Why did I want to leave my family and friends for 4 months? Why did I want to leave SLO??  My friends will be the first to tell you how I did not want to go, I don’t even remember sleeping the night before.  I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared in my life.  Of the unknown, of the new environment, of being alone.  But what once was a regretful decision became the best decision I have ever made.  It is hard to even write down all that I have learn and experienced in the past 3 months, about myself, my relationship with Christ, my interests, dreams, and the world.  The world seems less huge and unknown.  Europe seems less scary, unmanageable, and different.  I was writing down all of the places I have been and was overwhelmed! I have been to London, Oxford, Copenhagen, Prague, Oslo, Paris, Salzburg, Munich, and now Dublin! I have been to pretty much all of the major cities in Europe!! Wow!

But even through all my adventures I ran into moments where I just longed to be home.  I have a greater appreciation for my family, friends, the sun, living in America! Living in Europe, I was stripped of the constant comfort of the familiar. Stripped of the constant communication with friends and family, where you can call them when you want to and they won’t be sleeping because of the time difference! But it has only been growth for me that has come out of this experience. I have learned to trust in the Lord daily, to trust that He will provide, and He does! I’m beginning to see the Lord’s purpose in me being abroad, my life verse here has been Psalm 32:8: “The Lord says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.’” Before I left for Europe, I did not believe that leaving America was the best pathway for my life, but I’m beginning to see that it definitely was! I would not trade this experience for anything! I feel more confident in who I am, a greater idea of what it means to trust in the Lord fully, a new love and appreciation for home. I was reading my blog before I came, and I said how I wished I would become a strong independent woman. It sounds so cheesy. But having to figure out public transportation, make new friends, survive in a place where people do not speak your language you learn independence! I always thought that I was a pretty independent person, but being here I have learned how dependent I am on people. Not that dependence is a bad thing at all, because I believe the greatest gift God has given us is community, but I have learned that I don’t mind being alone and that I can take care of myself just fine!

I haven’t even begun to write down everything I have learned being abroad. But I just want to let you know how much I miss all of you! I still have more exciting adventures waiting for me, a trip to Dublin to see my best friend, sister and brother in law!!, a day trip to a German Christmas market, and spending the Christmas season in Copenhagen with my dear friends that I have made here. I know that when I get home there will be needed trips to New York, Minnesota, and Seattle

I hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving! It is weird to be missing out on such a major holiday at home, but I can not wait to spend Thanksgiving day with Amanda, my sister and brother I’m sorry about the lack of blog posts! I will try and blog about both Dublin and my wonderful vacation with my parents in Copenhagen and Paris when I get back! We had such a fun time, it’s going to be hard to put all of our fun into words! Love you mom and dad! Check back soon! Love, Brittany

freezing in prague with two great girls!

My school gave me a two week travel break starting on Halloween and for the first weekend of my vacation I went to Prague with my two good friends, Amelia and Stephanie! For the rest of my break my parents came to Copenhagen and we traveled Copenhagen and Paris together, but that adventure will be in another entry!

We stepped off the plane in Prague with really no information at all about the city! And I kind of enjoyed not knowing because we had no expectations, we had all just heard it was a beautiful city and we were ready to explore! We realized though once we were at the ATM in the airport that we had no idea what the currency rate was in comparison to the dollar. I saw some girls about our age talking in English so I decided to ask if they knew the exchange rate and luckily they did! That was how little we knew about Prague. We only knew how to get to our hostel and that was about it! But before we went hunting for the bus to take us to our hostel, we saw a Subway in the airport and the three of us salivated for a taste of home. I must say it tasted nothing like the Subway at home, at home no matter if it is a Subway stop in Bakersfield on our way to Lake Mead, or a quick stop in Irvine for a classic sub, it always tastes the same. We were hoping for that classic taste, but I think we were too far away. But still we relished that little taste of America. It is funny what you miss when you are gone, it is the little things you miss. Never in my dreams did I think I would miss Subway!? It is kind of gross if you think about it…how Subway all tastes the same no matter where you are in America, what do you think they are putting in their meats?! But anyways, away from talking about food and back to Prague!

I must say I have never seen any other city like Prague. It was like stepping into a history book. The streets are cobble stoned and the buildings themselves are just beautiful! Our first day in Prague we just wandered the city! We went to the Prague castle which is the biggest castle in Europe! The cathedral there was beautiful, I especially loved the gargoyles guarding the church!

We then walked across the Charles Bridge into Old Town Prague! The whole weekend when we were there it was pretty cold in Prague. I was freezing, my other two friends are from Minnesota and Settle so they weren’t as cold as I was! To illustrate how cold I was I will tell you what I wearing: tights under my jeans, jeans, wool socks, ugg boots, two sweaters, a sweatshirt, jacket, gloves, scarf and mittens! I know…a little ridiculous! But it was THAT cold! I felt like telling the Czech, “You don’t have to live this way! Come to California!!” I must say that I feel very blessed to live where I do after living in a cold climate! I am seriously lacking some Vitamin D lovin! Here are some pictures of the bridge and Old Town:

We also went to the famous John Lenon wall, when he died people drew graffiti on a wall in remembrance of him…

I loved traveling with Steph and Amelia because we did not stress ourselves out trying to see everything. Also Prague is a pretty small city and you can see almost everything in a couple of days. But we would hide from the cold in different coffee shops around Prague and enjoy each other company’s for hours! I loved it! We also went to the movies, and we always had long meals together. At home, my meals are always so fast. My mom calls us down for dinner, we eat, do the dishes and are done in about 30 minutes. My sister and I use to race each other eating while dad would tell us to slow down and breath! ha ha It has taken a while for me to get us to eating slow and just sitting for longer periods of time, but now I really enjoy it!

For one meal, the three of us ordered beer samples! I tried dark beer, cherry beer, coffee beer, banana beer!, and even green beer! (don’t try it, its gross) ha ha Prague was cheap, which was a nice change from Copenhagen, where beer is 8 dollars, for a sample it was only 4! Much better price!

Another food place that I miss in America, which I knew I was going to miss, is the famous Trader Joes. Steph’s mom sent her a care package of great Trader Joe’s goodies and we made a meal one night out of it!

I loved Prague (even though my body was so tired from tensing up from the cold!) and I loved traveling with Steph and Amelia! We had so much fun! I was so glad that I joined them in the start of their travels and once I left Prague I was so excited to see my parents in Copenhagen the next day!!

living a childhood dream!

This post is very over due, as I am writing this I am listening to Christmas music, so that is saying something! But I wanted to share about my adventures with Laura to Munich and Salzburg for the Sound of Music tour! We had an unforgettable weekend (October 23-25) !  We went to Germany and Austria just for the weekend?! It still boggles my mind! We are so blessed!

Friday afternoon, I waited impatiently for Laura to get out of class and we rushed to the airport to catch our plane!  We bought our tickets separately so we couldn’t sit together on the plane and I ended up sitting next to an older Danish man.  He was an interesting man, first he smelled weird, and second he proceed to tell me how my home (Southern California) would be a good place for a terrorist attack because they could just set off fires everywhere! I was like, “Is he seriously telling me how terrorists should attack my country on a plane?” He was whacked. So as we landed Laura and I quickly walked away from him, picked up our bags, and jumped on a metro to take us to our hostel in Munich!

That night we went to the Hofbrauhaus (a famous beer hall) for some dinner! It was like stepping into a mini Oktoberfest! People were dressed up in their lederhosen, singing German songs while cheering their huge mugs (called mas) of beer! (which I had trouble holding with one hand!) We felt awkward at first because there are just long tables, and you are just suppose to sit with strangers! We ended up finding a table with two seats on the end next to an American family! They asked us where we were from, and it was funny to say that we were from different places in the US. Laura was New York, and I was California! We realized those are really the only two states most foreigners go google eyed over. But the family at our table asked me, “Where in California?” “Southern.” “Where??” “Orange County?” “Yeah…where?” “Irvineee?” “I’m from Tustin!” Small world!! And they had just been to Salzburg, where we were going the next day, so they told us what to do there! Soon after we ordered our beer, pretzels, and sausage (Laura had wine of course ) the family left and Asian tourists sat at our table with two older German men. They told us that they were doing business together and they were showing their Asian clients a typical German beer garden! They were interesting. The Asian men kept wanting to take pictures with Laura and I! They would take the picture and then zoom in on my mouth in the photo and say, ” like sunshine! like sunshine!” It was hilarious! He was then like “E-mail? e-mail?” and I was like “you knowwww, no that is okay” and then he nodded and said “that is okay! that is okay!” Here are some pictures from our eventful night!:

I could not finish it! it was soo BIG! i tried though! i guess it is because I am not fully german

lookin like a pro waitress!

We went back to our hostel exhausted ready for a good nights sleep…but we were in for a long night. Let me just tell you, German kids are crazy! We heard them running up and down the hall of the hostel, yelling and blowing a duck horn, like the one’s they sell at Ducks game, till 6 in the morning! Six in the morning!! Needless to say we didn’t get much sleep but of course had energy to explore Munich that Saturday and then catch our train to Salzburg!!

In Munich we climbed St. Peter’s church tower (all 300 stairs!), were yelled at by an old German woman in the Frauenkirche (a church): “shhhh it’s a kirke!”..twice actually..ha ha apparently you can’t laugh in a church!, watched the Glockenspiel strike noon, and ate lunch at the Viktualienmarkt, an outdoor street market!

climbing st. peters!

the Glockenspiel!

Viktualienmarkt!

We then bought brie, starbucks, and candy for our two hour train ride to Salzburg (aka Sound of Music tour!!!)

knitting on the train! we were such grandmas!

The train ride was beautiful! It was so nice to finally see mountains, well parts of mountains, because of the intense fog! I told Laura that I was sick of pancake Copenhagen and ready for some waffles! Because it was so foggy I had no idea that Salzburg was sounded by gorgeous massive mountains with snow on the top! We didn’t see all of mountains until the next morning when the sun had finally come out!

That night in Salzburg we caught the bus into town from our hostel and ate at Mozart’s cafe (we thought it was appropriate, Mozart was born in Salzburg), saw his house, and went into a beautiful church! The church was having an art show inside, many colorful lights were lit up inside and they would change colors and a service was going on inside, it was actually very moving! We saw nuns walking in and they would be singing along to the songs, I wish I had known German!

Mozart's cafe! where i got apple studel!

Mozart's house!

obsessed much!?

And then Sunday finally came!! The whole reason for our trip! The Sound of Music TOUR!!! I was finally living my childhood dream! I grew up watching this movie probably once a month, I loved and still love this movie. It is my mom’s favorite movie too, so we would always watch it together singing along! And the tour lived up to all my expectations. Our bus was bright red with the actors pictures printed on the front, our tour guide was probably the most obsessed person I have ever met with the Sound of Music! On the tour she would be quoting direct quotes from the movie and walking up and down our bus singing every song! When our bus would be going up a mountain they would play “Climb Every Mountain” on the intercom, it was really cheesy, but i LOVED it! Laura and I sang along the whole time, and we tried to reenact parts of the movie in front of some of the famous landmarks from the movie:

"I have confidence...in confidence ALONEEE!"

"you are sixteen going on seventeen!"

The church where Maria married the Captain!

"Doe, Re, Meee!"

our ridiculous bus, which i LOVED!

Overall it was a wonderful tour! We also just got to see Salzburg which is a gorgeous place! Laura was the best traveling and singing partner and we had so much fun together! Love you Laura! What an unforgettable trip!

the lake district in Salzburg! beautiful!

singing on the tour of course!

goodbye Salzbug!! we loved youu!

could not have been a better weekend…

amanda in copenhagen!

Friday afternoon I impatiently waited outside baggage claim surrounded by Danes waving their flag waiting like me for their loved one to walk through the door.  When I saw Amanda, my best friend from home, we both met each other with the biggest smiles and tears in our eyes.  It was so good to see her.  I could not have been happier in that moment embracing my friend.  Before Amanda came I was starting to feel homesick.  Now I am half way done with my program, which is insane, and I was in need to see a familiar face from home.  And I was in need of some good laughing.  Whenever Amanda and I are together we can’t help but laugh and I never laugh as hard as I do with her.

So after I picked her up from the airport, we put her luggage in a locker at my school downtown and roamed the streets of Copenhagen.  We walked up and down the main shopping street Stroget and I took her to the famous harbor Nyhavn.

Nyhavn

We were both exhausted from our weeks so we went back to my apartment and cooked dinner.  Dinner out in Copenhagen is very expensive, like do not expect to have dinner out for under 20 dollars!  So we made chicken burgers and potatoes and it was delicious!  Oh and don’t forget the Nutella and gummy bears It was so nice to catch up with her in person, no gmail chatting, no skyping where the sounds gets cut off, but friends together at last!  Of course we laughed all night swapping our stories about our experiences living in another country.

In the morning we woke up to a busy day of exploring Copenhagen.  We put on our tights under our jeans, our multiple sweaters, scarfs, and wool socks to try and brave the cold weather.  This past week it has been freezing in Copenhagen, and I am not use to it!  One morning I woke up and I was like “I’m over this!” It is just getting to cold, I now know that I could never live with the cold weather.  The day time here is colder than San Luis Obispo on the coldest night of the winter!  It is like living in Mammoth, minus the best part, the snow!  After we bundled up, we walked across the street to grab our second danish of our weekend.We then headed over to Kings Garden and enjoyed watching the falling leaves! It was so fall, it was beautiful! Then I took her to the Round Tower to see the whole city of Copenhagen!After seeing the tops of all of the buildings we walked back over to Nyhavn and took a water taxi to the Black Diamond, the city’s library.  Copenhagen has a very different mix of modern architecture with very old.  The Black Diamond is a perfect example of Copenhagen’s new architecture.  Next to the Black Diamond we stumbled upon a Medieval Market.  We asked some Danes in Medieval costumes what was going on and they replied, “You have just stepped into the 14th century! Welcome!” Another said, “Come, come over here and buy this fertility basket! It will make you stay young and beautiful!” Another said, “No come here and buy this love potion!” Amanda and I looked at each other, with faces like “How do we get out of here!?”  We both just start walking away, and I say, “Um, maybe, see you later” a.k.a. “Please leave us alone.” But they both replied walking after us, “What time? What time?” Amanda and I looked at each other and just started laughing.  We then headed back to the main shopping street Stroget and enjoyed walking into the newly opened Christmas stores!  Then we went to La Glace. Now La Glace is a cake bakery founded in 1870, and still has the charm of the olden days.  My Hans Christian Andersen teacher said that Andersen might have eaten cake there!  So I had been saving going to this bakery until Amanda came, and I could not wait to eat there!  But I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. When we arrived we could barely find a table to sit and eat, the place was packed! We both decided to get hot chocolates and we paid approximately 12 DOLLARS each for a cup of hot chocolate.  Granted it was delicious, it was pure chocolate melted down, I mean it was good. But 12 dollars worth? Not sure, but we just enjoyed each other company drinking straight chocolate

the 12 dollar hot chocolate!

we had to take a picture of our splurge!

After La Glace we went to Tivoli! Tivoli is like the Disneyland of Copenhagen!  Now I have been to Disneyland around Halloween and I must say that Tivoli’s Halloween decorations are MUCH better than Disneylands! It honestly looked like Halloween threw up on Tivoli, I had never seen so many pumpkins in my life! Here are some pictures from our night in Tivoli:

we asked these Japanese boys to take a picture of us, and in turn they wanted a picture with us!

this space is dedicated to candice, we wish you could have been there..miss you!

Danish hot dogs and Carlsburg for dinner!

This boy was sitting next to us at dinner, we couldn't stop laughing at his face paint, it was so creepy

It was so fun to experience Halloween Tivoli with Amanda.  We ended the day at a local bar across the street and ordered the classic Danish apple cider.Sunday morning came all too quickly but we still had till around 2 o’clock to hang out. So we went out to bunch at my favorite restaurant in Copenhagen, the Laundry Mat cafe and split the Dirty Brunch, which consists of a roasted tomato, Danish pancakes, bacon, eggs, sausage, cheese, fruit and greek yogurt.  We then walked around a beautiful park by my house, bought our last danish, and headed to the airport.  It was so sad to say goodbye to her, I wish she could just live here with me!  But I am going to be spending Thanksgiving in Ireland with her and I can NOT wait!  I truly could not have asked for a better weekend!

Amanda: Thank you so much for coming this past weekend.  We always have so much fun together! Your friendship means the world to me and it was so good to see you! I know that we are going to be friends forever, I love you! xo Britty

a girl’s night in…

Now who doesn’t love dancing the night away and singing to the top of their lungs to famous music from the decades!??  We sure had a blast! Last night a bunch of girls from our program got together in my friend’s apartment and had a dinner party! (or in Britain they called it a dinner bop!) But we added a little twist to our party.  We made everyone dress up decades!  I immediately grabbed my police t-shirt, black skinning jeans, and leg warmers to represent the 80s!  We made Tandori chicken with vegetables and rice and it was delicious! Laura and I spent over 2 hours the night before working on the playlist for the party.  We had everything from “Splish Splash” to “Baby One More Time!”  After dinner, we all decided we NEEDED ice cream, so we put on our jackets to face the 40 degree weather to then freeze even more by eating our ice cream.  But it was so worth it.  Then we came back, ate our ice cream, and sang to the top of our lungs to classic songs from “Like a Prayer” to “Bye Bye Bye.” I forgot how much fun it is to dress up and just dance.  I loved how all of us girls were from all over the United States and yet we all knew all of the words to all of the same songs….we were united with music and dance!  All of us had so much fun and I know there will be many more nights like this to come

I love you Katie!!

20's girls!

What is LOVE? baby don't hurt me...no more..

dancing!!

Back to the 80s!

umm not quite sure what we were singing here...but we were into it

"Just like a prayer, your voice can take me there!"

Love you girls! We are so fun

“just touched down in london town!”

I was very sad to leave Oxford, I wished we had spent more than just one night there, but I could not have been more excited to see LONDON! That famous place where Peter Pan flew, where Bridget Jones writes in her diary, where Anne Boleyn was beheaded, where the Beatles made their start, where Mary Poppins flew in on an umbrella, and where people say “Cheers” instead of “Thanks!” I think I may try to bring that one back to the states! I felt more at home in London than I thought I would. I LOVED being able to read signs, pronounce street names, over hear conversations, and talk to strangers knowing that they speak English. It was a nice break from staring blankly at someone on the bus who is talking to you in Danish and replying, “Uhhhh…English?” London is very Americanized. But maybe I just think that because Denmark is so unlike America. London reminded me of New York, just more spread out, not as condensed. I felt very fashionable in London, unlike in Denmark. The Danes are SO fashionable, they would never dream of wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, it’s not about comfort to them. But in London, that was not the case, I felt like I fit into their society and I was not longer the American who sticks out.

Sooo… let me take you through my wonderful four days in London! Let me first quote Charles Dickens about my days in London, “This is a London particular . . . A fog, miss.” London was not short on rain or cold during our four days there.

Tuesday was our first full day in London and we went to a PR firm and then on the London Eye. It was hard to see the whole city through the rain and fog.

see big ben??

classic London

We then had the whole rest of the afternoon on our own! So I went with a couple of friends from my program to the Tower of London!

our tour guide

My favorite part was the special exhibit in the Tower. They had Henry the Eight’s armor and weapons! I know I sound like a boy talking about seeing his armor as my favorite part, but I have this weird fascination with Henry the 8th. I love him! Ok well, I don’t love him, but I love learning about him and the history during that particular time. I think after reading The Other Boleyn Girl (read it if you haven’t!) I have fallen in love with Henry and his wives.

That night we then went to see Love’s Labour Lost at the Globe Theater! The Globe Theater is a reconstruction of the original theater designed in 1599 for William Shakespeare’s plays! Granted I had no idea what was going on in the play, but I really enjoyed being in the Globe theater! It is beautiful! We would have been considered rich during Shakespeare’s time where our seats were in the theater. It was fun to pretend to live in the past for one night.

Wednesday morning we went to the Tate Modern, which is a really cool Modern art museum. Entry is free but I have to recommend the audio guide if you go. The audio guide not only told you about the art piece but also included music the artists liked, pictures of the artists and his/her background, and other random fun facts. It was the coolest audio guide I have ever seen! We then went to the Telegraph as a class. The Telegraph is a famous newspapers in London. After our lecture at the Telegraph a couple friends and I decided to get afternoon tea at the hotel next door! The hotel was lovely and we had wonderful little pastries and sandwiches. Our waiters were Asian and they were insistent in helping us eat a proper English tea. They came up to us and made us put milk in our tea. I was like “I like my tea without milk.” “No its better with milk, trust me” “No its really ok!” “No, trust me, it’s an English thing” Ok, so I put milk in my tea “No put more in” ha ha is this for real? An Asian waiter is forcing me to put milk in my tea to become more English, is something wrong with this picture?? And then they insisted on taking our picture multiple times. It was hilarious!

the hotel where our tea was served

After tea, Steph, Ali and I walked over to the Theater District in London and saw Billy Elliot with other girls in our group! It was wonderful! It was a musical I would not buy the soundtrack for, but the dancing was amazing, especially Billy. I guess Billy has to train for a whole year for that part! He must not have been older than 12! Billy Elliot is set in Ireland though, meaning….they had Irish accents and I was in trouble. (Amanda..how do you understand them in Dublin??!) I couldn’t get past those thick accents. People in the theater would be laughing and Steph and I would look at each other with confused faces, we had no idea what they had just said! Other than that it was a lovely musical!

Thursday our group went to the British Music Experience Exhibition in the O2 Bubble! The O2 bubble is where Micheal Jackson was going to have his concerts! The museum is an interactive museum of popular British music. They had clothes worn by famous British artists as well as guitars that they used with other famous memorabilia. They had memorabilia from the Whos to the Spice Girls.

The O2

i LOVED this, spice girls were my favorite in elementary school!

They also had this room in the museum where you could learn how to play different instruments!

steph and i singing "bleeding love"

After the museum, we had a lecture at the School of London Economics, and then we had the BEST dinner of our trip at Brown’s! I ordered a Pear Ginger Fizz martini! I felt so grown up I just went up to the bar and ordered a drink! It was so fun, I can’t wait till I’m 21 in the states! I felt overwhelmed looking at the drink menu, but I thought, what would my mom or sister order?? and that seemed to help

oh.. I also ordered an Irish coffee it was delicious!

Friday we got up early and went to the East London Markets! I guess Indian food is popular there…so I had my first Indian food experience and I really enjoyed it! And then it was back home to Copenhagen! I was exhausted..we were go go go the whole trip! But it was so worth it because we got to see and do so much! I really enjoyed getting to know the people in my Communications class better as well. We had a small group (around 22 people) compared to other DIS groups, so that was fun because we got to know each other pretty well! I feel like I only scratched the surface of London! I will be back for sure, there is still so much more to see and do! Until next time London… Cheers!

london bridge

Big Ben!

red phone booth!

oxford in october…

There is only one word to describe Oxford and that is college.  The city breaths college.  When I thought of college in elementary school, oxford is what I pictured.  Historical massive buildings, huge dining halls, big grass fields, red leaves, college sweatshirts, and young adults walking to class with books in hand.  For my long study tour with my communications class we stayed in Oxford for one night and the spent the other four nights in London.  I must say that I think I liked Oxford better than London.  It might have been because it reminded me of SLO.  Oxford is very much a college town, it is small and adorable.  When we were there it was move in day for the “freshies” so we saw all of the parents driving in their BMW SUVs unloading their child’s bedding into their dorm.  Can you imagine moving your son/daughter into Oxford University?? Crazyyy!

Oxford kids moving in!

So let me start at the beginning of our trip…

We arrived at Oxford around lunch time and took a walking tour around the city.  But our tour guide really only took us around in a small little circle.  He was adorable though, he was a little old man, and every time he stopped to talk with us about a building or room he would end his conversation with “thank you” and keep walking until he stopped to tell us something again. It was hilarious! He was obsessed with Oxford as well.  He told us that Oxford is not like other universities in the fact that you “make friends.” Oh that’s right, I don’t make friends at my school, thats just an Oxford thing. ha ha After the tour we checked into our lovely hotel! I guess hotels in Oxford are pretty expensive, ours was around 150 pounds a night!

We then went out to celebrate my friend Audrey’s 22nd birthday in Oxford! My professor and a group a kids from my class went to a local bar and ordered burgers and beers.

Notice: my teacher eatting a burger with a fork and knife (Danish way) while I eat mine the American way..hands only

The next morning we went to the BBC in Oxford! It was actually really fun! We were able to tour the station and see how a local station is run!  I think if I went into broadcasting I would want to work for a local station.  Everyone seemed to know each other and it looked like a fun station to work for! My friend Steph and I are already making plans to live in Oxford and work at the BBC We then had a tour of Christ’s College.  I loved Christ’s College for a mulitple of reasons!

First Reason: Lewis Carrol went to Oxford and was inspired to write Alice in Wonderland from Christ’s college

Alice was the dean's daughter when Carrol was in school and she would get to the garden by going through this small door...like the door into "wonderland"

Alice's cat would climb up the tree on the left and she would have to go and get him...he became the cheshire cat

Second Reason: Harry Potter was filmed there! Ok, I was so so excited! I felt like I was at Hogwarts!

famous dining hall (but do you notice something missing?? only 3 tables!)

Third Reason: The mix of the beautiful landscape and the historic buildings of OxfordAfter our tour we took a bus to London! And I must say…I was quite sad to leave.  I wish we had more time in Oxford than just one night.  I must recommend going to Oxford and going in October! The leaves are changing colors, students are just arriving, and it isn’t too cold yet! I have to admit though I was wearing long sleeves, sweater, jacket, and scarf…and a hat at times I was known as the little cali girl in my group.  Im sorry but 50 degrees is cold! That is our winter nights in Southern California!! Blog post on London coming next…it’s getting late and my bed is calling my name..