Week 3-Betsy

 Hello everyone! Carlyn and I are approaching the 3-week mark here in Copenhagen. This week has been quite exciting so far. After a great night out on Friday, the whole crew decided to get going early (noon is early for us) and spend the day in Sweden. Malmo, the third largest city in Sweden, is only a 30-minute train ride away from Copenhagen. After a brief panic attack (we thought we were on the wrong train) and a few beers, we finally arrived. However, we soon realized that no one had done any research, and we knew nothing about Sweden or what to see/do there. However, Trevor took charge and purchased a map that helped us navigate our way to the main pedestrian street. Without the map, we most certainly would have ended up in industrial Malmo. After a long stroll and some lunch, we opted for the guided canal tour of the city. While our guide cracked jokes, we relaxed and took in the sights. The tour some very strange architecture including a house halfway submerged in water that is supposed to represent the world’s reliance on fossil fuels and our lack of sustainability (still don’t quite get it), and a building that was supposedly Malmo’s tallest skyscraper at only 30 stories.  Also, we kept hearing about the “castle” in Malmo. When we passed it during the tour, it turned out to be a really lame one-story building. Awkward.

Apparently the stores in every Scandinavian city close at 5:00, because the city began to shut down as we finished the tour. We decided to grab some soft ice before we left the city. I honestly cannot believe I have yet to mention soft ice because it is absolutely incredible. It’s the Danish/Swedish version of ice cream and to be honest I have no idea what it’s made out of. It has a consistency similar to soft serve ice cream, but they roll the cone in different toppings. I look like a 5 year old with my ice cream covered in rainbow sprinkles.  While eating said soft ice, we got to chatting with a Swedish gangster with a tear drop tattoo on his face. This apparently means that he has killed someone or one of his friends was killed. SafE. Overall, Malmo proved to be very similar to Copenhagen, just some different money and a different language. We can’t wait to head back there in October for the Britney Spears concert and a visit to Scandinavia’s largest nightclub!

Last Sunday was a lazy day in Copenhagen. Carlyn and I headed to Paludan’s in the morning for cappuccinos and a little bit of homework.  Thanks for the recommendation Vandy girls, because this is honestly the best café in Copenhagen. It’s half book store/half café and has the best chai tea lattes I’ve ever had. Definitely going to be our home base for studying for the next 3 months. After finishing our drinks we decided that we should try out the infamous Black Diamond library Sunday afternoon. We hopped on our bikes and started the 10-minute ride, but soon discovered that we were in the middle of a professional bike race. Oops. Although Carlyn and I have almost mastered biking with the Danes and even mastered biking rather inebriated, we were in way over our heads. We had to do a circle around the city, and quickly cross streets before the bikers zoomed by us. A lot of trouble to get to the Black Diamond, which wasn’t even open on Sundays! Seriously? Sunday is the #1 study day, and your main library isn’t open? We ended the day cooking dinner with friends in our dorm. I will admit we’ve gotten pretty adventurous with the cooking and I’m surprisingly doing pretty well. We’ve learned you can cook pretty much anything with olive oil and a pan.

On Tuesdays I only have one class and Carlyn is finished by noon, so we spent the morning exploring the neighborhood around DIS. The shopping is absolutely incredible in Copenhagen. A random boutique on a side street can be the coolest store you’ve ever been into. One of our favorites was a store that sold really interesting graphic tees. Carlyn, I still think you should get the one with the upside down Eiffel Tower. After popping in and out of a few vintage stores, Carlyn and I found a great bakery called St. Peders.

 This bakery has a student deal that gets you a coffee and a pastry for around 15 kroner. Considering most coffees are around 30 kroner ($6) I would say this is a pretty solid deal, and the pastry was fantastic. The 3-hour class, International Financial Management, was interesting considering the fact that Vanderbilt students make up 20% of the class. We all made it go by as quickly as possible. That night, we went to a pregame with our new SMU/F&M friends, headed to a bar called Francis Pony that serves fantastic mojitos, and finally, of course, to Kulor Bar.

On Wednesday, we don’t have class, but sometimes we have field studies to different companies/organizations around Copenhagen. At 1, my Economics of Globalization class headed to an IT labor union called PROSA. The visit was short and informative, because the Danes have totally different attitudes towards labor unions. In the United States, only 15% of US citizens are affiliated with a labor union, and these members are mostly blue-collar workers. In Denmark, it is the norm to be a part of your respective labor union. Wednesday night, we cooked dinner and went to bed early. I had to be up at 5:00 the next morning to start our study tour to western Denmark. Blog post about the study tour to come soon, we are heading back from it now!