I sat with my face glued to the window to ensure that I didn't miss my stop. Many are probably thinking that this was a relatively straightforward direction given that amusement parks tend to quite large and would therefore be difficult to miss. This, however, was not the case. I managed thankfully to get off at the right stop because I recognized two other students from my program on the bus and followed them off. I quickly chased them down and explained that my directions to the orientation were terrible and I initially felt relieved, however, this feeling didn't really last. The two guys looked at me and said that actually had no idea how to get there either. Given that none of us knew where to go we decided that we should stick together and hopefully we would be able to figure it out. I pulled out my map where my host mom and simply marked DIS with a giant X and we began to discuss which direction we should go. The map, however, was difficult to read, but thankfully a very friendly danish man, seeing that we were lost stopped to offer us directions. And yes, the rumor is true. EVERY DANE SPEAKS ENGLISH! Thankfully given this man's help we were able to locate the orientation building and were only a few minutes late.
The first day was pretty much a blur and I spent most of the day trying to fight off the symptoms of jet lag. In the afternoon I got the opportunity, however, to attend my first of two survival danish classes. I learned how to say what my name was where I was from and what I was studying. So, if you want to impress anyone. Jeg hedder (insert name) means I am named whatever. Jeg komme fra (town name) i (state). I am from where ever and Jeg lesser (field of study) means I study whatever. Word of caution. Do not pronounce the words as they appear because you will be saying them incorrectly. After my danish class I got back on the bus and rode it home. The rest of my evening was relatively boring. I was extremely tired so my host mom prepared dinner and I seriously passed out pretty much right afterwards.
On Tuesday I had another Danish survival class and explored the city. On Wednesday morning we were divided into groups and sent out to complete a 3 and 1/2 hour scavenger hunt. This was by far the best activity although it was bitterly cold and snowing my group had a wonderful time and it was great to get to know a few people a little better. That afternoon we were divided into our program groups and given the exact dates of our study tours and got an opportunity to meet all the students in our program. Our specific class of around 30 students were divided into 7 groups of 4-5 students. The students that were in our specific group would be the students that we would work closely with the entire semester. I had the pleasure of being put in a group with a kid named Christian and let me tell you. He's just a riot. Be sure to use to the traditional definition of the word riot. This kid is absolutely ridiculous. I know i'll have great stories to tell you about him as the semester continues.
I go a little lighter on the details now because I'm getting pretty tired of typing. Today, thursday, was the first day of classes and they were absolutely fabulous! I officially love copenhagen and goodbye in Danish is hej hej so...
LOVE YOU ALL and hej hej for now!
Helen
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