4-Day Weekend

It's Thursday night and the start of a 4-day weekend...I only have 3 days of classes. 2 on Tuesday, one on Wednesday, and 2 on Thursday. This may sound like an easy schedule, but let me tell you...the reading and assignments, although not required to turn in, are definately taking up a lot of my time. The program, which is a supplement to my main program, is called Language and International Business Communication. I am learning a lot, which is great. I am just worried about learning enough to pass the exams. The others in the program have been following it since the beginning and know what they are doing...I am an expert at coming in in the middle of something and being confused as hell as to what is going on. But, I am figuring things out and I'm very interested in the courses.

My dutch bike got a flat a couple weeks ago, so I was depending on my mountain bike, which I added the homemade mudflap to. It actually worked really well, but then I got a flat on that bike, too. It especially sucked, because the flat appeared while I was at the university. That means I had to walk home...with my bike...up hill...in the snow...for an hour! It makes me glad I have a bike in the first place, though, because it only takes me 20 minutes to ride to class. It takes 30 minutes with the bus, which I took this week because of no working bike and then after getting my dutch bike fixed yesterday, it snowed so much today that I wasn't about to fight the slush and traffic.

So, it is white outside again. Around 3:30 this afternoon, the snow stopped, and like clock work, the whole block (nearly the whole block) was out shoveling the snow from the sidewalk. I was seriously impressed! I could hear shovels scrapping all around me! But the worst part about all the snow is the salt they use on the roads. That is likely the reason my tires have popped now. It is so bad for everything...and it rusts the cars like crazy. It does keep the roads clear from ice, but I think the effects of it aren't worth it. My shoes turn white, too.

Anyway, maybe I should start working on my homework now...instead of waiting until Monday night.

Goodnight greetings from Denmark! knus, Annelise

On Sunday, Feb. 13th, Gosia and I went sledding, or tried to, on the hill behind the house. We then decided to drop that idea and try to make an igloo. While building, we noticed these kids gradually get closer to where we were working. We didn't think much of them, and as the wind started to blow and the snow began to fall, Gosia and I decided it was time to go in and warm up. We first took a few moments to enjoy the quiet protection of the roof-less igloo that we managed to build. Then, all of a sudden, we heard a noise against the wall of the igloo...the boys we had noticed earlier had the nerve to throw snow balls at us! Well, we weren't going to let them get away with that, so we started throwing snowballs back at 'em. The only problem was, they were on a hill above us, and we were below with only the measly protection of our ice walls and the wind and snow in our faces. We had a tough time managing to get a snowball on target. So, I decided I would move up the hill and try to scare them down the hill. Well, that worked and we basically switched places and they were now in our igloo and we were above them with a much better advantage. We were able to throw big bunches of snow that landed right on target with the help of the wind. It was great fun, and Gosia and I managed to stay quite dry, yet the poor kids were covered with snow. We finally decided to "wave the white flag" and the two boys and us started talking. They were very interested in where we were from and one spoke quite good English. They thanked us for the fight as Gosia and I headed home, and then I decided to ask them in for hot chocolate. They gladly accepted, so the two boys, Mathias and Stefan, ages 11 and 10, joined Gosia and I for hot chocolate and chocolate cookies. It was quite fun and they were very polite, friendly boys! Here they are taking a few runs down the backyard slopes after enjoying hot chocolate!

I shoveled the walk on Sunday morning, just like everyone else on the street! It's the law that you have to make sure the sidewalk connected to your property is properly shoveled in this kind of weather. So, I did it! From this picture, you can tell how deep it got. It was a very wet snow, too, which make for perfect snow balls, igloos, and snowmen.

The view out my window in the morning! A winter wonderland!

Looking up the side yards: Sven Erik on the left, and where I live on the right. I wish I had some skies! What a perfect hill to go down!

The backyard looked like it had a creamy layer of frosting on it!

My bikes (2 on the left) were covered with snow! It was like a blizzard on Saturday night!

Hector (Mexico) and Gosia on ice while it is snowing!

Annelise on skates, which were quite uncomfortable. I wish I could have used my rollerblades and just switched the wheels with a blade. (Feb. 12)

Annelise and Gosia smile in the snowy weather before ice skating in C.W. Obels Plads.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!!! It was 12:30 am in Denmark when the kick-off happened in the Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles. As you can tell, Lars was an Eagles fan. I had to go with the team with the only University of Washington alumni: Corey Dillon of the Patriots. I guess it was a good team to root for, since they won! Sorry, Lars! You and Martin sure look great, though!

It is now time to celebrate "The day of the donut"! Gosia, Magda and Marieke enjoy the final product: a mildly sweet dough with a prune jam filling deep fried and then covered with a glaze. Delicious! :)

Marieke prepares to whip the egg whites herself into marengues!

Gosia prepares the dough for donuts on the Polish "Day of the Donut" on Thursday, Feb. 3rd. We were at the Teknisk kollegium.

This was Marieke's idea to take a picture from down the hallway and then the bodies make designs from the light in the common room. I then put 4 different pictures together to create this cool artistic images of the different poses. Three of them are Igi, then the lower left corner is Igi and Marieke.

Annelise and Magda (from Poland) at Gosia's party.

Gosia blowing out her candles.

Gosia cuts her cake while everyone waits anxiously to taste the Brazilian made dessert!

Igi, Karin, Marieke, and Annelise at Gosia's b-day party in the Luna dorms.

Marieke, Annelise, and Gosia, the 3 CCG students smile at Gosia's b-day party.

Marieke displays Gosia's birthday gift before the party got in action, January 29th.

Here is Karin, Igi, Marieke and Anna in the walking street in Aalborg after a nice cup of coffee from our favorite "kaffe baren".

Happy Valentine's Day!

Life in Denmark has been moving right along. I still do not have an internship at this time, but I am waiting to hear from at least 5 places where maybe one has a little interest in an American like me! In the mean time, I am taking courses from a masters program in International Business Communication. It is all very interesting, except for when I found out I was in classes that started last semester, so that set me back a bit. Hopefully what I have decided to take will work out. Some of the classes are actually in Danish, so I really get to find out how much Danish I actually know! It's a good thing!

So, in the past couple weeks I have celebrated my friend Gosia's birthday, been to Copenhagen and back again (had a great brunch at Skovriderkro in Charlottenlund & went to a Greenlandic art exhibit at Amalienborg), been ice skating in the outdoors while it is snowing, went to the Irish House and played Monopoly (Danish version) with Gosia & Hector, shoveled the walkway and sidewalk of snow, been sledding, building ice forts, snowball fights, saying farewell to Marieke as she heads down to Aarhus for the semester, and reading a whole lot of stuff. Today, I tried to be creative (and save money) by cutting a water bottle in half and taping it to the short fender I have on my rear tire on my bicycle. I desperately needed more protection from the wet roads, because I was getting mud all over my back! Tomorrow, I will find out how it works!

Now, I must return to the many articles I have to read in order to successfully write an assignment due on Wednesday. Of course, I stop every 5 minutes from my reading to see if it is still snowing...it comes and goes. It is such a cozy and magical feeling to see the snowflakes fall!

Happy Valentine's Day to you all!