And Marieke...getting ready to cut the carrot cake I made...it was so yummy! :)

Marieke! The kitchen indian!

Marieke opening her gifts from me.

Celebrating Marieke's birthday again in my room with Gosia and Karin. April 23rd.

At Studenterhuset...Hector, Gosia, Kathrine (Marieke's roommate), and Meeko (Igi's sister (not sure about the spelling)) and me in front.

Celebrating Marieke's brithday at the Studenterhuset. Marieke holds the chocolate Polish pie Gosia made. Oh my goodness, it was delicious! April 20th

A helicopter on a Danish Navy ship down in along the fjord in Aalborg.

The other table...Louise, Mike, Manon, Karin and Stu.

The going-away get-together for Karin and Louise as they head off on their internships. here is Tanja, Kirstin, Martina, Meesook, and a chinese girl.

The chimpanzees hanging out in the trees...watching all the crazy people in the zoo walk by.

What a beautiful face a giraffe has...

Annelise and Magda at the zoo.

The baby giraffe and its mommy.

Cute, furry little creatures at the zoo.

Annelise at the Aalborg Zoo...free entrance on their 70th Anniversary, April 13th.

Looks a little limp...construction on Boulevarden. April 4th.

A dinner at Gosia's wth Marieke...Gosia perparing a creative dish with layers of potatoes, onions, corn, sour cream and blue cheese to top. I believe this was on Sunday, April 3rd.

Chili, the dear sweet neighbor dog enjoying a sunny day.

...and Arina's priceless reaction to the drink!

SKÅL!!

Hector pouring Gosia's bottle of the potent Polish liquor...I think it is made of prunes...it's actually pretty sweet despite the burn.

Sade, Igi, Gosia, Alexandro, Arina and Hector at the birthday party in Luna!

The wonderful Mexican buffet!

Hector, the April 1st birthday boy.

While on our walk by the fjord on Easter, Mario and Kristoffe (sp? France) went down the slide in an area park.

Karin and Annelise

Easter lunch: Igi, Gosia, Marieke's friend, Marieke, Karin, and some Belgium Luna people. Some more people came a little later, too.

Finally...

Sorry it has been a while since I last updated my blog...it's probably because not much new has happened. Easter was celebrated on the Friday at Martin's with his mom and brothers and then on Sunday for lunch with international students at Luna. We had a great conversation comparing the easter traditions from our own countries. We later went for a walk to the Aalborg marina and along the fjord to enjoy the nice Easter weather. The following Friday I was included in the celebration of some Mexican friends, Hector and Mario's, birthday. They made some excellent authentic Mexican food and I tried some incredibly strong, burning Polish liquor that I will probably never try again. It's about as strong as 7 Tequilas at once...it is instant drunkeness for many...I followed it with a glass of water to ease the burning in my throat and stomach.

Denmark celebrated H.C. Andersen's birthday with a big show in the stadium in Copenhagen on April 2nd...while at the same time the pope passed away in the Vatican. It was a big deal for many of the international students here, but it didn't phase Denmark too much as it is not a Catholic country. It was pretty interesting to see the funeral on t.v. (the Queen sat in front of the Bushes) and then last night seeing the white smoke and the new pope come out on the balcony. I totally want to go to Italy now to see the art and architecture.

I went to the Irish House jam session...that was entertaining...as described in the previous post.

The Aalborg zoo was open for free last Wednesday in celebration of it's 70th anniversary. I hadn't been yet, because I didn't want to pay to see animals I had seen already at other zoos. It was a nice zoo, though, and I enjoyed the lions, tigers, and giraffes the best.

I had an annoying time doing my laundry on Friday. The usual place I go to was totally booked...the guys said they like to go to that laundry mat, because of the deli across the street. They come just at lunch time so that they could enjoy a good lunch and beer while their laundry washes. I tried to find another place, but they charged 30 kr. a wash. I wasn't going to pay that, so I went back to my regular place and thought I would wait...I wanted the usual 23 kr. price, but no...it would take too long & another person was already waiting, so I found another place (which stunk) and washed for 29 kr. a wash. Then, on Sunday, we finally got a washing machine in the house! I am so glad...even if I'll have to hang dry for a while. I can handle that...stiff jeans and towels...lovely.

Karen and Lousie from my CCG program are headed off to their internships in South Africa and Copenhagen, so they hosted a nice dinner on Friday with other students from CCG. It was a good time getting together and talking and enjoying the "hygge".

My last classes of the semester are tomorrow and then it's all independant studying for exams from now on. I don't look forward to that. My next exam is a 4 day take home exam starting the 9th of May. It will be nice when all my exams are done. They last so long here. Just as long as I pass, I'll be happy.

Hmm...free beer!

I had the funniest night tonight. The first Monday of every month there is a jam session at the Irish House, so I went with some friends to listen to the great guitar players and singers (and I know one who plays). I was sitting at the table enjoying my Strongbow cidar when this old guy comes in and decideds to join my friend and I at our table....oh my god...

So, he is of course Danish, and then I realize he is drunk, and of course he wants to talk to us. It starts off as a fine conversation, and he is talking only with me, because I speak Danish and he isn't so good at english, but hello...I am there with my friends! I want to socialize with them! He is, although, very impressed with my Danish, especially for an American and then he needs to get himself a drink and then he gets me one, too, which is fine with me to get a free beer, but that means he isn't about to leave too soon....!!! In the mean time, the jam session is great and there are some great players, but this guy keeps talking, soI find out he is an artist, but teaches art to make a living.

There is no way he is going to leave....I end up with another free beer and my friends are ready to go as the jam session is now over and I wanted to say hi to my friend who was playing, but this crazy old Danish artist guy was talking and talking and I finally said i had to go and he began to say that I would make a great model and he would like to draw me nude!!!! AAaahh!! Oh my goodness! Was that a compliment or how do I take that?! He said he would give me a profit from the sale of the painting, but HELLO! Who is going to want a nude painting of me?! Oh my goodness...so, I said thanks anyway, he didn't need my number and we'd probably (I hope not) see each other around this small town again. What an experience that was! I guess it was worth putting up for to get 90 kroners worth of drinks! :)

Life in Denmark can be so interesting! :)