Well my travels all come down to this. The final day. It's bittersweet really. I have had so many amazing experiences over the last 10 weeks. I've learned a lot about new places, cultures, people, and myself. I've found what I enjoy most, what I miss most, why the USA is the best country in the world no matter what Newsroom says, (No I haven't started watching it. Maybe it will the next adventure upon my return.) and how truly blessed I've been on my travels and throughout my entire life.
Before I get into lists, let me go over what I've been up to since I completed my course work for ECHE 362D, Senior Lab in Denmark.
Monday was kind of an off day for me. I had planned to go to either Stockholm or Amsterdam. I was going to decide when I arrived at the main train station that morning. Both would have been whirlwind tours with long train rides, minimal sleep, and a very short period of time for actual exploring in the city. I wanted to use up my Eurail and thought these places would have been good options; however, when I woke up early Monday morning, my back didn't think this was a good idea, and I took some drugs and went back to sleep until noon. It was nice to have the day off of craziness, and I was able to get some things done for work.
Tuesday, we went to the beach. We took an extra long walk there gong through the same park where Bakken is. Being at the beach was wonderful. So relaxing, great views of Sweden (as if we hadn't seen it before), freezing water yet refreshing, and just all around stress-free. Krysta was really excited to be able to use my water proof camera. Up until this point, the water proof factor was only exercised when it rained in Switzerland and Berlin.
Later that night, Vtech, U. Alabama and some of the Case Crew headed to the on campus bar, Cellar Bar. The VTech kids had given it another nickname, which confused me. BOTS. The first time I heard them say "Hey are you going to BOTS?" my first thought was, "How did they know I was in Botswana???" The name actually stands for Bottom Of The Stairs named after a bar on their campus Top Of The Stairs. Anyways, it was a good time and everyone was enjoying themselves having spent the day at the beach instead of in lab.
Krysta, Joe and Libby were champs getting in the freezing water.
Jess and I just waded.
Krysta in her element
5 days left!!
Random person Krysta was creeping on underwater
With 5 days left, the Happy Dance now involves a fist pump along with the hand waving.
It was after midnight so... 4 DAYS LEFT! Jeff (Alabama) photo-bombing.
Mary (Alabama), Jess, and Krysta
Ryan (Alabama), Jess, Joe, Krysta, and Libby
Wednesday, we had our final tour at a waste treatment center, Vestforbraending. They deal with recycling as well as trash. They actually end up using as much of the trash as they can for combustion, which provides part of the power to homes. The ash from the incinerator is then used in some asphalts or for other purposes. The company tries to put as little as possible in to landfills. This is probably pretty important when your country is so small.
After we returned from the tour, Joe and I cranked out a presentation on the Government and Politics of Denmark for the presentations on Thursday. Quick facts: Denmark is a constitutional monarchy. 8 parties make up the current Parliament. The two highest ranking political figures in Denmark are both female (Queen Margrethe and Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt).
Finally, DTU hosted a dinner for the international students. The food was delicious and buffet style (what we care about most lately haha).
Epic control center
Giant room of trash
Just a few pressure gauges
Scrubbing process
The height of the stack compared with rides at Tivoli
Classy reception
Thursday, we spent all day listening/presenting about Danish culture. There were a wide range of topics. Some topics include the geography fo Denmark, famous scientists, international danish coporations, various forts, museums, impact of WWII, thoughts on the war in Afghanistan, the escape of Jews during WWII. The last two that I listed, I think may have been the one's I found most interesting. I often forget that other countries had troops in Afghanistan and would have opinions on the situation/attacks of 9/11. I also was not aware of the Danish effort to help almost all (7000/7500) of the Danish Jews escape the capture by the Nazi troops. Speaks volumes about the protectiveness the Danes have for each other.
After the presentations, DTU held small reception where we all were given our transcripts and ate some delicious chocolates! It felt good to know that all responsibilities were finally complete and that all the work hadn't been for nothing.
In celebration of it being some of the students' last night in Denmark and just being done in general, we went downtown to Kulor Bar. The VTech kids had frequented the establishment, but it was the first time for some of us (me, Libby, Joe, and a few of the Alabama students). It was a lot of fun and again, great to not be worrying about any work. Sidenote: This was Joe's first bar now that he's 21!! Happy Belated Birthday Lab Partner!
Drinking DTU beer and enjoying lots of sugary treats
The Case Crew (with Phil blocked a little by Jackson...)
Friday, we tentatively made plans to go to Odense and see Hans Christian Andersen stuff. It's on one of the other islands in Denmark, but after checking prices at the main train station, we chose to go to Sweden for the day. The trip to Sweden was a lot of fun and filled with Euchre. We wandered around Malmo and found different places to sit down and play a game. It was cool to finally be on that other landmass we kept seeing from the shores of Denmark.
We spent most of our time in a park and in a castle turned museum. Now, most of the castles we've been to have kind of been turned into museums of the royal families stuff, but this was different. There was an aquarium in the bottom and some other small animals; then there was an art museum not really pertaining to the royal families portraits or paintings they owned; then there was the original castle with all of the castle stuff as usual; then in the old prison, they created kind of a haunted house-ish museum. That was kind of creepy mainly because we went through it backwards and were confused. This part had a lot of sound effects and told the story of different prisoners and this cat that haunted the prison. Last was the round tower with the cannons and such.
Eventually, we wandered into a street fair which had booths from different countries. The German bread with some spread on it was amazing, and the British cheese was really good too.
After returning to Lyngby (DTU) for the evening, we set up a computer to watch the Opening Ceremony for the 2012 Olmpic Games. We of course watched alongside a pasta party. Many of the remaining Alabama students joined us. I had so many countries to cheer for this time. First Botswana, then Denmark, and finally and most importantly team USA. I can't wait to be back home and watch the games, cheering as loudly and obnoxiously as possible because I've missed my country on this long journey.
Arrival in Sweden
I forget if I've yet to mention this, 7-eleven's are EVERYWHERE in Denmark and apparently Sweden. They're kind of the information/travel guides along with the whole convenience store thing. They're are almost every train station, and when you need to buy another ticket, you get it there.
This house is totally staged, but we don't know why
Sitting down for a quick game of Euchre.
Jess in her element, bird watching
So this garden has all these small gardens with different themes. I didn't read all of the names, but it was kinda cool.
Zen Garden (not quite like Plants v. Zombies)
Random circus
WINDMILL!
Me eating a crab apple I found. but not really
Sitting ducks.
Baby ducks, baby ducks, baby ducks
Fashion in the 1920s
We couldn't read most of the exhibit because it was in Swedish.
Joe doing push-ups, or sizing the bed...
Cannon balls are really heavy, and the cannons require a 12-man crew.
Bike parking lot. Of course.
Joe got sleepy waiting for Jess' coffee at Starbucks
Today, Saturday, before packing, we went to the Carlsberg Brewery. Some of the history of beer was really interesting. At one point in time it was typical to drink 10-30 liters of beer/day. That's crazy! It was a large part of their diets and Carlsberg actually gave workers a ration of 4 liters/day at a point.
Playground part A
Part B
Part C
Part D
Parts.... yea here's a playground
Ropes course
Backside of ropes course
Maybe this is the real Little Mermaid Statue. After all, no one really knows where the original is
Joe 2 buddies, the founders of Carlsberg
Guiness World Record for
largest collection of
unopened beer bottles
To all of my AXE bros.
The good old Model T
Not hunting vampires, just loving beer.
Proud Sponsors of Euro 2012
Joe blew a 4.00.... sure this was moments after finishing his 2nd sample, but seeing as the legal limit in Denmark 0.5 for driving, I have a feeling they might calculate it differently
The New Carlsberg Brewery. There were 2 companies originally, owned by father and son, but they eventually merged.
The logo for Carlsberg for a period of time was a swatstica with 4 dots inbetween the swirls. This was around 1900 and it was chosen for its traditional meaning as happiness. It was changed after the association with the Nazi party.
I finally found a Pepsi. Coke is still better.
I will finish this post now and make my lists of everything I've learned in the following post after I try and eat the remaining food in my container.
Congrats on finishing this post! Next one will be arriving shortly.
See you States-side,
M.e.
