The next stop on our study tour was Brussels. We stayed in a random hotel that was like China Town but across from several strip clubs. Lomain was also delicious at breakfast- loved it!
It was pretty interesting attempting to check my e-mail at an internet café because a lot of the important letters were in the wrong place! That night we went to a bar with our professor and teaching assistant (yes, things are a bit different here) called Delerium known best for having 2,000 types of beer!
The next morning our stupid tour leader decided it was necessary to change the schedule and print out 30 copies of a new one to hand out-completely useless since we don’t follow the schedule anyway! After a long wild night it was an interesting morning to have a “Comic Strip Tour of Brussels.” Apparently Brussels is known for having cool comic book art on the side of buildings..woooo hoooo. However, this was definitely the funniest part of the trip. Because of my tour leader- the creepy one. Our class split into two groups, one mostly with girls and Kasper says, “I think I will go with the girls this time”…another student correctly opened her mouth, “Kasper, you always go with the girls!” (SO TRUE). I cannot even begin to describe the rest of the tour with Kasper. Even our comic strip tour guide caught onto the fact something fishy was going on. I liked him a lot except for the one remark he made about a building they had, saying it was their twin tower equivalent, and that they still have theirs…not funny.
We took an overnight bus back from Brussels to Copenhagen (14 hours). The bus was actually pretty empty. Even though I did not sleep, it was pretty comfortable- except for waking up at 4 am to get off the bus for a 45-minute ferry ride. There were also pre-packaged hot dogs in one of the rest stops.
I got back to my Kollegium at about 8 in the morning. Instead of going to bed, I unpacked and went for a really good run!
If you want to see pictures from Amsterdam, London and Brussels…
http://sharonstravels.shutterfly.com/223?startIndex=50
I leave tomorrow afternoon for over 2 weeks! How am I going to pack all this?
Saturday, March 28, 2009
No words Can Describe
I just returned from my long study tour with my business class to London and Brussels and I really just don’t even know where to start. I had an amazing time and we did a lot of really cool activities but cannot begin to describe the amount of disorganization in this trip.
We had two tour leaders, one of which was my “grader” (like a teaching assistant) for my business class. He cannot formulate sentences correctly (“Can you make a photo of me” when asking someone to take a picture of him) and obviously cannot understand a conversation. In addition this 27 year old man grading our papers feels the need to hit on all of the girls like its his job. He also would show up to breakfast when it was time to leave for the day and decided we would leave 10 minutes later. It was about 20-30 minutes later when the entire group showed up and we left for the day. For example, on one
Anyway, back to the trip. I loved London; it reminded me a lot of NYC, which is probably why I liked it so much. The pound also is not doing well, so the city was a lot cheaper than Copenhagen.
We flew into London Sunday morning and after checking into our Hotel went to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater which was super cool. The original theater that Shakespeare’s plays were in was burnt down but they re-built a replica about 10 years ago and have shows during the summer. At night I walked around and saw all the sights, Big Ben, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, The London Eye and much more at night which was really cool and much more worthwhile than going to a bar another night! However at the end of the night my friend Molly and I decided not to wait for the elevator because there were so many people waiting and take the stairs. Bad idea. We missed the sign that said not to take he stairs because there were 175 of them; making 10 flights of a spiral staircase seem endless.
The next day we had a tour and lunch in Brick Lane. Delicious. I had been scared to try Indian food because there were so many Indian restaurants near my middle school bus stop that we passed everyday staying as far away as possible because it smelled so bad. I cannot wait to have Indian food again. That night we saw Wicked at the Apollo Theater and had amazing seats; I loved it. We went to a bar near our hotel but last call in London is 12! wow.
The next day we took a bike tour around London and got to see all the awesome sights quickly. We rode the London Eye, which is basically like a huge enclosed ferris wheel and got an awesome view of the city.
The next day we only left about 45 minutes late to head to Wimbledon (where the tennis championships take place!); at the station where we were switching trains there was an evacuation while we were there so that added a bit more time to our journey. After finally arriving we got a really cool tour of the grounds, tennis courts, press room, changing rooms and more!
We had two tour leaders, one of which was my “grader” (like a teaching assistant) for my business class. He cannot formulate sentences correctly (“Can you make a photo of me” when asking someone to take a picture of him) and obviously cannot understand a conversation. In addition this 27 year old man grading our papers feels the need to hit on all of the girls like its his job. He also would show up to breakfast when it was time to leave for the day and decided we would leave 10 minutes later. It was about 20-30 minutes later when the entire group showed up and we left for the day. For example, on one
Anyway, back to the trip. I loved London; it reminded me a lot of NYC, which is probably why I liked it so much. The pound also is not doing well, so the city was a lot cheaper than Copenhagen.
We flew into London Sunday morning and after checking into our Hotel went to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater which was super cool. The original theater that Shakespeare’s plays were in was burnt down but they re-built a replica about 10 years ago and have shows during the summer. At night I walked around and saw all the sights, Big Ben, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, The London Eye and much more at night which was really cool and much more worthwhile than going to a bar another night! However at the end of the night my friend Molly and I decided not to wait for the elevator because there were so many people waiting and take the stairs. Bad idea. We missed the sign that said not to take he stairs because there were 175 of them; making 10 flights of a spiral staircase seem endless.
The next day we had a tour and lunch in Brick Lane. Delicious. I had been scared to try Indian food because there were so many Indian restaurants near my middle school bus stop that we passed everyday staying as far away as possible because it smelled so bad. I cannot wait to have Indian food again. That night we saw Wicked at the Apollo Theater and had amazing seats; I loved it. We went to a bar near our hotel but last call in London is 12! wow.
The next day we took a bike tour around London and got to see all the awesome sights quickly. We rode the London Eye, which is basically like a huge enclosed ferris wheel and got an awesome view of the city.
The next day we only left about 45 minutes late to head to Wimbledon (where the tennis championships take place!); at the station where we were switching trains there was an evacuation while we were there so that added a bit more time to our journey. After finally arriving we got a really cool tour of the grounds, tennis courts, press room, changing rooms and more!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
My neighbor
So apparently no one had been living next door to me on one side since I had been here…until two weeks ago. How did I find out someone had moved in? The music. So loud! My friend lives next door to me (on the other side) and we had never heard each other.
Anyway one night it was one in the morning and I could not fall asleep because of the base so I went over and asked him to turn it down, I was nice, he was nice, I could sleep.
A few days later I somehow ended up in his room hanging out with a few of his friends watching a soccer/football game. He also informed me of a party he was having during the weekend that I must attend.
Friday night was late, wild and crazy. Additionally, we were planning to go out on both Monday and Tuesday this week to celebrate as my friend turned 21 and the day of her 21st birthday. My friend came over and we had planned on watching a movie online…but my Internet was out. I had remembered seeing a ton of movies in my neighbor’s room but knew that would mean I would be asked if I was coming to the party!
Anyway, 2 hours later we decided we had to stop by. I gave my friend clothes because she had come over in sweats to watch a movie! We could only stay for a bit because she had to catch the train before it stopped running at 12:30. Anyway, the party was so much fun and we hung out and meet tons of Danes. And my neighbor is AWESOME. He also got a vacuum cleaner as a house-warming gift which he said I could use. I love him, I decided he is my new best friend. Did I mention my friend definitely did not catch the train and just slept over? Best part- I started recruiting Danes to help me with my Danish homework!
Anyway one night it was one in the morning and I could not fall asleep because of the base so I went over and asked him to turn it down, I was nice, he was nice, I could sleep.
A few days later I somehow ended up in his room hanging out with a few of his friends watching a soccer/football game. He also informed me of a party he was having during the weekend that I must attend.
Friday night was late, wild and crazy. Additionally, we were planning to go out on both Monday and Tuesday this week to celebrate as my friend turned 21 and the day of her 21st birthday. My friend came over and we had planned on watching a movie online…but my Internet was out. I had remembered seeing a ton of movies in my neighbor’s room but knew that would mean I would be asked if I was coming to the party!
Anyway, 2 hours later we decided we had to stop by. I gave my friend clothes because she had come over in sweats to watch a movie! We could only stay for a bit because she had to catch the train before it stopped running at 12:30. Anyway, the party was so much fun and we hung out and meet tons of Danes. And my neighbor is AWESOME. He also got a vacuum cleaner as a house-warming gift which he said I could use. I love him, I decided he is my new best friend. Did I mention my friend definitely did not catch the train and just slept over? Best part- I started recruiting Danes to help me with my Danish homework!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Amsterdam
Last weekend I was in Amsterdam, got in late Friday night and left early Monday morning; I went with the same 3 girls that I traveled to Stockholm with Saturday we went to the Van Gough Museum which was awesome, we even saw Starry Night!
Sunday we went to the Anne Frank house, where Anne Frank hid out during the Holocaust. It is kind of like a museum, the parts that have been re-done are very modern to clearly show it is not the original structure but at the same time a lot of the house has not been touched. We walked around the few rooms in the attic where they all hid out. Some of the pictures that Anne hung up were still on the walls; and there was a map that her dad had with pushpins representing the countries as Hitler took over.
In addition to museums we also walked around the red light district, both during the day and at night. Our hotel was on a beautiful street on a canal. There actually are a lot of canals in Amsterdam, it’s a pretty city.
Sunday we went to the Anne Frank house, where Anne Frank hid out during the Holocaust. It is kind of like a museum, the parts that have been re-done are very modern to clearly show it is not the original structure but at the same time a lot of the house has not been touched. We walked around the few rooms in the attic where they all hid out. Some of the pictures that Anne hung up were still on the walls; and there was a map that her dad had with pushpins representing the countries as Hitler took over.
In addition to museums we also walked around the red light district, both during the day and at night. Our hotel was on a beautiful street on a canal. There actually are a lot of canals in Amsterdam, it’s a pretty city.
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