Oktoberfest

Inside Haubrauhous

This past weekend, my friends and I ventured over to Oktoberfest. After a close call transfer in Zurich (please google a map of Europe and notice how unbelievably out of the way Zurich is when going from Copenhagen to Munich), we arrived in Munich at about 2. We took our bags to the hotel and were off to Oktoberfest. Not that any of us knew exactly what Oktoberfest was. All we knew is that Theta had an Oktoberfest date party and there would be beer.

We arrived at Oktoberfest and it turns out it is sort of like a carnival or fair with rides and stands of food, etc. Except for instead of funnel cakes and cotton candy, there was wiener schnitzel and pretzels. There are extravagant beer “tents” around the carnival, each holding about 10,000 people. And all the Germans wore lederhosen and dirndls. My friend Susanna even bought one off the street and wore it all weekend!

We found our way inside and met up with our Vandy friends. It was literally Vanderbilt does Europe because there were TONS of us there. We sat at a table and the beer maidens brought us huge steins filled with beer (we actually preferred the beer that was mixed with lemonade, yum!). The tent was extravagantly decorated with ivy and plants and was absolutely beautiful. There was a band playing traditional German music up above us (I think it was the national anthem) and all the Germans would sing along and chant German chants and cheer and it was just such a surreal experience.

Susanna showing off her dirndl. Someone
 ACTUALLY tried to order a beer from her!

Bat :)

That night, we went out with some of our friends and then went to sleep pretty early so that we could wake up the next morning at 7am to get ready for the big day. If you are not in line to get in a tent early, you will be stuck in line for hours (at least 4 or 5) before you are able to get in. So we arrived early and were enjoying Oktoberfest with all of Vanderbilt when Bethea and I decided to go see some of our DIS friends upstairs. Literally the second we made it upstairs, the ENTIRE upstairs got kicked OUT of the tent (into the cold rain) and we were screwed. We tried waiting in line but like I said, it is essentially no use. So what else could we do but EAT! We had the most amazing hotdog ever and met up with her friend Lule. Somehow, two hours later, we met a beer maiden and paid her to sneak us in the back of the tent and we were back in action! We enjoyed the rest of the day with our friends and then came back home to our hotel to leave the next day. What was potentially disastrous, turned into a nice break in the day!

All in all, it was a fabulous trip. There were a few mishaps but Oktoberfest was hands-down, one of the best weekends of my life. I kept pinching myself because I couldn’t believe we were actually in Munich, Germany at Oktoberfest. This is the type of things you have date parties about. And I just lived it. Fabulous.

Cooking

Things I could cook before coming to Europe:
1. eggs
2. toast
3. cookies and brownies

Things I can cook now:
1. eggs
2. toast
3. chicken
4. pasta
5. rice
6. vegetables
7. cinnamon apples
8. pizza toast
9. grilled cheese with tomatoes on it

I can even combine the afore mentioned items and make tasty meals. For example, I just ate stir fry. Yummmm

To be continued....

Bornholm Bike Trip

Well, my weekend begins last Thursday actually. I joined a fansy-smansy gym in Copenhagen and there are free exercise classes. Like really intense classes. As in last Tuesday, I did a spinning class for 75 minutes with an instructor who rode in the Tour (de France for those of you who are not fortunate enough to have a bike enthusiast as a father!). Back to Thursday. I did a class called “kettlebells” in which you essentially have a 16 lb weight and swing it up in the air while you’re doing lunges for an hour. My body was in PAIN.

Okay, so Friday at 10 pm, I loaded a bus with my friends Catherine and Katy (both from Georgetown) and Nat and Nick (Georgetown and Colby College, respectively) to board an overnight ferry to Bornholm, which is one of Denmark’s 406 islands. I was so excited to get to the island and have a weekend of fresh air, exercise, and a little change of pace.

Arrival to Bornholm (back when I still enjoyed the island)

The ferry that night was absolutely the Ritz Carlton of ferries. Great news. So we slept in cabins on the way over and arrived the next morning at 6am. Catherine, Katy, and I decided to do the “killer tour,” which involved a 65 km (41 miles for those of you that have not been forced to make the switch to the metric system). The first leg of the trip, we went about 100 mph the whole time. I was seriously peddling as fast as I could and still could not stay up with the group. And keep in mind Bornholm is the only place in Denmark with hills. And lots of them! I think we were probably going uphill about 85% of the time. Rough. But manageable. THEN, the wind kicked in. This was no slight breeze. This was monsoon strength wind. As in some ships didn’t even leave harbor that day because the wind was too strong. We would be peddling and literally not moving against the wind. Catherine even got blown off her bike (as in fell on the ground) because the wind was so strong and blew her over. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever ever ever ever everrrrr done in my life.

Catherine, myself, Max, Nat, and Katy still enjoying the day

I hope you haven’t forgotten the intro to this story. I went into the bike ride NOT BEING ABLE TO WALK NORMALLY FROM FREAKING KETTLEBELLS CLASS.

Biking.

Anyway, after the absolute worst bike ride of our life, we make it to the beach to see the beautiful island which is apparently the “largest exporter of sand” because they use it for hourglasses. It looked exactly like the sand in Alabama. And there was no food. So I had soft serve ice cream for lunch. So NOW, we are 20 miles away from our hostel and the only way to get back is to ride back. At this point, we were miserable.

We hop on our bikes and go. The wind refused to give us any slack. I cannot even count the times that I honestly did not know if I would be able to do one more peddle. All I could do was pray that I would be given the strength for one more push. I’m not sure if the tears were me crying or just the wind making my eyes water.

One girl face planted. One girl started cramping and fell off her bike. One girl was dehydrated. One girl hitch-hiked home. Many people paid hundreds of dollars for taxis back to the hostel. There were so many times I wanted to give up. But we made it.

Catherine, me, and Katy at the beach

The next morning, Catherine and Katy caught the first ferry home but the group was not scheduled to leave until Sunday night at 10. So now I was friendless. And in unimaginable pain. I made friends with some random girls who said they were not going to bike for the day so I decided to go with them because my guy friends were planning to bike. The girls lied. So on the bike I got. We went about 3 miles, stopped at a rocky beach and then… breakdown. As in hyperventilating crying to the point where I was coughing. With strangers. All strangers. I’m not sure whether it was a good thing I found Nat and Nick or not because now they think I’m a psycho but at least I knew someone to give me a hug. I was simply exhausted. What a joke.

So I sat by myself on the rocks for a while, thought about how much my body hurt, thought about how friendless I was, and then walked my bike back to the hostel. But I was locked out. So I just hung out with myself all morning. I found a beautiful church that overlooked the city and just sat there and had one of the best quiet times in my life because it was definitely one of my lowest points.

The rocks where I camped out for a while.

My church

Then we had to wait around until 10 to leave on the ferry.  We arrived back in Copenhagen this morning at 7:30 am. And I had class from 8:30-1 straight. Longest day ever.

I officially hate biking. And Bornholm. And for a while there, I hated life.

ROUGH WEEKEND.

A little taste from home.

Finally. Today, Jessica, Bethea, and I went to church for the first time since we've been here. It's so hard because there are next to no weekends that we will be able to attend church so it was refreshing to enjoy fellowship with other Christians while we had the chance. While the Danish people as a whole are some of the kindest, most helpful people, there is such an absence of Christ in the city. For some reason, this is just such a worldly city so it was so nice to be with other believers.

I then went and worked out because it turns out that all Danes eat is bread. And pasta. And carbs of other sorts. Shoooooooot.

And then I did some homework. Perfect day of home. But in Copenhagen. Minor details....

Short Study Tour

Some people in our group in front of our bikes on the beach by the North Sea!

Big weekend, big weekend. Thursday morning to Saturday night, we went on “short study tours” with our program classes around Denmark. Essentially, we rode around all of Denmark on Greyhound buses and went to sites that had to do with “War Crimes and Human Rights,” as well as some cultural events that did not. We went to the Navy Marine Police, the Naval base, the Army Marine Police, an architecture museum, some gardens, an art museum, the beach, had a bonfire, went on bike rides through the woods and beach… the list goes on.

Our bike ride through the forest.
My two favorite parts of the weekend were the trip to the Navy Marine Police and the two hour bike ride. Next weekend, I will be going on a weekend bike trip with DIS to Bornhom, Denmark so I will spare my (FIVE!!!!) followers the pain of having to read about two different bike rides and just tell about the Marine Police (MP, as they are called) visit. The two MPs gave us a powerpoint presentation of the situation in Somalia and the ways in which they are combating piracy in the Gulf of Aden. Both men had been on the ship Absalon when Somalian pirates had been detained two separate times. The first time, ten pirates were detained but after a week, were taken back to Somalia in what was called operation “Silent Night.” The interesting case was from about a year ago. Danish Marine Police pulled over a boat that looked like any other fishing boat (our power point had plenty of actual pictures from the event) but described it as being a typical pirate boat, complete with rats, sewage floating around, guns, explosives, drugs, etc. The MPs detained the pirates and brought them onto the Absalon. It was fascinating hearing the humane way in which the MPs treated the men in order to avoid torture. I got the impression that the pirates actually were treated better than some of the crewmembers. One of the MPs even made the point that these were not bad men, but simply men in the wrong place at the wrong time. He said if he were the Somali men, he would probably do the same to provide for his family. We saw pictures of their living quarters, heard about their wardrobe, their games they played, the food they ate, the jokes they made. The pirates stayed on the Absalon for 34 days before being given to the Netherlands to stand trial and were sentenced to five years in prison. Once again, they were treated fairly and received a sentence of five years in prison as opposed to eight because the Dutch judge realized that five years to these Somali men with no family contacts in the Netherlands would seem like eight years.

Lizzy and I on the dunes.

The MPs explained that the Somali pirates are no more than fishermen without jobs trying to make a living to support their wives (plural. The wealthier the man, the more wives he has.) and children. In the 80s or 90s (I forget the exact date), the United States and Britain (among others) came into the Gulf of Aden and essentially depleted it of its fish, leaving the fishermen with no jobs. These men have no other way of living and slowly piracy has become the answer. It started by just taking over a ship, demanding the fish from the ship, and moving along and over time, the pirates have realized the lucrativeness of demanding a ransom. In a world of towns made of mud huts, when a mad comes back from piracy and can actually buy his family clean water and maybe even some electricity, piracy becomes a popular option. The MPs explained that these men are not hardened criminals, but simply a victim of hard times who have resorted to providing for their family in the only way they know how.

Where's Kat?!

Its amazing how much I did not know about the piracy in Somalia and how interesting it is. I was also astonished at how sympathetic these Danish Marine Police were and am quite curious as to the level of respect and humanity pirates who are detained by other countries receive. Its safe to say, here is an example of where no war crimes were committed but the MPs explained that they had to go to quite lengths to ensure the men were not tortured (including separate living quarters at least 7x7, bathroom facilities, clothing, books, games, religious practices, food, etc.)

Travel Adventures

Well, tomorrow I am off on a study tour around Denmark. I'm not quite sure what we will be doing but I think we are essentially traveling all around the main part of Denmark which is called Jutland (Copenhagen is on a large island that is not part of continental Denmark). We are traveling with our "program" class. My program class is War Crimes and Human Justice. It is very interesting and we will be visiting members of the Navy, attending a class at the University of Arhus, eating dinner with the University students, meeting with more members of the army, going on bike tours of rural Denmark, and much more that I am simply not aware of yet. It will be great getting to know the people in my class who I will be going to Kosovo with in a month. Updates to come. See you Sunday, loyal followers (all 3 of you...)

Politics in Denmark

          Growing up in Mobile, AL, I have only known extreme conservative values and politics. There is much tension between the Republicans and Democrats in the deep South of Alabama. I was excited to travel to Denmark, a country with views on the opposite end of the spectrum of my friends and family to further my own world view. I came with a limited knowledge of Danish politics and the government´s interaction with other countries. Since being here, I have learned that Denmark has an election coming up next year in which the ruling party could potentially change. However, if the Prime Minister wishes, he has the power to hold an early election, in which he would have better potential to win. Furthermore, the Danish government is suggesting to the European Council that the Swedish elections should be censored in order to “secure democracy for the future.” It turns out that Denmark’s politics are just as complex as ours in America and quite similarly to us, the country interferes in other countries’ elections and politics as well. While the United States and Denmark are far away not only geographically, but also on the political spectrum, it is interesting that even when thinking about politics, one can find similarities between the two.

Miscellaneous Pictures because I have been slacking

Add caption

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Sweden

   I just typed an entire blog and it deleted. So please excuse me if this entry is a little short and to the point.

The girls

The boys

    Yesterday, we went to Malmo, Sweden. It was a short 30 min train ride and we went with about 25-30 of our friends. We arrived and ate lunch on the patio of a quaint cafe in the central square of Malmo. We then walked to a beautiful park, complete with a moat, castle, the most amazing flower gardens, an old windmill, and a lake. It was breathtaking. We then walked along the water and saw a lighthouse and watched sailboats sail by. It was amazing being in a different country simply for the afternoon. I have now upped my country count to 4!! And somehow, the sky in Scandinavia is so much more beautiful than the sky in the US. All I need to do at any point in the day is look up and being humbled by the cartoon-like cloud in the sky.

Danish Kat is super artsy

BAT enjoying the view

     Today, we went to the DIS picnic on a rolling green hill with hundreds of Danes and Americans sitting on blankets enjoying the perfect weather (65 and sunny) and eating barbecue. In the background was the beach and ocean with sailboats sailing. And of course, the most beautiful clouds you've ever seen. Incredibly picturesque. (there were gross naked old men on the beach but that is not blog- appropriate.)
     This afternoon, I walked out of my apartment in downtown Copenhagen and walked down the street to DIS to do some work and everything felt so normal. How in the world did it become a normal part of my life to walk outside in Denmark, pass a quintessential European square complete with fountain and sidewalk cafes, and go do my homework for about two hours? I am genuinely the luckiest girl in the world to be able to call this place home. I feel so blessed that I have this amazing opportunity and couldnt possibly be more thankful and grateful.

JESSICA WENT ON A 5 HOUR DATE WITH A DANE NAMED TOKE.

Work? No thank you. Copenhagen? Yes, please.

Yesterday, I got out of class and made myself a nice lunch of apples, bellpeppers and cinnamon. Yes, it may sound a little obscure but it was delicious (and I don’t know how to cook). I then went to a quaint coffee shop with books lining the walls and had coffee with friends. Upon my return home to my apartment, I switched out of Danish class (too hard, too much work. I would never want to actually have to put effort into a class….) and into a class called Virtual Worlds and the Digital Consumer. Its about facebook, blogging, myspace, etc. Yes please. An actual part of our grade is blogging. I love Copenhagen. Then, I realized I should do some work. But I decided I didn’t want to so went over to Bethea and Lizzy’s apartment to go out. There was actually a fire (?!?!) at the club we were gonna go to so we switched plans. This morning, I woke up early to get my day started. I went to do the work I didn’t do last night, read for about 30 minutes, and decided I didn’t feel like doing that anymore. So I am currently sitting at a sidewalk café in the middle of Copenhagen drinking a cappuccino and eating a real Danish. Yes please.

I think anyone who has ever met me knows that this does not sound a thing like me (except for the eating the Danish part) but surprise, this is the new Danish Kat. I have decided that my experience is more about falling in love with Copenhagen and the Danes than sitting in a library reading a book that in reality, I will probably do just fine skimming later.  Living the dream in Europe is more important to me that achieving that A+. An A- will do just fine. I am in love with life right now and I don’t think I could be any happier. The way of life here is simply so much more relaxed. No one is in a hurry, everyone is so kind, and everyone seems so much more focused on their quality of their time, not the quantity of how much can be squeezed into one day.

^o^,

kat

A Day in the Life of (the lesser) Bat

(this post was originally intended for Batenhagen... not Katenhagen)

My alarm goes off after 8 full hours of my beauty sleep. I peel my “princess” sleep mask off my beautiful face and get dressed in my jeans are cardigan. I clean the boys’ mess in the kitchen and then wonder why Danish yogurt is so much worse than American yogurt. Oh well, I suppose they are simply a lesser country. I eat the whole bowl of yogurt. Off to class! After class, I decide to wander around by myself to uncharted areas around Copenhagen. I have coffee at a quaint coffee shop that is off the beaten path in an area of Copenhagen that I have never, ever, ever been and will probably never be able to find again. Somehow, I find my way home and meet up with Catherine and Katy to go get my CPR card (essentially a social security card in Denmark that will allow free health care while I’m here). But OH NO!!! Where is my cell phone?!?! Whatever will I do?!?! I set off to find the mystery coffee shop and an hour and a half later, find my way home, cell phone in hand. I complain to my RA that Danish yogurt is kinda gross, only to learn that I had a bowl of sour cream for breakfast. Silly Bathsheba! I guess I’ll make myself a sandwich for dinner. I pull out the bread that I bought yesterday and notice there are white chunks in it. Hmmm. I look at the front of the package and notice there are potatoes all over the bag. Whatever could this mean? Surely I couldn’t have bought potato bread….

^o^,

kat

Hej!!

Hej! (pronounced “hi” and coincidentally, is Danish for “hi”)

We started classes Thursday and they were great! My War Crimes professors are each high up in the Danish military and we are going to get the chance to go to the Danish Institute for Torture Victims (or something along those lines), the Navy sites along Denmark, and Kosovo for a week. Danish was HARD. I cannot pronounce one single word correctly but I learned how to say “My name is Kat.” Jeg hidder Kat. Pronounced “Yah Hitler Kat,” naturally. Environmental economics. Boring. And Friday, I just had one class called The Impact of Epidemic Disease on Western Society. It sounds incredible.

After class on Friday, Bethea, Jessica, Caroline, and Eryn (new friends!!) and I went to Christiania. It is the hippie town of Copenhagen that doesn’t pay taxes, is not technically a part of Denmark, smoking weed is legal, the houses are shacks, and I’m pretty sure people don’t bathe. I was a little scared until I was informed by BTP that hippies are peaceful and there were probably no guns around. I relaxed and enjoyed the aroma of marijuana and the colorful sights around me.

That night, went to a DIS party in a huge club that was multiple stories and had an open bar. Pretty sweet school party. After that, we went to a crepe stand and I got ice cream on a waffle (possibly the most tasty thing in the world). The city of Copenhagen is just one huge 4^th meal and I love it. After 4^th meal, we hit up a hot dog stand so that Andrew (yes, another new friend) could get a hotdog wrapped in bacon and met a Dane named Toke who Jessica is currently in love with and in “facebooking” with. Whatever that means. We talked with him for an hour about politics in America versus Denmark. He was incredibly knowledgeable about US politics, which was amazing because I sure don’t know the first thing about Danish politics…

Today, I went on a bike tour around Copenhagen and almost died multiple times. It wasn’t the cars I was afraid of but the other bikers. There are far more bikers than cars in Denmark due to the 99% tax on automobiles and boats and gasoline costs three to four times more in Denmark than the US. Anyway, we almost get hit by bikes daily and let me tell you, being on a bike with cars and bikers was no pleasant experience. I was definitely the weakest link.

^o^,

kat

PS. I know everyone is worried. I have now found Nutella and now have a predicted weight GAIN of about 4 lbs. I cant decide which is better…..

HELLOOOO BLOGOSPHERE!!! (I think that is what its called.. I’m being a blog poser, I know) Please excuse my absence the last few days, for some reason it would not let me log in.. but hopefully I have it figured out.

The past few days have been so crazy! Summary—

Saturday- Wake up at 6am. Drive to Pensacola. Fly to Charlotte. Fly to Chicago. Hang out in Chicago for 6+ hours. Fly 8 hours to Copenhagen (not sleeping a wink, obviously). Jessica left her carry on at the airport and had to go back and get it.

Sunday- Arrival CPH! Jessica and I attempted to carry two exactly 50 lb each roller bags, huge roller carryons, backpacks (Jessica thought she was backpacking through the jungles of Europe for a few years and brought a bag the size of her body), and purses. Needless to say, this is physically impossible. So we were realllllly nice to some guys and they helped us. We arrived at our apartment and realized we would be carrying said luggage up FIVE flights of stairs. So we made new guy friends J

Monday- We went to the opening ceremony and ate pancakes at City Hall. Apparently this is  a HUGE deal that only happens once every like 10 years for Olympic medals winners, etc. So that was exciting! 

Tuesday- We went to orientations in the morning, made friends, explored the beautiful city of Copenhagen that I am now incredibly in love with. I have never seen a city so beautiful, so welcoming, so clean, and so breathtaking as Copenhagen. I am very aware that I am the luckiest girl in the world to be able to call this city my home for the next semester.  I am very blessed.

Wednesday- I used today to catch up on some sleep then Bethea, Elizabeth and I went exploring and went to the canals, the Palace and a beautiful park with a beautiful church in it. We don’t know what its called. Such tourists..

Fun Facts about my apartment-

1.     1. Jessica and I are the only girls

2.     2. There is only 1 bathroom (to share with the boys)

3.     3. There is no elevator (therefore I can never breathe when I get to my room)

4.     4. The wind blows all the doors and windows open and closed so I wake up multiple times to banging each night

5.     5. We don’t know how to work the dishwasher (can currently NOT see the countertop)

6.     6. There are no curtains in the bathroom (its hard to explain the layout, but the bathroom opens to our ENTIRE apartment building’s windows.. awkward)

7.     7. Danes apparently don’t have drawers

8.     8. Black and white Hawaiian duvets (I love them but to say Jessica HATES them would be a huge understatement)

9.    9.  There is essentially one outlet for us to share

10.10.  It is so close to all our friends, all our classes, and is so COMFY (That’s what Jessica remind ourselves about 8 times a day). We absolutely love our apartment!!!!

Copenhagen in seriously the greatest experience in the whole world! Hopefully I wont make any really long posts like this anymore but I just KNOW everyone wanted to know alllll about the past few days!

^o^,

kat

PS. Jessica and I don’t understand the grocery stores, cant cook, and cant affort to go out to eat. We simply don’t eat. I’m predicting weight loss by December to be at least 12 pounds.

The Beginning

 In 3 (almost 2!) days, I will embark on the most exciting adventure of my life. Copenhagen. For an entire semester. I am not sure if I've ever been more excited about anything in my life!! I am totally packed and at this point and I'm just sitting around enjoying the time that I have left with my family! And enjoying being able to talk to my friends whenever I want to! I cant wait to see what this next chapter has in store!

To keep anyone from getting TOO bored, I'll try to keep the posts short and full of pictures (I even got a new camera to document every second)! We're pumped for this next semester so everyone should FOLLOW US! We're gonna be super fun! (Shameless plug...) 

^o^,

kat  (thats a bat up there, GET IT?!)

BUT, Bat does want to throw a shout out to none other than Catherine Brewbaker who single- handedly created "Bat." Without you, Catherine, there would be no obnoxious nickname so we thank you for that :) Look what you have created...

Bat: Separate Blogs, but forever together in heart

This is so sad. I hate being blog-separate from Bat. Its okay. I'll get over it. I think I'm going to copy and paste my old blogs from Batenhagen and put them here so that in the end, my blog will be complete. Success!!