Let the back-dating begin!

I just got home Saturday evening from Russia. I spent the first week of travel break in Budapest and Vienna, the second traveling through Turkey and the third through Russia.

It's been a busy three weeks but I promise, the pictures and blog entries are coming.

In other news, it's so WONDERFUL to be back in Denmark. It feels like home. And they've made some changes for us students at the højskole. We used to be on a dinner meal plan. Now, we get breakfast and dinner, which is great because it was awesome to start out my morning talking to Siri, one of my Danish friends there, before I had to head off to school. We are also given a food stipend from DIS but they decided to have the højskole invoice DIS instead of going through us, which is much better because we often aren't able to find teachers to open the office and it was hard for us to get the money to them at the beginning of the semester.

Anyway, the semester is going by so fast! This week and next week I have some final projects due based on my Turkey and Russia trips and then all my papers start being due and finals are creeping up on me. I don't even want to think about the semester ending - I love it way too much here. I might even cry when they kick me out of the højskole.

Hagia Sophia, Sultanahmet Mosque Cisterns, Bosphorous Tour, Istanbul Modern and the Turkish baths!

Today was our last day with Gazi, our over-enthused but amusing tour guide. We went to the Hagia Sophia and the Sultanahmet Mosque Cisterns.

As we were taking off our shoes to enter the mosque, my friend Alaina commented that she hoped her Hebrew school teachers didn't find out, so I was happy to be able to inform both her and Gazi that Jewish law does not prohibit entering a mosque because there is nothing that could be considered idol worship, as some other religious institutions have. Thank you, Bergen County High School of Jewish Studies!


One thing that is fascinating about the mosque is that it was originally a church. In its days as a church, it was filled with beautiful paintings of Jesus Christ and other important Biblical figures. When the Muslims took it over, they wanted to respect the fact that the paintings had religious importance, even if not to them. They were too religious to be destroyed. Instead, some were covered up, which seems to me to be the same thing, but I suppose in a way, maybe it is a little more respectful. But not all of them were hidden in this way. There are still many that are faded, but still visible.

On the lower level, there is what is known as the "crying pillar." It has a hole in it surrounded by a large, bronze border. Gazi told us that it's a very old tradition for visitors to stick a finger in and turn it all the way around. Whatever wish they make is supposed to be granted. Everyone wanted to do it, because of course, you never know, and I think we were almost late for our next event because so many people in our group got on the line to do it. Hagia Sophia, I'll be waiting for my wish, just so you know.



After the mosque, we went down to the cisterns. It was a really calm walk through the dark with a few lights scattered throughout the water. It's another one of many things that I'm just going to have to remember because my camera couldn't capture it.


They gave us 20 YTL for lunch and sent us off with half an hour to grab lunch before our boat tour on the Bosphorous River, which separates the Asian half and the European half of Turkey, which is not an equal divide, as most of Turkey is in Asia. But the normal tours take four hours and since Maja knew we would like some free time, she arranged for it to only take an hour and a half. It was a beautiful day out, so in addition to the amazing scenery, it was pretty cool to look out and know that we were seeing Asia.


There's another Turkish tradition of reading someone's fortune based upon the coffee grinds left from his or her Turkish coffee. Maja told us she no longer likes to do it because she once told a woman there would be a pain in her chest and she later died of breast cancer, but she still showed us a few pictures in the coffee grinds and described what they meant. It's a very interesting process. It often is passed down in families as women teach it to their daughters and graddaughters, etc.



After that, we had the option to go to Istanbul Modern, Istanbul's art museum. Only Emilio, Alaina, Hilary, Kathryn and I went along with Peter. Hilary would've preferred to go to the Grand Bazaar, so she complained a little bit, but everyone else enjoyed it. However, I still don't have an appreciation for DVD art. Or at least, not what Istanbul Modern had to offer.

After that, we went to the Grand Bazaar to do a little shopping. We didn't have a lot of time, but mostly managed to find some things that we were looking for. Emilio, Hilary and I each bought several of those blue eyes that protect you from evil spirits. I jumped on the bandwagon after they bought them, because they had already bargained the man down. I needed to buy a magnet for Mrs. Atlas, so I got that, too, but the man forgot to charge me for it and I paid the same as Emilio and Hilary. They'll be fun to give to people since it's obviously way too difficult for me to get a lot of gifts to bring home for people.

After that, we went to find dinner and the Turkish baths. We found a restaurant and then realized we were right by the Turkish baths, so we scrapped our original plan of going back to the hotel to store all the things we bought.

Dinner was great, and then the baths were amazing. I've never gone to do something like that before. It's a little awkward being lathered and massaged by an old Turkish woman with no shirt and sagging breasts, but it was really relaxing. Hilary, Kathryn and I got the basic massage and I got a facial as well. Emilio decided that if he was going to do it, he was going to do it right and splurged on the most intense one, which included an oil massage and whatever else it had.

I don't think I've ever felt more refreshed in my life. After that, we ended the night splitting some desserts. Hilary and I originally chose not to partake, but then Emilio and Kathryn had such a reaction to the chocolate baklava that I had to try it. It was probably the best thing I've ever eaten and has shamed every dessert I've had since.

All in all, it was an amazing night. I was so relaxed that I didn't have the energy to finish my journal that night and had to do it the next day.

Topkapi Palace and US Consulate General

Today we saw the Topkapi Palace and the Harem. Today, it's a museum and has been since 1924, shortly after the Ottoman Empire ended. I've seen a few castles, but the Topkapi was just as beautiful, if not more so, than any of the other ones in every other part of Europe.

I noticed that there is definitely a distinctly different style to its architecture, which is at least partially because Turkey is very influenced by Asia as the other part of the country is technically in Asia. But the pictures on my camera don't do it justice. It was amazing just to walk around the beautiful buildings in only a light jacket after being in freezing, windy Denmark. The sun was in the sky that was the perfect shade of blue, with the perfect amount of clouds. It was so perfect in so many ways, and definitely the best way I can think of to start out the trip.


Then we went to the Grand Bazaar, but only for a half hour to grab lunch. I was promptly pulled aside by carpet sellers. I immediately made it very clear that I was could not buy a carpet, but they insisted I stay for some Turkish hospitality. They brought me some apple tea and asked me all about the United States, and one of the girls will be in California this summer so she was asking me what there is to do there. First, I was talking to her. Then, her cell phone rang and she went to answer it, so an older man spoke to me. He then introduced me to his son, Mehmet, saying that he was a very nice boy and really wanted to practice his English. I realized I had to get back to the group soon, so I asked him where I should go to buy some food. He was disappointed when I said I was a vegetarian, but found a pizza place and then refused to let me pay for the pizza. My group made fun of me when I met up with them later, but I got to keep the 20 YTL my program allotted us for lunch money.

We took a bit of long bus ride to the US Consulate General in Istinye and spoke to some Americans who worked for the foreign service. They have really interesting stories to tell - one worked in Nicaragua for two years and the man spent two or three years in Korea. In fact, the Korean girls in our group thought that he may have been the one who handed them their visas to come to Denmark.


After a long discussion about US-Turkey relations and the EU, which seemed to vaguely resemble some American propaganda, we went back to the hotel and arrived at around 5:30 p.m., where Mickey was waiting for me. He came with his friend Sally, who goes to Goucher College and is friends with Hilary, a girl from Goucher in my program. Their friend Mackenzie, who didn't know any of us, also came along. We went out to dinner so Hilary could try manka, a noodle dish with yogurt. Then we went for dessert, which was the first food I had to pay for all day since Mickey was kind enough to buy me dinner.

And speaking of food, it's all been amazing. And they did a great job with our hotel, too. It's way nicer than I expected. Honestly, I would've been fine in a hostel, I'm really not a picky person. But the room itself is on the top floor of the building so there's an amazing view of Istanbul. Oh, and there's a giant honeycomb just sitting there. Not plastic bears with processed honey inside of them, but an actual honeycomb. And any place that has an orange juicer is fine by me.

I'm in Turkey!

I'm in Turkey and it is absolutely unbelievable.

We just arrived tonight. We had dinner almost immediately after dropping off our bags in the hotel. I was very excited for dinner - even the food on the airplane was good, so I had high expectations for actual Turkish food from a real restaurant.



We ate at a place called Haci Abdullah, which Maja chose for its traditional Turkish menu. Turkish food is mainly meat-based, but there were several vegetarian options, all of which were delicious. They were mostly made of eggplant, spinach, artichoke and potatoes. We were given pomegranate juice to drink, which is definitely one of my new favorite drinks. It wasn't too tart, either.



My friend Mickey is studying in Istanbul for the semester. I got in too late tonight, but I'm hoping we get to meet up before I leave for Ephesus and Bodrum.


Our hotel is great. It's called Hotel Anemon and it's right in the middle of everything. It's going to be difficult to get lost on our way back to the hotel at night; it's right next to the Galata Tower, which has a lot of history:


The galata tower was built in 1384, it was the highpoint in the city walls of the Genoese colony called Galata

During the first centuries of Ottoman era the Galata tower was occupied by a detachment of Janissaries, the elite corps of the Turkish Army. In the sisteenth century the tower was used to house prisoners of war, who were usualy consigned as galley slaves in the ottoman arsenal at Kasimpasa on the golden horn.

During the reign of Selim 2nd (1566-1574) the Galata Tower was used as an observation point by the renowed Turkish astronomer Takiuddin, who had his main observatory in Pera. In the following century, during the reign of Mustafa 2nd (1695 - 1703) the seyhulislam Feyzulah efendi tried to set up an astronomical observatory in the tower with with the aid of a Jesuit priest, but the effort was cut short when he was killed in 1703.

The Galata Tower was reconstructed on a number of occasions in the Ottoman period, most notably, after a great fire that destroyed much of Galata in 1794 (during the reign of Selim III) and by Mahmut II in 1832. the tower's conical cap was blown off during a storm in 1875, and it was not replaced in the subsequent restoration. The tower was used as a fire- control station until 1964, when it was closed for restoratiom before being opened in 1967 as a tourist attraction. The conical cap was replaced in this restoration, giving the tower much the same appearance as it had in Genoese times, though retaining the changes in fenestration and other structual aspects done in the Ottoman period.

Source: http://www.galatatower.net/eng/tarih.php?a=1&b=1

"Lykken varer ikke evigt... (bortset fra på Grundtvigs)."

Yesterday, the Danish students had workshops all day where they wrote poetry and songs. At dinner last night, they all dressed up and performed them for the whole school and the Americans. There weren't that many Americans left because half of us already left on our study tours with school, but of those of us who were left, Tom, Lincoln and I listened to some of the performances.

They wrote inspirational quotes on the table cloths, which David translated for me.

"Lykken varer ikke evigt... (bortset fra på Grundtvigs)."
Happiness doesn't last forever anywhere... (except for Grundtvigs).

"Lev livet mens du kan."
Live life while you can.

"Tab og vind me samme sind."
Loss and victory are of the same mind.

"Øje for øje gør veriden blund."
An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.

Today, I'm leaving to spend a week touring Budapest and Vienna. I'm really going to miss this place. I'll be back for part of every weekend, because I'm doing all DIS-arranged trips, so they include the flights to and from Copenhagen, but it won't be the same. I'm so excited for the next three weeks, but it will be wonderful to come home to Grundtvigs after them.

Might've failed the midterm, but got an A on the practicum for Health Care in Scandinavia

Today I went to not one, but two emergency rooms.

I called my local doctor much earlier to try and get an appointment this week, but there just wasn't one. I was just going to hold out until after our three week travel break, but then on Thursday night, I think I had a seizure in my sleep and Friday morning, I was have small ticks. So I asked Sarah in the DIS office what I should do and she told me to go to the emergency room and where the nearest hospital was.

It wasn't hard to get to, I just got on the 6A bus and went down for a little while. I tried to ask the driver to announce when we got there, but he just ignored me when I got on the bus, which is weird, because most of the bus drivers are more than happy to announce it. Anyway, it turned out that they had a closed emergency room, so they sent me to another hospital, which was also down the 6A route.

I didn't bother asking the driver to announce where it was because my friend showed me on the last bus that there was a monitor which actually showed the names of the stops. The 701 in Hillerød doesn't have that. I guess downtown Copenhagen is more high-tech.

I went there and eventually, I spoke to a neurologist who told me she wanted to have some blood work done before upping my medicine or getting me a new one, so I'd have to go back to the first hospital but that they'd contact me although I might have to wait 2-3 weeks.

Oh, the wonders of a universal health care system.

Meeting my visiting family

After Danish class, I went over to the Danshøj metro stop to meet Lise and her daughter, Marie, who make up half of my visiting family. Peter was off traveling and Lise, the other daughter, was with her boyfriend, which of course I understood.

I've been trying to meet them since I got her but our schedules just haven't worked out. So yesterday was nice. I went over there and had a really nice home-cooked meal with them. They didn't care that I'm a vegetarian and made this really good eggplant and tomato meal with couscous and dried apricots. It was great to have a change from the højskole. I love the food there, but sometimes it gets repetitive.

They asked me all about how I was reacting to Denmark and what kind of culture shock I had experienced so far. Honestly, there hasn't been a lot that I've found totally shocking. I think it's because I listened when people gave me advice so when I saw certain things, I wasn't completely taken by surprise.

One thing, however, did surprise me. I was on the train yesterday and we stopped between stations. I asked someone what the announcer said and apparently, there had been a suicide in front of the train, which happens sometimes. But in the US, people would've reacted to it and gotten nervous. But here, no one really reacted. Maybe I shouldn't have expected anyone to, but it just seemed odd that they seemed to be more concerned with being late for work or school.

This morning, the train was really backed up. I don't know if there was another suicide, I don't think so because everyone I heard today was complaining about train trouble. It normally takes me about 50 minutes from when I get on the bus in Hillerød to when I get off of the train at Nørreport. Today, I caught a 6:52 bus and arrived at 8:26. A lot of people in my 8:30 class were late today.

Tonight I have my orientation meeting for the third week of travel break when I'm going to Russia. I'm so excited. As it gets closer and I start getting the itineraries in my hands and meeting the DIS staff on our troops, I can't even think about anything else. Too bad I have midterms this week!

As soon as it hits 9:50 on Friday and I'm done with my last pre-break midterm, I can breathe and get ready for what I'm pretty sure will be more or less the best three weeks of my life.

Weekend update

On Friday, the Danish students at the højskole concluded their "1920's America" theme week with an elaborate role-playing game from 6 p.m. to midnight.

The Americans were not invited.

Instead, I went to a party at KUA (University of Copenhagen). One of my classes is open to KUA students as well, so we have a teaching assistant named Lisbeth who comes in and tells us what's going on at KUA because, our teacher says, "I'm not going to sit through another meeting trying to figure out why you people come here for months and never meet a Dane." It's funny, but he's right; a lot of students live with other Americans (or Russians or Chinese students). The people who get the most contact with Danes are the ones living in the højskole or in host families.

At any rate, the party was in honor of Fastelavn. It's similar to our Halloween in that children dress up and go door-to-door collecting candy and coins. It used to be a period of fasting, but now is a holiday for celebration. So the Danish students threw a costume party. It was odd because it was actually in a campus building. And there was a bar there and several varieties of alcohol. Back home, student groups have parties all the time in the Stamp Student Union or wherever, but there's never alcohol present.

It's also harder in the US, I think, to pull off a theme party. It was a costume party and surprisingly, almost everyone was in costume. The few Americans who came weren't because we had to pack for four months, so clearly we had to pick and choose what to bring and costumes didn't make the cut. There were definitely Danes who didn't dress up, either, though, so we didn't look too out of place.

The party was a lot of fun, Lisbeth introduced me to some of the Danish students. My friend Elisabeth, who is actually a KUA student, showed up and I introduced her to some of my American friends. At around 11:30, I had to head out. It's unfortunate that I live so far away because I can't stay out past the bus schedules. As it turned out, I missed the last bus, which was apparently at 12:15 and not 12:39. I should've stayed out longer, because then I would've been right on time for the night bus at 1:08, but it was cold and rainy so I took a cab instead.

On Saturday, the Danes started leaving. Their semester ended and eight of them were not continuing on at the Grundtvigs. Tomorrow, 30 new students are coming in and this semester will end in May, about the time that we're leaving.

Today, I took my first trip to a movie theater. A bunch of the Danes wanted to go see "Juno," so I went with them. I learned that movie theaters have assigned seating. Every ticket has a row and seat number on it. I've never seen that in the US, which surprised Louise. It was also interesting to see Danish subtitles. My Danish isn't good by any stretch of the imagination, but you can tell sometimes when the subtitles are a lot shorter or aren't quite the same as what it actually says.