Death by Bike

This past weekend,  I participated in my second adventure trip run by DIS, on the island of Bornholm which is owned by Denmark, but is in closer proximity to Sweden and Germany.  We boarded the bus at 9:45 on Friday night and headed to the ferry.  I reserved a cabin, and was able to sleep during the 7 hour ferry ride, and thank god I did because I would soon be using every ounce of energy I had! Once we arrived in Bornholm, we got on another bus and headed to our hostel in Gudhjem.  When we arrived the sun was just rising, and we had a very pretty view.  They split breakfast into two shifts, and my group didn't have breakfast until 8.  It was only 6:45 when we arrived, so my three roomates and I went to our very tiny hostel room and took a nap!  We went to breakfast at 8, after unwillingly getting out of bed, and had the typical Danish breakfast of yogurt, oats, cereal, bread, etc.  We then picked up our bikes and were on our way by 9....choosing to do "The Killer" bike tour, which was the longest one, and would stop at various areas throughout the island.  

“Note to self: Do not attempt anything athletic with the adjective 'killer' in the title.  Especially when said adjective is used to describe a self-guided bike tour in a country where people bike everywhere, all the time, and in horrific weather conditions.” - Megan Green

The town of Gudhjem, where
our hostel was located.

A bunch of other students had also chosen to do this one, so we started off as a large group.  Our first stop was Svaneke, which is Denmark's most Eastern town.  All the buildings were a sunflower-yellow color and against the blue water, it was very pretty.  The group split up into smaller groups here, as some continued biking and others stopped to take pictures.  After quickly stopping to replenish our water and take a few pictures, we were back on our way.  The next destination was Nexø which was a town with a large harbor that had been reconstructed after Soviet bombing during WWII.  We just rode through the town and continued on to Dueodde.  Dueodde is the most southern tip of Bornholm, and known for its beaches.  Supposedly the sand is the finest in the world and was exported in the 19th century for hourglasses.  At this point we had been biking for about three and a half hours and were starting to get hungry, but the only place open was an ice cream shop! Many people got "soft ice", which I can only describe as being a fluffier version of soft serve ice cream, but I did not want that as lunch, so I had a few almonds and raisins and decided I would just wait until the next town to get something to eat.  We walked down to the beach, took pictures, collected some sand, and got back on our bikes ready for the next part of the journey.  At this point the groups had split off, and I was with about 10 other girls.  We figured out the best route to get to Aakirkeby, the next town on our list, and headed off in search of some real food.

This ended up being a not-so-great idea on my part because the "towns" we passed through to get there were basically all farm land! So unless I wanted to go shuck my own corn for lunch, there was no food in sight. Additionally the wind was INSANE and blowing directly into us.  There was one point where we were going downhill and I still had to pedal in order to move....and going uphill was a complete joke!!!  Because of the major workout/wind combination, I was constantly taking layers off as I started sweating and putting them back on as the wind got too cold! After about 2 and a half hours of biking as hard as we could in order to move anywhere, we finally found a small place to eat.  I ordered a chicken sandwich that at any other time would have been gross, but in the moment of extreme hunger, was absolutely delicious and totally hit the spot.  Five other girls and I then went to the supermarket where we got something sweet to eat before heading back out for the last quarter of the bike ride (or at least what we thought would be the last quarter), and it was definitely a low point of the day.  We were standing right past the checkout counter, in a circle, in complete silence, eating apples, passing around chocolate, and wishing we could just be in bed.  When we exited, one of the girls in the group of 10 was attempting to squeeze her bike into some elderly couple's car! She later told us that she had been on the phone with a cab company, and they were going to charge her around 700 DKK (which equals about 120 USD) to pick her up.  The couple must have overheard and offered her a ride.  So she chose hitch hiking in the middle of Bornholm, over doing the rest of the bike ride! 

After receiving directions on how to find the bike paths leading us to the town where our hostel was, we reluctantly set off for the last leg of our journey around 4:15.  We soon found the sign that said we were 18 km from Gudhjem (which was already more than the anticipated 16 km), and followed the path.  As we continued the paths seemed to be winding in opposing directions, almost as if we were backtracking, and we passed three different signs that said 12 km to Gudhjem! We  were all pretty exhausted but somehow I was still in good spirits... which I was shocked by (endorphins maybe??) While biking I tried to let myself zone out and think about other things instead of focusing on what I was doing and how tired I was, which may have been the downfall for some of the other girls I was with who seemed miserable.  I offered up a piece of advice which someone had told me a few weeks ago and really stuck with me: "If its not a fun time, it's a good story."  When you think about it, that can be applied to many situations, and our bike ride had definitely turned from a fun time into a good story.  Another girl also added in "The only difference between an adventure and an inconvenience is your state of mind."

Then, as if someone were playing a practical joke, the path split in two directions without any sign saying which way to go! We then stood there for 5 minutes contemplating which way was best, but of course chose the wrong way.  After about 20 minutes of biking we hit a main road that had no signs or street names and had to flag down a car in order to get directions.  They showed us which way to go and we then had to back track.  We finally got back onto the correct path and were finally on our way home. As we passed close by to the final stop, which was the largest round church in Bornholm, I got off my bike and ran up a hill just to get a picture! I figured if I was that close to it, I couldn't just let myself bike away without looking.  We then continued on the path and when we saw the ocean in the distance we knew we were almost back!  We arrived back at the hostel a little after 6:30 and went to dinner.  I scarfed it down and then took a hot shower and got straight into PJs.  We hung out in our room, which we nick named "nugget" because it was so small, the rest of the night.  

"Largest" waterfall in Denmark!

The next morning we had breakfast at 8 and I was very happy that I was much less sore than I had expected!  After breakfast, my three room mates decided they wanted to go back to sleep, but I knew going back to sleep would be a bad idea.  I texted another girl, Megan, who we had biked with the day before (who happens to go to Northwestern also, although we had never talked before coming to Denmark) and she also wanted to take advantage of the day.  We walked around the town and by the water just scoping out the stores and restaurants and then decided that we should take a "short" bike ride of 10km to see Denmark's highest waterfall.  We hopped on our bikes (and I realized that there was one part of my body that was VERY sore) and headed off to the waterfall.  Upon arriving, we then had a 1km walk into the woods in order to see it.  This was interesting considering Megan and I had both decided to wear ballet flats, which would probably not be my first choice when choosing a substitute for hiking boots.  We tiptoed around the mud and finally made it! .....Now I know that Denmark tends to not have extremes of anything, and after seeing Denmark's "largest lake" on my short study tour, I knew not to expect anything too big, but Denmark's largest waterfall barely deserves to even be called a waterfall. Maybe they could call it "Denmark's largest stream that trickles down some rocks"??....But either way, I can now say that I have seen the largest waterfall and lake in Denmark.  

After returning to Gudhjem, Megan and I had lunch at a cafe by the water and I tried fisk frikadeller for the first time! Which is fish meatballs with a remoulade sauce.  Bornholm is known for its herring, but I wasn't quite ready to be that adventurous, so at least I tried something Danish.  After lunch we met up with the other girls (who had just woken up) and walked around town for a long time, went to a chocolate shop, and then just hung out in the room and packed up before dinner.  After dinner we went to get ice cream and all chipped in money to get The Apollo ice cream cone.  We had seen a boy earlier in the day with a large cone and we wanted it too! (But The Apollo totally beat his cone) Finally Denmark actually made something that can uphold the "large" name...because this was gigantic. It was a huge cone with tons of soft ice dipped in coco powder, then 5 scoops of ice cream on that, and then another cone stuck into it with soft ice and sprinkles on top, and then finished off with a Danish flag!

Soon afterwards we loaded onto the bus and headed for the ferry.  I had a cabin again and was glad I was able to sleep a little bit.  We got back into Copenhagen around 7:30AM, and I had class at 8:30 so I had no time to go back to my room! Lets just say I was a little out of it during classes, and was very excited to get back to my room, but despite exhaustion and sore muscles, the trip was great!

Learning Outside the Classroom

Inside of the Roskilde Cathedral.

In addition to the scheduled class time, each of my classes also has multiple field studies throughout the semester that are meant to supplement our in-class learning.  Last week I had two field studies.  The first was with my Danish Language and Culture class.  On Wednesday, we met at Nørreport Station in Copenhagen and took a half hour train ride to the Roskilde Cathedral.  It is the first Gothic style cathedral to be built of brick, and has been the main burial site for the Danish royal families since the 15th century. My teacher, Nina (we address teachers here by their first names), gave us a tour of the cathedral and a brief background behind many of the monarchs that were buried there.  It was interesting to see how each area had been decorated in a different style, depending on the time period in which the person had died.  There is also a clock from the early 16th century that still works today, and we got to see the wooden people on it move and ring a bell as the clock struck 10 o'clock.  The entire cathedral was beautiful and no detail had been overlooked.

A few weeks ago my Danish Language and Culture class also went to a supermarket during class to learn the names of different fruits, vegetables, meats, drinks etc. Nina set up a scavenger hunt and gave us a list of food items in Danish and English.  We then had to go around the supermarket to find out what each word corresponded to and then either put the English translation or the Danish word that was found on the item.  This was so much more fun and interactive than just sitting in a classroom looking at words in a textbook, and actually made it easier to remember what each word meant because I can visualize the item and remember what it was called.  We probably looked like foolish Americans running around a supermarket, but it was a great activity and a really enjoyable way to learn


This past Thursday night I went with my History of European Ballet class to see Swan Lake, performed by the Royal Danish Ballet.  It was in the Copenhagen Opera house, which opened only 5 years ago and cost over 500 million dollars to build!!! It is extremely modern and beautifully designed (as one would hope, considering how much it cost to build) and there is a great view of the stage from almost any seat in the theater.  We had seats in the balcony, which was a great perspective for seeing the dancing swans and all their spirals and lines that they danced so perfectly in.  The performance was very nice, but the relaxing music, comfy chairs, and dark theater made me really tired...especially considering the ballet started at 8 PM and was 3 hours long!! I was starting to zone out a little towards the end and was ready to be in bed sleeping. We will be going to 3 more ballets with the class, so from now on I know to bring some type of sugar to keep me awake (and a good night sleep wouldn't hurt either!)

I really appreciate the fact that my abroad program places such an emphasis on not just learning about things, but experiencing them as well.  By having us partake in activities that relate to our classes, it makes the topics much more interesting, and I know that I become more willing to hear about a topic that otherwise I may not have been as interested in.  I look forward to my many other field studies and have two coming up next week!

Short Study Tour

As I had mentioned in my first post, I will be doing some traveling with my teacher and classmates from my core course - Memory and Identity. We left early Thursday morning for a three day trip to Western Denmark.  Our first stop was a folkehøgskole in Ry.  

Main lawn at the folk high school.  

After settling in to our rooms, we met with the headmaster of the school and he explained to us a brief background about Folkehøgskoles.  Folkehøgskoles or in english, folk high schools, are unique to Denmark.  The goal of folk high schools is to give people education through personal development and "enlightenment".  There are no tests, grades, or curriculums, so students gain a sense of achievement through their own accomplishments and by meeting goals they set for themselves.  Each school tends to have its own focus, whether that be art, music, writing, or sports.  There is not really liberal arts education in Denmark, so students tend to take time off to figure out what they want to do before attending college, and that is where folk high schools come in to play.  The students we met were staying at that particular folk high school for 5 months.  Some were taking time off before college, some had gone to college but realized it was not for the career they wanted, and some had already graduated, but were trying to figure out what they wanted to do.  The headmaster said "This is a time when you can be useless and feel great about it." When we all met in the dining room, they handed out song books and we sang the Beatles song "With a Little Help From My Friends".  I thought it was histerical that we were sitting around like hippies singing songs together, but the headmaster explained that singing is an important part of folk high schools in order to bond together in fun activities. He told us that everything that students do there is something they want to be doing, and they should never participate in anything that they don't want to be doing. 

View from the hill.

We were given a short tour of the grounds and then had lunch there, which was actually delicious!  Way better than what you would ever expect school food to taste like.  After lunch there were 4 activities being offered that day.  The choices were African drumming, walk and talk, a sound workshop, and creative writing.  I chose to do the walk and talk, and they paired each American student up with one of the folk high school students to talk with.  Throughout the hike we switched partners, so I had the opportunity to speak with 4 different students and understand why they had chosen to come to the folk high school and what their plans were for when they were done there (as well as not so serious topics like what our favorite movies are, where we have traveled, and what the best beer in Denmark is).  The hike took us to the top of a hill which overlooked the largest lake in Denmark (which was not that large, but beautiful nonetheless.)  When we returned to the school there were rolls with butter and preserves as well as tea and coffee out for us, and we had an hour or so before dinner to do whatever we wanted.  A few kids from my class stayed in the dining room to talk.  We then had dinner which was even better than lunch and had so many different options to choose from.  After dinner they set up a slip and slide on the hill going down to the lake, and people wore garbage bags to go down it.  It was raining out and pretty cold, so I give a lot of credit to the kids who participated!  The rest of the night was free so we then went to their "cafe" which is where they hang out and can drink, play pool/cards, dance or whatever. 
The next morning we had breakfast at the school, which was once again really good.  We went to their morning meeting after breakfast and then got on the bus to go to our next stop which was an open prison. We were brought into the main front building which was extremely modern, clean and new.  They had out cookies, tea and coffee for us while the Deputy Warden spoke with us about what happens in an open prison.  Basically the only right that is taken away is their freedom.  Each prisoner has their own room with a computer and a TV, they go to work or school each day, cook their own meals in the communal kitchen (with knives!) and can hangout, play pool, or watch TV in the evenings.  At 10PM their doors lock, so if they need to use the bathroom they must ring a buzzer to have a guard let them out, but other than that they live fairly normally.  The prison system in Denmark has more of a focus on  normalizing the prisoner's lives and helping them go back into the real world, as opposed to punishing them for what they have done.  We learned that in all of Denmark there were 50 murders the entire year (whereas that probably happens within one week in New York City), and that 95% of the murders were between husband and wife.  The deputy warden joked "If you come to Denmark you have a good chance of not getting shot randomly in the street, just don't get married!" 
The people who are in open prisons are those who have been sentenced for under 5 years, some staying for as little as one week.  We then had the opportunity to meet with one of the prisoners who had been convicted of VAT fraud.  He said that if he were in the US he would be serving 30-40 years in a high security prison and that he would be a completely different person after leaving.  He was "scared shitless" upon arriving to the prision because he didn't know what to expect and had never been around criminals before, but he still tends to keep to himself and is just focusing on educating himself and preparing to return to the workforce.  He said that he was very thankful that Denmark wants to help the prisoners become normal members of society again instead of focusing on being punished for what he has done.  We were also given the chance to ask a few questions, and I asked if they thought that people may take advantage of the system because the quality of life is fairly decent and there are many resources available to the prisoners after leaving.  I don't think they fully understood my question, however, because the answer they gave wasn't really what I was looking for.  We were given a tour of one of the living areas, and then left for lunch at a cute bed and breakfast type place.  

Everyone else was touching
the Jelling stones, so I took a
picture imitating them.

Afterwards we headed to Jelling (pronounced "yelling") to see the Jelling Stones, which are large stones with carved inscriptions on them dating back to the 10th century.  It is also the first place that Denmark was regarded as a nation.  After seeing the stones and touring the museum we headed to our hostel in Kolding (pronounced "cooling").  I went into the town of Kolding with a few other kids from my class, and we walked around and went to dinner.  Afterwards we just hung out in the room and went to bed early.  Breakfast Sunday morning was at the hostel and delicious as usual.  We headed to Vejen (pronounced "vine") afterwards to see an art museum and various sculptures.  We then went to lunch at a restaurant in Kolding where they set up a huge buffet style lunch that was amazing.  We all practically attacked it!  

Inner courtyard of the castle.

After lunch we walked over to the castle in Kolding and were given a brief introduction to it.  We were then given an hour to tour around so I climbed the tower, went into the dungeon, and also walked through the Beatles exhibit that was taking place in the modern wing of the castle.  I found out that one of the other castles in Denmark is supposedly what the Walt Disney castle is based off of, so I definitely want to plan a trip to see that!  
Overall, it was another great weekend and I look forward to visiting France with my class in a few weeks!

Adventure Trip in Sweden

Last weekend I went on an adventure trip to Sweden, that was planned through my study abroad program, DIS.  We got on the bus at 7:15, took the ferry over to Sweden, and went straight to our first activity; canoeing down the Rönne Å (a river in Sweden).  The canoeing took about 2 and a half hours and was beautiful but a little too long (my arm muscles were starting to feel like jello!).  I then gladly got back on the bus and we drove to our hostel that was basically everything opposite of what I had expected a hostel to be like.  It was an extremely large house with a beautiful property surrounding it.  Sarina (my roommate, who also happened to be on the trip) and I managed to get a double room, which was really nice! The owners of the hostel were an older couple and they had prepared us lunch which was a delicious soup/stew with fresh bread.  

Inside one of the Nimis passage ways.

We then took a hike to see Nimis which is an area on the Swedish Coast where an artist, Lars Vilks, has built driftwood sculptures along the shore. The sculptures and towers were crazy looking, and we were allowed to climb all over them. It seemed like an accident waiting to happen...but was fun in the moment! They had warned us that it would be a "tricky" hike to get there - and they weren't lying when our hike to get back to our bus was practically vertical!!! We headed back to our hostel and they started preparing dinner, which was being cooked over an outdoor bonfire. There was a volleyball net set up on the property and a bunch of us played volleyball while waiting for dinner to be ready. We all ate outside and there was a beautiful pink sunset. After dessert, we all gathered inside, where we had eaten lunch earlier in the day, to play cards and other games that I haven't played in years. It reminded me a lot of sleep away camp, and it was a very "hyggeligt" time. "Hyggeligt" means cozy in Danish, and is one of the best compliments you can give a Danish host. They all love putting out candles and making an inside environment warm and inviting.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hostel, received our lunch bags for the afternoon, and headed to the Kullaberg Nature Reserve. We were split up into two groups. My group went rappelling off of the cliffs first, and in addition to being an awesome experience, it was the most unbelievable view.  
Afterwards we took our lunch bags to an open area to sit and eat. Random fact: I found out that high fructose corn syrup can not be used in food in Europe, so even Twix bars are healthier here!...and we all agreed that you can actually taste a little bit of a difference. When we finished lunch the two groups switched activities, so now my group did "orienteering" which was kind of like a scavenger hunt. We were given 5 locations to go to around the nature reserve, and at each location we had instructions for what to do when we got there. By going around to each activity we were able to explore different areas and witness some more amazing views overlooking the water. (More pictures are posted on Facebook) Afterwards we got back on the bus and our leaders surprised us when we headed to Flickorna Lundgren, a bakery that has been around for about 80 years in Sweden. The King used to go there for the Vanilla Hearts, which is a soft cookie like heart with vanilla creme in the center. They served us coffee, tea, Weinerbrød and, of course, the vanilla hearts. They were delicious and a very welcome treat after a long day of activities. We walked around the grounds for a bit afterwards and then headed back on the bus to go home.
Overall I could not have asked for a better weekend and was completely exhausted upon arriving back to my Kollegium. It was the first of many trips I will be taking this semester, and a great way to start off my travels!

Do one thing each day that...

There is another picture of Nyhavn in
my previous post - the one with water
and colorful buildings behind it.

I need to catch up on my postings, so I will first back track to last Thursday.  I was done with classes at 11:30, and not really in the mood to go back to my room.  I was getting into a routine of going to class, working out, making dinner, and doing my work...but also felt as though I was not taking advantage of my time here.  I saw a girl from my Kollegium and asked if she would be interested in doing something before heading back to where we live, even if it was just going out to lunch.  We decided to pick up sandwiches and then sit by the boats on Nyhavn (a street on the water) to eat.  Nyhavn was originally built in the 1600s as a place for ships and fishermen to unload, but now is a "heritage harbor" where old wooden boats are docked. After finishing our sandwiches, and having a whole day ahead of us, we decided to be adventurous and hop on the boat bus to see where it would take us.


We ended up at Kastellet, which had been used as a military fortification, to defend against England, in The Battle of Copenhagen, in 1807.  It is now open to the public as a historical monument, but is still owned by the Danish Defense Ministry and is used as an active military area.  Within Kastellet there is also a windmill that was built in 1847, and is the only working windmill in Copenhagen today.  The two of us walked around for about three hours exploring the military base and the areas around it, and agreed that every Monday and Thursday we would try to visit some place new within Copenhagen.  It was so nice to finally have a chance to explore the city and finding the destination on our own made it even more exciting!

The first week of being here, I had been trying so hard to make my days seem "normal" by getting into a routine, that I reached a point (on my birthday, of course) where I saw no purpose to being abroad.  I was spending my days the same way I would if I were still at Northwestern, and was getting myself upset that I chose to leave the comfort of "familiarity" behind, for an unfamiliar everything (country, friends, language, culture, living situation etc.).

While having a routine works well for me in my normal life, I realized that each day of the next four months should be anything BUT normal!  While walking around the paths within Kastellet I made the decision that every day moving forward I was going to make sure I did something that I normally would not, and that I would take advantage of every moment here.  I envisioned myself walking down Sheridan Road, back at school in January, and thought about what I would want to say when someone asked me what I did while I was abroad.  That being said, I did not come to Denmark to do school work and go to the gym, I came to Denmark to have the experience of a lifetime....and the schoolwork is just enabling me to have this experience.

Following this "breakthrough" on Thursday, I then had the most unbelievable weekend in Sweden, but will write more about that in the next post.  Until then I leave you with my new motto: "Do one thing each day that  makes you happy  reminds you, you're abroad" .... and if that means buying pastries on a regular basis, then I will have to do just that!