Fredag!

(Friday!)

Our breakfast cafe

Well, I’ve successfully completed my first full week at DIS and I’m happy to say that both yesterday and today were really good days! Yesterday, I got a lot of work done, and I felt significantly better after my post/reflection and a skype call with a friend from Dickinson. Today the day started with breakfast at a cafe with my Developmental Disorders professor and another student. Gila (the other student) and I volunteered to be the class "representatives," and are responsible for giving the professor feedback about the class/tests/lectures/discussions/etc throughout the semester. To get started, we were invited out to eat with Eivind (our Prof) and chat. It involved getting up particularly early, but was totally worth it. 

After breakfast we rushed to class. I asked the girl who sits next to me if she wanted to meet up next week and she was very enthusiastic. Progress. Danish Language was quite overwhelming... we are supposed to memorize the following vocabulary for Tuesday: Numbers 1-100; Interrogative pronouns; Personal pronouns; Question words; Months; Days of the week; Greetings; and Know how to ask/answer about:  Name, Were you live, Where you are from, What you study, How you get to DIS and how you got to your home university... YIKES! 

New walk home from DIS

After my final class I took my time walking back to the train station. It was a chilly, but clear afternoon, and (contrary to when I usually commute home) the sun was still out. I walked a new route by daylight, browsed in a bookstore, admired pastries from bakery windows, and stopped in a Tiger (danish version of Target, but 100x better) to pick up some sticky-tack to put up photos in my room. The train was packed, but it was almost nice to be amongst the Danes as they rushed out of the city to begin Friday festivities. 

On my new walk home from DIS

At home I was invited out to dinner with the family in honor of a big bonus Helle just received today! We went out to a delicious Italian restaurant. Ordering was a challenge (there was no English menu, which left poor Lars to translate all 24 of the past dishes for me). Usually picking something is not a challenge, but I was not in the mood for pork/bacon/pig-related meat (which the Danes manage to work into even the Italian cuisine). I happily settled for delicious pesto and shrimp dish, while everyone else stuck to steak/beef dishes (they too wanted a break from pork). 

Three generations of Hellesen men (all sitting in the exact same position throughout the meal)

The girls' side of the table! 

After dinner, Lars, Kasper, Mira and I went on an adventure around the shopping mall and picked up ice cream for a dessert treat at home. My family eats NO sugar/desserts at all on the weekdays, but come Friday it's like we are in the Nutcracker's Kingdom of Sweets: soda at dinner, ice cream AND cookies for dessert, smaller cookies and candies now as we sit and watch TV together. Kasper just brought out chocolate bars, but I am too stuffed to even consider them. 

All in all, a really good way to start the weekend: a fun breakfast date, interesting classes, nice walk back to the train, special dinner with my family, and now after-dinner fun. We've just watched the X-Factor and now are onto the semi-finals of the Handball tournament (a HUGE deal in Denmark). Tomorrow I am going with DIS to the Rosenborg Castle (I will probably post pictures) and I think my friend from orientation will be there. Afterwards I will rush home to go meet Helle's side of the family at a birthday celebration for my host-cousin. 

Alright I had better go... it's now halftime of the handball game and so I am going to run and take a 4 minute shower. I'll post at some point this weekend!

Much love,

Sara