Reach Reception

Well, today went better.  At 9am I went to Planetary Physics and that was okay.  At noon, I got out and made lunch.  Mixed some tuna with an avocado and some mayo and spices.  It was very good. Then, I went off to the city again to grab that textbook.  That went smoothly this time and I made it back to campus for our Reach Reception at 3pm.  

For the Reception, the American Ambassador to Denmark came and gave a speech as well as the president of the school.  There were also a few representatives from RPI and it turned out to be a nice ceremony.  It was rather informal for the type of affair, even with all the professional photographers.  At RPI, it would have been an eloquent and dramatic scene.  Here, it was everyone in a large Hallway, standing, and listining to the speaker right in front of them at a little podium. It was informal, but, very nice.

They also had some food on a table.  They had little roast beef sandwiches, salmon rolls, olives, ALMONDS, and chocolate covered strawberries.  After not having almonds in so long, I filled up on them and made that my dinner (I probably ate too many).  They also served wine and champagne.  

Tomorrow, I get ready for Berlin.

Long Day

Wow, today was a long day.  I'm going to go to bed after posting this.  Here is what happened:

I had to go to the city today in order to pick up a textbook that could not be delivered.  I took the bus from campus to the train station, where I got off.  When I got on the bus at campus, I clipped my ticket for 5 Zones--perfect.  The way the tickets work here is difficult to explain, but, from DTU to where I was going was 5 Zones, regardless of bus or train.   When I got to the train station, I wasn't thinking and threw away my ticket because it was used up now.  I got on the train and was riding when I realized what I had done.  I threw away my proof that I had paid for the train ride.  Now I was riding illegally and I had heard stories of people getting fined hundreds of dollars for this.  

Luckily, the police didn't come through the train, but, I was sweating for the next three stops.  (As it turns out, they came through the train on my way home, but, I had gotten another ticket, so I was okay).  

I found my way to the package pickup office and it was closed!!!  Even though, the day before I called to make sure it would be open.  The man there was nice, but, he said there was nothing he could do.  The office hrs are 1:30-8 (weird hrs for denmark).  I would have just stayed in the city and walked around (and skipped my 1pm class) becuase it was 11am at this point, but, the day before I had made plans.  I told a German girl that I would get lunch with her becuase she wants to live in NYC this summer to dance and she had some questions for me.  So, I had to come back to go see her.

So, I made it back to the bus station and instead of taking a bus back to campus, I went to the Danish version of the DMV.  I applied for a number that represents me as a temporary citizen called the CPR number and all my friends had already received theirs in the mail and I hadn't.  So, I walked the 5 minutes to this place and got that number.  

After getting that number, I figured I should continue walking in the direction of campus, instead of back tracking for the bus station.  I thought I would find a bus stop "up the road."  As it turns out, there was no bus stop for campus.  

I was grudgingly walking up the road thinking about my poor luck when I saw a pretty nice bike on the side of the road with a sign "garbage" on it.  I decided to take it.  Even though it had a flat front tire, I still made it back to campus rather quickly.  Now, I plan on fixing it up and selling it.  So, that is one thing that went right today.

After I got back to my room, I had just enough time for an early lunch before meeting this girl to talk about her travel plans.  After meeting with her, I went to my class begining at one.  The professor lectured till 4:30.  Shoot me.  

Then, after dinner, I decided to fix that bike tire.  I borrowed some tools, took the tire off and ran the tire tube under water to try and find the leak.  No leak.  That is great, except, I just wasted all this time taking the tire off for no reason.  Now I have to put it back on and that is a hassel.  After I get it back on, I borrow a pump and try to inflate it, but, the nipple for the tire doesn't fit anyone's pumps.  I have to go to a bike store in Lyngby for that.  

Damn.  I'm going to bed.

Christmas Lunch

The floor celebrated Christmas on Saturday with the Christmas Lunch.  (It is tradition in Denmark that the big Christmas meal is eaten Dec. 24th as well as present opening).  We are celebrating Christmas now because they didn't have time to do it last semester.  It seems like other floors are doing the same thing.  From what I was told, it turns into a big party in our kitchen.  That was fine with me because I was tired from La Hacienda, the club we went to last night.

The first thing we did was got some much needed groceries.  We went to the nearest grocery store, Super Best, with a cart to refill our beer fridge.  We brought back the 16 cases of empties and got 16 cases of Carlsburgh for really cheap; it was on sale.  We had to drag it all back on this cart because no one has cars.  It was not easy.

Next, 4 of us went to Netto, the really cheap grocery store that just has whole foods.  We bought lots of food for a traditional Danish Christmas Lunch.

The first course, and a very very traditional Danish dish is centered around a piece of bread. But, it is not like bread  in America.  It is very nutty and very delicate.  It must be eaten with a fork and knife, you can't really pick it up.  You put everything on it: eggs, shrimp, meatballs (which I helped make), fish, a meatloaf dish made from liver (which I wasn't crazy about), mayonaise, remoulade; anything you want.  I usually don't eat bread, but, thought I could today.  It was delicious.

We also got a salad, but, it was made by one of the Chinese residents.  It was a seaweed salad and that was good too.

The main course was the pork.  It too, was delicous.  One thing a little different on their pork is that it is sold with a quarter inch layer of fat left on the top of each cut.  When it is cooked, it becomes like a layer of bacon on top.  Imagine that.

For dessert, we made a big bowl of rice "porridge," not sure if it is the same as our rice pudding, but, they called it porridge.  It is just rice, milk, vanilla and crushed almonds.  You put a cherry sauce on it.  When it is being made, they put ONE whole almond and whoever gets the whole almond, gets a prize.  The idea is, if you find it, you keep it hidden in your mouth.  That way everyone keeps eating, hoping they will find it.  I didn't find the almond...

After that, we were all STUFFED.  I hadn't eaten that amount in a long time.  We started some karaoke and played some card games, which were new to me.  We just partied together the rest of the night.  It was great.

Here are some pictures:

Floor Meeting

We had our first floor meeting today (monthly).  Including myself, the hall has two new members.  We got the chance to introduce ourselves, even though we knew everyone already. There are elected positions in the hall, such as president, treasurer and scribe.  It is run very loosely though.  We just talked about the condition of the kitchen and what we needed to buy.   We also talked about what food to buy for our "Christmas Lunch" on Saturday.  They call it lunch, but, it is really dinner.  We want to be eating by 5pm, which is really early here in Denmark for dinner.  They usually eat at 7pm for dinner.  

After the floor meeting, we went to the Kampsax bar.  It is the bar in my complex.  It was packed.  I didn't stay too late though.  I'm sure tonight will be long.

I asked to take some photos at the end of the floor meeting.  These are the people I live with and they are great!

Here is everyone, except for the girl on the far right.  She doesn't live with us.  She is Martin's girlfriend.

Now, I'm in the pic.

Some shots celebrating the new guys (me).

Some drinking games.

Pictures

Classes are good so far.  It was what I expected.  I have some free time now, so here are some videos of my room and kitchen.

  

First Day of Classes

The first day of classes were today and they went well.  Having two 4hr classes in one day is a lot, but, it wasn't so bad.

The first class, Emerging Energy Technologies, seems easy.  There were only 30 of us in a small classroom and I sat next to one of my friends from France.  The professor lectured for a while and then we got a 20 min break.  My friend and I went back to his place for tea because it was really close.  When we got back we got a guest speaker for another hour and then it was over.  It only lasted like 2.5hrs and there is no homework (I don't think we will have too much).

After that, I went and made eggs (with some ham, salsa and jalepenos) for lunch.  Then, it was off to my next class, Microelectronics.

This class went pretty much as expected.  I sat next to a kid with an RPI sweatshirt on.  As it turned out, he was at RPI last summer for research.  He told me he was a phd student and that scared me a little.  But, I later found out most kids in the class are 2nd yr students.

Once class started, the professor asked who in the class didn't know danish.  Only myself and another kid raised our hands.  I felt kinda bad.  Everyone knows english really well, but, I'm sure they'd rather learn a difficult subject like this in their native language.  Anyway, there was lecture and then we broke off and did some exercises.  Pretty standard stuff.

Saturday Night

What a great day.  It was nothing formal, but, half my group decided to meet up at 3 and go back into the city.  Our guide, Anders, met us there again.  We just walked around and did some shopping. 

So far, I haven't noticed the prices being too expensive.  I have learned to shop at the cheapest supermarkets (they have aldi here).  I can buy food for a week for about 120dkk, which is about 25 dollars american.  I'm praciting my rationing.  Beer isn't too expensive if you buy it at the supermarket.  If you buy it at the bar, a cheap beer is 20dkk, or 4 dollars.  This isn't too bad because tax/tip is included in everything.  Most bars are between 30-50dkk/beer.  Like at my fraternity, we have a beer fridge in the kitchen where you can sign out beer for 2.75dkk/beer. Sweet.  You don't get a beer fridge on campus at rpi.

Clothes are expensive.  I lost my rpi hat and I really need one because it is cold.  I went into a huge store in the city yesterday.  It was a 5 story mall of JUST clothing stores.  I know my mom would like it.  I couldn't look for too long because they were closing.  They didn't have any of the hats I wanted, but, I was looking at the french style cap.  I think I'm going to get one, but, not there.  It was 60 dollars american.  I also like wearing scarves.  

Speaking of the kitchen, it is stocked with all the utensils I need.  I was happy to see that.  It might get kind of crowded when all 17 people are around and trying to use it.  Right now, it is nice and clean and a good spot to hang out and talk.  There is a tv in there too.  Half of the stations are stations that I'm familiar with and they are in english.

I'm off now to go to the gym and try to buy a bike from a friend.