Far too long

It has been far too long since I have written anything, wouldn't you say?  I can hardly believe we are nearing the end of June already.  I am halfway through my summer internship, which is unbelievable for two reasons: it doesn't feel as though I have been here, doing research, coming to work at the lab every day for five weeks already...but at the same time, it feels as though the friends I have made in the past 5 weeks have been my friends for years.  I guess that is what happens when you live in close proximity, share a mutual passion for science, and spend hour upon hour, day after day, in a lab either staring at a computer screen or sniffing chemicals (as for me I stare at the computer screen and sometimes I convince myself that I can actually feel my cognitive processes fading away).  Back to the main point...5 weeks done, 5 weeks left.  Crazy.

Like I said, it's been such a long time since I have written anything in here.  For some reason it seems much harder for me to put together a decent post now; it's not that my life is boring, but I do feel as though the things that I do now are much more run-of-the-mill than all of my previous exciting travels and I am just not certain you want to hear me ramble about watching American tv, eating American food and speaking English all the time.  I think I am subconsciously burdened by a need to compete with Denmark Rachel.  Maybe if I just use all of the right words I can make my Iowa City life seem almost as glamorous as my Copenhagen life.  It's worth a try.

Although this summer is full of research, studying for the GRE (ick!), planning my senior research for next term and generally being scared silly about my impending and inevitable future, I am also doing my best to make time for a bunch of really awesome activities.  For one thing, I have been riding my bike (whose name is Lyle, by the way) as much as possible.  Not only can I get to work in less time than it takes on the bus, it also wakes me up every morning to coast through the fresh air, feel the mud splash on my legs (I usually don't see mud puddles until Lyle is too close to them) and blare my special biking playlist into one ear (have to keep one ear open for important things like traffic, of course).   Besides just riding to work, I have also spent some time on the nice Iowa City bike paths with friends.  I think the most memorable moment I have had on a bike ride so far was getting hissed at by geese who were literally taking up more than their fair share of the bike path.  My friend Dan and I were just passing by, on our bikes, as nicely as possible and apparently the geese were really not pleased with us.  Is it reasonable to be scared of an animal 1/8 your size when you are on a hefty machine made of metal and gears?  No, probably not, but that doesn't mean I had any desire to stick around to see what would happen in the face-off between Lyle and the goose.  Lyle and I booked it out of there, with Dan and his bike (Lexi) following close behind.


Another thing I am desperate to do this summer is dance.  I have already gone to a few Zumba classes here and although it is fun, I am disappointed that no one has lived up to my previous Prairie City Zumba experiences.  I enjoy going to these classes but they make me really want to either be back at Kat's class or teaching my own class.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can teach Zumba at Knox.  It would just  be so swell.  We'll see.
 
And now for some actual dancing, I recently found out that a few of my hallmates can swing dance.  It just so happens that I LOVE swing dancing.  I searched and searched and searched for swing dancing opportunities in Iowa City and was lucky enough to come across a group that swing dances in downtown IC every Thursday night.  Naturally, I was ecstatic so after work last Thursday I got all dolled up, grabbed some friends and headed downtown.  Although I rarely wear skirts, for this special occasion I had on a high-waisted skirt, leggings, gold flats and a big flower headband.  I looked like I just walked out of the forties, which is pretty appropriate for a night of swing dancing.  Unfortunately, no swing dancing was to be found and my friends and I ended up in a bar eating appetizers and playing darts (still in my dancing garb).  Although the lack of dancing made me want to cry (and I wouldn't deny it if someone claimed they actually had seen a tear or two on my cheek), I am really glad my friends were there so I didn't have to go to a bar by myself and wash away my disappointment with a few too many Shirley Temples.

The failed night of swing dancing has made me more determined to find somewhere to ballroom dance.  I think I might give the Senior Center a try...apparently there will be Tango tonight and salsa tomorrow night.  I'll keep you updated.

I forgot to mention- the reason I am obsessed with dancing this summer is because I am lined up to be the president of ballroom club next year. YIKES.  I gotta learn some sweet moves before I can stand in front of everyone and pretend like I know enough to teach them.


I realize this is a pretty short post compared to some of my abroad posts but I am supposed to be having a meeting soon and since I am getting paid for my real job and not paid to sit around sending my thoughts all over the interwebs, I should probably skidaddle.  Who knows, maybe next time I won't wait 4 weeks before writing.

As always, tak for reading and enjoy your day!

New obsession: Charleston dance craze

I basically want to be all of these people combined. Too bad I wasn't born in the roaring 20s.
Give it a looksee.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIQ23ZQ84Mg&feature=related  

The Life of an Intern

I wish that I could say that I haven't written for so long because I have been so gosh darn busy.  And I could say that...it just wouldn't be quite true.  I have work Monday-Friday from anywhere between 7:30 and 9:00 until 4 or 5 and although I have plenty to do at work, the evenings are pretty much mine for the taking.  Thus far I have been cooking yummy dinners, watching Modern Family episodes online and hanging out with the awesome people in my program.  Those things combined have left little time for important things like writing in my blog.  I think I need to work on my priorities :P

Ok now I'll get down to the real point of this, I am having a great time.  It has only been two weeks and I have already become quite good friends with most of the people in my program.  2 weeks is never enough time for me to make friends, but that's how long I have been here so I guess these people must be really special.  I think I have earned a reputation with them of being the odd girl who loves Zumba and hacky-sack a little too much and somehow makes everyone laugh without really trying (mostly they laugh at me and my oddities but its laughter nonetheless) and apparently they still like to spend time with me so that is good :)
So far we have spent a day at the Coralville lake, made some dinners together, danced some Zumba and salsa (who knew I'd get to dance with a Puerto Rican who is really good at it!?!), played hacky-sack, gone to the movies and walked around downtown Iowa City.  Meeting these people has also reminded me of what a small world this is.  I have some type of connection with almost everyone here.  3 of them even studied in Copenhagen at DIS in the fall and know some of the Knox students who were there!  I have to admit I love having people around to reminisce with about pastries and øl and Tivoli and host families and the few words and phrases we actually remember from dansk class.  It's nice that someone else can appreciate the map of Copenhagen that I have hanging on my wall right now.  All in all I am very pleased to be living with these people and getting to know them as we all experience this summer of research.

As for the actual research aspect of this internship, so far I really like it but it is not quite what I pictured.  I do work in a basement lab (which is about what I expected) but so far it has not been crazy, hectic, stressful and full of actual research.  Since we are in the beginning stages of this research project I have been reading. And reading. And reading. And.....highlighting, annotating, questioning and searching for even more more articles to help me get informed on our project.  Want a really brief explanation of the project?  If yes, read the next paragraph and try not to get mad at me for being boring...if not, skip past it and I will try and be extra witty for you.

The mentor I am working with works part time in the Neurology clinic in the hospital and part time in the Speech and Hearing Center.  Therefore I kind of work part time in each also.  In the Speech and Hearing center there is a nice room with some computers, desks, whiteboards and chalkboards.  Most days I station myself at this large desk with a beautiful apple computer where I sit and look up articles, print out articles, and repeat the process.  My mentor works a lot of memory systems and language development and also with amnesiac patients and their different abilities and inabilities.  A very recent paper was published describing a new theory about the memory systems and how amnesiacs can actually remember a few novel words if taught them in a certain way that seems to bypass the hippocampus (the area that is destroyed in amnesia cases).  Our lab is going to try to replicate this paper with our amnesiac patients and see how far we can push it to say it doesn't work if you do it this way, that way, ect, ect.  Did that all make sense?  Let me know if you want more details. I tried to make it as interesting as possible :)

So this is supposed to be the witty paragraph.  Go figure, I have no more wit left.
(major pause while I go eat dinner)
(major pause while I watch Dexter)
(major pause while I sleep)

Ok, it is morning now and I am back and hopefully wittier than last night.  Here goes
Yesterday while my friend and I were sitting on a bench downtown eating ice cream , an older gentleman who was sitting across from us asks me what kind of ice cream I am having and where it is from, how much it costs, ect ect. Very friendly guy.  I'm guessing he was Iowan (not only because he was in Iowa but because he was so chatty and I kind of think that is a decent generalization to make about older folk in Iowa) Anyway, we continue eating our ice cream and I soon hear the guy stop a young man who is walking by in an Iowa Hawkeye shirt and the following conversation ensued:

Older man: Excuse me, sorry, are you a hawk fan?
Young dude: Yeah, I am. 
Older man:  I have been trying to find someone to ask a question. Can I ask you a question?
Young dude: Sure, what is it?
Older man: I was just wondering, why is Kinnick stadium always so cool?
Young dude: (major confusion) Um..why is it so cool?
Older man:  Yeah, we just noticed that the stadium is always so cool. Why is that?
Young dude:  You mean, cool as in the temperature?  Is it cold in there?  (still super confused and really not sure what to say)
Older man:  Well, it's gotta be because there are always so many fans in there!!  (insert rimshot here)
(I immediately burst out laughing and quickly turn my head so the guy can't see)
Young dude:  Oh! (laugh laugh laugh)  That is a good one.
Older man:  (looking quite pleased with his funny self laughs at his own joke while his wife looks slightly embarrassed to be married to this goofball)
Young dude:  Haha, well you have a good day sir.
And off he went.

Oh, Iowans.

And now I'm off to work!

A simple little ID badge

Hello to anyone out there who is still following my blog.  I really hope this will not be like one of those TV shows that was great while it lasted but really should've just stopped after 2 seasons instead of continuing on for 5 more painful seasons of unnecessary drama and bad jokes.  I'll do my best to maintain a "Friends-like" epicness rather than a "Gilmore Girls" tediousness (no offense to anyone who actually still enjoys that show).  

Anyway I desperately need to do a little reflecting on the recent activity in my life and lucky you, since you are reading this, you will herein be privy to the secret little thoughts floating around and bobbing up and down in the messy liquid in my head. 

Well, I moved in to the dormitory here at the University of Iowa on Sunday, just four days after I returned from Denmark.  Those four days at home with my family were wonderful and relaxing and sentimental with over way too quickly.  You would think that after moving 6 times within the last year I would be a really awesome packer.  But I'm not. Or at least I am not when all I really have to do is transport enough clothes and blankets to last until I make a trip back to Newton for visiting and laundry purposes.  I basically threw the things that I figured I would need into a few boxes, bags and piles and off I went, across I-80, to where my summer adventures awaited.  It didn't take long to move my stuff into the oddly shaped dorm room (I'll have to take some photos so I can post them.  Trust me, it's weird) and then Monday was my first day "on the job".  I am thrilled to be doing research this summer and, as my mentor says, "trying on Iowa as a grad school".  Who knows, maybe after graduating Knox next year I will end up back here to pursue even greater academic goals.   So far this week has been a lot of me sitting in front of a computer, finding articles on our specific research topic and then reading, re-reading, highlighting and scribbling all over them.  I had a meeting with my mentor and another researcher to discuss the experiment I will be helping with and I kind of expected to sit quietly, listening in awe to them intelligently discuss the project.  Those expectations were exactly why my "fight-or-flight" response kicked in to high gear when we sat down and they said to me "Ok, you have been reading these articles.  Tell us what you know."   And thus panic ensued, coursing through my veins, causing me to sweat a little and making me feel my rapid heartbeat all the way in my toes.  Turns out I survived and even did well enough that we were able to come up with a decent plan to get started on the project.  I lived through a moment that I found even scarier than all those times I traveled by myself in foreign countries where I couldn't speak the language and didn't understand the customs.  Phew.

I made a short trip home to Newton today for my mom's retirement party.  I am so proud of her and although Newton High School will miss her a lot...our family is pumped to have more of her for ourselves.  Job well done, Karen Clark...job very well done.  While I was home, I was struck by how much I miss it already.  4 months and I did a pretty good job of not getting homesick.  Then I am gone for four days and suddenly all I want to do is sit at the kitchen table with my mom and pet my kitty and swing in my hammock on a slightly breezy night as the sun goes down.  I was so excited to come to Iowa City this summer that I kind of forgot about all the wonderfulness of summer that I will be missing.  The times they are a-changing.  And although I will continue to go with the flow, that doesn't mean I can't take a minute to just miss the good times of years past.  Newton never looked so beautiful as it did tonight as I stood in my driveway and stared at the sunlight that streamed on to all the front lawns on our street.  No matter how far away I go and how many places I go to (10 countries in the span of 5 months, for example), Newton will always be home and home always as that special feel that you simply can't get from anywhere else.  

Onto the next topic, now that I am an official "student researcher" at U of I, I have an adorable little badge with my photo and my name and my id number.  It has a handy clip so every morning I clip it onto one of my pockets and walk around like I am really hot stuff.  It's funny how a simple little ID badge can make me feel way more grown up.  I was walking into the hospital the other day to go to the Neurology department and one of the very nice ladies asked if I needed help finding anything.  She suddenly saw my badge and said "Oh! You work here."

I was pretty pleased with myself with that, feeling like a fancy big-shot hospital employee...until I realized I had to admit "Well, yes I do but it's only my second day so can you help me find the Neurology clinic?"  (big smile from her) "Yes, of course.  It's right through these doors."

Me, the suddenly blushing, not so big-shot little undergrad student said "Thank you" and walked to Neurology.  I may have had a slightly shaken confidence but at least I still had my ID badge : )

I have officially surpassed my normal bedtime.  My extended jet lag has been wiping me out by 10:30 each night and it is currently 11:56 pm.  It has been over a week since I have been back in the states so I really should be normalized to the time here but for some reason my internal clock has insisted on staying just a little off, as if it knows I am back in America but it doesn't want to actually admit it.  

Ok ok internal clock, you win.  I'm off to bed.  Godnat!

"You're all set. Welcome back Miss Clark..."

...said the customs officer who checked me in at the Chicago O’Hare Airport.   I am officially on American soil, well, sort of.  I am sitting on a chair that is on some blue carpet that is on the floor of the airport and this airport building is undoubtedly placed on a concrete foundation that is firmly situated upon American soil.  So, yes, I think I am on American soil.  

I am happy to be home but leaving Denmark was maybe the hardest thing I have ever had to do.  I know that I will return to Denmark to visit my family, explore the city more and enjoy endless pastries, but the whole “living and studying” there is over.  And that is terribly sad.  I don’t tend to get very stressed when I travel but I suppose today I was especially vulnerable and I cried the whole way through security and then I even cried while watching the end of Finding Nemo.  Yeah, that’s how bad it was.  But I am here now and with just one more short flight I will be in the arms of my family.  And for that I am incredibly excited.   

I'll give you just a few reflections before I have to pack up my computer once again, stuff it in its case, reload my multiple bags on my little body and make my way onto the plane. 

My first thoughts upon reentering the states?  There are just so many Americans here.  And there is so much English.  It is weird not to say “Sorry, I speak English” before talking to someone. It is nice, I guess, but my ears already miss the Danish sounds. 

Now, this next reflection might sound offensive but I promise that I love all of you Americans who are reading this so it is not directed toward you.  In the past 10 hours I have been struck over and over by just how nice Americans are…and also how incredibly annoying they are!  Perhaps I am especially biased but it always seemed like the Americans who were complaining about little things or talking about themselves (loudly) or acting like they were the most important person in the room.  And of course, when one American acts like he/she is so great, then the other Americans grumble and snootily say, “Gosh what makes you so special? Why do you get to get out of the plane first?”  

Good god, Americans, just slappe af!  (a common Danish phrase meaning ‘relax!’)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wrote the above post from the airport but I didn't have internet there so I couldn't post it.  Now I am at home, in my comfy bed.  I have been with my family for the past 10 hours and for those 10 hours I have not had to deal with any annoying Americans, just the absolutely wonderful Americans who I was so happy to see I couldn't even shed a tear, who chatted with me and listened to me chat the entire way back to Newton, and who stayed up super late with me to open souvenirs and laugh at the massive amount of candy that I brought home.  Let's just say, it was been one hell of a good homecoming.  

I was wide awake all through the last part of my trip and up until midnight last night (which would have been nighttime up until 7:00 am back in Copenhagen) so I thought "Well, geeze I am pretty great at this not getting jetlag thing."  Well it is now 5:30 am and I am awake enough to have turned my computer on and started writing this instead of just going back to sleep.  That is certainly not normal! Unfortunately, I guess that means I am not as perfectly exempt from the crazy amount of messed-up that everyone warned me I would feel.  Nonetheless I will try to go back to sleep now and wake up again in two hours or so.  If that doesn't work I guess I might be back on here to ramble some more : ) 

Vi ses!

And the sky is still light

I was just walking back home from the train station (for the last time) and I was struck with just how light is still was.  It was just after 11 and it looked more like 9:30.  The sky was mostly grey from clouds but on each side there were large areas of vibrant blue...not sky blue, but a cerulean-type blue.  It was amazing.  This made me realize just how far north I actually am right now and have been for the past four months.  Light in the sky at 11 is definitely not something I will see in Iowa this summer.  Don't worry, I savored it as much as possible.

So now I am laying in bed, not wanting to go to sleep because sleep makes time go faster and I only have a few hours left to live in Denmark.  Do I really want to waste those hours by sleeping?  Well...maybe some of them. But first I will do the obligatory get-you-up-to-speed on all the things I have not yet.

I left off in the middle of the deer park.  Did my pictures show you enough of how awesome it was??  At least 25, maybe more, deer in the middle of a field.  We got so close to them before they got a little spooked and ran.  What made it even more surreal was that the park was so quiet that the only noise was coming from our footsteps on the crunchy twigs and leaves.

Here is a close up of a few of the deer

After enjoying the presence of the herd of deer, we continued our bike ride.  

And then we went to Bakken (the old amusement park) for a bit.  We rode one roller coaster and then we parted ways. Delayna hopped on the train to take her home and I rode the 10ish km back to my house.  It was a tough ride (lots of wind, lots of tired legs) but I was very satisfied by the time I finally made it.

Friday night I went out salsa dancing and then to a funky little club in what is known as the "meat packing district".  Gotta be honest, I don't really know the story of the meat packing district.  It's just a very industrial part of town that really gets hopping on the weekends.  We met up with my friend's friends at the train station and then to get to the club we...are you prepared for this?-- rode on the back of their bikes (and yes, they were slightly intoxicated!)  Sorry Mom!  So there I am, in a skirt and tights, riding on the back of a bike through the city.  You might be picturing a sweet motorbike but remember, this is Copenhagen.  It was just a legit, 6-gear city bike.  On the bright side, I did hold his beer for him so it's not like he was actually drinking and riding.

But we survived!  And it was actually a little fun.  Go figure.

Saturday was the long-awaited caramel-making day.  My Grandma Audrey (my mom's mom) has forever been the queen of caramels.  They are just these amazing homemade caramels that she made every Christmas.  I swear she made at least 25 pans some years.  In the last few years my mom has taken over the caramel tradition (though she thankfully sticks to less than 20 pans) so this is a tried and true Seyb/Clark recipe.  I brought some of these famous caramels to the Larsens when I first arrived in Denmark and this spurred them to ask for the recipe a few times.  Just last week I finally asked my mom for the recipe and once she sent it we went about finding a substitute for the American corn-syrup and converting measurements to the metric system.  I was a little nervous to be in charge of the making of these because I have never actually made a batch.  I have always only watched my mom do it.  Everything went splendidly but I was so nervous to burn them that I finished the cooking a little early and we ended up with very soft, very delicious, caramels. Definitely not at all a failure. I would even dare to call it a great success...at least it appears that way because all of the caramels have been eaten by now : )  I think the Larsens are excited to make the caramels themselves so they can get the consistency just right.  I am so pleased to have brought the recipe over here and now it will live on!

Rebecca being my stirring assistant 

Finished product!

On Saturday we also had a special dinner and exchanged "going-away" gifts.  The Larsens gave me the most beautiful book with photos of Copenhagen taken from above.  It is so cool to flip through it and now that I have been to so many of the places and now I can tell my family all about them.

Saturday night was also full of excitement because it was the Eurovision song contest!! (which is a pretty big deal over here, not surprisingly)  We got to watch the final 25 countries perform their songs and then each country called in with their votes.  I actually fell asleep during the voting process but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the countries' performances.  I even bought a few of the songs on itunes afterwards because I liked them so much : )

Sunday was full of packing and playing soccer and having my final lesson in making Danish pancakes.  I think (I hope!) that I am now skilled enough to try making them back in Iowa.  If anything goes wrong I can always try and skype with the Larsens to get a refresher on how to flip them or how much flour to use.

That brings us to Monday.  Hmm..what was Monday?  Oh wait, that was just yesterday.  I guess I stayed home and packed for a while and then I went to the city to take my books back.  I found some friends and ate lunch with them and then we did a little shopping.  I know, I didn't really need more stuff for my suitcase but there was one shirt I couldn't stop thinking about so I went and bought it.  I guess a few European items of clothing will help me remember my time even more :)

And then last night I just got to spend some very hyggeligt time with the family, playing soccer, making pizza, easting the delicious pizza we made, and playing at least 6 games of Sequence with Jesper.  I couldn't have asked for a better 2nd to last evening.

Today.  Today was my final day in the city.  Lauren and I went out for lunch at the super cute coffee shop I keep talking about and then we did a tiny bit of shopping before heading to the Closing Ceremony, which was full of great music, good speeches, and nostalgic memories about the place we are leaving behind.  Afterwards I bought my last pastry, took my 2nd to last train ride home, had my last dinner with my family and finished packing.  Then I went in to the city for the final DIS party, where I danced a tiny bit but mostly just ate peanuts and said good-byes.  I can't lie and say that wasn't hard.  It certainly was.  And the train ride home was quite difficult too.  I listened to my "Denmark faves" playlist on my ipod and stared out the window at the darkness passing by.  It's hard to explain all the emotions that ran through my head during those 20 minutes.  The sad thing is that this part of my life will be over soon.  I will never again live in this house in Denmark (probably never live in Denmark again) and I will never get to experience the city in quite the same way.  But there is always a silver lining and that is that I will be back someday.  I will be back to visit, with my family, and I will see the city again and I will take great pleasure in feeling as though a part of me is coming home.

I feel as though I should have had a "What do I miss most about America? post" or a "What will I miss the most about Denmark?" post.   I didn't even really think of that until today when Andreas asked me what I miss from America besides my family and it took me quite a while to come up with any sort of answer.  I did say Emma, my roommate, of course...but she kind of counts as family to me.  Jesper helped me out and said "the candy". Well, that is kind of true.  I would really love to sink my teeth into some swedish fish right about now.  But Karina also helped by saying something like "You have what you need in Denmark."  That is so very true.  Not only do I have the basics like delicious food, clean water and the other luxuries of America, but I also have a great family to hang out with, a cat to snuggle with (when he is in the mood) and two awesome kids to play with. Oh and I even had peanut butter for most of the semester! I certainly do have what I need and the family aspect, in particular, is mostly what has made this semester so great.

I guess I should sign off for now.  Since this will probably be my last official post while I am in Denmark, I shall make it as official as possible.

I thank you so much for joining me on this journey.  I hope you have been entertained by and engrossed in my various stories. I hope I have helped to provide cultural-knowledge and the basic Whats and Hows of studying in another country.  I hope I have portrayed accurately not only how much fun I had this semester, but also how much I have learned and grown as a person.  I have had to do a lot of thinks on my own while I have been here, but that has given my a great chance to get to know myself better and to be confident in my abilities (still haven't gotten lost in an airport...knock on wood!!)  Thus I hope you have enjoyed the journey as much as I have and please let me know if you are ever headed to Denmark...I will have lots of tips and tricks to give you!

Again, the blog won't stop! It maybe will for a few hours tomorrow when I am flying over the ocean, but after that I will post whenever I think I have something interesting to say (which seems to be a lot. Whether it is true that it is interesting is not as much my concern : )  So check back when you get the chance!


Vi ses!.  

I just came to say Hello!

First of all, this song has been one of my staples while in Denmark.  I didn't know it before I came here so I am pretty sure whenever I hear it (which better be a lot this summer) my thoughts will be magically transported back to Copenhagen and all the places I heard the song: birthday parties, friday night bars, dance clubs, jumping on the trampoline and playing garden soccer.  Yes, future roommates better be ready...you might hear this song a lot :)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYQBptoNvp0&feature=related

Anyway, today was the last official day of DIS.  I am heading into the city soon for our last party.  I don't think I will stay long since I have to be up at 5 for my day of travel but I definitely have some teary goodbyes to share with friends.  I still have more Denmark-related stuff to write about (hopefully that will happen tonight!) and then I am thinking that a lot of reflecting will happen once I am back in the states so if you are interested, stay tuned for some insightful, humorous, sappy or otherwise emotional posts.  It is fantastic to have an audience, but even if I don't, I love writing this blog because it is a time where I can spill my thoughts in a somewhat organized manner and not be graded (at least not to my knowledge) on it.  I love entertaining people (which I hope I have succeeded at!) and I also love recording stories because often times my mind doesn't do such a good job of the latter.  The point of that was: my blog will not stop! Hip hip hooray! :P

Also, I wanted to thank everyone who has tuned into this blog from the DIS Study Abroad Student Blogs website.  Because I check my stats (which I realize is kind of a weird thing to do, but it is fun and gives me a bit of a self-esteem boost sometimes ) I know that quite a few people each day do log on to read my thoughts because of the link of the DIS website.  I am not sure when that website will stop showing updates of my blog so all of you out there are more than welcome to continue following even when the DIS page stops showing you that I have posted more.  Also, if any of you are interested in DIS and have questions, post them here or email me at raclark@knox.edu  I have lots of stories and advice I can dole out!  After all, I have been here for 4 whole months : )  So hit me up!

And of course, I must send an official thank you to DIS before they all stop reading my blog (which they may have already) but it has been a truly wonderful experience and thank you for having this whole blog dealio because it helped me a lot before I came over here to Denmark!

Ok, off to drink some wine, dance to some music and shed some tears.

Just thought I'd leave you with a cute photo :)