Day 2 of orientation and exploration

Today is the end of our first two orientation days. We have one more tomorrow and then it will be time for classes to start and for people to stop pampering us and saying "Are you still jet-legged? It's ok, you just got here."  Here is what we did these first two days:
Welcome Ceremony
Lunch in groups of 6 students (we picked a burger place) and a city scavenger hunt
Our tasks for the scavenger hunt included familiarizing ourselves with the DIS buildings, the shops and cafes around DIS, going to a grocery store, understanding the various types of public transportation (bus, S-tog, metro, etc), and learning which stores give us discounts for being DIS students.  We split up after finishing most of the questions and I walked from my S-tog train stop to the DIS buildings so I know exactly where I am going for classes.  Then we had a "Immerse Yourself" fair where different groups were waiting to give us information and encourage us to sign up.  I gave my email address to a soccer club and got info from another sports place where I can take dance classes.  I don't know yet what all I will do but I just know I can't go a whole 4 months without some good ballroom in my life.  After that I headed home on the train and walked back to Graevelingestein, the neighborhood I am living in. Karina and Jesper made Greek frikadellar (meatballs) and Greek "yogurt" with garlic, cucumbers, and some other stuff. They also made nachos and baked bread chips. It was a meal of 'tapas' or appetizer-like things.  It was all very yummy!
This morning we had a session "Urban Awareness" where we went out in groups and visited various landmarks and historical sites.  I liked this even more than the scavenger hunt because we got to see so much more of the city.  We went to the Cathedral (Church of our Lady), Christiansborg Castle Square, The Royal Theater, a charming square with some veeeery old buildings and  the Queen's Castle (Amalienborg).  At each place there were DIS people waiting to tell us the historical aspects of that location. It was fascinating. We learned a lot and arrived at the Castle at the perfect time to watch the Changing of the Guards. It happens at noon every day apparently and its a pretty big deal. Some of the guards play instruments and play various marches while marching around the square before actually switching some guards out with different ones.  After being super touristy and talking pictures of the castle and the guards, we headed to a Netto (grocery store) to buy our assigned items for a lunch all the groups made today later.  We had sandwiches and meat, cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers...and I even tried liverpaste!  I was quite proud of myself with that one and I can't even say I hated it...it was just interesting and even yummier with cucumber slices on top.
After that whole session was over, we split up into our core class sections.  My core class is Positive Psychology and I am in the section whose study tour is to Milan.  My professor's name is Anders Myszak and it seems like it's going to be a fantastic course.  Yay!
Anyways then I walked to a little Wal-greens type store with some friends where I found a bunch of stuff I wanted but couldn't bring myself to buy anything at the ridiculous Danish prices.  I guess I can go without a little stand up mirror to put on my desk so I can do make up there.  My final stop of the night was at PalmFitness, a very nice gym on my way from Norreport train station to DIS.  I got a tour and decided I would sign up for a membership tomorrow. They have Zumba classes! and lots of other cool things.  Now I won't put on a ton of pounds from all these Danish pastries.  I nearly fell asleep on the train home because it was such a long day.  Good thing I know now how to recognize Stengarden, which is the name of my stop and isn't pronounced they way you think it is :P   I ate dinner with Karina and Rebecca until Jesper and Andreas came home from table tennis.  Then Karina took Rebecca off to her swim lessons. Maybe one of these days I will ask to see the pool where she swims.
So it's 8:30 at night and I just want to lay in my bed and fall asleep, haha. Exploring a new city and trying not to get lost amidst a crowd of Danes is hard work.
One last thing-  Yesterday I had a very interesting experience. During the welcome ceremony, Anders Larsen, one of the program directors, was speaking and I suddenly saw the U.S. in a slightly different light.  No longer was it the center of my world.  It had always been easy for me to just see the American side to things and almost feel the U.S. encompasses most of the world. That is a lie.  Yes America is large and is also an important influence on many european cultures, but in my eyes America just shrank.  It's very hard to explain, but I also began to notice how young America is in a way I hadn't before. I cannot describe the history in this city- it's incredible.  It is so old and even though it has burned down many, many times, there are still some places that have not been destroyed and you can really see the history.  I just hadn't really put America's beginning into a context that included the history of European countries.  Ok I am too tired to go on but hopefully that made sense!  Bye for now...