Day 4-5: Paris

Ah, Peri. Beauty and the Beast nailed it. The neighborhood our hostel was in was quite charming, with little cafes and fruit stands surrounding the area. I was just waiting for the town to burst into song. I would have to say that the Eiffel Tower isn't all that impressive, but the Arc de Triomphe more than makes up for it. It must have been from all those years of watching Le Tour de France. I could feel the electricity as thousands of fans lined the streets to see the 2,200 mile race come to an end on the Champs-Elysées. Moulin Rouge is hardly impressive at 8:00AM, but I would imagine the area becomes Vegas like at night. There really isn't enough time in the day to see all that is to see in The Louvre. The more I saw, the more I wanted to see... the cathedral of large-scale French paintings, mainly the 20x32 foot Coronation of Napoleon by David, gives you goose-bumps in its shear scale yet such detail. The 2000 year old statue Venus de Milo was another unexpected gem, further making me want to visit Greece while here. The Seated Scribe, one of the oldest works I have seen, was also an impressive look at another destination I would like to see, Egypt. The Mona Lisa didn't disappoint, as I knew ahead of time it would be small and unimpressive.

Day 3-4: London

Mind the Gap! I took an early morning stroll while James caught up on sleep. When I crossed the Victoria Bridge, I was angered to see a huge sign hanging from Big Ben, obstructing the view to my Tower. Greenpeace had hung a huge sign in protest of WMD's in England. As I made my way towards Parliament Square, I came across another riot of sorts (well more of a protest than a riot.) Parliament was voting that same day on the decision to upgrade Briton's aging nuclear arsenal for the year 2022. I struck up a conversation with a member of Greenpeace, and marched around the block a few times with the calm mob. After my protesting itch was scratched, I went back to get James. We made our way to see Buckingham Palace, and were surprised to see not the changing of the guard, but something much bigger and grander. The President of Ghana was in town to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ghana's independence from the UK, and there was no shortage of spirit. Ghanese people lined the streets as hundreds of guard mounted white horses made their way down the streets, followed by golden chariots carrying England's Queen and the President of Ghana. So yes I was England and I didn't see the changing of the guard, but I think what we saw was much more memorable! I did however miss my chance to pose, Austin Powers style with a guard, as the square was closed for the celebrations.

We wandered all over the city, seeing the usual sights, and as dusk was approaching, took a commuter boat up and down The River Thames. This is a must do, as you cannot really enjoy London Bridge until you pass under it and view it from the river. The most beautiful thing I had seen... so far.

Day 1-2: Copenhagen

I thought it might be easier to remember and describe the trip if I went day by day. The trip actually started Saturday night at 23:00 when I left Sonderborg station to catch a train to Copenhagen. I had a 3 hr. layover in Fredericia where I slept among the business men in the station, waiting to catch the 3:06AM train into Copenhagen. We arrived just as the sun was rising over beautiful Copenhagen (yes, the sun does shine in Denmark), and I walked the streets as bikes begun to flood the streets. I then made my way to the airport to meet James for his early morning arrival. While waiting, I picked up a copy of the Copenhagen Post to read more about the riots that had been ravaging Copenhagen over the destruction of a youth center (Ungdomshuset), home of 800 leftist squatters. The smell of fire and the sight of demolition were evident in the streets. Police were everywhere, and I later found out that I was lucky to have made it by train from the south of Denmark, as students from Germany and The Netherlands were denied access to the city just hours before I arrived.

After observing the chaos, we made our way to Freetown Christiania. Christiania's Mission Statement: "The objective of Christiania is to create a self-governing society whereby each and every individual holds themselves responsible over the wellbeing of the entire community. Our society is to be economically self-sustaining and, as such, our aspiration is to be steadfast in our conviction that psychological and physical destitution can be averted." The rules in this community are, "no hard drugs, no guns, no violence and no cars."

We then made it just in time to Amalienborg Palace for the changing of the guard. Having seen a few other royal guards, these Danish guardians of the Queen are packing some pretty big guns compared to the paltry swords of the Czech guard. The parade of music and marching is quite the ordeal, but only takes place if the Queen is in residence (lucky us!)

On to London...

Goodbye again...

Well I'm off again, this time for a week to Copenhagen, London, and Paris. Be prepared for a bank update once I return... this trip promises to be pricey.

Highlights of this EuroTrip

Copenhagen: The Little Mermaid, Nationalmuseet, Nyhaven Waterway, Radhuspladsen (city hall), Royal Palace, Statens Museet du Kuns, Christiana, and Tivoli.
London: Buckingham Palace, London Eye, London Bridge, Piccadillys Circus, Tower of London (AKA Big Ben), Westminster Abbey, Wimbledon.
Paris: I have no idea yet, leave me alone so I can finish planning... I leave in a few hours!

Denmark vs. Wisconsin

	Denmark	Wisconsin
Climate	Temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers	Continental; cold, windy winters, humid mild summers
High Elevation	567 feet	1,951 feet
Low Elevation	22 feet	581 feet
Economy	Agriculture: Dairy, Cattle, Hogs Industry: machinery, food processing, paper products	Agriculture: Dairy, Cattle, Fish Industry: food processing, machinery and transportation equipment, electronics
Population	5.4 million	5.5 million
Date of Statehood	1849	1848
GDP (USD)	$256 billion	$300 billion

I'm Learnding

Nothing much to report here, as I have reported back to the school world. Back on the MU front, I have received notice of what credits I will get from being here: MANA181, ECON156, ENTP151, FINA181, BULA127. This leaves me with 24 credits left to take once/if I return to Marquette, which means I should be able to coast my way into the real world. I have really begun to value my American education, because the schooling is not nearly as grueling and rewarding in Denmark. It is painful to realize how much we really cover back home compared to the depth here. I can see why there are so many international students in the US, as the education received there really is better ($24,000 vs. free better... that is debatable). You do get what you pay for. That being said, one would be stupid not to take advantage of going abroad for a semester to learn about themselves and the rest of the world.

Si Si!

Madrid was beautiful. The key word there is "was," because I have returned home to rain and cold again in Denmark. The sun shone in our 17th century church turned hostel every morning, and brought with it the spirit of Madrid. The list of places I planned to go to was met with great success, along with a few other exciting things. The three museums in Madrid did not disappoint: El Prado, Rena Sophia, Thyssen. I would have to say I enjoyed El Prado the most, because it included an entire floor of Goya, my favorite artist (thanks to Mr. J for exposing us to art in AP Euro History). It was very easy to get around the city in the metro, with trains running from each station every three minutes. Each afternoon we took a siesta in El Retiro, the most famous park in Madrid, to "tomar sol" (take sun). On Sunday morning, we went to El Rastro, which is the HUGE market that stretches on for miles in the streets. The shopper that I am, I bought absolutely nothing, but it was amazing to browse around and watch as thousands of thousands (no exaggeration) people filled the streets. I was pleasantly surprised how much Spanish I remembered, and I was able to keep up with the fast speaking locals when they spoke. Whenever I said something however, it took a while to conjugate the verbs and all the other dreaded high school memories of taking Spanish. It was sad when I returned to Denmark and was no longer able to understand anything being said around me. I also made my way to Bernabeu, the most famous football stadium in the world. Whilst I wasn't present during a match, I could feel the presence of 80,000 fans screaming their traditional chant for Real Madrid. Molly and Mal were great hosts during my stay, in spite of their suffering from the Spanish flu. I was greeted with great fanfare to find a huge sign hung at the reception desk of my hostel welcoming me. It was great to see some Americans, not to mention great friends! Check out all of the pics here.

Spain (part 1 of x)

I leave for Spain in about 20 hours, and I am unsure about my ability to blog while there, so this may be it for the weekend. Sixty-eight degrees, mostly sunny while I am in Madrid... finally some time with Mr. Sun! The list of places I plan to go:

Museo del Prado
Museo Reina Sofia
Museo Thyson
Plalacio Real
La Almudena
El Retiro
El Plaza Mayor
Bernabeu (estadio de futbol)

Obviously I plan on sharing churros and chocolate with my Senoritas Mal and Molly while there, along with some Tapas. I am also looking forward to testing out my Spanish from high school. I'll try to make you proud Mrs. Fischer!

I guess they're sick of me...

I guess they have had enough of me, because they just passed a Danish law requiring immigrants to pass a test to gain citizenship. This isn't because of me, but rather a direct response to the flood of Arabs moving to Denmark and refusing to learn the language and assimilate the culture:

Starting in May, foreigners will have to pass a citizenship test to earn a Danish passport and the right to vote in parliamentary elections

The Integration Ministry unveiled a test Tuesday that any foreigner will have to pass in order to be granted citizenship. While the test is currently being evaluated at language schools, the ministry made its 200 questions and answers available on the internet so foreigners could bone up on the test before having to take it. A quick scan of the test revealed a mix of questions in 11 areas ranging from the Danish royalty, local geography and the economy. When the test goes into use in May, applicants will have 60 minutes to answer 35 of the standard questions as well as five problems dealing with current events. Applicants must correctly answer 28 questions to pass the test. And while they can re-take the test as many times as they wish, the test costs DKK 600 to take. Reactions to the citizenship test have been mixed. A number of politicians and education experts have suggested it concentrates too much on obscure historical and political details that even full-blooded Danes might have difficulty answering correctly. Several university students, for example, struggled to pass the test when Dato newspaper administered it to them. One student, Patrick, only managed to answer 29 questions correctly and admitted he found the test difficult. 'I learned about a lot of the things it asks in school, but I've forgotten them again,' he said. Another student, Natalia, felt the test concentrated too much on history. 'I would like to see more questions about current events. Whether people follow major issues up for debate says more about people's actual integration,' she said.

I've got sunshine...

I've got sunshine, on a cloudy sunny day! For the first time in what seems to be weeks, I awoke to a sunrise in Sonderborg. When the bright sun appeared upon my face at 7:07 AM this morning, I knew it was going to be a great day! I went for my daily jog, and took some amazing pictures of the morning sunrise. Enjoy them all at this link.

Teacher of the Month: February

The teacher of the Month for February: Esben Holstein. Not only is his accent hilarious, his mannerisms are priceless. Kind of like a lanky, jovial Mr. Bean, he manages to keep Finance and Investment somewhat interesting (considering I've already taken this at MU.) As a matter of luck, I also have Esben for EU Integration on the same day. He has done an excelent job in explaining the EU to an outsider of the Union, and as a side note, not many people actually understand the EU, citizens included.

One interesting and slightly annoying thing about the educational system here in Denmark, is the informal setting in the classroom. I never thought I would say this, but I prefer a professor to lecture and ask questions of the students, not the other way around. All of the Danish students address the professor by their first name, and interrupt them whenever they feel they have something to say (which seems to happen a lot.) It is impossible to establish any kind of flow when the students just start talking all the time with something they think is important. I guess the raise-your-hand-till-your-arm-goes-numb-
switching-arm-to-arm-leaning-on-desk-
shouting-pick-me-pick-me strategy really does work!

Post Script: The attached video is hilarious. All Facebook readers follow this link for the full effect of this post.

China vs. The Rest of the World

It's 40 degrees and raining, what would you do? Well we at SDU decided to play a match on the soggy pitch of Amtsgymnasiet. The teams were divided based upon if you were Chinese or not. Since there are so many Chinese students here, they decided they wanted to take on the world in a match of football (that's soccer for all of my American readers.) We had enough for 10 man teams, and enough sludge and mud for about 500. Long story short, it helps to have an average of one foot on the Chinese players, and the internationals were just to much for the Chinese to handle. By the end of the match, everyone had fallen into the enormous mud puddle at midfield, and shared not only the same coat of mud but the same satisfaction of having represented our respective countries.

Fumar puede matar

Translation... smoking may kill you. That is the warning label that is printed in huge letters on a box of cigarettes from Spain. A little less subtle than the tiny fine print in the corner of an American pack. Does it scare people? Not here in Europe! I think about 70% of the people I have met here smoke, and when I say smoke, I mean like a chimney of a French power plant. Have I become an a asmatic victim of second hand smoke? Not yet, but it isn't out of the question...

London, Paris

More Marquette Madness... James, my co-RA from McCormick took my double dog dare bet and is flying to Copenhagen on March 11-16. We are spending two days in each of Copenhagen, London, and Paris... which means we don't have much time to sleep! In true Allen adventure style, nothing is out of bounds, and if something isn't too much out of the way (or even if it is), you can bet your bippy we're going to swing by and see everything! Intended itinerary to follow...

Iraq soldiers coming home

The prime minister put forth a withdrawal plan today that will bring Danish troops home from Iraq

All Danish soldiers in Iraq will be home in August, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced at a press meeting today.

At a press conference this afternoon, Rasmussen said the Danish withdrawal was co-ordinated to co-incide with a British drawdown announced earlier today. The Danish battalion in Basra in southern Iraq falls under British command.

In addition, no new rotations of troops will me made, as the last unit was just recently deployed.

-CPHPOST.DK