The End of a Journey

I awoke on the last day of finals after an awful night's sleep at 6:30am. Couldn't figure why I was up and it was weird because I can usually fall right back asleep after waking up too early. Maybe I couldn't believe that this amazing semester abroad was finally ending. Maybe it was because it was the last day I would see all the friends that I have made here. Maybe it was because I had only two tests left and was feeling anxious. Or maybe it was the goddamn earthquake.

Had my last two finals, Advertising and Danish. Got an A in Danish! That means I'm fluent, right? Then immediately after the last tests were done the whole school gathered for Closing Ceremony. It was pretty disappointing; no food, no drinks and full of speeches that attempted to be funny but just failed. It was over much quicker than expected and the last words were given to us by the Director of DIS. "Ok, the semester is over. Have a nice life."

Started to say goodbyes to people I wouldn't see later that night and then came home. Before going out one last time with my friends I went to the Gorgoroth concert. I'll post about that later, but let's just say it was the most frightening experience of my life.

Went to my favorite bar in Copenhagen, The Moose, and saw everyone for the last time. It was a bittersweet moment, we were having fun just like we have been all semester but we knew this was the end.

Came home late and rode my bike for the last time. The next day I had a farewell tea with my roommates and said goodbye.

And just like that, it's over.

What's in a Name?

I've always been interested in my family history, and while I haven't looked too far up the tree I came across a little interesting fact while studying for my Nordic Mythology final.

The name Osborn comes from the old Norse Ásbjörn. The gods were called the æsir, with ás as the singular from. Even though this word is basically extinct, born still has the same meaning and spelling in the languages that evolved from old Norse. In Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian bjørn means bear. So literally my name means God Bear.

So the name was introduced to England and Anglicized into first Osbern and then to its current form. When people spell it wrong, ie Osborne or Osbourne, I know now that the way we spell it is closest to its original form and therefore, the best.

All this means that our descendants were very likely some of the Vikings who raided and eventually conquered England between 700 and 1000. Awesome.

With 5 days left Scandinavia, I find out that I am descended from the same line as the locals.

From 60 to Zero

Winding down after a nonstop semester

I remember a few weeks after the semester started I looked at my calendar and realized that I didn't have a free weekend for 3 months. It was pretty daunting knowing that I had so many things planned/planned for me. Travels, adventure trips, and field studies seemed like they would continue for ever, and I was hoping they would. There was always something to do or see with my friends, or else DIS had something going on. This wasn't a bad thing at all though, I love keeping busy, especially when it's with something as fun as exploring Europe. The workload was pretty relaxed so on days I wasn't out of Copenhagen I would find something to do or see around the city. It was extremely exciting and I had really ever experienced anything quite like it.

Well, the mid-semester break ended and after mom left and I had an absurd amount of work to do. Projects, presentations, homework, tests, papers. To make up for the easy first half of the semester the school decided to pile everything together in the few weeks following the 3 week break. I had a period of 5 days that consisted of 2 presentations, 2 tests and a major paper. The semester system is a joke and I really hope I never have to experience it again. Anyway....I was still busy, but this was different. It wasn't fun busy, it was just busy busy. I felt like I had received huge shot of adrenaline that finally began to wear off in the closing weeks of November and coming down from the high was far from enjoyable.

Then, I returned to CPH from Switzerland to discover that I had nothing to do...and for the first time since August, I grew bored. All the major projects and papers were turned in and the homework load started to shrink. The days were getting shorter and shorter; current sunset is at 3:30, growing earlier each day. And after what was apparently incredible weather during September and October, the rain and clouds set in come November and decided to hang out indefinitely. I literally cannot remember the last time I've seen more than a patch of blue sky, let alone the sun.

I had my first final over a week ago, and still have a couple days until my next one. Homework is a thing of the past and all classes have been officially wrapped up. Since everyone has completely different schedules, my social life has pretty much disappeared except for the 2nd trip to the Jacobsen Brewery last Friday.

So as I sit here at one of the many cafes that has become my second home as of late, this semester is finally coming to an end. It's been an incredible couple of months and there's almost nothing I would change about it. I've had the best time of my life living in a different country and traveling to places I've always dreamed about. I've met people and made friends that I will never forget. As much as I have dreaded this, there is nothing I can do to stop this experience from coming to an end. All I can do is look forward, be thankful for the time I've had and get excited to head back to Seattle.

European Film Awards

Walking home Saturday evening I discovered the European Film Awards were being held 2 blocks from my apartment. For about half an hour I hung out by the red carpet, hoping to see some famous actors. I only recognized two people, and the pictures didn't come out very well. I know I've seen the first guy, I think he's German...or at least I've him play a German guy. And the next guy is the most famous Danish actor, Mads Mikkelsen who played LeChiffre in Casino Royale. That was a cool thing to stumble upon.

Thanksgiving in Denmark

For whatever reason, DIS decided not to hold any sort of party/celebration/dinner for Thanksgiving. They even did it for Halloween! Weird, it would have really nice to get together with everyone an have a big feast. Looks like I'll have to improvise. Mike and I decided to hold our own little attempt at dinner together. Picked up a Turkey breast from Netto and made instant mashed potatoes and some vegetables. And I made some amazing gravy. It turned out pretty well, the turkey was a little dry but that was about it.

After that we were tired from all the tryptophan and beer, so we watched the seinfeld episode where they give Je4rry's girlfriend turkey and wine so she falls asleep and they can play with her toys. Awesome.

I was planning to meet up with Hanna and Carrie again but they never called so I just got on the metro and decided to chance it. Sure enough, 30 seconds before the Norreport stop, Hanna calls me and tells me to meet them on Stroget. I love how stuff like this just works out.

This was their last night in Copenhagen as they just wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving there before going to Hanna's town in Jutland. The night really seemed like it was a holiday. It felt too cold to be November and there was a hint of snow in the air. I met with them on Stroget and we walked around for a bit. They wanted to go for surprise! Hookah. That was fun. As much as I hate the smell of smoke and how it sticks to your clothes, hookah is really social and the three of us just relaxed and talked there for a couple hours.

Before the night I was really annoyed that I was going to miss Thanksgiving, and that it wasn't good be any fun doing something different, but it turned out to be a really great day. It definitely was not a traditional Thanksgiving but still a memorable one!

Tivoli!

Right in the middle of Copenhagen lies Tivoli, the famous amusement park. It's probably the biggest tourist attraction in Denmark and one of those thing that you must see when visiting. I've been meaning to go to there all semester, but was pretty put off by the $50 entrance fee. Luckily, I have a small Danish class so our teacher decided to take us all there, paid for by the school. Tivoli has been closed since September and reopened a few weeks ago for Christmas. There were lights and decorations everywhere and a parade was going on right when we walked in.

There's a nightly light show over the little lake. It was gorgeous and the music was incredibly epic.

Our teacher gave us a 'scavenger hunt' list to translate all the names of the rides and stuff. Nope, we just wanted to have fun. Walked around drinking beer and saw the whole park in about 15 minutes, wow it's small. I guess this isn't the States and it's in the middle of a city. We contemplated going on some rides but they were $10 each! Definitely not worth it, so we just longingly looked at them and continued to walk around.

giant enemy crab!

Found the little Greenland exhibit, which is probably the creepiest thing I've ever seen. Weird elves everywhere and most of them look either drunk or dead. We really couldn't figure out the purpose of the exhibit....is this how Danes view Greenlanders?

After a few hours we met with our teacher and he bought us all Glögg and Aebleskiver and we were stuffed. I think he spent about $100 on each of us, thanks DIS!

It was Wednesday night and I didn't have my morning class so I definitely needed to go out. I had plans to meet some friends I made in Switzerland. Hanna is a Brazilian guy who went to high school in Denmark and was visiting Copenhagen with his girlfriend for Thanksgiving. Went to the Scottish Pub and then to the Viking Bar. Awesome people, we had a lot of fun.

Switzerland

After a hellish week of tests, papers, projects and presentations, I was ready for a good weekend away. Caught the easyJet to Milan and waited for a bus to Lugano. Since my plane was delayed I missed the bus I was supposed to take and had to wait an hour and a half until the next one. Sierra was waiting for me at 6 so I tried to call her and tell her I would be late...well the number she gave me didn't work so I just assumed that she would be waiting for me at the Lugano station. Nope! No one there, so I decided to try the phone again. It worked, I guess it just didn't have a country code...that could have been bad. But one thing I've learned from traveling is that everything always works for me. Awesome.

I arrived in the middle of a play the school was doing on the history of America, definitely entertaining. Sierra introduced me to all her friends and we sat around all night smoking hookah at all. That seems to be the thing to do at Franklin. Makes sense, it's relaxing and a good thing to do when there's no where to go and you just want to hang out with friends.

The next day we took the FLP to the border and walked to Ponte Tresa. There was a really cool market where we bought some baked goods, cheese and salami. Afterwards we found a wine store and bought a couple of 3Euro bottles.

Spent the rest of the day exploring Lugano. A really beautiful city, even though it isn't extremely exciting. We hung out in the downtown area for a while and had the most amazing hot chocolate. It was basically a melted chocolate bar with an ounce of milk mixed in, ridiculously thick.

 

Had a fun night and slept in as much as I could. Sierra had a couple of meetings to go to so I decided to climb a mountain! Lugano is in the middle of the Alps so there are mountains all around. I didn't really know where the trail was, Sierra just said go to the funicular and turn left....k. Only took one wrong turn and then found the path. It was a gorgeous hike and I made it to the top in about an hour. Switzerland is almost as pretty as Norway.

That night Sierra took me took to a nice restaurant nearby. It's so nice being able to eat good food for a decent price, that's really nonexistent in Copenhagen. I had a horse steak, and it was good but actually a little boring. I was hoping that it would taste different and weird, but it was pretty similar to a normal steak.

Woke up early, caught the bus, and drove through the snow to Milan. Made it back to Copenhagen to take my Danish test. Awesome weekend.