Week 5 and a little more

I would say this past week has been one of the best and one of the worst so far. The week started out by me getting news that two people from home had passed away. One person I used to work with and was extremely close to at one point and the other was a friend of a friend. Not only did this happen but a few days later my best friend's mom and sister had been in a car wreck. Both were okay but still suffered some severe injuries. These incidents made me want to be home so bad but what had happened had happened and I was going to have to learn to cope from where I am.

I spent a day exploring a little more of Copenhagen and got to see one of the beautiful canals, Kastellet, and the mermaid statue. This was a good day spent with friends from my dorm. My friend from Brazil loves to play soccer so we brought along a soccer ball and played with the ball throughout the day. Sounds lame but it was really fun.

I then took off for a class trip which was definitely an experience. The trip was long and we spent several hours traveling from place to place on a bus. I did appreciate getting to get out of the city and see more of the country side of Denmark and some animals. There were parts about the trip that I enjoyed and many parts about the trip that I did not enjoy so much. I did enjoy getting to know some of the girls in my class a lot better and I think I may have made some lifelong friends from China and Taiwan. I did enjoy getting to see some animals and play with a dog. I know once again sounds lame but it was just what I needed to feel like I was back at home in Indiana. The class I am taking is called Organic Food Systems so I thought I would just be learning about the organic food system within Denmark. Boy was I wrong. This class is almost like a debate class. People feed their opinions and then argue their point and try to prove that what they think and do is better than what I think and do. I have been extremely open and accepting of people's ways in Denmark and I came here to learn more about it but after this trip I am not so open and accepting. Being from the United States on this trip put me in a very tough position. I felt attacked and belittled by some of the statements that were made towards me by some of my classmates. I won't go into detail but I think as exchange students we all need to respect each others ways of life. Apparently that is not the case.

I was so happy to be back in my dorm in Copenhagen. My best friend from home will be here on Monday afternoon and I could not be more excited! I am taking a break from my class this week and taking a trip to Paris with my friend when she gets here. I am so excited to go to France but I have spent the last few days trying to refresh myself on speaking French. I think I will be able to communicate for us fairly well over there. I will post about our trip and my week with my friend here some time next week.

Today is my mom's birthday and I did something special for her but I have not shared it with her yet so I can not share it on here yet either. Follow up with me on Facebook to see what I did for her. I hope all is well for everyone at home and I really appreciate everyone who has been reading my blog!