Copenhagen

I know, I know, I said I wouldn't post more than once a day but I think I'm going to start doing my posts in the evening and I just went on an adventure so I want to share!

Jin and I went into Copenhagen today. At least, the heart of Copenhagen. We live in what I guess would be considered the suburbs. Bought a bus pass and off we went. Thanks to Lise we had an idea of where to get off: the big Magasine store right after the Walking Street. As we neared the stop we saw a whole bunch of vendors in the plaza nearby and decided we would walk through them once we checked out Magasine. Magasine was HUGE. A basement (-1) and floors 0-5. There was a giant sale going on and even though things were 50% off they were still expensive. Everything here is, just a fact of Danish life. We tired of the store and headed outside to find it had rained and all the vendors were gone! Now, the sidewalks in Copenhagen are like cobblestone and, when wet, do not produce a whole lot of friction with my little slip on shoes. Thankfully I never fell but I definitely slipped a few times! We walked along for a ways on the Walking Street and then got sidetracked by pretty buildings and a canal. It rained again and we sought some shelter with other pedestrians and then discovered a castle! Took some fun and beautiful pictures there and then, after a bit more walking, found the National Museum. Free admission so why not? We wandered around for a bit and then headed back outside. The weather here is perfect: 60's and windy--I love it! After a bit more walking we found Tivoli. Besides the fact that it too is a bit expensive I will definitely be going there. There are roller coasters and rides but I just want to walk around. A friend of mine will be here to visit in July so I am thinking I will wait till then to visit the famous Tivoli. Across from Tivoli is the central train station, which is huge. We walked around a bit more and then decided to take the bus back to near our house. Thus begins the story of our first mistake.

Instead of asking the driver if we were going in the right direction on the right bus we simply paid our fare and got on. We didn't recognize anything we passed but that was kind of expected because I'd never been on the bus before (except the ride into Copenhagen) and Jin hadn't come from this direction before. We pass stops and go through different zones (the city is divided into zones and depending on how many you go through you pay a certain fare) and still don't reach our stop. An hour and a half later the bus stops and we are the only two on. We decide this is a good time to ask for help. The driver was very nice and friendly and, thankfully, spoke great English. I know that is such an American thing to say but, honestly, it made fixing our mistake so much easier. Another driver was there for some reason and, after we all had a good laugh about what we'd done and they told us to ask when we get ON the bus for help, the other driver drove us back to our house in a car. He was very friendly and told us a bit about the drivers and such. I learned many of the drivers are from Greece, that he thinks Swedes are nicer than Danes, that Sweden is less expensive than Denmark and possibly more beautiful, and that he was not only a policeman but a teacher back in his home country and he can speak 7 languages. I LOVE people!

Once back at the house we both chilled in our rooms. I've talked to mom and my mentor, Carrie, and will spend the rest of the afternoon/evening uploading pictures and figuring out how to get to Church tomorrow and work on Monday. It is always hard for me to be in a new place but I am beginning to like being here, just as my brother told me I would. :-) Walking around today I couldn't help but relish in the fact that I am here, in Denmark, exploring and learning. My biggest regret so far is not learning more Danish before coming. Jin told me if I were here for a year I would learn a ton of Danish; too bad it's only 9 weeks, right? :-) I'm still in need of an alarm clock and hope I can find one tomorrow. Please continue to pray for courage and patience as this is all still so new and more new things will happen over the next few days.

I forgot to mention I made two purchases while we were out. I bought a This Water which was pomegranates, blackcurrants and spring water--delicious! And I bought a Hard Rock Cafe Pilsner glass because we stumbled across that too. :-) So much to see, so much to do, so much to learn!
Till tomorrow,
Bekah