Yes, I am "all by myself" now. Paul left early this afternoon and is now halfway across the Atlantic, finally going home after ten weeks abroad. For him it was very exciting; I'm excited too because I know how much he wanted to go home but at the same time it stinks to again be alone here. Yes, I am making friends but we all know that is not the same. But let me tell you about yesterday!
I did not blog yesterday because, well, it was Paul's last day here and we did quite a bit. I went to work in the morning and got as much as I could done before he came around noon. He successfully managed my morning commute by himself and we went to lunch with Arkady. Klas was eating with his group and Esben was busy in lab. Not exactly how I'd hoped lunch would go but I knew he would meet Klas and Esben at dinner for sure. He got a very short and limited tour and then we just waited around for a couple of my things to finish so we could leave. Left work a bit after two and headed into Copenhagen.
We walked for about two hours, covering the whole of the Pedestrian Street as well as Christiansborg (another palace) and Nyhavn and Kongens Nytorv (again). We got delicious ice cream and also looked around the Georg Jenson store (really pricey and beautiful silver) on the Walking Street. Plus, you know those street performers who are in all white/gold/silver, including their faces? Well apparently, even after visiting multiple big cities in Europe, Paul had never seen one. So that was kind of fun to see.
We weren't meeting anyone until 6 but finished walking around 4:45. We were near Tivoli and sat on a bench right outside of the City Hall building on a big square. Besides the fact that a huge screen next to us was playing the World Out Games recap and some rather obnoxious and repeating music, it was very relaxing. Just chilling with hundreds of other people out in Copenhagen. :-) Oh, I forgot, when we were walking down Nyhavn we heard some really loud singing. Turns out it was a group of Spaniards who were in town either to cheer or play (not sure if it was the team or just fans) against one of the local soccer teams. I was enamored and we stood there watching and listening for like 5 minutes. Anyway, after sitting for 45 minutes we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe Copenhagen.
Happy hour at HRC goes from 5-7 and, since we were meeting people at 6, we went a little early to get some drinks. Now, we both somewhat forgot about happy hour until we ordered. I got a Raspberry Lemonade and only remembered Happy Hour when the bartender began making two of them. Yes, happy hour is two for one on cocktails and drafts. And oh, how delicious and dangerous that Raspberry Lemonade was. Absolutely delicious! Right at 6 Burcin and Brandon walked in, followed almost immediately by Klas, Arkady and Esben. All we had to do was wait for Yujie but, since it was already 6, I showed my priority seating confirmation and we were immediately seated (very cool thing when you see the people in front of you get handed a beeper). Arkady and Esben visited the bar for the Happy Hour special and I started in on the 2nd Raspberry Lemonade. Somehow 40 minutes passed and we eventually all ordered. 5 of us got ginormous burgers (I am pretty sure all of us Americans had forgotten how large our portions are) and Brandon got the pulled pork and Arkady got Salmon. No burger was the same but they were all polished off, some more easily than others. :-)
I just want you to know that dinner with these guys will probably be one of my favorite memories from this trip. I love people coming together and this group definitely came together. Brandon randomly catches my "accent" the first day of work and later, upon my invitation to Roskilde, I find out his girlfriend works at Topsoe too (Burcin). At lunch the same day as the invitation she and I meet for the first time. And who did I eat with that day? Klas, Arkady and Esben: all of whom knew her or of her. I LOVE connections! And then Paul comes to town and I knew almost from the beginning that he'd get along swimmingly with these people. And, ahem, I was right. :-) We all had the science connection and, for the scientists and engineers out there, our conversation sometimes strayed to topics and jokes that no normal group of people would have found interesting or funny. I apparently can't find the words to aptly express everything I feel about dinner so I will leave it at that.
Dinner wasn't the end of last night, though. Oh no, far from it! Arkady convinced us all to go across the street to sit in a bar and have "a beer." Oh man, "a beer" will be the famous last words of this summer. Everyone but me (I was incredibly full from the burger and the sweet lemonades) had a single drink and we sat and talked for close to an hour. The atmosphere was very relaxed and the conversation pretty easy. It was during this time that I realized the whole evening had been spent talking in English and I had never felt out of place or as if I didn't belong. Once we all reached Vesterport (minus Klas because he was taking a bus and not a train) I shared these sentiments with Brandon and Paul and they both agreed. Brandon especially because he and I (and Burcin) generally find ourselves in an all Danish group about once a week if not once a day or more. It is frustrating, as you probably know from my previous posts, to be somewhere and not be able to understand anything. I am lucky in that I do not have to go to group meetings that are held entirely in Danish--something that is a weekly occurrence for others. But anyway, that's a complaint that will put a damper on how fun this night was.
So anywho, the 6 of us waited for the train and we were off. Esben left first, then Arkady and the 4 of us continued to Hellerup. We said goodbye to Burcin and Brandon there and waited about ten minutes for the bus. We were so into talking about careers and choices and such that we almost missed our stop! I happened to glance out the window right as the gas station before the stop came past my window and we were able to get off. It was going on eleven when we got to the house and I think Yujie was already asleep. She never did show up to dinner and I was afraid that I had missed her and she'd just gone home.
Paul and I finished off the little beer that we'd bought on Sunday and watched 4 or 5 episodes of Scrubs. THAT was great, let me tell you. Plus I had some lemon bars at like midnight. Yes, I know, very bad decision but it was sooo good! About 1 I called it quits and we both went to bed.
And now we're to today! Haha, not as much excitement or as many smiles as yesterday here. I got up a little after 8 (yes, sleeping in felt sooo good!) and got ready for the day. Once ready I biked down to Fakta to get bacon and rolls. I also picked up chocolate (some for me to bring home home and two little candy bars for Paul to take on the trip). Must've been a strange sight. :-) Once back here I immediately got to making breakfast. Bacon, rolls and gravy. Still not doing so well on the gravy as this time I added too much flour. I'll get there, though. Just might need to wait a week as the bacon seemed to have been salt itself and, well, the gravy is mostly fat; my body needs to recuperate from such tastiness.
Oh, and I finally caught up with Yujie this morning. Turns out she'd e-mailed me around 3 or 4 saying she wouldn't be able to make dinner and would tell me more later. Since I'd left work at 2 I had not read the e-mail. I was still relieved to hear she had been safe and not lost last night.
Anyway, we left around 10:35 and caught the 10:43 bus to Hellerup. Oh, it was raining too, by the way. We caught the 10:59 train to the airport and were there around 11:30. I stayed with him until he'd checked in, dropped off his checked bag and walked up the stairs to security. It stunk. On the way to the airport I had a sinking feeling in my stomach for two reasons. First off, Paul was leaving and, obviously, that didn't exactly make me excited. The second seems to happen every time I go to the airport (except for when I picked Paul up): I don't want to leave Copenhagen. Even though I was going there to send Paul home I still didn't want to think about leaving. And as much as I want to see everyone at home and in Madison, my life here just started! It is selfish, I know, to want the best of every world and to want to stay here. But I digress.
From the airport I went straight to work. Took the train to the Central station and met two British women with four young girls in tow. They were adorable! The women sounded so sophisticated with their accents and I think even more so because it wasn't fake or pushed; they spoke naturally and talked about their own lives--something about that grabbed my attention. Anyway, I got off and switched to the B line to go from the Central Station to Jaegersborg. Once there I waited for the local train and, upon reaching Topsoe grounds, went immediately to the cafeteria to grab a sandwich. On my way in I ran into Esben, Anders and Mai-Britt just leaving. Grabbed food and headed to my desk. I took about 20 minutes to eat and check e-mail and then look to see if Paul's flight had taken off. My mother's habit has definitely rubbed off. Haha!
Radek stopped by my desk to see how I was and I apparently looked intent on my screen because he immediately asked if I was busy. I was, to a point: busy looking for Paul's flight update! Anywho, tomorrow is the last Friday of the month and he wanted to know if I'd be going to the bbq (just like last month). I really don't know if I will or not. It will depend on how I'm feeling, especially because I feel, at the moment, that I've had enough to drink this week and really don't want a repeat of what happened after the last bbq.
The next two hours passed relatively quickly, which surprised and pleased me. But, after that two hours, my work was basically done. I had gotten to work around 1 pm and was done by 4:30. Honestly, there was nothing else I would have done today. I am waiting on supplies and doing whatever reactions I can so I am limited. I did wait to leave till about 5, a half day of work being done. Plus I was able to see when Paul's Atlantic flight took off (at least 25 mins late, fyi).
I came home and on the way realized how tired I was. I had seen Arkady by chance around 3 or so and he said I looked really tired. I denied being tired and said I thought I was just disappointed that Paul had left. The trip home "showed me the light." I have done very little tonight: a couple e-mails, made dinner and washed dishes while it was cooking, watched TV and now blogging. I will probably get ready for bed, watch a bit more TV and then go to bed "early." It will be a good decision, I know.
My prayer requests remain the same but please pray that Paul gets home safely. I'd also like to say that I am feeling much better and didn't have any discomfort today, or yesterday for that matter. The days are flying by so I ask that you pray for wisdom (I need to buy my Munich flight and hostel still), courage (to face the fears I have of travelling alone as well as finishing strong), contentment (with the time I have left in Copenhagen), motivation (to see and do what I want to do before leaving), and peace. Peace in relation to the other requests, to my dwindling time here, to my solitary travel experience, to my flight home, and to the job searching and decision making that waits once I am back. I am finding it difficult to not worry about the future, especially because the future holds my second to last semester of college as well as the career fair that could very well place me on the path to a permanent job. Ah, can you feel my fear? How wonderful to know that God will provide and that He has a plan for me. My past three summers have been proof of that!
Well, I am off for now. This has been incredibly long and for that I do apologize. I seemed to have a need to blow off a few thousand words tonight. :-)
Have a wonderful and restful day/night/afternoon,
Bekah
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Productively Unproductive
Oh my goodness, I did so little at work today it is ridiculous! Not exactly the best thing to broadcast on a blog but it is true. I guess one consolation is that I'm not technically paid by the company but I felt very constrained the whole day.
Once up and going I left for work and met Klas at Hellerup. Meeting someone I know in the morning just makes the day seem so much better. He wanted to know if that was when I usually went to work and I said no, I am usually on the train before the one we got on. He laughed and said this (8:20) was when he usually got on this train. We met up with Esben on the regional train and he told us about his night and I made it known that I had brought lemon bars.
I did basically all my real work in the morning. Arkady got me for lunch and off we went with Esben and Klas. I am almost always smiling when I am around these guys and we walk by people on the way to lunch and I just have the urge to smile at them too. I would say I smile too much but I honestly believe that to be impossible, especially when it is sincere. Most of mine are. :-)
Anyway, Esben left us and Klas, Arkady and I ate with another guy, Henrik (maybe, I don't actually remember his name). I do not remember what all we talked about but Klas has a place to live for the next two months and so he and Arkady will come to the Hard Rock Cafe tomorrow after work (meeting me, Paul and Yujie). Should be fun. I actually introduced myself to the other guy about 3/4 of the way through lunch. He asked if I was a student and I said yes, I am but I'm only here for 2 and a half more weeks. To this Arkady, with a grin, said: "So you don't have to remember her name because she'll be gone soon and won't have been here long." I laughed and said "Thanks, Arkady! Did you actually WANT a treat after lunch? You may not actually get a dessert!" And Klas told him that was real smooth. :-P
Klas and Arkady followed me to my desk and I invited Burcin along the way. They all said the bars were good and I definitely agree. I also gave one to Radek (Polish guy) and two people who sit in offices near my desk. Who am I? I just went around giving treats away. Took some courage, I won't lie, but I'm very glad I did so.
I left work around 4:20 and, when I reached Hellerup, I mailed my postcards! Ah, can't tell you how good it is to finally have them off! Well, all but one. The guy told me they would be in America tomorrow but from there he had no idea how long it would take. He gave me his "sob story" of how anything he sends to America takes forever (i.e. 3-4 weeks) to be delivered, though nothing has ever been lost. Anywho, I am just glad they were sent.
Came home, we made dinner, watched some Scrubs (SUCH a good show) and then headed to Noerreport. I showed him Rosenborg and actually saw the castle from a different side. We walked down to Kongens Nytorv and then to Nyhavn and around the harbor to see the water way, the Opera house, the fountain near the Queen's garden and Amaliensborg (sp?), which is the official royal residence, though none of the royal family is currently staying there. Saw a big church and then walked back to Kgs. Nytorv to catch a bus home. It was a nice walk and I told him that was how I first saw Copenhagen: walking around for a couple hours. It is kind of ridiculous to think we're both in Copenhagen, just hanging out and walking around. Crazy.
We came back to the house and now I need to get to bed. I'm sure I am forgetting something that happened today but oh well. Hopefully I have time to write tomorrow but, if not, Thursday's will just be obscenely long. Oh wait, all my posts are really long. Stupid need to be rid of 5000+ words a day. :-P
Prayer requests are the same, especially my own health. And pray that my postcards don't get lost or too damaged too.
Have a great night/day/afternoon,
Bekah
Once up and going I left for work and met Klas at Hellerup. Meeting someone I know in the morning just makes the day seem so much better. He wanted to know if that was when I usually went to work and I said no, I am usually on the train before the one we got on. He laughed and said this (8:20) was when he usually got on this train. We met up with Esben on the regional train and he told us about his night and I made it known that I had brought lemon bars.
I did basically all my real work in the morning. Arkady got me for lunch and off we went with Esben and Klas. I am almost always smiling when I am around these guys and we walk by people on the way to lunch and I just have the urge to smile at them too. I would say I smile too much but I honestly believe that to be impossible, especially when it is sincere. Most of mine are. :-)
Anyway, Esben left us and Klas, Arkady and I ate with another guy, Henrik (maybe, I don't actually remember his name). I do not remember what all we talked about but Klas has a place to live for the next two months and so he and Arkady will come to the Hard Rock Cafe tomorrow after work (meeting me, Paul and Yujie). Should be fun. I actually introduced myself to the other guy about 3/4 of the way through lunch. He asked if I was a student and I said yes, I am but I'm only here for 2 and a half more weeks. To this Arkady, with a grin, said: "So you don't have to remember her name because she'll be gone soon and won't have been here long." I laughed and said "Thanks, Arkady! Did you actually WANT a treat after lunch? You may not actually get a dessert!" And Klas told him that was real smooth. :-P
Klas and Arkady followed me to my desk and I invited Burcin along the way. They all said the bars were good and I definitely agree. I also gave one to Radek (Polish guy) and two people who sit in offices near my desk. Who am I? I just went around giving treats away. Took some courage, I won't lie, but I'm very glad I did so.
I left work around 4:20 and, when I reached Hellerup, I mailed my postcards! Ah, can't tell you how good it is to finally have them off! Well, all but one. The guy told me they would be in America tomorrow but from there he had no idea how long it would take. He gave me his "sob story" of how anything he sends to America takes forever (i.e. 3-4 weeks) to be delivered, though nothing has ever been lost. Anywho, I am just glad they were sent.
Came home, we made dinner, watched some Scrubs (SUCH a good show) and then headed to Noerreport. I showed him Rosenborg and actually saw the castle from a different side. We walked down to Kongens Nytorv and then to Nyhavn and around the harbor to see the water way, the Opera house, the fountain near the Queen's garden and Amaliensborg (sp?), which is the official royal residence, though none of the royal family is currently staying there. Saw a big church and then walked back to Kgs. Nytorv to catch a bus home. It was a nice walk and I told him that was how I first saw Copenhagen: walking around for a couple hours. It is kind of ridiculous to think we're both in Copenhagen, just hanging out and walking around. Crazy.
We came back to the house and now I need to get to bed. I'm sure I am forgetting something that happened today but oh well. Hopefully I have time to write tomorrow but, if not, Thursday's will just be obscenely long. Oh wait, all my posts are really long. Stupid need to be rid of 5000+ words a day. :-P
Prayer requests are the same, especially my own health. And pray that my postcards don't get lost or too damaged too.
Have a great night/day/afternoon,
Bekah
Monday, July 27, 2009
Scientist to house wife--All in a day's work
Hello hello! Haha, I sound much more cheery than I felt earlier today. I was incredibly tired at work today. I couldn't shake it for some reason; guess the train adventure from yesterday really wore me out. Anyway, up around 6:30 and then, once ready for work, I made a rather large breakfast. This would have been good if Paul had been awake but I didn't think about that and he wasn't sooo it was a little wasted for the morning, but he did eat it all when he got up...at noon. :-P
Anywho, I went on my way and thankfully met Arkady for the regional train. I think my day would've been much "worse" if I hadn't run into him. I still wasn't nearly as perky as usual but it helped. He wanted to know when I would be bringing in more baked goods since I hadn't brought any today and had apparently said I would bake this past weekend. So I laughed and said before Friday I would bring something because he's leaving for Switzerland and he IS the one who lent me the baking forms.
I got started with my work once double checking a couple things with Esben and then spent my down time reading and researching different topics in catalysis. I don't know why I did since I've done it before but I learned quite a bit. Arkady came to get me for lunch and we got Esben and met Klas and Kresten. Lunch was rather quiet for me because the guys were talking about where Klas was going to live (he needs a new apartment like yesterday). I brought up going to the Hard Rock Cafe on Wednesday and that brought Paul's visit up and they all seemed a bit incredulous about him coming to spend the whole day at work. I know it shouldn't have but that actually really brought me down. It's true, he'd be bored and there's the "risk" of confidential information going the wrong place, but, yeah, just one of those days where things I know wouldn't normally bother me happen to bother me.
I decided to start a reaction around 1 which meant I wouldn't leave till after 4:30. Felt kind of necessary since I was going to ask to leave early Wednesday and come in late on Thursday. Before he left I was able to talk to Esben and he was all for me being able to leave early Wednesday and coming in late Thursday (I want to "take" Paul to the airport). Plus we talked about him maybe just coming for an hour or two around lunch time because otherwise he'd be bored and the whole risk thing. Anywho, I finally left around 5:15. That is the latest I've left work since my first week here. I got home around 6 and started making dinner. I had to run out to get a few things at the grocery store (guys eat a lot, nuf said) so I got my bike ride in. Oh was it rough! I haven't done the hill in quite a few days and was huffing when I got back. Plus the weird pain in my chest was back today, almost full force. Not sure what's up since it's been pretty non-existent the past week or two.
Dinner turned out pretty well. Burgers, bbq peppers, rolls, pears and brie, and an English Ale. We really just chilled. He'd only been up for like 6 hours and I was tired from the day. However, I was determined to make lemon bars. So guess what? I did. They are currently cooling and I am praying they taste decent. I felt like a little housewife because 1) I don't have measuring cups, 2)I don't have a blender and 3) well, it's not exactly my kitchen. All things that women "way back when" would have dealt with when baking. Plus I had to find a recipe that didn't have powdered sugar OR baking powder in it. Ha, I ended up just ignoring the baking powder in a recipe and going from there. They may not be as light and fluffy as they should be but the lemon juice was fresh (squeezing the lemons--THAT was fun!) so they should be plenty tart.
Anyway, enough about my baking escapades. Prayer requests. As I mentioned, the pain in my chest is back. I don't know why but it is a bit unnerving. "Pain" is a strong word but discomfort isn't quite strong enough. Please pray that the pain would go away or at least recede to a level that doesn't make me uneasy. Continue to pray for Paul as he recuperates and gets ready to head back. And please keep praying for the people I meet here and who I get to know.
The lemon bars came out well!! I just tried them, as did Paul and Yujie. The crust is a bit thick but other than that, they are pretty good. :-)
Have a great night/day/afternoon,
Bekah
Anywho, I went on my way and thankfully met Arkady for the regional train. I think my day would've been much "worse" if I hadn't run into him. I still wasn't nearly as perky as usual but it helped. He wanted to know when I would be bringing in more baked goods since I hadn't brought any today and had apparently said I would bake this past weekend. So I laughed and said before Friday I would bring something because he's leaving for Switzerland and he IS the one who lent me the baking forms.
I got started with my work once double checking a couple things with Esben and then spent my down time reading and researching different topics in catalysis. I don't know why I did since I've done it before but I learned quite a bit. Arkady came to get me for lunch and we got Esben and met Klas and Kresten. Lunch was rather quiet for me because the guys were talking about where Klas was going to live (he needs a new apartment like yesterday). I brought up going to the Hard Rock Cafe on Wednesday and that brought Paul's visit up and they all seemed a bit incredulous about him coming to spend the whole day at work. I know it shouldn't have but that actually really brought me down. It's true, he'd be bored and there's the "risk" of confidential information going the wrong place, but, yeah, just one of those days where things I know wouldn't normally bother me happen to bother me.
I decided to start a reaction around 1 which meant I wouldn't leave till after 4:30. Felt kind of necessary since I was going to ask to leave early Wednesday and come in late on Thursday. Before he left I was able to talk to Esben and he was all for me being able to leave early Wednesday and coming in late Thursday (I want to "take" Paul to the airport). Plus we talked about him maybe just coming for an hour or two around lunch time because otherwise he'd be bored and the whole risk thing. Anywho, I finally left around 5:15. That is the latest I've left work since my first week here. I got home around 6 and started making dinner. I had to run out to get a few things at the grocery store (guys eat a lot, nuf said) so I got my bike ride in. Oh was it rough! I haven't done the hill in quite a few days and was huffing when I got back. Plus the weird pain in my chest was back today, almost full force. Not sure what's up since it's been pretty non-existent the past week or two.
Dinner turned out pretty well. Burgers, bbq peppers, rolls, pears and brie, and an English Ale. We really just chilled. He'd only been up for like 6 hours and I was tired from the day. However, I was determined to make lemon bars. So guess what? I did. They are currently cooling and I am praying they taste decent. I felt like a little housewife because 1) I don't have measuring cups, 2)I don't have a blender and 3) well, it's not exactly my kitchen. All things that women "way back when" would have dealt with when baking. Plus I had to find a recipe that didn't have powdered sugar OR baking powder in it. Ha, I ended up just ignoring the baking powder in a recipe and going from there. They may not be as light and fluffy as they should be but the lemon juice was fresh (squeezing the lemons--THAT was fun!) so they should be plenty tart.
Anyway, enough about my baking escapades. Prayer requests. As I mentioned, the pain in my chest is back. I don't know why but it is a bit unnerving. "Pain" is a strong word but discomfort isn't quite strong enough. Please pray that the pain would go away or at least recede to a level that doesn't make me uneasy. Continue to pray for Paul as he recuperates and gets ready to head back. And please keep praying for the people I meet here and who I get to know.
The lemon bars came out well!! I just tried them, as did Paul and Yujie. The crust is a bit thick but other than that, they are pretty good. :-)
Have a great night/day/afternoon,
Bekah
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Cleaning and a train adventure.
Today has been really very good. After going to bed incredibly late I slept till a little before ten, showered, and then cleaned. I cleaned up the bathroom as much as I could, cleaned my room (it was very much needed!) and vacuumed most of the house. I ate some food and got ready for church. I decided to take a risk and wear the blue dress I bought. It's very short by itself but with leggings it's not so bad. Plus I felt pretty good about how I looked. :-)
Left for church and made it in plenty of time. On my way to the bus stop a guy, who happened to be looking out his window, whistled and started talking to me. Because I had no idea what he was saying but could understand his tone and because I had my shades on, I simply smiled and said no and kept walking. Anywho, church was good but very very long. We had a interpretive dance by the Filipino women of the congregation as well as a testimony from a visitor. Then the pastor gave a sermon that was really two in one and went VERY long, though it was good. All about our Sovereign Lord and how we find success and blessing when we align our lives with God's purpose, depending upon him.
Funny it should be about depending on God to handle everything because, as soon as service was over, I booked it out of there so I could go get Paul from the airport. I got to Norreport Station and tried to buy a ticket only to have it not read my card--four times! Eventually I got help and headed to the train but I missed the one I originally wanted to take. Got on board at 2:58 and we were off. About 3:15 we were five minutes from the airport and the train stops. It starts to move again when sparks fly from the top of the train with a loud pop! One of the staff comes on over the PA but I can't understand anything beyond technical and problem. A German and a Dane were in the same car as me and none of us could understand what was being said because it was all Swedish! 25 minutes later the problem was solved and we were on our way to the airport. I practically ran to the ticket windows and found Paul and apologized profusely. He had been waiting a whole hour! Ah, not cool.
We headed down to catch a train back but everything was running late so we grabbed one to Kobenhavn H then waited 15 minutes for one to Hellerup. We missed the bus by 30 seconds and had to wait half an hour for the next one. We got to the house about 5:30--three hours after he'd landed! Ridiculous.
Yujie had invited some of the Chinese students over for dinner but they weren't there yet so Paul and I went to the grocery store to pick up food for his time here (drinks too). Headed back and the gang had arrived so we put the food away and had dinner. It was really good. Yujie made duck wings and pork dumplings as well as two noodle dishes. Then we finished off my fudge and the ice cream that they had brought.
After doing some dishes, Paul and I headed up to my room to "escape" and just relax. Now we're watching the Brewers game and just chilling. I will have to get to bed here in an hour or so because I do actually have to work tomorrow. :-)
Prayer requests remain the same but I'd add Paul. He's pretty exhausted mentally and looking forward to going home, though there's a lot for him to do between now and August 24th when he starts grad school. I also reconnected with one of the girls I accompanied for Solo and Ensemble at Hale and she's starting college in the fall and pretty nervous. So please pray for her too.
That's it for now. No baking, unfortunately, so I will probably have to get on that tomorrow since I don't have a ton of time left to make goodies for the guys at work. :-)
Have a great day/night/afternoon,
Bekah
Left for church and made it in plenty of time. On my way to the bus stop a guy, who happened to be looking out his window, whistled and started talking to me. Because I had no idea what he was saying but could understand his tone and because I had my shades on, I simply smiled and said no and kept walking. Anywho, church was good but very very long. We had a interpretive dance by the Filipino women of the congregation as well as a testimony from a visitor. Then the pastor gave a sermon that was really two in one and went VERY long, though it was good. All about our Sovereign Lord and how we find success and blessing when we align our lives with God's purpose, depending upon him.
Funny it should be about depending on God to handle everything because, as soon as service was over, I booked it out of there so I could go get Paul from the airport. I got to Norreport Station and tried to buy a ticket only to have it not read my card--four times! Eventually I got help and headed to the train but I missed the one I originally wanted to take. Got on board at 2:58 and we were off. About 3:15 we were five minutes from the airport and the train stops. It starts to move again when sparks fly from the top of the train with a loud pop! One of the staff comes on over the PA but I can't understand anything beyond technical and problem. A German and a Dane were in the same car as me and none of us could understand what was being said because it was all Swedish! 25 minutes later the problem was solved and we were on our way to the airport. I practically ran to the ticket windows and found Paul and apologized profusely. He had been waiting a whole hour! Ah, not cool.
We headed down to catch a train back but everything was running late so we grabbed one to Kobenhavn H then waited 15 minutes for one to Hellerup. We missed the bus by 30 seconds and had to wait half an hour for the next one. We got to the house about 5:30--three hours after he'd landed! Ridiculous.
Yujie had invited some of the Chinese students over for dinner but they weren't there yet so Paul and I went to the grocery store to pick up food for his time here (drinks too). Headed back and the gang had arrived so we put the food away and had dinner. It was really good. Yujie made duck wings and pork dumplings as well as two noodle dishes. Then we finished off my fudge and the ice cream that they had brought.
After doing some dishes, Paul and I headed up to my room to "escape" and just relax. Now we're watching the Brewers game and just chilling. I will have to get to bed here in an hour or so because I do actually have to work tomorrow. :-)
Prayer requests remain the same but I'd add Paul. He's pretty exhausted mentally and looking forward to going home, though there's a lot for him to do between now and August 24th when he starts grad school. I also reconnected with one of the girls I accompanied for Solo and Ensemble at Hale and she's starting college in the fall and pretty nervous. So please pray for her too.
That's it for now. No baking, unfortunately, so I will probably have to get on that tomorrow since I don't have a ton of time left to make goodies for the guys at work. :-)
Have a great day/night/afternoon,
Bekah
"I should be sleeping instead of keeping these late hours I've been keeping"
Haha, no, I'm not "love sick" but I should definitely be sleeping. However, wedding pictures were available for the Doty wedding and I couldn't resist reliving a wonderful and blessed experience like that. :-)
Today was great. Sleeping was a bit rough because my body apparently likes getting up at 6. So when I woke up at that terrible weekend hour I also discovered a fly was trapped in my room. Not a big deal except the buzzing was a bit annoying. I eventually fell asleep and got up around 8:30. Got ready and was off and at Hellerup to meet Brandon, Burcin and Patrick at 10. We were then off to Roskilde!
The drive was pretty good; we chatted the whole way. We made a stop at the Roskilde Cathedral and were lucky to arrive before 11 because that is when it closed today (there was a funeral or wedding or something going on after that). The cathedral was beautiful. We only had twenty minutes there but the tombs and detail and decoration were inspiring. From there we headed to the Viking Ship Museum. We were a bit disappointed in it on the whole but I'm glad we went. There were many replicates of different ships from the Viking Era and we all got a chance to try some archery. I missed the target all three times BUT I overshot in the same place twice, just above the target, and then aimed a bit too low on the other one. The kids who went before us all hit the target...we were a bit ashamed of our own performance. :-P
We decided to grab lunch at that point and I had a delicious salad with steamed salmon and lovely veggies. We also missed 4 or 5 short, but intense, rain showers while eating. Then we had a chance to see the actual museum. It was built for the sole purpose of displaying the excavated and preserved remains of 5 ships from the Viking period that were deliberately sunk (scuttled I think is the proper term) in one of the Fjords. Pretty cool. To preserve the wood pieces they were soaked in warm water and glycol was slowly added. Over time (some pieces took years!) the glycol replaced the water in the wood, preserving them. The long boat was the most impressive as far as size goes but few pieces had actually been recovered. Still, impressive on the whole.
While inside it poured again and we saw the tour right before ours rowing furiously to get back and out of the rain. None of us wanted to go on the tour if it was going to pour! But the weather was with us and we got into the boat, rowed out a bit, raised the sail and enjoyed the peaceful water. Rowing was pretty fun, though a bit tiring on the way back into the harbour. It's a full body workout, though, and, yeah, I would probably do it more often just for the physical benefits.
We made a stop at the gift shop and then were off, back to the downtown of Roskilde. We walked around, saw some giant flower vases and then headed back to Copenhagen. We picked up Thai take away and ate at Brandon and Burcin's place. It was great to hang out with other Americans because we "commiserated" on things that make us feel more foreign than usual and out of place. Most importantly, though, was that I could talk at whatever speed I wanted and say "normal" phrases and not have to explain them. I also got a lot of advice on furthering my studies, how industry works, and suggestions on how to get a Topsoe representative to come talk to AIChE. We also laughed about silly things Danes do or situations we'd found ourselves in to which only other foreigners could relate. Brandon then from Patrick to Hellerup and me home. I had planned on blogging and going straight to bed but, as I said, I looked at wedding pictures instead.
I also chatted with Paul, who at the moment is on a bus to Madrid to catch a plane here to Copenhagen. I'm pretty excited about that. But I need to get to sleep because I have some cleaning to do before Paul arrives, plus Yujie is having people over for dinner and the house needs a bit of cleaning.
My prayer requests remain the same but I add humility, open-mindedness (is that a word?) and grace. I add these mostly because it is easy to play the "pity me I'm a foreigner" card and to complain about the things that make you feel out of place but I really do like it here and want to fit in and give all Danes the benefit of the doubt. Living in the States we are very blessed. Yes, we have our issues and they are both global and national but overall diversity is key to our great nation, something that is not so easily embraced here abroad. At least, not in my Danish experience so far. Also pray that I would begin prepping for the impending job search. There are certain things I know I want and do not want in my future job but other things I have not even given a thought and they are probably going to be important.
Okay, time to sleep. Have a great day/night/afternoon!
Bekah
Today was great. Sleeping was a bit rough because my body apparently likes getting up at 6. So when I woke up at that terrible weekend hour I also discovered a fly was trapped in my room. Not a big deal except the buzzing was a bit annoying. I eventually fell asleep and got up around 8:30. Got ready and was off and at Hellerup to meet Brandon, Burcin and Patrick at 10. We were then off to Roskilde!
The drive was pretty good; we chatted the whole way. We made a stop at the Roskilde Cathedral and were lucky to arrive before 11 because that is when it closed today (there was a funeral or wedding or something going on after that). The cathedral was beautiful. We only had twenty minutes there but the tombs and detail and decoration were inspiring. From there we headed to the Viking Ship Museum. We were a bit disappointed in it on the whole but I'm glad we went. There were many replicates of different ships from the Viking Era and we all got a chance to try some archery. I missed the target all three times BUT I overshot in the same place twice, just above the target, and then aimed a bit too low on the other one. The kids who went before us all hit the target...we were a bit ashamed of our own performance. :-P
We decided to grab lunch at that point and I had a delicious salad with steamed salmon and lovely veggies. We also missed 4 or 5 short, but intense, rain showers while eating. Then we had a chance to see the actual museum. It was built for the sole purpose of displaying the excavated and preserved remains of 5 ships from the Viking period that were deliberately sunk (scuttled I think is the proper term) in one of the Fjords. Pretty cool. To preserve the wood pieces they were soaked in warm water and glycol was slowly added. Over time (some pieces took years!) the glycol replaced the water in the wood, preserving them. The long boat was the most impressive as far as size goes but few pieces had actually been recovered. Still, impressive on the whole.
While inside it poured again and we saw the tour right before ours rowing furiously to get back and out of the rain. None of us wanted to go on the tour if it was going to pour! But the weather was with us and we got into the boat, rowed out a bit, raised the sail and enjoyed the peaceful water. Rowing was pretty fun, though a bit tiring on the way back into the harbour. It's a full body workout, though, and, yeah, I would probably do it more often just for the physical benefits.
We made a stop at the gift shop and then were off, back to the downtown of Roskilde. We walked around, saw some giant flower vases and then headed back to Copenhagen. We picked up Thai take away and ate at Brandon and Burcin's place. It was great to hang out with other Americans because we "commiserated" on things that make us feel more foreign than usual and out of place. Most importantly, though, was that I could talk at whatever speed I wanted and say "normal" phrases and not have to explain them. I also got a lot of advice on furthering my studies, how industry works, and suggestions on how to get a Topsoe representative to come talk to AIChE. We also laughed about silly things Danes do or situations we'd found ourselves in to which only other foreigners could relate. Brandon then from Patrick to Hellerup and me home. I had planned on blogging and going straight to bed but, as I said, I looked at wedding pictures instead.
I also chatted with Paul, who at the moment is on a bus to Madrid to catch a plane here to Copenhagen. I'm pretty excited about that. But I need to get to sleep because I have some cleaning to do before Paul arrives, plus Yujie is having people over for dinner and the house needs a bit of cleaning.
My prayer requests remain the same but I add humility, open-mindedness (is that a word?) and grace. I add these mostly because it is easy to play the "pity me I'm a foreigner" card and to complain about the things that make you feel out of place but I really do like it here and want to fit in and give all Danes the benefit of the doubt. Living in the States we are very blessed. Yes, we have our issues and they are both global and national but overall diversity is key to our great nation, something that is not so easily embraced here abroad. At least, not in my Danish experience so far. Also pray that I would begin prepping for the impending job search. There are certain things I know I want and do not want in my future job but other things I have not even given a thought and they are probably going to be important.
Okay, time to sleep. Have a great day/night/afternoon!
Bekah
Friday, July 24, 2009
All on a Friday!
Haha, sorry, I don't have a clever title for this one. And I have quite a bit to say as it's going on 11:30 and I've been home for about 30 minutes since leaving for work this morning.
I did not go for a bike ride this morning because I wanted to get to work early to make sure I could get two reactions in for the day. Well, I left a little after 7:30 and got to work around 8:20. Oh, but before I go further, if the bread on sale looks like it has carrot pieces in it, it probably does. So just because it's on sale does NOT mean you should buy it to save 5 kroner. Just an fyi.
Anywho, once at work I got to work right away. Things took a little longer than I would've liked because glycerol takes forever to heat up. Esben nearly scared the pants off me when he came into lab because I wasn't expecting him till like 9 and it was 8:40. I spent little time at my desk as I was observing, finishing and analyzing reactions and products.
It was nearing lunch time and Anders, the guy who retaught me how to titrate, asked if I'd like to go to lunch. I said sure. Esben came to my desk not two minutes later and said he was going to lunch. I had to choose: eat with Esben or hold to what I'd said and eat with Anders and Mai Britt (the lab technician of our group). I decided to hold to what I'd said and Esben went off. Anders, Mai Britt and I headed to lunch 10-15 minutes later and, before we did, I prayed. And you know what? It was fine! I asked them about their work projects and once we had our food Mai Britt asked what the English words were for some of the veggies and the flying insects that kept coming to our table. We ended up sitting at the table next to Esben, Kresten and Matt but didn't really talk to them. I did learn that Anders actually lives over two hours away from Topsoe, on a little island. Because the distance is so great he is only there on the weekends and has an apartment here during the week. He makes dinner for his wife every Friday, the first day he is home, which I thought was sweet. I can't imagine living like that, though, where I would only see my husband for 3 days but I am not married nor that old so I can't really judge their choice. At one point while we were eating everyone was talking in Danish. Now, I am learning a word or two a day but because I have no Danish grammar skills it is hard to understand what people are saying. During those few minutes I really missed having Klas or Arkady around because they would have said something in English or at least also been quiet. But no big deal, really. On the way back Mai Britt and Anders taught me a couple words, velbekomme being the best. It is analogous to Bon apetit (sorry if I spelled that completely wrong). :-)
The afternoon was also pretty busy as I had more analysis to do and another reaction. I had time to sit at my computer, though, and I read up on some world news as well as updated spreadsheets and presentations. Arkady came to visit us in the lab to see if we'd want to go to the pub for a beer and some pool after work. We agreed we'd meet up a little after 4 to go. I successfully used the GCMS here by myself and got results. Oh, I also successfully broke a burette and funnel today. Yeah, that was fun. I was doing a titration and after refilling the burette went to take the funnel out and apparently hit the stand holding the burette and it went flying backwards into the hood and hit one of the bars on the back. The top of the burette broke off and the bottom of the funnel did too. Thankfully I didn't get cut or any NaOH on me. Still, I broke a burette. Poo on a stick.
After everything was shut down and Esben and I talked about the next set of reactions we'd try we met Arkady and headed to the pub. The "pub" is on the Topsoe grounds and really all it ended up being was a beer machine. Similar to a soda machine but it puts out glass beer bottles and has a can opener on it. I started out with the Tuborg Special I think and watched the first game of pool. I played the next one and won with Klas as my partner. I think I won the next game with Rashid as my partner (a new person I met today; his office is right next to Esben's and he did NOT go to DTU--a first!). One more game with Klas as my partner and we again won. Then I played one-on-one with Arkady. He kicked my butt the first game and I won by default on the second because he scratched on the 8-ball. Esben and Rashid had left by that time and Klas and Arkady invited me to go downtown to eat with them before they headed to the Friday night concert at Tivoli. They invited me to that as well but Tivoli is expensive and I do not have a year long card so it isn't exactly economical for me to go for a few hours on a Friday night. Anyway, we headed downtown in the rain and eventually decided to eat at Vesuvio of Copenhagen, a pizzaria. We had quite a bit of time to talk and they kept telling me to say something so I just started asking questions. I asked about their families, their favorite color and from there we talked about favorite music and movies and where I see myself in 5 or 10 years. It was really nice. The pizza I ordered was very good but I could only eat half of it. No worries, I had two grown men to finish the rest of it. :-) They then walked me to the train station and I headed home. When I reached Hellerup I realized I'd forgotten to get my postcards from Arkady; I'd given them to him to keep dry in his bag since it was raining. So now I won't be able to send them until Tuesday of next week--oops!
While I was waiting for the bus at Hellerup I heard some yelling, in English, and realized a very ticked off guy was yelling at a woman standing near the station sidewalk. It was somewhat obvious they were lost but I didn't really know what to do. As God would have it they eventually walked by me and I asked if they needed help. You should've seen the relief on their faces; the poor woman had been crying too. As I talked and tried to figure out where they wanted to go the guy all of a sudden asked me if I was from America. I said "Well, yeah." and also told them I was from WI. We traded stories as to why we are here in Denmark; turns out they are both interns at the US Embassy, which is pretty cool. I kind of helped them get to the right bus and then got on my own. I'm sure they got to Svanemollen safely. I then came home and here I am.
Tomorrow is my day adventure to Roskilde with Brandon, Burchin and Patrick. I'm meeting them at 10 so I need to head to bed. Today was very good, though. I thanked Arkady and Klas for inviting me out because I really did appreciate it. I am so blessed. I would do just about anything to increase the amount of time I am to be here because I myself feel more comfortable and I think my coworkers are also more comfortable. I cannot tell you how many times I said "Poo on a stick" or "Holy poo" while we were playing pool. And the funny things that were said because it was Friday and no one was fully thinking were priceless. Really, I am blessed to be here and enjoying it!
Please continue to pray for the health of my coworkers and myself. Pray for courage, patience and peace of mind for me. Pray for a safe day tomorrow as we are out and about in Roskilde. Thank you so much for praying or thinking about me!
Have a great night/day/afternoon,
Bekah
I did not go for a bike ride this morning because I wanted to get to work early to make sure I could get two reactions in for the day. Well, I left a little after 7:30 and got to work around 8:20. Oh, but before I go further, if the bread on sale looks like it has carrot pieces in it, it probably does. So just because it's on sale does NOT mean you should buy it to save 5 kroner. Just an fyi.
Anywho, once at work I got to work right away. Things took a little longer than I would've liked because glycerol takes forever to heat up. Esben nearly scared the pants off me when he came into lab because I wasn't expecting him till like 9 and it was 8:40. I spent little time at my desk as I was observing, finishing and analyzing reactions and products.
It was nearing lunch time and Anders, the guy who retaught me how to titrate, asked if I'd like to go to lunch. I said sure. Esben came to my desk not two minutes later and said he was going to lunch. I had to choose: eat with Esben or hold to what I'd said and eat with Anders and Mai Britt (the lab technician of our group). I decided to hold to what I'd said and Esben went off. Anders, Mai Britt and I headed to lunch 10-15 minutes later and, before we did, I prayed. And you know what? It was fine! I asked them about their work projects and once we had our food Mai Britt asked what the English words were for some of the veggies and the flying insects that kept coming to our table. We ended up sitting at the table next to Esben, Kresten and Matt but didn't really talk to them. I did learn that Anders actually lives over two hours away from Topsoe, on a little island. Because the distance is so great he is only there on the weekends and has an apartment here during the week. He makes dinner for his wife every Friday, the first day he is home, which I thought was sweet. I can't imagine living like that, though, where I would only see my husband for 3 days but I am not married nor that old so I can't really judge their choice. At one point while we were eating everyone was talking in Danish. Now, I am learning a word or two a day but because I have no Danish grammar skills it is hard to understand what people are saying. During those few minutes I really missed having Klas or Arkady around because they would have said something in English or at least also been quiet. But no big deal, really. On the way back Mai Britt and Anders taught me a couple words, velbekomme being the best. It is analogous to Bon apetit (sorry if I spelled that completely wrong). :-)
The afternoon was also pretty busy as I had more analysis to do and another reaction. I had time to sit at my computer, though, and I read up on some world news as well as updated spreadsheets and presentations. Arkady came to visit us in the lab to see if we'd want to go to the pub for a beer and some pool after work. We agreed we'd meet up a little after 4 to go. I successfully used the GCMS here by myself and got results. Oh, I also successfully broke a burette and funnel today. Yeah, that was fun. I was doing a titration and after refilling the burette went to take the funnel out and apparently hit the stand holding the burette and it went flying backwards into the hood and hit one of the bars on the back. The top of the burette broke off and the bottom of the funnel did too. Thankfully I didn't get cut or any NaOH on me. Still, I broke a burette. Poo on a stick.
After everything was shut down and Esben and I talked about the next set of reactions we'd try we met Arkady and headed to the pub. The "pub" is on the Topsoe grounds and really all it ended up being was a beer machine. Similar to a soda machine but it puts out glass beer bottles and has a can opener on it. I started out with the Tuborg Special I think and watched the first game of pool. I played the next one and won with Klas as my partner. I think I won the next game with Rashid as my partner (a new person I met today; his office is right next to Esben's and he did NOT go to DTU--a first!). One more game with Klas as my partner and we again won. Then I played one-on-one with Arkady. He kicked my butt the first game and I won by default on the second because he scratched on the 8-ball. Esben and Rashid had left by that time and Klas and Arkady invited me to go downtown to eat with them before they headed to the Friday night concert at Tivoli. They invited me to that as well but Tivoli is expensive and I do not have a year long card so it isn't exactly economical for me to go for a few hours on a Friday night. Anyway, we headed downtown in the rain and eventually decided to eat at Vesuvio of Copenhagen, a pizzaria. We had quite a bit of time to talk and they kept telling me to say something so I just started asking questions. I asked about their families, their favorite color and from there we talked about favorite music and movies and where I see myself in 5 or 10 years. It was really nice. The pizza I ordered was very good but I could only eat half of it. No worries, I had two grown men to finish the rest of it. :-) They then walked me to the train station and I headed home. When I reached Hellerup I realized I'd forgotten to get my postcards from Arkady; I'd given them to him to keep dry in his bag since it was raining. So now I won't be able to send them until Tuesday of next week--oops!
While I was waiting for the bus at Hellerup I heard some yelling, in English, and realized a very ticked off guy was yelling at a woman standing near the station sidewalk. It was somewhat obvious they were lost but I didn't really know what to do. As God would have it they eventually walked by me and I asked if they needed help. You should've seen the relief on their faces; the poor woman had been crying too. As I talked and tried to figure out where they wanted to go the guy all of a sudden asked me if I was from America. I said "Well, yeah." and also told them I was from WI. We traded stories as to why we are here in Denmark; turns out they are both interns at the US Embassy, which is pretty cool. I kind of helped them get to the right bus and then got on my own. I'm sure they got to Svanemollen safely. I then came home and here I am.
Tomorrow is my day adventure to Roskilde with Brandon, Burchin and Patrick. I'm meeting them at 10 so I need to head to bed. Today was very good, though. I thanked Arkady and Klas for inviting me out because I really did appreciate it. I am so blessed. I would do just about anything to increase the amount of time I am to be here because I myself feel more comfortable and I think my coworkers are also more comfortable. I cannot tell you how many times I said "Poo on a stick" or "Holy poo" while we were playing pool. And the funny things that were said because it was Friday and no one was fully thinking were priceless. Really, I am blessed to be here and enjoying it!
Please continue to pray for the health of my coworkers and myself. Pray for courage, patience and peace of mind for me. Pray for a safe day tomorrow as we are out and about in Roskilde. Thank you so much for praying or thinking about me!
Have a great night/day/afternoon,
Bekah
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Busy and Happy...but also a Lazy Bum!
Hmm, I am a lazy bum. Haha! Why? Because I don't do anything but make dinner and watch TV after work. :-)
Anywho, today was good. I did not bike this morning because I wanted to sleep 15 more minutes. Yeah, I know it's only been a week and I'm already shirking the morning ride. I did miss it, actually. But then I realized it was raining, not that rain would be a huge deterrent but it was support enough for sleeping in. :-) The rain had basically stopped when I left for work but I brought my umbrella and off I went. I was in the lab and working by 8:35. That's ridiculously early, people. And tomorrow I hope to be there even earlier, so I won't ride in the morning either. But anyway, I had to wait until reactions were finished and took the time to type up all the postcards I'd written just in case they get wet and are unreadable. I talked to Burcin today and I'm going to send all the postcards on Saturday before we leave for Roskilde--I hope the ones destined for CA make it before the girls leave!
Once my supervisor got to work I was in the lab the rest of the morning with little to no time at my desk. I loved it! I love being busy and productive and I have actually been given work on a 2nd project, though it's not really "my" project. :-) Arkady came to get me in the lab but I had to go get money so he went ahead with Kresten and Esben and I followed. Lunch was rather quiet. Klas ate with his group (I think) and Kresten sat at the table next to us with another coworker. Arkady asked what I had baked for them today and I had to tell him they would have to wait till next week for more sweets. I'm hoping I can attempt lemon bars on Sunday once Paul is safely here. We shall see! On the way back to work Arkady asked why I had bought a dress here if I had no reason to wear it, quickly followed by his comment that "but women just buy things, right?" I had to laugh and somewhat explain I'd been in the mood to buy something blue but I didn't say that it was "European" and I bought it as a risk in fashion and a memory of what I'd seen here. I had a feeling a guy wouldn't appreciate that as much as my girlfriends. :-)
After lunch was just a busy as the morning but I did get time at my desk. In fact, when I did get the chance to sit I found the tupperware I'd accidentally left with Arkady yesterday sitting on my desk with the note: "Tusind tak!" Even I could figure that one out. So I IMed him the Danish for "You're welcome" and he messaged back, in Danish, that I could speak Danish! "nej" I wrote, "I looked it up." It was probably funnier in the moment. But later, when I was getting help from Esben with some analysis I did ask the Danish words for How (Hvordan), what (hvilket) and why (I don't remember this one at the moment and may have mixed up what and why). Now all I need is some grammar lessons and I might actually be able to form sentences on my own. Who knows, maybe I will learn a bit more Danish yet!
Once everything was in order I knew I could leave for the day. So I left about 4:30, got home in a light drizzle, and decided to bike to the grocery store because I needed pasta and bread. As usual I bought much more than that, including brie and blue cheeses, tomatoes, and salami. I spend too much money on food, especially when I convince myself it's all for experimentation. Anyway, when I left it was raining. Not pouring, thankfully, but I was very wet when I got home. Biking uphill wasn't wonderful but it did feel good to be biking.
Got home, dried off, checked e-mail then made dinner. I had a hankering for shrimp and the kaffir og ginger marinade I have so I had some shrimp with pasta and then a pear with brie. The two dishes do NOT blend well together but on their own they were both delicious! I also put some of my fudge on the pear slices and that was delightful too. Sometimes experiments turn out well.
I really did nothing else except watch TV on my computer and chat with a few people. If I'm going to get to work early tomorrow I need to get to bed. Why so early? I want to get a lot done tomorrow without staying late or possibly not doing more work because my supervisor will be gone. And with Paul coming next week I may ask to leave a bit earlier in the day so there's time to sight see and whatnot.
Prayer requests remain the same. Nothing really new to ask at the moment. Maybe for my lemon bars? Haha, I do not jest but that is a bit ridiculous. I am sure I am forgetting some small things from throughout the day that I may or may not remember at some point. It is hard to remember all the little things sometimes, though when they occur they instantly brighten my day.
Have a wonderful evening/day/afternoon,
Bekah
Anywho, today was good. I did not bike this morning because I wanted to sleep 15 more minutes. Yeah, I know it's only been a week and I'm already shirking the morning ride. I did miss it, actually. But then I realized it was raining, not that rain would be a huge deterrent but it was support enough for sleeping in. :-) The rain had basically stopped when I left for work but I brought my umbrella and off I went. I was in the lab and working by 8:35. That's ridiculously early, people. And tomorrow I hope to be there even earlier, so I won't ride in the morning either. But anyway, I had to wait until reactions were finished and took the time to type up all the postcards I'd written just in case they get wet and are unreadable. I talked to Burcin today and I'm going to send all the postcards on Saturday before we leave for Roskilde--I hope the ones destined for CA make it before the girls leave!
Once my supervisor got to work I was in the lab the rest of the morning with little to no time at my desk. I loved it! I love being busy and productive and I have actually been given work on a 2nd project, though it's not really "my" project. :-) Arkady came to get me in the lab but I had to go get money so he went ahead with Kresten and Esben and I followed. Lunch was rather quiet. Klas ate with his group (I think) and Kresten sat at the table next to us with another coworker. Arkady asked what I had baked for them today and I had to tell him they would have to wait till next week for more sweets. I'm hoping I can attempt lemon bars on Sunday once Paul is safely here. We shall see! On the way back to work Arkady asked why I had bought a dress here if I had no reason to wear it, quickly followed by his comment that "but women just buy things, right?" I had to laugh and somewhat explain I'd been in the mood to buy something blue but I didn't say that it was "European" and I bought it as a risk in fashion and a memory of what I'd seen here. I had a feeling a guy wouldn't appreciate that as much as my girlfriends. :-)
After lunch was just a busy as the morning but I did get time at my desk. In fact, when I did get the chance to sit I found the tupperware I'd accidentally left with Arkady yesterday sitting on my desk with the note: "Tusind tak!" Even I could figure that one out. So I IMed him the Danish for "You're welcome" and he messaged back, in Danish, that I could speak Danish! "nej" I wrote, "I looked it up." It was probably funnier in the moment. But later, when I was getting help from Esben with some analysis I did ask the Danish words for How (Hvordan), what (hvilket) and why (I don't remember this one at the moment and may have mixed up what and why). Now all I need is some grammar lessons and I might actually be able to form sentences on my own. Who knows, maybe I will learn a bit more Danish yet!
Once everything was in order I knew I could leave for the day. So I left about 4:30, got home in a light drizzle, and decided to bike to the grocery store because I needed pasta and bread. As usual I bought much more than that, including brie and blue cheeses, tomatoes, and salami. I spend too much money on food, especially when I convince myself it's all for experimentation. Anyway, when I left it was raining. Not pouring, thankfully, but I was very wet when I got home. Biking uphill wasn't wonderful but it did feel good to be biking.
Got home, dried off, checked e-mail then made dinner. I had a hankering for shrimp and the kaffir og ginger marinade I have so I had some shrimp with pasta and then a pear with brie. The two dishes do NOT blend well together but on their own they were both delicious! I also put some of my fudge on the pear slices and that was delightful too. Sometimes experiments turn out well.
I really did nothing else except watch TV on my computer and chat with a few people. If I'm going to get to work early tomorrow I need to get to bed. Why so early? I want to get a lot done tomorrow without staying late or possibly not doing more work because my supervisor will be gone. And with Paul coming next week I may ask to leave a bit earlier in the day so there's time to sight see and whatnot.
Prayer requests remain the same. Nothing really new to ask at the moment. Maybe for my lemon bars? Haha, I do not jest but that is a bit ridiculous. I am sure I am forgetting some small things from throughout the day that I may or may not remember at some point. It is hard to remember all the little things sometimes, though when they occur they instantly brighten my day.
Have a wonderful evening/day/afternoon,
Bekah
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Rain and Writing
First I will address the writing. I just finished writing 13 postcards. Holy poo! Now that they are written I just have to find stamps...and then send them. It is more complicated than you would think but at least they will soon be on their way!
Anywho, I got up at 6 again and went out to ride. It had rained and was lightly raining and I was tired so I didn't do the hill like I have been. It was still nice, though. Got back, got ready (we had hot water--yay!), packed a little of the fudge even though it wasn't quite the consistency I would have liked, and was off to work.
The trains were a bit screwed up this morning so I had a nice long wait at Hellerup and then there were quite a few people on the actual train. The train to Ravnholm was also pretty packed. I needed my supervisor's help with the analysis for one of yesterday's reactions so I couldn't really do anything till he got in for the day. Once he did, though, I was off and running. Not much besides setting up two reactions and one calculation for the morning so I read up on world news and some catalysis stuff.
Arkady also brought the baking forms today! I'm rather excited. Even without measuring cups, I can't wait to make something. The week is coming to a close and my Saturday is already booked so maybe once Paul arrives Sunday I'll make something in the afternoon/evening. Yup, Paul is coming to visit me! I'm also excited about that. :-)
Anyway, Arkady was eating earlier today so it was just me, Klas and Esben, though we did meet up with an Asian guy, whose name I don't remember and who also initially thought I was Swedish (silence apparently = European). We didn't talk about much at lunch. The Asian asked all the typical questions of me like where do I come from (my accent gives it away though), why and for how long am I here, etc. I also got to tell them how much I want to stay and that I apparently have a tendency of falling in love with wherever I am. Esben then mentioned that I would be falling in love with Munich. I'm not so sure about that since I only have a week there. Sure, it holds a special place in my heart but I don't know that love will happen in a week, especially since I'll be on my own so much. I am blessed, however, one of the grads at Madison has put me in contact with a friend who lives in Munich and who is willing to show me around half the time I'm there. God is good!
Anyway, Esben and Klas tried the fudge and, while they both said it was good, also said it was very sweet. I did warn them so I knew that comment would be coming. Esben said it would be better with coffee or ice cream and Klas wasn't able to finish his because he took too big a piece. :-) I brought some to Arkady and he said it was very good and complemented his unsweetened tea--and he's looking forward to whatever else I end up baking.
The afternoon whiled away and I don't think anything very interesting happened. I need to book my flight and hostel in Munich soon, though. So I checked a few flights and hostel prices again. I also bought milk yesterday (so I could make the fudge) and wanted to get rid of it because it's only good for like 3 more days or something. I made bacon for breakfast and did NOT burn it and had left the grease in the pan. So when I got home, sometime before 5:30, I decided to make Poor Man's Gravy. We used to have it all the time at home whenever we had bacon and it's sooo good. Super fattening and rather bad for you but it's delicious. I was successful, though until I tasted it I had my doubts because mine was a little thicker and lighter in color than I remember the stuff from home. Still, very proud of myself. :-)
Once I'd eaten I chatted online and then eventually washed dishes and ate fudge. After an entire day in the fridge the consistency was a little better and the chocolate flavor really came out. So good! As I told a friend: it's like the best part of icing plus chocolate. :-) Once that was gone I wrote 13 postcards and now am here. It's been a very good day.
My prayer requests remain the same. I have two to add, though. Carrie, my mentor, leaves for the States tomorrow. Please pray for safe travels and less stress than her trip here (she was delayed a full day and didn't sleep for two on the way here). Also, Hind, the pregnant woman from work, has not been feeling well, especially with the high humidity we've had. Pray for her and her baby and for her holiday as she leaves for Morocco tomorrow. Most of my coworkers are feeling better but Klas is still having trouble with his stomach, so pray for that too.
I am in love with this place and yet in exactly one month I will be on a plane flying back to the States. I cannot wait to be home and to see my family and friends but I by no means want to leave the life that I have started here and the people I have met. I know that everything happens in my life for a purpose and I am glad that being here has confirmed that I really do want to live and work abroad, at least for a time, and that I am capable of doing so. But no more thinking of leaving because I have so much more to see, experience and do here!
Have a wonderful day/night/afternoon!
Bekah
Anywho, I got up at 6 again and went out to ride. It had rained and was lightly raining and I was tired so I didn't do the hill like I have been. It was still nice, though. Got back, got ready (we had hot water--yay!), packed a little of the fudge even though it wasn't quite the consistency I would have liked, and was off to work.
The trains were a bit screwed up this morning so I had a nice long wait at Hellerup and then there were quite a few people on the actual train. The train to Ravnholm was also pretty packed. I needed my supervisor's help with the analysis for one of yesterday's reactions so I couldn't really do anything till he got in for the day. Once he did, though, I was off and running. Not much besides setting up two reactions and one calculation for the morning so I read up on world news and some catalysis stuff.
Arkady also brought the baking forms today! I'm rather excited. Even without measuring cups, I can't wait to make something. The week is coming to a close and my Saturday is already booked so maybe once Paul arrives Sunday I'll make something in the afternoon/evening. Yup, Paul is coming to visit me! I'm also excited about that. :-)
Anyway, Arkady was eating earlier today so it was just me, Klas and Esben, though we did meet up with an Asian guy, whose name I don't remember and who also initially thought I was Swedish (silence apparently = European). We didn't talk about much at lunch. The Asian asked all the typical questions of me like where do I come from (my accent gives it away though), why and for how long am I here, etc. I also got to tell them how much I want to stay and that I apparently have a tendency of falling in love with wherever I am. Esben then mentioned that I would be falling in love with Munich. I'm not so sure about that since I only have a week there. Sure, it holds a special place in my heart but I don't know that love will happen in a week, especially since I'll be on my own so much. I am blessed, however, one of the grads at Madison has put me in contact with a friend who lives in Munich and who is willing to show me around half the time I'm there. God is good!
Anyway, Esben and Klas tried the fudge and, while they both said it was good, also said it was very sweet. I did warn them so I knew that comment would be coming. Esben said it would be better with coffee or ice cream and Klas wasn't able to finish his because he took too big a piece. :-) I brought some to Arkady and he said it was very good and complemented his unsweetened tea--and he's looking forward to whatever else I end up baking.
The afternoon whiled away and I don't think anything very interesting happened. I need to book my flight and hostel in Munich soon, though. So I checked a few flights and hostel prices again. I also bought milk yesterday (so I could make the fudge) and wanted to get rid of it because it's only good for like 3 more days or something. I made bacon for breakfast and did NOT burn it and had left the grease in the pan. So when I got home, sometime before 5:30, I decided to make Poor Man's Gravy. We used to have it all the time at home whenever we had bacon and it's sooo good. Super fattening and rather bad for you but it's delicious. I was successful, though until I tasted it I had my doubts because mine was a little thicker and lighter in color than I remember the stuff from home. Still, very proud of myself. :-)
Once I'd eaten I chatted online and then eventually washed dishes and ate fudge. After an entire day in the fridge the consistency was a little better and the chocolate flavor really came out. So good! As I told a friend: it's like the best part of icing plus chocolate. :-) Once that was gone I wrote 13 postcards and now am here. It's been a very good day.
My prayer requests remain the same. I have two to add, though. Carrie, my mentor, leaves for the States tomorrow. Please pray for safe travels and less stress than her trip here (she was delayed a full day and didn't sleep for two on the way here). Also, Hind, the pregnant woman from work, has not been feeling well, especially with the high humidity we've had. Pray for her and her baby and for her holiday as she leaves for Morocco tomorrow. Most of my coworkers are feeling better but Klas is still having trouble with his stomach, so pray for that too.
I am in love with this place and yet in exactly one month I will be on a plane flying back to the States. I cannot wait to be home and to see my family and friends but I by no means want to leave the life that I have started here and the people I have met. I know that everything happens in my life for a purpose and I am glad that being here has confirmed that I really do want to live and work abroad, at least for a time, and that I am capable of doing so. But no more thinking of leaving because I have so much more to see, experience and do here!
Have a wonderful day/night/afternoon!
Bekah
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
What a great day!
I've lost track of the days. It's not entirely true but pretty close. When I'm working I often forget what day it is--and I don't mind one bit. :-)
Today was what people would call an amazing day. And I would completely agree! My bike ride this morning was good, as usual. Stares as normal too. When I got back I went to take a shower and discovered there was no hot water. If I wasn't awake already from my bike ride I certainly was after my shower! I got ready for work and was out the door. I wore my coat today because yesterday I was chilly while waiting for the bus. I felt very silly, though, with my coat on. I always feel like people watch me walk by and immediately judge me in some negative way. I should know this isn't true simply because I don't do that when other people walk by; I'm usually in my own little world. But anywho, got on the train and was off.
I met up with Arkady for the last leg of the commute and he'd just been talking with Carrie, who is back from her two week trip around Italy and Spain. We chatted and I told him how my host doesn't have any baking pans. He was a bit shocked by this and then asked me what a baking pan was. Apparently they're called baking forms here. Once we had that straightened out he said that he had some, won't be using them and, if he remembers, will bring them to work for me to borrow. How cool is that?!! I'm super psyched! He had no preference as to what I make as long as whatever is made is brought to work for them to eat. Considering that was the reason I wanted to bake I didn't argue. :-)
Once at work I had plenty to do and I love days like that. Plus I got an e-mail from the other American working at Topsoe about going to see the Viking Museum in Roskilde Saturday. He wanted to invite an American student he knows at DTU and I told him that the idea wasn't originally mine but that of Patrick, the other PIRE student, and that I'm sure he wouldn't mind. As it turns out we were talking about the same person! Small world! I have no idea how they know each other and I don't care. The American, Brandon, and his girlfriend Burcin, who also works at Topsoe, will pick Patrick and I up on Saturday and we'll drive out to Roskilde. I'm so excited!!
All of that took place BEFORE 1030 this morning. Now you see why today would be considered so great. :-)
Lunch came around and Esben and I met Arkady and Klas (back from Sweden). Kresten was home with a sick child but would be in for a bit later in the afternoon. Lunch was good; it always is. We heard a bit about Klas's time in Sweden and updated him on our fruit vs veggie discussion (which he started). I then asked them questions about the male-female ratio at DTU and from there asked questions regarding their opinion of women in science and engineering. In the middle of this a bug decided to fly onto my chest. I hate bugs. They are creepy and kind of yucky. So I'm staring at this bug, as are the three guys, and am trying to decide whether it's going to fly away or I'm going to have to get rid of it myself. It moves to a slightly more inconvenient location and I'm afraid if I don't do something it will be down my shirt! In a quick moment I just moved it and then had a little chill to get the creepiness out of my system. Klas said he "didn't go there because he didn't have permission" and we all laughed. What timing for the stupid bug!
Anyway, the afternoon passed very quickly as I had two reactions finish and 4 to analyze. I'm telling you, I love having work to do in lab! I left about 4:20 and got home a little after 5 and immediately went to the grocery store to get ingredients. Why? Well because I made fudge! Yes, after a pretty good dinner I attempted to make fudge. Let me tell you that it is hard to make anything when you don't have measuring cups! Thankfully fudge is easy; as a friend told me: it is hard to mess up sugar and chocolate. :-) So it's been in the fridge for about two hours now and Yujie and I will taste test before bed. The leftovers in the pot were pretty sugary but Yujie liked it so I'm certain they guys will at least try it.
Oh! I almost forgot. On my bus ride home a woman got on the bus with a little girl in a stroller. Happens all the time but they grabbed my attention because the little girl was holding on to a HUGE Disney Princess castle balloon! :-) Couldn't resist smiling at that.
I will be off to bed shortly and am quite ready to sleep. I still need to write postcards and get them sent off. I wanted to send them tomorrow but since none of them are written that may be difficult.
Prayer requests are the same as they have been with humility and low expectations as far as baking is concerned added to the list. Thanks for praying for me and thinking about me. I really do appreciate it. And any chance I get to hear from and chat with friends from home does more than I can say for my spirit. I may be falling in love with this place and the people here but that doesn't change my love for all the people back in the States.
Have a wonderful night/day/afternoon,
Bekah
Today was what people would call an amazing day. And I would completely agree! My bike ride this morning was good, as usual. Stares as normal too. When I got back I went to take a shower and discovered there was no hot water. If I wasn't awake already from my bike ride I certainly was after my shower! I got ready for work and was out the door. I wore my coat today because yesterday I was chilly while waiting for the bus. I felt very silly, though, with my coat on. I always feel like people watch me walk by and immediately judge me in some negative way. I should know this isn't true simply because I don't do that when other people walk by; I'm usually in my own little world. But anywho, got on the train and was off.
I met up with Arkady for the last leg of the commute and he'd just been talking with Carrie, who is back from her two week trip around Italy and Spain. We chatted and I told him how my host doesn't have any baking pans. He was a bit shocked by this and then asked me what a baking pan was. Apparently they're called baking forms here. Once we had that straightened out he said that he had some, won't be using them and, if he remembers, will bring them to work for me to borrow. How cool is that?!! I'm super psyched! He had no preference as to what I make as long as whatever is made is brought to work for them to eat. Considering that was the reason I wanted to bake I didn't argue. :-)
Once at work I had plenty to do and I love days like that. Plus I got an e-mail from the other American working at Topsoe about going to see the Viking Museum in Roskilde Saturday. He wanted to invite an American student he knows at DTU and I told him that the idea wasn't originally mine but that of Patrick, the other PIRE student, and that I'm sure he wouldn't mind. As it turns out we were talking about the same person! Small world! I have no idea how they know each other and I don't care. The American, Brandon, and his girlfriend Burcin, who also works at Topsoe, will pick Patrick and I up on Saturday and we'll drive out to Roskilde. I'm so excited!!
All of that took place BEFORE 1030 this morning. Now you see why today would be considered so great. :-)
Lunch came around and Esben and I met Arkady and Klas (back from Sweden). Kresten was home with a sick child but would be in for a bit later in the afternoon. Lunch was good; it always is. We heard a bit about Klas's time in Sweden and updated him on our fruit vs veggie discussion (which he started). I then asked them questions about the male-female ratio at DTU and from there asked questions regarding their opinion of women in science and engineering. In the middle of this a bug decided to fly onto my chest. I hate bugs. They are creepy and kind of yucky. So I'm staring at this bug, as are the three guys, and am trying to decide whether it's going to fly away or I'm going to have to get rid of it myself. It moves to a slightly more inconvenient location and I'm afraid if I don't do something it will be down my shirt! In a quick moment I just moved it and then had a little chill to get the creepiness out of my system. Klas said he "didn't go there because he didn't have permission" and we all laughed. What timing for the stupid bug!
Anyway, the afternoon passed very quickly as I had two reactions finish and 4 to analyze. I'm telling you, I love having work to do in lab! I left about 4:20 and got home a little after 5 and immediately went to the grocery store to get ingredients. Why? Well because I made fudge! Yes, after a pretty good dinner I attempted to make fudge. Let me tell you that it is hard to make anything when you don't have measuring cups! Thankfully fudge is easy; as a friend told me: it is hard to mess up sugar and chocolate. :-) So it's been in the fridge for about two hours now and Yujie and I will taste test before bed. The leftovers in the pot were pretty sugary but Yujie liked it so I'm certain they guys will at least try it.
Oh! I almost forgot. On my bus ride home a woman got on the bus with a little girl in a stroller. Happens all the time but they grabbed my attention because the little girl was holding on to a HUGE Disney Princess castle balloon! :-) Couldn't resist smiling at that.
I will be off to bed shortly and am quite ready to sleep. I still need to write postcards and get them sent off. I wanted to send them tomorrow but since none of them are written that may be difficult.
Prayer requests are the same as they have been with humility and low expectations as far as baking is concerned added to the list. Thanks for praying for me and thinking about me. I really do appreciate it. And any chance I get to hear from and chat with friends from home does more than I can say for my spirit. I may be falling in love with this place and the people here but that doesn't change my love for all the people back in the States.
Have a wonderful night/day/afternoon,
Bekah
Monday, July 20, 2009
Hej Hej Hej (Hi Hi Hi)
Hello hello hello. I need to be off to bed early tonight because I didn't exactly get a decent about of sleep last night. So here I am, writing. Woot.
Considering I didn't get up before 9 the past two days and was up late the past three nights I was very surprised how easy it was to get up at 6 this morning. I took the bike out and did my little ten minute ride and then got ready for the day. I don't exactly look like a rockstar at 6 in the morning so I get a few funny looks but, honestly, it's so early, why does it matter? Anywho, was off to work and there around 8:40. My supervisor wasn't in yet but that was totally okay because I know our plan for the next couple of days and can get started on my own. Let me tell you, that feels good.
I did some reading on our catalysts and such for the morning as well as prepping another reaction. Arkady came to get me for lunch and we exchanged the "What did you do this weekend?" stories. I usually go first (because I'm usually asked first) and today was no different. I had told them all on Friday I'd probably go shopping, even though it's expensive, so I told Arkady I did, indeed, do shopping. He asked what I bought and I laughed and said "A dress!" He happened to be walking through a door in front of me and turned around, looked at my outfit and went "Well, where is it?" We both laughed at that and my response "Because that isn't exactly lab appropriate." :-) He told me about the famous Russian movie he had watched and the books he was reading by Arthur C. Clarke. By that point we got our food and joined Kresten and Matt (the fast talker I'd been "warned" about on Friday). We all exchanged weekend stories and Kresten had the most intersting because he and his family (he has two small children) went to the Viking Museum in Roskilde and then a drive in movie theater, where they saw Harry Potter. Esben was late in joining us because there'd been a surprise leak in his reactor so by the time he arrived Arkady and I were done and headed back. We talked more about the books he was reading and joked about how some things, depending on when they were written, didn't always make it to one or the other of our languages (Cold War).
I spent the afternoon doing more reading and observing reactions and then reading about Arthur C Clarke and another author, whose name escapes me at the moment. I also looked up recipes because I want to bake. Good use of my time, I know. Don't worry, I'm doing all the work I'm given and loving every minute of it. I wish I had more work to do because I don't like just looking around on the internet or reading academic articles all the time.
Left work around 4:20, came home, listened and sang to music, made dinner, watched some TV online and chatted with a friend. Very low key. I'm "rediscovering" all my music at the moment (mostly my country music because I've been all acapella/men's groups/classical lately) and can't get enough of music in general.
Okay, so I need to share this. At work my keyboard is Danish; my laptop keyboard is, obviously, English. So all day, as I type, I have to remember where the different symbols are. For example, this symbol - is in the same line as the letters n and m on the Danish keyboard. And the ? is up on the same row as the numbers. So sometimes when I start to blog and go to do various symbols I forget and start to type like on the Danish keyboard. It's a little weird. Fun, but weird.
I'm feeling pretty good today; allergies are acting up but at the moment that's my biggest physical "complaint." Continue to pray for the health of my coworkers, courage on my part, patience as well, and wisdom in everything.
Have a pleasant day/afternoon/night,
Bekah
Considering I didn't get up before 9 the past two days and was up late the past three nights I was very surprised how easy it was to get up at 6 this morning. I took the bike out and did my little ten minute ride and then got ready for the day. I don't exactly look like a rockstar at 6 in the morning so I get a few funny looks but, honestly, it's so early, why does it matter? Anywho, was off to work and there around 8:40. My supervisor wasn't in yet but that was totally okay because I know our plan for the next couple of days and can get started on my own. Let me tell you, that feels good.
I did some reading on our catalysts and such for the morning as well as prepping another reaction. Arkady came to get me for lunch and we exchanged the "What did you do this weekend?" stories. I usually go first (because I'm usually asked first) and today was no different. I had told them all on Friday I'd probably go shopping, even though it's expensive, so I told Arkady I did, indeed, do shopping. He asked what I bought and I laughed and said "A dress!" He happened to be walking through a door in front of me and turned around, looked at my outfit and went "Well, where is it?" We both laughed at that and my response "Because that isn't exactly lab appropriate." :-) He told me about the famous Russian movie he had watched and the books he was reading by Arthur C. Clarke. By that point we got our food and joined Kresten and Matt (the fast talker I'd been "warned" about on Friday). We all exchanged weekend stories and Kresten had the most intersting because he and his family (he has two small children) went to the Viking Museum in Roskilde and then a drive in movie theater, where they saw Harry Potter. Esben was late in joining us because there'd been a surprise leak in his reactor so by the time he arrived Arkady and I were done and headed back. We talked more about the books he was reading and joked about how some things, depending on when they were written, didn't always make it to one or the other of our languages (Cold War).
I spent the afternoon doing more reading and observing reactions and then reading about Arthur C Clarke and another author, whose name escapes me at the moment. I also looked up recipes because I want to bake. Good use of my time, I know. Don't worry, I'm doing all the work I'm given and loving every minute of it. I wish I had more work to do because I don't like just looking around on the internet or reading academic articles all the time.
Left work around 4:20, came home, listened and sang to music, made dinner, watched some TV online and chatted with a friend. Very low key. I'm "rediscovering" all my music at the moment (mostly my country music because I've been all acapella/men's groups/classical lately) and can't get enough of music in general.
Okay, so I need to share this. At work my keyboard is Danish; my laptop keyboard is, obviously, English. So all day, as I type, I have to remember where the different symbols are. For example, this symbol - is in the same line as the letters n and m on the Danish keyboard. And the ? is up on the same row as the numbers. So sometimes when I start to blog and go to do various symbols I forget and start to type like on the Danish keyboard. It's a little weird. Fun, but weird.
I'm feeling pretty good today; allergies are acting up but at the moment that's my biggest physical "complaint." Continue to pray for the health of my coworkers, courage on my part, patience as well, and wisdom in everything.
Have a pleasant day/afternoon/night,
Bekah
Sunday, July 19, 2009
"She likes Pina Coladas*, gettin' caught in the rain"
*Not so sure about the drink, a rum and coke would be good.
Yes, I definitely got caught in the rain today! But that's a bit of a ways through the day so let me start at the beginning.
I had intended to get up around 9 and did just that. Sleeping for such long periods is wonderful. I checked e-mail and ate some breakfast and eventually showered and got ready for church. This is kind of minute but I wore my dark jeans, a black tank top and grey sweater which, in my opinion, is very European because it's all dark. Plus I had black and turquoise earrings too. Anyway, I wasn't feeling too confident but walked down to the bus and was on my way to church. I don't know that many people and hadn't been there in two weeks so I picked a chair and sat down. I smiled and read the bulletin and was then "attacked" by Oliver. He's an elderly man who knows just about everyone. He didn't quite remember me until we talked about WI and how my name, Rebekah, is an Old Testament name. He knows most of the Chinese members of the congregation and they joked with him about sitting next to such a young and pretty girl. And the Chinese girl we were talking to told me I had very pretty blue eyes. That comment was apparently just what I needed to hear because my entire mood was uplifted. She and some of the other Chinese women ended up sitting by me during service too so I wasn't alone. But anyway, before service I met Cindy and Matt from FL and GA respectively. They got married a year ago and he's doing his Masters at DTU. Very fun to chat with them and learn about their lives a bit. They are the ones who used the phrase "attacked" when talking about my conversation with Oliver. :-)
After church I talked with Raymundos a bit. He's going on holiday for the next two weeks but will probably just stay in Copenhagen and not travel anywhere. We got to catch up a bit, which was nice, but then I was off at 2:35 because I was meeting Patrick, Prof. Datya's grad student, at 3. Oh man, THAT was not fun. The trip to meet him that is. I got on a metro and thought I only had to go one stop BUT instead of getting off at Kongens Nytorv I was dropped off at the Central Station. I knew I "just" had to walk up the Walking Street and I'd be at Kongens Nytorv. However, it took me a half hour to powerwalk my way up the entire Walking Street. It isn't called the longest Pedestrian Street in the world for nothing. Thankfully Patrick was also running late. We grabbed a snack at Baresso and ended up chatting for like an hour or so before heading off to see the Little Mermaid. It was good to have a chat with another ChemE and to compare stories and experiences from here in Denmark. The Little Mermaid was cool; I doubt I'll trek out to see her again but it's a pretty statue. We walked around quite a bit looking for a cafe and eventually ate at Cafe Oscar. I had a roasted chicken in acacia honey and chili sauce with spinach and sprouts on a crepe. It was a cafe specialty and absolutely delicious!
We then got caught in the rain. Well, actually, we walked into the rain. It was pretty much pouring, probably one of the "cloud bursts" because about ten minutes later the rain was over. My jeans, shoes and socks are all currently drying. I caught a bus and then walked the ten minutes home with a huge smile on my face. I felt good about the day, the sun was shining and making beautiful scenes with the blue sky and clouds, and my heart felt very light.
Once home I got ready for bed and then called my great aunt. Can't tell you how wonderful it was to chat with her, catching up on her life and telling her some of my experiences here. But not only did I get to talk with her but my aunt and cousin happened to be there so I got to chat with them too! The talking doesn't stop there, however. My great aunt lives with my grandparents so, obviously, I had the chance to chat with them too. I hit the jackpot! They all wanted to hear about Sweden and what other adventures I've been on and I got to hear updates on all of their lives. The Internet connection here is so good that for most of them it was as if I was just in the next room or even right next to them chatting. :-) I love my family and the love and encouragement and praise I got from them has really lifted my spirits and made me even more grateful for the opportunities and experiences I am having here.
After talking with my extended family I got to chat with my mom a bit and will now head off to bed because, well, 6 AM comes early, especially when you have been sleeping till 9 or 11. :-)
Prayer requests: health and courage and patience. Also pray for wisdom concerning my Munich planning. I need to book the flight and hostel soon so hopefully I make good decisions. Pray for my friends in summer lab: their sanity is slowly deteriorating but the end is so close! And pray for me emotionally. You already know that I'm struggling with my love of home and being abroad but it's much deeper than that, it just being two places. So many people, so many opportunities: it's all incredible and also draining.
That is it for now.
Have a wonderful day/afternoon/evening,
Bekah
Yes, I definitely got caught in the rain today! But that's a bit of a ways through the day so let me start at the beginning.
I had intended to get up around 9 and did just that. Sleeping for such long periods is wonderful. I checked e-mail and ate some breakfast and eventually showered and got ready for church. This is kind of minute but I wore my dark jeans, a black tank top and grey sweater which, in my opinion, is very European because it's all dark. Plus I had black and turquoise earrings too. Anyway, I wasn't feeling too confident but walked down to the bus and was on my way to church. I don't know that many people and hadn't been there in two weeks so I picked a chair and sat down. I smiled and read the bulletin and was then "attacked" by Oliver. He's an elderly man who knows just about everyone. He didn't quite remember me until we talked about WI and how my name, Rebekah, is an Old Testament name. He knows most of the Chinese members of the congregation and they joked with him about sitting next to such a young and pretty girl. And the Chinese girl we were talking to told me I had very pretty blue eyes. That comment was apparently just what I needed to hear because my entire mood was uplifted. She and some of the other Chinese women ended up sitting by me during service too so I wasn't alone. But anyway, before service I met Cindy and Matt from FL and GA respectively. They got married a year ago and he's doing his Masters at DTU. Very fun to chat with them and learn about their lives a bit. They are the ones who used the phrase "attacked" when talking about my conversation with Oliver. :-)
After church I talked with Raymundos a bit. He's going on holiday for the next two weeks but will probably just stay in Copenhagen and not travel anywhere. We got to catch up a bit, which was nice, but then I was off at 2:35 because I was meeting Patrick, Prof. Datya's grad student, at 3. Oh man, THAT was not fun. The trip to meet him that is. I got on a metro and thought I only had to go one stop BUT instead of getting off at Kongens Nytorv I was dropped off at the Central Station. I knew I "just" had to walk up the Walking Street and I'd be at Kongens Nytorv. However, it took me a half hour to powerwalk my way up the entire Walking Street. It isn't called the longest Pedestrian Street in the world for nothing. Thankfully Patrick was also running late. We grabbed a snack at Baresso and ended up chatting for like an hour or so before heading off to see the Little Mermaid. It was good to have a chat with another ChemE and to compare stories and experiences from here in Denmark. The Little Mermaid was cool; I doubt I'll trek out to see her again but it's a pretty statue. We walked around quite a bit looking for a cafe and eventually ate at Cafe Oscar. I had a roasted chicken in acacia honey and chili sauce with spinach and sprouts on a crepe. It was a cafe specialty and absolutely delicious!
We then got caught in the rain. Well, actually, we walked into the rain. It was pretty much pouring, probably one of the "cloud bursts" because about ten minutes later the rain was over. My jeans, shoes and socks are all currently drying. I caught a bus and then walked the ten minutes home with a huge smile on my face. I felt good about the day, the sun was shining and making beautiful scenes with the blue sky and clouds, and my heart felt very light.
Once home I got ready for bed and then called my great aunt. Can't tell you how wonderful it was to chat with her, catching up on her life and telling her some of my experiences here. But not only did I get to talk with her but my aunt and cousin happened to be there so I got to chat with them too! The talking doesn't stop there, however. My great aunt lives with my grandparents so, obviously, I had the chance to chat with them too. I hit the jackpot! They all wanted to hear about Sweden and what other adventures I've been on and I got to hear updates on all of their lives. The Internet connection here is so good that for most of them it was as if I was just in the next room or even right next to them chatting. :-) I love my family and the love and encouragement and praise I got from them has really lifted my spirits and made me even more grateful for the opportunities and experiences I am having here.
After talking with my extended family I got to chat with my mom a bit and will now head off to bed because, well, 6 AM comes early, especially when you have been sleeping till 9 or 11. :-)
Prayer requests: health and courage and patience. Also pray for wisdom concerning my Munich planning. I need to book the flight and hostel soon so hopefully I make good decisions. Pray for my friends in summer lab: their sanity is slowly deteriorating but the end is so close! And pray for me emotionally. You already know that I'm struggling with my love of home and being abroad but it's much deeper than that, it just being two places. So many people, so many opportunities: it's all incredible and also draining.
That is it for now.
Have a wonderful day/afternoon/evening,
Bekah
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Burned Bacon but Beautiful Blue
No, the bacon was not blue. It definitely was burned, though. I went to bed rather late last night so I slept till a bit after eleven. I can't begin to tell you have wonderful that was. I then proceeded to make the bacon I'd bought. Now, I have never actually made bacon before; I've always had the "instant" version you put in the microwave. Let's just say the bacon turned out a bit black and super crunchy. If you ignored the bit of char you got with it, the taste wasn't...terrible. Anyway, better to burn it now, when I'm the only one who eats it, then someday in the future when I have to feed someone else.
I lazed about for another hour or so then decided I just couldn't sit around in my pjs all day. So I got dressed and ready and Yujie and I went shopping. Yes, shopping. We went to the Pedestrian Street near Kongens Nytorv. We didn't get there till 3 and most things close at 5 on the weekends but two hours was plenty long. The first store we went in I tried on a dress, a style that I normally wouldn't touch, and basically fell in love with it. The dress itself is blue, not a terribly bright blue or very dark but I love it, and it is also a bit short. But that's okay. Why? Because it goes very well with leggings, which I happened to buy last weekend in Stockholm. :-) For a bit more I could get a necklace as well. The jewelry paired with the dress didn't really suit my fancy so I exchanged for something else, which I doubt I'll ever wear with the dress, but happens to match a pair of black and turquoise earrings I already own. Long sentence: sorry about that. Anyway, with my purchase in hand we headed to some other stores. Eventually we wound up in a huge H&M (there's quite a few of them here, actually) and I bought a belt to go with the dress. I couldn't wait to get home to put my leggings on and check out the whole outfit! I know some of my GH roomies will be excited by my purchases today. :-)
We headed home around 5 because I was tired. Lame, I know, but I'd tried on quite a few items and that wears you out. I did buy more postcards and will start writing them tomorrow and hopefully figure out how to mail them by Wed. It's hard to pick out postcards for people, fyi.
Anywho, I bought ice cream on our way home and then we've just chilled. I got to talk to my family for over two hours total and that was wonderful! They're busy and living their own lives, of course, so it was great to hear more "little" details about day to day and to share some of my own. Again, I really think that's what makes me love people so much: the little things that just light up life for them. :-)
And now I believe I will head to bed. Ridiculous, I know; I've only been up for twelve hours. The day was not wasted, though, and I really enjoyed being out and about and shopping. I even said "fem" instead of "five" in the H&M dressing room. The guy giving me my number whammed his hand on the table by accident and then said something along the lines of "It's all good" in Danish when I made a concerned face and noise. Now I just have to actually LEARN Danish. :-)
My prayer requests are the same as before: health, courage, patience. I would add wisdom and contentment, especially because I'm still struggling with how to handle/manage my love for home and my growing love for being overseas. And when I say health I'm also talking about my coworkers, and their families for that matter.
That is all for tonight. Have a fantastic day/night!
Bekah
I lazed about for another hour or so then decided I just couldn't sit around in my pjs all day. So I got dressed and ready and Yujie and I went shopping. Yes, shopping. We went to the Pedestrian Street near Kongens Nytorv. We didn't get there till 3 and most things close at 5 on the weekends but two hours was plenty long. The first store we went in I tried on a dress, a style that I normally wouldn't touch, and basically fell in love with it. The dress itself is blue, not a terribly bright blue or very dark but I love it, and it is also a bit short. But that's okay. Why? Because it goes very well with leggings, which I happened to buy last weekend in Stockholm. :-) For a bit more I could get a necklace as well. The jewelry paired with the dress didn't really suit my fancy so I exchanged for something else, which I doubt I'll ever wear with the dress, but happens to match a pair of black and turquoise earrings I already own. Long sentence: sorry about that. Anyway, with my purchase in hand we headed to some other stores. Eventually we wound up in a huge H&M (there's quite a few of them here, actually) and I bought a belt to go with the dress. I couldn't wait to get home to put my leggings on and check out the whole outfit! I know some of my GH roomies will be excited by my purchases today. :-)
We headed home around 5 because I was tired. Lame, I know, but I'd tried on quite a few items and that wears you out. I did buy more postcards and will start writing them tomorrow and hopefully figure out how to mail them by Wed. It's hard to pick out postcards for people, fyi.
Anywho, I bought ice cream on our way home and then we've just chilled. I got to talk to my family for over two hours total and that was wonderful! They're busy and living their own lives, of course, so it was great to hear more "little" details about day to day and to share some of my own. Again, I really think that's what makes me love people so much: the little things that just light up life for them. :-)
And now I believe I will head to bed. Ridiculous, I know; I've only been up for twelve hours. The day was not wasted, though, and I really enjoyed being out and about and shopping. I even said "fem" instead of "five" in the H&M dressing room. The guy giving me my number whammed his hand on the table by accident and then said something along the lines of "It's all good" in Danish when I made a concerned face and noise. Now I just have to actually LEARN Danish. :-)
My prayer requests are the same as before: health, courage, patience. I would add wisdom and contentment, especially because I'm still struggling with how to handle/manage my love for home and my growing love for being overseas. And when I say health I'm also talking about my coworkers, and their families for that matter.
That is all for tonight. Have a fantastic day/night!
Bekah
Friday, July 17, 2009
Two Worlds
How is it that I can be so in love with two places? Maybe “in love” is the wrong way to phrase how I feel. This morning and all through the day I couldn’t believe a month has passed here. A full month of living in Denmark and I finally feel like I belong a bit more. Today, at lunch with Kresten, Esben and Arkady, we were talking about weekend plans and I brought up the canal tour and then we got to talking about theatre stuff and they all suggested the opera, and how they would all like to go as well. We won’t be going to the opera, not while I’m here, because they are on summer holiday but still, it felt like I was a part of a group. And on the train today I almost started crying (again) at the thought of leaving Copenhagen. Yet not moments before I started writing this, as I was washing dishes from dinner, I was overcome with a strong desire for home. How can this be? How can I see myself living and working abroad, experiencing so much more of the world, away from my family for long periods of time and, reminded of the latter, all of a sudden have a complete turnaround? My only thought at the moment is that I’m not ready. I’m not quite ready for the distance, for the growing up and having a real job. How grateful I am to have one more year at Madison, which I miss just as much as home. Senior year hasn’t even started yet and already I’m afraid of life after graduation (technically life after Summer Lab). Another thought on how I can explain this divided love is the people. Everywhere I have been I can think of the people I have met there. People who I take with me wherever I go. Now everyone who knows me for at least a month (I say that because my coworkers just found out about my admiration today) knows how I adore my brother, and brag about him at every possible turn. There are other people too, though, that I carry to the other places I go. My intern friends last year heard about two of my best friends who were married/engaged. My ChemE family heard about my intern friends and my housemates. My best friends heard about my ChemE family and each other, because, oddly enough, they’ve never really met. Maybe that is what is so hard about falling in love with a new place, becoming comfortable in a new place: I remember everyone I am leaving.
Wow, very intense. I would apologize but this actually happens a lot. The whole serious thinking, that is. In fact I have a question to pose to you:
Consider the trees along a roadside. They are dressed fully in green; every leaf is popping and the scene is breathtaking and refreshing. But how many of those leaves did you actually see?
I’m not entirely sure when this question popped into my mind but it made me stop and think. And I would draw an analogy to life from this question but I then realized that there are so many analogies that can be drawn from almost any experience or question that there is no need for me to write another one. But enough deep thinking, let me tell you about my day.
This morning 6 AM came much sooner than I would have liked. Nevertheless, I got up, dressed and out I went. I ventured out onto Emdrupvej, a more “main” road, instead of simply going up and down the path I take to the grocery store. Going down the hill, without the speed bumps, was fantastic! It was chill and every so refreshing. I did take my grocery store path back to the house, though. My thighs will thank me some day, I’m sure of it. :-) Got ready in a jiffy and left the house at 7:30. I was at work and in the lab by 8:30 and my reaction going before 8:40. I had to do something to it after three hours and knew that if it wasn’t started by 8:45 I would be walking to lunch by myself again, hence the reason I got to work so “early.” The rest of the morning was rather uneventful. I did some research on one of the compounds; took observations; and checked out various flights and hostels. Arkady came to get me for lunch and found me trying to fix my hair clip. Yeah, I broke it. Not entirely sure how I did it but I was trying to fix it because, hey, I’m an engineer, I can fix things, right? :-P
Lunch was fun, but when is it not? Klas, I learned, is in Sweden. So he missed our continued discussion on the differences between fruits and vegetables, which both Kresten and Arkady researched on Wikipedia last night. Haha, I love these guys! So, once our definitions were set, I asked them what their favorite fruit happened to be. All three of them answered watermelon. In my opinion? Kiwi, hands down. Followed by pomegranates and tomatoes…and blackberries. So we had a discussion about how could I say kiwi was better than watermelon. Oh, Kresten and I also discussed the phrase “How are you?” and what it means in the States. It was actually a cool conversation because he gave the “outsider” point of view and I got to explain that he was correct and yet I was being sincere. There’s not so much a Danish counterpart to that phrase, especially when you’re just passing someone on the street and say “Hey, how are you?” and keep walking; the Danes just smile and nod, maybe say “Hej” and that’s it. Really, it was an interesting conversation.
I already said that we talked about the canal tour and the opera, so I’m excited about that. Kresten asked if I had any siblings and so I told him I had one younger brother. He asked how much younger and I said 5 years, followed by him asking “And that makes him…how old?” I laughed because I could definitely see why he had asked it that way. And, sure enough, immediately following that question he smiled and said he’d been told you weren’t supposed to ask any woman how old she was. I smiled and declared both ages and we all laughed a bit. I did find out that Arkady has a younger brother too, about my age, and that he just graduated from the University in Moscow. I also got a lesson in how education there works age wise. Arkady went to school from 6-16 and entered the University at 16 or 17, graduated at 21 and had his PhD by 24. They do things a bit faster here in Europe apparently. I told him I felt behind and he smiled and said “Good. That makes me feel good for the day.” :-)
The afternoon was all reactions and analysis. When Esben and I discussed the results we also talked about the Opera and he brought up going to see the other tower in the city, one that’s super spirally. He prefaced the adventure with “You aren’t afraid of heights, I hope.” Apparently there’s little room to stand at the top…and you’re a bit of a ways above ground. So we’ll see. We decided that because it is supposed to rain this weekend that the canal tour would be a spontaneous decision one day, either during the week or on the weekend, most certainly before I leave. Too fun.
I got home a bit after 5 and really did nothing super fantastic. Actually, that’s a lie. I got to chat with a friend from home for the first time in over a month. I seriously love hearing about people’s lives and the experiences they are having. Especially the little things, the things that make their life their own and make it special for them. Anyway, Yujie came home and had gone shopping at the Chinese grocery store. She went crazy shopping! Haha, she was so excited she was dancing around the bags she’d brought. And so she experimented for dinner and, let me tell you, it was delicious! I’m so spoiled with Chinese food. :-)
Now I’m just chilling. I have a Skype date later with one of my very best friends and then will probably just go to bed. I’m having trouble reminding myself that I don’t have to work tomorrow. I kind of wish I did, just because I like it so much. But if the rain isn’t bad then I’m going shopping on the walking street. If anything interesting happens the rest of the night I’ll just have to write about it tomorrow.
I’m sorry this is so long. I wrote it out as a Word document first because I was having all those serious thoughts and needed to write them down and it just got super long. There are some of my 5000 words for the day, right? Haha.
Please continue to pray for the health of my coworkers and myself, though I am doing much better today. Pray for contentment on my part, especially that I would enjoy the month I have left here and would take all the experiences and opportunities I can. Continue to pray for courage and patience. Thank you so much for praying, I really do appreciate it.
That’s all for tonight.
Have a fantastic day/night and I’ll write tomorrow,
Bekah
Wow, very intense. I would apologize but this actually happens a lot. The whole serious thinking, that is. In fact I have a question to pose to you:
Consider the trees along a roadside. They are dressed fully in green; every leaf is popping and the scene is breathtaking and refreshing. But how many of those leaves did you actually see?
I’m not entirely sure when this question popped into my mind but it made me stop and think. And I would draw an analogy to life from this question but I then realized that there are so many analogies that can be drawn from almost any experience or question that there is no need for me to write another one. But enough deep thinking, let me tell you about my day.
This morning 6 AM came much sooner than I would have liked. Nevertheless, I got up, dressed and out I went. I ventured out onto Emdrupvej, a more “main” road, instead of simply going up and down the path I take to the grocery store. Going down the hill, without the speed bumps, was fantastic! It was chill and every so refreshing. I did take my grocery store path back to the house, though. My thighs will thank me some day, I’m sure of it. :-) Got ready in a jiffy and left the house at 7:30. I was at work and in the lab by 8:30 and my reaction going before 8:40. I had to do something to it after three hours and knew that if it wasn’t started by 8:45 I would be walking to lunch by myself again, hence the reason I got to work so “early.” The rest of the morning was rather uneventful. I did some research on one of the compounds; took observations; and checked out various flights and hostels. Arkady came to get me for lunch and found me trying to fix my hair clip. Yeah, I broke it. Not entirely sure how I did it but I was trying to fix it because, hey, I’m an engineer, I can fix things, right? :-P
Lunch was fun, but when is it not? Klas, I learned, is in Sweden. So he missed our continued discussion on the differences between fruits and vegetables, which both Kresten and Arkady researched on Wikipedia last night. Haha, I love these guys! So, once our definitions were set, I asked them what their favorite fruit happened to be. All three of them answered watermelon. In my opinion? Kiwi, hands down. Followed by pomegranates and tomatoes…and blackberries. So we had a discussion about how could I say kiwi was better than watermelon. Oh, Kresten and I also discussed the phrase “How are you?” and what it means in the States. It was actually a cool conversation because he gave the “outsider” point of view and I got to explain that he was correct and yet I was being sincere. There’s not so much a Danish counterpart to that phrase, especially when you’re just passing someone on the street and say “Hey, how are you?” and keep walking; the Danes just smile and nod, maybe say “Hej” and that’s it. Really, it was an interesting conversation.
I already said that we talked about the canal tour and the opera, so I’m excited about that. Kresten asked if I had any siblings and so I told him I had one younger brother. He asked how much younger and I said 5 years, followed by him asking “And that makes him…how old?” I laughed because I could definitely see why he had asked it that way. And, sure enough, immediately following that question he smiled and said he’d been told you weren’t supposed to ask any woman how old she was. I smiled and declared both ages and we all laughed a bit. I did find out that Arkady has a younger brother too, about my age, and that he just graduated from the University in Moscow. I also got a lesson in how education there works age wise. Arkady went to school from 6-16 and entered the University at 16 or 17, graduated at 21 and had his PhD by 24. They do things a bit faster here in Europe apparently. I told him I felt behind and he smiled and said “Good. That makes me feel good for the day.” :-)
The afternoon was all reactions and analysis. When Esben and I discussed the results we also talked about the Opera and he brought up going to see the other tower in the city, one that’s super spirally. He prefaced the adventure with “You aren’t afraid of heights, I hope.” Apparently there’s little room to stand at the top…and you’re a bit of a ways above ground. So we’ll see. We decided that because it is supposed to rain this weekend that the canal tour would be a spontaneous decision one day, either during the week or on the weekend, most certainly before I leave. Too fun.
I got home a bit after 5 and really did nothing super fantastic. Actually, that’s a lie. I got to chat with a friend from home for the first time in over a month. I seriously love hearing about people’s lives and the experiences they are having. Especially the little things, the things that make their life their own and make it special for them. Anyway, Yujie came home and had gone shopping at the Chinese grocery store. She went crazy shopping! Haha, she was so excited she was dancing around the bags she’d brought. And so she experimented for dinner and, let me tell you, it was delicious! I’m so spoiled with Chinese food. :-)
Now I’m just chilling. I have a Skype date later with one of my very best friends and then will probably just go to bed. I’m having trouble reminding myself that I don’t have to work tomorrow. I kind of wish I did, just because I like it so much. But if the rain isn’t bad then I’m going shopping on the walking street. If anything interesting happens the rest of the night I’ll just have to write about it tomorrow.
I’m sorry this is so long. I wrote it out as a Word document first because I was having all those serious thoughts and needed to write them down and it just got super long. There are some of my 5000 words for the day, right? Haha.
Please continue to pray for the health of my coworkers and myself, though I am doing much better today. Pray for contentment on my part, especially that I would enjoy the month I have left here and would take all the experiences and opportunities I can. Continue to pray for courage and patience. Thank you so much for praying, I really do appreciate it.
That’s all for tonight.
Have a fantastic day/night and I’ll write tomorrow,
Bekah
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Not much to...oh look a butterfly
I'm just going to dive into today because I have absolutely no good way to start. :-) I got up a little after 6, threw on some clothes and went for a short bike ride. It was wonderful! NO ONE was awake. It was also much cooler this morning, too, which kind of misguided me when I got ready for work. I was off shortly before 8 and at work by 8:45ish. I had quite a bit to do today with two short reactions meaning constant observations and a good amount of analysis. In fact, I was in the middle of a titration when it was time to go for lunch. So I finished and walked over by myself. Longest walk ever. I knew there would be people I knew when I walked in but it was still a little stressful. Lame, I know, but put yourself in my shoes.
Anyway, lunch was pretty good. Limited conversation on carrots (I think because Klas was gone) and Kresten asked where I lived, just to get an idea apparently. I did not have the courage to bring up the canal tour; I don't know why but I didn't. We headed back and I kept on with the observations and analysis. Eventually had a chat with Esben and asked him if he would want to go on the tour with me. I felt more comfortable asking him because we'd talked about it before. I still don't have a phone, though, which complicates things a little since I have no idea when I'd want to go and I don't see them outside of work. So if you'd pray for courage about that I'd appreciate it.
I left work around 445 and got home sometime before 6 and took another bike ride down to the grocery store. I spent a bit of money because I bought an overabundance of meat. I really need more variety so I bought a variety. Made dinner and just chilled. I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of little stories but I can't think right now. I also need to get to bed. Tomorrow will be a big work day (lots needs to be done) and I want to bike in the morning again.
I do have some prayer requests. I found out that shortly after getting back to the States I will be getting my wisdom teeth pulled. So pray that everything up to that point would go well because I think I'm already having some discomfort from one of the teeth. Also, please keep praying for the health of my coworkers: they aren't all well yet. Pray for courage, patience and a desire to keep learning and trying new things (that desire hasn't slacked at all but it's still good to pray for it!). Oh, I'm sure there is so much more I have to tell but I really can't think of it right now, I think I'm distracted with going to sleep.
Have a great night/day!
Bekah
Anyway, lunch was pretty good. Limited conversation on carrots (I think because Klas was gone) and Kresten asked where I lived, just to get an idea apparently. I did not have the courage to bring up the canal tour; I don't know why but I didn't. We headed back and I kept on with the observations and analysis. Eventually had a chat with Esben and asked him if he would want to go on the tour with me. I felt more comfortable asking him because we'd talked about it before. I still don't have a phone, though, which complicates things a little since I have no idea when I'd want to go and I don't see them outside of work. So if you'd pray for courage about that I'd appreciate it.
I left work around 445 and got home sometime before 6 and took another bike ride down to the grocery store. I spent a bit of money because I bought an overabundance of meat. I really need more variety so I bought a variety. Made dinner and just chilled. I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of little stories but I can't think right now. I also need to get to bed. Tomorrow will be a big work day (lots needs to be done) and I want to bike in the morning again.
I do have some prayer requests. I found out that shortly after getting back to the States I will be getting my wisdom teeth pulled. So pray that everything up to that point would go well because I think I'm already having some discomfort from one of the teeth. Also, please keep praying for the health of my coworkers: they aren't all well yet. Pray for courage, patience and a desire to keep learning and trying new things (that desire hasn't slacked at all but it's still good to pray for it!). Oh, I'm sure there is so much more I have to tell but I really can't think of it right now, I think I'm distracted with going to sleep.
Have a great night/day!
Bekah
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Let's talk carrots
Did you know that in two days I will have been here a full month? Isn't that crazy? What could be more crazy is that I could see myself living here at some point in my life, probably sooner rather than later.
Anywho, it's Wednesday but that didn't really mean anything special. I did, however, get to work before 8:45. I was the only person on the bus at one point and there was like one other person in the train car with me to Jaegersborg. The regional train was full but that was kind of expected. I did a lot of reading this morning. An hour of reading about the Badger's participation in the World University Games and then reading on catalysis, isomerization, and other chemistry words that I know but cannot explain well. About ten Esben came and asked if I'd like to see him fractionate some catalyst. I jumped all over that opportunity. It is, however, a rather boring and tedious process, especially because it is manual since their automatic machine stopped working. But it was interesting to learn about and I got to do some of it and we had a fun chat about common Danish and American desserts. Desserts you ask? Well, I like to bake things for people as a way to thank them and it hit me yesterday that I could bake for the people I eat lunch with and work with but I don't just want to make chocolate chip cookies. My initial thought is lemon bars and I think that is what I will stick with unless I can't find lemons anywhere. It will be quite interesting buying everything I need and then actually making them but it will be fun and they will (hopefully) be delicious. Plus it's not a dessert that Esben mentioned. :-)
We had lunch with Arkady, Kresten and Klas; apparently Arkady had told Esben a time so that we would not be traitors two days in a row. :-P Our conversation was so incredibly dead that after a few moments of silent eating Klas says to Esben: "So how is your carrot?" This then sparked a ridiculous discussion of the carrot and how it compared to all the other carrots Esben had eaten in his life, with various input from Kresten and Arkady and Klas. Small talk to the extreme is what that was. It was very funny, though, and I laughed quite a bit.
The afternoon passed more quickly as my reaction finished up and I had some analysis to do. I still had about an hour of time and so I did more random reading and checked on Munich flights and hostels. I can't wait too much longer before booking things so that I don't pay an arm and a leg for it all.
I left about 4:20 and got home and was chatting and making dinner by 5:20. Dinner. I'm very proud of dinner. I threw together some random spices my host has and added some oil and proceeded to put pork tips in it. I made some pasta and cut up some bells peppers and cooked the peppers and meat together. The spices worked out well, though one was over powering the others and I don't know which one it was. :-) I've just chilled out otherwise. I did NOT go on a bike ride in hopes that I will go to bed earlier and be able to get up at 6:15 instead of 6:30 and bike in the morning. I'm afraid biking after work gives me too much energy and that is part of why I don't go to bed till later. We'll see if it happens.
I did post pictures from Sweden on Facebook. I didn't want to make a new album so only about half the pictures I took are posted. They're the more interesting ones, though.
Please continue to pray for my health and for all the people I am meeting and have yet to meet. Pray also for wisdom concerning Munich. I'm a bit afraid to go alone but there are reasons I won't be trying too hard to find someone to go with me and I know it will be a great experience. Also pray for my coworkers: Arkady, Klas, Esben and Melitza all seem to be under the weather, with Melitza feeling she's got some flu thing and Esben something similar.
Have a wonderful day/night and I will write you tomorrow. :-)
Bekah
Anywho, it's Wednesday but that didn't really mean anything special. I did, however, get to work before 8:45. I was the only person on the bus at one point and there was like one other person in the train car with me to Jaegersborg. The regional train was full but that was kind of expected. I did a lot of reading this morning. An hour of reading about the Badger's participation in the World University Games and then reading on catalysis, isomerization, and other chemistry words that I know but cannot explain well. About ten Esben came and asked if I'd like to see him fractionate some catalyst. I jumped all over that opportunity. It is, however, a rather boring and tedious process, especially because it is manual since their automatic machine stopped working. But it was interesting to learn about and I got to do some of it and we had a fun chat about common Danish and American desserts. Desserts you ask? Well, I like to bake things for people as a way to thank them and it hit me yesterday that I could bake for the people I eat lunch with and work with but I don't just want to make chocolate chip cookies. My initial thought is lemon bars and I think that is what I will stick with unless I can't find lemons anywhere. It will be quite interesting buying everything I need and then actually making them but it will be fun and they will (hopefully) be delicious. Plus it's not a dessert that Esben mentioned. :-)
We had lunch with Arkady, Kresten and Klas; apparently Arkady had told Esben a time so that we would not be traitors two days in a row. :-P Our conversation was so incredibly dead that after a few moments of silent eating Klas says to Esben: "So how is your carrot?" This then sparked a ridiculous discussion of the carrot and how it compared to all the other carrots Esben had eaten in his life, with various input from Kresten and Arkady and Klas. Small talk to the extreme is what that was. It was very funny, though, and I laughed quite a bit.
The afternoon passed more quickly as my reaction finished up and I had some analysis to do. I still had about an hour of time and so I did more random reading and checked on Munich flights and hostels. I can't wait too much longer before booking things so that I don't pay an arm and a leg for it all.
I left about 4:20 and got home and was chatting and making dinner by 5:20. Dinner. I'm very proud of dinner. I threw together some random spices my host has and added some oil and proceeded to put pork tips in it. I made some pasta and cut up some bells peppers and cooked the peppers and meat together. The spices worked out well, though one was over powering the others and I don't know which one it was. :-) I've just chilled out otherwise. I did NOT go on a bike ride in hopes that I will go to bed earlier and be able to get up at 6:15 instead of 6:30 and bike in the morning. I'm afraid biking after work gives me too much energy and that is part of why I don't go to bed till later. We'll see if it happens.
I did post pictures from Sweden on Facebook. I didn't want to make a new album so only about half the pictures I took are posted. They're the more interesting ones, though.
Please continue to pray for my health and for all the people I am meeting and have yet to meet. Pray also for wisdom concerning Munich. I'm a bit afraid to go alone but there are reasons I won't be trying too hard to find someone to go with me and I know it will be a great experience. Also pray for my coworkers: Arkady, Klas, Esben and Melitza all seem to be under the weather, with Melitza feeling she's got some flu thing and Esben something similar.
Have a wonderful day/night and I will write you tomorrow. :-)
Bekah
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
What on earth will I wear??? Haha!
So it's a bit late and I kind of forgot I hadn't written here yet so this will, hopefully, be short. Still tired but unable to go to bed before eleven because I have a tendency to mismanage my time. I had a bit of a setback this morning because I didn't know what to wear. Foolish, I know, but hey, it happens. Once that was solved I was out the door and on my way to work. I would've been there before 8:45 but something screwy happened with the trains. I was still there before 9 and working. My supervisor, after I gave him the low-down on what was going on with my rxns and results, asked if there was quite a bit of down time. I said that yes, there is but I've been working on PowerPoints, the little paper, and learning. Still, there's quite a bit of time between reactions and analysis.
I had lunch today with Esben, Peter, Anders and Simon. Simon is the manager of our group; Anders is the one who retaught me how to titrate; Peter I haven't talked to much yet; and Esben, well, you already know about him. I saw Klas and Arkady as they arrived for lunch and they jokingly called Esben and me traitors. :-) I didn't get to see them the rest of the day, which kind of stunk. It's like not seeing some of my Madison friends, who I see almost every day at school--I miss them. Anyway, the afternoon had a bit more work as reactions finished and I did like 4 titrations and prepped catalysts for further analysis. I do enjoy my work quite a bit so when I have something to do I at least have fun doing it. :-)
I left work about 4:20 and was in a daze on the way home because I was tired. I did realize one thing, though: clothes don't matter. Lame, I know. Almost as lame as me not knowing what to wear this morning. Hear me out. I was told by a wise friend before I got here that Europeans have a few staple items of clothing and they wear them all the time. It is true. I could probably wear the same outfit every Tuesday and no one would really take notice. They just don't care as much. Considering I have a list of every outfit I've worn to work I should probably follow their example and care just a little less. :-) I made it home and immediately went on a bike ride. It was short but incredibly enjoyable. Then chatted on Skype and ate dinner and watched some TV and put up some pictures. I have yet to put up pictures from this weekend in Stockholm because I was some 125 pictures behind on the other things I've done.
And now off to bed. Not exactly short but I'm sure I'm missing little stories I wanted to tell along the way. Please continue to pray for health, patience, and courage.
Have a terrific day or night,
Until tomorrow!
Bekah
I had lunch today with Esben, Peter, Anders and Simon. Simon is the manager of our group; Anders is the one who retaught me how to titrate; Peter I haven't talked to much yet; and Esben, well, you already know about him. I saw Klas and Arkady as they arrived for lunch and they jokingly called Esben and me traitors. :-) I didn't get to see them the rest of the day, which kind of stunk. It's like not seeing some of my Madison friends, who I see almost every day at school--I miss them. Anyway, the afternoon had a bit more work as reactions finished and I did like 4 titrations and prepped catalysts for further analysis. I do enjoy my work quite a bit so when I have something to do I at least have fun doing it. :-)
I left work about 4:20 and was in a daze on the way home because I was tired. I did realize one thing, though: clothes don't matter. Lame, I know. Almost as lame as me not knowing what to wear this morning. Hear me out. I was told by a wise friend before I got here that Europeans have a few staple items of clothing and they wear them all the time. It is true. I could probably wear the same outfit every Tuesday and no one would really take notice. They just don't care as much. Considering I have a list of every outfit I've worn to work I should probably follow their example and care just a little less. :-) I made it home and immediately went on a bike ride. It was short but incredibly enjoyable. Then chatted on Skype and ate dinner and watched some TV and put up some pictures. I have yet to put up pictures from this weekend in Stockholm because I was some 125 pictures behind on the other things I've done.
And now off to bed. Not exactly short but I'm sure I'm missing little stories I wanted to tell along the way. Please continue to pray for health, patience, and courage.
Have a terrific day or night,
Until tomorrow!
Bekah
Monday, July 13, 2009
Long Post for a Short Swedish Stop
Oh it is good to be back in Copenhagen! Haha, that makes it sound like I didn't have an enjoyable weekend but I most certainly did. As I said in my last post, this WILL be long. :-)
Friday was a good day at work. My reactions finished up and I had one for the weekend set up and running well before lunch. Lunch itself was good, as always. My supervisor had work to do at DTU so I was by myself for the afternoon. No biggie since I was leaving at 3:30 anyway. I caught my first train and the second with no problem whatsoever. Oh, I forgot to mention that I only packed my backpack--kind of looked like an overstuffed turtle. :-) Anyway, I took a slightly longer way to the airport because I knew how to get there if I switched trains at Hellerup (where I get on every morning) and not at Norreport (where I go to get to church). I got to the airport two hours before my flight and had to walk a bit to a different terminal. No biggie. Then I checked in...at a kiosk. That was a little weird, especially because there was no gate given on my boarding pass. I checked with a guy whose shirt read "Information. Ask Me." or something like that and he said it was for added security and that I would find out my gate after security. Best part about security: I didn't have to take my shoes off! It was much more lax than in the States, I felt, but that could be because I a) didn't have a laptop, b) didn't wear a bunch of metal and c) am used to the whole belt-off-liquids-in-a-different-container thing. Got through security and found myself in a huge Tax-free store. And when I went to find out my gate it wasn't assigned yet. Awesome. I wondered around looking at huge bottles of Baileys, Captain and multiple other things (chocolate and purses for example) until my gate was assigned. Then, once I got there, I found out I had to wait to go into the little waiting area. So I bought two candy bars, sat and waited. Finally, into the boarding area and eventually onto the plane. There was no boarding call so we all just guessed that when the sign flashed "boarding" we could go. I had a window seat but was the last one to the row so I had to make people move. I felt badly about that but then slept a majority of the hour long ride. When I woke up I overheard two guys behind me and eventually found out they were students and there for a conference. After riding the Arlanda Express together and discovering we'd be on the same flight on Sunday, I said goodbye to Antoine and Jeroen. And I found Milla! The hotel she'd found was literally up a flight of stairs from the train station so we dropped off my stuff, figured out how my bed worked and went off in search of food. This was harder than I thought it would be because everything was in Swedish crowns. So not only did I have to convert from crowns to Danish krone (because we kind of knew that general exchange) but then krone to dollars. It got too complicated for my tired and hungry self so we just decided to get the buffet at a Mongolian BBQ. It was pretty good; choose what you want and the chef cooks it and puts it on the plate. About 3/4 of the way through mine I had to stop. I was full and something didn't feel right. We paid and were on our way. However, a block later I had a familiar feeling and found a nice quiet side street and lost the entire meal I'd just eaten. I would like to point out that it was exactly two weeks earlier I'd done the same thing on a sidewalk in Copenhagen. I'm really hoping this doesn't become a habit! Once that was done I felt a ton better and we went back to the hotel. Milla felt a little queasy after that but didn't lose anything, thankfully. We just chatted till late and then slept. So Friday was an adventure: airport, new friends, Milla, and dinner.
Saturday: our go-with-the-flow tourist day. Our hotel had a complimentary breakfast so we started there. Delicious. I had hot chocolate made from actual cocoa powder--delightful! And then we were off to Gamla Stan, the Old Town. We stopped at the Royal Palace and watched the changing of the guard. Their uniforms were a beautiful blue color (I am biased, however, as I LOVE blue) and their helmets looked kind of funny with these pointy things on top. The display, however, was very cool. The band also played marches and such, which were very well done. After that we walked around, saw different buildings and views and went shopping. Like I said, very relaxed day. I bought next to nothing, though. Sweden is much cheaper than Denmark so I had hoped to find some tops and such but did not. I did however buy a pair of leggings. Yeah yeah, not that big a deal for most but it's my first step towards European fashion (besides wearing black or dark colors ALL the time). We found a little cafe thing, Sandy's, and had semi-decent pasta for dinner and disgusting sparkling water. In Milla's words: "It tastes like soap." Then we just walked around and eventually found a church and it's cemetery. The plots were mostly family plots, many dating back to the 17 and 1800's. And beautiful flowers, that was a given. We then found a pub and had a delicious Swedish pear cider. Oh man, I am such a fan of cider. This was really delicious and very sweet. Oh, haha, almost forgot: we got carded! I handed over my driver's license, forgetting where I was, and the woman looked at it and got very confused. Thankfully I'd also brought my passport and that settled that I was legal. Funny, legal in the States and you're legal in the rest of the world. Our drinking age is so "old." Anyway, we got a lot of stares from people as we sat outside and enjoyed just chatting. Once done we headed back to the hotel and had kind of planned to go back out once we warmed up but instead we watched Midsomer Murders (great show!) and Ghostbusters 2, both with Danish subtitles because they were on the Danish channel. I practiced speaking some words (basically repeating phrases I'd seen written) and we enjoyed just chilling.
Sunday we did two major tourist things: a canal tour and the observation tower. Breakfast at the hotel, a quick look at e-mail and tours and off we went. We chose the Under the Bridges of Stockholm tour because it wasn't insanely expensive. I WILL go back to Stockholm one day and take a tour of the archipelago. The city itself is made up of some 18 islands and the water is simply beautiful. In fact, the city takes pride in the water being so clean, even with all the people. 2 million people live in Stockholm and it's suburbs. Granted, there aren't that many people in Sweden when you leave the major city but still. Anyway, the tour was good. There was a ginormous vodka barrel at one point (empty) and numerous comments on how Absolut Vodka is a huge export. I thought that was kind of funny. We went through two locks as the city water ways connect the Baltic Sea to the East with some lake that I cannot pronounce to the West. Very cool. There was an adorable little boy in front of us and he kept smiling and giggling with us. :-) There were some Americans behind us and I am sad to say I was definitely judging them. They were very loud upon first sitting down and getting their headphones situated and then continued to talk as the tour started. That's livable but this was the kicker: we are passing beautiful buildings, greenery along the water way, picturesque blue skies and one of the woman says "This reminds me of the Jungle Cruise at Disney World." Oh. My. Goodness. Seriously?? DISNEY WORLD?? We are in Stockholm. This city is older than our country! And you compare this natural and historic beauty with Disney World??? Good night! Ugh, allow me to get off my high horse. Eventually they quieted down and the smiling little boy in front of me made everything better. :-) After the tour we started off towards kaknastortet (which I am almost positive I did NOT spell correctly). Turns out it was an hour away walking. We found that out after walking for an hour. :-) 30 crown and 30 seconds later we were 30 floors up and looking out upon absolutely beautiful views of Stockholm and the surrounding country. Green fields and trees, blue skies, beautiful water, and a wonderful view of the city met us at every turn. We ate a little up there and then briskly walked back to the hotel. We made it back in an hour which was quite noteworthy since we walked from the harbour to the tower in an hour. Milla was able to catch her train and I had more than enough time to get to the Stockholm-Arlanda airport. Once there I again found myself in a tax-free store. This time, though, I was on the look out for an XXL bag of Twist candies. These are Swedish chocolates and candies and Milla and I had eaten some the night before. So now I have Swedish and Finnish (thanks to Milla) chocolates to bring home--if I can keep them that long! I found Antoine and Jeroen and we all boarded. I was again at the window and again had to make people move but these people were much nicer. They were Danes who had also spent just the weekend in Stockholm shopping. At one point the woman was checking out the pilots and told me they were young and in the same breath asked if I was single. We laughed about that a bit and then they slept. I looked out the window and read most of the time. Sweden is very beautiful. When I landed on Friday I couldn't turn away from the window I was so drawn to the nature I was seeing. I was, however, glad to be returning to Copenhagen. This is "home" right now, a place I feel comfortable and where I knew I could rest. In fact, on the way to the airport Friday I found myself almost ready to cry. I'm not entirely sure why but I remember being somewhat upset that I was leaving Copenhagen for the weekend. If I can't handle leaving the city for the weekend, how will I handle going back to the States in August? I guess that question will be answered in due time. I'm not ready to leave. I don't think I ever really will be, though I miss my family and friends. Anyway, the flight was uneventful (except for the beautiful scenery) and we landed. Antoine, Jeroen and I all bought train tickets and then Jeroen and I ran to catch the one we needed. We had a nice chat and then he got off at the Central Station. I wish I knew I was going to see them again because it was fun having a little adventure but there being "familiar" faces at the beginning and end. Anyway, I got to Hellerup and missed my bus by a minute. I put my iPod on and smiled and jammed out for half an hour. The bus came, dropped me off and I walked home. Haha, home--interesting how this is home after just 3 weeks. It's not totally home because it's not mine, per say, but I know you know what I mean. I quickly unpacked a majority of things, picked an outfit for today, called home and went to bed sometime after 11:30.
That brings me to today! 6:30 came way too early but I was up and getting ready and even got the chance to talk to Brijette! I really can't tell you what these short conversations do for me. My day just goes better and my spirit is lifted. God knows I need people and provides them when I least expect it. :-) Got to work and checked the reaction before 9. Most of my work was during the morning: reaction, analysis, cleaning. Lunch was fun, though, as always. Esben, Klas, Arkady and Kresten all asked about my weekend. We also ate outside, which meant using plastic utensils. Funny thing: I broke my fork cutting the duck I was having. Now, I have broken these before and they all know that so I went back in and grabbed two more forks, just in case. Well, near the end of lunch I also managed to break my knife. Yeah, I guess it was more funny if you were there. :-) Klas, Esben and Kresten spent lunch exchanging jabs about Danes and Swedes and a couple other people groups. I love it. They seriously make my day. :-) Back to work after lunch but I didn't have much to do. I have been updating two PowerPoint's and trying to start a paper of sorts but it's hard when we keep making new decisions each day. Eventually I was chatting with Esben and found out he's never been on the canal tour here in Copenhagen but has always wanted to go. That is one thing I really want to do and I had already been considering asking these guys if they would want to go with me. I know they don't do a lot on the weekends (well, relaxing is quite a time-consumer :-)) but still, I'm working on getting up the courage to ask them Wed or Thurs so we'll see. I left work about 4:30 and met Hin on the train. Guess what? She's pregnant! Totally didn't know that and it's very exciting. :-) Baby is due in December. We chatted about what she'd done this weekend and how she will ask me on Friday if I'm still free to visit her favorite pancake place--trust me, I will be free! She keeps raving about these pancakes almost every time I see her. :-) Then it was bus and home. I grabbed my backpack, some money and biked down to the store to get bread and chocolate and meat. Chilled once I got back and eventually made dinner and just chilled again. It's already after 9 and if I'm wise I will go to bed very soon because I am incredibly tired.
So 4 days in one post. A little boring, I know, but hopefully you found some of it interesting. I can't believe I actually spent my weekend in another country. Going to Sweden here is like going to IL from WI, except you need a passport to go. It's quite an interesting experience. But I am glad to be back here and working and enjoying the life of an employee of an international company.
Prayer requests. My health is still not 100% and I'm not entirely sure why. Hopefully rest and getting back on a work schedule will help that (and not eating food that makes me sick). So please pray that I would continue to have more healthy days than not. Courage to ask people to do things with me (like the canal tour) and patience with myself and others. Also pray for the people around me, here and at home. Even while I'm far away there is so much going on in the lives of my family and my friends. As much as I love getting my 5000 words out on here I just as much love hearing about what is going on at home or wherever they may be. Oh, also pray for wisdom with money. I need to make a budget as I have received my first stipend payment as well as information about what is and is not covered. That is a task for tomorrow or Wed after work so please pray for focus, clarity of mind and wisdom.
That's all for now. Look forward to tomorrow and a shorter post. :-P
Have a wonderful day or night!
Bekah
Friday was a good day at work. My reactions finished up and I had one for the weekend set up and running well before lunch. Lunch itself was good, as always. My supervisor had work to do at DTU so I was by myself for the afternoon. No biggie since I was leaving at 3:30 anyway. I caught my first train and the second with no problem whatsoever. Oh, I forgot to mention that I only packed my backpack--kind of looked like an overstuffed turtle. :-) Anyway, I took a slightly longer way to the airport because I knew how to get there if I switched trains at Hellerup (where I get on every morning) and not at Norreport (where I go to get to church). I got to the airport two hours before my flight and had to walk a bit to a different terminal. No biggie. Then I checked in...at a kiosk. That was a little weird, especially because there was no gate given on my boarding pass. I checked with a guy whose shirt read "Information. Ask Me." or something like that and he said it was for added security and that I would find out my gate after security. Best part about security: I didn't have to take my shoes off! It was much more lax than in the States, I felt, but that could be because I a) didn't have a laptop, b) didn't wear a bunch of metal and c) am used to the whole belt-off-liquids-in-a-different-container thing. Got through security and found myself in a huge Tax-free store. And when I went to find out my gate it wasn't assigned yet. Awesome. I wondered around looking at huge bottles of Baileys, Captain and multiple other things (chocolate and purses for example) until my gate was assigned. Then, once I got there, I found out I had to wait to go into the little waiting area. So I bought two candy bars, sat and waited. Finally, into the boarding area and eventually onto the plane. There was no boarding call so we all just guessed that when the sign flashed "boarding" we could go. I had a window seat but was the last one to the row so I had to make people move. I felt badly about that but then slept a majority of the hour long ride. When I woke up I overheard two guys behind me and eventually found out they were students and there for a conference. After riding the Arlanda Express together and discovering we'd be on the same flight on Sunday, I said goodbye to Antoine and Jeroen. And I found Milla! The hotel she'd found was literally up a flight of stairs from the train station so we dropped off my stuff, figured out how my bed worked and went off in search of food. This was harder than I thought it would be because everything was in Swedish crowns. So not only did I have to convert from crowns to Danish krone (because we kind of knew that general exchange) but then krone to dollars. It got too complicated for my tired and hungry self so we just decided to get the buffet at a Mongolian BBQ. It was pretty good; choose what you want and the chef cooks it and puts it on the plate. About 3/4 of the way through mine I had to stop. I was full and something didn't feel right. We paid and were on our way. However, a block later I had a familiar feeling and found a nice quiet side street and lost the entire meal I'd just eaten. I would like to point out that it was exactly two weeks earlier I'd done the same thing on a sidewalk in Copenhagen. I'm really hoping this doesn't become a habit! Once that was done I felt a ton better and we went back to the hotel. Milla felt a little queasy after that but didn't lose anything, thankfully. We just chatted till late and then slept. So Friday was an adventure: airport, new friends, Milla, and dinner.
Saturday: our go-with-the-flow tourist day. Our hotel had a complimentary breakfast so we started there. Delicious. I had hot chocolate made from actual cocoa powder--delightful! And then we were off to Gamla Stan, the Old Town. We stopped at the Royal Palace and watched the changing of the guard. Their uniforms were a beautiful blue color (I am biased, however, as I LOVE blue) and their helmets looked kind of funny with these pointy things on top. The display, however, was very cool. The band also played marches and such, which were very well done. After that we walked around, saw different buildings and views and went shopping. Like I said, very relaxed day. I bought next to nothing, though. Sweden is much cheaper than Denmark so I had hoped to find some tops and such but did not. I did however buy a pair of leggings. Yeah yeah, not that big a deal for most but it's my first step towards European fashion (besides wearing black or dark colors ALL the time). We found a little cafe thing, Sandy's, and had semi-decent pasta for dinner and disgusting sparkling water. In Milla's words: "It tastes like soap." Then we just walked around and eventually found a church and it's cemetery. The plots were mostly family plots, many dating back to the 17 and 1800's. And beautiful flowers, that was a given. We then found a pub and had a delicious Swedish pear cider. Oh man, I am such a fan of cider. This was really delicious and very sweet. Oh, haha, almost forgot: we got carded! I handed over my driver's license, forgetting where I was, and the woman looked at it and got very confused. Thankfully I'd also brought my passport and that settled that I was legal. Funny, legal in the States and you're legal in the rest of the world. Our drinking age is so "old." Anyway, we got a lot of stares from people as we sat outside and enjoyed just chatting. Once done we headed back to the hotel and had kind of planned to go back out once we warmed up but instead we watched Midsomer Murders (great show!) and Ghostbusters 2, both with Danish subtitles because they were on the Danish channel. I practiced speaking some words (basically repeating phrases I'd seen written) and we enjoyed just chilling.
Sunday we did two major tourist things: a canal tour and the observation tower. Breakfast at the hotel, a quick look at e-mail and tours and off we went. We chose the Under the Bridges of Stockholm tour because it wasn't insanely expensive. I WILL go back to Stockholm one day and take a tour of the archipelago. The city itself is made up of some 18 islands and the water is simply beautiful. In fact, the city takes pride in the water being so clean, even with all the people. 2 million people live in Stockholm and it's suburbs. Granted, there aren't that many people in Sweden when you leave the major city but still. Anyway, the tour was good. There was a ginormous vodka barrel at one point (empty) and numerous comments on how Absolut Vodka is a huge export. I thought that was kind of funny. We went through two locks as the city water ways connect the Baltic Sea to the East with some lake that I cannot pronounce to the West. Very cool. There was an adorable little boy in front of us and he kept smiling and giggling with us. :-) There were some Americans behind us and I am sad to say I was definitely judging them. They were very loud upon first sitting down and getting their headphones situated and then continued to talk as the tour started. That's livable but this was the kicker: we are passing beautiful buildings, greenery along the water way, picturesque blue skies and one of the woman says "This reminds me of the Jungle Cruise at Disney World." Oh. My. Goodness. Seriously?? DISNEY WORLD?? We are in Stockholm. This city is older than our country! And you compare this natural and historic beauty with Disney World??? Good night! Ugh, allow me to get off my high horse. Eventually they quieted down and the smiling little boy in front of me made everything better. :-) After the tour we started off towards kaknastortet (which I am almost positive I did NOT spell correctly). Turns out it was an hour away walking. We found that out after walking for an hour. :-) 30 crown and 30 seconds later we were 30 floors up and looking out upon absolutely beautiful views of Stockholm and the surrounding country. Green fields and trees, blue skies, beautiful water, and a wonderful view of the city met us at every turn. We ate a little up there and then briskly walked back to the hotel. We made it back in an hour which was quite noteworthy since we walked from the harbour to the tower in an hour. Milla was able to catch her train and I had more than enough time to get to the Stockholm-Arlanda airport. Once there I again found myself in a tax-free store. This time, though, I was on the look out for an XXL bag of Twist candies. These are Swedish chocolates and candies and Milla and I had eaten some the night before. So now I have Swedish and Finnish (thanks to Milla) chocolates to bring home--if I can keep them that long! I found Antoine and Jeroen and we all boarded. I was again at the window and again had to make people move but these people were much nicer. They were Danes who had also spent just the weekend in Stockholm shopping. At one point the woman was checking out the pilots and told me they were young and in the same breath asked if I was single. We laughed about that a bit and then they slept. I looked out the window and read most of the time. Sweden is very beautiful. When I landed on Friday I couldn't turn away from the window I was so drawn to the nature I was seeing. I was, however, glad to be returning to Copenhagen. This is "home" right now, a place I feel comfortable and where I knew I could rest. In fact, on the way to the airport Friday I found myself almost ready to cry. I'm not entirely sure why but I remember being somewhat upset that I was leaving Copenhagen for the weekend. If I can't handle leaving the city for the weekend, how will I handle going back to the States in August? I guess that question will be answered in due time. I'm not ready to leave. I don't think I ever really will be, though I miss my family and friends. Anyway, the flight was uneventful (except for the beautiful scenery) and we landed. Antoine, Jeroen and I all bought train tickets and then Jeroen and I ran to catch the one we needed. We had a nice chat and then he got off at the Central Station. I wish I knew I was going to see them again because it was fun having a little adventure but there being "familiar" faces at the beginning and end. Anyway, I got to Hellerup and missed my bus by a minute. I put my iPod on and smiled and jammed out for half an hour. The bus came, dropped me off and I walked home. Haha, home--interesting how this is home after just 3 weeks. It's not totally home because it's not mine, per say, but I know you know what I mean. I quickly unpacked a majority of things, picked an outfit for today, called home and went to bed sometime after 11:30.
That brings me to today! 6:30 came way too early but I was up and getting ready and even got the chance to talk to Brijette! I really can't tell you what these short conversations do for me. My day just goes better and my spirit is lifted. God knows I need people and provides them when I least expect it. :-) Got to work and checked the reaction before 9. Most of my work was during the morning: reaction, analysis, cleaning. Lunch was fun, though, as always. Esben, Klas, Arkady and Kresten all asked about my weekend. We also ate outside, which meant using plastic utensils. Funny thing: I broke my fork cutting the duck I was having. Now, I have broken these before and they all know that so I went back in and grabbed two more forks, just in case. Well, near the end of lunch I also managed to break my knife. Yeah, I guess it was more funny if you were there. :-) Klas, Esben and Kresten spent lunch exchanging jabs about Danes and Swedes and a couple other people groups. I love it. They seriously make my day. :-) Back to work after lunch but I didn't have much to do. I have been updating two PowerPoint's and trying to start a paper of sorts but it's hard when we keep making new decisions each day. Eventually I was chatting with Esben and found out he's never been on the canal tour here in Copenhagen but has always wanted to go. That is one thing I really want to do and I had already been considering asking these guys if they would want to go with me. I know they don't do a lot on the weekends (well, relaxing is quite a time-consumer :-)) but still, I'm working on getting up the courage to ask them Wed or Thurs so we'll see. I left work about 4:30 and met Hin on the train. Guess what? She's pregnant! Totally didn't know that and it's very exciting. :-) Baby is due in December. We chatted about what she'd done this weekend and how she will ask me on Friday if I'm still free to visit her favorite pancake place--trust me, I will be free! She keeps raving about these pancakes almost every time I see her. :-) Then it was bus and home. I grabbed my backpack, some money and biked down to the store to get bread and chocolate and meat. Chilled once I got back and eventually made dinner and just chilled again. It's already after 9 and if I'm wise I will go to bed very soon because I am incredibly tired.
So 4 days in one post. A little boring, I know, but hopefully you found some of it interesting. I can't believe I actually spent my weekend in another country. Going to Sweden here is like going to IL from WI, except you need a passport to go. It's quite an interesting experience. But I am glad to be back here and working and enjoying the life of an employee of an international company.
Prayer requests. My health is still not 100% and I'm not entirely sure why. Hopefully rest and getting back on a work schedule will help that (and not eating food that makes me sick). So please pray that I would continue to have more healthy days than not. Courage to ask people to do things with me (like the canal tour) and patience with myself and others. Also pray for the people around me, here and at home. Even while I'm far away there is so much going on in the lives of my family and my friends. As much as I love getting my 5000 words out on here I just as much love hearing about what is going on at home or wherever they may be. Oh, also pray for wisdom with money. I need to make a budget as I have received my first stipend payment as well as information about what is and is not covered. That is a task for tomorrow or Wed after work so please pray for focus, clarity of mind and wisdom.
That's all for now. Look forward to tomorrow and a shorter post. :-P
Have a wonderful day or night!
Bekah
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