Another reason to celebrate!! (like we really need one)

Yesterday was my friend Pat’s 21st birthday, so of course we made sure to celebrate it as much as possible over the past two days!

The day on Friday was pretty normal. I had two classes in the morning, which seem to drag on and on when the weekend is so close, then I met with my group for my big Public Health project to talk about our paper that is due ONE WEEK from tomorrow! Thankfully, I only have to write 2.5 pages because it is a group paper, and there are 5 of us :) After that, I met Gabi and the gym, and we both decided that the only thing that got us there that day was the fact that we would get to sit in the steam room when we were done! We have been going to the gym for 2 months, and we just discovered the steam room last week! It is amazing.

Then I came home and ate dinner with my host parents, and Gabi came over a little later to get ready to go out. Over dinner, we talked about this cool thing my host parents are doing for a family they met while vacationing in Sri Lanka. They like to give money to charity, but they really don’t like how much of the money they donate is used for administration costs when they donate to big charities. So when they vacationed in Sri Lanka a year or more ago, they became friends with their tuk tuk driver, which are like the taxis there.

Anyway, he really needed a new tuk tuk, but he couldn’t get a loan from the bank because he basically had nothing. So my host parents decided to loan him the money for a new tuk tuk, and he is going to pay them back over six years. They are also helping with his education, so that he can find a better job in the future. He calls to talk to my host parents like every other day it seems, and he just had a new baby girl! I just really like that story, and I think it shows how nice of people my host parents really are!

Back to my weekend… Gabi and I met up with everyone in the city, went to a bar called Den Glade Gris (The Happy Pig in English) and danced. Surprise, surprise. It’s always a good time though!

Yesterday, which was Saturday, I didn’t get up until noon (oops!). I did get some homework done though, then I ate a traditional Danish lunch with my host parents. We had Smørrebrød with my host mom’s homemade dense, dark brown bread, and we put pickled herring and onions on top. I only had a little herring… I wasn’t really a fan, so I opted for the smoked salmon instead haha. We also had snaps, which is a small shot of strong alcohol that is taken during the course of lunch. It was gross.

That night Pat’s host family invited us over to their house for a birthday dinner. It was Pat, Gabi, Mark, Tim, and I, and his town is so cool! He lives right on the water, and you can see Sweden across it. We walked outside by the water for over an hour before going over to his house for dinner. His host mom made us lasagna, bread, and salad, and for dessert we had homemade birthday cake! The same kind my host mom bought me for my birthday. Then we hung out and chatted for awhile, and I was home before midnight for the first time on a Saturday since I have been in Copenhagen! None of us wanted to go out because 1) the night before was crazy 2) the boys have a soccer game today at noon, and 3) we are going to a HUGE soccer game today at 6pm, FCK vs. Brondby!

I am going to get some coffee and start studying before the craziness begins!

Hej Hej!

Emily