Seriously, I had such an amazing birthday celebration last night and today… and the best part is, it is only 2pm… so it’s not even over yet! Even though all of my friends and family from home weren’t here to celebrate, all of my new friends and my new host family made it so special! Thanks everyone :) I was also very happy to get birthday cards from my parents and Grandma this week!
First though, I had two exams yesterday right in a row in the morning. Silly me didn’t start studying until 6pm the night before, which is something I would never do at home, seriously. It is just so hard to remember that I am studying abroad, not vacationing/partying abroad. My first test was in Health Economics, and it went really well I think. My second one was for Muslims in the West, which didn’t go as well as the first. I guess I will find out when I get my grade back!
After my exams, I went to pick up my EuroSIM card for my cell phone here so I can use it outside of Denmark when I travel. I had to pick it up from this super creepy place in the city that is completely unmarked. I opened the door that I was told to go to, and the office was a pig sty just littered with garbage and crap everywhere. There was also this big scary looking white dog sitting in front of the door… and a man lying on the ground behind the desk!!! My first reaction was to shut the door, then I realized he might be hurt or something, so I opened it and said hello. He looked up at me, and I told him I was there to pick up my new SIM card. He just said that his sister wasn’t working for another 20 minutes, even though I was told they were open from 10am-5pm. It was so weird, and I did not want to wait around after that super crazy incident (plus the office stunk sooo bad), so I didn’t pick up my SIM card. That means I will have to go back when I get home from Finland and Estonia, but next time I am taking someone with me haha.
Yesterday afternoon, I went home after working out and booked a flight to London!!! I am going April 1-4, hopefully with my friend Pat. Gabi’s friend Abby is studying abroad in London, and I met her a couple weeks ago when she was here in Copenhagen visiting Gabi. So I am going to hang out with her while I am in London. Super excited!! Then I played Phase 10 with Kasper, my host brother, and a couple of his friends, and Gabi came over to my house to eat pizza with us before we went out for my birthday.
So although my birthday is Saturday, aka today, we decided to celebrate on Friday because everyone from DIS is leaving for their long study tours today and Sunday morning. My friend Ryan’s birthday is March 8th, so it was a joint celebration. SO FUN!
Birthday girl and boy!
Luckily, I just happened to see something about having birthdays at this nightclub called Park Café in the city. I called them and made a reservation, which got us free cover for all 12 of us (it was normally 100kr, about $20), a table at the nightclub, free beer/cider for 3 hours, and 2 for 1 bottles. All 12 of us met at the train station and walked to Park Café together. We made sure to get there before 10:30pm when it opened because they were hosting a huge event for students, and when we got there, a HUGE line had already formed. I decided to walk up to the front of the line and tell the bouncers it was my birthday and I had a reservation for my friends and I, and (sweetly) asked, “Do I have to stand in line in the cold?” Luckily he let me and all of my friends go in FIRST in front of everyone else who had been waiting. I think everyone in line was pretty mad at us, but it’s not my fault!
When we went inside, the waitress took us to a table upstairs, and we all decided to split a couple bottles of liquor for the birthday celebration. I had a ton of fun hanging out with my friends, and at midnight, they sang me “Happy Birthday,” and then we went and danced for a couple of hours! I loved every minute of it!!!
Tim and I… he can’t smile in pictures.
I ended up running into my host brother on the train home, so I walked home with him and two of his friends, which was a great coincidence! I didn’t get to sleep until about 4am, and we had brunch reservations for 10:30am. Luckily I felt perfectly fine this morning and ready to go! As I was getting ready in my room for brunch, my host mom knocked on my door, and her, Kasper, and his two friends came into my room with Danish flags and sang the Danish birthday song! It is a tradition in Denmark, and I thought it was so sweet of them! Then we went to brunch with my host mom, Kasper, the two sisters who don’t live at home (Ann and Katherine), and Ann’s boyfriend. Brunch was super delicious… smoked salmon, fruit, pastries, crepes, bacon, pasta salads, etc. They brought their Danish flags to put on the table at the restaurant because that is just what they do here in Denmark.. they use their flag for everything! My host siblings even got me presents! I got some nail polish and girly beauty stuff and perfume. They really made my birthday special :) Tonight I am having dinner here at home, beef tenderloin, baked potatoes, and a salad (and ice cream for dessert!). Then I am not sure what I am doing after that… something fun though.
Tomorrow I leave for Estonia! I am so excited! Yay! Oh, and I have also figured out what I want to do my senior year with classes and what not. Honestly, I thought I had my entire life basically planned out before I came here to Copenhagen… but boy I couldn’t have been more wrong. This whole experience is just what I needed to figure out my life and where I actually want it to go, and I couldn’t be more grateful for every moment I’ve had here. Anyway, I have decided I really do want to go to medical school, so this summer I will take Physics I, study for the MCAT, fill out medical school applications, and work. Then I will do my honors thesis in anthropology during my senior year instead of here in Copenhagen like I had planned, and I will also have to take Physics II and two upper level biology classes as well as the MCAT in September. It is going to be a crazy busy year! Bring it on.
-Emily
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