Beginnings, endings, a way to mark progress

This is the beginning of my wonderlust blog, also the end of the semester and paper writing. The beginning of my true, undeniable wanderlust, and the end of my first real journey alone into the world. What a great time in my life!
I was encouraged to start a blog when I left for Denmark from the States, so I realize that I'm a bit late. However, living in the present, this is decidedly the best time to start blogging. This is my first "adult" blog ever! I used Xanga back in the day, but it was uninspired, an attempt to keep up with the times. Also, to be fair, I have made two big updates on facebook about the journeys, which I will put below. I just want to say that this blog isn't just about traveling, trying new cuisine, discovering new music, meeting amazing people, although those things are a part of it. It's about how the world is always opening my eyes, no matter where I am or who I am with. I can't help but look on with wonder and curiosity about it all, and you might be able to relate to the feeling. I hope you do!
Anyway, here is my first update about Aalborg, Denmark:

10.27.09
Hej hej!
I’ve been in Denmark for about two months now, so I guess it’s time to update everyone. I thought this would be the best way; sorry it’s not as personal and intimate as a letter, but it’s a bit tedious to write the same story so many times.
First, of course, I miss and love everyone so much! I want to know what’s going on with everybody, so please message me/ write me a letter/ send me something delicious and somewhat non-perishable. If you write me a letter, I promise to write a response.
Second, I love it here! Everything I do is very different from my lifestyle at home. I live in the Aalborg Internationale Kollegium, AIK, which is 1km away from campus and 6km from downtown Aalborg (always looking for an excuse to ride my bike downtown), and I couldn’t have been put in a better kollegium, my home away from home! All of the rooms face a big common area and kitchen, but we also have our own small kitchen and bathroom in our private rooms. It’s the best of both worlds because I can be as social or studious as I choose. We have about 50 residents here, both Danish and international students, so the AIK is full of so many different good languages, cuisine, cultural norms, senses of humor, stories, as well as people who know where things are! The library is 100 meters down the bike path – it’s so close that I could accidentally sleep walk and wake up at the bibliotek. We have a lot of impromptu dinner parties, and we had a mafia party last Friday, the first AIK party of the semester, and there were 200 or so people here! The American students are cooking a giant Thanksgiving dinner and bringing food from another kollegium to be served at the AIK, and Mom and Dad are going to be here for the dinner too! The international students LOVE Thanksgiving dinner but still make fun of Americans all the time.
Miniature rant: It’s just starting to bother me how frequently people use “American” as an insult.
Of course I’ve met people here who will probably stay in my heart forevermore. Food, language, and humor are the easiest ways for me to connect with people, I’ve found. The people I spend the most time with here are my French counterparts Séverin and Bastien. We’re a bit like the three stooges together, and they make me laugh until I cry. We cook almost every single meal together, sometimes with more people joining us, and the meals keep getting better and better. I’ve fallen in love with cooking. Also, I teach them English, and they teach me French. The more French I speak, the more I realize that I’m TERRIBLE at it but absolutely eager to learn! If you ever go abroad, almost everyone you meet knows English in addition to their native language and maybe a few other languages – you can hardly justify only knowing one language. I also have coffee with my Danish neighbor Jesper almost every morning, and sometimes he teaches me a little Danish and taught me how to make bread from scratch!
To interrupt myself again, I have a quick public service announcement. 1. Vikings never wore the helmets with the horns – that was Hollywood lying to us. 2. Danishes, the pastries, actually translate to “Viennese bread” in Danish, so they’re actually Austrian. I haven’t had a single “danish” since coming to Denmark.
Anyways… I’m currently attending Aalborg Universitetet and taking only two courses here. However! The university system is so dramatically different here that I’m getting the transfer equivalent of 15 credits from only two courses when it would take 5 courses worth 3 credits each at Georgia State. My cognitive psychology course is one lecture a week for 2 months, a seminar every other week after the lecture, 1000 pages of reading, and a written exam that we have one week to complete and receive a month after lectures end. Besides that, I have an experimental psychology project, where my project member and I conduct an experiment and then write 40 pages and cite 2000 pages of previous research. The paper is due between the time cognitive psyc lectures end and the cog psyc exam is due. Our oral defense of our project is held sometime after our cognitive psyc exam. This layering business doesn’t make sense to me, but I don’t have to take a single exam that isn’t a paper, so I’m not complaining! I’m really happy at Aalborg Uni, even if the project is a bit stressful. My project member Soo is from South Korea, and we are doing a study on culture, which is so appropriate since we’re from such dichotomous cultures. She’s surveying her classmates in Korea and I’m surveying GSU students. I’ll write about the results of the study when we’re finished, but I’m really excited about it! In high school, I never thought that I would study abroad. In college, I never thought that I would do my own research. After being accepted to Aalborg U, I never thought that my work here would be internationally relevant. My life keeps blowing my mind!
Since arriving, I’ve been to Legoland, Copenhagen, and around Norway. I would show you pictures, but my camera was stolen 3 weeks after arriving. I’ve been a bit lazy about assembling a photo album from other people’s pictures too. It absolutely POURED the day we went to Legoland, but it was worth it to see the Lego cities!! So amazing! The attractions were okay, but it’s breathtaking what you can do with Legos. My friend Jules and I went to Copenhagen for two days before going to Norway for a week-long student trip. We walked around the city, saw the Danish Design Center, the World Press Photo exhibition, Roskilde cathedral where all the tombs of the kings and queens of Denmark are kept, and the commune Christiania. The city is gray and cold, like Denmark, but it was nice to be somewhere bigger than Aalborg. I like Copenhagen, but it wasn’t what I expected. Norway, though, was INCREDIBLE! We went to the gorgeous fjord city Bergen, Laerdal (population of 2200, best place for star gazing!), down the Sognefjord, to the biggest inland glacier in Europe, driving on top of the world, to Oslo, which is the most expensive city I’ve ever been to. Most of the museums in Oslo are free, though, and the city exemplifies the design-focus that you find everywhere in Scandinavia (see also, IKEA). I liked it a lot.
Also, for my Intermezzo friends, I swear to Thor… I heard a street musician playing that song that Andrew was obessed with – Guantanemera!! I’ll give someone $5 when I get back if you can find out how to spell the name of the song!
Also also, the night we spent in Bergen, we were sitting on benches that overlooked the city, gazing at the city shining and beautiful, light dancing on the fjord… and then Cookie Monster walked by us! He walked by, looked at us, said nothing, and then disappeared down the hill at nine o’clock at night. It was so surreal!
Aside from food, school, parties, and traveling, I’m really happy in general. For the first time in my life, I’m in a new environment that I have had to accept, for better or worse, and this new image of myself has emerged. I really like who I am, the type of resolve I have, how I deal with things, what matters most to me. I miss Atlanta everyday (especially since the sun is now down by 5pm here), but I feel very connected to Aalborg too. My only real complaint besides the exorbitant prices (/the worthless of the dollar) is that I don’t have a solid group of girls here like I do at home… though I don’t think that is something you can just stumble upon. I don’t read for fun as much as I told myself I would, but I guess the books will always be available, but these experiences won’t.
For those of you who are curious about the beer and music in Denmark, both lack variation. You’ve got the occasional jewel, but not too much else to report.
I could keep writing forever, but I’ll save any additional details to people who write me letters/ send pictures I hope to hear from you, how your life is going, what is new, something amazing has happened to you, you’ve found some really good music you want to share with me, whatever! Much love in Scandinavia!
Dani P
p.s. I wrote the original version of this note for my family. This can’t be a real Dani note without a little language. Fuck yeah, I'm in Denmark!