Getting to know the Danes

Haha I had a lot of fun the last days and I am amazed by most aspects of Denmark. On Thursday I slept and studied and went to Copenhagen Business School for the first time, so I would be on time for my final on friday. Of course I was late anyways because I studied too long, but I had already picked up my welcome package and known my way around campus. Exam on friday was fine, directly from there I went to the Summer University Introduction, the presentation on CBS sounded quite familiar for somebody who has worked in Student Recruitment and some of the information was already known or irrelevant, but also a lot of useful stuff was explained and we got a first glance at the Danish culture. The whole thing finished with a keynote speech on the Scandinavian welfare states, unfortunately I was not able to listen anymore. In the evening there was a BBQ and a party so all the students could get to know each other...I met a lot of people. It feels like a huge AIESEC congress. Although I haven't met any AIESECers till today, but there have to be some.

Yesterday I overslept and then went to Helsingor (if only I had the funny Danish letters I could write it properly), looked at Hamlet's castle and went shopping. I met Sophia and Jessica there. Later Sophia came back to Copenhagen with me, we spent some time drinking Cidre at Nyhavn and having fun about the people around us and other people we know and this morning she left to Münster so she can watch the Final Football Match there tonight.
And soon I will go to the Copenhagen City Race organized by the CBS Summer Crew...and of course also watch football afterwards. I hope it won't be too stressful :D
During the last few days I have met quite some Danes and seen even more in the streets and I have to say, until now I am a huge fan of this country. EVERYTHING is arranged properly, which makes a german person very happy of course, but people are also helpful, friendly and speak English everywhere you need them to. They better do, because Danish is an awful language. Once I read it I can make some sense of it, knowing Dutch and German, but once people start speaking it I totally lose track.

This movie illustrates the problem quite well:

So I just make my own version of the Danish place names which is inspired by Dutch and English, unfortunately this works only in a minor number of my attempts.
Luckily the public transport system is excellent and I don't have to ask a lot, so I get around quite well. And it was very interesting to see that once a bus arrives at a bus stop, the bikers stop to let people get out of the bus. The metro is soooooooooooooo new, it doesn't have drivers anymore and looks more like a shopping mall than like a metro. I like this place, so I'll keep you posted with more details!!!

Arrival and first adventures

After a week of preparations, not-studying and the last excessive parties I left good old Germany this morning to embark on my first adventure...studying at Copenhagen Business School for the next seven weeks. Because it was the cheapest and most convenient alternative, I took the train from Münster to Copenhagen. And a train means: bring as much luggage as you want. I brought a backpack and a huge suitcase and a handbag with my laptop in it and because it didn't fit in anywhere else, also another bag with my study stuff and some food. I could handle it, but not very well, especially the stairs in various stations were really challenging. But I succeeded and finally sat in the Danish train, the nice lady gave me reservations for the family compartment. Luckily I met another American guy who also studies at CBS during the summer and some Dutch guys and we got annoyed by the children together.
Almost in Denmark the train really surprised me: it went onto a ferry!!!
I was very well aware of the fact that we would have to cross water eventually, but I had more something like a bridge in my mind. NO!!! We had to get out of the train, be on the ferry for a while and then get back into the train to go further...very interesting. The rest of the trip was quite unspectacular, Danish landscape is not that exciting so I was glad when I arrived in Copenhagen, found my roommate immediately at the station and she took me home. We have a very nice home, it's very convenient to reach by bus and Stine, my roommate is a very funny crazy person, so we will have a good time together.
Then I put my knowledge of Copenhagen City to practice and went back to the station to meet some Germans from my Summer Courses and watch the semi-finals...what a game...luckily we missed all the exciting parts because something broke down, but Germany's through, so I'm happy. The weird random German guys at the bar who all hugged me are also happy...only the Turkish are not...and there are a lot of Turkish people here. So I hid my flag on the way home.
My trip made me quite tired, so I will study a bit and sleep then so I can go to explore the city tomorrow...what I have seen until now looks quite nice. I'll take pictures!!!