Saturday, April 9, 2011
Pictures from Cairo
My new friend Ahmed is in the Photojournalism course. His hometown is in Cairo, and last week, he couldn't stand being away from his country with everything that is going on. So, he flew out to Egypt for 2 weeks. Hopefully, he will return safely sometime this week. Here are some of his photos.
Please keep Ahmed in your prayers this week that he will be ok while shooting there and make a safe trip back to Aarhus.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
FINALLY we see sunshine
Thought I'd finally upload my videos from Berlin! Next stop Oslo! Our class leaves a week from today for our 3rd assignment. This time I'll be working with the other Americans, Christina & Lakiesha from San Francisco.
This weekend has been beautiful. It came just in time, because I'll admit, I was close to getting a little depressed from all of this gloomy, cold weather. We are finally in the mid 40s though, and hopefully, it will only get better. I'm actually writing this outside on my little patio area. Wendy and I are laying out as long as the sun is out, then maybe going for a bike ride or walk.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Reaching the halfway point
Thought I'd start this blog off with a little video that Maria posted on my Facebook. She says I'll be doing this when I get back in the states and have my first diet sundrop! Ha ha.
Tomorrow is the start of a busy next couple of weeks. We are going to Oslo for our news assignment, coming home, turning around and flying to Milan, Italy with Mom, coming back home again, producing our story, sending Mom back to the states, starting our fourth project, then running off to Barcelona, Spain! Wooo! March 27th, I'll be at the halfway point of my semester. It's bittersweet. I do miss home at times, especially when I'm waiting for the bus for 20 min. BUT the sun is finally starting to peak out, and this 40 degree weather feels like 70 to me :) Biking has been so nice this past week.
Today we took a ride just to go exploring and found a really nice shortcut to Bilka. While in Bilka, Christina and I bought hair dye on an impulse. Well, it was 2 for 103kr. (which is super cheap, about $9 each) Christina went black, and I am now a blonde again!! I've missed it so much too. Being a brunette for a few months was nice to try, but I'll always feel like a blonde. I think when Mom comes I'll go even lighter.
I've noticed that I make decisions on a whim over here. It's like there's no wrong decision, and if there is, it's ok. No one knows me. No one is grading me. No one even cares if you make the wrong choices, because most of them have already anyways. So, it's just no big deal to mess up. Kind of a relief, huh?! There's no pressure, and I love it. It is making my life a lot easier and carefree. I am much more relaxed over here. The tour guide we had in Berlin said she heard everyone in Denmark is on happy pills, but I think there's just something about their beliefs or culture that makes you content with just about everything. Or at least that is how it is for me right now.
Missing work already
With last week being so busy, I sort of got a high from all the work I was doing. I actually enjoyed the feeling of being under a deadline and the pressure to do a good job. This week we are researching our topic and finding out as much as we can through sources, literature, and of course, Google. I think I'm going to let it be a surprise this time, and let you see the topic once I post the video here. Hope you've enjoyed them so far. I feel like the majority of my learning here doesn't necessarily come from lectures, but more from the feedback I receive from my mistakes. As long as I keep getting better...bring on the criticism. Our teacher can be pretty harsh at times, to some groups more than others. But I think it's good to have high expectations to work for. My goal for this semester is still to get an A on one of my assignments. I am determined to break this whole "I never give out As, nothing is perfect" philosophy of Kate's. A B+ is never as satisfying.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Oslo: World's most EXPENSIVE city
Oslo is beautiful, a real winter wonderland... but I feel so poor! I've been surviving off the free hotel breakfast, several cups of free coffee, and ramen noodles. I'm not even kidding. The breakfast includes an egg/tomato sandwich, apple, and OJ. Then, we have free coffee in the lobby. I save my apple for lunch, drink lots of coffee, and fix my pack of ramen noodles for supper. I can't wait to get back to Aarhus, where I can afford to eat. Let me just give an example. A meal at TGIF would cost 299KR. That's $57. Ok so that's touristy, but the cheapest thing we've been able to find is an indian buffet for 99KR. That's still $17. It is ridiculous. So, once I realized I'd have to just be hungry for the week, the city itself is really clean and pretty looking. The castle looks over the entire city, which is surprisingly small. Last night a group of us took a trip to the harbor. I felt like I was in Inception, watching the water move! It was frozen on top, but you could see it moving underneath. It reminded me of flubber!Our story has gone really well. We've managed to make all of our interviews on time, and all without a cellphone! A sim card was going to cost 220KR and we felt it was a waste. Too bad we didn't think about that before we bought a 7day bus pass that we used maybe once. I think today we may just hop on and ride all day to get our money's worth out of it. All we have left to do today is write and record our stand ups. Then, I'll head home all by my lonesome to Aarhus, where my Mom will be waiting for me! I'm so excited to see her. We will be taking a trip to Milan, Italy this weekend. I promise to include much more pictures and more detailed posts when I return. Be expecting them sometime next week.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Taken by Lars
So, my parents always taught me not to take rides from strangers, but what if it was going to save me an hour of waiting and an hour of travel time....
Yep, last night, I totally hitched a ride from a complete stranger against by best judgement. I began my journey home to Aarhus from Oslo around 5pm Thursday, right around the time Mom's flight was landing in Aarhus. I took the shuttle to Oslo Gardermoen Airport and worked on my People Crossword Puzzler for an hour or so. Then, hopped on my plane to Billund Airport which is about a 2 hour bus ride away from Aarhus. I was planning on waiting an hour for the shuttle, taking it, then sprinting across the city to catch the last bus from Aarhus train station back to Skjoldhøj. It would have put me home close to 1:00am. Possibly later, if I didn't make the last bus out and had to order a taxi.
Well, then I met Lars, a nice, friendly man around my parent's age who seemed to enjoy my company. Apparently, Lars was from southern Denmark, but had spent the past 22 yrs. working in Germany. He moved to Aarhus, a year ago, and drove to Billund. When he found out I was planning on taking the bus back, he insisted that he would drive me to the station since, it was on his way. So I took the remainder of the plane ride to feel him out. Flashbacks from the movie Taken were playing out in my mind. They pretty much continued during the entire car ride.
As soon as we got to Billund, I called Katie to see if Mom made it to Aarhus ok. Of course not! They lost her luggage. So, of course I wanted to get home to see Mom asap. Taking a ride from Lars seemed alright to me, he hadn't raised any red flags yet. I knew he had a 19 yr. old daughter, 17 yr. old son, and 2 ex wives. So, I work into the convo with Katie that a nice man on the flight was giving me a ride, and that I'd be there soon. I wanted someone to know to come looking for me if I didn't show up within a couple hours.
Red Flag #1: He traveled with NO LUGGAGE.
The only time I've heard of people doing that is when Barney did it to pick up girls in a How I Met Your Mother episode.
Red Flag #2: He drove a Chrysler Pacifica, but the backseat had been taken out and replaced with a divider like a cop car would have.
Explanation= In Denmark you get a tax reduction for driving 2 seaters. Ok I can believe that. The Danish government likes to make it really inconvenient for people to eat chocolate, drink, or drive.
Red Flag #3: I watch his GPS change directions, and he doesn't follow them. Fortunately, I do begin to recognize city names, and I know he is going in the right direction. Maybe he was taking a shortcut. I did watch him type in the correct address, so I still felt ok.
I began to feel uneasy at this point and definitely a bit paranoid. Then, as I work into our small talk about how surprised I still am by all the children running around by themselves here, he starts telling me about how safe Denmark is, and how he can't even have a knife or gun in his car without getting in serious trouble by the police. I let out such a sigh of relief and said, "Well, that makes me feel so much better." I guess I forgot my filter, and he realized I probably was freaking out a bit by taking a ride from a stranger. He laughed and assured me he was taking me where he said and not planning on kidnapping me or anything lol.
Red Flag #4: He says, "I'm just really parched. Do you mind if I stop here at this gas station for a bit?"
I take this as another opportunity to call Katie and let her know I'm 15 min outside of Aarhus at a gas station and to come find me if I didn't call/text back in 20 min.
Lars was so nice. He came back with a diet coke for me! Then, he tried finding Skjoldhøj Kollegiet in the GPS. Turns out it was closer than the train station, so he might as well drop me off at home.
I arrived safe at Skjoldhøj by 11pm. Lars was so nice to me and all I could really do was promise to pay it forward someday. I enjoyed his company despite my paranoia and pretty much ran to my flat as soon as he drove away. I wanted to see my mom!
Turns out we both had interesting flights! She saved a man from a heart attack and was asked to make the call on whether to land the plane or not.... wait to go Mom. Her luggage arrived on the plane after hers, and after a few phone calls, the airline arranged a taxi service to bring her suitcase straight to my door. She also met a nice girl from Milan that gave her tons of information(places to eat, go, not go,) as well as the address to her lake house!!
We are now safe, and super exhausted in our hotel room in Milan. I fell in love with Italy today, but I'll fill you in on everything here a bit later. A blog about Italy without pictures/videos seemed just wrong.
Yep, last night, I totally hitched a ride from a complete stranger against by best judgement. I began my journey home to Aarhus from Oslo around 5pm Thursday, right around the time Mom's flight was landing in Aarhus. I took the shuttle to Oslo Gardermoen Airport and worked on my People Crossword Puzzler for an hour or so. Then, hopped on my plane to Billund Airport which is about a 2 hour bus ride away from Aarhus. I was planning on waiting an hour for the shuttle, taking it, then sprinting across the city to catch the last bus from Aarhus train station back to Skjoldhøj. It would have put me home close to 1:00am. Possibly later, if I didn't make the last bus out and had to order a taxi.
Well, then I met Lars, a nice, friendly man around my parent's age who seemed to enjoy my company. Apparently, Lars was from southern Denmark, but had spent the past 22 yrs. working in Germany. He moved to Aarhus, a year ago, and drove to Billund. When he found out I was planning on taking the bus back, he insisted that he would drive me to the station since, it was on his way. So I took the remainder of the plane ride to feel him out. Flashbacks from the movie Taken were playing out in my mind. They pretty much continued during the entire car ride.
As soon as we got to Billund, I called Katie to see if Mom made it to Aarhus ok. Of course not! They lost her luggage. So, of course I wanted to get home to see Mom asap. Taking a ride from Lars seemed alright to me, he hadn't raised any red flags yet. I knew he had a 19 yr. old daughter, 17 yr. old son, and 2 ex wives. So, I work into the convo with Katie that a nice man on the flight was giving me a ride, and that I'd be there soon. I wanted someone to know to come looking for me if I didn't show up within a couple hours.
Red Flag #1: He traveled with NO LUGGAGE.
The only time I've heard of people doing that is when Barney did it to pick up girls in a How I Met Your Mother episode.
Red Flag #2: He drove a Chrysler Pacifica, but the backseat had been taken out and replaced with a divider like a cop car would have.
Explanation= In Denmark you get a tax reduction for driving 2 seaters. Ok I can believe that. The Danish government likes to make it really inconvenient for people to eat chocolate, drink, or drive.
Red Flag #3: I watch his GPS change directions, and he doesn't follow them. Fortunately, I do begin to recognize city names, and I know he is going in the right direction. Maybe he was taking a shortcut. I did watch him type in the correct address, so I still felt ok.
I began to feel uneasy at this point and definitely a bit paranoid. Then, as I work into our small talk about how surprised I still am by all the children running around by themselves here, he starts telling me about how safe Denmark is, and how he can't even have a knife or gun in his car without getting in serious trouble by the police. I let out such a sigh of relief and said, "Well, that makes me feel so much better." I guess I forgot my filter, and he realized I probably was freaking out a bit by taking a ride from a stranger. He laughed and assured me he was taking me where he said and not planning on kidnapping me or anything lol.
Red Flag #4: He says, "I'm just really parched. Do you mind if I stop here at this gas station for a bit?"
I take this as another opportunity to call Katie and let her know I'm 15 min outside of Aarhus at a gas station and to come find me if I didn't call/text back in 20 min.
Lars was so nice. He came back with a diet coke for me! Then, he tried finding Skjoldhøj Kollegiet in the GPS. Turns out it was closer than the train station, so he might as well drop me off at home.
I arrived safe at Skjoldhøj by 11pm. Lars was so nice to me and all I could really do was promise to pay it forward someday. I enjoyed his company despite my paranoia and pretty much ran to my flat as soon as he drove away. I wanted to see my mom!
Turns out we both had interesting flights! She saved a man from a heart attack and was asked to make the call on whether to land the plane or not.... wait to go Mom. Her luggage arrived on the plane after hers, and after a few phone calls, the airline arranged a taxi service to bring her suitcase straight to my door. She also met a nice girl from Milan that gave her tons of information(places to eat, go, not go,) as well as the address to her lake house!!
We are now safe, and super exhausted in our hotel room in Milan. I fell in love with Italy today, but I'll fill you in on everything here a bit later. A blog about Italy without pictures/videos seemed just wrong.
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