Velkommen til København aka hope you like the trial-and-error method

So today was my first real day of Copenhagen life though classes don't actually start until Thursday and currently we are just having orientation. I actually live outside the city in a suburb area so it takes about an hour to get to the DIS school which means 1- I need to know where I'm going and how to get there and 2- always leave early. I made it to my destination alright today, however the bus I was supposed to take according to my host mother didn't actually exist and I got on another one that seemed correct. And it was, I just got off a stop too late and had to walk a little back. Luckily I'd realized my mistake without going too far. Oh and another thing about the trains (which are less tricky than buses) is that in the morning they are absolutely silent. Like, I needed to turn my ipod down so others wouldn't be disturbed quiet. It was slightly eery especially because the trains themselves also make little noise. However, I'm sure this will make it a great place to do my reading homework since I do have a 30 min ride.

I've found that this program/school is clearly way more into independence then any other I've been in. I don't find this to be a problem considering we all are in college and boarding that time when we move into being real adults in the outside world but it is rather surprising. Example: everything that was on our orientation schedule was assigned a time and you were assigned a group # so that you could follow your specific times. The catch is no one cares whether you show up or not or has any sort of tab on you. Granted you're hurting yourself in the end by skipping things, but there wasn't any one standing around counting heads or checking off of a list to make sure everyone was here or in the right place. They also don't seem to be into "coddling" or "hand-holding" the students and it's more like try to figure it out your own and if that doesn't work than you take the initiative to ask the questions or get better instructions. In reality they are giving us everything we need and we just need to be sure we are capable enough to handle it. Another example: yesterday we were given a few packets of information about the school and one of them contained a list of the classes and pre-assigned readings that would be due the day of the first class (ugh I can't believe summer is really over). Now since myself and some others had sat around reading all of these papers during our in between time, the list was discovered and we realized it was especially important to pick up our books and check what we needed to do. However, no one from DIS has really said anything about this. While I'm not sure if that's just because they plan on mentioning it tomorrow or we just need (and are expected? ) to realize these things out on our own I'm not sure. It's just something that's different--not in a bad way just in a new way that...builds character? Either way the trial and error way of doing things (choosing buses, finding places, buying food) has been ok so far and if all else fails you can ask someone for help since so many people speak English. (Though I'd like to point out it's still hard to go anywhere and try and understand things since not everything is listed in both languages).

But enough reflection...on our tour today we went to some castles, the little mermaid, the queen's house and the general downtown area so I'll probably post some pictures either here or on facebook later. Tomorrow, we have another day of orientation regarding "survival danish" and "coping in copenhagen." Then I'm probably going to do some grocery shopping with my host mother, Eva. She's actually a grandmother and has hosted about 26 girls before so she is INTENSE. Apparently she's hosted girls on and off since 1991 more so now that her husband has passed away so she is completely on top of things and knows what I need to know and has all sorts of helpful advice. She seems pretty cool so far and I have a pretty big bedroom and an additional room I can use to do work in which is amazing. I also met one of her granddaughters tonight and we had dinner together. Which is when I learned of the one of the smartest inventions I've never seen in USA. To eat dinner the little girl was given a plastic/nylon smock, sort of reverse raincoat like, that covered her entire outfit and was elastic on the wrists. I saw it and thought "omg thats brilliant, why don't the kids i babysit have these." I mean seriously, kids are so messy, all their clothing should be plastic.

On the Dessert Discovery Front: Aebleskiver (pictured at top)- it means "apple slices" but contains no apples (Danish naming of things may or may not = crazy) and they are very yummy. They reminded me of french toast/pancakes or mini donuts. They are small circle puffs of dough that you eat with jam or cinnamon and sugar or syrup or some combination of those.

Ok well that's enough for now!