Hej! (hi in Danish)I have never been up for so many consecutive hours in my entire life. 57 hours, yes, I was up for 57 hours.
You’re probably thinking… “you slept on the plane didn’t you,” … Well no, would be my answer to that.
Can you imagine Lars’s (my Danish roommate) first impression of me in this serious state of sleep deprivation? Well, lucky for me he was hung over (although, I couldn’t tell at all because he was very friendly and helpful) I, on the other hand, was very incoherently chatty and giggly… you know how that happens when you haven’t gotten sleep, right? Anyone?
You’re probably thinking… “you slept on the plane didn’t you,” … Well no, would be my answer to that.
Can you imagine Lars’s (my Danish roommate) first impression of me in this serious state of sleep deprivation? Well, lucky for me he was hung over (although, I couldn’t tell at all because he was very friendly and helpful) I, on the other hand, was very incoherently chatty and giggly… you know how that happens when you haven’t gotten sleep, right? Anyone?
OK! I’ll start with the Chicago Airport… words of advice… if you get lost easily, plan extra time into your flight transfer schedules to account for your lost moments. Lucky for me I had a whole eight hours… And no, I didn’t actually need the entire eight hours to navigate my way from terminal 1 to terminal 5.
Ok, Sweden...
The Stockholm airport is incredibly reminiscent of IKEA… and it is fully wooden floored… additionally, very cute seating and lighting included.
The flight to Stockholm was quite interesting… I knew I really needed to sleep, but… I tried… I even made a strategy plan which consisted of drinking three glasses of wine and watching three movies… it failed… all that ended up happening was me blurrily loving the world of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and watching the Swedish couple in front of me play with their kids which was cute until the mom’s 4 foot long pony tail was draped over her chair which means it was hanging in my area… furthermore, over my movie screen… and what are you supposed to do about that… brush her hair to the side? Ask her if she could please move her ponytail from my vicinity? Well… of course… being me, I just waited for her to activate another hair-flinging head swing, while I patiently watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s through a jungle of hair strands. (Eventually her hair moved.)I just have to say… if you haven’t watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s… you might want to. It is now one of my favorite movies.
One good thing about being tipsy on the plane is that the plane food didn’t seem to faze me… or maybe that was just because I was so hungry… I’m not sure. Before our meal arrived, the only thing to eat within my reach were my almonds… and conveniently as I was about to reach for them an announcement was broadcasted saying something like, “there is someone on the plan with a nut allergy so if everyone would cease their nut eating until exiting the plane (eight hours later) that would be great.”
So, no nuts. I had apples, but they were in the overhead bin… who wants to be that person that has to stand up and dig around in the overhead compartment? Well, not me. Also… apples are tasty, but so inconvenient to eat around people and without readily access to running water because they are all juicy and then your hands get sticky… and I really don’t like sticky hands… I really really don’t.
So, as I was saying, because I was tipsy, I didn’t even think twice about eating my plane-friendly-gluten-free meal… If it had been different, I might have been wondering, “Is this fish ball…. Who boils fish fillets tied in knots…and then serves them as a white mangled thing? Also…am I really going to take a bite of this?”
No, none of that crossed my mind. I ate it… at least it was gluten-free. Oh, on the positive side… the oranges that came with it were oddly amazing. I wished I could have just eaten a bunch of those!
Also, because I apparently have “special needs” they served my meal before everyone else’s… and normally I would have been quite embarrassed… but luckily the girl next to me was vegetarian, so she got hers specially made, and it was served at the same time as mine. ha!
Stockholm to Copenhagen
Finally!
Of course after flying for so many hours everyone just wanted to go to their dorms, apartments, houses, ect… but no, ...more waiting and standing in lines! Ahhh!
At last, 6 hours after being in Copenhagen we were allowed to venture to our living situations… actually I shouldn’t say we were allowed to… haha, no no. We were to sit in this auditorium and be called out one by one as our Danish roommate or host family arrived to pick us up. I felt like a package in a post office... which is especially funny when sleep deprived.
Lars!
Thank Goodness! He picked me up… and here I thought we would venture home… oh no, I was wrong… what a surprise...
Lars said that I should get an official bus pass… and to do this I needed a passport size photo… well perfect… I carry one of those around in my pocket daily… right? No! of course not. DIS informed us of everything possible, except that. (And DIS is amazing, so I am really saying that this is the only thing that they forgot to say that we should bring.)
It turns out that there are photo booths at the bus/train/metro station just exactly for this purpose.
You would think using a photo booth would be a piece of cake, right? Wrong.
Ok, you have to remember that I now have been up for 50 consecutive hours… there was not a whole lot making sense at this point… imagine being partially incoherent, and not being able to read directions because they are in a foreign language… oh, not to mention not knowing how to use the money which has to be inserted into the photo booth.
This is my first att
empt. Not joking… If you are my cousin or sister this picture has probably even greater potential to produce some definite laughter.
Oh My.
Lars!
Thank Goodness! He picked me up… and here I thought we would venture home… oh no, I was wrong… what a surprise...
Lars said that I should get an official bus pass… and to do this I needed a passport size photo… well perfect… I carry one of those around in my pocket daily… right? No! of course not. DIS informed us of everything possible, except that. (And DIS is amazing, so I am really saying that this is the only thing that they forgot to say that we should bring.)
It turns out that there are photo booths at the bus/train/metro station just exactly for this purpose.
You would think using a photo booth would be a piece of cake, right? Wrong.
Ok, you have to remember that I now have been up for 50 consecutive hours… there was not a whole lot making sense at this point… imagine being partially incoherent, and not being able to read directions because they are in a foreign language… oh, not to mention not knowing how to use the money which has to be inserted into the photo booth.
This is my first att
empt. Not joking… If you are my cousin or sister this picture has probably even greater potential to produce some definite laughter.Oh My.
I have to explain… I didn’t know what I was doing, I didn’t know it was going to take a picture, and I was so startled due to the brightest flash on earth. Even Lars who was standing outside the booth was startled… who then informed me that I was supposed to close the photo booth curtain… hmmm, yes I would forget that bit of the process.
It turns out that there were two options, one big picture or 4 little pictures… I misunderstood (of course) and thought is was one small picture or four small pictures. So, I had to retake it, not only because I wasn’t in the right position to pass bus pass regulations but also because I am not all that great at paying attention and following directions. So attempt number 2:
Well wouldn’t you know, I had no idea what I was doing the second time around. Haha… at least one was usable… although I have to add that it isn’t the most flattering of photos… what a surprise… and to explain the second two pictures… I didn’t know the pictures were still being taken…so, my red bag ended up being my stand-in.
Bus Pass Complete!
Then we had to go to the grocery store… But… stores in Copenhagen aren’t open on Sundays, except for the one called Netto. When we got there… I was truthfully very concerned, to say the least… the produce shelves were empty except for one bag of apples that were brown and squishy, a box of potatoes, and some leek/onion looking things. Additionally, I found a bag of misplaced carrots sitting on top of a box in the dairy isle. Haha, I was trying to hide my horror, but now (a week later) I found that that is only the case on Sundays. Thank goodness!!!! Every other day the produce section is fully stocked.
And I should add that Lars did end up making a fantastic dinner which we at in candle light, because that is what the Danes do. (I’ll explain about the candlelight in a later post.)
I haven’t had much time to take pictures yet because I have spent my time getting lost, or trying to become unlost. But… here are a few of where I live… (there are many more to come.)
My Courtyard
It turns out that there were two options, one big picture or 4 little pictures… I misunderstood (of course) and thought is was one small picture or four small pictures. So, I had to retake it, not only because I wasn’t in the right position to pass bus pass regulations but also because I am not all that great at paying attention and following directions. So attempt number 2:
Well wouldn’t you know, I had no idea what I was doing the second time around. Haha… at least one was usable… although I have to add that it isn’t the most flattering of photos… what a surprise… and to explain the second two pictures… I didn’t know the pictures were still being taken…so, my red bag ended up being my stand-in.
Bus Pass Complete!
Then we had to go to the grocery store… But… stores in Copenhagen aren’t open on Sundays, except for the one called Netto. When we got there… I was truthfully very concerned, to say the least… the produce shelves were empty except for one bag of apples that were brown and squishy, a box of potatoes, and some leek/onion looking things. Additionally, I found a bag of misplaced carrots sitting on top of a box in the dairy isle. Haha, I was trying to hide my horror, but now (a week later) I found that that is only the case on Sundays. Thank goodness!!!! Every other day the produce section is fully stocked.
And I should add that Lars did end up making a fantastic dinner which we at in candle light, because that is what the Danes do. (I’ll explain about the candlelight in a later post.)
I haven’t had much time to take pictures yet because I have spent my time getting lost, or trying to become unlost. But… here are a few of where I live… (there are many more to come.)
My Courtyard
My Door (yep, I have an actual key hole)
My Key (this is one of my favorite parts (of life)) …the small things
My Room (these are the doors that open to my little balcony)
The Night View (from my balcony)
A Lost Plant …I keep passing it on my way home and I also just keep wondering who puts a plant right there, why is it there, also why (week later) is it still so green?
Bikes… Everywhere, Really.
Yep, they don’t lock their bikes up…. Danes actually trust each other… what a concept.
Even though this post was not incredibly positive… I promise I am having an amazing time… these were just my first trials and tribulations… Also, I have to add that it is a good thing I refuse take life too seriously because if I had not been able to laugh at myself, this journey would have been a lot less entertaining….
More Adventures to Come… stay tuned. (Gluten-Free Adventures Included! (I found Cooqi's cousin))
Just me,
Megan.
