Biking Bornholm

DIS offers their students various weekend trips to sign up for and after seeing "Bornholm Biking Trip" on the list last spring Becca and I had to immediately put our name's down on the list. Any chance to bike in Europe and we're there. We left last Friday night on an overnight ferry with about 130 other DIS students and arrived on the island of Bornholm early Saturday morning. Although many of the other students complained about having to rough it on the floor, Becca and I found a cosy spot and snuggled up in our sleeping bags O'land style.

Sunrise view from our hostel upon arrival

Saturday we arrived in Gudjhem, set our things away in the hostel, and immediately hoped on the rusty old bikes that were provided for us (many with only 3 gears) and made route for the Killer Tour, a total of 80k (approximately 50 miles). The morning consisted of beautiful biking with the coast on our right and bright green fields and Danish cottages to our left with a powerful tailwind pushing us all the way. 

Watch Guard Tower

So Blessed.

However, once we switched directions the there was the strongest headwind I think I have ever experience. Each pedal was a constant struggle. Becca and I were working hard to fight through the wind and comparing it to the torture of what we faced in Oklahoma and Kansas during the AC; I don't know how non-experienced bikers made it through the ride. Cheers to them! We stopped in Duesde, a beach known for having the finest sand in the world, for our half way point! They even export the sand for hourglasses. 

Sand blown in the eyes!

Being in Bornholm, we had to stop and have the well known herring for lunch! Delicious. From lunchtime on we used all of our energy and navigation skills to make it back to the hostel before dinner. We defeated the headwinds like it was our job. 

DAY TWO:

We took it easy. I wanted to enjoy Sunday with my AZD sisters and explore the town of Gudjhem. We went biking up a few miles to a beautiful beach, went on a short hike, ate plenty of homemade chocolate and ice-cream, shopped in the small town stores, and most importantly had the best pizza of my life. 

I couldn't help but be reminded of Kit and Pop (and Daisy and Lily)!

Swan Lake

This semester I surprised myself by taking a class on the History of European Ballet, History being the main word. (As much as the Royal Danish Ballet wants me, I have not become a dancer.) Even more surprisingly, I am absolutely loving the class. My professor has been teaching at DIS for over 40 years and is the epitome of a little Danish grandfather who lives for European ballets; the joy he brings to the classroom is forever present.  Last Thursday night my classmates and I went to our first ballet performance to see Swan Lake at the Opera House in Copenhagen. Having never been to a ballet before, I left speechless from not only the exquisite dancing, outstanding costumes and designs, but also the amazing symphony that left my head bobbing throughout the entire show. The pictures below begin with the walk and boat ride over to the Opera House, along with a stop to get pastries, and then they proceed to show the remarkable architecture of the Opera House. Unfortunately I was not allowed to take photos during the performance.

DK Mailbox

Most who know me are very aware that I am absolutely in love with snail mail and anything that has to do with mail; from the postage stamp to the pen you use to the mailbox you put it in. There is something so exciting, comforting, and personal about getting a letter or postcard from friends and family when you are away. Earlier this summer I met with Becca in DC and made a trip to the National Postal Museum (yes, we are dorks) and we obviously had to take a picture in front of Denmark's bright red mailbox. After being in Denmark for almost a month, let me tell you- the mailbox at the DC museum is all too clean. A DK mailbox is not a place worth leaving your letters without the significant marks of "graffiti-fied" designs and pigeon poop. The mailboxes within the city and neighborhoods all have their own bit of character and charm to give me a smile as a walk by and a reminder that my fantastic life in Denmark is reality!

Becca and I at the National Postage Museum in June 2010

And if you want to write me (yes, yes, yes!) my address is:

Margaret Spotts
DIS Copenhagen Office
Vestergade 7
DK 1456, Copenhagen K, Denmark

I promise a postcard back in return! :)

To Sweden and Back

As a student at DIS, I picked a core class called 'Cross Cultural Encounters in a European Context' in which I get to take two study tours: one three day trip to Sweden and a week long trip to Istanbul in October. This past weekend my class piled onto the tour bus and hauled it across the Baltic Sea and all around Sweden. It would be an understatement to say that I had a fantastic time. The trip was the definition of fantastic even despite the cold and cloudy weather.

While all of the other DIS classes went around Denmark, our class got the pleasure of going to Sweden to travel and compare Denmark's immigration policies to that of Sweden's. Our first quick stop was to the city of Rosengård which is considered the "ghetto" of Sweden. A little background of the city: it houses some 111 different nationalities, only 39% of the residents have a job, and there can be between 300/400 kids who live within one block. After a visit with Brick's representatives, a group that works in the area to help with integration of the area, we took a ten minute drive over to Malmø.

In Malmø we were given two hours to go explore the city and it was blatantly obvious that we weren't in Denmark, nor Rosengard, anymore. It was of higher class compared to Rosengard and had much more history and charm to the city, but with around ~46% of Swedes being foreigners, we definitely were not surrounded by the beautiful blue-eyed blondes like we are in Copenhagen.

A group of us walked on over to Malmös, the oldest Renaissance castle in Scandinavia laid in 1436 which has served under several different powers and was even a prison during the late 1800's. Although the history makes it sound cool to some regard, the castle is weak sauce compared to the castle's in Denmark. 

Do you know what's not weak sauce?

...Becca!

All weekend long, Becca and I couldn't get over the fact that we were in Sweden. We are in Europe. This is our life. A life that can't get much better.

When in Sweden, eat a Falafel!

With lunch and free time over, we had another academic visit but this time to the Red Cross House of Humanity. After the first ten minutes of the tour and lecture, it was quite obvious that I wasn't feeling the humanitarian issues at stake and although interesting to some of my peers, I would have much rather  fast forward to when we arrived in Gothenburg late in the evening after a 3.5 hour bus ride.

Friday was filled to the brim with events. 

Starting with a trip to the Museum of World Culture. 

Although the Museum was impressive, lunch at Bagels & More was without a doubt the best decision of the day. Becca, Clair (a newly loved friend!), and I were in heaven with mouth watering vegetable soup and warm, fully loaded, honey/walnut bagel sandwiches! My heart is melting away at the thought of how delicious it was.

Next on our academic list: Round Table with Gothenburg University Minority/Migration researcher Goran Larsson. Nothing too interesting to report on this topic except a shout out to family back home that don't worry - you're not going to have to break and reinforce my political views when I return home...thus far. :) 

Fun fact about Gottenborg: it is one of the main settings of the book 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

With the academic side of the trip done, DIS filled our afternoon with a Boat Tour of Gothenburg throughout the old moat and canals of the city dating back to the 17th century (pictures above), then took us out to a fancy-dancy restaurant called Brasserie Lipp, and the next morning we departed to a town on the coast called Varberg where we went sea kayaking and out on a sailboat.

Trip = EPIC success and only leaves me counting down the days until TURKEY!