my coffee cup goes everywhere with me

wow

a whole week since my last post?

is it because i have been so crazy busy doing crazy amazing things, and have thus not had time?

or is it because i haven't really done much worthy of blogging lately?

.... i'll just leave you to wonder....

so

yesterday we went to sweden

just cause we can

it's about a 40 minute train ride to Malmö

there is a very cool bridge involved, too

in sweden it was about a billion degrees below zero. but very sunny and otherwise lovely.

we wandered around for a while and saw lots of very practical furniture and very blond people.

also there were some pretty quaint little streets, and a castle, and a farmer's market, and i went to a reptile zoo thing that had like five different species of monkeys. it was pretty neat. i really have a thing for monkeys. also there were some huge turtles and iguanas and snakes, so that was pretty cool. animals that look like dinosaurs are always awesome. after dinner we sortof got stranded in sweden. all trains to Kobenhavn were cancelled and the sign said "take bus instead" (according to my Norwegian friend. as if I could make any sense of Swedish. it might be even more ridiculous than Danish. maybe.) but do you think that we could find a bus? or even a person who could point us in the right direction? Sweden is a very strange place. but after two hours the trains started again. so that was nice.

you'll be interested to know, i'm sure, that people in Malmo also leave their children outside in buggies on the street. we were eating lunch upstairs in a cafe, and the couple beside us had a little baby monitor thing. and as we were leaving, the mom went outside and pulled the tiniest little human that i've ever seen out of a buggy that was parked by the cafe window. this kids-in-the-street thing still gets me every time. once, on oprah, i saw that it's common in iceland too. but my norwegian friend thinks it's very strange so apparently it doesn't happen in Norway. I am curious about finland... i will have to go there.  (But then, of course, we got to thinking - who would steal a baby? Honestly, what are the chances of somebody who just happens to be THAT crazy wandering by whilst you're enjoying your lunch and your two-month-old is siesta-ing outside?  Do people who are THAT kind of crazy even exist? Who wants to steal a newborn? I don't even think I've ever seen that happen on CSI...)

ok well. i was discussing with my friend the other day how so far this doesn't feel like an academic exchange. i just feel as if i'm on holiday. i have a five day weekend (wtf!?). one of my classes is a super slacker "Course in Danish Culture"... it's a lecture for international students, so do you really think that i will do those readings? My other class, however, will be much more intense, it's just that the ball hasn't gotten rolling yet. we had one class two weeks ago, and then last week it was cancelled. however, it's a pretty intense seminar course with lots of master's students and i have about 200 pages to read for it this week. THEREFORE, today, tomorrow, and tuesday, I am actually going to attempt to do my first installment of KU homeworking/studying. i'm pretty excited about it. i hope it doesn't harm my health. i'll let you know how it goes. 

(ps TARYN - i have NO idea how to pronounce the title of my blog... i found it in my danish phrase book... it means "Keep Refrigerated".... i start Danish language classes tomorrow, so i'll get back to you on that one...)

us in front of the best house in Sweden.

the castle

the best house in Sweden and the tallest building in Sweden (actually)

baby common marmoset! if i was gonna steal a baby, it would be this one.

pygmy marmoset... it wasn't in an enclosure at all, just in a big room with bats where people could wander around. it was strange. also very cool.

dinosaurs on the left, tamarin on the right. at this zooish type place, they housed a lot of animals of different species in the same enclosures (there were also big turtle things in this particular enclosure). it was really cool.

malmo! i like this picture... quaint houses, a cool mural, and the best street sign i've ever seen (i don't know what exactly it's supposed to mean though).

searching for a place to eat food

me and malmo city hall. note the sunglasses. it was nice to need to wear sunglasses for a change.

windmills in the channel, as seen from inside the train whilst crossing the bridge. windmills are almost as cool as graffiti and cranes (have i mentioned that i love graffiti and cranes? i might start a blog dedicated entirely to pictures of those two things...)

this is back in copenhagen, walking home from downtown (on friday, when it was also sunny!) ((Mom and Dad and Jen - the hotel where you are staying is in the background of this picture on the left... if you click on it to blow it up, you can see the hotel's sign clearly))

i count murals in the same category as "graffiti".... although i suppose they are somewhat different. perhaps i should go with "Street Art". either way, it's awesome.

this is my house after it snowed last week. the window in the top left hand corner of this picture is my room... and my balcony is right there where the wall ends.

this is my street. the name of which i cannot pronounce.

i did laundry last week. it was quite an adventure. there were three slots for different potions in the washing machine. i just guessed and dumped in a bunch of each thing that was on top of the machine. my clothes came out lovely and clean (although everything was tinted green from my towel cause apparently there is no "cold water" option in denmark) and smells very fresh. too fresh. my room still reeks of Danish Tide. sometimes it makes me choke a lot. anyways. these are my socks drying. the black socks have the days of the week in danish written on them. i love those socks. (... i have no idea why i decided to include this picture)

until next time!

sunshine and snowflakes,

-ahsbury