Author: Kathryn

I Was Adventurous!

As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, I am an absurdly picky eater. Almost every day I have been in Denmark, I have eaten cheese or potatoes in one form or another. So when I heard we would be eating traditional Danish cuisine for dinner, I freaked.

“What on earth am I going to eat?” I thought to myself.

My friends who had been on the trip in the previous year said the food was good, but may not be the best for picky eaters. They said one of the ladies on the trip last year was as picky as I was, and she did not exactly love the meal.

At this point, I am honestly terrified. I want to like all foods. I really do. I just can’t! The idea of any seafood makes me squirm, and I know that traditional Danish cuisine is full of it. I have a minor shrimp and salmon allergy that I quite honestly rarely think about, as I never am in a restaurant that serves one of those things.

When we got to the restaurant, Host, it was absolutely gorgeous. Anders said the restaurant had once won an award for the decor. We were seated in a beautiful, dimly-lit basement that was surprisingly warm. I thought the cellars and basements were supposed to be cold?

The waitresses came around to ask everyone about allergies and other dietary needs. I mentioned my shrimp and salmon allergies, but said I did not know if I was allergic to other seafood. She said the restaurant would just give me nothing from the sea, and boy was I relieved! Not only am I nervous because seafood is so weird looking and creepy, but I have a family history of seafood allergies. My mom is allergic to all fish, and my cousins are allergic to all shellfish. The only seafood I have ever eaten, enjoyed, and was not allergic to was crab. I have eaten it twice in my 19 years. I probably will keep up that year-to-crab ratio for the rest of my life.

Every time a course came out, I was suspicious. Everything looked so strange. However, I was reassured when I took a bite. There was nothing that I was served that I did not thoroughly enjoy.

The photo I have set as my featured image was the first course I was given. It clearly looks a little weird, but it was far from weird! It was a fruit base with green strawberries and a little bit of oil. I even enjoyed my beet salad, and enjoying a salad is a rarity for me! The delicious cheese sauce may have helped. The tapioca bubbles were likely one of my favorite parts of the meal. The main course was also divine; a pork piece with some sort of green sauce on top.

Although I came into the restaurant incredibly nervous, I cam out with a tremendous smile on my face. The abundance of wine may have helped with the smile.

I Scream, You Scream…

…We all scream because I am slightly lactose intolerant and I am not sure how my stomach handled so much ice cream at once. I never puked. That is truly a miracle.

I pride myself in my ability to eat large quantities of food, especially compared to my size. There are times when I will consume so much food I will genuinely look as if I am multiple months pregnant. Compared to my body size, my “food baby” can get pretty large.

I am never one who will say no to a challenge. I am incredibly competitive by nature, and if I believe I can do something, you bet I am going to give it my all.

However, I could never have guessed what I had signed up for when I decided to do the ice cream challenge.

When I saw pictures of previous students holding up their tremendous cones participating in the ice cream challenge, I was all in. I mea, I love ice cream! What more could I ask for? One of my friends who went on the trip last year completed the challenge, and she is about my size, and she got a great picture. I thought, why not? I can do it for the photo if nothing else.

As soon as that cone was filled and handed to me, I knew I was in trouble.

I could not eat the ice cream fast enough. My flowy shirt was flying into my face and my ice cream (terrible clothing decision for a windy day with a tremendous ice cream cone). I could not whale it down quickly enough to finish it before the rumblings in my tummy began. I was most of the way done with the top piece of soft ice when they began.

Oh no, I thought, this is not good.

I already had my photos so I *technically* had done everything I promised myself (and my mother). I could give up. I could say, oh well, I tried, and I failed.

But who wants to try and fail? I was in it to win it!

After about 10 trips to and from the store to collect napkins for my ever dripping ice cream and to warm my constantly frigid body, I did it. I finished the ice cream.

No one would get anywhere near me for the rest of the night, for fear that every burp may not just be a burp.

But hey, I still finished it!

Finishing the single largest ice cream cone I have every seen is something I will brag about for at least the rest of my college career, but most likely for the rest of my life.

Finding Food

I have always been a ridiculously picky eater. I don’t think I ate anything except grilled cheese sandwiches, cheese pizza, and plain spaghetti noodles until I was five. Although I eat more foods now than I did when I was five, I still am very particular about what I eat.

As a result of my pickiness, I truly despise eating with groups. My order is always along the lines of “Can I have the cheeseburger except with no lettuce, onions, tomato?”

Their response? “So you want a bun, burger, and cheese.”

Yes! Now can we please move on and let me pay? I do not want to deal with my minimalist order any longer!

However, while I have been in Denmark, it has been really hard to avoid eating in groups. From the moment we got here, we were eating class dinners and eating meals together. At first, I would simply plan all of my friend’s meals because I enjoy researching on Trip Advisor, as well as studying the menu so I can make sure I will eat at least one thing on the menu.

It has proven to be pretty difficult. I hate sandwiches, wraps, most salads, all seafood, eggs, pretty much all breakfast food, and many other commonly eaten foods.

That was when I discovered a beautiful thing: markets!

I went to the Glass Market (Torvehallerne) my first week in Copenhagen. My first visit was such a success, that I have proceeded to eat there just about every single day since I have been here.

One of the things I like best about markets is the fact that no one in your group has to eat the same thing, or even order from the same booth. Markets are 20 restaurants built into one. For breakfast, I can get porridge and a smoothie, and for lunch I could get a pizza. Even I could eat every meal at the Glass Market and find something I enjoyed for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I sometimes do.

A few days later in my second week in Denmark, I discovered Paper Island (Papirøen), also known as Copenhagen Street Food. It is not too far from one of my favorite Copenhagen landmarks: the sidewalk trampolines!

My first visit, Maggie encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and try the duck fat fries. I was a little appalled at first, but I quickly was reassured after eating a few. Additionally, the barbecue was significantly better than I expected, especially outside of the south. Us Virginians take great pride in our barbecue.

I have visited Paper Island multiple times since my first visit and attempted to try new foods and booths each time I go. I am not successful every time, but hey, I am trying to step out of my comfort zone.

Over the summer, I tried tacos for the first time in my life. I was a 19-year old who had never eaten a taco. Today, during my second visit of the day to the Glass Market, I decided to try another one (I honestly had not eaten another one since).

Guess what? It was delicious.

I guess going abroad has not only brought me out of my comfort zone physically. I have lived in Virginia my entire life and have never spent a significant amount of time away from the Old Dominion State. I think going abroad has also forced me to try new food and (most of the time) enjoy them.

 

Feeling Like a Tour Guide

Friday and Saturday, the first years from W&L got here for their Business 180 class. Having already been here for two and a half weeks, I felt ready to show the group around Copenhagen.

Today, we were unfortunately unable to take our tour around Copenhagen. As a person who loves maps and exploring, I took this as a chance to explore around Copenhagen. Cassidy and I were heading to Nyhavn when we ran into a group of first years, who looked hopelessly lost. Cassidy and I took them under our wing and headed over to Nyhavn to let them take tourist-y photos. They were so excited to finally find where they had been looking for.

After that, we headed over to one of my favorite parts of the city: the sidewalk trampolines! Everyone took photos and videos of them jumping around. They tried to see who could jump between the trampolines.

Next, we hit another one of Copenhagen’s highlights: Paper Island! I loved being able to show them the incredible food of Paper Island. I introduced them to duck fat fries, Danish barbecue (surprisingly delicious), and monster mojitos. It is so weird for all of us to be legal to drink in Copenhagen, as none of us are legal to drink in the United States. I think that has been one of the strangest and most difficult things to get used to in Denmark; I can order a glass of wine with dinner and I will not be ID’ed.

We continued to walk around Copenhagen and explore all the city has to offer. One of the first years even said “I have already fallen in love with the city.” It was so rewarding to be able to combine my love of exploring, maps, and showing people around.

Growing up, my father had an incredible sense of direction, while my mom’s was to say it simply, terrible. I, luckily, inherited my father’s sense of direction. I grew up directing my mother around a city I have lived in for much shorter than she. With a map in hand when I was ten, (yes, a real paper map!) I could get my mother anywhere in Richmond. By middle school, I could navigate my way to just about any city in Virginia. I now am fairly confident getting anywhere on the East Coast.

Coming to Copenhagen, I was excited to navigate a new city. I picked it up fairly quickly; I can get anywhere in the city after one walk in the daylight.

I was more than thrilled to share my knowledge of the city today. I hope they can pick up on Copenhagen’s roads as quickly as I did!

 

Copenhagen Comfort

Before I came to Copenhagen, my friends as well as my parents’ friends told me that it was one of the greatest cities in the world. It is safe, easy to navigate, and beautiful. The safety of the city was part of the reason I applied to come here in the first place. As soon as I got here, I realized that everyone was right; Copenhagen truly is special.

However, I did not realize the full extent of Copenhagen’s safety until I decided to leave for the weekend. Me and two of my friends decided on Barcelona for a weekend destination. As opposed to mountains of compliments for the city I heard before heading to Copenhagen, the people sang a very different chorus.

“Make sure to keep your bag in front of you at all times.”

“Talk to no one. Make eye contact with no one. No one is your friend.”

“Those pickpockets are professionals; they have your phone and wallet before you even know what happened.”

To say the least, these comments made me a little bit uneasy. I had already booked my flight and my hostel; what was I supposed to do about it then?

When we got to Spain, we never took our hands off of our personal devices. I wore a fanny pack for the entirety of our trip. We never left our phones on the table while we ate, and we never texted while we walked down the street. We were hyper-aware of our surroundings at all time. Other than a few Spanish men catcalling us, no one tried to speak to us.

When we woke up the next day, we were excited to see all the beautiful sites Barcelona had to offer. We saw beaches, La Sagrada Familia, and Park Guella. Everything was beautiful I really enjoyed looking at the cathedral (from the outside, hours of lines to get in), walking around the park, and seeing beaches where former Olympic athletes once walked.

However, we did the majority of this from the comfort of our hop on, hop off tour bus. The city was incredibly un-walkable, which was weird for me. It was both huge and hilly. Everywhere we wanted to go was at least two miles away. It was weird having to constantly get cabs or a bus. I missed Copenhagen a lot in that aspect, because I really love being able to walk everywhere easily.

Although the weather here is not nearly as beautiful (the city can’t have it all, right?), I am happy to be back in the great city of Copenhagen. Do not get me wrong; I am so glad I went. However, I missed the safety and security that Copenhagen has to offer. Even when walking around at one in the morning, I felt comfortable. I walked alone for four hours up and down Stroget and never once felt uneasy. Spain, you were beautiful, but Copenhagen is the European city that truly has my heart.

Everyone Thinks I Am Danish

At almost every store I go into, at every restaurant I walk to, and even in the elevators, everyone speaks to me in Danish.
I know Danish is the official language of Denmark, but it seems most of my friends are not being regularly spoken to in Danish. However, it seems that I am everywhere I go.
I suppose it is the combination of my blonde hair and dark clothing that makes people believe I am a local, but alas, I have never been to the country before. I would rather fit in than stick out.
Unfortunately, the lack of Danish language knowledge makes me feel helpless and dumb.
Not only do I have no idea how to respond when people begin speaking to me in the language, but I also cannot read anything that has been written on advertisements, menus, and even water bottles. I have almost bought sparkling water rather than still water multiple times because quite honestly, I can’t tell the difference in their Danish words. As if I knew what the Danish words were in the first place.
I feel so much better knowing that most of the people here speak English as well, but when I left the city of Copenhagen, it was not quite the same. I tried to order an ice cream cone and they had no clue what I meant when I said “waffle cone” and “rainbow sprinkles.” It was like I was speaking a foreign language to them. Probably because I was.
I would really like to learn Danish, but it is so hard going into a country and knowing absolutely nothing about the language, then suddenly being immersed into it. They say it is easier to learn a language when you are in the country, but how can I learn the language when I have no base? It is like running on uneven sidewalks; I do not know how to begin controlling my footing.
However, the majority of the people have been very friendly, despite my lack of understanding of their language. Many people speak in perfect English, which makes communication much easier.
As a person who has rarely left the United States, I am not used to being the one unable to speak the native tongue. This has been an incredibly eye opening experience, seeing things from another perspective. Instead of being in the majority for languages, I am in the minority. However, because of the way I appear, people still believe I am in the majority. I am not upset they assume I am Danish, it simply makes communicating that much harder and more embarrassing. The look of confusion and horror I likely give off when someone speaks to me in Danish is mortifying, and I am sure they think I am just another dumb, uncultured American who came to Denmark without knowing Danish.
I hope to begin picking up some Danish phrases throughout my time here. I have found a link with some useful Danish phrases and their pronunciation. I hope they will help me successfully let the people know that I am not actually Danish.

 

 

http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/danish.php