To update--I have been in Aarhus, Denamark since Tuesday, August 19th. Its hard to believe I have been here 3.5 weeks. The first week or so.....were trying, to say the least. There were definitely times I wanted to say "I am done. Time to go home." I am not typically a quitter by any means, but there have been many things that were less than organized, to put it nicely. I know I can be EXTREMELY type A and organized--I do enjoy making a good list every now and then--however, it BLOWS my mind how a country can be so different than the US. Be thankful for the many, many processes we have in place to make life easy in the US. Because trust me, any task that you need to get accomplished over here takes three times as long. You need to ask three different people before you find one with the correct answer. And then after you finally find the correct answer, it takes 2-3 weeks to process what you need done.
At any rate, I attended Introduction Week
(events specifically for International students,
people new to Aarhus Business School (ASB), as well as Masters students). I met a lot of great people, and have a good circle of friends at the moment. I am closest with Rachel (an American from Minnesota; we are living together now) and Maggie (from Canada). We have many guy friends--it seems easier to make friends with guys than girls here, which could work to our advantage!
Classes have started, and it has been a little difficult to get into the swing of things again--reading chapters and articles.
I guess you could say I was a procrastinator during undergrad, but still managed to graduate Magna Cum Laude. I am not so sure here--these kids were all in the library the FIRST day of classes, highlighting away at those textbooks. Hopefully I am not in for a rude awakening! The exam scenarios are completely different than my undergrad in the US. We don't yet know when they will be, but I do know I have one in January, which potentially messes up my travel plans to go visit back home. But I believe my mom is coming to visit me for Christmas--I have already been invited into my "Buddy's" home to celebrate a traditional Danish Christmas with her and her family. Her name is Nanna, and she has been a lifesaver to me! She helped me get as ahead of the game as possible, which is not too far, but much further than many of the other internationals.
I have gotten involved with soccer, which is fun. I play for, what basically amounts to a Danish Semi-Pro team here (don't get too excited...we are the lowest level!). I play for my schools team, and the level of competition is greater than what I was playing on in Dallas and St. Louis, but less than college. I could get on a higher team, but am not sure I want the commitment. I have not had to practice (twice a week, by the way!) and wear shinguards, full uniforms, and pennies at practice since 2003! Its quite a change, but fun. The girls are much more aggressive here, which I LOVE! Just call me yellow card Liz...totally kidding, I have actually been good, and already have an assist tally to my name (sliding left footer across the mouth of the goal--pretty good for those who know me because I have NO left foot).
It is so interesting to see the different walks of life, and how there are people completely around the world whom you become friends with, even if there are cultural barriers at first. I know the one main lesson/growth I want to come from this is patience in life, and understanding the idea that you can't always plan everything out...what will be will be. A very wise friend has been trying to teach me that lesson for awhile (you know who you are! :) It is definitely something I want to change in myself, and I can honestly tell you, I jumped right in to it. I am much more laid back now; I can't plan everything out, because quite honestly, the culture here just doesn't work that way. Everyone is a lot more relaxed, and more interested in hanging out socially than putting their nose to the grind and hammering it all out in time. It is quite refreshing that the pace of life is much slower than the US.
My roommate Rachel and I have been compiling a list of things that stun us daily. We will be walking down the street, both see something at the same time, and all we can think is, "Why not?!" followed by some laughter. Stay tuned, and I will publish a list. As a teaser...the society is so trusting, moms leave their strollers alone on the sidewalk while they go into the store or cafe...with their babies in them!
I have a new phone number now, for anyone who wishes to call me: 45 29 70 0271. Speaking on the phone is a luxury for me. Email has been great, as well as AOL IM and Yahoo Messenger. I have been lucky enough to web cam with a few: Mom, Dad, Tim, Kevin, Kelly and Naz. It is nice to see and hear all of you, so if you are interested, lets set up a date! I am 7 hours ahead of CST, to give you a timeframe.
I am going to head to bed, and will write more as interesting things happen. When we finally get settled into our apartment (scrubbing 5 years worth of smoke off of the wall, floors, furniture, silverware, etc, is taking a lot more time than anticipated!) I will email pictures. We are hitting IKEA on Saturday, so we should be good to go after that. This weekend will be exciting--Fregasday (Sportsday Celebration) is tomorrow: this involves all the universities in Arhus, and consists of sporting events during the day, and a festival at night, complete with what I am told is the hottest Danish boy band in town...Nik and Jay! It should be interesting. Saturday is our new friend Birgitte's birthday, so we will go out with her friends, and see how a night out with true locals is. And Rachel and I are headed to Munich, Germany next Thursday night for the REAL DEAL....Oktoberfest! That will be a blast!
Peace---definitely won't write as much again probably. This message was making up for the lack thereof the last three weeks. Love you all.
PS--I am so proud of myself for being a little tech nerd with this blog thing! I was inspired by a friend from Dallas that I realized is living in Moscow, Russia now. She is doing the same thing for friends and family back home. I plan to visit her in the coming months!
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