Two Weeks Already?!

Hello faithful followers! I am sorry I have not posted in a very long time, but I have been crazy busy, as I'm sure you can imagine. Since it has been a long time, I'm afraid this post will be a little big long, so I am going to try to break it down a little into categories. I'll tell you a little about my observations and then I will tell you some of the stuff I have been doing.
The Danes: The way they were described, the Danes sounded cold and aloof, but this is not the impression I have gotten at all. They are incredibly patient and understanding people. If you get lost and ask for directions, they will either give you very detailed directions or (more likely) they will actually take you were you need to go themselves. In talking with other DIS students, someone said that their train broke down and they had to walk on the tracks to the next station to catch a train that was waiting there for them. The student said that the Danes treated it like it was any other day and nothing out of the ordinary was going on. This amazes me, because I know that Americans would have been fuming to have to put in this extra effort. The Danes are also very considerate. The trains are always very quiet; the Danes really believe that you are entitled to this peace and quiet, and so they don't speak, or if they do, it is very quietly. In addition, Danes seem to be very trusting people. I guess there was a special on this on 60 Minutes, but they just leave their babies outside in their strollers while they go into a store to do their shopping...no joke! I have seen it! They are very well bundled up, but it is something about the fresh air in winter...anyway, it's definitely something that Social Services would take away your kids for in the US. The Danes are also very active: they bike a lot of places and I have seen many people running, even in this weather.
Public Transportation: Recently I have perhaps been unfairly hating on public transportation. There is a lot of construction going on, so sometimes the train isn't running through stations it should be, or it is delayed, etc. Which would be fine if I could understand what the screens say...but they are in Danish, so I can't, which leads to a lot of confusion. The other day the train was evidently stuck somewhere (something about the cold weather makes them not run well, I guess) and I ended up 30 minutes late for class, even though I was actually early to the station. I guess there are not normally all these problems, but the weather was made things difficult.
The Food: Mmmmmm. The Danes eat a lot of potatoes and pork, especially with gravy. I have yet to experience pickled herring, so my fears of eating terrible, strange things have been put to rest. I have loved every meal we have eaten, though I do miss American breakfast. I will need to start running soon or eating all this bread will make me fat. In addition, I have discovered the phenomenon that is Sankt Peder's Bageri (St. Peter's Bakery). They make the most WONDERFUL things, and their cinnamon rolls are huge and yummy and only cost 12 kroner! (That is about 2.40-2.50 in USD). I am determined that one of these days I will work up the courage to order in Danish. (To order a Danish, you say, "Jeg vil garne have et stykke wienerbrod." [with the slash through the o])
My Host Family: I love them! They are so nice and helpful and understanding. They even make my lunch everyday, since they are making one for Mathias and Julie anyway. I have to say, I have now experienced the anti-clothes-ness now. I have seen my host dad in his boxers, my host mom in her underwear, and my host mom in her bra. I was proud of myself for not even reacting to this situation, but on another matter I lost it entirely...On Wednesday we ordered pizza and they cut it with SCISSORS. Like, they busted out the scissors and cut the pizza like it was paper. I couldn't help it...I think I actually laughed through the entire meal. I will say that Mathias is very quiet and shy, but I am determined to make him talk by the end of the semester. I want more than 1 word answers to my questions!
The Weather: I think I mentioned in my last post that it is unseasonably cold here. We are also getting like record breaking amounts of snow, which, coming from NH, isn't actually saying much. We got 4-6 inches Wed., and they couldn't really handle it. I don't think they have the capability and manpower to remove the snow, and the streets are still really slushy and messy. This slippery mess combined with the cobblestones (far older and more uneven than those in Boston) is a near lethal combination. I am expecting a wipe-out any day now.
The Academics: So far I like my classes, though my core course and cancer course have an excessive amount of reading. However, all my teachers seem good, and I especially love my Danish teacher. She is so much fun. The academics are a little different from Gettysburg (the science classes expect more class participation and do a little less of the "I lecture, you take notes" approach that I am used to), but nothing I can't handle. I will say that it is a little difficult going to school with people from other schools, as they definely have a different character to them. Gettysburg is pretty laid back on the outside...outright competition for the better grade/right to appear smarter is frowned upon a lot there. However, here I have to take classes with people who go to Cornell, Brown, Yale, etc., and some of them are rather pretentious, which is a difficult thing to swallow. I love the experiential learning style at DIS. We have Wednesdays off from classes so we can do field studies. This past Wednesday, we went to Odense to see the Hans Christian Andersen museum for my Hans Christian Andersen and the Danish Golden Age class. It was pretty sweet, and the town was soooooo cute, but we ended up spending more than double the time that we spent at the museum on a bus. I was going to add pictures, but this doesn't seem to want to let me, so I will have to add them in a later post. I promise I will add them once I get this figured out, especially since I have actually uploaded them to my computer. Anyway, I guess that is it for academics for now. Oh! I was elected as a class representative for my Complexity of Cancer class, which basically means if people have concerns about the class they can talk to me and I am sort of a link to the teachers. Woot for overachieving!
Well, I am off to Kronborg Castle tomorrow in Elsinore (where Hamlet takes place!) so I should get to bed. Godt weekenden!