Yummies

Blue Havana

  

It was like a sign from the universe or something. 

All the blue things in front of me just happened to align perfectly at the exact moment that I wanted to take a photo.

Thank you, universe.

Cuban Cars

a love/hate relationship

Oh printmaking, you put me through so much! I can't even count the number of late nights I spend laboring away in the studio hunched over my copper plates. You do nothing for my posture and back aches. Your chemicals are harsh on my skin and my arms get cramped from the inking process. It makes me nervous when I have no idea what the final piece will actually look like until the very end.

But I have learned to accept all that goes wrong as "happy mistakes" and to make it work. There is nothing like the feeling you get when you finally crank that printing press, lift those blankets, peel away the plate, and look at your paper; delayed gratification.

study date

October is almost over and we're in the middle of the semester, knee deep in exams and due dates. Some people choose to study in the little cubicles at the school libraries, but the feel is too clinical and the silence is pressuring. I prefer little cafes where the conversations, music, and clinking of stirring spoons fade into white noise. I disappear into my own world of whatever I'm studying at the moment.

Autumn has shed its leaves and I can feel winter slowly creeping in. Time needs to slow down.

mood

 We tried Ethiopian food for the first time. It was delicious.

darkroom

darkroom

fat cat

Columbus has gotten a lot bigger since this picture was taken last summer, but now there's more of him to love.

Back

I've almost been home for a month now. Life happens at a slower pace here. I lived with my parents for two weeks and now I'm back on my own. Moving is always exciting and I finally have my own bedroom again.

København, jeg savner dig.

life

Okay, so it's been a while since I've posted and other than my parents and Betty, I don't even know if anyone reads this stuff! Anyway, life has been pretty hectic and amazing since my last post.

In short, I have traveled to the following countries:
 

 France

 Spain

Morocco

Germany

and Sweden

I have also:
- received my marks for the courses I've taken in Copenhagen (Surprisingly,I did pretty well!)
- gone to several good bye dinners/parties for friends.. all the exchange students are leaving one by one
- extended my plane ticket home... I'm staying 2 extra weeks, which still isn't enough
- been following the World Cup
- finally enjoying the good weather in Copenhagen

I might also travel around Denmark a bit for a couple of days next week if all things work out : )

I really can't believe that everything is coming to an end so quickly! All of a sudden, it's time to think about packing up and leaving everything behind. Two of my room mates are already gone and life in the apartment just isn't the same. I've spent the last six months trying to immerse myself into the danish culture and calling Copenhagen my home. It's hard to imagine all these experiences fitting into the two suitcases sitting under my bed.

Anyway, in celebration of Canada Day ...

Ta daaaa!!

21 !

Hello. I haven't written in a while and I guess I should do a massive life update.

May has been a really amazing month so far. First of all... I am DONE with school! Woohoo! HELLO SUMMER!

No more class, essays, or exams to deal with. The last exam was for my Health in Emergencies and Refugee Health class. It was an intense 4 hour typed exam. That's right, typed. I've never had a typed exam before, but I actually quite like it. The exam room was set up with rows and rows of computers. It's a lot less painful than writing for 4 hours, and I can type a lot faster than I write. There were 11 short essay questions. I ended up with about 6 pages. The max was 8, I believe.

 Every day, I bike to class. It takes about 10 minutes. This is where I park my bike outside of my campus... along with the 100923480 other student bikes.

 Then I walk down some brightly colored hallways with automatic doors. This whole building use to be an old hospital. Now it's been converted to be part of the university campus: the Center for Sundhed og Samfund (Health and Society).

 Some fellow classmates chatting it up after class : )

So anyway. There's a little taste of what school is like here on exchange. It worked out PERFECTLY that my last exam was on May 14th because my birthday was the day after!!!! It's been one of the best birthdays ever. I'm very lucky to be surrounded by good friends from all over the world and to have the birthday wishes from everyone back home as well. The day started with... 

 Surprise birthday pancakes!!!!!!!!!!!! (i.e. the BEST kind of pancakes)

 Followed by .. Surprise birthday berry cake!!!!!!!!

Birthday flowers!!!!!

It turns out that Daria also has the same birthday as me, so we decided to celebrate together and to throw one big party for all our friends. The theme? Crazy hats and mustaches. It was an AMAZING night. I didn't end up sleeping until the sun came out the next morning. The pictures are pretty ridiculous and hella funny.

Møns Klint

Yesterday we took a trip to Møns Klint (the cliffs of Møns). It's a beautiful park with white chalk cliffs all along the coast. We hiked in the forest, walked along the chalky beach, took silly pictures, had a picnic, and took in the fresh air. The water was tinted a beautiful shade of light blue from the chalk. I really suck at writing, so I'll just post the pictures.

Louisiana

Last month, I took a day trip with Tory to Louisiana (the museum of modern art). It's a bit outside of Copenhagen, but definitely worth the trip. Out of all the museums and art galleries I've been to... it's gotta be one of my favorites.

It had to do with the whole atmosphere and layout of the museum. It wasn't overwhelming with rooms upon endless rooms of art. It didn't have the arrogance of certain art galleries that really intimidate me. Instead, it was like the art, architecture, and landscape all worked together to create a nice refreshing and relaxed atmosphere by the quiet sea side.

 The museum was right beside a beautiful coastline. 

Part of the museum brings you outside to the sculpture park. I'm just really immature.

 It was all about the natural lighting.

I loved how certain pieces play with the architecture and landscape outside.
It really looks like you can just dive off into the ocean. 

The one one the left was one of my favorites. The one on the right was one of her favorites.

But nothing beats this installation piece.. it's amazing what lights, mirrors, and water can do. 

It's called "Gleaming Lights of the Souls". 

Package from Home

It's the end of the long weekend and the first Sunday of May. This is significant because the S-Trains are free on the first Sunday of every month. So in light of the good weather, we headed to a beach outside of Copenhagen.

 We all tried to be good students and brought along our textbooks for school. However, the textbooks inevitably became comfortable pillows as we lay down and just enjoyed the sound of the waves and breaks of sunshine between the clouds.

We got home and I was just sitting with my laptop in bed when my room mate handed me a PACKAGE from HOME!! I was so excited because I love getting things in the mail. Check this out:

Sweet words from my sweet housemates... the letters, cards, and notes really made me smile.

Chocolate eggs for a belated Easter! 

 and best of all... TEA from TIMMIES!! I've missed eating at Tim Hortons and my daily double double and toasted multigrain bagel with light cream cheese. It really reminded me of home.

I've officially lived in Copenhagen for 4 months. I'm really loving my time here. However, I know in my mind that all of this is temporary. I've made a whole new life for myself... new lifestyle, address, friends, school, bank account and everything. It's hard knowing that in 2 months or so, I'm going to have to leave this all behind. I'm always torn between Copenhagen and Canada. Copenhagen is so exciting because everything is so new and different and I'm constantly comparing things to Canada. 

I've really missed the people back home and I often wonder if life will be really different when I go home. So, this package from my room mates in Canada really meant a lot to me. It was so thoughtful and made me smile from ear to ear.