Life is nothing without family: Family in CPH

There is nothing like family!

I had two wonderful visitors for ten days! My mother and grandmother came to Copenhagen and had quite the week and a half! I can’t tell you how amazing it was to hear and speak English 24/7 for a week in a half and engage in a conversation to people that I know and love. It was wonderful to hear about all of the events that have been happening since I have been abroad and also how the family is doing. I hope you enjoy the stories and laughter of my wonderful time with my family:

I first picked them up at the airport and was happy to see that they had as much luggage as I did coming into Denmark!! My host father Klaus, was there to pick them up and we drove to their hotel (which was very close to my school) to drop off their bags. The hotel was lovely and the rooms were tiny. Very European-like. After we dropped off the bags and changed our shoes we headed out into Copenhagen. We went to one of my favorite restaurants in Cph that is right next to my school. It was interesting to see my Mom and Grandma get comfortable with the Danish culture and restaurants. This would include slow service, paying for ketchup and water, and the language of the Danes! It took my Geema a while to understand that they don’t speak American (she meant to say English, but said American many times throughout the trip. Needless to say, I teased her). Unfortunately I had class that day so I went to class why they relaxed back in the hotel and tried to catch up on sleep. After class I showed them a glimpse of my gorgeous city. I was able to show them City Hall, PalmFitness (my gym), DIS, and the charming squares close to their hotel! After the evening flew by we decided to go to a restaurant close by the hotel that Klaus (my host dad) recommended.

The first full day in Copenhagen—was packed with sightseeing activities and delicious meals. I met my grandma and mother at their hotel before heading out for the day. As we started walking, something caught our attention directly---Chinese food. We couldn’t resist, we just had to stop their and eat lunch. Of course, the Cannon women would find a Chinese restaurant in any given city! :) After eating, we set out for a long day of walking with happy tummies. I was the tour guide for the day and showed them as many of the major attractions of Denmark as I could in one day. We visited the Royal Theater, Opera House, the Queen’s quarters, Rosenborg Slot, Kings Gardens, and also walked along the famous Canal. Grandma sure got her exercise in that day! It was so wonderful to show my family some of the major attractions to, what I call now, my country from a far! That evening we headed to the Klausens for dinner! I was so excited to show my grandma and mommy where my train comes every morning, what street I walk on, the house I live in, and especially the wonderful Danes I live with. They absolutely loved the house and the Klausens. We had a delicious meal together and ate some of Annette’s famous homemade ice (or ice cream)! It was great to see both of my families interact with one another even if there was a language barrier. It was also nice to have an (mostly) entire meal with the Klausens in English. It was refreshing. They speak English very well and never leave me out of conversations but I feel as if it was special that night because my family was there. I didn’t mind it one bit :) I think it also brought comfort to my family to see that I am living with such great individuals. We even skyped with my Dad so the Klausens could say hello! My host family truly has been one of the best experiences I have had throughout my time here. They make me feel as if I am a part of their family and even tease me like one! It was a great night!

The following day (Wednesday) was a day devoted to rest and museums! I think I wore grandma out from the walking day before so we promised her it would be a fun and relaxing day. In Denmark on Wednesdays, most of the museums are free, so we decided to visit the Statens Museum for Kunts (or the Kings Museum). It was a very interesting museum and it was great to see some of the famous Danish paintings. I especially loved how my mom and I shared the same feelings about some of the modern art pieces---none what-so-ever. It’s not that we do not appreciate modern art, but that we simply just don’t get some of it (especially the ones there)!! :) After that, we to visit the Botanical Gardens; however, it was closed. I think my dad would have really enjoyed those pictures. Following the attempt to see the gardens, we bought tickets to Lovely Bones which was playing the night after in my favorite theater located in Dybbolsbro. We walked back to the hotel and I was able to catch up on my homework for I had an exam the following day. As my mom and grandma wrote in their journals I couldn’t believe two days had already passed. It seemed like just yesterday I picked them up, I knew this trip would go by very quickly. That night we visited the Ice Bar with a two of my girlfriends. I was very excited to go to a "bar" with Grandma. She ordered a drink that was heavy on the juice light on the alcohol :). It was very cute because they gave us specific things to wear inside the bar which included a large blue coat and gloves. The drinks were great and the cups we drank from were made of ice! Inside the bar their were ice sculptures and a little "hand ice hockey" game. It was quite the experience and a fun night.

The next day (Thursday) was a great day in Copenhagen. My mom and I woke up early and headed to Palmfitness for a workout after breakfast. She was impressed by the facility and the cuties behind the desk. As she headed back to the hotel, I was off to class to ace my exam. While I was in class, my grams and mom went to the Hans Christian Andersen museum in the main square. This is one museum I have not been into so it was nice to look at the pictures and hear of their experience. Later that evening, we had a small dinner at the hotel before the movie. We headed towards the Cinemax in Dybbolsbro. The theater is absolutely gorgeous and grams and I enjoyed our own bag of popcorn (haha daddy)! My favorite part of the movie was when my grandma leaned over to me and asked me: “is the movie in American?” I laughed so hard and couldn’t help but pass it along to my mom. We teased her for the rest of the trip. I am not sure if any of you have seen the movie but it made me realize how lucky I am to have such a wonderful family. I was so happy that they were here with me in Denmark. When the movie finished, we had a slumber party back in the hotel before shutting our eyes for the night.

Fist pump for Friday:
Friday was a day devoted to cooking. Since the Klausen’s cooked for us, it was our turn to return the favor with an all American-Cannon dinner. Therefore, we headed out for quite the adventure to the grocery store. It was quite the experience trying to find certain sauces and things at home that aren’t easily found here. For example, since Danes cook everything from scratch, there weren’t any hash browns to be found because Danes would generally peel them from their potatoes. :) That’s why we’re American, quick and easy ways to make food (kinda miss it right now). Luckily after many texts to my host father, Klaus, about how do you say this in Danish, we found everything we needed and headed to their house to start cooking! We thought we had just gone through the hardest part, shopping; however, the converting was the hardest part. Luckily we had my computer in the kitchen looking up Fahrenheit to Celsius and all the other measurements used in cooking! Good thing we had a computer or else we would be surviving on my mommy and I doing math---eeek. I bet you are wondering what was on the menu huh? Well for starters we had my mom’s famous parmesan cups. These are little parmesan baskets if you will that are filled with salad, Caesar dressing, and a few croutons. Very cute, easy to make, and delicious! Of course for the main dish we had chicken teriyaki (my favorite), a potato casserole, asparagus drizzled with soy sauce, and apple crisp for desert! The Klausens loved it. I have even made the chicken teriyaki for my host family since my mom and grandma was here because they enjoyed it so much! It was a successful process for the Cannon women and we were happy/ proud to show off our favorite family dishes.

Weekend away:
Although I was very excited for the weekend which meant no classes, I had to go to Germany for my Holocaust and Genocide class to visit the Neuengamme concentration camp. So here is a breakdown of what the Cannon women did.

Mom and Gramms weekend:
While I was away, my mom and grandma enjoyed the peace and quiet I am sure, but also went out to dinner at a fine restaurant called Stellas on Saturday, just the two of them. The next afternoon my host family offered to take them on a trip to Kronberg Castle (which was extremely nice on their part and also perfect for me because I had already visited the castle prior!) They loved going with the Klausens. They visited the lower chambers of the Castle and even had the opportunity to walk around the cute little town to look at the shops and restaurants. The Klausens ended up stopping on the side of the road by the waterside and had tea and snacks (or a mini-picnic) for my family. They loved it! Mom and Grams ranted and raved about how cute they were. After that, my host family took them to the famous “mermaid statue” (which is now in Shanghai). They enjoyed their evening with the Klausens and had dinner at an Italian restaurant. They picked me up from Fru Plads (a square in the middle of Copenhagen University) the next night (Sunday).

Chelsea’s weekend in Germany:
Although I was extremely sad to have spent my weekend away from my family the concentration camp was a very fascinating and emotional thing to experience. Neuengamme was a labor camp where prisoners were forced into brick production. Prisoners had very harsh working conditions (as most prisoners did in the Holocaust) and many of the individuals were sent to this camp from Auschwitz. When we first arrived it began to downpour, which I think made the visit their more surreal. The concentration camp was extremely large and was very painful to imagine how many people could live there, how many actually did--- and how many died there. When you first walked into the camp there was a huge area that had bricks everywhere. I learned later that the bricks symbolized not only the debris left over from the unused bricks but all of the prisoners who spent their last days of the Holocaust in this concentration camp. My teacher, Torben, is very knowledgeable about this point in history so he gave us a tour of the camp. One in particular point on the tour there was a large broken down train. Not a full train but just one of the sections or “car” if you will. This train represented the transportation of the Jews into the camp but as you looked down on the ground, there were what seemed like, several thousand foot prints. These foot prints represented all of the individuals (without shoes) who walked from the train into the muddy quarters of this killing field. As I looked down at my boots in the cold, wet, and rainy ground I could not begin to imagine the conditions these individuals lived in. I can’t imagine walking around barefoot, with one thin layer of clothing in the snow. Most individuals weren’t even lucky enough to be given shoes and if they did, the Nazis would often give them two right footed shoes (or left) so they weren’t able to walk quickly and efficiently. If they did not follow the line quickly enough, they would be killed on the spot. Being there brought so many emotions. It was hard to put myself in their shoes because the reality of their time in the Holocaust is so unbearable to imagine. Also, there was a little house on the outside of the camp, where the general and his WHOLE family lived. Apparently, his children would literally run around and play outside with this whole concentration camp system in their back yard. How sick! Can you imagine? Why didn’t the wife do anything, what happened when they had family over, friends? Nothing could be sad or people would face consequences.

At the end of the tour, we walked inside the museum which was amazing. It had so many facts that I walked around for over an hour and a half reading excerpts from people’s diaries, survivor stories, and more. It was amazing. On a lighter note, I do want to say that Germany does recognize the Holocaust. We can sit here and remember all of these harsh times and talk about them; however, others aren’t as fortunate. For example, it is forbidden to talk about the Armenian Genocide in Turkey. In fact, our American presidents will not say the “G” word because it brings up too many problems with the Turkish government. Fun fact: a while back, MGM was producing a movie on the Armenian Genocide and the Turkish government said that if they showed it anywhere they would cut off all theatrical ties with America and will forbid any English movies to be played throughout their country. Did MGM show it---no, of course not. Is the Armenian Genocide recognized? ---no. Although many political issues and factors I am sure are the reason why we do not mention it (blah blah blah), the Holocaust is recognized and you can even see swastikas with big X’s through it on graffiti throughout the country. Even though Germany does have a very dark history the people are very nice; however, the language definitely scares me! :) I am serious, it sounds like they are yelling at each other all the time. A very rough language but German Schnitzel is too die for…Okay off track. Coming home to family brought me such happiness. The concentration camp hit me in ways I didn’t think it would. Of course I knew it would be hard to walk through, knowing these were my people who were put through these issues because they didn’t fit the “Aryan race”; but being able to come home to your family members with open arms really made me grateful for what I have.

Case of the Mondays:
SO, since it was Monday I thought it would be nice to skip class and spend time with my family for they were leaving in three short days :(. I couldn’t believe how fast the time had been going and I wanted to get in everything possible. So what did we do? We shopped of course! Monday was the shopping day and we enjoyed every moment of it. We strolled around Stroget, got hot chocolate at the famous Royal Café (where they serve their customers in the official Royal Copenhagen china), and bought gifts for family and friends back home. It was a great time and I made some purchases as well. Eeek. Before dinner my mother and I decided to take one of the classes offered at my gym. So we took a very intense (little did we know) class called “High Pulse”. OMG, it killed me. I thought I was in shape…whew baby, it was intense. My mom and I just had to laugh at times, not only because they were speaking in Danish and we were lost, but it was very energizing…It was a great workout and we were ready for a large dinner. We thought it would be fun to head to Hard Rock Copenhagen next to Tivoli. Grams loved all of the musical pieces, artists, and guitars on the walls. She thought it was so cute. It was also very nice to have “American food”. It was a great Monday!

Tuesday:
Tuesday morning we met up with a friend Jennifer Trail at La Glace which is a famous café around the Copenhagen area. Jennifer Trail is an American woman who is good friends with my mom’s friend Chris Jaconette. Jennifer is here in Copenhagen with her husband and younger daughter because her husband is a Fulbright scholar working in the music industry in Copenhagen. Therefore, before I left for Denmark I contacted Jennifer and we have met up a few times since I have been in Denmark. So we all had tea and Danish pastries at La Glace. After we finished our tea we shopped the rest of Stroget. As always shopping stirs up an appetite so we headed to a cute little Italian restaurant that my mom and grandma went to while I was in Germany. It was the cutest little place and they seemed to love us. They brought us champagne and the waiter even gave me a flowers. It was so cute and needless to say I loved the food. After our bellies were full we headed to DIS to go on a field study to the Red Light District in Copenhagen with my Human Trafficking class. Before we headed out to the district we talked inside the classroom about what we were going to see, a little bit about the district, and how we should be walking through the area with an open minded lens. Before I tell you about the field study it should be noted that prostitution is legal in Denmark. It was a very interesting field study and we saw about twelve prostitutes out on the street. I was very shocked by the location because I had been down there prior when visiting a dance club but didn’t realize it was the red light district. By looking at it you wouldn’t realize it because they have nice stores and beautiful apartments. This is because in the past rich individuals who would visit would be staying down in this location and would like escorts for the weekend, so the district has stayed in this location the whole time. You wouldn’t even think twice about the area if you were walking through it. Honestly, I never realized the girls as I was walking before the study. I say girls and not women, because some of them are extremely young. They look like normal women just waiting for something but I never actually knew what was going on until I went on this field study. My teacher who works for an organization called Hope Now, which works with these women undercover, knew a lot about the area. She told us that this corner is known for individuals of this ethnicity or this one. It was a very eye opening experience. We would see the girls on the streets and then a few minutes later when we were walking back they would be gone, or in other words, they were picked up by a customer.

Last day in Copenhagen:
My mom and grandma’s last day in Copenhagen was Wednesday. This means free museum day as I mentioned earlier. Therefore, we decided to go to the Danish Resistance Museum. This museum was about how the Danes helped the Jews in the Holocaust and all about Denmark’s involvement in the Holocaust. It was a great museum and very interesting especially after I had just visited the concentration camp the past weekend. Wednesday was also St. Pattys day. What better way to celebrate their last day than with the good ol’ Irish luck! There were so many events going on throughout the day: three legged races, case races, parades, and green faces everywhere! We decided to watch the parade that started in the main square of Copenhagen. We then walked along Stroget to get some food and laughed at all of the crazy happenings of the holiday. We had a great dinner at Mama Rosa and toasted to our last night together.

Farewell:
I was extremely sad to say goodbye to my mother and grandmother; however, I was very fortunate to have both of them visit me in Denmark and for such a lengthy time period. I truly had such a wonderful time showing off my city from home as well as introducing them to my host family. It was so great to watch them immerse themselves in the Danish culture, count out Kroner from their pocket, eat Danish hot dogs, and enjoy their time with me. It was such a great time and I knew I would be seeing them soon.

(Mommy and Grams if you are reading this I wanted to say thank you for everything. It was such a great visit and I enjoyed all of the slumber parties, laughs, and memories. I love you guys very much!)

To all my readers: take the time to enjoy the moments with the people you love. This is one lesson I have learned while being abroad. Don’t take moments for granted and live your life to the fullest while keeping your heart and eyes opened. I am so thankful for this experience and have learned a lot so far. I have another two months of lessons, memories, and cherished times to share with you.

Elske dig og savner dig (Loving you and missing you),

Chelsea Pauline Cannon

Scotland: Land of Kilts, Bag Pipes, and Whiskey

Hi everyone! I am so very sorry that this has taken me ages to write to you about my past experiences. I know I have a lot to catch you guys up on and I will be writing about my trips in the next couple of weeks as frequently as possible. I will start with my wonderful trip to Scotland. My last “study tour” with DIS was to the land of kilts and whiskey. As a “Psychology of Happiness” class we visited the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. I can’t tell you how beautiful Edinburgh was. It remains at the top of my list for my favorite cities within Europe. Throughout the trip I became closer to many fellow students and made new friends. The memories of this trip will forever be a part of my experience abroad.

Glasgow:
It was quite the experience traveling with 60 students to Scotland! I had such a blast on the airplane with my girlfriends. Giggling about our past weekends and excitingly talking about what we are going to do in Scotland. Needless to say, I again had the largest bag out of everyone traveling. I think I am going to claim that title throughout my time here. When we arrived in Scotland we headed to our hotel—yes hotel and not a hostel eek! It was so nice! I roomed with my friend, Chelsea. Ironically enough it was her birthday that first night so that gave us a reason to go out. :) The whole class (which was so cute) went out to celebrate her birthday and we clanked our glasses to the beginning of a great trip!

The next morning we headed to the University of Glasgow for our first academic lecture. The lecture introduced research methods that involved contemporary culture in Scotland and how that has affected positive mental health in the public’s eyes. Statistics were given about the society of Scotland and the work areas that most Scottish individuals participate in. It was great to hear how positive the society of Scotland was and how measures were taken to keep it that way (a bit different than the measures taken in the States). I really enjoyed the lecture, but it was the first day in Scotland and my curiosity distracted me. The lecture ended (yay!) and my girlfriends and I headed out into the sunshine for the rest of the day! It was so nice to wear sunglasses and to walk around without a coat on. We took our time walking back into town and strolled through the many large gardens surrounding the city. It was so wonderful to see flowers and laugh with such wonderful people. The girls and I shopped after strolling through the gardens, took many pictures…oh and got piercings! Yup, you read correctly. I got a piercing. My tounge! No haha, just kidding. I wouldn’t even try coming back to America if I got that pierced. I got my cartilage pierced. It took me a while to say yes I would do it, but it was so much fun and very spontaneous of me. I went with eight girlfriends and we all got various piercings: cartilage, nose, various ear piercings, etc. I mean how many people can say I got a piercing in Scotland with eight girlfriends when we were studying abroad? Probably only eight huh? After that DIS paid for a cute little tea party at The Willows Tea Rooms. It was a little room filled with tables that had two towers of various desserts on each. Not to mention adorable china that was used for coffee and or tea. I tried every dessert and enjoyed the herbal tea! After finishing the tea and showing everyone our piercings, we browsed some more shops and went for a run throughout town. After that, we washed up and headed out for a night on the town. It was one of our friends birthday’s (yup another one!). Again, the whole class came out and we enjoyed playing games and getting to know each other more than just on an academic basis. I made a Scottish friend that night who confirmed to the girls and I, that men do not wear anything under their kilts…It was quite a night!

The following couple of days included academic lectures regarding Scotland. I really enjoyed one academic visit to the “Playfield Institute”. This was a four hour lecture regarding a specific program that is used in Scotland to educate anyone working with children. For example: nurses, social workers, teachers, foster families, etc. The institute provides advice, assistance, and support to these individuals. The goal of the institution is to promote children’s and young people’s mental wellbeing. I thought this was very interesting and a great program for any country. It occurred to me that I do not know many programs like this in the United States. Although, there are many organizations that help the well being of individuals, I cannot recall any programs that specifically target these individuals and work towards this goal. I may be naïve towards the acknowledgement of these organizations but I definitely have not been taught about them. I feel as if this is one reason why I truly love the academic visits within DIS. I have learned about a lot of positive programs and ideas that are specific to certain countries. I hope I can take what I have learned from these programs and their ambitions and bring them back to the US with me!

Edinburgh:
After finishing up at the Playfield Institute, we got back on the charter bus and headed towards Edinburgh. Driving on the other side of the road was quite the experience, although the drive through the countryside of Scotland was one of a kind. I wasn’t aware of how mountainous the country is and how breathtaking the scenery is. After making it to Edinburgh my roommate Chelsea and I headed out to explore the city. Of course the first thing we managed to do was go shopping! I enjoyed all of the shops that displayed kilts, whiskey, bag pipes, and other things that are specific to the Scottish land. We also had a chance to go to specific monuments and museums that were famous to the city. Taking photo after photo led to quite the appetite. We met up with a few other girlfriends and ate at a traditional Scottish restaurant. The food was delicious; however, I am shy to say that I ordered a calzone! :) It was extremely large and yummy. Don’t judge just yet because I did have the traditional dessert of fried Mars/ Snickers bars! This was the highlight of my night. It was absolutely delicious and a million and four calories. But who is counting right?

The following two days were busy with academic visits and lectures. All of the lectures were interesting and each seemed to bring the class closer together. Especially one visit in particular; where we had to participate in a play, as a class, to show our adult creativity. It was…very creative and brought a lot of laughter. Between the academic visits I was able to go to Edinburgh castle and visit the ruins on the top of the city. The ruins were gorgeous and I had a blast taking pictures with the girls. We took jumping pictures on and off the ruins, took scenic outlook photos on the top of the cliff, and I even managed to maintain my gymnast ways and did a handstand on top of the ruins. The castle was beyond beautiful. I wish I knew a thing or two about architecture, because it was extraordinary.

My favorite day was the last day. We took a bus around the Loch Lomond area. This is an area close to everyone’s heart within Scotland. A lot of writers and poets have been inspired by this gorgeous area. It brought warmth to my heart looking out at the boats across the body of water, for it reminded me of home. After walking around the lake and taking pictures (of course), we headed to our next destination; a whiskey distillery called Glengoyne. I have to mention that whiskey is the most disgusting thing I have tasted. It is definitely up there with beets. When I was handed my first tasting, the lady mentioned that you can pour a little bit of water in it so the taste isn’t as strong. So I followed directions, took a sip, and added about half a cup of water into the testing glass! ;) Although it was not my favorite thing in the world, the process of making whiskey was intriguing. I had no idea that whiskey was such a process let alone that it had to sit in barrels for years! I also did not know that the smoky taste of whiskey (as opposed to others) is due to the specific bricks that are used when the whiskey is heated. If you do not use the darker bricks, you will not get a smoky taste. Hmm…since I only tested one, I struggled with purchasing the right whiskey for my father. There were so many to choose from but think I made the right choice. I will find out when I return to the states.

That night my classmates and I went on a Ghost Walk! We learned about the notorious “Body snatchers” of Scotland and visited the 18th century vaults beneath the South Bridge of the town. These vaults included underground chambers or catacombs of the many individuals who were murdered throughout the 18th century. The woman telling the story was quite hilarious but I must say I was a little frightened walking around in the pitch black catacombs with 30 people enclosed in such a tiny space. However, I managed to survive and it was a fun experience. I also visited the "Elephant House". This was where J.K. Rowling sat and wrote the infamous Harry Potter books. It was a small little cafe with tons of elephants. Another reason why I loved it (my "sorority family= elephants)

I was extremely sad that the trip was over. Two days in Glasgow and three in Edinburgh just did not seem like enough time. I fell in love with the sound of bag pipes being played on the streets, the sight of men in kilts, and the clanking of glasses surrounding the Scottish atmosphere. I also did not want to leave Scotland when I had been getting so close to so many wonderful people. Although I knew I would be able to see them in Copenhagen, there is nothing like slumber parties in each other’s rooms, getting ready together for the evening, laughing over memories, dreaming about the future adventures around Europe, and contemplating whether to actually return to the USA or not…I fell in love with the trip, with the people, and the country of the Scottish kilts.

Missing you,

Chelsea