Week 5 - Balancing School and Relationships

I started off the week by doing my laundry and meeting with my group to work on our report for our signal processing course. Later I biked into Copenhagen to officially say goodbye to Simona. It was around dinner time and Simona had the intriguing idea to make a fruit salad because there are a number of cheap produce shops near where she was living temporarily. We probably both ate too much fruit, but we were determined to finish the entire salad. On Tuesday my signal processing lab was fairly good  with just a few sticking points. I had some fun mashing up potatoes for dinner before practicing the biosensors presentation I had to give the next day. The presentation went alright, but some more practice would have made it better. Keep in mind though that my biosensors course consists of two professors and one other student so the audience was quite small. It was actually a mix between a discussion and presentation. I had a quick lunch and met up with some DTU people from the Christian Center for the weekly prayer group. There were a couple new people and we all spent some time discussing a particular passage in the Bible before praying. Afterward I biked to IKEA on my way to Copenhagen, but again the rolling pins were out of stock so I just bought some ice cream (not that that solved my problem, but it tasted good). My life group met as usual and we enjoyed eating pasta that one of the guys made for us. I like how we share a meal together in addition to discussing the Bible. Thursday I went back to the same hospital as last week, but this time we had a lecture about PET and CT before using the PET/CT scanner on our tissue samples. My neighbors and I had planned to make pizza (the reason for trying to find a rolling pin) for anyone in our building and a few of us helped with the various preparations. They took longer to cook than we expected, but turned out well. There were seven pizzas in total. Friday my time was mostly devoted to my group's signal processing report because it was due next Tuesday and Matt and Maggie were both going to Oktoberfest over the weekend. We took a short break for lunch and met with Helge about our brain computer interface project before continuing on the report.  We made a lot of progress (in addition to my progress in consuming a liter of chocolate milk), but we worked later than I had hoped. Stine and Jerry, two members from my introduction week group, had birthdays this week and we decided to celebrate it tonight, but the party had already started before I even started biking to Copenhagen. I let the group know on Facebook and headed there as soon as I could. We had a good time and our host had a few games planned that we all enjoyed. It went quite late so I slept in on Saturday. I did get around to updating my resume and I was going to start applying for jobs, but I got side tracked when I created a website about myself. Pretty soon it was dinner time and then a few of my neighbors and I went to the sauna. The next morning was the "super" Sunday service at the Christian Center where all five of the services meet at the same time. They did the whole service in Danish and English (translating both ways). Even though I was in the balcony because of the great number of people it was incredible. They do that on the last Sunday of every month so I'll be looking forward to that next month.

Week 4 - Not So Typical

Monday morning I met with some students from my signal processing course because we needed to record an electroencephalogram (EEG) for an experiment. We don't normally meet on Mondays, but we did this week because only about ten of us from the lab could perform the experiment at one time. I volunteered to be the test subject partly because I was curious and partly because no one else was volunteering. As the test subject I had to have my head measured and electrodes with sticky gel attached to my head. Apparently it didn't make much of a difference whether I had hair or not. We had a few people in charge of very specific tasks so that more of us could participate and Maggie was the one that told me what to do for each part of the experiment. It wasn't difficult and all in all an interesting experience. We may have to do this again for the brain computer interface project we're working on. The next day I played Frisbee as usual, but this time there was a little rain at the beginning of our time together. Later we marveled at a double rainbow which was still there as I was riding home. Wednesday afternoons I usually spend on campus to get some work done and this time I met with Kasper, one of my classmates, to work on a presentation for our class. The reason I usually stay on campus on Wednesdays is because it keeps me from biking an extra 10km back home. I meet with my life group from church in the evening and from DTU it's the same distance to Copenhagen where we meet as it is to my apartment. The three locations form an 10km equilateral triangle more or less. Our time together went well as we ate and shared our highs and lows for the week. I think I had mentioned Bible studies I've been in and led in the past and the guys asked if I would consider leading next week just so they could see what it was like in the U.S. I was a little reluctant because I didn't want to assume a position of leader in a group I've only been in for a few weeks and I didn't have any idea what topic we would cover. Nonetheless we tentatively planned to do just that next week. Thursday the highlight was going to a Hospital in Copenhagen to take an x-ray and MR image of an animal tissue sample for one of my courses. It was nice to see the actual systems we had been learning about in action. Coincidentally, I went to another hospital on Friday for another one of my courses, but this time it was for a tour and some presentations about sleep disorders.


Saturday I planned to bike to Roskilde, which is about 30km away, to help Marie, a woman from my church, load everything in her apartment into a moving truck because she was moving into Copenhagen. Unfortunately, I didn't leave with enough time for that long of a journey, not to mention it felt like I was riding uphill and into the wind the whole way there. So I arrived a little late, but followed suit of the others carrying boxing out to the truck. Apart from three hired movers there were two other men, one of them with his wife, and Marie's mother.

It took quite a while but that was expected and afterward Marie served us lunch. After that I went to explore Roskilde because I had never been there before. I found a local park and read for a while before going towards the city center where I locked my bike and strolled along the pedestrian streets. Before it got dark I headed back towards Copenhagen because the church was having a party for all the international young adults. There I met some new friends and we enjoyed plenty of time around a campfire while roasting Snobrød, which is simply bread dough wrapped around a stick and roasted over a fire.

Sunday Simona, one of my former neighbors now living in Copenhagen, had expressed an interest in coming to my church so we had decided on Saturday we'd meet there at the beginning of the service. I was still helping with the ushers, but Simona found we without too much trouble. I couldn't help but wonder what she thought of the service, but I waited to ask until it was finished. As usual many people gathered in the cafe area and after a while some of the young adults decided to go to a restaurant called Dalle Valle for dinner. They had half priced food on this particular day so that was the main incentive to go there. I ordered one of their classic burgers just as many of the others did and it was very good. After we parted ways I biked back home, but I had to fight a very strong wind all the way. However, I think the time with my friends (and that burger) was worth all of it.

Week 3 - Getting Involved

At this point in my adventure there are still a lot of new things, but not nearly as much as during the first two weeks. From now on I will be collecting the details of each week and combining them into one post per week. It's probably easier for both of us and you probably won't have to read as much (even though this first one is long). So this week started with my day off as usual, but this time I actually scheduled my time for almost the entire day. I enjoy planning things on a weekly and daily basis and this is probably one of the things that helped me survive last semester. So being out of practice I wasn't able to do everything on my schedule, but I after breakfast I spent some time praying and reading the Bible. I hadn't set aside much time for this amid all that has been happening here. It was very refreshing and I hope to continue that. I also needed to catch up on some reading for my courses so I slowly made some progress through my medical signal processing text book. I also did my laundry and read some more after dinner. Tuesday I had breakfast with Zlatina, one of my neighbors from Bulgaria. We enjoyed the sunshine especially when we considered how little sun we'll see during winter. The lecture for signal processing was good, but when we began the lab Matt, Maggie and I realized our previous courses hadn't quite prepared us for this course. However, this just means that we'll have to put some extra effort into understanding and completing the assignments. Afterwards I had the opportunity to play Ultimate Frisbee again with the group of international students I met during introduction week. We only had six players, but we made the field a little smaller and had fun nonetheless. I had to leave at about the same time the rugby players invaded so we ended our game then. I was in a hurry to return to my apartment because I was making Swedish pancakes (per Simona's request) for a sort of going away party. It was Simona's last night at our apartment and she'll be spending the rest of the month in Copenhagen before going home to Lithuania. It turned out really well and there was enough for everyone to eat. Many others pitched in to help either by providing toppings or preparing some other things. One of the "toppings" was ice cream which I had never tried before with Swedish pancakes, but it was really good. Then we ended the night with a couple of card games. Wednesday I biked to campus to join the prayer group I missed last week, but I couldn't find the room they had told me about. I hope others didn't have the same problem. Next week I'll get more specific directions and try again. I met up with one of my classmates (we happen to be the only two students in our class) and we worked on a presentation we're going to give in two weeks over some topics included in the scientific journals that we've been given. Then I biked to Copenhagen for my small group. I needed to get there early because I was making pancakes for the group. Yes, pancakes again, but they requested "American" pancakes so I made buttermilk pancakes for them.  They even turned down my offer to make pizza which I will probably try sometime soon. Our time together was good and after the pancakes we shared our highs and lows for the week. We naturally transitioned into sharing our testimonies and it's incredible what God has done in and through these brothers of mine. I'm already looking forward to next week. Thursday morning did not start with breakfast because I didn't have any milk. Rather, it started with going to the nearest grocery store and then breakfast. I bought some boots as well that I had seen there before, but I didn't know what the sizes meant until I researched it my apartment. My lecture for my medical imaging course was different this week because it was specifically for the few international students and was of course in English. The professor gave a lecture right afterward in Danish to the rest of the students who are indeed Danish. Lab followed and with some help from the TA's and my teammates I finished my assignment before leaving. I had a quick dinner back at my apartment and met up with Matt and Maggie to make some head way on our report that we had previously had some trouble with. Friday started with a guest lecture about electro-cardiograms (ECG) and then we continued to make some progress on our report. I enjoyed meeting with Josh, who I had met playing Frisbee, and eating lunch together. We might be planning a trip or two in the future because we both have similar interests and have Mondays off. I finally received my student card and had enough time to activate it before my meeting with Helge, the professor Matt, Maggie and I will be working with on our senior design project. The meeting was short, but we determined that we would make a variation of a brain computer interface based on the previous two versions other students had designed. It seems very interesting. When I returned home I decided to go shopping for ingredients to make granola, one of my favorite snacks back in the U.S. If you didn't know already I'm not like most people insofar as I was making granola on a Friday night rather than going out. Jakob, one of my neighbors, and I planned to go later to the sauna at our apartment and he went early to get it warmed up, but when we got there shortly after 10:00 we found it was locked. So no sauna for us and we worried it might stay on all night. I attempted to get a lot of reading done on Saturday with breaks for food and a Skype chat with my parents. We went to the sauna again and were able to get in this time. I can't remember the last time I've been in a sauna, but it was refreshing. Sunday biked to the Christian Center in Copenhagen and enjoyed some upbeat worship music and Pastor Mikael's preaching over 1 Cor. chapter 3. After the service Mikael asked if Daniel, one of the other young adults, and I would be interested in becoming involved with the usher ministry team and we both agreed to follow him to the meeting. Previously there had only been a few guys doing this every week and they were hoping to increase the size of their team to make things easier. Basically the ushers help with some setup before the service, greeting people, showing some to seats, and then some tear down afterwards. I had been looking for a way to get more involved and this opportunity to serve just presented itself to me. After the meeting some of the young adults went to eat again at Kosk Kebab, where we had gone two weeks ago. It was just as good as I remembered and I got to enjoy the meal with seven others, four of which were Americans (there usually aren't quite so many Americans in one place here). All in all a good week, but it passed much quicker than the first two.

Day 18 - Fellowship

This morning I actually made some coffee to go which I put in my new thermos. The new route I had chosen worked well, but I arrived a little late to where the tour was starting. I had planned to meet one of my friends, Christoph, but was surprised to pass by Giorgia, another friend from my introduction week group. Eventually we found Christoph and met the rest of the tour group at the meeting place. We had an Australian guide named Chloe who gave an excellent, detailed tour. We had a break about 1.5 hours into the tour so Giorgia, Christoph and I bought lunch. However, I had to leave at this point to get to my church on time. I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to our route so I had to sort of feel my way back to where my bike was locked, but it was a success. I quickly planned a new route to the Christian Center and biked there in time to change. I sat by Marketa, one of the young adults I had met last week. I realized the reason I recognized most of the worship songs was because most of them were from Hillsong. After a baby dedication pastor Mikael continued from last week and preached on 1 Cor. 2 which I followed along this time. I think it helps me focus when I can read and reread the scripture that the teaching is based off of. I even made some notes. After the service I found Marion (or rather she spotted me first). We both bought some cake because there was a fund raiser for the upcoming women's retreat. As usual we made our way to the cafe area and enjoyed fellowship with the others there. The young adults group made plans to cook dinner at the church. We had some time though before things were ready so I went shopping for some things that had been on my list for a while. I finally found a bike helmet that wasn't too expensive and gloves and a hat for the coming cold weather. When I returned to the church I had to find the basement, but that was harder than it sounds. I met and visited with more people once down stairs and then I remembered I had coffee in my thermos from the morning. I was amazed it was still hot! The dinner was soon served  and consisted of pasta and garlic bread. I met four guys who were still in high school and eventually we were recruited to clean dishes. I tried to encourage them to appreciate opportunities to serve, but I'm not sure how effective I was. One challenge we faced was not having enough drying towels so before we finished we had wet towels. The leftovers were distributed and then I got some help from Victor, one of the guys from my life group, to figure out how the light on my helmet worked. A bike ride home without any wrong turns was a good way to finish the day.

Day 17 - Helsingør and Helsingborg

Saturday I woke up early and had a quick breakfast while packing for day. Simona and I biked to train station and went from Herlev to the central station where the intercity trains passed through. I had been there once before when arriving from the airport my first day. This time there were people passing out free gum! We both got three packs because we got one each coming into the station and then one on our way to the wrong track. When we went back up and towards the right track we got a third pack. Once at the right track we waited for our train to Helsingør. It took about 40 minutes to travel there and we saw Sweden across the water on our way which heightened our excitement. The first thing we did when we arrived was to check ferry prices because later we intended to go to Helsingborg which was across the water in Sweden. The we headed toward the Kronborg castle which was our main reason for coming. Along the way we spotted the little mermaid's boy friend (silver statue of a little forlorn looking boy), but he was too popular with a group of elderly folks for us to get a picture then. So we continued to the castle. Before taking a tour we realized we needed a restroom break and fortunately they had installed toilets (and running water) inside the castle though it was one of the oddest restrooms I have ever been in. We purchased tickets for the royal apartments and chapel and headed up the stairs. There were displays and then many rooms as we circled around the second floor. Both Simona and I noticed what we thought to be excessive empty space in the rooms and concluded that it would be rather lonely living there. We saw lots of tapestries and I joked about needing a carpet for my room (what a great souvenir!). About halfway around the third floor was the ballroom which in addition the classical music made us both have the notion to dance. We didn't because we were not in the proper attire (like what would have been worn). Finally we came to the kids room and began to color a paper king and queen which we left behind with the other ones set on display by either the children or their proud parents. After a brief tour of the chapel we had lunch right next to the sea, the idea of which we marveled at. On our way to the ferry we did get a chance to take a picture with the little mermaid's boyfriend and almost did not take the ferry because we were looking at the wrong set of hours of operation. We still had more than a few hours before the last ferry so we bought our ticket. We had seen some enormous ferries while we were waiting and were obviously a little disappointed when a smaller ferry for only people came to pick us up (the others had two floors just for vehicles!). Still we were headed to Sweden. It was further than we had anticipated because the buildings in Helsingborg were taller than in Helsingør. We first noticed there were less bikes although still more than the U.S. It was impossible to miss the tower (and steps) directly inland so we headed that way. Ironically, Simona thought the grass was greener, but I thought it had just been fertilized. To our surprise there was a heavy metal band practicing in a local park which entirely disrupted the peaceful atmosphere. Once through the park we looped back toward the city center and searched for some Swedish chocolates. The cashier may have thought we were a little strange when we both purchased 3-4 bars of chocolate, but we had our chocolate so we didn't care too much. We walked along the coast towards the ferry because our time was running short. However, on the way we witnessed a strange event that seemed to consist of many students wearing brightly colored pants and line dancing to loud pop music. Later we found out they were indeed students and the different colors of pants represented different groups. Next we saw a portable version of Tivoli (which is an amusement park in Copenhagen). While waiting for the ferry I looked around for a toilet, but decided to wait until the ferry arrived. I'm not 100% sure because it was in Swedish, but I think the toilet at the docking station was pay per use and I didn't want to pay for a toilet. Free drinking water is also hard to find by the way. We arrived back in Denmark just in time to miss the train we needed, but it wasn't the last one so we had an hour to explore more of Helsingør. We walked down some quaint streets with brightly colored houses and noticed most businesses were closed. At this point the sun was below the horizon and it was cold without it. After all that walking we sat by a fountain for a while until we realized we could be sitting by the sea instead. Once back at the station we got some coffee to warm up a bit and then took the train back to central station. From there we took another train back to Herlev and were entertained by a group of energetic kids eating candy. We biked back cautiously because Simona didn't have any lights and I showed her a slightly different way to get back home. After such a long day we were both hungry and I made some grilled cheese sandwiches which Simona had never had before. She reciprocated by making some warm milk with honey which I had never had and both were good. The last thing I did was to make some plans for tomorrow and I decided to go on guided tour of Copenhagen. What a great day!