I finally was able to receive my CPR number this week. A
central persons register number is like a social security number in the U.S.
and the paper work took a long time to get through the system. I decided to
stay inside the rest of the day because of an incoming storm. It hit the west
coast of Denmark pretty hard, but since Copenhagen is on the east side we
experienced less of it. However, there was some impressive wind which I watched
from my window. Tuesday we finalized another one of our reports for our signal
processing course. Then I enjoyed a brief lunch with Jose and Ronja, two from
my introduction week group, and then joined the prayer group after that. I
worked in the library for the rest of the afternoon and met up with my life
group for dinner. We had a particularly good discussion that night perhaps
because there were only three of us. Thursday I met a guy named David who
needed a VGA cable and I happened to have one I didn't need. We connected
through a Facebook group that exists for people to post things they need or
things they want to give away and the best part is that it's all free. I was
happy to put forth a little effort and get it to him as I'm sure he was happy
to have a free cable. After that I had a longer lecture for medical imaging and
subsequently a shorter time in the computer lab. Friday we had our signals
lecture at the Bispebjerg Hospital which was focused on skin cancer. While we
were waiting for things to start I checked my weight on a scale out in the hall
and after converting from kilograms to pounds realized I was the same weight that
I've been for the past four years. I'm not concerned about my weight. I was
just curious if all the biking had any effect on me. Speaking of biking, I biked
there with Matt and Maggie and then Maggie and I went to DTU after that. We
stopped at IKEA to look around and I got some candles (the Danes like candles) and
food before we made our way back to campus in time to meet with Sada, one of
our two supervisors for the brain computer interface project. He helped us get
our student cards activated so we could access the building and our lab
whenever we needed. Friday evening I biked to the church to help with an event
they were hosting for x-patriots or those that live and work in Denmark from
other countries. The event was a masked ball and I helped with some of the set
up and then manned the coat room to gather everyone's extra belongings when
they came in. All of us volunteers rotated positions so none of us became to
board. So after a while I switched to helping serve food. Eventually I rotated
to greeting people, but at this point there weren't very many people still coming.
I did greet a few groups though. The event turned out pretty well and after the
guests had left we all pitched in to clean. The church is part of a very large
building and we were only using a part of it for this event so that is all we
had to clean. All this went quite late so waking up to meet my medical imaging
group Saturday morning was a bit of a struggle. Once we were all there and had
enjoyed some breakfast we got to work on our report. We worked efficiently
until I started making Swedish pancakes for lunch and after eating them no one
felt like working. Good food comes with a price I guess. The rest of the group
was going to a party for the medicine and technology students, but I planned to
be at a going away party for Kim, one of my friends from DTU and church. She's
actually the one who invited me to come to the Christian Center. It wasn't her
very last day but she was flying back to Texas early on the in next week. I
baked and brought some cornbread which a few of the people had never had
before. I biked of course but had never traveled this exact route. On the way I
ran into Oscar, another friend from church, where I would have never expected
to see him. He and his friend had stayed on their bus too long and were waiting
for one going in the opposite direction. We talked briefly and then I kept
biking because I couldn't take my bike on the bus. The bus caught up to me while
I was waiting at a light and they got dropped off there. Still not the right
stop, but I decided to walk with them at this point. None of us exactly knew
the way, but we knew the direction we needed to go and that there should exist
a path in the direction we were headed. What we found it to be just a bike path
and a dark one at that. I made use of my bike light and we pressed on. We did
make it eventually and when we entered we found a crowded kitchen not only with
people, but also food. Everyone had brought more than enough and we didn't even
have room to set everything on the table. Later we participated in what I will
call "balloon encouragement" which was one of Kim's ideas. We all
wrote some bit of encouragement on a piece of paper and put it inside a
balloon. Then we took a few minutes to hit them around to mix things and we
took turns reading our notes once of course popping the balloons. At one point
Kim played a song she had written and recorded about her time in Denmark. She
sang along with it and would have just played it live if we had a piano. She
helps with the worship at the church frequently. Afterwards one the girls
living in the dormitory brought out her harp and we enjoyed that for a while. I
don't know if I've ever heard a harp in person all by itself. This girl who I
later met was very passionate about music. Eventually the evening came to an
end and I stayed to help clean up before saying goodbye once more. Sunday I had
to bike in the rain to the Christian Center, but I had planned on it so I
changed my clothes once I arrived. I helped with the ushers and served
communion this week because we do that every first Sunday of each month. What a
privilege it is to serve. After the service I helped gather ingredients for the
family dinner the young adults group was making. Sam was in charge today and
decided to make lasagna, salad, and garlic bread with the help of many hands.
We had some left over ice cream from a previous dinner and I shredded some dark
chocolate (also left over somehow) to put on it later. After dinner we had a discussion
about relationships and talked about that among our tables. Another week here
in Denmark to be thankful for.
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