"One night in Copenhagen, And ya know, The nadir's fluorescent"

I made it! I am now in Copenhagen (København if you're a local)! The excitement with the flights started right away, as a coup occurred and one of my bags was not overweight, saving me $25. Once I reached the terminal I quickly found out that I am not the only DIS student with Northeastern Ohio ties, as there was 6 or 7 on the flight to Newark. That flight ended up being delayed for over an hour (sitting on the runway) due to traffic/weather issues in Newark. This wasn't much of a problem, as I had a 3.5 hour layover. After getting lunch there, I made my way to the gate, to figure out that DIS might as well have chartered the flight. Half of the people on the flight were DIS students. I'm sure the other travelers were ecstatic to see a large number of mostly highly excited college students. This flight was also delayed by an hour, this time due to a lengthy cleaning of the flight before we boarded. Once we took off everything went quite smoothly. The only problem was my inability to fall asleep (even with taking a Tylenol PM), which leaves me right now begging for bed. The highlight of the flight by far was the perfect timing shown by the flight personnel in turning on the lights in the cabin, as it allowed a gorgeous view of the rising sun towards the east, and the fading stars to the west!

Once we landed and set foot off the plane you immediately knew you were in Scandinavia as the flooring was made entirely of wood, and had that distinctive Scandinavian feel. After making it through the passport control line it was on to pick up my baggage. The baggage carousel was very cooly automated in that bags were only added to the circuit when there was an opening. However, this meant I waited for about 25 minutes for enough other bags to be removed so that my bags could be added.

We then took a 15 minute bus ride the University of Copenhagen, which is where the housing orientation took place. We had about 2.5 hours to get some food, and go over the masssive amounts of paperwork DIS had for us. I was able to meet up with a couple of my friends from Carleton at this point, and we caught up on each other's summer activities. All of the students staying in homestays or shared housing were then herded into the main lecture room for a brief, and not very useful, orientation on our housing choices. This was followed by the most nerve-wracking aspect of the morning -- waiting for your family to come in the room, call your name, and be on your way. It almost felt as if I was up for auction, and hoping someone would bid. Eventually someone did, and I joined the majority of family (Michael, Britta, and Viktor). We made small talk, grabbed my bags, and made the way to the car, and eventually back to the house.

The house is gorgeous. It has to be biggest house on the street by far, perhaps even twice as big as the next-door neighbors, especially regarding the yard size. Just like the airport, there were wooden floors throughout, as well as the latest technology (pictures will be up soon demonstrating all of this). My room itself is quite cozy, with my bed, a desk, a chair to read in, and my dresser. Of course I put off unpacking beyond my computer, and was happily greeted by the presence of a wireless connection. That's because Marcus (the other brother) has 3 computers (not 3 monitors as I thought, but 3 complete computers). I then managed to unpack about half my of my things before I was treated to my first Danish meal, a typical lunch (fish sandwiches on rye toast). I then proceeded to make my room actually mine, as well as go through all the papers that I was given earlier.

Of my two brothers, Marcus is clearly the more outgoing one of the two, although this isn't a surprise as he is older and has more experience with English, and is much more confident in talking with/to me. Viktor has been shy, but it is pretty evident that that won't last for too long. It was great to see both of their excitement when I gave them their Columbus Crew mini-balls (definitely a good purchase). In fact, Britta and Michael seemed pretty excited by their homemade Amish apple butter.

Dinner was then concluded by going over some of the odd, and sometimes awkward questions about daily life and practices within the house. Micahel and I then had a great discussion where I explained to him the finer points of American salary caps in professional athletics (NFL, NBA, MLB, and MLS), and he was quite amazed by all the differences and how subtle they are. Then I came here, completely out of energy, and definitely ready for bed. Tomorrow brings the start of actual orientation, which includes an opening ceremony in the morning, a tour of Copenhagen (expect pictures from this), and some orientation on athletics. Hopefully, I'll also manage to get a public transportation pass, and find a place that I can work out at.

Already today I've definitely had moments of up and down feelings, but I'm glad to say I'm now going to bed with a postive view on things, and I think that's all I could ask for.

P.S. Danish pillows only come in one size. Square.