A Dangerous Commute

Everyone in Copenhagen bikes to commute. This topic has been addressed multiple times by me already. What could there possibly be to add? How about the fact that Danes bike to commute all year round, which includes yesterday morning after it snowed the night before!

First, everyone was incredibly excited for the first day of snow. In fact, it meant "that winter is really here now," or something along those lines. The event coincided well with Sunday night's meal, which was a typical Christmas dinner, as it was some holiday that I don't even think my host parents truly understand -- they had to look it up on a calendar just to know when it was.

The snowfall was nothing extraordinary, a light dusting that managed to stick to the ground, but it was more than enough to make for an interesting commute the next morning. I quickly realized this when trying to turn a corner and felt my bike wheels slipping on the slippery stuff. For the rest of the way to the bus stop I was that Ohio driver who slows down to 20 mph just because of a little snow on the road. I felt like it was the better choice then having my butt on the ground.

Final Travel Thoughts

Whew! Three straight weeks of traveling is a lot. Still, it was a great experience that I wouldn't have changed at all. Just in case you haven't already read, below are posts about a lot of the places I visited and some of the things I saw and took part in. Also, all of my pictures are now posted on Webshots for your perusal. But now for my concluding thoughts.

First, it was insane the different kinds of transportation I made use of. Automobile. Charter bus. Ferry. Streetcar. Metro. Local Train. Regional Train. National Train. Night Train. Airplane. Public bus. I pretty much did it all. Shows how well Europe is connected.

Second, I have come to the conclusion that everyone -- Americans that is -- should do Europe twice. Once as a student. There are just certain experiences people get traveling on the cheap that they would never get if they had money, such as staying at hostels and meeting the people there or eating at cafeterias. It's just a different and enjoyable way to travel. With that said, I also feel that people should go back to Europe when they have more money to truly enjoy some of the more expensive luxuries Europe affords such as great food. This is definitely a blueprint I plan on following.

Along some of those same lines the people I met, especially in Florence were great. It was also interesting to note the differences in ages and what that made the trip be for each person. For example, I met two college aged students that were taking some time off from school and just enjoying Europe. But then I also met two people that were 30+ who almost seemed to be escaping from certain aspects of their life by traveling to Europe. I found this dichotomy to be quite intriguing, and really nothing more.

So it was a great trip, but I am definitely not looking forward to going back to school. DIS doesn't do any favors as I have an exam on Friday and a presentation due in a week. But still, less than 2 months of classes, and then I'm done. Time has really been flying.

The last two months aren't just classes, though. I still have plenty of excitement to look forward to. First, my parents and brother will be here in less than two weeks to spend a week in Copenhagen and celebrate Thanksgiving with me and my family. Then a week later I will be taking a weekend trip to Vienna to experience that amazing city in the winter. Then finally, once classes are done I'll be spending a couple days in London before heading home. So I definitely have things besides classes to keep me occupied.

And the wheels on the bus go round and round...

One of man’s greatest abilities is our capacity to invent new things. It is what has propelled the human race to where we our today. However, we have failed miserably when it comes to inventing a good form of bus transportation conducive to 26 hours on a bus over a 72-hour period. I just hate buses. Sunday afternoon was the beginning of another 15-hour bus ride, this time to Cesky Raj in the Czech Republic. It was not a pleasant experience to say the least. Not to mention the crazy feelings of déjà vu that ensued, primarily due to the fact that I was on the same ferryboat from Gedser, Denmark, to Rostock, Germany, for the third time in a week.

In another moment of déjà vu, the first stop the group made was at a former Nazi concentration camp. This time we visited Theresientstadt, which is notorious for being the camp that Nazi officials would show off to foreign dignitaries and Red Cross workers to demonstrate the high level of facilities and care provided to the detainees. If the Nazis were good at one thing it was propaganda. We were able to watch one of their “movies/documentaries” that “showed” the true conditions of the Jews and the camp. It was unbelievable how well they were able to pull a veil over the real events that were taking place. For this reason, though, the camp had a very different feel than Sachsenhausen, as there were many more trees and well kept buildings. It seemed entirely out of place. The other interesting aspect was the focus of the museum on Czech issues. The plight of the Jews was definitely mentioned, but at times it took a secondary seat to the plight of Czech citizens unduly imprisoned and murdered. Some people might complain about this fact and how they are ignoring the largest population that was murdered during the Nazi atrocities; however, it seems to make sense to me. If the Czechs do not put an emphasis on themselves and what they went through, who will? Undoubtedly, it is human nature to focus on the group that you most closely associate with, but the troubles of all peoples needs to be recognized, even if it is only a tenth in scale.

Following the concentration camp, we arrived at Hruba Skala, our castle accommodations. “Wow” is the only word I could utter as we arrived. It was absolutely gorgeous. The rocks. The castle. The trees. The sky. It was picturesque. It was also exactly what I wanted – being out in the middle of nowhere with the ability to run around and enjoy nature’s beauty. After getting checked in, settled, and experiencing the loads of fun that icebreakers always are, we had an hour and half before dinner, so a group of us went down in the valley/gorge area and explored. We were climbing all over the place – up hills, up trees, up rocks – all resulting in spectacular views. The only thing missing was Craig, as he would have been eating all of this up.

The rest of the evening was spent socializing with other people on the trip, as there is not a whole lot of nightlife in the area – none to be exact. It was a fun night nonetheless, and it really got me excited for the rest of the trip.

And Phase Two Is Commencing

It has been odd being back in Copenhagen for 36 hours. It was great sharing meals with my host family again, and to have their good cooking, but it just feels so weird to be packing so soon after unpacking. Anyways last night I watched my last Indians game for the season, which they unfortunately were demolished in by the Red Sox. Even if Cleveland wins game 7 tonight, I'll be missing the World Series while I travel. Nonetheless, it's been a really fun season to watch. Hopefully next year they'll be just as successful, if not more.

Still, in under an hour I will be off on another bus adventure. This time a trip of about 15 hours awaits me as I head for Cesky Raj in the Czech Republic. This is the beginning of my 2 straight weeks of travel. It will be a crazy time transversing Europe from Copenhagen, to Cesky Raj, to Prague, to Budapest, to Milan, to Genoa, to Florence, to Siena, back to Milan, and finally back to Copenhagen. I'm excited and nervous, and cannot wait to get started. And of course I will share all the lovely details I experience and all the impressions I am left with. And in case you haven't already read, posted below are my thoughts on the first week of study break. They are in reverse order in a sense, so the most recent day is on top. Time to finish packing.

The Final Day

The last day of the study tour and my time spent in Poznan was a great way to culminate the first week of my travels. It started off with being able to sleep in for the first time all week, which was definitely appreciated. I then spent the morning at Poznan’s Pediatric Hospital and Outpatient Clinic. There, I shadowed three different pediatricians in both the clinic and hospital settings. I was able to see some interesting things, mostly focused on the GI system, which included an endoscopy searching for a swallowed pen cap. Perhaps the most interesting aspect was one the attending physicians is the head of Poland’s cystic fibrosis organization and he was being interviewed for a spot on the Polish national news regarding decreasing reimbursement rates for various types of care. I guess that’s not a problem limited in scope to the United States.

After the hospital visit lunch was on our own again, and again I had a doener. I won’t be having another one for quite a while if I can help it. We then as a group saw an exhibit of the Czech artist Alfonso Mucha. He was considered a master of art nouveau. I really enjoyed his pieces. There was something very abstract and fanciful in a sense, but still very concrete as well. It wasn’t typical abstract art where there is simply colors and shapes thrown on the medium. This was of people and nature, and they were just exquisite, especially his charcoal drawings. Unfortunately, pictures weren’t allowed so I can’t share any of his work.

We then had a couple hours to burn prior to dinner so a group of us made some purchases at a famous gingerbread store in town and then spent an hour or two at a café where we indulged in amazing hot chocolate. This was no Nestle or Swiss Miss hot chocoloate. This was actually melted chocolate that you drank. I had the “Mexican” version which had some cinnamon and spice added to it. It was delectable.

Dinner that night was covered by DIS and we ate at Poznan’s trendy microbrewery. DIS purchased each of us two beers so there was a lot of exchanging going on so that we could taste all of the varieties. I had a Pilsner, and then parts of a very good dark beer and their honey beer. Unfortunately, their hot, spiced honey beer was not available. That would have been interesting.

Post dinner was spent loading the bus for our 12-hour trip back to Copenhagen. Bus is not my favorite form of transportation. No doubt about that. I don’t think I ever anticipated a flat surface as much as I did the floor of the ferry on the last leg our trip. It was so nice to spread out and just be able to actually sleep. Everyone took full advantage of that situation. Then it was back in Copenhagen for a day, and time to start packing for the next trip.

The Danish Cedar Point?

This past Friday night a group of friends and I decided we needed to check out Tivoli before it closed for the summer season this weekend. Tivoli is the Danish amusement park, located in the heart of downtown Copenhagen, and about a 5 minute walk from DIS. Supposedly, Tivoli is what inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyworld. In reality, comparing Tivoli to someplace like Cedar Point is insulting to both Tivoli and Cedar Point. It insults Cedar Point because the rides do not even come close to comparing, and it insults Tivoli because its landscaping and design is light-years ahead of Cedar Point.

Tivoli is interesting in that there are two separate fees, one just for entrance (about $15) and one for rides (you can ride all the rides for $20, or pay as you go). Most of the rides are meant for younger children, and since we were only there for the evening we decided to pay as we went. In the end, we ended up only riding one ride, this giant swing:


It wasn't what anyone would call a thrill ride, but it did offer probably the best aerial view of Copenhagen that one can get (there are almost no buildings in Copenhagen that are built higher than 5 or 6 stories). Otherwise, we spent most of our time just wandering around the park enjoying the atmosphere. All in all, it was a good time, but I'm in no rush to head back. I'll probably go one more time before I leave, as they re-open Tivoli around Christmas time, and supposedly go all out in decorating, which I've been told I need to see.

A dad is a dad

My family loves to pick on my Dad (my real family). It's just what my brother, my mom, and I do. It's all in good nature, as I know we all have a ton of respect for him, although in his opinion it might go overboard every now and then. But fear not Dad, because a dad is a dad no matter where you are in the world. Case in point, my host family. What is my 2 host brothers and my host mom's favorite activity -- why picking on their Dad/husband (although I don't think they are actually married, but that's for another post) of course. And just like at home, sometimes it goes a little too far for his liking, and he yells, and it stops. It all sounds all too familiar. I guess this just means its something I get to look forward to down the line.

In other news, I was taken out to dinner by my host family this past Tuesday, at the invitation of one my host parent's friends, Lars. First, Lars lives in this great apartment complex. It's right off the main drag, Amagerbrogade, on the island Christiana. But you would never know it. Once you go through the main doors off the road you enter a courtyard, and as soon as the door close behind you, so does the rest of the world. It is like a little oasis within the big city. You can't hear the people, nor the cars. Instead you are greeted with a courtyard that in reality is like a wild garden, as well as apartments from the 16th century. These are some of the oldest if not the oldest buildings in Copenhagen, as they were spared from the British bombardment and resulting fire in 1807. It was really impressive.

Anyways, Lars invited the family to eat at the community center near where he lives. They were telling me that something along these lines exist in New York City, but I'm not sure. Here is the setup. You walk in to what could be called a cafe as there are multiple tables scattered about, magazines, newspapers, fliers, a foosball table, and a place for live music to perform. There is also a bar that serves beer, wine, coffee drinks, and desert. We ended up here after dinner for an hour or so. Dinner itself was served upstairs in a small room that can seat probably 50 at most. This is why you have to buy tickets for dinner ahead of time. The ticket, besides entrance, gets you water, unlimited bread and salad, and the main dish, as there aren't any options. On this night they were serving veal, potatoes, and a tomato salsa. It was quite good. From what I was told, they only serve dinner twice a week and it is dirt cheap (relatively speaking), about $10, which in Copenhagen is no price to complain about. All in all, it was a fun evening and a good "cultural" experience. For whatever reason, I keep having those. Odd, huh?

Flag Hysteria

The Danes are quite fond of their flag. In fact, it typically plays a prominent decorative role at most gatherings. This was the case for both the family friend's 18th birthday party and Victor's as well. The day of Victor's party there were flags in the yard and all over the house. Tables, windows, big flags, little flags, flag candies, etc. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures to really demonstrate this experience. However, today was some sort of event (no one in my host family knew exactly what was going on), because there were flags all over. On buildings, in store windows, and on top of all the buses! I did capture some pictures of this:






On a different note: thank goodness for the existence of wikipedia! I've spent a good portion of today going over the slides/my notes from my cancer biology course, as we have our first exam on Monday and I'm gone most of the weekend. However, most of the information I have is useless as we weren't given any real background info. That's where wikipedia has saved me. I've probably read close to 20 articles today, all of which have done a tremendous job of filling in the gaps where key information is missing. It's really being a life saver.

A smattering of thoughts (part deux)

I don't have just one story to share, so this will just be a bunch of random thoughts:

• My goodness is Michigan horrible this year. Isn't the Big House supposed to be a form of home field advantage? And doesn't this normally mean that you don't lose to Div I-AA teams, and an unranked Oregon (that had to travel from the west coast)? I'm actually becoming embarrassed to say that I am a Michigan fan.
• So my commute home on Thursday was a touch longer, but completely uneventful. The protests ended up being peaceful, although the police were ready for anything. There were paddy wagons all over town, just ready for any trouble.
• Speaking of trouble, Denmark has had its excitement, though, too. Over the last week 10 or so Danish citizens or legal immigrants have been arrested for having explosive material and being associated with Al Qaeda. Nothing visibly has changed and no one seems really concerned (my host family and other DIS students), but still, interesting.
  
• I have now experienced my second Danish birthday party. The first was last week for a family friend, which was a long, boring affair. I mean, its great to see how the Danes do things, but spending 3 hours at a restaurant and saying 25 words isn't that much fun. All day today was my younger host brother Victor's birthday celebration. I gave him copies of Bad Boys and Bad Boys II, which he seemed excited about. Today/tonight has been better as I've been able to head down here when bored, but still, not a lot of talking going on on my part. I guess that's part of the problem of not speaking Danish.
• Speaking of the family friend's birthday. She was turning 18, which is the big birthday for Danes. At 18 you're able to buy alcohol easily, get a driver's license, etc. So to properly celebrate the occasion the birthday girl was the recipient of a special hair cut, which involved the Danish style of hair extensions. The price, a cool 5,000 DKK, that's just a little less than a $1,000. Crazy.
• I think I've discovered my new favorite breakfast. Initially, I was having corn flakes and some fruit every morning, but at the end of last week I tried something new. Raw oats, cut up banana, and strawberry yogurt. Highly recommended.
• I don't think I've talked about my host family much in terms of describing them, and that will have to wait, but I will say this -- they are incredibly generous sometimes. When I first arrived they said they were going to treat me as part of the family and I should help around the house (as I would want it), but it hasn't quite happened to that extent. Sure I help around the house, but a lot of the time my offers of help are turned down. On top of that, last night my parents had a party to go to, and my brother was working, so dinner was on my own. No biggie. I was planning on eating out with some friends, and told my host family that that was the plan. They responded by giving me 100 DKK to cover my dinner. I tried to refuse it, but to no avail. They're supposed to provide me with dinner, so they were.
• Speaking about going out last night, I learned one key thing: Danes love American music. My friends and I must have passed 4 bars that had like cover bands singing American rock, along with the entire bar, with quite a bit of energy.
• I don't know what's more shocking: how dirty Copenhagen is on Saturday mornings, or how clean it is on Monday mornings.
• After a full first week of classes I have come to at least one conclusion/realization. I am spoiled rotten at Carleton. It's so nice to have professors that are amazing at teaching and enjoy doing it. Some of my teachers (they aren't professors, no Ph.D., so I'll call them teachers) just don't seem to know how to teach, which includes being poor at communication. I sent an e-mail to a teacher with a question, and he doesn't respond. Instead, he makes a comment in class that some random person e-mailed him. He didn't even know I was in his class -- of 20 students. So yeah, I'm missing Carleton profs.
  

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark

Yes, there is something rotten. In fact, so rotten that the U.S. State Department has issued a warning. First, let me give you the background, at least how I understand it. Approximately 6 months and a week ago, the Danish government kicked a large number of youths (about 17-25 years old) from a government owned house that they had been squatting in for quite a long time. The government determined that they needed the building for some purpose. This upset the youth that were living there, and they responded by protesting, with a slight violent tinge to it (Molotov cocktails), which was eventually broke up by the police with the assistance of tear gas. Well, a week ago was the 6 month anniversary of this event and again the people involved protested. This time it resulted in numerous windows broken from rocks being thrown. Now, these same people are planning in protesting again tomorrow. Only this time there will be 69 groups, starting at 69 different places all with an address of 69. The repetition of 69 is due to that number being the address of the original house. All 69 groups are then going to start marching at 3:00pm towards the town center, where they will rally together. With this group's past history of turning violent, the U.S. State Department decided to issue a warning for Americans to stay clear. My problem is that the protest is in the middle of my commute route and time, so who knows what I'll be in the thick of. I do plan on bringing my camera with me just in case, but I do plan on steering pretty clear of it, as I don't want anything crazy to happen to me. It should be interesting to say the least.

Nothing like a street protest/party to mess with a commute

Today was the official start of classes at DIS, which I guess means my program has now officially, officially begun. On Mondays/Thursdays I only have two classes, biomedical ethics and complexity of cancer. And even better, my first class doesn't start until 1:15 p.m., which means I get to sleep in.

Biomedical ethics is first on my list for the day, and it seem like it'll be a good course. The professor is Danish, but she spends her summers teaching at St. Olaf. This led to a fun discussion when we introduced ourselves and I said I went to Carleton, as we talked about Northfield and Blue Mondays. Anyways the course material is quite interesting, and she has it set up so that it will prepare us for practicing medicine and being able to quickly make critical ethical decisions in terms of patient care, as well as allowing us to be able to empathize with our patients when they ask questions like "what is the meaning of life?". I also found it interesting that she has the course set up much like a Carleton course, with the emphasis on the lectures and our discussions, as that was not totally what I was expecting.

In quite the opposite direction was my complexity of cancer course, which is taught by two Danish doctors that are both at their "residency" stage of training in clinical oncology (the training system is different here, but residency is the analogous position). They however, are not professors, and are not use to teaching/grading, especially with Americans, so their course is very Danish in a sense as they do not care if you show up to class, because in reality the lectures are only ancillary, and everything is based on the reading. This creates quite a different situation for me, and it will be interesting to say the least to see how it goes.

My complexity of cancer course takes place at the Panthum Institute which is Copenhagen's medical school, and it is also my last course of the day. Afterwards then, I took the bus back to the center of town where I had two different options to get back home. Since this was a new bus stop for me I spent the first 5 minutes getting oriented, figuring out which lines serviced the stops, and which line I needed to get home. Unfortunately, this orientation time led to trouble. Once I found the line I needed, I was standing out in the rain patiently waiting for the bus to arrive (it rained quite hard all afternoon). And waiting. And waiting. There was a timer at the stop, showing how many minutes until the bus arrived, and it was showing zero, but still no bus. So I waited...and waited some more. Finally, I look off and I see a bunch of flashing lights towards where the bus should be coming from. Then I notice there are multiple police vans parked at the station with police waiting in them. Then I started to hear the loudspeaker, and the people. There was some kind of parade or protest marching down the street. For what I am not sure, but they had a ton of people, pirate flags, and a moving stage, where someone was screaming things, throwing beach balls, and lighting flares. This little event severely messed with all the traffic including the buses. In the end it turned a 35 minute commute into a 90 minute commute, all in the rain. You have to love the Danes and their love for marching/dancing/chanting down the streets, no matter the occasion.

A smattering of thoughts

This post will just be a handful of my thoughts that have occurred today:

• Someone asked where my homestay is loacted within Copenhagen. I live in a "neighborhood" that is on the island of Amager, which is where the airport is located. I have about a 30 minute commute to DIS, which is on the low end. E-mail me at londond@carleton.edu if you would like the actual address to look up my house on Google Earth, or some other satellite website.
• I'm going to my first soccer practice in about 3 years tomorrow! There is a club affiliated with DIS that allows DIS students to play on one of their teams. Since they have 6 mens' teams, and I haven't played competitive soccer in over 3 years, I'll probably be on one of the lower teams, but who knows. And who knows if I'll continue to do it or not, but I'll at least attend the first practice. I have to admit I'm quite nervous about the whole ordeal, but we'll see.
• I went on my "tourist" sightseeing of Copenhagen today. Overall, the tour left much to be desired, but it was fine. I've uploaded the pictures from it to my Webshots, which can be accessed by the link at the top right of my page, or by clicking here: http://community.webshots.com/user/dsocc2l1864
• After interacting with a handful of students from schools across the country, mostly indirectly, all I can say is it did nothing to reaffirm how good a fit Carleton is for me.
• Finally, I am already getting extremely frustrated with my lack of knowledge in terms of the Danish language. I know realize how rough life was for people in my program in Berlin last summer, who didn't know German. Not being able to read especially makes things quite difficult.
  

"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.