2 Weeks of Traveling: Recap Time

So I've just arrived back in the CPH -- or the KBH if I'm feeling quite Danish -- after two great weeks of quite contrasting travel. The first week, as you'll read, was highlighted by the amazing "visceral" experience of being outdoors climbing and trekking, while the second week was a who's who of art and culture. I'll be formating these posts in a similar fashion to what I did for the first week, which will slowly work their way to my most current thoughts with each post being written relatively recently after the events took place. Enjoy!

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.

Videos Suck

Today was supposed to be the exciting day for our travel break in terms of academic visits. I was scheduled to visit a Polish pathologist and see an autopsy first hand. Sadly – if that’s even the appropriate word – no one died the previous day and we weren’t able to actually experience an autopsy. Instead we were able to see it via video, which was nothing special. That’s something I can do on You Tube. The remainder of the day involved lunch on our own, which happened to be my second doener in two days – I see an unfortunate pattern developing here – and a guided walking tour throughout Poznan.

This was incredibly interesting. And it extended much beyond just being able to see all the sights and take pictures. It was more interesting to hear the Polish tour guide’s opinion on various sujects, particularly the Russians and Germans. Let’s just say she’s not a big fan of either, and with a fair amount of good reason based on how both countries have treated Poland in the past.

Berlin nach Poznan

The next day we were off to Poznan, but not until noon. This meant I had a little more time to sightsee. I took full advantage of this and got up early that morning for breakfast and to head over to the Jewish Holocaust Memorial. This memorial was/is quite controversial among the Berlin populace as there were issues regarding if the Jews should have their own memorial in Berlin versus all of the victims of the Holocaust, and why this memorial needed to be in Berlin. The early morning was a nice time to go there and reflect, nonetheless.

Afterwards we were planning to visit the inside of the Reichstag which is the German parliament, but, unfortunately, the dome on top and the parliament were closed for cleaning. We still had too much time to head back to the hotel so we took a trip out to the western suburbs of the city and visited the Olympic Stadion. That was really cool. I was filled with feelings of awe at the building itself and a sense of history and pride when I saw the track and imagined Jesse Owens beating everyone else in 1936. It was a definite odd juxtaposition of feelings.

Then in my last act in Berlin I ran around the area by the hotel for a good 20 minutes trying in desperation to find a doener. I finally succeeded and enjoyed every last bite of my Turkish/Berlin delicacy. The next 6 hours were spent on a bus heading to Poznan in Poland. The highlight of the trip was the hour spent at the border having our passports and bus checked.

The Polish countryside was quite a shock in comparison to Berlin. Much more rural, and much more rundown. When we first entered the Poznan city limits comments were being made left and right regarding the dilapidated state of the city. However, as we headed further into the center of town and closer to our hotel the better things appeared. After getting settled into our hotel we headed for our first Polish dinner, which was nothing to rave about, but not horrible either. Then it was just a chill night as people tried to catch up on their lack of sleep.

2nd day in Berlin

The second day in Berlin was full of ups and downs, with the day starting off pretty bad and steadily improving. We began with a visit to the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, where we were given 2 different seminars. One was about identifying genetic diseases via humans and the other was about technology in molecular genetics. Neither were that interesting, or informative for that matter. It was pretty much a wasted morning. This was definitely the low point of the day.

Things greatly improved afterwards when we were on our own. I and a couple friends visited the New Synagogue on Oranienburger Tor, which was right by where I had classes with IES. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take any pictures of the synagogue or of the views from the dome. We then headed over to Museum Island where we visited the Pergamon and Altes Museums. The Pergamon was amazing. Nothing more needs to be said. It was a collection of actual and replica pieces of art and architecture from the Greeks, the Babylonians, the Syrians, and various Islamic cultures. It was stunning. The Altes Musuem was a quick visit mostly for the chance to see Nefrititi, whose bust is on display.

My friends then wanted to see the Berliner Dom; however they were having services so we waited out on the steps for half an hour and just chatted. It was actually quite relaxing. Post services we checked out the interior of the church (which I saw last time I was in Berlin), where I met a friend – a cute, little mouse hanging out in the prayer chapel.

The true highlight of the night was when we came out of the cathedral. That night Berlin was having a festival – “The Festival of Lights” – which had nothing to do with Hannukkah – if you were curious. What it did involve was lighting up various landmarks throughout Berlin, which included the Berliner Dom and Brandenburg Gate. You can see how beautiful these two buildings looked below:


The evening also involved a fireworks and laser light show at Alexanderplatz. It was all pretty cool and a fun evening. And I was able to have a Berliner Weisses Rot, which took care of that urge.

My former home

Talk about a crazy sense of déjà vu. Today we toured around Berlin and it caused such an eerie feeling and memories of two summers ago to flood back (along these lines I did not take that many picutes seeing as I have already once before. If you are very interested in Berlin pictures I suggest you look at my older Webshots album from two summers ago.). Looking back at that time there are definite parallels that I am currently experiencing with DIS, but there also also – and perhaps more profoundly – definite distinct differences. It overall just makes for interesting thoughts – none of which have much coherence or logical flow.

To further add to my feelings of déjà vu we also toured the Jewish Museum, with this being my third visit. It was still incredibly interesting, and it was even more fascinating to hear the museum explained by a different tour guide with a new perspective. Still, not much has changed since I was last there.

Afterwards I explored an interesting special exhibit about the work by Charlotte Salomon entitled “Life? Or Theater?". The background is that this 21 year old German Jew was fleeing from the Nazis and staying with her grandparents in the south of France. She also had experienced a tumultuous childhood, and her main method of coping was painting. In the end, she painted over 1,300 different watercolor panels, and added text and music to accompany them, which all together has turned into this play. It was quiet interesting and provided a different perspective on things.

We then walked around various parts of the city without much aim, just trying to experience Berlin. I then had a unique experience as we visited KaDeWe – Kaufhas des Westens (Department store of the West) – with a focus on their 6^th floor gourmet items. It was ridiculous the amount and vaired kinds of food they had for sale. You could also go and eat there if that suited you as well.

We were on our own for dinner tonight and a group of us decided to try a restaurant in the bottom of a mall called “Bavarium,” which is a German restaurant focusing on dishes from Bavaria. It was good. Lots of meat and potatoes. It definitely brought back memories of my family vacation to southern Germany. We met a group of middle age+ American businessmen that were also eating at the restaurant. Impressively, they knew exactly where Carleton is – and how good of a school it is.

The rest of the evening was spent with friends, walking, talking, and hanging out. On a surprising note bars/restaurants/clubs are not open that late here, at least in comparison to Copenhagen. Tomorrow is our last day in Berlin and I still have two things I need to accomplish: one, eating a doener; two, having a Berliner Weisse Rot. Hopefully both of those happen tomorrow.

A Concentration Camp and Berlin

Today was the beginning of the long study tour, and it was quite the start. First, I was operating on 1 hour of sleep, as I stayed up the entire night watching the Indians beat the Red Sox (minus the 1-hour nap I took during the uneventful 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th innings). It was awesome seeing them put seven runs on the board in the top of the 11^th. Pretty much 2 minutes after the game ended Michael and I were in the car heading to Frue Plads, where he dropped me off to catch the bus. Unfortunately, bus seats aren’t that conducive to good sleeping so I wasn’t able to catch up on my sleep. We then spent 2 hours on a ferry to go from Denmark to Germany, which was followed by another 3 hours in the bus.

Our first stop was at Sachsenhausen, outside of Berlin, which was a Nazi concentration camp, and then a Soviet camp. This was the second concentration camp I’ve visited, as I went to Dachau during my family vacation to Germany two summers ago. **Unfortunately my immediate thoughts were lost, so this will now include my thoughts 3 weeks later.** In comparison to Dachau, Sachsenhausen seemed to have a greater effect on me personally. I'm not exactly sure why, but it just seemed to be a more emotionally draining experience. That might have to do with my state of mind, the weather conditions, or perhaps just the people I experienced it with. Whatever it was, it really brought out feelings that coincide with my personal connection associated with my own Jewish heritage, cultural upbringing, and familial ties.

We then drove for another hour or so into Berlin. Initially, when I found out my tour was going to Berlin I was less than thrilled, mostly because I spent two months there two summers ago, and would have much rather seen another European city. However, with that said, once we were there I was so excited to be back in Berlin. It is unbelievable what a factor familiarity plays in a person’s outlook on a place. It was great to know where we were, to be able to point out places of interest to other people on the bus, and to be able to navigate the city’s public transportation.

The highlight of the evening by far was dinner. We ate a restaurant called Unsichtsbar, which has a rough literal translation of the unable to have sight bar. This was a dark restaurant. That means that the eating area is pitch black and all the waiters/waitresses are blind. It was an unbelievable experience. Not being able to use your eyes while eating adds such a different dynamic to a meal. You end up focusing more on the smell and taste of the food, as well as its texture. Then, the darkness also makes you focus more on other people’s words and not on their physicalness. The food was good too, as an added bonus.

This restaurant was also awesome because it was in a neighborhood that my friends and I loved to hang out in (when I was in Berlin previously). This allowed me to show my DIS friends our favorite hangout and I was also able to get a beer that I had been craving since arriving in Denmark, but that can apparently only be bought in Berlin. It’s nice to be on vacation. I think that is the theme for the next 3 weeks. two summers ago), but it was still quite the emotionally draining experience. We were provided with audio guides and set off on our own to explore the exhibits and buildings. I spent most of the time with another girl (who is also Jewish, and spent some of her summer on a birthright trip to Poland (seeing all the Polish concentration camps) and Israel) discussing the impact of the Holocaust on our outlook on life being of Jewish descent. For whatever reason this camp seemed to be a little more emotional draining than Dachau, but I’m not quite sure why.

The Study Tour Recap

So I've just returned from my week long trip to Berlin and Poznan. And of course I want to share how those adventures progressed. I'm going to do this slightly differently than how I gave a recap on my previous trips. Each day will be its own post, and will be posted after this one. I think this will let people scan around quicker if they so choose. Also, just for your frame of reference, most of these posts were written the night of the day they are referring to. Enjoy!

You're a Dane if...

Before I depart for three weeks, I thought I would share my thoughts on how you can determine if you are a Dane or not.

You are a Dane if...

...you only wear black and white (no colors allowed).
...you enjoy riding your bike to work while simulatenously smoking and talking on your cell phone.
...you take your baby everywhere in a baby carriage that resembles one from the early 20th century.
...your favorite candy is black licorice rolled in salt.
...you have a defeatist outlook on the Danish national history.
...you have an inferiority complex in regards to anything dealing with Sweden.

Pre-game thoughts...and a lot more

T-minus 20 minutes until game 1 of the ALCS. I'm sucking it up and planning on staying up tonight to watch the game. Granted, this is the farthest the Indians have made it in 10 years so I feel like sacrificing some sleep is worth it. The whole situation gives me a feeling of deja vu from this spring when the Cavs were in the NBA playoffs. They were viewed as the underdog a large way through the playoffs, but still managed to make it to the finals. Hopefully, the Indians can emulate that run.

Besides that point I have a lot of other thoughts to share. Part of the reason for this "outburst" is the fact that I'm half way done with my time in Denmark. Hard to imagine, but I only have 5-6 more weeks in Denmark itself. This is because starting Sunday for the next 3 weeks I'll be traveling around Europe on a mini, well I guess much more than a mini, vacation. I'll definitely be sharing my thoughts on my travels during and after the trip (all dependent on when I can get internet access), but I'll at least let you know where I'll be going. The first stop is back to my stomping grounds two summers ago as we spend a couple days in Berlin, Germany. After that I'll be heading further east to spend a couple days in Poznan, Poland. I'll be going to both of these cities with other DIS students from the Medical Practice & Policy program as part of our long study tour. Following a night back in Copenhagen I'll be back on the road with other DIS students heading to the Czech country side and Prague. Post Prague will involve a train ride to Budapest and a day spent there. Next will be a flight to Milan, immediately followed by a train to Genoa, where I'll be spending a couple days. I'll then move eastward to Florence and then to Siena for the next couple days. Finally, it will be wrapped up with a train to Milan and a flight back to Copenhagen. It's a crazy schedule and I couldn't be more excited!

Now on to my other random thoughts.

First, there was quite a stir amongst DIS students two or so weeks ago as former President Bill Clinton was in Copenhagen. Apparently he was giving a speech somewhere in the city, with tickets running close to 1000 DKK or about $200. However, he was also signing copies of his new book at bookstore right by the DIS center, which a fair number of people managed to get in line for. In fact, one of my friends from Carleton went to see him and they ended up in conversation about how great Carleton is (Clinton gave the commencement speech in 2000). I would never dream to meet a former or current US President in the states, but then when I go to study abroad in Denmark I find a President. What are the odds?

Indians update: 1-0 Tribe, heading into the bottom of the 1st.

On another political note, I have begun to notice my own increased interest in the current political climate back in the states, especially in regards to the potential presidential candidates. My only explanation for this is that the primary elections to be held in March will be my first foray into voting in a presidential election and I want to be informed when making a decision Just an interesting observation on my part.

Do you know that if it wasn't for polio you might have health insurance provided by the government? Let me explain. In Health Care in Scandinavia we just read a text discussing different kinds of welfare states. When he was explaining the social democrat model, which includes almost all of Scandinavia (Side tangent: interestingly enough, my professor highlighted that one of the main keys to the Danish welfare system is homogeneity -- of culture, race, ethnicity, and goals. Without it he doesn't imagine it could succeed. This is perhaps an indication that a welfare state could not work in the US.), he states that this was the path the United States was on under FDR's New Deal programs. I wonder what would have happened if his 4th term wasn't cut short by polio, maybe health insurance?

Indians update: 1-1, heading into the top of the 2nd.

I'm having quite the unique experience in my Impact of Epidemic Disease course. The main text that the course is based on, Plagues and Peoples (1998) by William H. McNeil, is consistently contradicted by my professor. It's just so odd to do the reading before class only to have the professor completely rip it to shreds in class the next day. An interesting dynamic to say the least.

After being in Denmark for 7 weeks now, I think I have finally found a couple things that I miss. Granted there have been a ton of things that I have had moments of longing for, but none of those longings have been consistent over my entire time here. The two exceptions relate directly with Carleton. The first is fall colors. I want nothing more than to be able to see a line of sugar maples completely golden, glimmering in the sun. I miss how beautiful Carleton is in the fall. The second thing I am missing is the stars in the Minnesotan sky. Typically, when walking back from the libe or from somewhere on campus I entertain myself by looking up in the sky at the stars shining down on me. I just cannot replicate these things in Denmark.

Finally, I had an interesting night tonight. Once a year almost all of the cultural locations in Copenhagen are open for a one time fee. It's called Copenhagen's Night of Culture. There are literally over 100 different locations that have various programs for the public to enjoy. My host family offered to take me, and I gladly accepted. We started off the evening with dinner at a cafe much like the community restaurant I described a few weeks ago. We then headed to our first cultural event which was taking a look at Black Diamond, which is the University of Copenhagen's newest branch of the Royal Library. It is an absolutely gorgeous building and it was cool to finally see. We then walked around the ground of the Parliament a little bit, which included a quick stop at the Danish Armament Museum. Then for the true experience of the night we drove over to the zoo! It was completely open, and completely dark. It was definitely a different way to experience the zoo, and while interesting, I'm not sure I'd recommend it. Animals sleeping is only so exciting. Regardless, it was still a great evening and a unique way to see Copenhagen, and especially appropriate as I'll be leaving this town (my 3rd/4th home) for the next 3 weeks.

Alright, C.C. doesn't have his stuff tonight -- again. He's throwing too hard and letting the playoffs get to him. It's so frustrating because I, and all the other Indians fans, know how good of a pitcher he can be if he just stays under control. Top of the 4th, Cleveland 1, Boston 5.

Architectural Innovation

Denmark considers itself to be part of Scandinavia, and rightfully so. This means that most Danes share some of the same general architectural concepts as their northern neighbors. For someone like me, who knows absolutely nothing about "real" architectural terms, etc, this becomes apparent in little things I notice. For example, Danes are very fond of the white/black contrast, and in general have a lot of "modern" design elements, whether it is in the art hanging on the wall, or the sleek, curved furniture they make use of. Another favorite is the use of the wood (and sometimes tile). It's all over the place, in varying shades, and really quite attractive (its made me want to use a lot of wood when it comes time to buy/build a house). All of these features are great, and I'm glad that I get to experience them "first-hand" through my homestay, but none of these come even close to being my favorite.

Nope, my favorite aspect of Danish/Scandinavian design holds a special place in my heart, but first a little background. My house at home is almost entirely tile on the first floor. It looks great and it really makes the house feel like it should -- I just can't imagine it without all the tile. The one negative is winter, especially when you wake up in the morning. See, tile has a hard time maintaining heat, and in the winter it can become down right frigid, always providing a shock for your feet when you first wake up.

Now, one would expect the same issue here, but they have it covered. All the tile floor in the basement is heated. What an amazing feeling! I wake up in the morning, get out of bed, and head to bathroom. I expect to be greeted with the frigid reality of the tile, but instead it beckons me to walk on it, and enjoy in its exuding warmth. It's almost addicting in a sense. This is something I am definitely going to have!

A Library Labyrinth

Carleton's library is great. I know exactly where it is on campus. I know exactly how to check out books. I know exactly how to do research. And I know exactly who to turn to when I have questions. There is one problem, though. I'm not at Carleton anymore.

This problem has reared its ugly head quite a few times recently, as I have been assigned 4 different papers. Obviously, for these papers I'm having to do some independent research. Luckily, for almost all of them I have been able to make use of the Carleton online resources and ILLIAD (inter library requests), which have made my life a whole lot easier. I've also been able to contact Carleton reference librarians by e-mail to ask questions about where to look for certain information, and they have been incredibly helpful, as always.

Where my real adventure has come is with one paper that has required me to check out books from the Danish Royal Library. This is the library associated with the University of Copenhagen. They have a great website that lets you search their entire collection online, and then request the books -- if they are available -- to be held at one of the branches. This is all in English mind you, too. So I find the books I'm looking for online, and request them to be held at the Amager branch. No problem. A couple days later, after I've been e-mailed and told the books are ready to be picked up, I head over towards the campus after class.

Unusually, on Amager there is an actual University of Copenhagen campus that has a cluster of academic buildings. As I got off the Metro and consulted a map nearby I had a general gestalt of where I was heading. Clearly, as I'm walking I can tell that the University is on my right hand side, but I have no idea where the library is. Eventually, I find an outdoor map, which says the library should be straight ahead. Awesome! I start walking, and then begin to notice that the building straight ahead is under construction (actually being built), and when I get close enough I realize that it is the new library. This, however, does me little good. Being the good man that I am, I refused to ask for directions and continued to wander quite aimlessly around the campus. Eventually, I have a brief recollection of the number 80, in terms of the library's address. I also find a sign that directs me to this address. I feel like its destiny.

Once I reach the entrance of the building, which oddly enough is right by where I started, I am lost again. I'm now in the building that houses the library, but I have no idea where the library is. I look at the directory and map, but no mention of the library. Then I noticed that directly in front of me, through the glass wall, is the library. Great! But how do you get in? I was left with the choice of left or right in terms of which direction to go. For whatever reason I chose right, and wandered down the halls, always turning to keep the library next to me. Eventually I found the entrance, and I was in.

But now what? At first, I was waiting in line to talk to the woman at the information desk, but then realized that they had reserved books stacked alphabetically against the wall. Sure enough, once I found the "L's" I found my stack. So I was now in possession of my books, but had no idea what to do. Were they already checked out? Do I need to check them out? I had no idea. My initial intention was to just leave, but decided that wasn't a correct decision. I then realized that they had self-service checkout kiosks, much like at the grocery store. So I head over to one to check out my books, but have no idea how to use it, even though its in English. I stood there, dumbfounded for a moment, until I gave up and headed back to the information desk, where the woman helped me get squared away.

I have my books, so I'm set right? Wrong. I need to get home, and luckily there's a bus stop that would take me all the way home right outside the entrance. I wait for about 10 minutes for the bus to come, and when I see it off in the distance I head right to the curb to signal I want on. So what happens? The bus drives right by me of course. This led to a 20 minute walk only so that I could take 2 more buses and make my way home. This entire event turned out to be a 2 hour adventure, when it should have really taken 1/2 an hour. At least I know where the Carleton library is.

Indian Summer

As luck would have it, this has been a banner year for my Cleveland sports teams. First, you have the Cavaliers making it to the NBA finals, then you have the Indians winning the Central Division title, and beating the Yankees 12-3 in the first game of the ALDS, and finally you have the Browns possibly turning the corner and becoming a respectable football team as they are 2-2 a quarter of the way through the season. What makes this situation so great is that I haven't been able to really experience anything in person. First, the Cavs due to being at Carleton and then Ann Arbor, then with the Indians, being here in Denmark, and the same goes for the Browns. Not only that, but I haven't been able to watch my teams as much as I would like just because of conflicting schedules, and even more so not getting the right television channels. What does all of this mean? It means that I couldn't be happier with the current status of Cleveland sports, and that I'm perfectly content to spend this Friday night in to watch the Indians battle the Yankees a second night, all on my illegal stream.

Do You Have a Billion Dollars Lying Around?

We had an interesting reading associated with Tuesday's lecture in my Health Care in Scandinavia course. The reading can be found at http://rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9169/. Pretty much what this fact sheet says is that over a billion dollars a year could be saved if insurance companies lowered co-payments on prescription pharmaceuticals. This assumption is based on the data, which showed that for every $10 rise in co-payment, compliance decreased by 5%, and if there is a higher compliance in taking pharmaceuticals by reducing co-payments for those sick or at a high-risk of becoming sick and higher co-payments for low-risk patients, then there is a greater proportion of healthier patients, which could result in 80,000 to 90,000 fewer hospitalizations and 30,000 to 35,000 fewer ER visits. All of this equates to a savings of $1,000,000,000. That's a lot of money.

Interesting Connections

I've been learning plenty of interesting things about how small the world is recently. For example, while Michael (my host dad) was driving me into DIS to pick something up he just casually mentioned that his sister, who is now deceased, was one of the original founders of Freetown on Christiana (for more information on this special place check out this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetown_Christiania). This was pretty surprising news to say the least. The other interesting connection happened tonight at dinner, which took place at the Taarnby Football Club. It turns out that one of the dad's of a player on Viktor's (my younger host brother) soccer team spent a year in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan back in the mid 70's when my Mom was there. It really shows how small of a world we live in.

Oslo: A Transportation Quandry

This past weekend was spent in Oslo, Norway, along with two friends from DIS. We had a great time, although the weather was quite uncooperative. Pictures have already been uploaded to Webshots for your perusal if interested. But here is the rundown on Oslo, day by day.

Friday
The cruise we were taking was supposed to leave Copenhagen harbor at 5:00 pm, which meant we needed to be on board the ship at 4:30 pm. I skipped my last class of the day to make this time frame not be an issue. Patricia and I left DIS around 3:00 pm, with the idea that we had plenty of time to make it to the dock. We looked up online which bus we needed and we were set to go. But of course, nothing could be that easy. We picked up bus 26 at Radhudspladsen as we were supposed to, and we knew it was the correct bus immediately as there was a fair number of people with luggage. In fact, the destination of the bus read "The Cruise Ships". How could we go wrong? Well, it turns out that there are 2 different bus 26 lines, one of which goes to the terminal, but the other stops at an odd point in the harbor. Unfortunately, we were on the second line, and weren't aware of it, so we rode out to this point, where the bus driver told us to get off. Confused, we asked how we could get to the boat. He responded with very poor English that we needed to walk down a certain road, and that we would be there in 5 minutes. So Patricia and I set off, and called Jessica, who was supposed to meet us at the dock, trying to tell her not to make the same mistake. 10 minutes later we reached the end of the pier (and the bus that had previously left us off passed us). However, we still had another 10-15 minutes of walking to do. We finally ended up at the terminal around 4:20ish and Jessica was able to get there by 4:30, too. All in all, a great start to our trip.

The ship itself was great. It was nothing close to a ferry, but in reality a cruise ship. The rooms were small (as expected), but rather nice for what we paid. The odd part was that every other cruise I've been on (Alaska and the Western Caribbean) have always included food. We didn't pay for food, so I stared longingly at the menus as we ate our PB&J sandwiches. I did end up splurging on some pretty bad cheesecake and a hot chocolate (which was amazing). The rest of the night was spent at a table by the bar and the piano player people watching more than anything else.

Saturday
The next morning we got up bright and early, 6:30 am, as we were told coming into Oslo is gorgeous. So we grudgingly woke up, put some clothes on, grabbed our cameras, and headed to the top deck. We lasted for about 2.5 minutes, at most. I almost fell over twice! It was incredibly windy, cold, and rainy. Just gross weather. We made the executive decision that sleep was better than the weather and went back to bed.

Upon actually arriving in Oslo the weather became a little better as it stopped raining. The previous night the three of us had sat down and planned what we wanted to do. The first stop was to walk along the old Norwegian fortress that guards the harbor. Unfortunately, we never had time to really explore that area. Next we made our way to another pier where we went on a boat tour of the Oslo Fjord. Basically, there are hundred of islands within this fjord that are all part of the greater city of Oslo. It was fun, although it would have been nicer if it wasn't so cloudy and a bit warmer. When we came back to the pier, the rain started, though, which made the rest of the day fun to say the least.

After the boat ride, Patricia and Jessica went off to do their own thing, and I met up with Hannah, a friend from Carleton who's studying abroad in Oslo. We had a nice lunch, and it was great to catch up with a friend that I hadn't seen since the spring.

I met up again with Patricia and Jessica after lunch at the Royal Palace. We decided that Oslo in general is much prettier than Copenhagen (even with the rain), simply because of all the trees downtown. We then headed off for a train station to see Holmenkollen, the famous Norwegian ski jump, which is a huge tourist site as it has the best views of the city. However, more fun with transportation halted our plans. About 2/3 of the way there our train lost power. We sat on the tacks not moving for about 20 minutes, at which point we decided to scrap our plan and catch a train back. But we were too slow, and missed the train back, and ended up waiting another 20 minutes for the next train.

By the time we got back to the downtown area we only had an hour and a half left, so we decided to go to the Vigeland Park, which has a ton of statues created by the Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland. It was pretty awesome, and my pictures really don't do it justice.

After spending some time there we decided we should probably head back to the boat. First, we had to catch a tram, which runs every 10 minutes. As we were walking out of the park, we realize that our tram is coming and that we don't have time to miss it. We start on a dead sprint to make it to the station in time, which involved having to dodge a quite large tour bus, whose bus driver was not too happy with us. After catching the tram back to a main station we then had to catch a train to the actual main station. Due to uncertainty, though, we ended up missing the first train and had to wait a couple minutes for the next one. Once at the main station we were only a 5 minute walk from the terminal, and we had 10 minutes to get there. No problem. Except we had come up from being underground and had no perspective of where we were, and thus no idea of where to walk. With the time frame closing in on us by the second we decided we should probably take a taxi. But of course, when you need to find a taxi, you can't. 5 minutes later we're in a taxi on our way back to the ship terminal. We had to have been one of the last 10 people to board the boat, but at least we managed to get on it.

That night was very similar to the last, eating PB&J and fruit for dinner (although I also splurged on a ham sandwich and pasta salad), talking for a while, decided to get dessert, which included my first Chai tea since I've been here -- it was awesome -- and sitting up by the piano player in the bar people watching and talking.

General Thoughts, Again
All in all, it was a really fun trip, and Oslo is a great city. It made me want to go back to Norway in the summer and see Oslo again, but also head north a bit to see more of the arctic aspects. The trip has also had a negative effect in the sense that I'm having problems deciding if I am in fact in school or on vacation still. This makes doing work pretty difficult, which is why I'm writing this right now, of course. You might also notice that I've added a "European Food List" on the side of the blog. This is where I'll list some of my favorite food that I find while here, even if they aren't that special -- Danish/Norwegian apples in the fall are amazing! Then finally, I'm considering taking one more trip right before I leave for home in December. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good European city to see in the middle of December for a day or two?

Being in Europe is all about experimenting...

Or isn't that what everyone says? You're in Europe, you're young, go enjoy yourself and try new things, right? I've been attempting to embrace this concept, although as almost all of you know, trying new things is not exactly my forte. The one major experiment I've had so far is with facial hair. Normally, I keep myself clean shaven. Granted I've experimented with laziness and just let things go for a couple weeks, but that never turns out well. So I decided since I'm away from people that will harass me about facial hair, namely my friends, I attempted to do the groomed facial hair thing -- a goatee. Surprisingly, it didn't look that bad, and it was nice to have that much less to shave, but ultimately is just wasn't me, and it didn't look that good either. So I'm back to the clean shaven look, and odds are it's here to stay. Guess I'll get to keep on shaving.

Another experiment is happening tomorrow. I am going to miss my first academic class since 6th grade. I'll be skipping my last class of the day to catch a ferry that will be heading to Oslo, Norway, overnight. I'm going with a couple friends of DIS, and we'll have all day Saturday to explore, prior to getting on the ferry Saturday evening, so that we'll be back in Copenhagen by Sunday morning. It should be a nice, quick adventure. I'm also going to be able to meet up with one of my friends who is spending the term abroad in Oslo, so hopefully she'll have some good suggestions of things to do. You can definitely expect a full review of Oslo once I get back, although it most likely will be interspersed with rants about the Browns as they play the Ravens Sunday night.

Smoke Inhalation

In my complexity of cancer course we are currently learning about various forms of chemotherapy. The text associated with the lectures was pretty intense in terms of level, and I really only gained generalities from it, such as chemotherapy sucks in terms of the toxicities. It sounded brutal, and this was a scientific article! It really makes me not want to have cancer. The other thing I picked up from the article was that radiation therapy can act as a carcinogen, which typically results in neoplasia 10 years down the line. If that is true for other carcinogens, and I end up with lung cancer 10 years from now, I know who to blame: FC Copenhagen and Broendby IF football fans.

This weekend my host family and one of their friends went to see the match between these two bitter, Copenhagen rivals. It was an entertaining game, which FC Copenhagen ended up winning 1-0, but the game itself wasn't the only excitement. The fans decided they would provide some "atmosphere" to the 24,000 person stadium, by lighting flares (some of which were thrown on the field) and smoke bombs, as well as by setting a chair on fire. Couple that with all the Danes that smoke while watching soccer, and I inhaled enough smoke to last me a life time. Nevertheless, it was a pretty good atmosphere for a soccer match. I've tried to capture it in my photos on webshots, but I've also added a new dimension. I recorded some video with my digital camera trying to capture the fans singing and cheering. Take a look and see what Danish soccer is really like (in terms of the fans, at least).

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.