It has happened. Inevitably, that point in the school year has approached when my life is just too busy or too exciting or too sleepless or too homework-heavy or too exhausting for my body to handle. After a week in Sweden and a weekend with The Significant Other and ten nights of Not Enough Sleep, my body has given up. Rather than sending a postcard or a letter of resignation, though, my immune system has decided to send a kindly message in the form of snot and tiny ravenous monsters with enormously sharp claws that seem to have lodged themselves in my throat two mornings ago. This is it. This is the end.

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I mean, not really. Luckily (kind of, more on that later), one of my classes was canceled Tuesday morning, so I only had two classes to consider skipping. Though it was only the first day of sickness, and I knew there could be worse yet to come, I decided sleep and rest was the only way to aid in my recovery. I sent some emails and canceled swing dancing (again… sigh…) before crawling back in bed to drink tea and watch the last half of Sleepless in Seattle.

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And it paid off! I felt about a million times better, by sick standards, when I woke up Wednesday morning. I’m at about the same now as I was yesterday, with frequent nose-blowing and infrequent coughing, but it could be a lot worse. I am quite proud of myself and my ability to make tea.

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Let’s back up to the weekend:

When I arrived back in Denmark Friday night, Jackson was already here and ready for adventure! And by “adventure,” I mean “a weekend of inactivity.” It was actually the best. We only really did the types of activities one would do on a weekend at home, rather than on a weekend abroad. It was relaxing and wonderful.

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Saturday, we only left the house to walk to the grocery store. Then we spent the day baking baking and watching You’ve Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. ‘Twas adorbs.

Note the excitement on my face. I’m still trying to finish this cheesecake!

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Sunday, I had these big plans to explore Roskilde, a town over to the West of Copenhagen that is home to several historical museums, a viking ship museum, and a cathedral. Unfortunately, the trains kept getting canceled while we waited, and then once we finally got on the right one, I ensured that we depart one stop too early. Long story short, the 1.5 hour trip ended up lasting closer to three. By the time we got there, we were starving, but once we finished dinner, all of the museums and attractions were closed. So basically we are the Best Tourists Ever. We did manage to stumble into the cathedral after visiting hours to listen to the local boys choir sing, though. It was positively amazing, as most boys choirs are. Gosh, I can’t even explain it. The acoustics, the decor… I can’t.

The inside

The outside!

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Monday, I brought Jackson along with me to Creative Travel Writing, and my professor told him he could only stay if he participated. He took this a bit out of hand and ended up talking more than any other single person in the class. Yeah. Never taking him out again. One of my friends in the class told me this afternoon that she would have left her boyfriend in the hall. Ha! Then we wandered around, ate random food, ordered hot chocolate in Danish (I was so close! I just forgot how to say “whipped cream!”), and then we watched a movie in the library. I know, I know. Party animals, we are.

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There were also various photo shoots:

The royal stables with Christiansborg in the background

The changing of the guard in front of Amelianborg Palace

Riding bikes

My love bug next to the neighborhood Love Bug. HA! Wow, that was gross. I don’t actually call him that, I swear.

The LEGO store

And random dancing. Because sometimes, you just gotta dance.

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And then he left! Gah! Next stop is Paris in November. (:

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Wednesday, I braved the sickness and wrapped myself in as many layers as my rain jacket would permit, and then I tried commuting via bike for the first time. Won’t be doing that again. I rushed to get to the train, got there just in time, arrived to a bike car that was totally full so that I had to stand in the passageway for the full 25 minutes with my bike, panting and sweating profusely and unable to take off any jackets for fear of my bicycle toppling over. But wait, it gets better: when I arrived at Nørreport Station, I discovered that there are no bike tracks on the stairs, because it is technically against the rules to use a bike on the train at this station. I had to carry my bike up two or three or ten flights of steps (it’s all a blur, really), ride down Nørregade alongside cars, pedestrians, and construction (there are no bike lanes on this street for some reason), and then find some illegal parking near my classroom. It was quite the adventure.

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The day was fun, though. My Sustainable Development course had a bike tour around Copenhagen led by Bianca Hermansen, a ridiculously cool urban planner and bicycle infrastructure fanatic:

Note the dress, flowing sweaters, and stiletto boots. This woman is amazing. She was also holding a latte for the first stretch of the tour.

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Some bike paths in the area. This is one of the paths Bianca deemed to be less-than-perfect. (Can you believe that?)

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I went home for a few hours to do some homework and be warm before heading back out into the cold for a cooking course with Scan|Design. They seriously coordinate the best events.

These are the ingredients for the dressings of the Danish “hot dogs” that we made. They were not hot dogs at all, but apparently that is what Danes call sausages once they are all done-up with the buns and dressings. I was on the home-made ketchup and mustard team. We also made fried onions, fresh buns (soooo squishy!), remoulade sauce, pickled cucumbers, and the sausages themselves. We had to stuff actual pork into actual lamb intestines. I tried and failed on my first one. Oh well!

Here’s Angel doing some of the dirty work while I was drinking cider and champagne!

Natalie doing the cooking. OH CRAP!!!! I just realized that they told us we could take the aprons, and when I ran out to catch my bus, I was in such a rush that I didn’t grab one. Hmph…… This is sad.

But check out that hot dog, am I right?

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So yes. I would chalk this up as a successful week, despite being sick. Tomorrow, I’ll be visiting the Glyptotek again with my European Art class before partaking in Copenhagen’s Culture Night!!! I am so excited and have no idea what it is about, but I’ll be sure to give details once all is said and done. Until then…

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Venlig hilsen/ best regards,

Lizzy-wa