Once Upon a Time . . .

After arriving at the Copenhagen airport and collecting all my earthly possessions that could fit in my luggage, I was taken to a local university, designed by a famous architect, where I waited for too long to get taken to my apartment. After a night of waking up randomly because of jet lag, I set off to start my first day in Copenhagen. My first day of orientation started with an opening ceremony at the equivalent of our Library of Congress. The auditorium had a phase written on the front wall. It is a copy of Hans Christian Andersen's handwriting translating to 'Once Upon a Time'. This was then related to how we will tell our grandchildren stories starting with 'Once upon a time in Copenhagen . . . '

After the ceremony we wandered throughout the city coming to the area near school. I have learned a little Danish . . . even though it wont get me too far. Pronunciation is so important in the Danish language that if it is slightly off they will have no idea what you are saying (this is going to be frustrating in the future). We went to a grocery store and learned some words for food. After class some people from my building an I went on our first grocery shopping excursion. The money difference will take awhile getting used to. I bought bread, tea, yogurt, cereal, apples, pasta, jelly, pretzels, and shower gel and my total was 115.35DKK. It only is $23 but it boggles my mind a bit to see such a large number.