Danmark!!!

Velkommen, Velkommen to Danmark! Ahhhh yes, Denmark, and awesome country. I guess I should update you guys about my trip thus far. I'm in night 2 but already so much has happened!

Ok, so my travels started on Wednesday morning at 330am. Sorry for the lack of punctuation by the way, but I'm on a Danish laptop and I can't find a lot of the keys. Haha. Okay, anyway, so I get up at 330 yesterday and took the 4am bus to Dublin. That way I didn't have to sit around in the airport and wait for hours. I got to Dublin around 8 and had 50 minutes to kill before they started checking you in for the flight. So, I went to the cafe upstairs and got a bagel with creamcheese and bacon. It was better than it sounds. After playing on my laptop and eating it was time to check in. I checked in, got through security and finally did not beep! I was pumped. I was basically naked walking through the medal detector because i refused to get beeped. After I passed customs, I went to my gate and just chilled until it boarded.

I flew Norweigen Air which was really nice. Everything was blue and red to symoblise the flags of the Scandonavian countries. I got an eisle seat right behind the exit so I could have leg room, and slept for most of the flight. It was raining in Dublin when we took off so there wasn't a whole lot to see. Everything they were saying over the intercom system was Danish so I couldn't understand a word of it. Even the safety video. The flight was smooth though. Took 2 hours, and I flew into the future so I got there at 230ish. The flight was late so we got in later than expected. Flying over Denmark when we landed was awesome though. You could see how the whole country is seperated into islands. It was really cool. Once I got off the plane I tried to follow all the Danish signs and eventually came to a main holding area. I asked literally 4 people how to get train tickets, where to find an ATM, and how to get to the train boarding area. They were all very nice and helpful though, thank God.

I found the train ticket machines and tried to purchase one to Viborg (veeborg) where Pernille lives. However, I was very taken back when the total price said 336 Kroners. I was like holy shit, this means nothing to me. So I went and exchanged my 20 Euro for some kroners. I got 100 Kroners back. So, I took out 1,000 Kroners which will hopefully last me my stay here. After I bought my ticket, I was told that I just missed the 250 train and I would have to take the 350. So I had an hour to kill, so I decided to grab a Danish sausage and a coke from this little stand in the airport. It cost me 26 kroners, and it was amazing. Apparently one of the most traditional Danish meals is a Danish sausage with everything on it. It was this looooong sausage in this tiny bun. It looked ridiculous, yea, make some sexual jokes.....Okay, good now_ That is where the question mark is on my laptop, but on here it's _ So, sorry about the underscore. Anyway, I got almost the works. I got spicy mustard and ketchup, with fresh onions. However, they also put pickles on it too, but I wasn't in a pickle mood. It was amazing. It was crispy and crunchy on the outside, had like a crust, and the inside was like a hot dog. It was the best phaelic looking food i think I've had. Except for a Pats Cheesesteak of course. But this was awesome. And the Coke, the best I've ever had. It's true, Coke is different in every country. In Ireland it's sweet and less carbonated. In London it was a bit more bitter. In the Netherlands it was a kinda bitter and unfizzy. But here, it Coke, take a Dr. Pepper, pour them in a glass together. That's Coke in Denmark.

After my awesome feast, I went to the platform and waited for my train. It came at 350, right on the dot. However, the train is linked by car, and the train breaks off and goes to different places depending on which car you go to. I had to go to Viborg via Langa. So the train came and I looked at the computer screen that tells you which car to enter. On the platform there are letters every 50 yards. I was to be down in car B, and I was at D. I had to run with all my stuff down to B. In the process I dropped my phone and the back busted open, so my phone, battery and back are laying all over the platform. I had to stop mid sprint and pick those up, but I made it. Then once on I wasn't sure I was right so I asked a young lady if she could help me and she did. She asked where I was from and talked to me about my trip, and then wished me luck in Denmark. The train ride was 4 hours through the Danish countryside, and I got to sit by myself in a booth so that was nice. Denmark looks like PA. Rolling hills, farms, forests. It's gorgeous. Viborg is on the main island part of Denmark. Copenhagen is more toward Sweden, on an island off to the right of Denmark. So I got to cross over the huge bodies of water to get to the mainland. It was really cool. It was like taking a train over an ocean. Water everywhere, really neat. And you felt like you were traveling between islands.

I finally made it to Viborg and was greeted at the train stop by Pernille and her boyfriend Benjamin. It was so great to see her, and to meet Ben! I can't believe I'm actually in Denmark. We always joked about it and now it's a reality. So it's great! Last night we got in and we had some Danish beers and Pernille made us dinner. We had salad and chicken in some type of creamy sauce. It was really good whatever it was. So we caught up and I got to meet Benjamin. He's a great guy. Really down to earth and nice. We talked and talked. Then at 10 Pernille watched this show called Paradise Hotel, a Danish version of temptation island. Ben showed me some animation stuff on the computer. Then we got bored and joined her watching the show. They tried to translate it for me. But it was good even without the translation. There are no censors on Danish tv so on this reality tv show, they are just showing people having sex and boobs here and there. Haha, gotta love Europe. After that Sex and the City came on. In English. Ben and I were making fun of it, and then we ended up watching the entire episode. And here, they swear in the show. Like full out cuss words. It was great. After that the two of them went to bed and I stayed up to talk to Em quick and do my fantasy baseball draft. My team is stacked. My pitching alone is amazing. I got Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia and Roy Halladay. Golden.

This morning I woke up at 930. Pernille told me Danish cuisine is known for its open faced sandwiches and rhye bread. So she said eat some for breakfast. So I did. I had rhye bread with butter and watched Oprah. Also of note, rhye bread here is 10000 times better. It's very grainy and has a lot more flavor. Almost like pumpernickel. After I ate I got a shower, got ready for the day, and then I watched Dr. Phil until Ben and Pernille returned from class. When they got home Ben made a spread for us. Only, it was an open face sandwich spread. So we each got two pieces of rhye bread, and then we had to choose from liver paste, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, hardboiled eggs, mayo, ketchup and some type of fish in a ketchupy type paste. I'm down for trying anything in the food world so I followed their lead, because although you can mix whatever you want, certain stuff is just gross together, and they will tell you if it is. So on one piece I ate liverpaste with sliced cucumbers. The other piece I split in half. On one side I had a half of a hard boiled egg, tomato, cucumber, onion, mayo salt and pepper. On the other I had the fish, cucumber, onion and mayo. I wasn't sure what to expect but I was willing to try it. AMAZING. Friggin fantastic. I want this food everyday. I mean, Denmark is known for their open faced sandwiches. Ben told me the liver paste and cucumber is the most famous one in all of Denmark, the most traditional. They were so insanely good. But they are messy so you have to eat them with a fork. Damn, this is another Euro food craving I know I'm going to have when I get home.

After lunch they took me to their school just ten minutes walk up the road. Today, it was gorgeous. Probably around 60, and sunny. The first true day of Spring here they said. So I am lucking out weather wise. However, they want it to rain because there is sand everywhere. They spread sand when it snows and it hasn't washed away yet because they haven't had rain in awhile. Anyway, the two go to an animation school here in Viborg. It's the most elite one in Denmark. Currently they are both in their last year and they are working on their final project. There is a group of 8 of them working on a movie called, Bjorn. It originally was going to be called 'Toke' named after a famous viking, but they found out toke means to smoke weed in America and they changed it. Haha. So the movie Bjorn is a short animation film about a great viking who defeats everyone and wants to live with the Viking gods. However, in order to do so, you must be defeated. If you aren't defeated, and you just die, you go to hell, which is really boring. So he goes out in search of someone to defeat him. He runs into many opponents and they always end up killing themselves in very humerous ways. Bjorn grows sad, and then finally one day he encounters a huge monster that finally kills him. He then goes to the afterlife with the Gods and is greeted with spears and axes and a torch etc. However, all of the sudden everything vanishes and he finds that he has wings and a halo. He was sent to heaven, and ends up being bored for eternity. It was really funny, and the animation looks amazing. Pernille is working on backgrounds for the movie, and Ben is one of the 3 animators. It was so cool to actually see animation being done. I was in heaven. Pernille showed me all around her school. So many movies being made constantly, 2d, 3d, cgi. It's insane. And the work they do is amazing as well. The story ideas are also brilliant. One groups final project is a 2d film about a superhero who really has to crap but he can't because things always get in the way, like someone needing rescued etc. I got to meet a ton of Danish people, and they were all very cool and very friendly.

After I got the tour I had to leave so Pernille could actually do work, haha. I returned home and chilled for a little bit. Then at 445 I returned back to the school. I was going to play basketball. Ben and some of the guys usually play on Thursday night, but Ben was hurt but still wanted to know if I wanted to play. I said of course. So me and a bunch of Danish guys went to the gym and played 3 hours of basketball. It was awesome. I was the 'American'. I didn't play too well the last hour but I was tired, and they didnt have water fountains in the building. Haha, so that's my excuse. I think I broke my right pinky though. I jammed it hard going for a rebound on someone else hand as they were swiping down and me up. The pinky itself doesnt hurt but where the finger hits the hand, that bone hurts to the point where I can't close my right hand. Eh, I'll get through it. Also, basketball theory here is way different. I was constantly shooting from outside. However, they all drive low to the baseline. Like kids have wide open shots and just choose to pass to someone open underneath. It was crazy to me, coming from a country where everyone is a ball hog just shooting the deep ball constantly.

After bball I returned with Ben and Pernille had cooked dinner. Pasta with chicken sauce and salad. Again, a great meal. And, we got to drink Thor! Which is Pernilles 'Yuengling' as she said. It's brewed in her hometown of Randers (Anders). After dinner we sat there and got out the laptop and discussed music. We laughed about how bad Danish music was, and how european and technoish it was. Ben said that last year they went into a huge throwback 90s techno stage, and everyones music went retro. They even started listening to Kriss Kross again and turned their clothing backwards. Also, the Rednecks, who sang cotton eyed joe, had 4 other songs and they are exactly the same! Literally the exact same beat. Look it up, you'll laugh your ass off. We talked for a good 4 hours about everything while drinking some kind of Danish Easter beer. It tasted like Heineken. Thor was good though. Tasted like Rolling Rock. They are great hosts. I'm so excited to be here.

I also got to hear stories about Ben's younger brother, who works on the sets of movies as some type of electronics specialist. Basically, he knew what he wanted to do, decided to go right into the profession after high school, and is now 21 and could get a job anywhere if he wanted because he's that good. So because he works on movie sets, from time to time he gets to meet actors and celebs. One night the whole cast went to some bar in London and he ended up hitting on Miley Cyrus the entire night. One day, Daniel Radcliff was brought back to meet the production team, and because he is about the same age as Ben's brother, they said, 'Here Daniel, go with this guy.' Ben's brother said it was kinda awkward cause they didn't know what to talk about. So the first thing Ben's brother said was, 'Soooo, you shoulda brought Hermione.' Haha, and also, my favorite story of Ben's brother is when he met Orlando Bloom. One day Orlando was brought back to see the production crew and the behind the scenes of the movie. They brought him back to introduce him to some of the members of the group. When they brought him over to meet Ben's brother he goes, 'Ohhhhh hi, you must be the new intern! Well I'll be your superviser, hi nice to meet you. Okay, let's get started you're gonna be busy today.' Hahaha everyone was like holy crap, you just basically made fun of Orlando Bloom to his face. Haha.

Tomorrow we are meeting for lunch at a pizza place. Ben told me that here pizza comes in like 50 different varieties. The reason for this is because they don't have many italian citizens, so pizza was introduced through the natives here who learned of it from abroad. And then they just started throwing all kinds of stuff all over it. So getting a plain cheese is unheard of here. So that should be fun. Then tomorrow night we are attending a 'pub' at their school. A pub is a word for party, but it just means not as crazy. At a pub you can't serve hard alcohol and you can't have blaring music and dancing. It's so weird, haha. The theme of the party is Easter, Porn Star, Mexican, because no one could decide on one theme. Haha. I don't think I'll be dressing up. The pub starts at like 9 or something, and from 11 until 12 Pernille and I are the bartenders serving drinks! Hahaha I can't wait. I don't even know the currency so this is gonna be interesting. Hopefully I'll get to update tomorrow night. If not, maybe Sunday, because Saturday we are going to Randers to have a big Easter feast with her parents!

Take care everyone! Goodnight!