Friday, December 14, 2012

Finland, I bid adieu à vous!

I'm 1/4 of the way through my Masters program!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That slue of exclamation points is my way of electronically conveying the huge grin that is on my face about getting through my first semester of graduate school! I am also equally as smiley because now I get to go home for the next month!!! I am beyond excited about getting to visit with everyone for a while! And it'll surely be good for my soul to be home for a bit.

I just wanted to share a couple of photos from the last couple of weeks before I disappear from blogland for my holiday! My past three weeks have admittedly not been very exciting, because it's mostly been filled with homework, but I still have a couple of fun pictures. My time not spent doing homework has been spent watching a plethora of movies from a free Netflix trial I scored for a month! And while the temperature has dropped dramatically, it has truly made it so beautiful outside. I am going to miss the pristine feeling that the snow evokes within me, but I can trust that it'll be here when I get back. 


I wasn't kidding about the temperature dropping...
But then it looks like this outside, so beautiful!
And like this.. a snowy train ride to Helsinki!

I also had a great last day of my semester yesterday because I had an epiphany! Let me explain in grave detail! Basically since we started school back in September, we were told to start thinking about what we would want to do our Masters thesis work on next year. This is obviously a big deal because whatever we decide to do will likely heavily influence our life after school. I mean it'll be what we are all semi-experts in after all. I have been rather intimidated by this idea of picking a thesis project/topic because I want to make sure that it'll be something that I will really enjoy and feel passionate about. The problem is just that I have so many interests that I would love to do work on, but that is obviously not possible with limited time and resources. So wading through my ideas and interests has proven a rather daunting task. But more immediately we have a project next semester of doing a literature review over a subject of our choosing, and then with that knowledge we will write a paper and give a presentation about our findings. So it has been advised to choose a topic that we are likely considering pursuing as our thesis because then all of this research, reading, and writing we do won't be in vain, but can rather contribute to our thesis. Well anyways, we had our last class of the semester yesterday, and we were to choose what our topic will be. I have known for a while now that I want to do a thesis project about green infrastructure and the multi-faceted benefits that provides, and in addition what has worked in some cities versus what has worked elsewhere. This topic is unfortunately too vague to be tackled in one thesis, and so I've been trying to decide how to narrow it down. I've also really wanted to look at the biodiversity conservation benefits of green infrastructure, but I wasn't sure in what capacity. Anyways, while in class, and listening to everyone else talk about their ideas and what they think that they want to work on, and trying to not get caught zoning out while I was laying half asleep on my computer, I had an epiphany! I'd been hoping to have an epiphany this whole time about this issue, and it FINALLY came to me! Bees! I want to look at how green infrastructure can compliment urban bees and how they are mutually beneficial to one another. I have been really concerned about the idea of the colony collapse for about a year now, and this would be a really cool way to approach this topic. And since urban beekeeping is banned in so many cities this would be a cool way to approach this topic and see what can be done. I'm not entirely sure of what direction this will all take yet, but I am excited about finding a way to integrate all of this into a cohesive project. And I learned that there is a professor in Helsinki working on bees and green roofs, and that would be perfect because green roofs are the most exciting piece of green infrastructure, to me! :) Yayy! Plus this will help me to finally work on overcoming my completely irrational, yet very real fear of bees!

This will be me in no time!

Lots of Christmassy things have been going on as well, including Valeria and I exchanging gifts! She made me a super cool dreamcatcher! I am really pleased with this because I'd been needing a new one for a while, my old one was full of bad dream dust! I need to learn how to make things though because I wish I could give handmade gifts! I've actually thought about trying to learn how to knit while I'm home, especially because this would come in handy with being able to make myself hats, socks, scarves and all kinds of winter gear! We'll see if this actually happens.


No more nasty dreams for me!!

Lastly, my immature self laughs every time at words that are in Finnish, but have a completely different meaning in English, for example note the following.. 

Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever grow up.

Well that's all I have for now! I can't wait to get on a plane in 11 hours!!!!!!!!! And to be in the warmth of the desert, my bones need it! And to make some money working at Lauren's restaurant! But most importantly I'm excited to be surrounded by the people I love most in this world for the next 30 days! 

Finland, I'll be back for you, and shockingly enough I will miss you a bit, you've already started to build yourself a fond spot in my heart. Or maybe I'll just miss your little nuances that I already adore.. like going to sauna! But more than I will miss going to sauna, I will miss hearing the screams of naked men outside of my window yelling as they roll around in the snow! Alcohol + sauna + snow + nudity = free entertainment! At least that was my night last night haha. Moi moi Finland! :)


Monday, December 3, 2012

Copenhagen, I love you ♥

I was very thankful (no pun intended) to have spent my Thanksgiving weekend in Copenhagen with a good friend from home! Jenna and Jason were really fun to travel with, and also very generous to have let me stay with them on their trip. 

I fell in love with Copenhagen almost instantly, and my rambling below will surely show that. It was just such a lively city that left me with a really good feeling! :-) 4 days simply wasn't enough for everything that I would have liked to experience, but there is always next time!

Day 1 (Thanksgiving):

I arrived to Copenhagen on Thursday in the early afternoon, and Jenna and Jason didn't arrive until that evening, so needless to say I did some exploring on my own! The sun was shining when I arrived so I knew instantly that it would be a good day!

On the train ride from the airport to the city center I planned out my route over my sack lunch :)
I arrived to the hotel, and took about a 2 hour nap, because I was exhausted having come from Tallinn the day before. After feeling refreshed from a siesta I decided to go for a run to explore the city a little bit. I amazed myself and went for a 50 minute run around the city, but everything was just so beautiful so it inspired me to keep going! The architecture was really beautiful, and compared to what I see on a daily basis in Finland it was refreshing to see old, beautiful buildings. After my run I decided to go find myself a decent 'Thanksgiving' dinner. I decided to heed the advice from a blog I found, and I checked out a really neat marketplace, Torvehallerne, where I found all kinds of amazing food! I settled on an amazing salad and a really great gluten free, fiber muffin! It wasn't the same as being with my family eating mashed potatoes and all the other deliciousness that comes with Thanksgiving, but I was still happy :-)

This is what veggies eat for Thanksgiving :)
After my dinner I took a different way home so that I could explore more of the city. The city was decked out in holiday decorations and holiday lights always make me feel happy, so I was in a pleasant mood on my journey home. Cold weather always seems more manageable with twinkling lights. 

Seasons Greetings from Copenhagen!
On the walk home I also ran into a peaceful protest that some people were having. I couldn't tell what they were protesting about (I still don't speak Danish), but it was interesting nonetheless. I hung around for maybe about 10 minutes to see if I could make out what the idea was, but I never figured it out so I left. 

I need a better camera than my phone so that my photos are done justice.

After the protest I found Tivoli, the amusement park in the center of town! I am in love with the idea of a city having a theme park in the city center, it's brilliant! The park is also adorned in twinkling lights, and I was so giddy as I walked around the exterior of the park. 

I desperately wanted to go, but it wasn't in the budget.
Lights, lights, lights! 
Neat Tivoli sign! 
Tivoli is also very close to where the hotel was located, so after my stroll I went back to the hotel until Jenna and Jason arrived. Once they got in we went out for a late dinner at a restaurant nearby our place called Pate Pate, it was delicious! Then we called it a night.

Photo credit to Jason!
Day 2:

Friday morning we were greeted with sunshine and mild weather, so we knew it'd be another great day! We decided to start our exploring with a stroll around the city center. We checked out the Christmas market, the plethora of shops, as well as some of the other open markets that lined the canal. Get ready for an excessive amount of photos!

Copenhagen Christmas market
This store's window display was freaky, it moved too much for me.
One of my favorite streets we walked on.
Friends in Copenhagen!!!!
Pretty cool tombstone if you ask me.
All of the city buses had mustaches on them; I wondered if this was in honor of Movember, or merely a regular occurrence?
Bicycles are everywhere! It's amazing!
This was my favorite window display that I saw.
Mustaches were everywhere, needless to say I was pleased.
We went into a handful of really cool bike shops, this was one of them.

After wandering around for the day we headed back to our hotel for a break so that we could regain some energy to go out for the night. Jason was in Copenhagen for work after all, so he had to have a 'work dinner,' but Jenna and I were invited along. The dinner was amazing, filled with delicious Italian food and amazing dessert! 


I haven't ever seen such a proper banana split in my whole life!
After dinner we cruised around the city checking out some of the local bars. Copenhagen showed us a good time.

This is the Rundetårn, or Round Tower, of Copenhagen and it was one of the things on our 'List of Places to Check Out' because it is a really pretty observatory, but we realized they wanted money to check it out so we didn't prioritize it highly, and then we stumbled upon it on our bar tour. Check!
This is what happens with Californians come to Scandanavia, they turn into Gremlins! It was only in the 50s just fyi :)
Day 3:

Saturday morning wasn't as sunny as Friday, but nevertheless it was dry so we decided to rent bicycles and tour the city! For $20 we were able to rent bikes until 5pm and we took it as a challenge to see as much of the city as we could! We decided to start our journey by crossing the river and checking out Christiania. I'll allow Wikipedia to give you your cultural history lesson of the day since they'll do the explanation more justice :) 

"Christiania, also known as Freetown Christiania is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood of about 850 residents, covering 84 acres in the borough of Christianshavn. Civic authorities in Copenhagen regard Christiania as a large commune, but the area has a unique status in that it is regulated by a special law, the Christiania Law of 1989 which transfers parts of the supervision of the area from the municipality of Copenhagen to the state. It was closed by residents in April 2011, whilst discussions continued with the Danish government as to its future, but is now open again. Christiania has been a source of controversy since its creation in a squatted military area in 1971. Its cannabis trade was tolerated by authorities until 2004. Since then, measures for normalizing the legal status of the community have led to conflicts, and negotiations are ongoing. Among many Christiania residents, the community is known as staden ('the town'), short for fristaden ('the freetown')."

Obviously we decided to see what all of the hype was about, but when we arrived to Christiania it was rather sleepy because it was around noon, and well it's prime sleeping time! :) It was still really cool to check out this area, but maybe next time I shouldn't go at 12 on a Saturday. 

Velkommen!
No photos or running allowed, it causes a panic.
There was so much to look at.
Welcoming me back to the EU.
After Christiania we decided to go check out the infamous Little Mermaid statue. On the way to the mermaid we saw some really beautiful sites as well.

This really beautiful church was just outside of Christiania.
København ♥
For some reason I found these signs so hilarious, it simply means "On a leash."
Pit stop to make sure we are going the right direction.
And then we found her! The Little Mermaid statue is based on the fairy tale of the same name and is apparently a Copenhagen icon.

After the Little Mermaid adventure, we decided to go find lunch while simultaneously checking out the Nørrebro neighborhood. This by far turned out to be my favorite neighborhood! It had so many cool shops and restaurants! I mean check this lady out after all.. 

After lunch and perusing we figured it only appropriate to go check out the Carlsberg brewery, since we were in Denmark after all. The brewery was in a really pretty part of town and so it made for quite a pleasant bike ride over there. Jason was excited to try out the different beers they had available, and I went for their hard cider, it was awesome! I have never had lemon & ginger cider, but I am hooked!

Here's the artsy picture I tried to take of our drinks! 
After the Carlsberg adventure, it was time to take the bicycles back. We then regrouped at the hotel and then went out for dinner and a few drinks at a cool bar that was recommended to us by the waitress! Another successful night in Copenhagen!

Friends that bike together stay together.
Day 4:

Sunday morning we woke up to the sounds of rain, and it seemed rather fitting that as I was getting sad about my flight that afternoon the rain clouds would finally showed up. Thankfully the timing for rain was rather perfect because we'd already decided that Sunday was going to be our museum day, so we carried on despite the drizzle. First on the list was the National Museum, mostly because it has free admission! The building that holds the National Museum used to be the Prince's Palace, but the royal family no longer lives there. 

Lots of stuff about Vikings, pretty cool.
There was also some really interesting war time displays.
This one was probably my favorite. 

After the National Museum we decided to venture on to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, which is an art museum, but is primarily focused on sculptures. It was okay because it was free, but I was mostly impressed with the courtyard because it had palm trees and it warmed me up a little just looking at them! 

Palm laden courtyard!
This dude on the left was creepy!
This one was easily my favorite.

After museum hoping we attempted to go to another brewery, but it was closed :-( so instead we found a cute cafe to sit in and have some glöggi. Oh I think I've neglected to mention glöggi until now, well it's basically the best winter time drink ever! It's mulled wine that is served hot with almonds and raisins, it's delicious! Best way to pass the winter that Scandanavia has ever come up with, I'm sure of it! 

mmmmm!
Post 
glöggi it was time for a quick lunch and then back to the hotel for me to grab my things and head to the airport. I had such an amazing trip and am very grateful to Jenna and Jason for inviting me to be a part of their adventure! It was so great to see an old friend and to explore a new city! I really enjoyed Copenhagen and would love to go back some day! Pretty buildings, bicycles everywhere, so much music comes through, good food, good vibe, very environmentally friendly city, near the ocean, aaaaaand there is after all an amusement park in the center of town! 

Tivoli!!!!!