I have a lot of pictures for my Thanksgiving post because it was THAT good.

First Thanksgiving, Jaimie Stevenson's party, Guest list: Zak, Katie, DK roommate, DK roommate's friend, Me.

Ten o'clock on Wednesday night I finished writing a 15 page paper on the Diaspora and integration of the Sephardic Jews. The paper wasn't due until Friday so Thursday I was just planning on doing nothing while the rest of my friends struggled through their papers. I had just gotten home around 7 and I had psyched myself up to do readings when I received and email from J saying, "Kylling dinner, be here at 8/9ish. I have bought everything and we will split it 6 ways." Well, I wasn't too into this email. I was thinking, bitch, I just got home... I'm tired, I don't want to throw in on some dinner...blah blah. But I went. And it was AMAZING. Here are pictures:




Her roommate made this almond cake and licorice ice cream (which luckily didn't taste like licorice) that melted in your mouth (the cake specifically; duh the ice cream melted). The conversation was so good, mainly because I told boarding school stories that had them in stitches.

Thanksgiving Two, Drea's Host Family, Guest List: Mar, Far, Bror Tim, Bror Jan, Marmar, Farfar, Allison and Me.

Getting to Drea's took a little bit of effort and a little bit of money but since I love the train system here it was all glorious. Her Mar picked me up when I got to her town. We got along immediately and by the time we got home we were besties. Drea was working on the stuffing when I got there and put me to work washing the turkey. Now I have never washed a turkey before but I have to say it is a lot like washing a baby. Except I haven't done that either. Anyway, mufuckah was heavy. Then we stuffed those two ten pound turkeys and put them in the oven (they wanted to make sure we had enough so they got two). Special props to Drea's parents because finding a turkey in Denmark is like finding pork in Iran.

Drea had told me to get a gift because we were playing some Danish gift giving game. Drea and Allison hadn't gotten their gift yet so we went to the store. It then became apparent that these were supposed to be gag gifts and my pretty bowl with doves on it was inappropriate. Oh well.

We got back and started making all the side dishes like cranberry sauce, string beans and mashed potatoes. I was not needed for all of this so I hung out with Jan who showed me his entire Starwars Lego collection. He got me to speak in Danish and very politely said, "That's was good. I could understand you." Thanks. I got to make comments like, "When I was a kid, we used to make shapes out of Legos. Shapes that we would then call houses or gardens." Jan showed me the two foot model he built in over two years. Tim and I bonded over Rune Quest. I told him the girl I used to baby sit played and maybe they had quested together. He told me he didn't quest. He gardened. What a cutie. They showed me their wrapped gifts which were completely covered with package tape. Definitely not dove bowls. The grandparents arrived with tons more gifts and hugs.

We sat down to dinner and the grandfather entertained us with tales from the sea (he used to be a sailor and has been everywhere). He told me all about Hong Kong and drunken rickshaw excursions. Oh the stories this man told...

After we stuffed ourselves full of apple cake that Tim had made (the time he made it before he had mistook sugar for salt so we were all relieved at its deliciousness) we played the game. 2 dice were passed around it was played in steps:

1. Every time you rolled a six you got to take a present from the table until all the presents were gone.
2. Five minutes were put on a timer. Every time someone rolled a six they got to steal a present from someone else until time runs out.
3 All presents are opened. Another five on the clock. Every time you roll a six you give a present away to someone.

When I opened my presents (which for the most part where the boy's package taped wrapped ones) I had a logic puzzle game, a candle holder base, and a naked woman flower pot with a dead flower "growing" out of it (this was from the grandmother). I got rid of the candle holder and went home with the game and the vase. I hope it makes it back with me.

After dinner we drank coffee and Baileys, talked politics and ate chocolate. Det var hygge. It was cozy. Drea's mom talked to me about how she thought gays should have the right to be married but not adopt. I asked why and she said it was unnatural not to have a father or mother figure. I let her talk and questioned more about the unnatural aspect before telling her that I had two moms and no father figure. It made her think. She didn't apologize, thankfully, but it definitely made her curious about her own opinions. She asked me how I came about and I talked to her about my life and she was pondering it. It was so perfect. Before I left she gave me a big hug and told me I could come back whenever I wanted. I would LOVE to get back their before I leave.

Pictures of our glorious foodstuffs and the kiddies:

I thought it time to post.

I'm so hyped up on caffeine right now that I am recalling junior year of high school when Virginia Fischer gave me "something like a caffeine pill" before my APUS midterm. It turned out to be off-the-market Ephedrin and, boy, I REALLY filled in those bubbles. I was scribbling them in so hard and fast that even I knew I looked crazy. A+.

Let me give a rundown of my trials today. The encounter that keeps coming into my head was the pregnant woman and her significant other making out on top of me on the bus today. Her stomach and his rubbing hand were (and I am using metric here just because it is more accurate) a centimeter away from me. It was also the most crowded bus ride for an extended period of time that I have yet experienced. A woman knitting yelled at a boy for his backpack getting too close to her head and I was going to freak out on her and be like, "look lady, the bus is packed, you are sitting and KNITTING; shut the fuck up," but I was so shocked that she actually said something, which is not Danish at all (very passive people) that I was almost proud of her for voicing her annoyance.

I had Danish class review today because our oral is coming up. Nina, my teacher, is awesome and stayed after with me to listen to my interview. In the grand tradition of language teachers, I don't think she likes me. But I like her so it doesn't matter.

After Danish I ran into Danny in the lounge, jumped up and down on his couch and procrastinated until my study tour.

For study tour we had to meet at Radhuspladsen to go into the Town Hall. I met Jaimie there and we looked at the architecture exhibit for the mayors 5x5 plan which, if you asked me, looks like complete shit. I did like some of the models in which the buildings were built into hillsides so there was lawn on top of the house. But I question how much maintenance that requires. We weren't there to see the exhibition though and soon enough Carsten clapped his waspy hands and we had to fall in line. We went up the brass staircase to the congressional room and sat there for an interesting lecture about the mayor's platform and Copenhagen's local government. It was freezing in the room, the talk lasted two hours, and J fell asleep so when Carsten mentioned the tour that would proceed the talk we made a quick get away plan.

Our plan was foiled thrice before working. First we tried to hang back in the congressional room until everyone left but our tour guide was a security guard and kept giving us fishy looks, waited for us, and then locked the door behind us. Foiled once. Then, we were standing in a group looking at the ugliest mural ever (these mermaids had two fins) we tried to slip down the staircase. With one foot on the first step the tour guide asks me how many people and days I thought it took to shine the brass. I was going to kill him. I told him one person, one day. He laughed as though that was ridiculous and told me 28 people and every day. I think this shows just how inefficient and backwards Denmark can be. In America we would have a machine to do that. The third time was right after the whole shining fiasco. The class had just left with the tour guide when he was done impressing us with this information and all of a sudden this visiting international educator came over and asked me if I take Danish. I tried to be as off putting as possible but he kept asking me about my teacher and what not and I was like, "Yes. Danish. I take it. Nina. No, I don't know Susan." He finally caught on and left. J and I ran, full sprint down that staircase while Jacob and Dusty looked at us with longing faces to which we gave the middle finger and peace out signs.

J had work to do and I was still in Danish mode so I called Brendan. We made dinner (I fucked up precious American mac n cheese Pasta Roni) and I discovered the frozen spinach I bought is not exactly what I thought it was (it is a little creamy). So dinner was a flop but our Danish was fabulous. We hung out in the lounge and then decided to take our conversation to the Street Car Cafe that Bren found over break. We sat their drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes while interviewing each other in Danish. The guy gave us free refills because no one else was coming in and he would have just gotten rid of it (not because it is coffee and it should be free). I couldn't refuse and thus I am in this jittery situation.

I got a text from Jack saying she wanted to stay up all night writing her paper so I should come over. She lasted until one. I ate her cornflakes and cucumber, read Vice, and did sit ups. The best part in Vice was the review on Beyonce's B'day. It says something like, "isn't that something women clean their vag with? Why didn't she just call it Douche? I just discovered a picture of Beyonce all tied up with pet alligators on the back of the jacket that almost makes up for the bad music but, alas, I am still daunted." That was definite paraphrasing but you get the gist. Liz Still, if you read this, you should look that review up. There is a really good one on PDiddy too.

Because of that study tour I don't have class tomorrow morning.


I almost forgot to write about Thanksgiving! It is so important that it deserves its own post even though these will be out of order. I could save this one as a draft and then publish it after but honestly, who cares?

The third biggest party in Denmark is the Danish People's Party.

Here is what they have to say:

1. Pia Kjærsgaard, chairman of the Danish People's Party, MP, and arguabley the most powerful woman in Danish politics

"Not in their wildest dreams could thay have imagined [in 1900] that large neighbourhoods in Copenhagen and other big Danish cities, in 2005 would be inhabited by people on a lower level of civilization. With imported primitive and cruel habits, such as honour killings, forced marriages, halal slaughter--blood vengeance. But that is precisely what has happened. Ten thousands and again ten thousands of people who apparently in the matter of civilization, culture and metality remain in 1005-instead of 2005- have come to a country that centuries ago left the Middle Ages."

"It has been mentioned that 9/11 was the occasion of a struggle between the civilizations. I don't agree on that. Because a struggle is between civilizations would be conditional on the existence of two civilizations, and that is nto the case. There is only on civilization and that is ours."

2. Mogens Camre, member of the European Parliament, previously member of Danish Parliament:

"The imams have not come as ordinary preachers, they are the advance gaurd of the expedition of conquest that has the aim of acquiring new land for people who did not have the ability to develop their own."

"Let me say it clearly: Muslims must live in Musim-country- and that is not here." "Muslims, because of their culture, constitute a great problem in all Western countries. Very few of them want integration, as they have come with a culture which they think shall conquer all the world. That is why they take up so much of the public debate- and that is why they are such a heavy strain on public funds."

"The real cause of the great unemployment among the Muslims is that these people hail from a culture which is not at all working as we are, and where there is prestige in doing nothing."

"What we are facing is not just a short military operation. It is about driving this ideology of evil out of the Western civilization Never shall Islam take a place in our countries."

3. Morten Mwesserschmidt, MP:

"A mosque in Århus may appear harmless. Yes, some would say unimportant, while referring to the Jews who also have synagogues. But that would amount to saying that Islam and Judaism are equal. And the world is not like that. Islam is a fanatical ideology that, in line with Communism and Nazism, keeps millions of people in poverty and oppression all over the world. A mosque is a genuflection to this ideology--and precisely what the fundamentalists want. If we wish for the success of integration, and that Denmark will not suffer the same fate as the Muslim countries, we must stop beding over backwards every time the Muslims make their demands. We must stand firm on the culture that Denmark builds upon."

im going to interject here. morten, baby, i think YOU might be the nazi here.

4. Marin Henrikensen, MP:

"Nowadays all Muslims are described in the press as being Danish Muslims, as if Islam has ever been Danish, or for that matter is able to become so. At least that would require a small miracle. We can then wait for that, or we can fight against the Islamization. I prefer the last."

"A mosque would be a safe haven for extreme viewpoints and the imams would be in clover. Now they can really spread their hate propaganda. A mosque will attract fundamentalist Muslims and people who sympathize with terror. Islam is at its core fundamentalist, therefore, such an institution will be a liability on every neighbourhood which should have a mosque."

so, basically, a nazi facist party has reared its head hear in denmark and a huge amount of danes support it. and you thought it was all bikes, blonds, and binge drinking.

all i've been doing lately is homework. and not the type that will get me to pass the final exam. the kind that is mandatory for writing a 10pg paper and a 15 pg paper.

that is all.

this week i have:

- eaten brunch at the norwegian embassy with a family friend who is featured on wikipedia AND imdb.
- recieved a comment that read "by far the best presentation of them all."
- recieved a comment that read "i will spare you the F this outline would have gotten and grade the new outline you will turn in on monday."
- recieved a facebook message from nina saying she broke up with emily for real. i hope for her sake, and everyone else's, it is true. no offense to emily. but nina is a douche when she is with her. we want cool nina back. that is all.
- eaten dinner with haley and brendon twice.
- watched haley run into my tray of cupcakes that smelled like corn flakes. batter went everywhere. it was glorious.
- been drunk with haley and brendon twice (tangent: my first night drunk on christmas beer).
- went for a run around all of the lakes, ate shit and have bloody knees.



- used the college library
- made the mistake of listening to elliott smith while it was raining and dark at 3:30. you have to be careful of that stuff around here. it could quickly turn you into... elliott himself.



these are dark times. it is pitch dark by 4:30. brendon keeps saying that is how it is in Vermont/New York but I think he's a liar.

the bouncer spat in haley´s face last night.


how did i travel without this girl? the trip was so tame--i was just seeing the sights, running through parks, eating the food of the nation, etc. then haley cobb arrives. a day late. (my fault). if i hadn´t drunk two liters of beer i would have been up all night throwing up with anxiety for my boo´s safety but instead i passed out on the top bunk in my raisin costume like a deflated black balloon. when she still hadn´t arrived in the morning i was flippppping. but that´s when i met lyle for the second time and we went and saw all the gaudi stuff, ooed and ahhhed, called the hostel and she had arrived. uphoria.

and she had stories. she didn´t know the name of the hostel due to my lack of emailing (which i compensated for by writing 500 emails 2 hours too late) so when she arrived at the airport at 9 in the evening she was like, fuck no am i exploring barcelona alone at night. so she went home with two pakistani guys who bought that girl dinner and smoked her up in the morning.

meanwhile i was in a beer coma passed out in fucking hostel kabul on halloween.

two of our crazy nights revolved around this shot bar where you can order from a list of 500 different shots and they mix/light them on fire/put whipped cream on them/anything you can imagine in front of your face. we loved the bar tender and she loved us so we got some freebees our first night there, went out dancing and danced out booties off. that night involved an amazing asian man dancer, a man with a shaved chest and getting pulled over by the cops. the other night involving the shot bar was last night. we bought a liter drink there for 10 euro, thinking it was a deal, but we were already drunk and a liter of alcohol between two girls is kind of ambitious. but we did it. and then haley tackled me and i was concuss. no not really. but she has a black eye because her face hit the pavement. just another battle scar. we finally got to the club and we danced and danced and danced and made out made out made out and it was kind of scary because every time you make out with a guy they cling to you like a magnet and get really angry when you want to leave. when we were ready to go i ran back in to get my sweatshirt but the bouncer stopped haley. he stopped her and spit in her face.

now, i thought the spit in the face move had kind of faded out. but there is definitly a law against spitting on public transport employees posted in the tube so maybe it is more common than i thought. at least, in europe.


the night in between this night was the night i previously posted about and is too illicit to post on the internet.

we are off to the picasso museum to get some culture in our still drunk lives.

it´s 830 in the morning here in barcelona. last night haley and i went on an adventure that involved drug dealers, small rooms, and seperation. but we got what we wanted and enjoyed a night on the beach. the details of that night are too shady to write down on an online forum. barcelona, at first, was the sketchiest city we have been to thus far. but it grows on you. and grows and grows. our hostel is one of the ¨famous¨hostels and it is crazy. there is a happy hour from 630 to 730 where you get 2 LITERS of beer for 4 euro. therefore, a euro a pint, therefore, 4 pints of beer before dinner, which is free, at 8. the combination of beer and people waiting for dinner creates a very easy environment to meet so many other amazing people. one amazing person worth mentioning is my new buddy lyle from brown who KNOWS MY FUCKING ROOMMATE FROM HIGHSCHOOL. oh memphis. what a small world. more to come.