Okay so this is going to be quite the long awaited update, and I apologize for keeping up with my blog so poorly. Its a lot more work than I expected.
Anyways, so its been about a month from my most recent post.... and a lot has gone on! I went sailing on an old-fashioned Danish boat with a bunch of my peers, went on a study tour to Stockholm, Sweden & Tallinn, Estonia, and also just went on a day trip to the original LEGOLAND! Other than those big items to discuss, life has been pretty good here in København. My apartment hasn't blown up yet, my classes are as interesting as ever, the weather is getting colder, I'm making some good international friends, and my travel break is coming up! So I know for all of you on facebook, you're probably waiting for some pics..... After this post, I'll make several posts with various pictures from my last month here.... just so the text and jpeg's dont get mixed and confusing. Deal? Godt. :)
So sailing..... one of the BEST experiences of my life! The Danish crew were very stereotypical sailor's and as amazing as you could imagine. Our captain's name was Nikolai and my part of the group got to work with him quite a bit. We learned how to hoist sails, tie ropes, clean the ropes, work as a team, and adhere to an efficient sailing schedule.... as well as look out for unexpected icebergs. ;) Naturally, the "I'm On A Boat" and "Titanic" jokes were overused, but amusing and well appreciated. My favorite part of the whole experience was getting to sit on the very front of the bow (the front wooden piece in the front of the boat that holds the first sails), plug in my ipod, and enjoy the view in front. It was very relaxing and such an amazing feeling..... It would be cliche to say that I felt like I was flying, but alas, its very true. On the trip, we were all split up into 4 groups for the 4 different parts of the ship. My group was "Team Back of the Boat" and mainly worked with Captain Nikolai, helping him hoist the sails in the stern, steer and navigate. I absolutely loved working with my team and learning the rules of the ocean. Also, each group was assigned a certain meal that they had to make, and we got breakfast. Yours truly basically made all the coffee and tea... a job I have sufficiently mastered over the years I'd say. We ended up anchoring in Landskrona, Sweden, and enjoying a relaxing night exploring the very small town and pretty scenery. The wind was so strong both days we set out that we didn't have to use the motor AT ALL - a fact that Nikolai was very excited about. It was also the boat's last voyage with that crew, so it was a pretty special experience. Finally, my last comment on the trip is that I LOVED THE BEDS. Not joking! We each got this little boxed in bed inside the wall, with a mini curtain to avoid distraction, and some of the warmest blankets I've had in a while. The rocking of the boat was really calming and I had a great night's sleep. I highly recommend this trip to all future students or to anyone who gets a similar opportunity!
Okay so on to the study trip. Overall, it was a decent experience. A few rough spots, of course, but some great memories were made, and some beautiful sites were visited. Firstly, our MPP group got the best deal as far as I can tell..... we got to travel everywhere by plane as well as an extremely fun overnight ferry. A lot of other groups had to travel long hours in buses (think 16-20 hours)..... not fun. One of the first rough spots happened on the plane to Stockholm..... yours truly, the smartest MOST organized girl ever (please see the sarcasm in that) ended up leaving her passport on the plane. As soon as I got on the plane, in a haste to get out of others' way, I put my passport in the pocket in front of my seat with all intentions to retrieve it during the flight. But, I fell asleep, jumped out of my chair when we landed, and headed to the bus that would drive us into the city. As we were walking the hallway, it suddently dawned on me what I had done.... and I ended up sprinting all the way back to the plane and explaining in very breathy English/half Danish (no idea how I pulled THAT one off) that I really wanted to get my passport back. Fortunately enough, the flight attendants were very helpful and were able to get it back for me just before the plane left again. SAS, I owe you my ability to travel internationally. Expect my business soon. :) After that tiny fiasco, we all ended up in Stockholm safe and sound, and legal to travel. We stayed at the Globen Hotel (or something like that) right by the ice hockey rink and the metro. It was a wonderful hotel with wonderful accomodations (i.e free fruit in the morning, and an amazing breakfast buffet. Also, wireless!). The first day or so in Stockholm was extremely miserable.... rainy.... COLD (I forgot a proper jacket, whoops).... cloudy..... reminds me a lot of the UK. But anyway, throughout the trip we went on a lot of tours to different hospitals. Most of the tours talked mostly about medical policy so I won't bore you too much with that, especially since I'm more interested in the actual practical aspects of medicine. All of the hospital faculty were very nice and informative..... we learned a lot about Sweden's use of midwives (very efficient I'd say) during maternal care, as well as their research programs. I'll tell ya, some of their research is ASTOUNDING but would never be allowed in the US - too many ethical debates (i.e shooting pigs to measure blood flow and similar injuries in athletic patients). We went to the Vasa musieum, took a canal tour, saw a local hockey game (one of the BEST parts of the trip - I had no idea I actually liked hockey!), etc. Another favorite part of the Stockholm trip was visiting the Karolinska Institute. Now, the tour itself was rather useless and boring to be honest.... However, we got to go inside this very old library and look at VERY old (15th century and earlier) documents and books about medieval medicine and anatomy. I found a book labelled "Gymnastics Physical Therapy" and almost freaked out.... definitely took a picture of that one. Also, they had the first edition of Darwin's book that actually used the word "evolution". It was extremely cool (and nerdy) to see.... Finally, the next best part was visiting the Nobel committee room where they decide the outcome of the Nobel Prize in Medicine.... We actually got to sit at the round table and feel the importance of the room. So cool! Also, we ended up going to Karolinksa the DAY after they announced this year's prize! Other than those trips, hot chocolate and cinnamon buns were a frequent theme.... Sweden is very well known for their cinnamon buns. I bought a few postcards, and a Swedish stuffed moose that I named "Sven" - hey, I wanted to give it a typical Swedish name! All in all, I absolutely loved Stockholm and can't wait to go back in a WEEK!
Next, we travelled by ferry (also known as Scandinavian's "booze cruise" hahahaha) to Tallinn, Estonia. The rooms were extremely small (but its all about the experience), the travellers were a mix between Swedish, Estonian, Russian and German, there were pubs and dance floors everywhere..... and it was basically a night of chaos. A lot of my MPP peers ended up drinking at the bar and dancing at the "club", but I think I was rather smart. Instead of wasting a lot of that "hey lets rip them off because their tourists" kinda money, I bought a very small bottle of Baileys at the tax free store, and ended up hanging out with random Swedish people I met. I really have a knack for finding the Scandinavians and making friends with them. We sat outside on the deck talking about random things and having a good laugh. Of course, when I came back inside around 4am, I was left to deal with the chaos that was some of the Americans. But all in good fun I guess....
I had no idea what to expect of Tallinn.... I literally had no expectations because I had barely ever heard of the country. Upon getting off of the ferry, I noticed that the outskirts of the city were very industrialized, very Soviet looking, and very rundown. Yet, the closer you get to the medieval center, the more cultural it seemed. Its very cheap to visit (which we all loved), and definitely a bit colder than what I was used to. The hotel was nice as well. We went to some hospitals, including a childrens hospital that strongly reminded me of TX Childrens (the aesthetics and rehab room). At the main regional hospital, we all hoped to see blood and guts and gore right in front of our faces.... but instead got a pretty boring lecture on Estonian medical and governmental policy. I have to admit that that was probably one of the most disappointing aspects to the trip. We were told that Estonia was very "liberal" in its view of medicine so that we were most likely going to get to scrub into surgeries and see patients very closely. However, the other MPP group (A&C) actually got that exact experience in Poland. I got the feeling that the Estonian doctors had no clue what to do with us, and what this tour even meant for us. We did get walk into the construction-filled wing of the new hospital they are building and get to see their surgical rooms though. Our trip also included a tour of the Old Town (which is absolutely breathtaking) and a medieval style dinner. I wish my grandfather had been able to be there that night for the dinner..... we had to do EVERYTHING the medieval way! We all washed our hands in a water bucket, there was a "master" of the meal who broke the first loaf of bread, and we all ate medieval types of food.... which ended up being pretty darn good! The "servers" were dressed in medieval attire and there were candles outlining the entire dining hall..... interesting experience! Our plane ride back was uneventful, but we all made it back into Copenhagen safely. It was a really cool feeling because most of us got off the plane exclaiming how good it felt to be home.... and I've come to realize, that Copenhagen is truly home for me right now. I love this place so much.
I hope I gave you guys a good amount of detail about the study trip. There were some interesting places we visited, a good deal of culture, some good food, and of course "group drama". I'm not sure I expected anything different other than the medical aspect of certain tours. I have a lot of new ideas about socialized medicine and the various ways certain countries view the medical field.
So now onto my trip to LEGOLAND. I hope that anyone in the Debacker family that is reading this understands the importance of this trip. A lot of my friends back home (ahem won't mention names AMANDA) thought I was being quite peculiar when I couldn't contain my excitement, but this trip basically signifies a great deal of my childhood! Hahahaha. I'm pretty sure I can't explain the experience, so for this one, pictures will have to do. All I can say, is that my future children better love Legos as much as I do. A few of you got some goodies, so be looking out for those when I get back. :) It was one of the best days of my lifeeeeeee. :D
Lately I've been a tad sick. Weird arm and neuro symptoms, but all that aside, I got to see the Danish healthcare system up front. In my opinion, growing up in this kind of system is satisfactory and probably pretty acceptable (unless you have severe health problems) but for an American who is used to fast, efficient, and competitive processes.... it was frustrating to adhere to. My GP is a nice woman, but she didnt really listen to all of my symptoms. Also if you want Ibuprofen, you need a prescription... which I laughed so hard at while at the pharmacy. I think the pharmacist thought I was a lunatic and needed a prescription for something else.... haha. Basically, don't expect fast care in socialized medicine. The hardest thing for an American is patience, and when he/she is sick, its even worse to expect. Good luck Obama with resolving our healthcare crisis - while I support socialized medicine, I am no longer blinded by its shiny golden intentions. There are definitely some flaws.
Other than medicine in general (since thats what most of my blogs are about...), life here is great. I'm becoming quite close to one of my Danish friends, Katja, and we have such a fun time together. I really love the Danish culture, and am expecting to be thoroughly spoiled when I come back to the US. My ability to understand Danish gets better by the day, and I must admit that I love the language quite a lot. I really wish more American colleges offered classes in Scandinavian culture or language..... branch out people! Scandinavia is important to study! Also, its starting to get dark here around 4:30 pm which is a small shock; we had daylights saving time a WEEK before the States which was even more of a shock to find out. So right now we're 6 hours ahead of TX and only 5 hours ahead of the East coast. Interesting.
On a final note, our travel break is coming up! After this Friday (which is a very important Danish day - I'll explain in the end), I leave for Stockholm to visit two of my Swedish friends, Anja & Johanna. We'll be in Stockholm for Halloween, then we'll go to Uppsala (important university town) to spend time at Johanna's university. We might do a cruise and some other fun stuff as well! Can't wait! I'll be there until next Wednesday (~4 day trip?), then I'll be heading to ITALY (be happy Pop! yay!) with my bestest friend ever. We arrive in Pisa to spend a night right next to the Leaning Tower, then we'll head to Rome for a day of chaotic touristy events, and finally spend the next two nights in Milan for a shopping spree and some more Italian adventures. After those trips, I head back to Copenhagen (on Nov 9th). The next day I signed up to shadow my MPP doctors for a full day at Amager hospital.... I'll get to wear a white coat, practice IV's on the medical students, and talk with Danish patients - I'm REALLY excited for that! A lot of my peers think I'm crazy to do that in the middle of my travel break, but I think it's a perfect way to spend a Wednesday in Copenhagen when you have no classwork and no other obligations. Then, that Thursday night, my bestest friend ever, the aforementioned Chris, will be coming to visit me here in KBH! I have so much planned for that weekend, its ridiculous. Think, riding around the city on bikes, seeing Fredericksberg Castle, the Ice Bar, lunch in Nyhavn, tickets to the Royal Danish ballet, etc. It's going to be one of the best weekends here in KBH yet. I really wish some of my other friends and family could visit, but coming to Denmark is quite expensive. In fact, the internet tells us that Copenhagen is now ranked as number one for the most expensive cities in Europe. FANTASTIC. ha. Well we beat Oslo then....
So yes, this Friday - Danish "holiday" if you will. It's called "J-dag" which is the day that Tuborg (one of the biggest and best beer companies in Denmark) releases its famous Christmas beer. Everyone goes crazy, and its a big party for the city. I hate beer so I'm going to rename it "Somersby-dag" for me, but it'll be fun to experience the culture that night.
Anyway, expect subsequent posts to be FULL of pics - hope I havent left anything out!!!
xoxo
Danielle
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