Arriving in Kobenhavn

Rather than try to catch up on my month in Maine I will just say that is was a fantastic trip home. Although I have been living in Tokyo and not able to go home often I also know that if I was working a normal job (at least in the US) that I would not be able to take one month to visit family and just hang out. It was a month of a lot of rushing here and there to see friends in Baltimore (Ankur, Todd, Steve), friends in Boston (Carla, Rhi, Jason), friends in Maine (Meg, Linda, Mike, Nancy), and of course family here and there all over the state!

My new adventure in Copenhagen Denmark began on August 10th and so its been exactly a month since I got here! Hard to believe really. The school here which goes by the acronym KVL (which means something like Kobenhavn Veterinary and Life Science) merged with University of Copenhagen early this year, meaning my degree will be from Univ of Copenhagen, which I learned is ranked 46th in the world, so that is a nice bonus.

When I arrived in CPH I was greeted by my dear friend Katarina who I have known for over 10 years! Kata did a high school exchange year at Massabesic High School and we have kept in touch ever since. Over the years I had been to visit her once in Copenhagen and she had been to San Francisco to see me. Kata picked up my apartment keys from the student housing office and upon landing whisked me off to my new home for the 10-11 months. The apartment is small but it is sufficient for lil' 'ol me. These pics will give you a sense of the place.



































I also have a small terrace (big enough to fit two chairs and a small table. The view isn't so fantastic but it is nice to have a place to sit in the sun and hang my laundry. There is a roof deck to the building too where I have met other residents of the building having BBQs.

My colleagues with the Erasmus Mundus scholarship (there are 3 different programs for scholars here) are from all over the world. So far as I know i am the only one from the Americas, I haven't met anyone from S. American or Canada yet. Most colleagues are from Asia (India, Thailand, Taiwan, China, Bhutan) or from Africa (Uganda, Mali, Mozambique, Ethiopia). So far I have been mingling mostly with the international students since I participated in two weeks of the month long orientation here. My one very intense course this term (meets 18 hours a week plus piles and piles of reading) includes about 10 international students and 25 Danes. I haven't gotten to know too many of the Danish students yet but we have a study trip to Germany and Holland next week so hopefully I will get to know them a little bit better through travelling.

Because it is a Life Science Faculty where I am studying there is a georgeous garden with flora from all over the world. This is a huge perk. The garden is open to the public and so long as it isn't winter I intend to spend a lot of free time there. These pics give you some indication of how beautiful it is


































I hope to do more postings in the coming days before being away on this study tour next week. I hope you are all well wherever you are on the planet!