FIRST DAY IN QUEBEC

First day in Quebec city.
We woke up, from a very great nights sleep. Our rooms are in a European style, but very nice. We sleep in bunk beds, and to compare to the States, here in these bunk beds I don't fear for my life: You know I am afraid of falling out in the the middle of the night. To compare another thing, the weather was much colder than the States. The first day, we were welcomed with rain and cold temperatures. But even though the weather was working against us, it didn't stop us from falling in love with Quebec. I can describe it this way, Quebec is a big city but it has the charm of a little European village. 

The first thing we saw was the Observatoire de Quebec, here you can see the whole city from above: It was one of the most beautiful l views I ever have seen. The view is fantastic because it's Autumn, so Quebec was covered in yellow, red, and brown, colors. The people who worked at the Observatoire had a different accent than we are used to in French class, but they spoke english very well. One of them told us about un plat Quebecois , containing french fries, a thick sauce, and some cheese, mmmm... very tasty. But he also said that is easier to eat with mayo. 

After the Observatoire, we went to see the City with our teachers as guides. But before we started, we went for some hot drinks, it was soo nice! The weather was terrible, but it didn't stop us from enjoying the city. Quebec has so many beautiful and charming small buildings, we even lost two from the class, but they had just made a wrong turn, and were found 5 min. later. ;)

In the evening we went to see a hockey game, with the local team The Remparts. There was an awesome atmosphere during the game. Everyone from the class brought t-shirts, and other souvenirs to support the Remparts. We cheered and clapped for the team :D. During the game we learned some useful words in Quebecois Francais, for example nombril it means belly button in french, we also learned the word, Baiser which is a kiss. Almost at the end of the game, they played " the final countdown" and guess who loves that song ;). In the end The Remparts won with 7-2 so of cause we had to celebrate that later on!

xoxo serb 
   
Mots:
Observatoire(m): a observatory
Plat(m): a dish
Nombril(m): a belly-button
Baiser(m): a kiss

HOMEY QUEBEC

Hey all!

It's the Viking again, the two others went clubbing, embracing the fact that we are finally able to drink on our trip - how magnificent an idea after a day of travelling (not a long one though...). Fortunately for you, I did not want to go clubbing tonight, saving it for later which incidentally made time now for reflection on the events of the day. 

We left way to early in the morning, and seeing as we did not get more than 3 hours sleep it was unbelievable that we were still able to stand erect some times. But the sun was shining and the air in NY was clearer than it had been all the other days. We arrived at Laguardia airport where we had to check in, which turned out to be a bit of a puzzle - people were angry, had problems staying in their lines and were generally agitated with the fact that we kept "cutting in front", because we were a group. But we had to.. 

I learned a new thing about airport security today as well, now you have to remove EVERYTHING - the only thing you are allowed to keep wearing are the clothes on your back, the shoes go, the PC in another, and don't even get me started on possible drug testing on Milica () and ridiculous overlay in one airport resulting in yet another security check. There has to be an easier way - perhaps just make an airport service for those of us willing to take the risks in exchange for the much shorter check-in procedures.. All jokes aside it is a very interesting thing to have seen ground zero and after that going to an airport and get put through that kind of thing. 

After some time on different, at one point questionable planes we arrived in Quebec which apparently is not a large city.. which results in planes with propellers, which makes this sound: FRRRRRRRR-FRRRRRR all of the freaking time in the air, which makes me kinda grumpy - but luckily I fell asleep. 

The hostel where we are staying is quite nice though and even though we have not seen a lot of Quebec it is a breathtaking city, with beautiful old buildings and a city wall from a fairy tale - it really has the feel of a European city and we all feel at ease here for now. 

We went to get dinner at a restaurant, however there was a misunderstanding between the waitress and one of our classmates. 
In Quebec it is customary that one pays a 15% tip in addition to the "actual" payment amount, but when the Scandinavian principles of not tipping if the service did not exceed the expected failed, she was forced - however unwillingly she was to pay the 15% and the sour waitress let her go. Always fun to get to explain.. 

Am really beat even though I did not do too much today, so this must be when I'll be turning in - looking forward to tomorrow where the "class" starts at ten, but according to what I have heard is going to be very much fun and feel compulsory to say: Educational

Regards from the french copycat, Canada
The Viking

LEAVING NEW YORK IS NEVER EASY

Hello again there, been sometime since I was the blogging one! 

It is now midnight in NY and everyone is beat and not exactly looking forward to a long flight in the morning, however, we had fun here and are looking forward to expanding our minds even further. But here is a recap of our trip so far: 

Monday: Arrived and got settled in, did some shopping

Tuesday: Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Ground Zero Memorial (Amazingly touching experience and the rainy weather made it even more chilling to be there) 

Wednesday: Guided tour to Harlem where we visited the Church of Sct. John the Divine - the largest church I have ever seen and although it was unfinished the mere size of it made it a breathtaking experience. Then we went for a walk around the city with a journalist named Louise which was an interesting perspective to have, seeing as she has lived here for over 5 years. The rest of the day was dedicated to shopping (Surprise!) on Broadway and Times Square where we all saw and Milica met and hugged Snoop Dogg. (Just casually putting it out there - God, this is a crazy place)

Thursday: In the morning we walked a while to get to MoMA, which was an interesting experience, even though the exhibits we really wanted to see (The grand Monet, Dali etc.) was closed! We were a sad bunch. 

Then we had a mini-lecture with an amazingly interesting historian, Laird W. Bergad, about latinos in New York, which was very inspirational.

We ended our day at a nearby restaurant called Ruby Tuesday, where we had the most attentive and polite waiter I have ever met – he certainly earned all our spare change! Most of us are packed up and ready to go tomorrow, but it looks like it’s going to be a long night for some.

New York City truly is an interesting place, there are – to the extent of my experiences – not many other cities which can really compare, but I guess I will always be a true European. This city never sleeps, but damn it, I do!

Can’t wait to go to Quebec tomorrow and attempt to speak some French at last, the only thing I am annoyed about though, is that there were so many things I never got to see – Empire State Building I only saw from the outside, never saw Macy’s, Central Park was only peripherally seen by bus, however the city feels more like a familiar place now.

See you in Quebec,

The Viking

IMMIGRANTS IN NEW YORK

Today we started out with a bus trip to Harlem, where we had a really good guide, who could tell stories from his own life while telling us about Harlem.
In Harlem we also saw a church called saint John the divine, which was a huge church, with a lot of beautiful architecture and decorations.
After the bus trip we went to meet a danish journalist, Louise, who has lived in New York for five years now, and she showed us some of the areas in New York, that was affected by the immigrants, and where you could clearly see, how the immigrants are bringing their own culture to New York and either hold on tight to their traditions, or mix their tradition and cultures with the culture and tradition in New York, and that way they create a new kind of culture.

After the trip around the immigrant areas, we of course went shopping at times square and 5th avenue, where we found a lot of great clothes and checked out the huge M&M store with all you could ever wish for with M&M, and a really sickening sweet smell of sugar and chocolate, I am really happy that I do not have to work in that smell every day.
After hours of shopping and eating some really good food, we just went back to the hotel and had some rest.

LIBERTY AND TERRORISM

Liberty and Terrorism.

After a (almost) good nights sleep (we all woke up at 6 a.m. besides Kristine ;)). 
we had a great breakfast, we had the chance to taste the famous onion bagel, not the most tasty thing, but it was worth the experience.  

We also had our first experience with the American metro. It was a little difficult to figure out so we got lost a couple of times. But in the end everything was solved and we made it to our final destination. 

We went to see the Statue if Liberty and Ellis Island, which was very interesting because we (almost) got the same experience as the immigrants who came to the States many years ago. But I could have lived without the sea sickness. ;)

We also visited the 9/11 memorial, it was also interesting, but the sad thing was that it was raining, and I did not have an umbrella, so I was soaked. After the memorial, my friends and I went to department store, but it was so bad - and I quote one of my friends " the clothes on the racks look like they have been donated by someone's dead and most likely blind grandmother"we didn't stay in that department store for long. We went on looking for other stores ;)

xoxo serb

AT LAST!

Hey y'all :)

MAK finally made it to the big apple, and the journey, however long, was pleasant - 20 hours of travelling seemed like quite the feat of strength when we arrived at 4 in the morning at Silkeborg station, accompanied by our respective relatives. But once we were actually in the air the flight went smoothly - some were feeling a little nervous, but personally the moment I found out that the entertainment aboard included my very own game of Tetris and the newest films together with my friends, it was like Christmas Eve to me. 

We passed Iceland on our route and on our little individual monitorm we were able to see the rocky land when the clouds had passed, and a like with Greenland and its mesmerizing snowy landscape. 

At Newark airport, customs was a bitch, but we made it through with the help of the "lovely" officers and, are now settled in to our cozy temporary home at Equity Point Hostels, 

Looking forward to seeing 9/11 memorial in the morning after a good night's sleep that will hopefully cure the mass jetlag, currently embodying the entire french class.. (Who, however, have mustered the strength to go shopping for a bit!)

Till some other time, the Viking

USA TRIP

USA Trip.

this is my first trip to the American continent! I'm sooo excited and I just can't hide it ;) I just started to pack my stuff. My friends are going to love me I have not packed high heels, I will miss them so much<3 but on the other hand I'm probably going to buy some new shoes anyway;)


xoxo serb!