Denmark: Checking In, Backtrack Later

[Composed 8/16]

It's 12:39 am and I have had one crazy day! I am writing from the quiet common room of a hostel in Århus. I won't be writing long, since I am very tired and the internet here is not free. Here's a summary of today's (8/15) events. I will be back tomorrow to write about the missing days in between posts. I have to be quick tonight; my battery is about to die.

I asked the school director for one day off to visit Risø National Laboratory, a famous Danish research center in the city of Roskilde. From the summer school in Fuglsøcentret to Roskilde turned out to be 3+ hours of buses and a taxi. A side note to travelers: Don't take Danish taxis unless you absolutely have to. It cost me 146 DKK (~$30) for a 10 km ride that took 8 minutes.

My Risø escapade marked my first solo traveling inside Europe (I don't count the plane from Copenhagen to Århus because I didn't have to use maps, ask for directions, or practice my Danish). The purpose was to visit a professor named Mogens Mogensen, which is pronounced somewhat like the english word 'moans' while swallowing the 'oa' part into more of an 'uh.' I found him to be a very pleasant 60-year-old Danish man with a thick accent and a dedicated attention to detail. My advisor at Mines, Nigel Sammes, is good friends with Mogens and set up the meeting for me. Our conversations floated through the topics of history, language, culture, and science. He told me how Risø was founded by the physicist Niels Bohr and that it was celebrating its 50th anniversary in two weeks (I will miss it...shame). I also found out I have a wonderful opportunity to merge my Masters pursuit at Mines with Mogens' work in fuel cells at Risø. To make tonight's story shorter (battery = 5 %), if all goes well in the next few months, I will be studying/working with Mogens in Denmark for up to 6 months! I will attend classes at DTU, near Copenhagen, live in the city, and commute to Risø for research. I hope this plan works out, because I've only been here 5 days and I really really really really really love it here.

I met an American PhD student, Chris, working at Risø now and we talked for a while about what it's like in Denmark as a student and a foreign worker (4 % ... AH! Type faster!!!). During our conversation, I decided I'd be adventurous and scrap my original return plans to Fuglsøcentret. Since we at the summer school were allowed the next day (today now) free to wander Århus, I quickly made plans to end up in that city instead and find a place to stay the night. Chris helped me out by finding maps and online Danish travel resources (they have very good websites: check out http://www.rejseplanen.dk/bin/query.exe/en you probably don't know any Danish names, but use some of the ones I have written about and see how thoroughly helpful the system is in getting you to your destination).

Okay okay, I want to write more, but 2 % on the meter means I have little time left. I bid you all a good night (good afternoon for you!) and I will be back ASAP to write more (yes Sean, I have lots of stories, BE PATIENT!).

Afskend!