Denmark (and Sweden)

The first day in Denmark we walked around the small town of Korsor a bit, then took a train to Copenhagen. We shared an awesome flat between 9 people (7 beds! 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, and shower) and wandered around Copenhagen a bit that night. Also, I had the absolute best Chinese food I've ever tasted in Copenhagen!
The next day the group split up and some of us took a train to Sweden. More wandering. Being a small town (Malmo) there really wasn't anything to do at night, so we went to bed early and went shopping and then back to Copenhagen the next day.
Copenhagen is home to the second oldest amusement park in the world, Tivoli Gardens. (The oldest in also in Denmark, but farther away and not as cool.) Our night there was definitely the best in Denmark! The atmosphere reminded me a lot of Opryland and all the rides had themes, as opposed to just being giant metal structures like in 6 Flags parks. It's in the middle of the city, also, so it isn't very big, which means it's easy to walk around and the lines were really short.
We stayed almost until closing, and then went to the Icebar. It was neat, but overpriced and a bit of a disappointment. Everything except for the floor was made of ice (including the cups), but it was really small inside and we got there right after the rush. I felt a bit bad for the bartender; Thursdays aren't normally busy nights, but they had over 200 people in 2.5 hours! (Almost all Semester at Sea kids.) I have no idea how they fit so many people in there! Despite the boots and parkas that they provided, it was freezing (obviously) so we didn't stay long.

Our departure from Korsor was anticlimactic. Like our arrival, there were lots of people outside the ship waiting to see us leave, the the local marching band performed around the square for probably about an hour, and then our captain announced that, contrary to plan, we wouldn't actually be leaving until 4am. (Instead of going around Denmark, we got permission to go through the Kiel Canal in Germany, which saves about 1/2 a day. It's the busiest canal in the world - more so than Panama - and has over 42,000 ships pass through it a year! It was neat sailing through it because land is so close that from the windows on the upper decks you can't even see the water, and the water since the water is so smooth when you look out the window it's like being on a train.)

Being in Denmark made me want to watch "The Prince and Me," but sadly I left it at home. Also, I'm jealous of a friend who got to visit Hamlet's castle. (I was surprised that most people didn't know Hamlet was set in Denmark!) 

I have a midterm later today, and then tomorrow we're in Belgium!

The Happiest Place on Earth

Denmark, having usurped the name "The Happiest Place on Earth" from Disneyland, is already living up to its title - and we aren't even off the ship yet! We're porting in Korsor, which is a small fishing town about an hour away from Copenhagen. As we were sailing into port, there was a crowd of people (despite the rain) and a band playing "I'll Be There For You" (the theme song from Friends). 

Best welcome ever!! 

"Niet Paruski" ("I don't speak Russian.")

That's a (very) rough and phonetic translation. 

We've been in Russia for the past five days and had our "4th" of July party as we left port today. Finally, good food! After wandering around a country where I can't even understand the alphabet, it was the perfect "coming home." I don't think I've ever been so happy for barbecue, lemonade, and American flags! No fireworks, though. : (
Russia was definitely different than I expected - St. Petersberg is really pretty and not as gloomy as all the literature lead me to expect - and it's much much bigger than Bergen. I spent most days just walking around exploring with people, looking at buildings and monuments. We had "Russia Day" instead of classes the day before port, and they scared us all with horror stories about the metro, Russian vodka, pick-pocketing, xenophobia, and lost/stolen passports. Thankfully, no one I know of had a problem with any of those things, and most of the Russians I met were friendly.
The first night I got to go see Swan Lake at the Hermitage theater, and it was really pretty but I felt a bit uncultured because I expected it to be obvious that this was world-class ballet, but it looked normal-amazing, as opposed to amazing-amazing, to me. I could even see the main ballerina's arm shaking from our box! A few nights later we went to see another ballet at the famous Mariinsky theater, but it was modern (Glass Heart) and so strange. It seemed less like ballet and more like modern dance; they used more arm movements than leg movements, and there were a lot of (very confusing) props. Not knowing the story always makes it a bit more difficult, I suppose.
We went to the Hermitage (Catherine the Great's winter palace, which is now a museum) this morning and it was HUGE - we only made it through two (out of 7?) floors, but managed to see Rembrant, Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, Van Dyck, Cezanne, Picasso, Pissarro, Rodin (my favorite!!), Matisse, Kent, and a WHOLE lot more. Not to mention the palace itself is the most opulent building I have ever seen. Then we went souvenir shopping, which wasn't quite as cheap as I'd hoped, but everyone got very cool presents. Also, I got to hold a baby bear. (We were walking through the park near the Bronze Horseman, and saw a very strange looking dog, which upon closer inspection turned out to be a bear, and it was only 100 rubles ($4) for pictures with it, so I got to hold it and feed it from a bottle. It was only 10 months old and very cute, though a bit dirty.
There are so many places that I didn't get to visit - including Moscow - so I'll have to come back some day, though preferably with translator and car!
We only have two days of class before Denmark, and it's incredibly easy to get out of the habit of doing work while in port!

Send me emails! I like updates from home! (jesimpson@semesteratsea.net)

Norway!

After four days in Norway, we're back on board and back in class. Thankfully, the boat doesn't go too far off shore since we get to Russia in a few days, so the sea is really calm and I don't feel sick at all. 

Norway was amazing. Extremely expensive, but amazing. (Even though the dollar is worth 5 krones, everything costs exponentially more, so that even something as simple as a hamburger was 20 USD!) 

Bergen, the city we ported in, was so cute - very European, old, and with great architecture and lots of twisting alleyways. The first day we wandered around and explored the city and took the cable car up the mountain. Noway (especially the tourist shops) has an obsession with moose and trolls, so there were lots of random troll statues around. 

The next day we took a train to Voss, where it was the official Extreme Sports Week. These people are crazy. Seriously, who would parasail up (with the largest parasail in the world) 600ft and then bungy jump from the parasail (which is the highest bungy jump in Europe)? It's completely insane and I would never ever do it. 

On a completely unrelated note, it sometimes makes me sad that sarcasm isn't easy to transmit through the internet. ; ) 

Otherwise, there were a lot of paragliders floating around - we even saw one crash into the water! Then we went kayaking in the fjords, which are so gorgeous. (And cold! Even though we had the only blue sky in weeks!) I got to wear a wet suit and paddle in a single, closed-top kayak, which I hadn't done before. 

We got back to Bergen and wandered around some more, and then it was time to get back on the ship. It feels like we were there for so much longer than we were! I'm excited for Russia, but it's going to be a lot more of a culture shock because not everyone speaks English (which they did in Norway) and it's dirtier, less safe, and apparently you're not supposed to smile at people. 

Land, Ho!

No, we aren't in Norway yet (tomorrow!) but we did pass by Scotland and it was so exciting to see land! A cargo ship passed during class today and we had to stop discussion to look at it because it's so rare to see anything but the sea. 

Everyone on the ship is ready to be on land and have something to do. So many days in a row with class and no real activities (and lots of sea sickness) have caused a general sense of ennui to descend. I can't even spend free time cleaning or organizing, since every day they vacuum, clean the bathroom, change the towels, and make our beds. (We are so pampered!)

There isn't much else to report, and no fun pictures, but soon! I promise! I think we're about 6 or 7 hours ahead of Nashville time (+2 more for West Coast time) and it doesn't get "dark" until around midnight. Even then, the moon is so bright that it may as well still be dusk. 

That's all for now! Miss you all!

Fun Facts and First Days!

Fun Facts:
*We are the fastest cruise ship in the world.
*We received a 100% (norm is high 70%-80%) for cleanliness at the US and Canada surprise inspections. (Virtually unheard of!)
*Guy to Girl Ratio is 1:3.
*We're already 3 hours ahead of Nashville time, 5 hours ahead of West Coast Time.

First Days:
*Lots of meetings that basically review the handbook, which it seems only I have read.
*Lots of meeting people whose names I will likely not remember, but they're all very nice.
*We saw whales today! 4 or 5 of them! We all started shouting, gathered at the window, and called in people from the hallway.
*It's cold. Really, really cold. I packed for the second half of the trip, so I'll be living in my one sweatshirt for the next month or so.

Happy belated Father's Day!! Mom and I were so excited about the Bluenose replica (which I'm assuming you've opened by now and I haven't spoiled the surprise)!

Nova Scotia (Ancestral Homeland)

Our hotel! 

The MV Explorer (as seen from our window)

Random picture #1

Random picture #2

Sadly, the Bluenose II is off in Montreal, and we couldn't find the Oxner Grocery.