Wow. I’m going home on Sunday. This was the last Monday I’m here. How did time go by so fast? And what about all the things I still haven’t done, places I haven’t seen, people I haven’t spend enough time with?
Maybe I’ve inherited some of my dear father’s travel fever because it’s kind of getting to me. I’m starting to feel a bit stressed out about all the stuff – good as well as boring need-to-do stuff – before going home. Must buy last couple of Christmas presents. Must empty room and clean unit. Must also try to not leave this place in too much of a hurry and enjoy the last days here.
I still have two papers that I haven’t finished. One of them is almost done but the other one I unfortunately have to finish back in Denmark. There will not be enough time to finish it within this week. AND survive (or well, just not appreciating being here).
This last weekend was all about goodbye and last party. As a break from papers I think I’ll get some pictures uploaded tomorrow
Now I have to sleep. Must take good care of myself, have had a very sore throat today and will try to cure it. With sleep. And ginger tee. And all the funny painkillers I can find overhere.
I just realized going home from class tonight that I now do not have any more classes – at all! When I get back to CBS I “just” have to get my master thesis done. No classes, just thesis. Wow. That’s kinda crazy. And weird. And different.
I have been in school since I was what, 5 years old? Now I guess I have to start figuring out how NOT to go to school. On the other hand, that’s really quite okay.
The life-changing experiences are really on my tail these years. First moving to live on my own. Then going to Canada for four months. Now – or hopefully sometime next year – finishing school and working. But then that’s what I’ll be doing for the rest of my life. With some breaks. Correction, a lot of breaks
Uuh all this reflection, makes me freak out. Going to bed. Good night
Today it is the second Advent Sunday (I don’t know how to translate it) and time for my second Advent present
I got a calendar light, a very Danish thing, and licorice (also very Danish of course)!! Just what I needed. Thanks Mom and Dad.
Now we have a whole collection of calendar lights, actually enough for an Advent wreath! And later today I think we’re going to experiment to do some glögg.
Pheew, today I just finished a course! I had a three-hour open book exam in the course Regulation, Government and Socially Responsible Management. I think it went all right but we’ll have to see when I get that grade :S
I treated myself with some shopping for Christmas presents afterwards. Well, not only that. I “accidentally” ended up in Zara. As so often before.
The other day I also went shopping for some Christmas decorations. Some days ago I got a wonderful package from back home with my typical Advent presents – one for each Sunday before Christmas – plus pebernødder (like little pieces of gingerbread). Thanks mom and dad!
Pil and Kirstine have also received some kravlenisser and some other Danish Christmas stuff so I was really getting in the mood. In the mood for MORE!
So now there are little signs of Christmas in my room…
Some people wanted to go skating tonight. Like ice skating. I haven’t been ice skating since I was 10 or so! And yesterday at the ice hockey game I saw just how skilled you need to be to pull of the real moves. Check out this video from last night (not that it shows awesome moves but still) …
But then I found at that this had to be the REAL Christmas event of the year in Toronto. As you might have read earlier on my blog I went to the illuminite event on Dundas Square some weeks ago to see the lightening of a Christmas tree. And that was so disappointing.
This time it was much better! A real tree and very nice live, Christmas music + classy skating rink.
This event ended with some of the best fireworks I’ve ever seen! It was very well put together with the rockets going off in sync with the music. It was all in front of the new city hall in Toronto which is a very fancy building in itself. With the fireworks all around it, firing from the bottom of it and off of the top it looked amazing!
So now, even though I’m not staying for New Year’s Eve, I got to see some fireworks in Toronto
P.S. It seems that when I watch the videos the quality isn’t that good – Sorry! Hope you still can sort of feel it
Had a pretty nice day yesterday. Except for being yelled at in a shore store. I was getting a refund for a pair of boots that I had changed my mind about and the sales guy claimed that I had worn them outside – and I really didn’t! He kept on “finding” evidence on the boots but finally I obviously got him convinced and he gave me back my 300 dollars!
Later I had class from 6.30 to 9.30 that turned out to be a nice social event! Our teacher took us out for food and beer afterwards, great! See, that never happens at CBS!
I actually had to leave a bit early because I had an appointment with Emilie and some of the other international students about going to Panorama Bar – a bar at the top of the Manulife Centre building, the 51st floor that is.
The view was soooo pretty!
Got home at 1.30 am, went to bed and as usual got up too late today after fighting with my alarm for an hour or so. It’s like a curse. Now the rest of the day will be about my final paper for my prof. Babin. Then at 6 pm. I’m going to see an ice hockey game with the Marlies – a less famous but good ice hockey team. That’s going to be fun
Come on, people also die everyday from a normal flue.
When I read the Danish news it always tells me up front that many people are sick with H1N1. And that is of course terrible. When I left Denmark they put up sanitizing gel everywhere. That’s okay too, not a bad thing.
Over here they have sanitizing gel everywhere! And the news are all about H1N1. So everytime somebody coughs or sneezes people move away – an easy way to get your coffee quick by the way
Kirstine is sick at the moment and some of the other guys in my classes are also sick. I’m of course a little nervous about it all but still. I think is a bit over the top with all this focus in the media about the swine flu.
Rikke Faurfelt, a fellow Danish exchange student who I’ve only met a couple of times, has written this exciting article about Toronto for one of the biggest Danish newspapers, Politiken.
I mean sure, everything was pretty, but the tree wasn’t even a real tree. It was just these circles of lights. The whole event of lightening the tree was a bit weird. On the stage at the square some singer/song writer that we had never heard about was on stage. Then there were a couple of acrobats in orange suits jumping on a trampoline and finally there were 4-5 guys playing oil drums. But none of it was that fantastic really.
(sorry that the video is turned on to the side – don’t know how to fix it!)
And what’s funny about all the lights – they’re all blue and orange and white. Where are all the red lights? In my opinion red is the single most important Christmas colour. But Toronto doesn’t seem to agree.
Lights at Younge st.
After this weird and disappointing event I went with Casper, Anna and Lisa to a Japanese restaurant down on Dundas st. to cheer up with some all you can eat sushi!
Casper, Anna and Lisa before going out for sushi
The day after, on Sunday, it was time for the Santa Parade. Katharina from Austria and I went down to Dundas Square at aroung 12.30 p.m. to get a spot and wait for this – hopefully – fantastic parade.
It started out good with free coffee handed out but there was a lot of people. We found a spot and then decided to stay there as the crowd just got bigger and bigger. By 2 p.m. the parade still had not come down to Dundas Square and we now stood so close to each other and everybody else that we felt like we could just as well have been at some boy band concert!
A little later the parade finally started to come down to were we waited. But again it was not as fantastic as I had hoped for. It was very much for kids and it was pretty much just an advertising stunt for McDonalds, Disney, Coca-Cola etc. And it was not at all Christmas-ish! The main part of the participants in the parade were dressed as clowns! WEIRD!
Katharina and I in the crowd
Lego was also a part of the parade
Finally Santa Claus showed up
Even though it was somehow disappointing it was an experience. But it made me feel a bit homesick thinking about the parade I’ve seen a couple of times back home on Amager and reminding me of Tivoli at Christmas that I love so much!
But now I’ve also decided that I’m going home for Christmas as originally planned. So maybe I can still make it to Tivoli
