Becoming a college dropout...

" We must have a pie.  Stress cannot exist in the presence of pie"

- David Mamet, Boston Marriage

Before you all freak out, I did not intentionally drop out of university, it was completely accidental.  Which truthfully is only something that would happen in Denmark.  

Last weekend my parent's received this letter in the mail.  If you can't read the title it says "Confirmation of Termination of Studies."  It then goes on to say that my enrollment at the University of Copenhagen was terminated and that it had been terminated by the student, namely me.  When they read the letter to me I didn't know whether to cry or scream or what.  Needless to say it was a stressful couple of days until I could go to the international office and sort things out.  Apparently I was a little over happy once I was again enrolled.  Yoonho the kid I tutor asked why I was acting so weird.  Apparently I was happy and giggling. I don't know what that says about my usual disposition. 

But all is well in the school universe so let's talk about happier things, like chocolate horses.  I first saw this a the grocery store a couple of weeks ago, and I resisted, for a couple of weeks, and then gave in.  Why in the world would you have a chocolate horse for Easter? Chickens, bunnies, those I understand.

I did revel in biting the horses creepy head off.  I was kind of afraid it would come to life and murder me.

 And if the horse didn't murder me, these bunny mannequins might.

My Easter was actually really nice.  My friend Kate's mom was here so the three of us went out to a nice dinner.

 Also last week I went to the new Copenhagen Aquarium which opened two weeks ago. Side note, one of my sister's friends from when she studied abroad in Chile, just moved to Copenhagen this past week and he is an intern at the architecture firm that designed the aquarium.

The building is really cool.  This is actually what the aquarium looks like from above.  

This octopus was so cool!

Because of one long night in the emergency room, where the only thing on TV was a marathon of "River Monsters", I know way more information about piranhas than is normal.  So I thought it was super cool to see the piranhas feeding.  If you can't tell hanging off the fishing pole is all that remains of the fish that was put in the tank.

My German friends have always made fun of the really random words that I know in German, but I think this proves that knowing regenbogenfisch is actually useful.

I have to say that the coolest thing that at the aquarium was Nemo and Dory.  I think aquariums all over the world are celebrating the announcement that the sequel to "Finding Nemo", titled "Finding Dory", will come out in 2015.   

I also had the privilege (if that is the right word) of watching a Danish fashion show.  The models rappelled down the glass elevator from the third floor.

Last Saturday was also Denmark's "Black Saturday".  Like Black Friday but on Saturday.  The Danes get Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday off of work around Easter.  So Saturday is the only day in that five day period that stores are open.

And surprise  I went to another castle.    

 This castle is Frederiksborg Palace, the original parts of the castle were built in 1560.

 The sight of this castle is actually beautiful.  The castle is surrounded by a lake and has formal gardens behind it.

The castle burned in 1859, but thanks to donations by J.C. Jacobsen (the founder and owner of Carlsberg Brewery) the castle was restored.  There was one condition however to Carlsberg donating the money.  He would only pay for the restoration, if the castle was turned into a museum and commoners were allowed inside.  Up to 1859, the royals still used the palace and only people who were invited were allowed inside.  

Also interesting tidbit about Carlsberg Brewery that I learned on the tour, Carlsberg Brewery is owned by the Carlsberg Foundation which is a non-profit organization run by the University of Copenhagen.  So all the profits from Carlsberg Brewery go to funding museums and projects to further Danish culture.  So in essence beer in Denmark equals culture, too bad I find beer disgusting.

I think that all the hunters of the world should put something like this over their fireplaces instead of the whole stuffed head.

 Or heads like this, I especially like that the one on the left has it's tongue sticking out.

 Potentially the one distinguishing feature of this castle.  This is the first bible translated into Danish.  With the introduction of Protestantism to Denmark came the introduction of a uniform Danish language.  All of the priests were educated in Copenhagen and took the Copenhagen dialect to the rest of Denmark.  The first bible also meant that the language needed to invent new words, there was not exactly a need for words for desert or camel in Denmark.   

 Frederiksborg Castle is also home to the Knight's Chapel, where the Order of the Elephant and the Order of Dannebrog meet.  The Order of the Elephant is the highest order of Denmark.  It has officially existed since 1693.  Most of the inductees are part of the Danish Royal Family or foreign heads of state.  Dwight D. Eisenhower was inducted in 1945.  Apparently the elephant was a symbol for the Virgin Mary.  At this time people thought that elephants conceived immaculately, like the Virgin Mary, because elephants are pregnant for so long no one ever actually saw them getting pregnant.      

I never thought that I would say this, but I think I am all castled out.  My new roommate, Natasha, asked me  how American's felt about royalty.  She thought that we only love the fairy tale because we do not have to pay for it.  Queen Margrethe II is the highest paid monarch in the world.  She made $82 million last year.  A lot of this money was earned through stocks, property, and endorsement deals.  She also apparently owns a couple of restaurants, a soccer team, and a fashion line.  The only information that I could find on the Queen's state salary is from 1992.  However she did receive a salary of $6 million that year and I can only imagine that that amount has increased since then.  So as much as I love the castles, princes, and tiaras I am glad that I can watch it all from a distance.