Sailboats by the Harbor

Thursday and Friday were busy days for me. Thursday marked the official start of my fall semester, and I had four classes on that day. Lucky for me, my classes are all in the same courtyard, so I didn't have the opportunity to get lost.

It was a long day. I was in class from 10 in the morning till 6 at night. All my courses seem like they are going to be interesting. They will be taught in a similar way to many of political science and economic courses are at home (complete a reading assignment at

home and discuss it in class). The professors are informal here; they asked us to call them by their first names. Many are not solely professors, but work primarily in their field of study. My EU professor is full time faculty member at DIS and has taught for a number of years at different institutions in the past. He also was a member of the Danish parliament, so he does have a good deal of first hand knowledge in that area.

My favorite class thus far is Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism. The professor seems like he will have an unique take on the subject, and it will be a very discussion driven class. In the class there is probably an equal ratio of females to males, but the professor said that in the past the males tended to speak a great deal more than the females. The guy sitting next to me, who I met at the airport, told me that I shouldn't be afraid to speak up if I had something to say. I assured him that wouldn't be a problem. (See, people do think I'm quiet upon first meeting me! I'm sure later on he will regret encouraging me.)

On Friday night, last night, DIS organized a canal ride around the Har

bor of Copenhagen. There were clouds off in the distant, but they held off so we had good weather. The tour guide was very informative and today when I was walking around I was surprised at how much I remembered.

After the tour, I went with a couple of girls living in my kollegium to the DIS social event at a club. It was very different not to have to worry about showing an ID to get in. The event was fun, and afterwards we went to a cafe.

I had a great day today. The weather is a bit cooler, which I prefer, yet still partly sunny. I took the metro into the city and sat downtown at the Royal Opera house. I sat reading a good book and people watching down by the water. For all those who don't know, I love sailboats. Although been on one, I think I would enjoy it. Sailboats make me so happy, and because today there is a slight wind, there were many sailboats out on the water today!

After that I walked around for a bit, bought bread, a a bowl and a binder. I'm going to hang out in the kollegium tonight and rest up for what is sure to be a busy week.