mrs. president, oprah, and black cars

Copenhagen has been in the headlines this week because of the Olympic meetings taking place in Denmark's capital city. I have been somewhat isolated from the commotion because of classes. This week was extremely busy/stressful. I had a midterm, a case study intro, and a midterm project.

Wednesday was a particularly busy day. I had a field study for my terrorism course. We watched a movie for two hours; Battle for Algiers. Then I went to the library to attempt to figure out my economics take-home assignment. The project was about a fictitious country and different price models/tax systems. It would have been more interesting, if I didn't have so much trouble figuring out the computer program. It was so complicated and frustrating. It reminded me of physics, but better because my end goal was actually logical/the concepts were comprehendible once I figured out the program. After about an hour in the library I had to leave DIS, and head to high school. I signed up to volunteer to speak with Danish high schoolers about politics in America. The high school we went to was very different a high school in the United States. It was a very ornate school, fake marble, columns, high ceilings. It was not a large school. The student in my group told me that that their school was a well-financed program. The danish princes attended the school, and thus they receive donations from the Royal family--very similar to what happens at Brunswick High School, minus the royalty and private donations...

The students were very nice. They are going to visit Washington DC in the spring. They were surprised about our drinking habits, the high cost of college, and the young age at which teenagers can get their licenses. Overall I thought the students were typical of their age. They acted like juniors in high school, but in a funny way. One thing that is different is that they have a lot more independence. One girl I talked to had her own apartment. One kid commented that the school provides alcohol for movie night.

When I got back from the high school, I grabbed a sandwich at attacked my mid-term. I ended working for about 4 hours on it. I compared my formula with other students, and that helped to make the program run correctly. When I got home, I had cereal, and then went back to work, studying late into the night for my politics exam.

I was thrilled for classes to be done at the end of the day. Instead of going home to crash, I volunteered for Chicago 2016. I went down to the harbor where Chicago committee was hosting a party for all its supporters. As a volunteer I got a bright orange long-sleeved t-shirt, which came handy because we were outside for two hours. A bunch of DIS students were the volunteers, so some people directed the guests/supporters to the party. I was in the group that helped to hold banner.

We were at the Royal Theatre. Directly across the harbor is the Opera House. It's probably two-three football fields across the shore. At the Opera House the IOC, the committee that votes on Friday on which city will be the host, was having a big dinner. That is where Oprah and Mrs. Obama were having dinner (you could tell because of the circling boats, snipers and guards around the perimeter). Our job was to hold up the sign, and be part of a mass of orange/blue shirts cheering for Chicago when the boat bringing the IOC members to dinner came through the harbor.

It was exciting being part of the crowd. There were a bunch of athletes. I saw Brandi Chastine (soccer player who took her jersey off when they won), and a few people saw Michael Johnson. Tomorrow I have no classes. I'm going to sleep extremely late. The only thing on my agenda is going into town to see the voting on a large screen in the plaza.

Oh, and when I was walking over to the harbor, I saw Mrs. Michelle Obama's motorcade. The girl living the floor above me saw Oprah coming out of her hotel. And that is all my exciting news. I'm sure you are all on the edge of your seats.