Almost there Copenhagen

Arrived in Amsterdam 7AM their time, 1AM ours. No sleep on the plane. Secured an aisle seat before departure and then boarded the plane to a very old lady saying how her knee had surgery and she needs to bend it and can I switch seats with her and sit in the MIDDLE? What am I going to say? No? She reminded me of my grandmother and even though it was a 6 hour flight I sucked it up and sat in the middle.

7 hours later, no sleep and no idea about currency exchange or international phone calls, I attempt to change my money into the Danish Krone (not the Euro they use in Amsterdam) and now I have no real money to spend here, I must wait for the next plane and jumping a pond and continuing this never ending trip.

Even the clock on my computer thinks it’s still at home. I have a 3 hour layover here and then another 2 1/2 hour bus ride to get to my final destination. The minute I arrive I check in and start class. I already know I’m going to be so tired that I might turn into a bitch. I hope Keith thinks bitchy = funny.

Dude, I want a bed and some sleep.

It is now 7:15AM US time and 1:15PM here. I have been up for almost 24 hours. Two major things I forgot to do before leaving the states: 1. Tell the phone company that I want to be able to make calls and texts and 2. Tell my bank that I was going over seas and want to be able to use my card. I found out the hard way. After arriving in Copenhagen I had to transfer to 2 trains and a bus. I bought my round trip bus and train tickets which ran 292 DKK (that’s Kronnin and translates to about $75.) In Amsterdam I exchanged $103 thinking that it would last me for the trip (my meals and board are provided) but I didn’t realize how expensive everything would be. I’m frugal to say the least and will go hungry before I buy food that I deem too expensive, meaning anything they sell at airports and train stations. I know in the real world things are much cheaper, plus I figured I’d let the airline feed me. Much to my surprise Scandinavian Airlines charges for food and even water, which is about $4.50 a small bottle. I think that’s more than even PNC Park charges. I refused to pay that much for water until I realized I had no other choice.

I wanted to save the Krones for emergency and little things and tried to use my card only to find it declined. I was informed that I should have told my bank about my travels as most Northern European countries don’t automatically translate. I used most of my Krones to pay my fare, but feel a little solace knowing that my return trip is paid for already.

I was starving. I had 13 minutes to get to my second train that would be an hour long ride and knew if I didn’t get something in my tummy I would be a miserable mess. Of course I couldn’t buy the first thing I saw because it was meat and too expensive so I shopped around thinking I could get a better deal. Wrong. I got a terrible deli tuna sandwich, some chips and a water setting me back another 77 DKK (about $18, yikes.) I maybe have 30DKK left. Let’s hope I don’t need anymore money until I get back to the airport. I only have US dollars and a debit card that doesn’t work over here. I’m going to try to get that settled with my bank so I’m worry free. You know how much I worry.

Riding on the train looking out the window, everything looks like the country side, little villages. Giant windmills (the modern eco friendly ones) are dotted all along the landscape. The houses are tiny and everyone seems to have a bike. It all seems so quant. Kind of boring; although there’s a ton of graffiti everywhere: trains, buildings, transformers, that at least gives me hope.

I got kicked out of first class on the train. I didn’t know it was first class, it didn’t seem that much different from the other parts of the car. There’s of course more space, they sit higher up on the second level and they have outlets to plug in their computers. Oh shit it’s my stop…