Introduction

Today is March 20, 2011, but more importantly 40 days (or thereabouts) until I leave on my two-month journey through Asia and beyond. I have been thinking about taking this trip for at least a year. However, I’m usually always thinking about taking some trip or another. I’m sure many travelers out there can relate to having persistent and recurring dreams about going abroad. My love for travel began early.

As a child, my parents took us on frequent road trips throughout the United States, sometimes pulling us out of school for an extra week (which made it an even better deal). We went to Texas, Florida (many times), California, Colarado, Pennsylvania, BC, Quebec City and South Carolina, to name a view places. We also went on trips to destinations in the Caribbean including Aruba and St. Lucia (where a man with a machete jumped out from the jungle, in front of our rental car).

With mom in the Adirondacks - 1986

Pictured with Dad and Juerg in BC - 1987

With Juerg in Denver - 1989

Colorado - 1989

Early love of animals, Rocky Mountain National Park - 1989

Me and Juerg with dad in Puerto Plata - 1989

In Naples, Florida - 1991

Disneyland in California - 1991

California desert - 1995

San Diego - 1995

As a teenager we usually frequented Florida (we had been going to Naples every other year or so since I was born), but we also did a trip to Mexico and I went to Europe on yet another driving trip, with my dad (where I enjoyed driving 180km/h on the autobahn). Traveling to new places was always interesting and the weather was usually better (anything beats a cold Canadian winter!). As I got older I came to appreciate other languages and cultures too.

Famous shot in Germany ------------------------------ Luxembourg

With the rental in Liechtenstein - ----------------Picking grapes in the Alps

With Dad on the Rhine

Feeding sheep in the alps

In the fall of 2003, I headed off to university. I knew I wanted to do a semester abroad, but at the time Brock University only had a few exchange agreements in place. I knew I wanted to go to Europe, but the only options at the time, from what I can recall, were France or Turkey from what I can recall. My French wasn’t too good (despite having taken it to grade 11), but I thought I might still enjoy a semester in France. In the summer after first year, my dad and I took a trip to Europe with the intention that we would check out Dijon and Rouen in France where the two schools were located, as well as visit Germany and the surrounding areas (it was a sort of continuation from our first trip a few years earlier). Despite that Dijon and Rouen were very beautiful old towns/small cities, I found it very difficult to communicate with the local people and I just didn’t see myself going there.

Me and Dad in Beaune, France

Me at the Wolfsburg museum in Germany

Dad with the rental he loved so

Dijon countryside

Me in front of the school in Rouen ----- Grave of Margot and Anne Frank

Heading back to school that fall, I was overjoyed to learn that my university had signed several new agreements with exchange partner schools. One of the new agreements was with Copenhagen Business School in Denmark and I knew right away that I wanted to go there. Copenhagen was exactly the type of place that I wanted to go: a mid-sized, modern, Northern city where the people spoke English! I completed the application process and was selected as Brock’s first student to attend CBS in my second semester of third year (Jan-May 2006). It was a dream, come true.

In the months leading up to my big trip, I worked very hard to prepare for the trip. I saved as much money as possible from working in the summer and through the fall on a co-op work term. I obtained my Danish student visa, travel insurance, organized a spot in residence, booked flights, and packed. My departure day in January finally came around and I was more than ready to go. After a tearful goodbye at the airport with my parents, I was finally ‘going abroad’. I didn’t know a single and really had no idea what it would be like. The only time I ever questioned my decision was on the final descent into Copenhagen Airport on a cold, foggy, ugly winter day. I looked out from the small plane window, down at the miserable flat land below and thought “oh my god, what if this turns out to be a huge mistake”. Luckily those feelings vanished instantly once I met my Danish buddy Tobias who was waiting for me at the airport. He whisked me away to my residence where I had the chance to meet a few other newcomers. We took a quick stroll through the main part of the city, and then he dropped me off at my residence to settle in. I can’t recall much about the first day or so except being tired and excited to settle into my new home and meet my new friends.

(1) View of Tordens residence from the street (2) View from my room (3&4) Interior shots of room on the day I arrived

The following two weeks raced by in a blur. The first week was the ‘Danish Crash Course’ week where we learned Danish each morning, and participated in activities in the afternoon and evening to welcome us to the city and help us meet the other international students. I had so much fun during that week and made friends that lasted throughout the entire semester and some to this day.

The second week was the official ‘Introductory Week’, for all the international students, as the Danish Crash Course week was optional. By this time, I knew that I hadn’t made a mistake coming to Denmark and I couldn’t believe I still had several more months to go. Before classes were to commence the following week, some students were already planning their first trips outside Copenhagen. I heard some students talking about going to Egypt and I became so jealous! After doing a quick search on Sterling’s website (the Danish airline), I came across a seat sale to Prague. I told some of my friends about the deal and we planned a quick trip. We booked the flights on a Sunday night and departed Tuesday morning. [I found it unusual that there were only about 30 passengers on a 200+ passenger plane on our flight to and from Prague. Coincidentally, Sterling went bankrupt a couple years later]. Despite it being around -20 degrees the entire time we were there, it was still a wonderful trip that I will never forget. Prague is a beautiful city and a must-see destination in Eastern Europe.

(1) Brewery tour (2) On a night out in Prague we ran into a group of Irish men having a Bachelor Party (not sure why they were wearing womens' lingerie (3) The famous Astronomical Clock (4) Me in front of the famous Charles bridge (5) A picture of the group (6) Tyn Church at night

Throughout the rest of the semester, I tried to focus on my classes (all four of them) since I was one of only a handful of students that would be receiving a grade, instead of just pass/fail (a rule at my Canadian university). This, as well as Friday morning class and limited finances (despite having worked very hard to save for 8 months prior to going abroad, some students were completely bank rolled by wealthy parents), put a serious cramp in my ability to travel. Making matters worse, Denmark used a 13 point scale in grading that combined with a generally more tough style of grading, made it more difficult to get a ‘good’ grade. From what I understood and can remember, 00 and 03 are different degrees of failure and there are no 1’s or 2’s. Possible grades start at 5 and go up to 11, which is reserved for exceptional performance. There is no 12, but 13 is given for extremely exceptional performance. Among the students I knew who had already completed a semester in Denmark, 11’s were pretty rare and 13’s were unheard of. I was a 90+% student in Canada and didn’t want my grades in Denmark to affect my average at home.

Despite the worries I had about getting good grades, each of my classes only had final exams, which afforded me ample opportunity to take small trips. The next small trip I took was to Oslo, Norway in March. The international students office at CBS plans a 2 day trip to Oslo every semester via a regional overnight ferry boat. It was wonderful to visit the city in the winter when there was several feet of snow on the ground. We had the opportunity to wander the city, visit the City Hall where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded, and walk around Vigeland Park which features over 200 sculptures by a famous Norwegian artist named Gustav Vigeland. The overnight trips on the ferry were fun too, especially the karaoke disco.

(1) view from the boat, before we departed Copenhagen harbour (2) Me and the group inside Oslo city hall where the Nobel prize ceremony is held (3) Vigeland park (4) Dogs socializing in the park (5) Horses kissing in Oslo (6) Returning home to Copenhagen