Tag Archives: zumba

When Will My (Reflection) Show Who I Am Inside

Face Update: This is my current face. I am still sad that I had to take my labret out, and I feel a little lost without it. snapchat-2911068590867097941My sister called me an alien when I showed her this photo because of my symmetrical face. I will neither confirm nor deny this, she’s right shhhAlso I will soon be conforming to this homogeneous society. AKA my hair will be turning into a natural color SHOCKING I KNOW. This was actually an incredibly difficult decision to come to. I don’t think I have had natural, or even semi-natural, hair in three-ish years. What you have to realize is that America is shaped by individualism. When you have a lot of body modifications there, you are just one in a sea of other non-conformers. But here… things are different. I don’t see people like me when I leave my house. I have seen one, ONE person here with a full head of unnatural hair, and it was just red so does that even count? If you read my last post, you know a small part of how challenging it is to be isolated here. I can’t speak the language, and I don’t look the part. I can’t continue with the rest of this semester feeling like I will never fit here. If changing up the coloring of my hair helps, then that’s what I’ll do.

School Update: My favorite class is surprisingly the one I switched into last minute! BLESS THE GODS THAT CONVINCED ME TO DROP CRIMINOLOGY FOR PSYCH OF HUMAN SEXUALITY. My other classes (Pornography, Prostitution, and Danish) are swell. Gender and Sexuality in Scandinavia may be the worst class I have ever taken. I hate it. I hate the professor. She hates me. She actually told me to dumb down my work. She doesn’t understand anything beyond the binary. I actually hid in my beanie today to avoid leaving class based on the comments she was making. Yeah. It’s that bad. I actually miss Whitman when I’m in my classes here though. I thought that coming abroad I needed a break WHICH IS TRUE but I feel a little underwhelmed with my classes. I feel like I’m not being challenged. I feel as if in some of them I am just repeating the same 3 basic concepts over and over and over and over and over and OVER AGAIN. I have learned absolutely nothing in gender and sexuality, js. I love the idea of being more hands on in my learnings though.

Friends Update: I HAVE FRIENDS. Also my best friend from home, GABBY, came to visit me here!! I have a very large queer network here, and by that I mean, all my friends are queer. I don’t know if you know how awesome that is. I feel like I’m on an episode of The L Word. (Can I be Shane? Can I be literally anyone that gets to be with Shane? Can I be Carmen, but we stop the show before plot-twists happen?) Here is some photographic evidence of my queer peers.

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Canal Tour: I went to Nyhavn with my host mom and went on a beaUTIFUL canal tour. See attached photos. Before finishing the night at papirøen (Delish Street Food. 10/10 would recommend).20160911_170508_hdr20160911_174951_hdr 20160911_174512_hdr20160911_175748_hdr20160911_171107_hdr

Hyggeligt Dinner:  I recently went to a nearby host student’s home. Pinn invited my host mom and I, as well as two other host students, over for a hyggeligt dinner. *Hyggeligt// The warm, cozy feeling one gets when surrounded by good company. snapchat-2760983576096036382Pinn is from Thailand and offered to make us a homemade Thai meal. Oh. My. God. Perhaps one of the greatest meals I have ever had. [Rice, Green Curry, Cashew/Broccoli Stir-Fry, Thai Omelets, Elderflower Water, followed by the absolute best Carrot Cake in existence paired with home-made Lemon Ice Cream and Blueberry Jam]. 

Zumba: I did ZUMBA!snapchat-2591657576592530337 In case you didn’t know, my host mom is a zumba instructor. She has been trying to talk me into doing zumba since I arrived. ANYWAYS, the other weekend we (Bibi, her sister, her niece, and I) went into København to go to a giant outdoor zumba lesson. And surprisingly…. I enjoyed it. A lot. Who would’ve thunk it? Like it didn’t feel like I was working out even though I was, and it was just really fun. I felt happy. After we finished dancing, our little group took a nice walk, threw down a blanket, basked in the sun, and ate some delicious danish pastries (not entirely sure what they were, but DAMN, they were good).fb_img_1474718393298

Family Reunion: Words cannot state how amazing this experience was for me. I went to a reunion of 50+ Danes and it was incredible.fb_img_1475414412633 Brief Highlights: Classic Danish dancing, Danish beer is good??, my host brothers are funny as hell and also watch Scrubs, reading Danish children stories at 4.00, champagne bar, skål, etc. Ask me about this night when I return because it was unforgettable.






P.S. These are my favorite photos so far…

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