Beautiful Danish Snowflakes

While walking home from the train station in the snow earlier this week, I realized something-- Danish snowflakes must be prettier than American ones. Okay, so maybe that's not entirely true... maybe it's just that I walk around in the snow a lot more here than I do in the US... but regardless, I have seen some of the most beautiful snowflakes lately. When they land on my black peacoat, they look so surreal in their perfection. Each flawlessly formed flake reminds me of how amazing and beautiful nature is!!!

I wasn't sure if I could capture nature's perfection in the snowflakes I've seen, so I have borrowed a selection of snowflakes from Wilson Bentley, one of the first photographers to capture the image of a snowflake. Enjoy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SnowflakesWilsonBentley.jpg

Leg Godt!

Last weekend, I went to Western Demark and Northern Germany (more specifically, Vejle, Jelling, Billund, Sønderborg in Denmark and Flensburg in Germany) with my European Business Strategy class. We went to several towns for cultural visits and two companies, GumLink and Lego.

GumLink is a B2B company, developing and manufacturing gum products for branders and retail chain companies. Lego was amazing. I remember my mom always getting Legos for my brother when we were little and I sometimes played with them too, but the company visit really just won me over. The name, Lego, was created by a combining the two Danish words, Leg and Godt (which means "Play Well" in English) to create the name, Lego. Lego has had some rough times the past few years and almost went bankrupt, but they were able to recreate their strategy and focus on what they are good at, which is the classic Lego block. Now they are focusing on their core products and beginning to do well again.

The office had legos everywhere. From huge legos outside, to lighting and pictures made out of Legos and heck, reception area of the building was a Lego! The employees business cards were even little Lego men! The man that showed us around the grounds gave me his little lego man business card because I asked him to look at it and he just let me have it! We toured the packaging facilities and it was so efficient! Having a little bit of a background in Six Sigma, I was thrilled to see it in action... away from the banking world. I asked our "tourguide" what system they used and he said they hired an external consultant to make their processes more lean and were able to drastically reduce their processing times. The whole time at lego was so exciting! I felt like a kid again, even though I was learning about a company and its strategies! All in all, Lego is great... and everyone should go out and buy a set to remind themselves of their childhood! :)

Here are some pictures of Lego:

Notice the lego ceiling!

This picture was completely made out of Lego men. Legit.

Lego Lights. I wish they sold these and I could get them for my apartment!

Lego Light Up-Close

Lego Fun.

Giant Legos outside of the Lego headquarters in Billund, Denmark.

And here are some pictures of the rest of the trip... before my camera died! The cold really zaps camera batteries!

Me in Lejle, with an EliSabeth cup! They never have these in America... it's always spelled Elizabeth! So Wrong! Finally, it's spelled right! ;)

Typical (and beautiful!) Danish architecture in Lejle

The art in Lejle was...  creative and interesting?

IDK what to think about this. Please just note the starving-looking ones and the big lady on top of a starving one. I'm sure it has some great history and significance behind it though?

Denmark's birth certificate, one of the two Jelling Stones.

Dybbøl Windmill.

"To be or not to be," Fighting Knights, Arrows, and Sheep?

Last weekend, I went on several adventures through my Studay abroad program. Saturday included a trip into Elsinore and a tour of Kronborg Castle aka Hamlet's Castle. Elsinore was cute and quaint and a perfect location for such a beautiful castle! There is simply too much to tell about Elsinore... my facebook pictures have a more accurate portrayal of this great place. On Sunday, I went to Esrum Abbey, for some good ol' fashion middle aged fighting games and beer tasting.

This was a great little chocolate shop that had made a miniature Kronborg completely out of chocolate! Yum!

Walking to Kronborg.

Outside of the castle... why yes, that is Sweden in the background!

View of Kronborg from the inside, I don't know if that makes sense or not

This is where they Baptise children in the Kronborg church. Interestingly enough, this also used to be a bird bath of the famous Italian Medici family.

The following pictures capture me jumping out of my comfort zone. Seriously y'all. Fighting!? Sheep!? Shooting Arrows!? It was a great day and although I was a little hesitant at first, I am so glad I had these experiences.

Here I am, fighting the "knight." He was intense, to say the least.

When all the other sheep ran away, this little guy stuck around to say hello, even in the snow!

Here I am, after my great shot!

I don't know if you can see it from this picture, but yes, that is my arrow on the left side of the target!!!

Group øl: 2nd place in the middle ages fighting competition!

Great Abbey Ale! Terrific to end an awesome weekend!

Danes, Kroner, and MOMS

I feel like everyday I am learning something new about Denmark. Today, for example, I had a few hours to kill in between classes and I decided to experience some danish shopping on one the longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe, Strøget.

The salesperson in one store started speaking really fast in Danish and I was lost- I had to ask "English, Please?" To which I got a friendly "Ohhh, Ok!" and we continued the conversation in English. After she saw my huge not-so-Danish backpack, she asked me if I was American and if I wanted a receipt with the tax information on it because VAT or MOMS, as the Danes call it, is not added at the register (and therefore on the receipt) like in the states- a whopping 25% sales tax is already added in to the price that you see on the tag.

She asked me this because apparently, if you live outside of the EU, you can get a tax-free refund on items purchased in Denmark! Sure, there are a lot of rules and regulations to this policy (that I won't take the time to list here but the website is http://www.eurorefund.com/) but this is certainly something to look into for my future purchases!

So now I know, and now you know, this Dane was extremely kind and taught me about MOMS and a way to save some Kroner!

Weekend of Birthdays

Yesterday (Jan 30) and today (Jan 31) are two very special birthdays! Happy Birthday Dad and Cameron! Love and miss yall!
1. Cameron walking to Laura's bday dinner
2. Dad, Cameron and Laura at bday dinner

3. Justin, Dad and me

Snow and Snow and More Snow!

I checked the 10 day forecast for Copenhagen this morning and it is supposed to snow for the next ten days! Here are some pictures of my host family's house and street, covered in snow...

1. Shed/garage view from side door of the house.     
2. View of the street to the left, Bregnerød Kro & Hotel is the red building at the end of the street.
3. The oh-so-attractive socks on the outside of the jeans to keep them dry, accompanied by my classically American New Balance shoes. I had no idea I would actually need real snow boots!
4. Welcome to the Melgaard Residence!
5. Me in front of my host family's house!

Mail Time!

Just in case anyone needs/wants it, here is my address!

Jacquelyn Elisabeth Chapman
c/o DIS, Danish Institute for Study Abroad
Vestergade 7
DK- 1456 Copenhagen K
Denmark

This is what DIS had to say about sending mail:
"For most items, list the contents of packages as “used personal belongings” (e.g.; clothing, textbooks, etc.) so that it can be cleared through customs. The sender should declare a $0 dollar value for the package to avoid customs duty charges; however, if they open the package and estimate a higher value, your son or daughter will be charged customs!

If you need to insure a package that is more valuable, you’ll be required to declare a higher dollar value. This will affect the customs duty charges in Denmark, which can vary greatly but may be as high as 30-40% of the value of the package. It is the receiver’s responsibility to pay this before the package can be released, so your student may receive a hefty bill from the Danish authorities along with the laptop or iPod you sent for a birthday. For the most up-to-date information, contact the International Trade Commission at 1-800-872-8723. Always explore different options for mailing packages (e.g., through the post office, UPS, FEDEX, etc.) but please be aware that FedEx and UPS will only ship new goods. If you plan to ship used clothes, etc., you must use the US postal service. In most cases, it is actually easier and cheaper to use the US postal service."