Day 60--Take the long way home

So today was a long day.  I woke up at around 7:30, finished packing up the rest of my stuff, said goodbye to Ian and Ryan, and walked with Hannah to the airport.  We got there at 10, and after checking our bags we split off into different directions.  The flight was long (8 hours), but it was smooth and I was able to watch 2 movies:  "Rise of the Guardians" and "Sleepless in Seattle."  The passport control upon arriving in the US was long, but I made it.  I reunited with my dad afterwards, and we drove home (2 hours, I had landed in Newark, NJ).  Anyways, now I'm trying to stay up until at least 9 in order to adjust to the time zone.  Denmark has been a positive experience overall; I might even go back through my blog to remember again what I did.  However, I am glad to be home for a little while.

Day 59--Presentation Day 2 aka LAST FULL DAY IN DENMARK!!!

Today my group was one of the three groups presenting today.  Our presentation went well, and Jacob (the director of the Danish Waste Association) and Niels gave us some expensive glassware as a gift.  I was able to relax at the apartment before going to Ian and Ryan's presentation (they were in the same group).  I left after their presentation since my group was going to lunch at a restaurant in Tivoli.  We had smorrebrod, and I got to try herring for the first time.  It was gray and looked completely unappetizing, but when I tasted it, it wasn't half bad.  Lunch was pretty long; it was after 3 when we left the restaurant.  We walked around Tivoli for a bit, since Chietara didn't have the chance to see it.  Afterwards, we went back into the office to finish our paper.  Chietara is still working on it now, so after she uploads it to WPI I can worry about the eCDR and all that jazz.  I left work at around 5:30, but I didn't feel like going back to Osterport.  Instead, I went to nearby Norreport and tried on dresses.  I wasn't expecting to buy anything, but I tried on this one dress that I really liked and I just had to buy it.  The person at the register was very nice and jacked the price down from 250 DKK (around 50 dollars) to 200 DKK (around 40 dollars), which is pretty cheap for a dress.  So I bought the dress and walked over to where everybody in this year's IQP would meet for dinner.  It was at a place called RizRaz, and dinner consisted of an all-you-can-eat vegetarian buffet.  It was pretty good and I stuffed myself.  After dinner, Ian, Ryan, and I walked home (but not before stopping so I could get Paradis one last time).  We also ran into our advisor outside of the apartment drinking wine, so we had a nice conversation with him.  I was getting cold after a while so I went back inside.  I don't have much else to pack, just some toiletries mostly.  I will need to be in the airport by 9:30 tomorrow morning; my flight is at around 12:30.  It is a direct flight to Newark, NJ and I will be expected to arrive at 2:50 pm local time.  

Day 58--Presentation Day 1

Today, two out of five total groups presented today.  Both groups presented for about 40 minutes.  The first group had a tour of a street as part of their presentation.  We were fortunate enough to have warm weather for this to occur.  Between the presentations, Mike, Chietara, and I got some more gifts for people at the Danish Waste Association.  After the second presentation, we went back to work, where we figured out the situation with the room in which we would present.  We also ran through our presentation.  It is now just under 30 minutes, with my part memorized and Chietara's and Mike's read from the script we created.  It was around 5:30 by the time we left work, and my roommates had already eaten, so I went to a cheap Chinese buffet for dinner, followed by Paradis.

Days 56 and 57--Last weekend in Copenhagen

This weekend is my last weekend ever in Copenhagen, so Ian, Ryan, and I decided to make the most of it.  On Saturday we went to Frederiksborg Castle for the afternoon, about 45 minutes away in Hillerod.  It was absolutely gorgeous, not just the castle itself but also the surrounding gardens.  After walking around the castle we got to see a free concert, which consisted of Chinese performers and Chinese instruments.  They were really good (they came straight from Beijing), and I was able to take some video samples of the performance.  After the concert we walked around the gardens for a bit (did I mention that they were gorgous?) and I got to take some awesome pictures.  We then had dinner and took the subway home.

On Sunday, I started to pack away most of my stuff.  I also decided to not go with Ian and Ryan to the arsenal museum.  Instead, I grabbed stuff from Baresso for lunch, ate at the park nearby, and walked around for a bit.  Additionally, I walked around the forts and passed by the Little Mermaid statue again.  Later, Ian, Ryan, and I met up with Kasper for dinner at a place called "Zalt" in Norreport.  The food we had was very good, and we stayed for several hours after eating.  It was close to 10 by the time we left the restaurant, and I stopped at Paradis to get ice cream on the way back home.

Days 51, 52, 53, 54, 55--Last week of IQP

Monday we had a very long day.  We didn't end up leaving work until after 6 since we had to finish the results, conclusions, and recommendations sections of our paper. On Tuesday, we worked on our presentation.  We had to cut it down a lot since our first time running through it lasted about 50 minutes.  We got it down to 40 after cutting it down, but we still need to cut down some.  However, we know pretty much what to cut from the presentation.  On Wednesday, we worked more on the presentation and left work early for Worker's Day, which is similar to Labor Day in the U.S.  This consisted of a huge festival in the park near my apartment, with several stages, kiosks, and lots of food.  I went with Hannah at 2 and we walked around a bit, but she had to go back to work on her project.  I then stuck around for a bit, trying to reach Camilla, who was supposed to be there as well.  After walking around, eating, and taking pictures, I finally found Camilla.  She was with one of her friends, who was nice.  We sat on a blanket by one of the statues in the park and we talked about stuff.  Sometime later, three Irish guys walked over and started talking to us, but Camilla and her friend had plans for dinner so we didn't talk long.  At around 6, I left with Camilla and her friend, and I headed home to the apartment.  Thursday and Friday, we finished editing our paper before submitting it to our advisor for a final review, after which we will submit it officially to WPI.  We also worked on cutting down our presentation some more.  After work, my coworkers and I had some refreshments in one of the meeting rooms, and after about an hour I went home to relax.