Morning bike-ride

This morning I was overtaken vi four people in a row riding these. They had a person riding behind them on a normal bike to help them in the traffic, since their view wasn't as good from down below, and she said good morning to me when she passed. That was a very odd experience, but også very cool.

Her til morgen blev jeg overhalet af fire personer på rad og række i sådan nogle her. Der kørte en bag ved dem på en almindelig cykel for at holde øje med trafikken, fordi deres udsyn dernede fra ikke var så godt, og hun sagde god morgen til mig da hun kørte forbi. Det var en meget underlig oplevelse, men også meget cool alligevel.

I've struck gold

Look what I found in the cupboard! I thought I was going to be without one of these for six months, luckily, now I don't have to.

Se hvad jeg fandt i skabet! Jeg troede at jeg skulle undvære sådan en i seks måneder, det behøver jeg heldigvis ikke nu.

Great day

I have had a great day today, even though it was raining all day. It ended with a very interesting lecture by Ann E. Weber, vice president at Merck research laboratories.

Jeg har haft en virkelig god dag i dag, selvom det har regnet hele dagen. Det sluttede med et meget interessant foredrag af Ann E. Weber, vicedirektør ved Merck forskningslaboratorierne.

Fish

I explored Beckman today. Look what I found in a hallway window. Can you see how many fish there are?

Jeg gik på opdagelse på Beckman i dag. Se hvad jeg fandt i et vindue på gangen. Kan I se hvor mange fisk der er?

Pelmeni and Vareniki

I went to dinner at Taras from my group and his wife Katka again. This time the cooking was a joint venture were everybody helped prepare the russian dumplings which are called either Pelmeni or Vareniki. I couldn't figure out what was actually the difference between the two.

Jeg spiste middag hos Taras og Katka igen i aften. Denne gang var madlavningen en fælles aktivitet hvor alle hjalp med at lave russiske dumplings som hedder enten Pelmeni eller Vareniki. Jeg kunne ikke rigtig finde ud af hvad der var forskellen imellem de to.

Saturday night

Tonight I went to a concert with the China national symphony orchestra. It was not as good as I had expected, but maybe that was because I was quite tired. There was one funny thing though, the solo violinist was very crazy. He was dancing around while he was playing, and in the middle of his encore, he started playing ringtones and sirenes. In the end he was acting so wildly, that he actually fell backwards.
We were not allowed to take pictures during the concert, so I had to take one before.

I aften har jeg været til koncert med Kinas nationale symfoni orkester. Det var ikke så spændende som jeg havde håbet, men måske var det fordi at jeg var for træt. Men der skete alligevel noget sjovt, solo violinisten var virkelig skør. Han dansede rundt imens han spillede, og midt i hans ekstra nummer begyndte han at spille ringetoner og sirene lyde. Til slut var han så voldsom at han rent faktisk faldt bagover.
Det var ikke tilladt at tage billeder under koncerten, så jeg var nødt til at tage et inden.

A little bit of snow

They have actually closed a lot of the schools today because of the snow. It is really not that bad, and almost every american has a car, otherwise the public transportation works quite well here in Champaign-Urbana.
This is the view I had when I turned the corner to the Institute this morning.

De har rent faktisk lukket mange af skolerne i dag pga. sneen. Så slemt er det altså heller ikke og næsten alle amerikanere har en bil, ellers så fungerer den offentlige transport ret godt her i Champaign-Urbana.
Det her er det syn der mødte mig da jeg drejede om hjørnet til instituttet i morges.

Winter has come

A snow-storm started this afternoon, so It was really difficult for me to get home today. I was only able to ride my bike on the bike-paths where no one else had walked or driven on the 10 cm of snow that is present everywhere. It took me 30 min to get 3 km. Very annoying.
Something funny also happened today when I was eating lunch. It was very busy in the cafeteria, and I was sitting alone at a table. Then, two people asked if they could sit with me, and we talked all the way through lunch. This was really great, and I don't think this would have ever happened in Denmark.

En snestorm startede i eftermiddag, så det var virkelig svært for mig at komme hjem i dag. Jeg kunne kun køre på cykel på cykelstier hvor der ikke havde været andre før mig i de 10 cm sne der er overalt. Det tog 30 min at komme 3 km. Virkelig irriterende.
Der skete også noget sjovt i dag da jeg spiste frokost. Det var meget travlt i kantinen, og jeg sad alene ved et bord. Så kom der to over og spurgte om de kunne side ved mig, og så snakkede vi sammen imens vi spiste. Det var virkelig hyggeligt og jeg tror aldrig det ville være sket i Danmark.

The Co-Op

I found a great store today. It is a member-owned grocery store that sells a lot of local produce and has a lot of special items. They also have a large selection of organic foods. One funny thing they have is a machine where you can make your own fresh peanutbutter. This is something Søren would really love.

Jeg fandt en fantastisk butik i dag. Det er en købmand der er eget af medlemmerne hvor de sælger mange lokalt producerede varer og specialvarer. De har også mange økologiske varer. En sjov ting de også har er en maskine hvor man kan lave sit eget friske peanutbutter. Det er noget Søren ville elske.

It is really cold today

Det er virkelig koldt i dag.

The bike project

I bought my bike at the bike project. This is a volunteer-based shop where you can come and work on your bike. They also fix up old bikes and sell them. Yesterday it was raining when I was driving home, and I figured that I needed fenders for the wheels, so I went back today to buy and mount them. I found a used pair of fenders for $5 and they helped me mount it. I forgot to take pictures, but if I go back, I will be sure to take some.

Dinner party

I was invited to a dinner party by a guy from the group. It was with his wife and two of their friends. One of the friends was a french guy who is apparently pretty good at making macarons. However, it was a bit difficult without the proper tools and with an oven that does not keep the right temperature. Anyway, they tasted great. One was raspberry macaron with whipped cream and blackberry filling, the other was a green tea macaron with raspberry jam filling.

Workout Sunday

I have joined the university gym. This is a huge complex with a large variety of different fascilities including both an indoor and outdoor pool (which I noticed had ice on it). Check it out.

http://www.campusrec.illinois.edu/facilities/arc/

I went there this morning, and when I got home I was happy to find that there was a rerun of the 2012 crossfit games on ESPN. Luckily, I had been working out at the gym, and could watch with good conscience.

Shopping

I went to the grocery store today. 5 minutes on my bike and I am at a really nice store where you can have almost anything. (Except ryebread) but they do have an entire section only for microwave popcorn and the largest onions I have ever seen. And of course I had to get ice cream.

Love at first ride

This is me, except the welding and italian.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neNuRD8K-JE

Moving in...

... is easy. Don picked me up at the hotel and the room was ready for me to unpack my things. They are lending me one of their bikes until I buy one for myself, and he took me out to see the neighborghood. They have recently bought a farm which we drove out to see.

Don and Nancy

Tonight I met Don and Nancy. I am renting a room in their house for the next six months. They have three children who have all moved out, and are now renting the rooms in their house out to students. They took me out for burgers, and Nancy showed me a really nice international grocery store where I will definately be coming back to.

Construction noise

I have been living with the daily noise from construction since spring. The buildings next to my apartment building were torn down over the summer, and now they have started laying the foundation for new buildings which means constant pounding from 7 am to 6 pm. The entire Department of Chemistry in Aarhus is going through a major renovation process, and the building my office is in, has been the subject of this since the beginning of summer. I thought that by moving to Illinois, I could finally be rid of this. I guess not...

The strangest thing I have noticed today, is that the cars do not have the turn-lights on the sides above the front wheels or on the mirror. They only have them on the sides of the front and back lights.

Men in skirts

Ok, not so much dancing as just men in kilts playing their bagpipes and jumping around their swords. It's pretty funny and awesome at the same time.

Day two

Here are some sentences describing my second day.

- Met the group I will be associated with
- First group meeting
- Viewed a run-down apartment
- Sightseeing on campus
- Opened a checking account
- Seeing a show at the art department with scottish dance tonight.

The mix-up for today: The lights for pedestrians also have a comment sound at some intersections. I found it very strange that you should "walk like a dog" when crossing the street, until I found out that it just said "walk-light is on".

First Day

So, I went to the Beckman Institute today to begin the visa check-in process, i.e. lots of paperwork. I got my key and my UIUC identification card, which is an awesome card. You can ride the bus for free with it, and you get a lot of discounts at campus stores and restaurants.
I also met with Emad, who is my supervisor here. He is really nice, but I already knew that since I have met him twice before.
The search for an apartment has also begun. I had arranged with a girl to call her and set up a viewing of her apartment when I got here. As it turns out, she is also a short-term scholar in Emad's group, and is leaving for her permanent position as soon as she finds someone to sublease her apartment. I also have some viewings of apartments tomorrow and wednesday.

An a sidenote, if you are in doubt about what day Thursday is, just go to Walgreens.

First impression

This fancy hotel has everything you can think of for breakfast. But then you have to eat it of plastic plates with plastic utensils. That is just american waste. That was the first impression. The second one is that the hair-straightener doesn't get hot enough. Damn you, 120V...

Special guest of the day

A nice surprise when I arrived at the hotel. I am the special guest of the day, and could choose a complementary drink and snack.

Yotel

Now I am at Amsterdam schiphol airport. I have booked a cabin at the yotel hotel for 4 hours so I can get some sleep. It is needed since I woke up at 2.30 this morning. Goodnight.

Saying goodbye

I am now at the airport and have gone through security. I had breakfast with my family. I am going to miss them so much.

It actually did fit.

Packing 2.0

This is never going to fit.

Packing

I have allocated the entire day for packing. And this is how it looks so far.

I am actually leaving in 1½ days

Either I have been drinking too much coffee, or it just hit me that I am about to leave everyone behind very soon...

Making the most of little time

I have a packed schedule these last few days before I leave. Yesterday I spent the afternoon with two of my best friends. Sara, had just come home from a month in Central America, so it was nice that I had a chance to see her and Iben before I left for 6 months.
The evening was spent multi-tasking. I did laundry and cleaned the apartment while entertaining Henriette, also one of my best friends. Ole ended up joining us, since he had borrowed the boardgames we wanted to play.

Today the group and I are going to have lunch at the PhD café, I am working out later, and tonight Søren and I are going to see a movie.

And I still haven't packed a single item. (Although I did bring up the suitcase from the basement)

Apartment Search

I now have two appointments for viewing apartments on Tuesday. And I have the numbers of more people to call on Monday to set up appointments. I hope they work out since I have only booket a hotel room until Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed that some of it is livable.

Visa and stress

Here goes... I just picked up my passport containing the visa from the postoffice yesterday. I have all my papers ready, except for the insurance card, which I think I need renewed. However, the stress is not diminishing. I haven't started packing yet, and I still have to meet up with everyone to say goodbye. But everything will probably work out in the end... As it always does...