Arrival

And so it begins…

Today, or actually yesterday, I started my half year (to make it sound more dramatic. It’s actually only 4 months, but who’s to know) stay at the ITU Copenhagen (International Technical University, hence the title of the Blog Sjors+ITU).

To get to Copenhagen, one can take the train. The amazing thing about this train is that it leaves from Utrecht. The thing rolled in and if you ever wondered why platforms are so long….it is to accommodate trains that go to joints such as Copenhagen, Warsaw or Prague. What joy is it when you’re standing at the end of the platform and the Copenhagen carriages are at the front. RUN, with a suitcase weighing more than an airline would allow, but who cares.

The trainride itself was quite OK. 15 hours in the train in a room with 5 other beds. It was hot….literally this time. The bed was hard, the sheets were complicated (seriously, they were half envelopes or something, how does that work?). Denmark from the windows looks quite a lot like the Netherlands. It just has more trees and more sawed-down trees and the stations don’t look like a Fischer Price building set. No the stations are made of bricks. Especially the grand central station.

The station is right next to the Tivoli gardens thing, which is a major tourist attraction, so the doors were swamped. But that’s not the only reason. I felt right at home. It was pouring. Really pouring. Roads got in trouble.

I made my way to Alex’ house. An aptly aimed phlegm could disrupt a university lecture from his room on out. His room really is that close to the university. I must say I am slightly jealous of that. Later on I went to see where my house was, just so I don’t have any trouble finding it tomorrow when I can actually pick up my keys (stupid opening hours on monday, wednesday and friday from 8-10 AM….What slacker works like that?).

That however is about a 35 minute walk away from the university. It is however right next to a metro station (which did not appear to work on sunday….) and next to a huuuuuuuge shopping mall. And when I say huge, I mean huge. It even has a Hamleys…in Copehagen. And a supermarket….which is huuuuuuuuuge.