Not All Study Tours are Equivalent in Fun

Greetings my friendly neighborhood readers! It has been an extremely long week with much to discuss. First off the bat, what a Superbowl! I wish it woulda been played a little better from my side, but hey, I will always take a victory. Big Ben has now established himself as a great in this game, and I couldn't be prouder of the Pittsburgh fans and the support they gave not only at the game itself, but at the parade downtown. I wish I coulda been there, but at least I was able to party all night and enjoy it without too much trouble (The only trouble was in the prices of drinks/food. One thing I miss: cheap refreshments)

Before that good news, I was gifted with another present: Our fraternity, Sigma Chi, had a grand showing for Spring Rush and initially came out with 12 yes's to the bids we gave out. Now, I was able to listen in on the meeting to determine who we would give those illustrious bids to, but I was not able to vote. However, I agree with the stance, mostly, that was taken on the candidates and I am happy it worked out. Now, in the last week, that number has been whittled down to 10, but it still gives us enough to get our house back and to be reinstalled as an active chapter, so there is no complaint from me. Sunday was one of the best days I've ever had, and it really got me energized and focused for the rest of the week.

We move from the high end to the lowest portions of the week. After that glorious game that went into the wee hours of the Danish morning, I got some bad news (for me) from that special person I reference constantly in this blog told me that she found another guy, which is ok since that was part of our arrangement, but still kind of shocking, especially since I was only out of the country for about 2 weeks. I was angry then because of no sleep and booze, but I eventually realized the truth behind it, and I apologized. I am still somewhat disappointed, but you can not dwell on things like this, so I am not.

The other terrible thing came on Tuesday, when I went out with my other fraternity brother to celebrate the evolution of our Theta Chapter despite our absence. However, the night of revelry was interrupted when my brother's wallet was swiped under our noses and lost because the guy who stole it knew what he was doing. That put a damper on things, no doubt, and I felt kinda bad because it was my idea to go out, but sometimes, things are out of your hands and you have to accept it when you had little control, like I had. You can't help feeling bad for my brother though, it was not what we intended for a fun evening. Not a great start for the rest of the week, mind you.

Everything else was centered on the business tours that we took from Wednesday to Saturday. Wednesday, we went to a power cable company, NKT, and received a presentation that actually made cables seem more interesting than you would think. Luckily, they fed us, so it wasn't really a wash, and showed us a historical exhibit of all their products manufactured over the last century (cleaning supplies, switches, cables, etc.). I mean, not the most exhilarating company, but still worthwhile.

From Thursday to Saturday, we were on a road trip to gain valuable business knowledge and to immerse ourselves in parts of the Danish culture we wouldn't normally be treated to since it’s really outside of Copenhagen. Thursday, we went to a nice luncheon/presentation from the people at ECCO Shoes, which is small and seemingly unprepared to compete on a grand scale around the world, but they make comfortable shoes (seemingly for an older generation, at least in the U.S.). They are big in the golf world, acting as sponsors for guys like Aaron Baddeley and Fred Couples (the most impressive thing in the whole presentation). Afterwards, we were given the tour of the developmental offices and saw the many models of shoes in the works for ECCO (I know, I'm trying to hype this up as best as I can, and it's probably not working). Before we went to an ECCO store in town, we were given a pass to get 25% off for the day on any merchandise, which got us excited, but didn't really mean much cause the prices were still outrageous. Also, the town is littered with huge statues of ECCO shoes, especially this big one on a hilltop outside ECCO headquarters (Imagine if the statues at Stonehenge had feet and needed shoes). Thus concluded the first section of the Short Study Tour.

After that, we went to our first group hostel, where we split up into groups of 3 (for the girls) and 4 (for the guys). I was left with 3 chill guys, and we divvied up the space, which wasn't as bad as the picture of a hostel I painted for myself (4 pull-out beds, two small bathrooms). Anyway, after that, we went to a group dinner, where we ate hamburgers that they gussied up to make look fancy, when in reality, it was just a hamburger with some vegetables. I paid for my own drink, which was called a Firetruck, a mixture of red soda and Jager, which was excellent, but kind of expensive (almost 10 dollars!). Following that, we went to a bar called Why Not Bob (I had to go), and most of us stayed to have some drinks and hang out. I left to wander back to the hostel on my own, which was supposed to be a 20 minute walk that was extended to 35 because I got a little lost (Also, I found out that the way I worded my goodbye made the people at my table think I was going outside to smoke weed. So, I really know how to build a reputation accidentally). Eventually, I got back and went to sleep.

Friday started way too early (but despite the gripes of some of my roommates, I thought it was a decent experience in the hostel). We had breakfast (I watched a guy in the kitchen chew one of the people out in our group for stealing water, which was hilarious because its bottled water), and then we set off for Arla foods, a huge dairy producer in Denmark and a good deal around the world. Again, we listened to an interesting presentation on dairy products (once again, exaggerating), and then we took a minimal tour of the facilities. We saw cheese production (and smelled it), while a lot of us almost gagged from the emissions of the pungent cheese. A half-mile later, we were able to sample some of their more popular cheeses, which I have to admit, I wasn't too keen on sampling the product after being somewhat repulsed by the smell. The cultural immersion part kicked in when we departed Arla and went to Kolding, to explore the city and Koldinghus, the local castle built by old Danish kings. Our tour director there was so funny because he was 80-years old and basically hitting on the girls in our group (I wish he could just follow me around and give me tours of everything). Then, we went off on our own, and we saw sites from the top of the castle to the bottom dungeon (It was kinda sketchy, but disappointing because it had no torture devices and was situated right next to a children’s playroom, which I find odd). After that, we went bowling near where are second hostel was, but it was lame cause we only paid for an hour and got timed out during the second game. We left and headed to our hostel, which ended up being a lot nicer than the first one. We met some other study tour groups who were out at their own study tours. The common theme? The other business groups was way better because they got more food comped, they would get to wake up later, they were going to a handball match as part of their cultural experience, and the kicker, they got to go to Lego, where they received packages of Legos to play with during their meeting. We were so jealous since, in almost every way, theirs was better. The hostel, with all its positives, was out in the middle of nowhere, so after dinner and another ludicrous presentation from the guy who heads the tourist department of the region we were in, Velje, we were given booze to compensate for the lack of nightlife. (I found out later that some of our people did catch a bus to civilization and went to a bar where a kind Danish bartender gave them 2 bottles of alcohol on the house because he took pity on them for being poor exchange students. That shit never happens to me).

We woke up Saturday to a hostel breakfast and a useless day of touring since our main purpose for being on the study tour was to gather business knowledge from two companies, count em two, and we did that in the first two days. The third day was just extra to see some more of Denmark we would not typically get to explore, so we graciously went to Odense, the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen, to go on a walking tour of the town and visit museums (As a side benefit, we saw one duck rape another one, but it was kind of early in the day to fully appreciate). As part of the walking tour, we saw the sites, we saw HC Andersen park and the church he used to frequent (there were bones in the basement, which was awesome). After the tour, we had the option to go into the HC Andersen museum, go off on our own, or go ice-skating. Four/fifths of us decided on the museum, which was nice and quaint, and full of interesting things, like HC's hat, his ink pot and pen, and even a lock of his hair (I think we should clone him and Kierkegaard and make a buddy comedy fit for the 21st century, but that’s just me spinning my wheels). We eventually found our way over to lunch, which was quaint, but I was stuck across from one of the most annoying girls I have ever met. She was really talkative, and she used like a lot (I don't like to badmouth my generation, but the inability to express ideas verbally without inserting at least 7 likes into a sentence pisses me off). There was a moment where we were talking about the last museum we were going to, and she said the guys from the other business group didn't like it, but they were frat guys from Gettysburg (reference!), and I said of course, they have no culture. She responded by saying they do have culture, not knowing I was joking, so I decided to continue and say they were uncultured. Then, she very snidely replies that she knows them better than I do, she went to high school with them, and she knows they have culture. I swear it took almost every ounce of me to keep from smacking the girl or retorting back, but I'm a gentleman. We went to the last modern art museum, full of exhibits like lamp-making rooms and completely dark rooms with nothing in them (I know, really boring). We went back to the bus after being subjected to that, and headed back to Copenhagen, where, like every travelling day we had over the previous 4, was riffed with in climate weather.

Thus ends the fantastic journey of the Short Study Tour. I gave it a 6.5 out of 10 on the funness scale, but I learned that some of the people in my class are not bad people, and that a trip like that can restore some faith in people (although not a lot). The excitement of that trip will have to last a while, because nothing is really going to go on until the Spring Break, besides maybe lacrosse and various nights out and what not. I plan on keeping my loyal readers posted however. Time for the quote: This comes from an American novelist Alexander Jablokov (I know, doesn't sound very American). He once said, "The road to truth is long, and lined the entire way with annoying bastards." That really takes form with me everyday, seeing as how everyone is annoying to me at some point in time.

Anyway, I look forward to the next three months, and I look forward to coming back wiser (sorta) and happier (to an extent). I miss everyone a lot, and by the way, 6 Super Bowls for the Pittsburgh Steelers!!!!!!!! Best team in the land!