The sun is shining today. Actually shining. It’s blinding.

For most of the DIS buildings, you have to press buttons to open doors. To the left of most door knobs, or just above, there is a little square button with a key image printed on it. Sometimes they are easy to miss and people stand in front of the door, confused as to why it is locked. The second struggle with doors is determining which way they swing open. It is incredibly entertaining to watch people struggle with the push/pull. Especially when they haven’t pressed the unlock button. I’ve come to realize that it’s usually push.

Monday marks the start of Core Course Week. These are designed for academic enrichment in our core courses (mine is The European Game of Politics: Crisis and Survival) as well as social integration and experience. We begin the week with short study tours. I’m going to Western Denmark (Sønderborg) and Northern Germany (Lübeck). We will stay in hostels, visit battle fields, meet with military officers and tour guides, learn about the Danish-German border region, and drink beer with our classmates and professors. We were told to dress appropriately, or according to my professor, to “Please do not look as though you slept in the park. That’s for the boys. The girls, well, you just look pretty.” Sexism? Danish blunt humor? Either way, I’ll be wearing black jeans, black sweaters, and converse.

Then, because of the social aspect, we’ve been told that the adult chaperones will keep an eye out for those they need to keep an eye out for. “It’s not a requirement to get drunk.” This comment got laughs from the class, especially in light of our academic discussion on the European Union’s enlargement plans. We’ve been talking about absorption capacity, when an institution such as the EU has reached a point where it can no longer accept more members and sustain decision-making efficiency. Or, when an individual has swallowed too much beer and can no longer intake anymore. One possible result of reaching absorption capacity is the disintegration of a network, or throwing up. Danes like to drink.

We will be back in Copenhagen on Wednesday night. Thursday and Friday’s schedules are filled with guest speakers and long classes about the future of the EU.

I get my lunch every day from Sandwich Pigen. Its a tiny place, best described as an upscale Subway. They are pretty good sandwiches, and the menu offers many options. But don’t go in at 12pm.

It’s been almost three weeks and I have yet to do laundry. The machines are on the ground floor of Bispebjerg, and the instructions are in Danish. I do know that you cannot use your own detergent because the machines are already filled. One day soon I’ll venture downstairs and wash my clothes.

Yesterday, I had my first field study for my class on Equality in Scandinavia. We spent the morning at Folketinget, also known as Danish Parliament in Christiansborg. We met with an advisor to the Social Democrats as well as three members of Parliament: one from The Red-Green Alliance (furthest left-wing),one from the Liberal Alliance (self-described as the American concept of libertarians) and one representing the Social Democrats (headed by Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt).

They all talked about the Danish welfare state. And of course they all had different ideas for the future of the welfare state. Biggest take-away: as global inequality shrinks, inequality within countries is growing. The question then, and I will leave you to think about this on your own, is so what? What is or will be the future of welfare in Denmark?

Lastly, for now at least, my European Politics professor announced that it is ok with him if we use “vicky-pedia” for our impending research paper as long as we list it in our references. Meanwhile, my Equality professor cautioned us to take what he was about to say with a grain of salt as he could only find a particular statistic on “vicky-pedia.” I tell you this to point out the contrast in standards, among professors here as well as to those at Bowdoin. Second, I don’t mean to make fun exactly, but it makes me smile to hear w as v in Danish English.

It got dark at 16:30 (4:30). Even while the sun was out today, it was still cold.