Sunday, September 29, 2013

Should I Be Worried?


Friday night was the first time since I moved to Copenhagen that I got a full nights sleep.
Saturday was the first day I had time I had free time and a chance to spruce up my humble abode. And last night was the first time I actually slept in my bed(now that I finally acquired sheets and real pillows) !

As I have had a warm coffee and some time to think, I realize that my life has been one nonstop chaotic rush forward. I haven't had any personal time, no time to work out, no time to unpack and definitely no social life-(other than school events**at least I love my classmates!)


Should I be worried? Will things get less hectic? ha! I somehow doubt it....

Hey! But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, right?! If I don't work hard and put in the time, how will I ever succeed in this new land, this new field and start my own business? In the words of one of our guest lecturers, I want to "do good while doing well!" Its no secret that I want to create something extraordinary and change the world. However it seems the tradeoff for my ambition is a nonexistent dating life, which unbelievably is even worse than it was in Stockholm- where can girl get a "fika" around here? I can admit that this situation is mostly partially my fault as I've had negative free time lately, but still, if Denmark is the land of the *true* Vikings, then where art thou?! :p

Sighs...well I guess worse case scenario, I can always join a Danish version of HappyPancake.com (See my foray into online Swedish dating here)...  >.<

Or maybe I am just approaching this all wrong: "Dating in Denmark get drunk and find your true love"! << ??!!


A well-spent Saturday at IKEA= Apartment now at maximum "Hyggeligt" level !


-Ran-A Chinese-American Girl Lost in Scandinavia


I am listening to:
The Submarines- You, Me and the Bourgeoisie (Tonetiger Remix)

Saturday, September 28, 2013

An Overdue Update


I am officially nearing the one month mark for my stay in beautiful Copenhagen, Denmark and I know I have been getting slower and slower with my posts. However, this is not because I have nothing to write about but rather I have been doing too many things and not sleeping enough to put finger to keyboard! But now after much needed peaceful Friday night's rest, I think I have finally recuperated my strength...

Soooo what have I been doing?

I had a friend visiting from Chicago last week and we enjoyed a wonderful Autumn Moon Festival dinner with some new Chinese friends. We went on a crazy pub-crawl with my classmates(Danes sure know how to party!) and then had a very cozy(maximum hyggliet) International Potluck Dinner with my program.

And on top of that, I along with two fantastic co-hosts organized a "Networking and Pitching Workshop" for our program with guest speakers Michael Bak, Troels Kranker and Aleksander Borkvik! A really interactive and informative event and I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone involved ! Greeeeeeat Success! :D

So I guess in short, this month has been a whirlwind! I have so many projects/readings/papers due for school, my little asian brain just can't seem keep them straight. Additionally I will be attending the Biopeople Nordic Science Days Conference in Stockholm(yay back to Sweden!) in three weeks and I am a bit intimadated as I will be the only student(non-company) person there. But....everyone has to start somewhere right? I am very grateful for this opportunity, and I will try my best! I am sure I will gain some valuable insight and feedback on my entrepreneurship idea.

Now my clock is flashing 10:00am, I think its high time for a quick coffee run(I seriously need to buy an Nespresso machin..) with my favorite little papillon sidekick. The sun is out and the it is looking like a perfect Autumn day in Copenhagen.....I have a million and one things to do so it's time to get started! <3

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! - Ran


Renior being extra stinky

After the rainstorm: View from my balcony

To Matt: This is not "Goodbye", but rather "See you next time..."



Monday, September 9, 2013

Do you ever have those days?


Do you ever have those days where you don't feel like yourself? When you are left feeling slightly downtrodden and very confused.

Welp, I am pretty sure I just had one of those days. Today, I am small and without my usual confidence(#swag). Words get caught in my throat and end up coming out in a jumbled mess, and I am awkward and self-conscious. I would say a babbling idiot is a pretty accurate description. :(

This is funny, right? Does a switch just go off somewhere in one's head? How does one just suddenly have one of these "not-quite-myself-days?"

Sighs.

Maybe this sh*t-astic cold(is it possible to cough up a lung?) currently wrecking havoc on my system is to blame, or maybe...I am just overthinking it all...




--Blahhhh-Hate being sick -Ran



Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Guided by Danes: A walking tour of Copenhagen



--coming --soon





To do list for an Expat in Denmark



---under construction---

If you are one of the lucky ones who has a bike and knows how to ride it, then read this bike riding rule guide. But if you are like me, and cycling-challenged then to get the most bang for you buck for transportation in Copenhagen, you will need to purchase a train/metro/bus month pass:
Month pass for 2 zones-350DKK
Picture ID - 100DKK


Registering for CPR-coming soon


Opening a Danish bank account-coming soon-

Signing up for Danish language classes-coming soon

Monday, September 2, 2013

Finally, a fitting end to my Danish housing saga!


Finding housing in Copenhagen, where do I begin?

Yes, it is competitive!
Yes, it is time consuming!
Yes, there are a lot of rules!
Yes, it is much harder for expats!
And of course it is expensive!!!

But if you don't give up, think outside the box and with a bit of luck, I believe everyone can eventually find a place in this city!

So, how exactly did I find my place? Well, if you read my previous blog posts, you know I tried everything I could think of- even paying a hefty subscription to several Danish apartment hunting sites and staying up all hours of the night prowling online listings. However in the end, my Danish apartment lead actually came from the most unlikely of sources...

Back during my final month in Stockholm this winter, I was getting a bit restless so I embarked on an excursion to Lund and Copenhagen via Couchsurfing. I had such a fantastic time with my amazing and musically gifted CS hosts in Copenhagen that I decided I had to repay the CS community in kind. So upon my return to Stockholm, I hosted two sets of CSers during my final week in the city. The schedule was tight, and my apartment was cramped but we made memories and friendships for a lifetime! However, little did I realize, just how pivotal this experience was going to be...

As it turned out one my Couchsurfers actually lived in CPH and when he heard I was moving to town and was struggling to find a place, he generously connected me with one of his friends who just happened to have a fully furnished apartment available. So, long story short, I am now the happy tenant of a comfortable, dog-friendly, and affordable apartment in Østerbro! Not bad, eh?



The takeaway message for the day? The Couchsurfing community is truly amazing and...all hail KARMA!


"Hygge"-licious! A place to call my own in Copenhagen :)


--Ran--

I am listening to:
Cloud-Shake the Ground(Nordic Lounge)


Sunday, September 1, 2013

"Hej!" from København!


Im here! Im here! I, along with my luggage and my dog are all safely in beautiful Copenhagen, Denmark! My friends have been anxiously asking, "Well Ran, what is life in Copenhagen like?" Sadly, I am afraid I cannot yet accurately answer this question because my life has pretty much been a nonstop whirlwind since I arrived. After two full days of orientation at Copenhagen Business School, crippling jet lag and going the wrong direction on the train ..(or is it called a metro here?), I have barely had time to sleep, not to mention think. I also need to figure out where to get my CPR(personal identification number), because without it, I pretty much don't exist in Denmark. So after I get a bit more settled in, I will post more in depth about this wonderful city, but in the meantime I will offer some of my first impressions:

Bicycles are everywhere! - Even though I most nearly got run over a couple times by fast-pedaling yet deadly silent cyclists, I must admit it is very refreshing and frankly damn cool that this city is so green! Back home in Chicago, publicly available rental bikes were only just recently added to the city over the summer, and while this is a step in the right direction, there are not enough bike lanes and safety is a very real concern(cyclists are required by law to wear helments). Apparently Chicago is making an effort to learn from the bike culture of Copenhagen:
I wonder if there are bike riding schools in Copenhagen because even though I am Chinese, I am ashamed to admit that I cannot ride a bike... :(

Everything is expensive! - Well I think this title pretty much says it all. I mean I just bought a THREE DOLLAR coke the other day! Yikes! And all the electronics, i.e. iphones, macbooks are 1/3 more in price and I have been told that cars are 150% the price of cars in USA. Wow, no wonder there are so many bikes in Copenhagen!

More international than Stockholm! - Even though I have been in Copenhagen for less than a week, just in these short couple of days I can already sense a very international vibe. My class is only 50% Danish, with the rest hailing from all over the world. In the bars, on the train and on the streets- I have definitely encountered my far share of foreigners in Copenhagen, much more than I ever did in Stockholm. I was pretty much the only asian person (other than a few adopted Koreans who were completely Swedified) that I saw out in Stockholm. This international feel in Copenhagen is amazing and I know there will be much for me to learn from this very diverse point of view!


BioBusiness and Innovation Platform
2nd Year Full Degree Students


-A Cycling Challenged Nomad -Ran


I am listening to:


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