As I mentioned, I worked on project work and on Wednesday afternoon, I officially hit what I thought was the end of my project! I had all of the parts typed up and ready for my supervisor to go over again before submission on the 31st! So until the meeting, I am still 'working' on my project! haha!
On Thursday, to prepare for Aalborg Karneval, Tiff, Ali, Tara, and I headed into the city center to buy all we needed for our costumes. Did I mention that the Karneval is a dress-up costume event? Well, now I did! We made our way, in the rain, to the costume shop to get some ideas. As we looked around we realized that A) the costumes in Denmark are ridiculously expensive and B) not worth it. So we re-grouped and headed to our favorite store, H&M to get out costumes ready! Tara was able to find the XXXL mens shirt she needed, Ali found the dress that would eventually be cut, and I found the shoes that would no longer be white after Saturday. Tiff found the inspiration for her costume! We stopped at a store called Tiger (Denmark's versions of a dollar store, only everything is 10KK). I found a hat and fanny pack (cue Ali and Tiff's laughter). It was a successful day of shopping despite the rain!
On Friday, a rather large group: Ali, Tiff, Tara, Lennie, Anders (both from Denmark), Daniela, Letti, Elia (both Italy), and I headed to Føtex to get supplies for our awesome breakfast before Karneval. We made our way through Føtex and were able to find all of the ingredients, you never know with Denmark!
This past week I was able to skype with some awesome people. The first was my Mom, I skype her frequently, but this week she got the chance to see the common area and meet my friends. After that skype session, my 'northern accent' appeared and Ali, Tara, Erica, and Tiff had some fun making fun of me. The second person I was able to skype with was my Aunt Mary in Minnesota! It was fun to talk to her as the last time I talked to her was at my 'going away party' before I left for Aalborg! Next I was able to skype Shelby! It was good to finally catch up with her! The past few weeks were stressful with school, finals, and graduation for Shelbs so it was nice that none of those could get in the way of our skype session! I was also able to wish Shelbs an early 'happy birthday'! Sunday I called my Grandpa via skype to wish him a Happy Birthday! I think Grandpa was excited to hear from me, even if he passed the phone off to Grandma quickly! Oh well, it was fun to talk to him! The last awesome people I was able to skype with were my goobers and Katie! Goobers equal nephews! Lars and Joren were full of energy, which was fun to see! They told me all about their favorite superheroes, Green Lantern and Superman. Needless to say, Aunt Suzi will finally have a reason to bust out her superhero coloring books with the nephews when she returns to America! Oh skype, what a wonderful invention!
So, I suppose you are all wondering about Aalborg Karneval and now the time has come! Allborg Karneval is a several day event in which there are many different events. Like a parade with real karneval people, a childrens parade, a music festival and a giant parade. For us, Aalborg Karneneval meant a giant costume/dress-up parade that occurs on one of the main streets of Aalborg. About 20,000 people in attendence all dressed-up! This years theme was "Engel & Dæmoner" which asked people to choose good or evil! However, most people just choose to dress-up as they want. I think everyone in the AIK choose the second option! This parade starts at 11:00am and goes until everyone has passed through the street! Crazy! A once-in-a-lifetime-event, for me anyways!
So the morning started off bright and early at 7:20 with me not liking my costume, but after a few texts from my friend Courtney I found my confidence and got ready to be an awesome lifeguard! At 8:00am Ali and I started to get breakfast ready! We made punch (rum soaked mixed fruit, orange juice, tropical juice, 7up, and white wine), french toast, bacon, and breakfast potatoes! It was a delicious breakfast!
Photo courtsey of Daniela.
So I may have neglected to mention that Karneval is also a bit of a drunk-fest. Sorry Mom, George, Grandma, and Grandpa, but it's the truth! So we may or may not have also taken a few vodka shots to help us really prepare for Karneval! Around 10:00, everyone from the AIK that was going to Karneval headed out to the bus stop. Where we waited forever for a crowded bus to realized that we could walk instead! The 3.6km walk was not bad! We had some really nice weather so that helped a lot!
We had some fun walking to Karneval
We were ready to go!
The parade was a lot of fun! We saw a lot of people and a lot of costumes. Some good, some bad, some that should probably not be public, and some really creative costumes!
A small glimsp of all the people!
A random Mars Bar and I!
Like I said, 20,000 people all dressed-up and intoxicated, it was a crazy sight to see! And even craizer to be a part of!
Tinkerbell and I
A random Mars Bar and I!And looky here, I found Peter Pan!
I think you get the point of Karneval! And it's all fun and games until someone gets separated from the group! Or in this case, me! Don't worry, I found Ali and Tiff about 10 minutes later! We attempted to find the rest of the group but realized it was a lost cause and headed back to the AIK to sleep! The rest of the evening was very chill for me. I spent a lot of time sleeping.
Sunday was a nice and relaxing day for everyone. We mostly laid out in the sun all afternoon! I got my first sunburn of the season! Which means summer is here, right? Oh wait, I still have a project and oral defense.. soon summer, soon! That evening we had a barbecue and another chill evening!
On Monday, I learned that not everything you need will be at the grocery store! A few weeks back I finally received the letter containing recipes from my Mom! Originally sent in Feburary, it was lost, sent back home, and eventually re-sent to me! Well, I decided to finally brave the recipes and the Danish grocery stores. I prepared by translating certain ingredients, so I would ensure that I could find them. After about 20 minutes of walking back and forth in Føtex, I realized that Denmark does not carry 'cream of _______." Not a big deal, I thought I could figure out how to make it. I've seen in on Pinterest, can't be that bad! Haha! Luckily, after some research I realized I could make my own, and Ali, Erica, and Tara were heading to the grocery store so I had them pick me up the ingredients. That night I started to make Alpine Chicken. It was an experience and a half! I think it took me 2 hours to make. I wish I was joking. It should have taken maybe 20 minutes to make and an hour to bake. So I made the 'cream of chicken' soup from scratch, and was about ready to call it donezo when I realized that I needed 'stove top dressing'. So Suz, has no idea what 'stove top dressing' is. Unsure what to do, I attempted to Skype Mom, call home, call Mom's cell phone, and then George's cell phone. George calmly explained that 'stove top dressing' is breadcrumbs. I felt stupid for about 3 minutes, then realized that I had then undercontrol! Like I said, it only took two hours but it was worth it! Needless to say, I'm a little proud of that small accomplishment!
Okay, well I should probably go work on the suggestions my supervisor gave me for my project! Cross your fingers that my project gets done! I have to submit it on the 31st! Until next week!
{ no one is too old for fairytales }
-Suz
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