Technical Difficulty, but havin a GREAT time!

Hey Everybody,

So, the past week has been awesome! Carnival, big dinner, 2 concerts, and now in Iceland. Unfortunately I can´t figure out the password for the wireless connection at the place i´m staying in Iceland, so I can´t post all my most recent blogs and pictures since the pictures are on my computer. I´ll figure it out. Just know that the adventure is amazing and there is much to come.

Begga and I take off in an ugly white 2-seater VW handyvan named Bertha this morning for our 3-4 day road trip around the island. I´m very excited. Our final destination is her grandparents Summer house in the country. Yay! I have prepared us with mix CD´s for the journey. :)

Anywho, much love to all and when I can figure out the wireless password from my computer there are many more photos and posts to come.

Love, Sophie

The Copenhagen Sea

The sea in Copenhagen is beautiful and gray. It's sad, but also very happy. I guess melancholy is the word (melancholy: a gentle sadness).

Pictures From Last Few Days

Begga On Train 1

Begga On Train 2

Begga On Train 3

Begga Going Down Giant Slide At Art Gallery Gardens

Louisiana Art Gallery Gardens

Ingunn and Omar Walking Into City

Nyhavn

Park Day and Museum Day

Yesterday Begga and I went to Rosenborg Park in the city with a six-pack of beer and some absolutely rockin' tomato, asparagus, pesto, and mushroom pizza. When we were in the pizza place the Italian pizza guy said, "Now you have 2 roses." I said, "What?" He replied, "The rose on your back and you." In fact, he was referring to the peony flower tattoo on my back, but he thought it was a rose. His line was cheesier than the pizza he made for us! It was sweet though. After grabbing pizza we headed to the park where Begga and I had a lovely time tanning in our bikinis. The park was positively full of young scantily-clad people drinking alcohol in the sun. Begga says that because Copenhagen has such nice parks when it's nice weather it's normal for everyone to go to a park to hang out. Around 6PM we started heading back to the apartment. We stopped in a really nifty basement vintage record shop where I decided that I REALLY REALLY want a record player. There were so many unbelievable jazz and blues albums in the shop and they made me so happy! They shop owner was playing a jazz album that Begga and I have been humming since yesterday. Once we got home we gorged ourselves on Haribo candy, pretzels and sour cream dip while watching hours upon hours of the show Scrubs. We were supposed to go out on the town with her friend, but we ended up staying home instead. It was delightful. :)

Today her Dad came over and made us breakfast. In the afternoon we took a train to the Louisiana Museum. We drank beer and listened to my iPod on the train. It was really funny because the featured exhibit from the museum was Art of Asia - most of the art we saw was contemporary Chinese art that we had already seen in Dasahanzi art district in Beijing. So, basically we flew from China to Copenhagen to see the same Chinese art. Kind of funny. There was some other stuff that wasn't Chinese art that I was thrilled to see. I saw my first Francis Bacon piece in real life. It was his 'Self-portrait With Child.' Also, there was some Picasso, Giacometti, Phillip Guston, and others. In addition, there was a lot of sculptures incorporated into the outside garden like Moore and Caldera pieces. Caldera looked beautiful with the ocean in the background. Then, we took the train home. Begga's little 6 year-old sister Nita came over and we took care of her before going to have Indian food with the family. I let her wear my earrings and she took a liking to me. Now we are buddies. :-)

Welcome to Copenhagen!

Begga and I arrived in Copenhagen the night before last. It was a long journey. We flew from Beijing to France for about 10 hours. Sadly, my TV on the airplane was broken, but Begga shared her TV and headset with me and since we had each other's company the time passed quicker than usual. We waited at the Charles de Gaule airport for about an hour before boarding another flight to take us the additional 2 hour journey to Copenhagen. I saw the tip-top of the Eiffel Tower from the airport - score! Flying above Paris was the first time I ever saw Paris. I wrote in my journal: "Flying above Paris en route to Copenhagen right now. Paris is so beautiful from above. It looks like a patchwork quilt - patches of forest and houses sparsely dispersed among solid yellow, orange, greenish, and brownish patches held together by stitches of road and river. Lovely."

Begga's Dad's employee picked us up at 10PM Copenhagen time. We were hungry so we stopped to get burgers and it was a whopping $23.50 for 2! "Welcome to Europe," Begga said. The next morning Begga and I walked from her Dad's sweet seaside apartment into the city and cruised for a bit. We grabbed some beers and some hot dogs and sat on this pier thingy where I guess it's cool for young people to hang out. It was really nice and the weather was warm. Something else I noticed was that people here are frighteningly attractive - "Are they mutants?" Below are some photos I took on our walk to the city. Behold the gorgeous architecture!

Statue of the Queen and a Church Steeple.

This is a fountain and a cathedral next to the seaside. There are lots and lots of beautiful Cathedrals in Copenhagen.

Some of the buildings close to Begga's Dad's apartment. Down the road to the left is the Palace.

This is a sculpture of the Little Mermaid, which is actually a tribute to Hans Christian Anderson, who is an icon here since he is Danish. I guess that there are lots of problems with people vandalizing the poor gal. Begga told me people cut of her head and stuff often. :(

I can't see my blog, but I can post!

So, I can't open my blog to see what it looks like. I may be censored, I dunno! Anywho, someone told me my last post looked like crap. Sorry! It's my last weekend in China before going to Europe with my dear buddy Begga. I can't believe i'll be in sunny Copenhagen in a mere few days and i'll be seeing Damien Rice live in about a week! Still have to pack and all that jazz, which makes me crazy. I guess my blog hasn't been very culturally relevant since i've been in China mainly because this is home to me and I don't really see it as a cultural experience anymore so much as downtime with friends and family, so my eyes aren't new. But, Europe will be new, so hopefully you'll have more interesting reading.

Steph's Visit

Hey Guys! I'm so sorry that I have been lagging on the writing. Blog has been down, plus i've been enjoying my nothing-ness. This past week my best friend Steph from high school visited. I haven't seen her since we hugged goodbye in the Sweden airport in 2004 after we traveled together post-graduation. Our reunited-ness was really good. We partied a lot - it was tiring! Above is a picture of her first night in Beijing. We went to a bar called Rickshaw and hung out and played pool, well I played pool. Won 2 games and almost won 1 except I called the eight ball in a different pocket than I hit it in.
Also, as you can see above, Anna had a lengthy conversation with my breasts. They really seem to like talking to her for some reason! They respond to her and no one else. Very odd...
Above and Below: On Wednesday Steph and I had our wildest night out. We went to numerous bars, but the craziest was ending up at this place called China Doll where we discovered that ALL DRINKS WERE FREE for ladies. We were elated, then we were VERY drunk. We ended up eating breakfast at The Great Wall Sheraton with these guys that worked there who we met in the bar and drank whiskey with. It was crazy, but I won't go into detail! It's between Steph and I. :) Thursday was lost to our hangovers. These incredibly potent drinks called Mamasitas and a lot of tequila really did us in!
Below: On Friday we went to this rockin' Japanese restaurant called Hatsune for lunch, then decided that we had better DO SOMETHING other than go to bars while she was here and went to Houhi Park and rented these nifty little boats that you operate by paddling with your feet. It was really a good time despite the sweat and our achy thighs and asses.
Below: However, we thought the lake went in a circle and we could just keep going and end up back where we started, which much to our dismay was not true. So, we started at the furthest point of the lake and paddles as far as we could go then, we had to turn back and do it all over again! At this point, we were really tired and Steph wanted to give our boat to anyone that would take it, but it wasn't an option. So, we paddled our achy little asses to the other side of the lake. Notice that these pictures were taken in the first hour before we figured out what dummies we both were. It was still fun and we were really proud for doing something interesting and culturally relevant with ourselves!
Below: That night was Friday, so we went out on the town yet again! We went to a place called Kai where lots of strange men touched my tattoo and a big scary fight broke out between a group of Korean young men. At one point a guy was on the ground in the fetal position and people were kicking him. When they kicked him in the head I freaked out and tried to step in, but my friends held me back, which was wise because I woulda gotten killed for sure! It was a good night, but we were already tired from a long week of partying!
Below: On Saturday was Josh, Andy, and Kate's BBQ. It was really fun. We started drinking super early though! On the right you can see Steph and I on this awesome swing chair that we tried to keep dibs on for most of the night. I am making a funny face and Stephanie's breasts are showing!

Below and Above: The BBQ was on the roof of their building and it was really cool because there was a ladder that led to a higher up roof, and then another ladder to an ever higher up roof. So, we could see the whole city despite the gray haze that seems always to hang. We spoke to all sorts of people and ate lots of food. Good times all around. Steph was a trooper even though she wasn't feeling so awesome that day. Later that night the party moved out to a bar called Nanjie, then to Rickshaw. Unfortunately for me, my fever hit at Nanjie and I ended up being very ill for the following days. :(

Luckily I got sick on Steph's last day, so I didn't ruin her trip. I think it was my body's charming way of telling me to slow down. I had a bad fever and slept and sweated for a few days. I'm better now, thank God! Anyways, I leave for Europe on Monday. Very exciting. I'll keep you posted. Love, Soph

Bars and Buddies

A Kiss and a Shot to Celebrate Our Reunited-ness!

"Come here you SEXY Icelandic!"

Ben, Josh, and George Discussing the Politics of Getting Ass

Gordon Eats a Chicken Foot

"Hi, I am from Iceland and very shy!"

"My name is Anna from Russia and I always have something to say - spermatazoid!"

Isn't she CUTE?!

Tota Scarfs Pizza

"Come to our pre-party party!"

People in Bar

Sexy Anna and Ugly Me

Possibly the MOST UNFLATTERING Picture EVER