Adventures in Copenhagen

Hello! Although this blog originally began as a travel journal of sorts for my semester abroad in Japan, I thought I'd expand it to include my month-long research trip to Copenhagen. Here's a bit of background!

The Centre for Geogenetics is a world-renowned ancient DNA facility, and a ton of high-profile research papers dealing with ancient samples have come out of the lab. Here's an example, with a quote from the head of CGG, Eske Willerslev. CGG is home to multiple "research groups", each with a different focus. Thanks to my advisor's collaborations with Eske, I've gotten the opportunity to work with some ancient Siberian dogs, as well as learn some new techniques and get to see another ancient lab. I arrived on July 12th (ie yesterday), and will be living here until August 12th. In that time, I have a lot of research to do, but I hope to balance it with plenty of sightseeing. :)

My arrival was pretty uneventful - I flew to Copenhagen via Chicago and London. The total trip took about 17 hours, including a few long layovers. I did see something neat at the Chicago airport, though - pictures from IGB! The Institute for Genomic Biology is where the ancient lab is at the University of Illinois. There are a lot of really powerful microscopes at IGB, and so they made a gallery of some of the cool images that come out of the microscopy labs.

Saturday I mostly spent settling in - after finding my hotel, it was already 4 pm. It's an extended stay hotel, and they serve breakfast 7 days a week and dinner on weeknights. As much as I'd like to cook, it's so expensive to live in Copenhagen I figured that letting someone else handle my meals wouldn't be a bad idea. It's a little older, but really not bad. I have wi-fi, a hot shower and big windows, so I can't complain! My window overlooks a large courtyard with a lot of other apartments and hotel rooms - it feels like I'm an observer of a lot of other peoples' lives, which is an interesting feeling. There's no air conditioning, but that's really common in Denmark. So far, the temperature hasn't been above the mid-seventies, and it's supposed to stay that way through August! I never thought I'd say this, but I'm almost missing the Texas heat. Almost.

On Sunday I jump-started my trip by being trained in the ancient lab! I met Nathan, a post-doc in the lab group I'm working with, at 9:30, and we spent the rest of the day training. It's not quite as bad as it sounds - he took a very leisurely approach, so we spent probably less than half the time in lab. He and Randi, a graduate student at CGG, took me to lunch at a really cool foodie market at Norreport Station, which is one of the larger stations in Copenhagen. There, we had some amazing pizza (see above!). So far the food has been pretty good here, though I'm not sure I've had any authentic Danish meals yet.

Today, I'm meeting with Tom Gilbert, the head of the lab group and the owner of the Siberian dog samples, to figure out the plan for my stay. I think a lot of different people are involved, since the summer is a popular time to go on vacation! I've heard that when it's sunny, everyone just takes time off from work and goes on vacation because the sun comes out so rarely.

Hopefully I'll have some more sightseeing photos for you in the next few days. This last picture is of the park I cut through on my way to the lab - the Danish really believe in green spaces everywhere! :) Take care!
-Kelsey

Adventures in Singapore, part I

Hello from Singapore! It never ceases to amaze me just how different Singapore is from Japan – for one thing, the weather! Singapore is just south of the equator, so it’s hot all year long. Imagine leaving a country with highs in the low 50s and arriving at a country where the temperature is never much lower than 75. That’s one huge difference. Also, dealing with constant 94% humidity and a lack of air-conditioning almost everywhere (including my friend Katie’s dorm room) takes a bit of getting used to! There are distinct advantages to being in Singapore, though. My current favorite is the fruit juice! Fresh fruit can be had year-round here, so all of the juices are made fresh (ie, to-order). I had pineapple juice for breakfast yesterday morning and it was fantastic. It tastes so much better when it’s fresh. And fruit juice can be gotten everywhere! It’s awesome.

My flight to Singapore was pretty nice – I had an entire row to myself! I even got a bit of sleep, which was good because I landed around midnight Singapore time (1 AM Japan time!). So I did some catching up and went to bed as soon as we got to Katie’s dorm.

Speaking of which, it’s huge! It’s a 30-building complex, and there are other dorms, too! Somehow they still have trouble housing everyone that wants to go to the National University of Singapore (NUS). O.o

Where all have I been so far? A lot of places! We started yesterday morning with 3 of Katie’s friends and headed to Little India. Mainly, there were a lot of shopping spots and a lot of little restaurants. We started at Mustafa, an enormous shopping mall that has pretty much everything, from Western goods to Japanese snacks to gorgeous sari fabrics and Bollywood movies. Our next stop was lunch at an Indian chain fast food place. I ordered some sort of onion crepe thing called a dosai with naan, which was a little spicy but pretty good!

After a bit more shopping (and a stop for fruit juice!), Katie and I split off and headed for Chinatown (yep, we got the international experience yesterday!). Chinatown and Little India are similar in that they are both full of shops and places to eat. Chinatown is probably my favorite of the two, though, because it’s so pretty!

I also had ice kachang there, a common Singaporean treat! It’s very strange. Take jello, then add lychees, a weird Asian fruit, and red beans (ie the Japanese treat). Then top it with shaved ice, add 3 flavors of syrup and condensed milk, and then top it with canned corn. O.0 It’s really odd. XD I kinda liked it though!

Plus, there’s a temple there! We went inside – it’s a temple that houses one of Buddha’s teeth, as well as his sacred relics. The story goes that when Buddha’s body was cremated, instead of forming ashes crystals formed, signifying his purity. They have a lot of different relics (brain, heart, etc.) housed in one area and his tooth in another. The temple was so opulent and gorgeous! Really a cool place.

After the temple tour, we had dinner at one of the many little restaurant stalls. I had chicken and rice, a common dish and one of Singapore’s famous! It was delicious.

Afterwards, Katie took me to one of her favorite places in Singapore – Marina Bay. And after dark, I could see why! As you can see, it’s all lit up and gorgeous. The area is named after the Marina Bay Sands, the resort with what looks like a cruise ship on top. It also has a mall and a casino. XD Have some more pictures of the skyline!

My other favorite part of the area was the DNA bridge – it looks just like a double helix! And on the ground are little light-up letters that are (mostly) paired correctly! The DNA geek in me was a very happy camper. :3 The lookout points were hairpin loops, too! So very cool.

Today was no less busy! Our first stop was Clarke Quay, a festive area close to Marina Bay that’s full of bars and swanky restaurants. We started by taking a Hippo boat tour of the bay area. More pretty buildings. :)

Our next stop was the statue of Sir Raffles, founder of Singapore. Singapore is one of the few places that actually embraced the introduction of a foreign power. As an example, here’s the inscription on the statue. “On this historic site, Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles…first landed in Singapore, and with genius and perception changed the destiny of Singapore from an obscure fishing village to a great seaport and modern metropolis.” XD

Next stop, the Asian Civilizations Museum. They just opened an African exhibit, and this weekend they were having an open house so we got in for free! They had a lot of cool stuff there; I love Asian sculptures from all of those cultures because they’re so beautiful and intricate.

For lunch, we ate at a hawker center. They’re really common in Singapore! They are basically a bunch of little food stalls all under one roof, surrounding tons of tables. You can go and pick out whatever you want and then eat it there. It’s like an enormous food court. I ended up cheating a bit and getting Italian food (instead of Singaporean), but I did get dragonfruit juice! Both were tasty.

After lunch, we went over to the Chinese gardens. They're huge, and really pretty. I liked getting to see the pagodas and such, and there was even a Zodiac statue garden.

The garden was cool, but Katie's favorite part was the turtle museum. Basically, a guy made a turtle rescue that is record-setting and has thousands of turtles! And you can feed them and touch them and all sorts of things. It's sort of silly, but that's okay.

Tonight for dinner I went out with a bunch of Katie's friends, and we had seafood! It was really a family-style dinner, so we ordered a bunch of plates of food and had a bit of everything. I had chili crab (a Singapore special), barbecue pork, steamed buns, and even stingray! It just tastes like flaky white fish. :) It was all delicious!

And now it's bedtime...we've been rushing around all day for the past 2 days so I need a rest. I hope your weekend is going well!

Kyoto and Nara

Hi! It has been a very busy/tiring 2 days. Remember that whole "enjoying Japan to the fullest" thing? So, I've been traveling up and down the JR Biwako line (and by that I mean from here to Kyoto and back/beyond). Yesterday Brad and I went to Kyoto for part of the day, came back and checked in our luggage to be shipped, and then went with some friends to Omi-hachiman to hang out with our history professor at his house (and yes, he is that cool). And today we went to Nara! It was the biggest trip I've taken during this study abroad program - 6 of us went! I had a lot of fun. :)

The night before our huge traveling adventure began, we went out for yakiniku. It was still delicious! :) Some of the beef they serve there is melt-in-your-mouth.Onto the pictures, because I know that's what you're interested in. In Kyoto, we first went back to Fushimi Inari so I could get to the lookout at the top. It was an arduous climb, but totally worth it!After that, we went to a restaurant we learned about through a friend's recommendation: Falafel Garden! It's an Israeli restaurant. It was amazing how easy it was to find - we just went to the station we were told it was closest to, then asked the station attendants. One of the women knew where it was, and rattled off directions in really rapid Japanese. We just caught the main points like "exit 6" and "go right", and walked right to it. XD Kyoto was really a win day, as far as finding things and catching trains was concerned. And we got yummy kebab sandwiches out of the deal.
Our last stop in Kyoto was Nijo Castle, palace of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a family who ran Japan for 250 years. The outside is impressive enough - it's a huge compound with a garden and the castle is sprawling. But the inside was my favorite - I wish I could post pictures but we couldn't take pics of the inside. Each room is full of decorative carvings and gorgeous screens, but the best part was the floors. They're called "Nightingale Floors" because they are designed to creak with every step, to prevent burglars. The cool thing, though, is that their creaking sounds like birdsong! Beautiful. :)

Our Omihachiman trip was fun, too! We got McDonalds (which is way better in Japan than the US, by the way), then ate at our professor's house and watched a movie with him, Taken. It was fun! I just wish we would be able to do it again. :/ There were so many things he wanted to plan for us...we were going to go on a field trip to Osaka and have a huge barbecue at his house and all go out to karaoke as a school after our graduation ceremony (which we were also supposed to have...), but no such luck. :( I'm not really upset about everything that's happened any more, but I do keep getting reminded of things that I was going to do, and then I think "...Oh. Yeah, I don't have time for that now." Just means I have to do it when I come back, right?
Next stop was Nara, yesterday! We had a full group: Me, Brad, my roommate Amanda, Jade, her roommate Rebecca, and Addie. :) It was a pretty long train ride - over an hour and a half - and we had to change trains in Kyoto anyway so we decided to stop by Crepe Ojisan one last time! It was yummy.Once we got to Nara, we walked to Todaiji Temple (which literally translates to "East Big Temple") because it is the most famous in Nara. Nara is the old capital of Japan so it has tons of places to visit. But there are 2 things Nara is really known for:Daibutsu, the biggest Buddha in the country! It's 14 meters tall (46 feet!) and really quite awe-inspiring. You can't imagine the size of it until you're there, and it's astounding. Really really cool!Todaiji also has some other statues inside. They're all pretty neat!And the other thing Nara is known for? The deer.Have some cute deer pics! These deer are awesome! They cross streets en masse at crosswalks (but only when the walk sign is on), and they will bow to you! If you bow to them, some will bow back. It's like the hippogriffs in Harry Potter, and it's awesome. XDAfter oohing and ahhing over the big Buddha and all the deer, we headed back near the station for some okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki literally translates to "As you like it cooked", which is not descriptive at all. Basically, it's like a savory pancake, but the batter contains stuff like cabbage and green onions (and spices, of course). Beyond that, the possibilities are endless! Here are some of our orders: shrimp, pork, and pumpkin.I ordered "Modern Yaki"(Modanyaki), which is from Hiroshima. It has noodles and usually bacon cooked into one side. You can also get stuff cooked into the batter, like ground pork or beef. It was so good! Watching them cook it in front of us was the best part. I'm definitely making some when I go home!And, after a long train ride home, we made it back here. :) It was our last hoorah for some, as Jade is leaving tomorrow. :( Ah, well. It was fun! And I know I'll be up to Michigan to visit everyone.

Have a great day! Next time I'll be posting Osaka, part II.

Random!

Hello! I hope you all are doing well. :)

Not much to report here at JCMU, except that we have some Japanese students living here now! Students from Otemon University in Osaka are here for an intensive English course, so they're staying in the dorm for the next 10 days. One of the girls, Junko, is my conversation partner for the duration of her stay so we've been talking some. :) We had a welcome party yesterday for all of them, complete with Digiorno pizza and cookies from Costco! I had butterscotch for the first time since my arrival in Japan. Mmm!

Also, we had a really amusing Japanese lesson a few days ago. Aizawa Sensei was trying to explain to us the difference between 2 verbs, both of which mean "help". "Tetsudau" is used when you are helping someone continue what they are doing, like paint a house or do their homework. Tasukeru is used when you are helping someone out of a situation, like if they have a flat tire or if they are dying or something. To demonstrate, Aizawa Sensei had a student pretend he was drowning, and he acted as the lifeguard. When the swimmer said "Tasukete!", he "swam" over and rescued him. However, when the swimmer said "Tetsudatte!", he came over and "dunked" the person further down. XD I will never forget the difference now!Yesterday, I went with Brad to a type of restaurant I've never been before - a yakiniku place! Yakiniku literally means "cooked meat", and that's exactly what they serve you. The coolest part is probably your table - you have a little charcoal cooker nested right inside! They just turn on the gas to heat things up, and then the rest is up to you.You can order all sorts of different meats, but the easiest thing to do is to get a set so you get assortments of lots of different kinds of meat along with some vegetables. 2 of my favorites are here: Japanese pumpkin (kabocha) and Japanese sweet potato (satsuma).
Once everything is cooked, then you get to experiment with sauces. Instead of a plate, you get a compartmentalized tray, so you can have multiple sauces at once. I forgot my Japanese dictionary so we just sort of guessed at what everything was. They had sesame, teriyaki-ish, lemon, garlic, and even chili sauces. Plus, you can add other things like chili paste or sesame seeds to add texture and flavor. Mmmm.

Definitely a treat! :) If you ever go to Japan, I highly recommend going to a yakiniku place. They can be a bit pricy, but they're definitely worth it.

One more thing. :) I'm going to another concert! A band my friends have introduced me to, Abingdon Boys School, has a lead singer who also makes solo albums under the name TM Revolution. And he'll be playing in Otsu! That's between here and Kyoto, making it pretty close. It's going to be in a nice concert hall and everything. So, that's something to look forward to in a few weeks. Here's a sample of his music, as well as ABS's. :)

TM Revolution - Invoke
Abingdon Boys School - Howling

Have a great week! Sorry, I know this was kind of a random post. But this is what happens when I don't have many new pictures. XD

Om Nom Nom

Hi! One test down, one to go. Our History exam was pretty straight-forward! Here's hoping Japanese goes as well...my last exam didn't go as well as I was hoping, so I'll be studying lots tonight. But first, an update for you. Because I love you. :)Tomorrow will be fun! We're going on an adventure to Takarazuka! First, some background. The Takarazuka Revue is a theater troupe that is sort of a reverse of Shakespearean theater groups. All the members are female - they play both females and males. They adapt all sorts of musicals and then perform them - for example, they just finished a run of Romeo and Juliet. One of my friends here is a diehard Takarazuka fan, and is going to see a show of theirs in a few weeks. She wanted some company as she figures out the route there, so we decided to come along. Osaka happens to be on the way, so we're going to do some sightseeing in Osaka after, spend the night there, and do some more exploring of Osaka before we head back to Hikone. Should be an adventure! This will be my first overnight trip where I don't have hosts waiting for me.

And, because I haven't been doing much lately and need to get to studying, it's time for a Top 5! My Top 5 today, a personal favorite of mine, is Wonderful Foods in Japan. Here are probably my 5 favorite meals to eat here!

1. Gyoza and ChahanOkay, so this one might be "cheating", as this is not actually Japanese food. It's Chinese! But I could probably have these every day without tiring of them. Gyoza are dumplings, usually containing veggies and pork. Chinese dumplings are more widely-varied, but the Japanese version is delicious. And chahan is, of course, fried rice. The most common types of fried rice are seafood: ebi (shrimp), kani (crab), and gomoku (which has several types of fish/seafood). Love it!
2. NabeAs I've said before, nabe can refer to a lot of things, because the pot itself is a nabe pot. You basically heat a broth of some sort and cook veggies, meats, and whatever else you want in it. It's a really common meal when you have parties because it's easy to feed everyone - just add more stuff to the pot until everyone has had enough to eat. My favorite type of nabe is sukiyaki, in which the sauce is a combination of soy sauce, sake, sugar, and water. However, there are lots of variants and they're all good! Shabu-shabu is popular in Japan, because everything is just boiled in water and you just eat it with a little soy sauce. It's very healthy, apparently. Another common trend with nabe is to put noodles in at the end of your meal - the broth has a ton of flavor from all the veggies and meat you've tossed in, so you can have really tasty noodles at the end. It makes me wish we had a nabe in the dorm!
3. DoriaAh, Japanese "American" food. It always amuses me what qualifies as American food in American restaurants in Japan. A big staple is the hamburger steak...there are several restaurant chains that mainly serve that, usually with fries. Doria, however, also takes a bit from the Italian tradition. It's about as close as you can get to baked ziti here. :) Basically, you take white rice and mix a bit of butter and salt in, and put a layer in a baking dish. You add whatever toppings you want - shrimp, chicken, or my personal favorite, bacon and spinach. Then you cover it with a thick, rich cream sauce, cover the top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and bake it. Ahhhhh...so tasty. I will go to Viva City just for the doria, because that's where the best ones are.
As a sidenote, 2 more cool things about Japan are in this picture. This is at Coco's, the restaurant connected to campus. A big thing in Japan is corn soup...mmm. I will miss having it everywhere when I go home. :/
Another common theme in Japanese American restaurants is the "drink bar". It's so much cooler than any drink fountain you've seen in the US. They have soft-drink dispensers, but that's the tip of the iceberg. They also have a hot drink dispenser for hot cocoa and things, as well as a wide selection of loose teas so you can steep your own tea. Thus, my 3 different drinks. XD
4. Katsu Curry2 of my favorites, on the same plate! First, the katsu. Katsu refers to a breaded and fried filet of meat...usually it's a chicken breast or a pork cutlet. And Japanese curry! Japan is not a spicy food-country, for the most part. So Japanese curry is incredibly flavorful without being spicy. Perfect for me! When you make curry at home, you usually put pieces of onion, carrot, potato, and meat so it's really thick. But the katsu curry version is just really creamy. And you get it all with rice! I imagine it would be hard to make at home, so I need to go have some more while I can! XD
5. Japanese BreadIf you've been reading my blog for any period of time, you know how I love Japanese bread. I wasn't expecting this when I came here, though. My first time in Japan, the only place I had bread was in Hiroshima. And it was delicious, but I figured it was some random fluke of a place. After all, when you think of pastries and artisan bread, where do you think of? Europe, and rightly so. They have awesome stuff in places like Switzerland, Germany, and France. But Japan? Nah. And then my roommate took me to Vidal. And that's not even an anomaly - there are pastry places everywhere! I'm really considering taking a bread cookbook home with me...I don't even care if it's in Japanese. I will translate it so I can have the delicious bread when I get home. My favorites are probably caramel apple bread, chocolate orange bread (pictured here), and cheesecake bread. Mmmmmm....

Goodness, this is making me hungry. Good thing it's almost dinner time. ;) Have a great day! When we meet again, I'll have Osaka pics for you.