They probably said the town name 25 times before the trip and every single time I laughed like a middle school boy who just heard it for the first time. Core course week: what a mysterious few days. We ended up with about 6 hours of academic study and the rest of pure entertainment and bonding, and very few sleeping. First was Ribe, the oldest town in Denmark, chalk full of pirate stories from a tour guide who was everyone’s dream grandmother. There were boats, watermills, churches, and two three liters of beer towers that day (for free). The next day was curling. As someone who is deathly afraid of ice skating, curling theoretically should repulse me, and the correct way of moving on the ice indeed did. So as usual, I cheated and put a grip on during sweeping. The shoes are worse than ice skates because one comes with a grip and the other is slippery plastic on the bottom so you are expected to effectively glide on ice on one foot. This is not Ice Princess, I am not Michelle Trachtenberg so that is a hard no. Although, I am expecting to hear from the Olympic curling team soon for my spectacular throwing that helped us come out with a win; it was a nail biter folks. That day we even stopped by the famous sculpture Men at Sea at sunset and being on the beach revitalized me. Later that night we arrived to birds screeching and private cabins that made up our second hostel. The pool and sauna made damn sure I was not complaining. Word of advice, if you don’t want to get personal, don’t sneak into a sauna after hours with half your class, it will take hours to figure out how to work it, and you will have to make conversation. Another word to the wise, do not try to make bread on a stick in subfreezing temperatures with high winds on a bonfire, and when that fails do not move the party into a cabin and roast them in a tiny fireplace, there will be a mess. The third day, in Middelfart, we went to Midfyns Bryghus for a beer tasting. Eddie, the American that owned it, was a mix between Steven Tyler and Matthew McConaughey. His stories were equal parts entertaining and inappropriate. When I looked at him I saw a full life full of adventures and a man who makes excellent beer. He actually married his Danish wife within months of meeting her in the states and up and moved to Denmark with her. What a story, what a life. I was smiling from ear to ear and I still don’t know if it was because I was inspired or if it was the six glasses of beer. Middelfart treated me well.
The Kat Chase 