Hvem spise du på Torsdag?

This past Monday in Human Health and Disease we went to a different hospital than the one where our class is usually held. Once there, we met two,fourth year Danish medical students who instructed us in the steps to properly inserting an IV as well as how to draw blood. After practicing a couple of times on a dummy arm, it was time for the real deal. Tina and I were partnered off and she decided that she would draw my blood first. She was a little nervous that my veins weren't very visible, but this didn't stop her-she drew my blood like a pro. It didn't hurt at all! When it came my turn I was a little nervous, but Tina had a vein that was pretty visible so I felt confident I could get it. After successfully getting the needle in her vein, my hands started to visibly shake, most likely due to nerves and an adrenaline rush. When I clicked the vial into place her blood came shooting out-the fastest out of anyone in our class-she's crazy. I was so proud of myself that I managed to watch my blood being drawn and then shortly after draw Tina's-all without fainting! After drawing blood we went to another room where we practiced inserting IV's into dummy arms. This was fun, but not nearly as much as drawing blood from an actual person. Our excitement towards this hands on experience couldn't have been expressed any better than on the train ride home when Tina interrupted a completely different conversation we were in the middle of to say, “WAIT. I want to draw blood all night long.”

Tina is so happy to be having her blood taken!

 

 

 

My IV placement

    This past week was my by far my craziest week as far as academics go. I had one quiz and three midterms. However, in between all of the school work I was able to talk to Kristen for the first time since being here, as well as skype with my mom and Ryan. Kristen never fails to make me laugh as she talked about her latest trip to Las Vegas and how she went to watch the “Thunder From Down Under” male strip show. (Shout out: Love you Kristen!!!!). Skypeing with Ryan and my mom was also fun. It was very obvious that Ryan misses me a lot and wants to come visit me ;)

       While on the topic of tests, I got my first Danish test back this week. Our teacher told us to take a minute to look at our grade and see our mistakes and that we would have time next class to ask her any questions. While quickly glancing over my test I saw a little smiley face on the first page in red ink and assumed my teacher had liked my work. However, after looking a little closer I realized that there was also a lot of red writing. I instantly started dying laughing, while everyone in my class just stared at me. My teacher looked at me and said, “Ahhh, are you the person who was talking about eating someone?” “Yes,” I replied, “Yes, that would be me.” For that portion of the test we were given who, what, where, or when in Danish and then we were to construct a sentence in Danish following that word. The one word we were given was Hvem which I translated as “when” when if fact it means “who.” So, my sentence of “Hvem spise du på Torsdag?” did not translate into “When do you eat on Thursday?” like I had planned, but instead said, “WHO do you eat on Thursday?” My teacher suggested I share this funny story with the rest of my class who seemed to also think it was pretty funny. I wasn't embarrassed that they were laughing at me-it was pretty ridiculous. I was more embarrassed when they all managed to stop laughing and I was still cackling at my mistake because I was quite sleep deprived (sleeping only about 2 hours the night before in an attempt to study for a midterm). I finally pulled it together and stopped laughing, only to think about my cannibalistic sentence a minute later and bust out laughing yet again. This is a good reason why I shouldn't use Danish when actually talking to Danish people. That sentence could have been severely misconstrued had I said it to a Dane. Later that night while out at a bar I saw a girl from my Danish class who promptly asked me if I had eaten anyone that day. Wonderful.

       On another bad/funny note, my perfect track record of never falling off of my bike no longer stands. This also implies that I have lost all of the rights I had to making fun of Tina and Zoe for always falling off of their bikes. It was Friday morning and Zoe left the house first, as she always does. Tina left next because I was running a bit behind and said I would catch up(what's more motivational to ride you bike as fast as you can than the fact that if you miss the train you will also miss the first half of your midterm? I love to “feel the burn” at 7am!). Two minutes after leaving, Tina comes back into the house and tells me that the driveway is a sheet of ice and to be careful. Noted. I walk very cautiously out the driveway and I see Tina at the corner getting back on her bike. I think to myself that it's weird she is waiting for me-I didn't tell her to. I get to the corner and go to turn-going quite slow because I realize the road is a giant sheet of black ice- and BOOM! Down I go. Suddenly, it occurs to me that I'm laying on the ground under my bike. I had just woken up about 20 minutes before, and if you know anything about me you know I am NOT a morning person. Now I was awake. Tina witnesses the fall and starts laughing, saying she had just done the same thing, and asking if I was alright. Luckily I had fallen on my well padded gluteus maximus and I was actually not in very much pain-just shocked that I was laying in the middle of road under my bike. Poor Tina on the other hand had fallen right on her elbow. There isn't much cushion to the elbow. Tina and I slowed our pace down a little and managed to make it to the train station without falling again. Upon arriving there we found Zoe, told her what had happened, only to hear in return that she had fallen twice on her way to the train as well! At one point her basket fell off of her bike-which becomes important later on when she returned to find that someone had noticed it was not attached properly and taken it. Apparently wicker bike baskets are a hot commodity in Borup. Who knew?

        I have gotten quite used to the long train ride, and most of them pass by without much excitement. However, yesterday I had two of the best train experiences I have had since coming to Denmark. The first occurred on my way home from school. A group of about 20, five year old children came into my car, and with no seats left, ended up sitting in the aisle. I was on the inside seat, but this didn't stop me from staring at these adorable little kids with their one piece snow suits and pointy winter hats. I'm pretty sure the man next to me thought I was: A. staring at him B. trying to read what he was doing on his phone or C.being a total creep for staring at the children. I didn't care. I quickly became attached to a girl wearing all pink (of course). She had a loose tooth that she couldn't stop wiggling. She was bleeding all over the place and seemed to be really enjoying wiggling it and then removing the tissue to see how much blood was on it. I assumed it was her first loose tooth. Her two friends, an equally cute boy and girl, kept looking on in admiration, telling her things in Danish. I had no idea what was being said until I saw the other little girl smile and noticed she was missing both her front teeth. She was most likely giving my friend in the pink advice on what to do with the tooth, seeing as she had recently been in the same position herself. After a few minutes, the tooth became old news and the little boy and girl began to pick their noses... naturally followed by eating whatever was found up there. As gross as this is I found myself watching these children with a huge smile on my face. I can't remember the last time I have thought about losing teeth or when kids used to pick their noses and eat the findings. I was flooded with memories from my childhood that I hadn't thought of in years! I wanted to befriend all of these children, but they got off at the stop before my town, so all hopes of one of them being a neighbor of mine was soon lost. I still have hope that I can ride the train with them again. Later that night, Zoe and I ventured back to the train in order to go out in Copenhagen. When the train pulled in I noticed a boy with sick dreadlocks and I knew what had to be done. We sat in the seat behind him so that I could easily examine them as well as have a good chance of striking up a conversation with him about his hair. His dreads were a decent length, very well kept, and there even seemed to be layers. I was impressed to say the least. Then, him and his friend restrung and tuned a guitar and started practicing a song in English that had lyrics along the lines of “The one thing that I've found...*strum* *strum* *strum*...can't stop thinking of James Brown.” Although I had never heard the song before, it was quite catchy and I realized that I also wanted to be his friend. This friendship wouldn't have been as creepy either because he was probably around my age, unlike the small children I was stalking earlier. However, he was preoccupied with his friends that were also in our car so all my chances of having a Danish friend with awesome dreadlocks was gone...unless I happen to see him on the train again. I have a pretty good radar for well kept dreads, so it's a possibility.Also, if you have any idea what song he was singing please let me know, because I want to buy it but can't figure out what it is called.

       Lastly, tomorrow I leave to go on my long study tour to Stockholm, Sweden and Tallinn, Estonia with my Human Health and Disease class. Our itinerary looks to be full of many interesting academic as well as cultural visits, so I look forward to telling you all about those adventures!