Triple-O Fever! (Obama, Oprah, Olympics)

Well, today it actually rained all day.  And I spent most of it inside:  eating, curled in bed, on the computer, playing guitar hero with Jonas and his friend, or working with Kirsten on figuring out how to get the massive amounts of laundry dry while still using the dryer as little as possible (I'm leaving for Scotland tomorrow, and they're going to Dubai on Wednesday, so we're all scrambling for clean clothes).  At least I had a real Danish lunch today (I love Danish lunch food!):  various combinations of curry herring, smoked salmon, frikadeller, beets, pickles (cucumber salad, they call it) all on Danish rye bread.  And then Rene (my host-dad) gave me half a shot of snaps, since it's traditional to eat with herring.  It wasn't pleasant (the Danes don't really like it that much either--they just drink it!), but hey, I still think it's better than tequila.

Friday was a good day.  I was hoping it would be really political and inspiring, but it ended up completely turning around into just a regular old Friday night with friends and drinks . . . plus a free concert.  The morning was great!  By 8 o'clock, I had taken the metro to Bella Center, which is where the IOC conference was going on.  Obama helicopters didn't start showing up until around 8:20, but it didn't really matter, because the cameras were huddled around the small group of people organized by Avaaz singing "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5.  Our goal?  To get Obama and the other world leaders to come back to Copenhagen for COP15 in two months! No, I didn't see Obama or anyone famous, but it was still super fun.

I guess I'm totally surprised about how crazy the Danes got about Obama and Oprah being here.  I swear, it was all they talked about on the news, and I ended up feeling bad that the city had to put up with all the extra security just for Obama's 5-hour stay.  But at least it doesn't seem like they minded all that much!  I was surprised he bothered to come at all, but I read that it's believed that part of the reason London won 2012 was because Tony Blair came to Singapore for the vote.  So, for this vote, almost all the leaders of the bid-countries were present.  And Chicago may not have won the 2016 bid, but the Copenhagen Olympic Festival was super fun.  I had no idea it was such a big deal to select the Olympic cities, but hey--if you can't host the Olympics, host the IOC conference, instead! And provide lots of crazy bands ("the best of Danish music from around") to play for free!  I mean, how else would I get to see Aqua a second time?  And DAD, the kings of Danish rock (and leather pants and pyrotechnics)? 

Anywhere, there are awesome pictures of the bands on facebook.  Sorry for a less-interesting entry than usual.  Friday was just too exciting not to tell you about.  But now I'm getting ready for my long study-tour to Scotland with my Psychology of Happiness course!  Hopefully I'll be able to update from over there.