Parliament

So today one of my classes went to the Danish Parliament to listen to one of the members speak about Turkey's admittance into the EU.  However, the train was running late and, in true Jen fashion, I got lost when I got out of the metro.  I was about 15 minutes late arriving, which is really really terrible to Danish people, never mind when you are supposed to be meeting a member of Parliament.  I was mortified.  When I finally got to the Parliament building, I circled around a few times looking for a way in and couldn't figure out where my class had gone.  Without knowing what to do, I walked right up to the big front door of the Parliament building and rang the doorbell.  It just seemed to make sense at the time! After a few rings, a tall, well dressed, very official looking guy came out of the door, gave me a very confused look and said hello.  He very nicely showed me to security and helped get me cleared and then they brought me to my class.  It would be like if some student went up to the Capitol building on the Hill and rang the doorbell trying to get in.. I can't believe I actually did that. Oh well.. whatever worked.  I also thought my professor was going to be angry, but he ended up telling me he was proud that I showed initiative and figured out how to get in by myself, hah. 

The speaker was really cool.. she was young and beautiful and had a nose piercing.  She was of Turkish decent and wore this really cute dress with leggings and flats just like she was a university student.  It was really interesting to hear her speak about a topic she was so passionate about.  After she spoke, she brought us on a tour of the building.  We saw the reception hall, which was set up for a luncheon with the Vietnamese president, and a lot of art.  We also saw the Danish Constitution, where the members of Parliament are sworn in, and the Floor, where they debate.  It was a really cool trip, and I'm glad I found my way into the building :)