Nordic Florida

The conversation went something like this:
Me and Izabel: Let's bike up the coast!
Izabel: Let's bike around Zealand!
Me: Um... I don't think we can do that...
Izabel: Why not?
Me: Because Denmark is made up of lots of islands and Zealand is the entire island that Copenhagen is on (shows on map).
Izabel: Oh....... let's bike around Zealand.

So Izabel and I biked up the coast (not the entire island). And once we got out of the city and were by the ocean the conversation went was like this:
Me: This feels just like Florida!
Izabel: Except we're in Scandinavia. It's like Nordic Florida!

So the coastal area above the city has now been dubbed Nordic Florida. And it's actually a pretty accurate name. It really does feel just like Florida only with less humidity.  Here at DIS we have Wednesdays off of class and usually this day is reserved for study tours or field trips with one of your classes. But last Wednesday neither Izabel or I had any study tours so we took the opportunity to bike up the coast. And boy was it the perfect day. It was in the low 70's (which is really warm for here) with a light breeze- essentially the perfect day for biking.
We started the day by sleeping in until 8 and then going to our favorite market to buy a picnic lunch. Our original destination was the king's old hunting grounds. Way back when it used to be a large hunting ground for the king. Now it's just a really large and beautiful park. But after an hour of biking and about ten minutes away from the park, we found a beach. Needless to say, we never made it to the park. Instead we picnicked on the beach, waded into the water, and then sprawled out on the sand. Other than the sand that stuck to every square inch of our skin and clothes, it was glorious. Due to all the sand that somehow managed to get everywhere, Izabel and I have decided that sand diving is now an official sport. The whole day was so much fun, definitely my favorite day so far. The area outside of Copenhagen is absolutely beautiful.

 

Remember that scary fish at the market? Well there's a new one now. It's a shark. Yum.

 

Our lunch. The bread was all for me because Izabel is gluten free.

 

Moldy strawberry that was thrown into the water.

 

Me and Izabel by the ocean

 

 

 

Awesomely eating grapes

 

Izabel also awesomely eating grapes

 

That's the city way in the back

Tuesday was actually pretty exciting as well because I met my first Dane who isn't my host mom or a professor or administrator at DIS. His name is Christian. It happened because my Danish class went out to dinner and our professor had a couple of Danes come along so we could get to know the culture better. Well, only one Dane actually showed up. And as the class waited for everyone to arrive at the meeting spot, Christian just stood there looking really awkward and I felt really bad for him. So I assessed the situation: 1) I wanted to meet Danes and 2) He looked really awkward...as if any situation would be better than the one he was in. Then I asked myself "What would dad do?". My solution was to pretended like I hadn't already heard him introduce himself to our professor and ask him his name. Probably not the cleverest thing I could have done but it did the trick and conversation was struck. I definitely asked him a lot of questions and he seemed quite happy to talk to someone. I kind of decided to make him my guinea pig in learning how to interact with Danes. Since they're apparently so hard to get to know, I just tried to talk to him as much as possible without being annoying. I figured that if it didn't work and I was annoying...great! I'd probably never see him again. And if it did work and I wasn't super annoying...great! Though I'd probably never see him again.
Well, it turned out to be a pretty eventful evening. Naturally I made an effort to sit at the same table as the Dane and not at one of the four other large tables of all Americans. And of course, I picked the wrong chair to sit in. I looked away from the table for a second and when I turned around, there was a spider just chilling there between me and Christian. And when you turn around and a large spider is hanging right next to your head it's kind of hard not to squeak and nearly jump off your chair. Way to make a good impression. The entire table was laughing at me.  But at least my sudden movements scared the spider and he retreated up to the ceiling and chilled there right above me for the rest of the evening. He didn't move...at all. Believe me, I was checking. And while this was both incredibly embarrassing and terrifying, it definitely helped to break the ice at the table. They especially enjoyed my periodic glances at the ceiling. And since Christian joined in with everyone else and started teasing me about my fear of spiders, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I kind of befriended a Dane. It was exciting. But the next time I meet a Dane, I'll work on actually becoming friends and not just acquaintances. Baby steps here and maybe no spiders next time. I could do without that. Especially because I don't want to be conditioned to think of spiders whenever I start to meet Danish people. There are already enough spiders at Britta's house.

In case I haven't mentioned it already, there actually are a TON of spiders here. Well, not in the city but at least in Britta's backyard/courtyard. It's bad. The other day I came home and saw something that looked very web-like  out of the corner of my eye. As I turned my head (with what was most certainly a very concerned expression) Britta called out of the window "Don't worry honey, it's just the clothes line". I love Britta. She's learned so quickly. But all the spiders are a problem so in order to deal with them, I've started naming them. Jose is the one who lives on the clothes line. Herold is the large one I saw on the first day here. Thankfully, I haven't seen him since ...but I am prepared. And Charlie is the one from the restaurant. My table got a kick out of the naming thing. So have Britta and Izabel for that matter. Izabel is convinced that I name every living creature. I blame my youngest brother Nick because he and I name pretty much every animal we see. He just helps reinforce the habit. :)

 

After dinner my class walked through a very large and well known park. This is a huge castle we passes. 

Yesterday (Thursday) was pretty exciting as well. But today it's because I got to play with children for about three hours. For my Positive Psychology Practicum, I go to an after school program every Thursday afternoon. It was so much fun!  The structure is very different from the U.S. First of all, there is no structure. The kids just come and play wherever they want until they are picked up. Danish schools take a very hands off approach to preschool and after school programs. This program has kids from early elementary school to about 7th grade. And it's really interesting because the building is three levels and only the older kids are allowed on the third floor. That's kind of their hang out space. Otherwise, everyone can go everywhere in the complex. The doors that lead outside are always open so kids are constantly running out the the large playground in the back or to the basketball/soccer court in the front. I pretty much just hung out with the kids and played with them. I had to draw three pictures of Cinderella and Prince Charming and played a lot of soccer. It was really fun even though most of the kids only speak Danish. I was able to ask them their names and tell them my name and where I was from but that was it. They seemed to think it was really cool that I'm from the U.S.A. What was the most amazing was how much I was able to communicate with the kids and they with me. There was a lot of pointing going on. Even though they knew I didn't understand them, the usually rattled on in Danish anyway. And though I didn't know what they were saying, I could actually understand them a lot. It was really cool. I really didn't want to leave and they actually didn't want me to leave either. When I had to go, this little girl and boy who had been sticking to me like glue for the past two hours clung to my legs. It was really cute and I had to have one of the adults explain to the kids that I would be coming back. I really can't wait to go back there. It's so much fun to be with the kids and it's really interesting to see the places where  positive psychology is used in this kind of institution. Even though the school doesn't actively use positive psych, there's a lot of it at play in Danish school and after school programs.


Tonight Britta's daughter (I think she's about 24) is coming to stay for the weekend. Izabel and I are really excited to meet her. I just hope there aren't any spiders involved.

Biking with Danes

Thursday was the first day of classes. Surprisingly, it was really fun. I had Positive Psychology and an orientation to a different class called Positive Psychology Practicum (I get to go observe and help out in the equivalent of an elementary school once a week). We didn't do much in either class but I think they'll both be really interesting.

I had my other two classes on Friday. My professor for International Marketing in a European Context is really bubbly so it was fun to listen to her. And Danish was hard. I'm in a special Danish class for students who will be working in schools. Basically we learn extra phrases and words that will be helpful to know for the school setting. Danish grammar seems really easy but it's the pronunciation that's beyond difficult.

On Saturday Isabel and I put on brave faces and brought our bikes into the city. You kind of have to see the city and the bikers to know how terrifying this is. The biking here is intense. All the major roads in the city have special bike lanes and stoplights just for the bikers. But it's really confusing because some of the side streets don't have lanes so crossing the street on a bike and figuring out where you can bike is very challenging for us newcomers. I'm sure Izabel and I looked like complete idiots the first day because we really didn't know what we were doing. We just waited until there were other people around so that we could follow them and pretend like we knew what we were doing.  I think it worked. The only other tricky part was starting and stopping. When you come to a red light you have to stop and put a foot down on the ground to stabilize yourself. This part isn't bad. What's really hard is starting again.You have to go rather slow because there are often a few bikers in front of you but this makes it harder to keep your balance and then you just end up wobbling around across the street. The Danes make it look easy but I think it's going to take a few weeks of looking utterly stupid before I can master it. We also learned another very important lesson about the trains. Copenhagen Survival Lesson Two: There are special bike racks on the trains and when getting on the train with your bike, put the bike in backwards! If you put the front wheel in (like you do everywhere else) your bike with sway around like crazy as the train starts and stops. Then end result will be you standing there awkwardly trying to prevent your bike from hitting other bikes and passengers. Don't do it. Not good.

For the majority of the day Izabel and I biked around the city and went to a few markets. There was a food festival going on this weekend so there were free samples at a lot of the booths. Denmark has some of the best bread and olive oil. I can't wait to start cooking bread at home with Britta.

 

Back side of the parliament building. I think it looks really impressive.

 

Yummy handmade ice cream!  Ice cream seems to be really popular here. There are ice creams shops and stands everywhere!

Later in the day I applied for my Danish residency permit. DIS bussed a large group of students to a random building in Copenhagen but made everyone walk back to the center of the city. Thankfully, the application process didn't take long and the building they took us to wasn't actually that far from the center. Yay!

Today Izabel and I went to the Little Mermaid Statue. It was packed with Tourists and there was a walk-a-thon going on in the area so it was a little challenging to actually get to the statue.

 

When Izabel and I posed like this, everyone around us seemed to think it was the best idea ever. We didn't realize how brilliant the idea was. 

After that, Izabel and I went to another market. This one was both indoors and outdoors. We both really like going to places like this so we'll probably go back there a lot in the next four months.

 

Indoor market!

 

Really scary fish that you can buy and eat

Even though a week has gone by, I'm still exhausted every night. I'm sure a little bit is jet lag though I think a lot of it is also that I'm doing a lot of stuff everyday and I'm walking around a lot (even though it doesn't feel like it). Izabel and I also cook dinner twice a week. Well, it's mostly her cooking and me trying to help. I enjoy cooking and can do it well but Izabel is kind of a pro at it. So I just let her take control and I do whatever I can to help...which usually means a lot of washing dishes.

In the beginning of our stay in Copenhagen I was told that 1) Danes wear black all the time and hate bright colors and 2) they never j-walk. Both of these things are lies...well, kind of. While it's true that the Danes do seem to wear a lot of black, there is definitely a fair bit of color in their wardrobe. Also, though for the most part they don't j-walk, they do it enough for it to be noticeable. Another surprising thing to me is the amount of PDA I've seen. I wasn't really expecting to see much of it but there are quite a few people who really don't seem to care if everyone else is watching them make-out. For example, there was a couple on the train the other day who sat down across from each other and just started going at it. They really didn't seem to care that they were sitting next to total strangers... Though most people were polite and pretended that they didn't notice. However, I think they might have been a bit of a strange couple. The girl was dressed almost entirely in zebra print and was carrying around a large, rubber zebra head. And while there could be a perfectly reasonable explanation for this even in Copenhagen, it isn't exactly normal.

I've also decided that while I'm here, I need to work extra hard to be really outgoing and meet lots of people and do lots of things. Therefore my new go-to phrase in most any situation is WWDD: What Would Dad Do? See, my dad is really good at talking to people (even strangers) and he always learns really cool things about these people. He's also just good at everything. So, if I start trying to think like him, hopefully I'll meet a lot of really awesome people and maybe I'll become really good at everything I do...you never know. 

Measuring Distance in Graffiti

I've decided that you can tell how far away you are from the center of Copenhagen by the amount of Graffiti per square inch. This at least applies for all the suburbs you pass when on the B line of the S-train. Sometimes it makes things a bit sketchy. Like where Izabel and I live. We're the third to last stop on the B line and you can tell. There's a lot more Graffiti out here than at the stations closer to the city. We've decided that we definitely don't want to be out by the station anytime after dark. It's not that the area is really unsafe, it's just that some of the people can be really rude or sketchy depending on what time you're by the station and the shopping area around it. Though our actual house is further into the neighborhood and feels much safer. But in any case, I've decide that Graffiti per square inch is definitely a legit form of measurement here. And a lot of it is rather creative and looks really cool. And some of it is just lame.

 

Yesterday I had another orientation program called THE AMAZING RACE (I like to imagine it being said in a deep announcer voice because it sounds so much more exciting that way). Basically a bunch of students were put into groups and had to run around the city to find different locations. 

Location One: Rosenborg Castle

This place is really cool. It's a castle that was built as a summer home for Christian IV. Apparently almost all of the really impressive buildings were built because of Christian IV. It's a gorgeous castle that houses the royal jewels. Apparently it's one of the only countries in Europe where you can see the royal jewels on display (I think London is the other place). At the time it was built in the early 1600's  it was located in the country side but the city has expanded so much since that it's pretty much in the middle of the city now. The castle is surrounded by huge grassy grounds. I plan to be studying here a lot while it's still a bit warm. (Speaking of which, Sunday and Monday here were the hottest days here in about 30 years. But now it's cooler and rainy.)

 

According to the stories,  Christian IV used to put his house key in the lion's mouth so that when he came home after a few drinks, he would be able to find his key.

Location Two: The Royal Palace 

This palace is different than typical palaces because it's split into four buildings. It forms a circle around a central statue. I guess different royalty live in different buildings. You can tell when someone is home because the flag above the building will be raised. Their used to be one castle further south and in a more protected area of the city but it burned to the ground and the royal family had to move here. Then when the new castle was build, the government made the royal family stay in this palace.

 

The prince is home!

 

Me by the statue in the center of the palaces. The dome in the background is a large cathedral.

Location Three: This was part of the warehouse distrect and wasn't that exciting. I don't have any photos. 

Location Four: Parliament

This is a beautiful building that houses all three branches of the government. It also used to be the royal palace. It's burned down twice in the past. Both times were because they made the fire's too large in during the winter. I guess they didn't really learn anything from the first fire. Minnesotans know better. But pretty much all the government buildings are around this area. 

Izabel and I have explored the city a lot on our own time. It's been a lot of fun. This Saturday (along with applying for our Visas, we plan to bike around the city so that we can explore the outer edges. It's all so beautiful and even if some areas are sketchy, Izabel informed me today that it's the safest city. So it's all good news. These are just some of the things we've seen. 

 

Church of Our Lady/ National Cathedral of Denmark. I was really surprised by the Romanesque style of this church. Somehow I wasn't expecting to see much of this in Denmark. Though if you look around, it's not that uncommon here. Still, I wasn't expecting something so Romanesque. It even has a frieze.

 

Inside of the church. I love the ceiling. I don't remember what the technique is called but it's supposed to alleviate the pressure on the roof and send it down into the walls so that the ceiling doesn't collapse.

 

Awesome bike rack

 

This is right outside the grounds of the Rosenborg Castle

 

Not entirely sure where this is in the city but it's probably my new favorite spot

 

Awesome fuzzy bike with horns

 

 

Tomorrow's the first day of classes! I'm actually really excited for this.

Chasing Danes

After flying across the ocean, three nights with hardly any sleep and a day of walking around the city, I am thoroughly exhausted.  It was so difficult to sleep last night. I was so tired but my mind just would not shut up. After hours of tossing and turning, Izabel and I woke up at 6 this morning, got ready and biked to the train station. Even though we had to take two trains and the metro to get to the Royal Danish Academy of Music, we somehow managed not to get lost. Actually, it was surprisingly easy. After being in Japan and seeing the ginormous and complex train system, I was expecting something just as confusing here in Copenhagen. Nope! Something really cool about the trains here is that, with a special ticket, you can bring your bike on the train. So convenient! And not surprising because the Danes bike everywhere. We did learn an important lesson about the trains though. Copenhagen Survival Lesson One: Do not wait to get on the train until everyone with bikes has gotten on. If you do, you will not make it on the train before the doors close.

Our opening ceremony was nice but not really that informative. The DIS staff and a few people who works at the U.S. embassy here welcomed us to the city. Afterwards we walked to another event where we were supposed to learn about the Danes. This part was super confusing. First of all, there are a couple of DIS buildings throughout the city so at first we struggled to figure out where we were even supposed to be going. Secondly, it was a struggle to find the street signs. In the U.S. street signs are (for the most part) clearly visible on posts on the corners of intersections. Not so in Copenhagen. Here, street signs aren't really street signs. Instead, they put the name of the street on the corner of the buildings. This is nice because the signs don't clutter up the street but it also means that streets aren't always clearly labeled.

Despite our initial trouble navigating the city, Izabel and I managed quite well later on during the day. We walked around for about two hours total. We just walked around where ever we felt like going. It was amazing. Everything was so beautiful. 

 

Houses/apartments 

 

This is primarily a pedestrian street with the occasional truck

 

 

Beautiful street by the harbor!

 

Boats on the harbor. Interesting fact, Britta (my host mom) is the first woman in Denmark to be educated in ship building. 

 

 

These apartments are really interesting because they have a much more modern design than some of the other buildings I've seen so far. Though the Danes are known for their modern design.

 

As I said before, bikes are everywhere in Copenhagen. And a fair number of people have awesome bikes like this one for children to sit in.  

When I first arrived I had the idea in my head that Danes are primarily tall, blonde and thin. Boy was I wrong. Okay, not entirely wrong. There are definitely a lot of people like that here but Copenhagen is actually much more diverse than I was expecting. Both where I'm living (about 20-30 minutes outside of the city) and in the city center there seem to be people from a lot of different ethnic backgrounds. 

I also learned some interesting things about the Danes today. And while not all Danes are like this, they're definitely things to be aware of when interacting with them.
1) They are very straightforward and will just say things how they are
2) They tend to love American TV shows from the 90's
3) They hate small talk
4) They are usually fairly quite and see loud Americans as a major turnoff
5) They view overly friendly people as fake
and
6) They are a bit more withdrawn and it can take multiple attempts and a lot of effort to engage with them and become friends. As we were told by a young Dane herself,  "you have to chase after them".

So let the chasing commence.

Planes and bikes and spiders...Oh Yeah

So I have finally arrived in Copenhagen! And though I haven't seen much of the actual city yet, I love it so far. It all started with a delayed flight which was not a very promising beginning to all the travels and flight connections I had ahead of me. But the good news was that it meant another DIS student had to change her flights so we ended up flying from Minneapolis to Chicago to London to Copenhagen together. It started out with just us two and by the time we were leaving London about half the plane was full of students studying with our program (DIS). There was a lot of bonding going on. And the other people on the planes were just as interesting. On my way to London I sat next to a British woman wearing an Elvis shirt and watch and who had Elvis purse, Elvis luggage, and an Elvis nail file. Somehow I got the feeling that she really likes Elvis.

My host mom picked me and another DIS student up from the airport, took us to her house using her GPS because, even after years of exchange students, she still can't figure out how to get out of the airport area. It was really cute. And every time her GPS would give her directions (in Danish of course) she would say "Oh yeah!". It was super amusing. I really hope it's a thing of hers.

When we got to the house she wasted absolutely no time telling us all about the workings of the house. She made sure to point out many times that we are a family now and we should treat the house like a family which means dividing up chores, always letting others know where you are, and never asking if it's okay to eat any of the food. It's really sweet. I think she's really excited to have us here because her kids are all grown up and don't live with her anymore. She seems like a really outgoing and kind woman. She loves to joke around and tease and she LOVES to talk.

After getting a tour of the house we got to ride around the area on bikes. Britta (our host mom) took us to the train station that we'll be using bright and early every morning. I discovered two important things on this trip. One: bikes in Denmark don't have handle breaks. It's is very strange peddling backwards to break especially when the seat was so high that I could barely peddle. I'll need to figure out how to lower the seat. Two: they have HUGE spiders here. It's awful!! I saw one that was at least half the size of my palm. I gave my host mom a warning that I am terrified of spiders and will not go near one of any size at any cost. She just hugged me when I told her that. :) I have finally found someone who will not make fun of me for my irrational fears.

 The other DIS student I'm living with is great. We seem to be rather similar so I think we'll get along really well. Her name is Izabel and she'd from Vermont and goes to Smith College. Here are a few pictures of our lovely house.

 

 Me and Izabel

 

The front of our lovely house

 

 

These are the swings in front of our house. We plan to use them a lot in the future.

 

 

Britta's car. She calls it  "small but". Only she says it in Danish and I can't for the life of me remember how you say that. Britta calls her car old. Izabel and I think it's cute.

 

Our bedroom! My bed is the one on the left. :)

Tomorrow we start orientation. There's this large welcome assembly at 9:00 at the Royal Danish Music Academy. We're waking up at 6:00 to get ready and then attempt to navigate the S-train and the metro into the city. This should be interesting.