Where we left off in Turkey....
Its Tuesday! And since our fearless leader Jakob loves showing religious diversity everywhere we go (I have my migration and identity class with this guy, and he led me through Bulgaria as well) we went to the the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, an old Synagogue, and an old Mosque. The Greek Orthodox church is the home of the Patriarch of Constantinople, and Istanbul itself has been the center of Eastern Orthodoxy since the Roman capital was established there in 330 AD. We were shown all the mosaics on the ceiling by a guide who joined us for the day, and the walls told the story of the New Testament. For some reason a woman named Elizabeth had a central role through most of the story, a character I have NEVER heard of. The synagogue dated back to the 15th century, but was mostly unimpressive. The mosque, Eyup Sultan Kulliye, is considered the fourth most sacred place for muslims in the world, afer Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. The complex apparently holds the remains and is the burial site of Euyp Ensari, a friend of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, and a revered member of Islam's early leadership.
After a much needed lunch (quince stew), we had coffee, tea, hookah, and time with turkish students in a nice little patio full of bean bag chairs. My student particularly fascinated me considering she came from Armenian descent, and there was a purging of Armenians from the Ottoman empire during the first world war. While the Turkish government does not regard it a genocide, the rest of the world does, and over 1 million Armenian community leaders, men, women, and children were exterminated or sent on death marches. Today there is still alot of anti-Armenian sentiment and people with Armenian heritage are automatically assumed to be inferior. Exploring the extent of this with a student was really interesting and shocking simultaneously.
Wednesday was the big touristy day, and fellow traveller slash Copenhagen Wesleyan resident Sarah Brown decided to join up with us for the day from her own travels in Greece. We started the day off at the Hagia Sophia, a place of Christian worship for 916 years, then converted to a mosque and served Muslims for 481 years. It is full of amazing Byzantine architecture and represents a synthesis between the East and West. If the epic Hagia Sophia can be shadowed by anything, it is by our next sight, the Blue Mosque, or Sultan Ahmet. It is called the Blue Mosque by the predominantly blue coloring of paintwork inside the mosque. It was built between 1609 and 1616 by the order of Sultan Ahmed I, and designed by a student of the architect who designed the Taj Mahal. The building is absolutely incredible; intricate artwork everywhere, vast beautiful carpets, and 16 foot diameter columns holding up a massive stone dome. One of the most impressives peices of classic architecture I have seen, besides perhaps the Taj itself.
After an epically long wait for a mexican food lunch, and a welcome break from the absence of guacamole from my life, we visited the Topkapi Palace and Harem. The palace was the official and primary residence for the Ottoman Sultans from 1465 to 1853. Comprised of 4 main courtyards and many buildings, this is perhaps the most relaxing placees I have ever been. Beautiful green lawns, long hedges of blooming pastel tulips, and a breeze coming off the Bhosphorus river, which the complex overlooks, this place oozes relaxation. It also houses the treasury, where you could see the sultans throne, flask, armor, and many relics, all of which are studded by some of the largest jewels I have ever seen. Within the grounds is the housing for the Sultan's 400 women. Who had access to all these women, you may ask? Just the Sultan and his son; talk about some intense family bonding.
Our last day in Turkey was both amazing and melancholy, for none of us wanted to leave. We had an interesting lecture at Bilgi University about past and present Turkey-EU relations, back to back with a lecture on religion, state, and society in Turkey. We were then shipped back to the central area of Istanbul, and had free time in the Grand Bazaar. The largest market I have ever seen, it is covered, and you are bound to get lost among the thousands of shops selling jewelry, carpets, hookahs, spices, and antiques. After a few hours of consumerist-driven wandering, a few of us decided to go get an authentic turkish bath experience.
Built in 1584, the Cemberlitas Hamam is right next to the grand bazaar. The main male chamber contains a large heated marble platform that you lie on where you perspire and relax. The stone dome overhead sheds natural light through the holes in the roof. Eventually a large mustached turkish man wearing only a waist rag comes over and scrubs all the dead skin off your body using a luffa. Then he soaps you up an scrubs you down again, and really works your body into a limp state. While having an older turkish man pay specific detail to your contours can seem a little invading, this was probably one of the most enjoyable moments of the entire week. AFter rinsing off and sweating some more, going upstairs to your little dorm room where you lay down in the dark is hypnotizing and even more relaxing, if possible. After resting for 40 minutes, I got dressed, came downstairs and had some fresh squeezed orange juice while reading the newspaper. I really dreaded leaving this place, but dinner was just as epic.
Our resturant was on the top floor of a six story building on a hill overlooking all of Istanbul. The glass walled dinner room showed us the nighttime skyline of the city, and the little patio allowed us to have some fresh air to enjoy it as well. Besides being one of the nicer resturants I have ever dined in, the dance floor, DJed by a loft overhead, was clear glass and overlooked the lobby multiple stories underneath. After 4 amazing courses and red wine (and a toast conducted by yours truly), we got up to dance and mingle. We thought we were going to go see the nightlife of the city one last time, but this place was too epic and memorable to leave, and we all boogied ourselves to exhaustion before dragging ourselves into bed.
The next morning was spent on a satisfied note. We had a wrap up session evaluating our academic and tourist visits and spending a couple of last hours together. On this trip we truly saw a cosmopolitan 21st century Istanbul, full of relics from its centuries-old history.
While the following week was great (read catching up with friends and boatloads of work), I left Thursday night for Budapest, where I met up with high school friend Mitch Alva. That adventure, which I am just back from now, will have to wait however.........
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Heads Will Roll
Where we left off...
I am headed on a train to Berlin. Without a passport. Im sitting on the train, have my ticket checked, and for once everything is going alright. Then the police get on the train and start to sporatically check passports. Im reading the newspaper and notice that they check the passports of the people right in front of me, as I start to read more and more intensely. Apparently it worked, and I got into berlin with enough time to find a hostel, unpack, have a well-deserved beer, and chat with the people in my room. One of them is a girl studying in Copenhagen (small world), and the other guy was stepping into the west for the first time in 4 years. He was teaching first grade and pre-school in Japan and had just ended his program. We chatted about the culture shock about entering the west again and how it is actually harder to come back than to step into another culture. Given india and japan are very different, but it was enough to have a conversation. And he gave me some great sweet potato cake from japan. I also learned that Japanese kids think that McDonalds is a Japanese company that was exported to the US. Boy do they have something coming.
My first day in Berlin I decided to see the main sights. I saw a section of the berlin wall, and sitting right behind it is a much larger wall slash billboard advertising converse sneakers. The wierd thing was they both showed similar graffiti patterns. Maybe capitalism and communism aren't that different after all. HA. I saw the reightstag where Hitler seized power in 1933, which is now adorned with a beautiful glass dome in the middle of the square stone building. There was also an extremely unimpressive memorial to Jews who died in Europe in World War two, and was full of children running around playing hide and seek.
At this point I was really bored with seeing the "sights" of cities. I am burnt out and upset. So I decide to go on an alternative tour of berlin which I picked up a pamphlet for in my hostel. We meet up and of course it is being led by this Dreadlocked dude from Scotland, and I immediately know this is going to be a good time. He shows us some more of the berlin wall, and then we go to an alternative art space in downtown. This was the building where the first live televised events were shown, in this case the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It is an epically historic and beautiful building, and the city wants to tear it down to build a hotel and some souvineer (wow i butchered that) shops, despite the art squatters. He showed us some work by the revered graffiti artist Banksy. Banksy is from Bristol and makes politial commentary-based works all over international cities. In berlin it was an astronaut 4 stories tall floating through space on the side of a building. PLEASE check out his work here (don't be scared away by the rats, he thinks its funny to have rats doing human things, something based in a post-apocalypse mind state):
http://www.banksy.co.uk/
We went to an Absinthe shop, the "rock and roll" bakery, and munched on the best vegitarish kebab slash falafel I have EVER had. So good I went back the next day to have another, and Berlin is huge. We went to a great thrift store warehouse that sells clothes by the kilo, and I also went back to this spot since I was still short on threads. We went to see some bombed out buildings dating back from WWII. Apparently the Allies bombed the crap out of Berlin just days before the war ended, after hitler had committed suicide. Right next door was where "Pimp My Ride Berlin" operated, and we saw some seriously tricked out cars. We ended the tour at a Reggae beach bar, where I took off my boots and dug my toes in the sand, had a beer, and joined a pickup game of volleyball while a DJ spun some reggae. Finally my luck has turned.
I went to some bars with some people I met on this alternative tour, including a bar owned by the german band Rammstein, completely gothic themed. Then we went to a cool bar pointed out to us on the tour, a ping pong bar in East Berlin. You join a circular game of ping pong, and you slowly get out until just two people are playing, alot of fun. Apparently this place sprung up because you could talk to the person next to you without being overheard because of the sound of the balls, table, and paddle, which was a big deal in East Berlin. Don't want to have a file created on you, and the bar itself was still unmarked.
My last day in Berlin I decided to go to the Sachsussen concentration camp outside of Berlin. This was the model concentration camp that many of the others were designed after, and received some of the first groups of people. It started dealing with political prisoners, homosexuals, and others until finally jews were sent there. What a terrible place. The prisoners tested out shoes there that were crafted in another part of the camp, and prisoners were given heavy packs and made to march 25 miles a day on cobbles in one stretch of the camp to wear out the shoes and test their durability, which were distributed regardless of size. After the war the Soviets used it for their political prisoners. I left Berlin on this somber note.
Back in Copenhagen!!!! Besides sleeping, I decided to do laundry and take it easy. I found out my bag from Bulgaria was missing from the airport, so I had to fill out missing baggage paperwork with Czech airlines. While this was a huge debbie downer, after I got back from turkey they had found my bag, thank God. And I am proud to say I got onto the plane to turkey rested and on time! Maybe a first, but that story will have to wait until I get around to blogging about my Bulgaria trip.
When we get to Istanbul, the sun is shining and all seems good. The group seems like a chill group of kids, and as we drive into town we are passing centuries of history in the form of multiple city walls and gates. The city was started as early as 1000 BC, two hundred years after the trojan wars and when Kings David and Solomon ruled Jerusalem. It also served as the second capital of the Roman Empire when Rome fell, then called Constantinople. Needless to say there is alot of history. It turns out our hotel is smack-dab in the middle of the city, walking distance from the Hagia Sofia mosque and Blue mosque, two of the most visible and epic sites of the city. After a group dinner and a drink on our fearless leader Jakob, we all crash from traveling.
The next day is great. We wake up, have a great meditteranean breakfast at the hotel, and board a boat for a tour of the Bosphorus river. While it was quite chilly, all the turkish apple tea one can drink certainly helped. It was good to wrap one's mind around the layout of the city, and we even saw some greenpeace guys hanging off a bridge. Obama can't stop following me around, and he was actually in Istanbul when we were; we had to change our plans to accomodate his and Michelle's desires to see the same sights we wanted to. This guy is starting to get on my nerves. The greenpeacers were asking Obama to work with the G20 on environmental initiatives, and the police boat floating below them did not look happy.
We spent the afternoon in an immigrant neighborhood talking to Kristin S. Biehl about an NGO and community center there. This rundown neighborhood was a mere two blocks from the center of the touristy area, and was definitely not an area I would have seen without a guide. Istanbul is a huge immigrant destination because of its easy customs, being seen as a bridge between east and west along with being a stepping stone to europe, and the fact that it has much less political and social strife than its neighbors. Ther are immigrants from Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Bangaladesh, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, along with other smaller nationalities. This NGO was actually funded by the EU and provided after-school care for immigrant children, but was in a state of limbo because the area was in threat of demolition of gentrification.
After this we went to a shopping mall, perhaps the nicest shopping mall I have ever been to. Twenty years ago there were no shopping malls in Turkey, and today there are over 120 in Istanbul alone. The idea was to show us a modern turkey, not just the backwards, fez-wearing Turkey many tourists see. This place was huge and apparently designed by a prominent Japanese architect.
We went to dinner at an old Turkish resturant and were quite surprised when the traditional musicians came out. Korai, our guide (who has an uncanny resemblance to Vin Deisel), makes us get up and dance with the musicians two at a time, and who does he pick first but me. Maybe everyone else got a couple glasses of wine before they had to dance, but I was up there imitating some Turkish folk dance with only a few sips. For some reason I am always put in this situation. After shaking it for a while, I sit down and let the others have there turn. After food and raki ( a licorice liquor that you mix with water), the belly dancer comes out. She pulls our teacher and some others up to dance with her, and even gets up on the table and dances. Personally I felt a little uncomfortable since this woman did not seem to love her job, but the group seemed to enjoy it. After all this dancing we couldn't stop, and went to the bar down the corner from our hotel, and turned the place into a dance party on a monday night, eventually with turks joining in.
Dancing for hours can work up a mighty sweat, and a bunch of us decided to go down the street to an outdoor hookah bar and smoke and relax. We get there and sit down on multi-colored pillows, sitting under fleece blankets, drinking tea and smoking shishah. Surrounded by new friends and looking foreward to the rest of the week, while recapping all that has already happened, I realize I am in for an amazingly special trip. My luck has turned.
I am headed on a train to Berlin. Without a passport. Im sitting on the train, have my ticket checked, and for once everything is going alright. Then the police get on the train and start to sporatically check passports. Im reading the newspaper and notice that they check the passports of the people right in front of me, as I start to read more and more intensely. Apparently it worked, and I got into berlin with enough time to find a hostel, unpack, have a well-deserved beer, and chat with the people in my room. One of them is a girl studying in Copenhagen (small world), and the other guy was stepping into the west for the first time in 4 years. He was teaching first grade and pre-school in Japan and had just ended his program. We chatted about the culture shock about entering the west again and how it is actually harder to come back than to step into another culture. Given india and japan are very different, but it was enough to have a conversation. And he gave me some great sweet potato cake from japan. I also learned that Japanese kids think that McDonalds is a Japanese company that was exported to the US. Boy do they have something coming.
My first day in Berlin I decided to see the main sights. I saw a section of the berlin wall, and sitting right behind it is a much larger wall slash billboard advertising converse sneakers. The wierd thing was they both showed similar graffiti patterns. Maybe capitalism and communism aren't that different after all. HA. I saw the reightstag where Hitler seized power in 1933, which is now adorned with a beautiful glass dome in the middle of the square stone building. There was also an extremely unimpressive memorial to Jews who died in Europe in World War two, and was full of children running around playing hide and seek.
At this point I was really bored with seeing the "sights" of cities. I am burnt out and upset. So I decide to go on an alternative tour of berlin which I picked up a pamphlet for in my hostel. We meet up and of course it is being led by this Dreadlocked dude from Scotland, and I immediately know this is going to be a good time. He shows us some more of the berlin wall, and then we go to an alternative art space in downtown. This was the building where the first live televised events were shown, in this case the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It is an epically historic and beautiful building, and the city wants to tear it down to build a hotel and some souvineer (wow i butchered that) shops, despite the art squatters. He showed us some work by the revered graffiti artist Banksy. Banksy is from Bristol and makes politial commentary-based works all over international cities. In berlin it was an astronaut 4 stories tall floating through space on the side of a building. PLEASE check out his work here (don't be scared away by the rats, he thinks its funny to have rats doing human things, something based in a post-apocalypse mind state):
http://www.banksy.co.uk/
We went to an Absinthe shop, the "rock and roll" bakery, and munched on the best vegitarish kebab slash falafel I have EVER had. So good I went back the next day to have another, and Berlin is huge. We went to a great thrift store warehouse that sells clothes by the kilo, and I also went back to this spot since I was still short on threads. We went to see some bombed out buildings dating back from WWII. Apparently the Allies bombed the crap out of Berlin just days before the war ended, after hitler had committed suicide. Right next door was where "Pimp My Ride Berlin" operated, and we saw some seriously tricked out cars. We ended the tour at a Reggae beach bar, where I took off my boots and dug my toes in the sand, had a beer, and joined a pickup game of volleyball while a DJ spun some reggae. Finally my luck has turned.
I went to some bars with some people I met on this alternative tour, including a bar owned by the german band Rammstein, completely gothic themed. Then we went to a cool bar pointed out to us on the tour, a ping pong bar in East Berlin. You join a circular game of ping pong, and you slowly get out until just two people are playing, alot of fun. Apparently this place sprung up because you could talk to the person next to you without being overheard because of the sound of the balls, table, and paddle, which was a big deal in East Berlin. Don't want to have a file created on you, and the bar itself was still unmarked.
My last day in Berlin I decided to go to the Sachsussen concentration camp outside of Berlin. This was the model concentration camp that many of the others were designed after, and received some of the first groups of people. It started dealing with political prisoners, homosexuals, and others until finally jews were sent there. What a terrible place. The prisoners tested out shoes there that were crafted in another part of the camp, and prisoners were given heavy packs and made to march 25 miles a day on cobbles in one stretch of the camp to wear out the shoes and test their durability, which were distributed regardless of size. After the war the Soviets used it for their political prisoners. I left Berlin on this somber note.
Back in Copenhagen!!!! Besides sleeping, I decided to do laundry and take it easy. I found out my bag from Bulgaria was missing from the airport, so I had to fill out missing baggage paperwork with Czech airlines. While this was a huge debbie downer, after I got back from turkey they had found my bag, thank God. And I am proud to say I got onto the plane to turkey rested and on time! Maybe a first, but that story will have to wait until I get around to blogging about my Bulgaria trip.
When we get to Istanbul, the sun is shining and all seems good. The group seems like a chill group of kids, and as we drive into town we are passing centuries of history in the form of multiple city walls and gates. The city was started as early as 1000 BC, two hundred years after the trojan wars and when Kings David and Solomon ruled Jerusalem. It also served as the second capital of the Roman Empire when Rome fell, then called Constantinople. Needless to say there is alot of history. It turns out our hotel is smack-dab in the middle of the city, walking distance from the Hagia Sofia mosque and Blue mosque, two of the most visible and epic sites of the city. After a group dinner and a drink on our fearless leader Jakob, we all crash from traveling.
The next day is great. We wake up, have a great meditteranean breakfast at the hotel, and board a boat for a tour of the Bosphorus river. While it was quite chilly, all the turkish apple tea one can drink certainly helped. It was good to wrap one's mind around the layout of the city, and we even saw some greenpeace guys hanging off a bridge. Obama can't stop following me around, and he was actually in Istanbul when we were; we had to change our plans to accomodate his and Michelle's desires to see the same sights we wanted to. This guy is starting to get on my nerves. The greenpeacers were asking Obama to work with the G20 on environmental initiatives, and the police boat floating below them did not look happy.
We spent the afternoon in an immigrant neighborhood talking to Kristin S. Biehl about an NGO and community center there. This rundown neighborhood was a mere two blocks from the center of the touristy area, and was definitely not an area I would have seen without a guide. Istanbul is a huge immigrant destination because of its easy customs, being seen as a bridge between east and west along with being a stepping stone to europe, and the fact that it has much less political and social strife than its neighbors. Ther are immigrants from Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Bangaladesh, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, along with other smaller nationalities. This NGO was actually funded by the EU and provided after-school care for immigrant children, but was in a state of limbo because the area was in threat of demolition of gentrification.
After this we went to a shopping mall, perhaps the nicest shopping mall I have ever been to. Twenty years ago there were no shopping malls in Turkey, and today there are over 120 in Istanbul alone. The idea was to show us a modern turkey, not just the backwards, fez-wearing Turkey many tourists see. This place was huge and apparently designed by a prominent Japanese architect.
We went to dinner at an old Turkish resturant and were quite surprised when the traditional musicians came out. Korai, our guide (who has an uncanny resemblance to Vin Deisel), makes us get up and dance with the musicians two at a time, and who does he pick first but me. Maybe everyone else got a couple glasses of wine before they had to dance, but I was up there imitating some Turkish folk dance with only a few sips. For some reason I am always put in this situation. After shaking it for a while, I sit down and let the others have there turn. After food and raki ( a licorice liquor that you mix with water), the belly dancer comes out. She pulls our teacher and some others up to dance with her, and even gets up on the table and dances. Personally I felt a little uncomfortable since this woman did not seem to love her job, but the group seemed to enjoy it. After all this dancing we couldn't stop, and went to the bar down the corner from our hotel, and turned the place into a dance party on a monday night, eventually with turks joining in.
Dancing for hours can work up a mighty sweat, and a bunch of us decided to go down the street to an outdoor hookah bar and smoke and relax. We get there and sit down on multi-colored pillows, sitting under fleece blankets, drinking tea and smoking shishah. Surrounded by new friends and looking foreward to the rest of the week, while recapping all that has already happened, I realize I am in for an amazingly special trip. My luck has turned.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Pawn Shop
Imagine you are exhausted, blind, and don't speak any czech with all your possessions stolen, including my passport. That was me. So I'm headed to Berlin instead of Russia. Maybe we should back up a few steps.....
Prague had been great. I had a great meal and intro to the city (see my last post), and was extremely excited to spend my last day exploring. I think I did it all. I spent my morning exploring the old Jewish quarter/ghetto of Prague. Its an amazing place. Not only have Jews been in Prague since the 8th century, continually managing to survive, but they were also holed up into this one corner of town thanks to the political desires of the church and nobility. The Mariel Synagogue hosts an extensive collection of hundred's of years old Jewish artifacts; the Nazis were creating a museum of the Jewish race and many of the resulting artifacts are here. There is an old Jewish cemetery with over 20.000 graves in the matter of one city block, in some cases 12 bodies deep (This was the only cemetery where Jews were allowed to be buried). Perhaps most moving was the Sinkas Synagogue. Within this synagogue is listed the names of over 77,000 Jews who were displaced and killed by the Nazis who once resided in now-defunct Czechaslovakia. My family on my mother's side (Smetana!) is from Austria and Czechaslovakia, so I went and looked up their names on the walls. Really the place looks like it is covered in dots from far away the print is so small. Up close you can see names and dates of birth (and if recorded by the concentration camp, date of extermination).
The afternoon after this I spent at the old Castle overlooking prague and its river. I thought I only had one day and I meant to spend it as busy as possible. While the hike up the hill and its cobblestone streets was epic, the castle itself was a little underwhelming, partially due to the fact that the royal palace was closed for renovation. Announce that before you pay the entry price. wtf? haha i just used an abreviation in a blog... wow. Anyway after that I headed back to the hostel for a nap, which was quite easy since the public transportation is great.
After waking up and knowing I have one night in town, I decide to go on a pub crawl with an Aussie I met in the hostel. My plane leaves at 10 am and I need to be at the airport before 8, so I decide I will stay out late and then catch a few hours of shuteye before the plane takes off. We decide to do a pub crawl where you pay a price and get a few free drinks and get taken to the "local spots," aka where gypsies can steal your stuff. So we meet up at the pub crawl destination, and its actually really fun. There are people from all over all trying to meet some other outgoing people. Realizing I have gotten into trouble in the past traveling and drinking, I am taking it easy (especially compared to others, who were taking the slogan "the best night you'll never remember" to heart). At some point we end up at a bar at 1 in the morning, and we all put our stuff down in a pile to get a drink. I am traveling with my satchel bag from india along with a few days worth of stuff inside. I go to get a drink, come back less than 15 minutes later, and about half the groups' stuff is missing, including mine.
I dont really want to get into all the details of what was missing since it is a long list, but i lost my bag (sentimental), camera (sentimental and some value) my jacket (important for keeping warm), my glasses (important for seeing) and my PASSPORT (crucial, as if you don't know). Well Im screwed at this point and realize it. Why are my glasses gone? Because someone wanted to see how blind I am without them, since i told them my vision was terrible. Karma is brutal. So I go aroundt the whole place to no avail. I realize its probably all gone and continue on with the pub crawl hoping I can board my plane to Copenhagen, and then a day later to St. Petersburg, with a copy of my passport and my drivers liscense.
I sit around at the airport for a few hours waiting for the airline desk to open, only to discover that no, I can't board without a passport. So I take a taxi to the U.S. embassy. Here is the kicker- President Obama is visiting next weekend, April 4 and 5th, and until then the embassy and American Citizen Service department is closed. After calling and investigating, it looks like I have to wait a week to get a temporary passport. At this point its about noon, Im dead tired and looking for a bed to crash in. Nothing in blocks has any open beds, so I end up crashing in a 4 star hotel (which actually wasn't extremely expensive because its eastern europe, just decently expensive). I wake up around dinner time and realize I have soooo much to take care of. I paid for that night, so I know I have a good place to stay, but I still have no clothing or vision or documents in a foreign, mostly non-english speaking, country.
I go immmediately for the mall and get in line to have my vision assessed and to get new glasses. After a few hour wait (and shopping for boxers, socks, and a tshirt nearly blind) I am with the optomatrist. He tells me I have an irregular stigma and that my lenses will take 2 weeks to order and come in. NO WAY. I made him triple check, and eventually he found ones that would work in some dark corner of the store room, thank god. So I get my glasses, go back to my hotel room and crash, super depressed and not on any positive note, except for my newly acquired vision (and the world is amazingly sharp, by the way, I started to forget that).
I woke up this morning, enjoyed the steam room in the hotel, ate a great buffet breakfast and started for another day of crap. I went and bought a new camera (Nikon coolpix so I can keep it in my pocket this time) and some food groceries and a little backpack. I have student insurance which should cover all this, which is the only reason I went and bought these things. I already lost so many pictures, I didn't want to lose any more by not having a camera. So the next stop is the Police station to report the theft. I go to three police stations, none of which have english translators. Finally I am pointed in the direction of a 24-hour service foreigners policce station (why was I not told about this at first?), excited to make some progress.
I get in there and am not paid any attention to for 2 hours. I talk to this old english man who has been living in Oslo for a few years who came to report a stolen wallet. He ends up having a short temper and gets in a terrible argument with the translator. I bashedly read the newspaper hiding my face from it all. When the translator gets to me, he accusedly asks, "Are you english!?" I say no, putting on my most gentle, kind, and reasonably upset voice. Over the course of two more hours I report everything that was stolen, describe it, and then wait for it to be translated. After getting my police report (which my insurance company better take, even though its in Czech) I head out.
Now I'm here, sitting in my original hostel, feeling somewhat at home. Since the embassy is closed for a week and I don't want to sit around waiting for it to open (something about bad memories here and also wanting to see more of europe on my spring break), I am headed for the US embassy in Berlin, one of the closest cities. I hear if you take the train immigration officials dont check your paperwork, and in any case aren't as stringent as the airlines. I'll give a report from there.
Berlin, here I come! Im trying to keep a positive face since it does no good to be upset all the time. I think Im going to have to tell about my bulgarian adventures another time, I'm pretty caught up in the moment....
Prague had been great. I had a great meal and intro to the city (see my last post), and was extremely excited to spend my last day exploring. I think I did it all. I spent my morning exploring the old Jewish quarter/ghetto of Prague. Its an amazing place. Not only have Jews been in Prague since the 8th century, continually managing to survive, but they were also holed up into this one corner of town thanks to the political desires of the church and nobility. The Mariel Synagogue hosts an extensive collection of hundred's of years old Jewish artifacts; the Nazis were creating a museum of the Jewish race and many of the resulting artifacts are here. There is an old Jewish cemetery with over 20.000 graves in the matter of one city block, in some cases 12 bodies deep (This was the only cemetery where Jews were allowed to be buried). Perhaps most moving was the Sinkas Synagogue. Within this synagogue is listed the names of over 77,000 Jews who were displaced and killed by the Nazis who once resided in now-defunct Czechaslovakia. My family on my mother's side (Smetana!) is from Austria and Czechaslovakia, so I went and looked up their names on the walls. Really the place looks like it is covered in dots from far away the print is so small. Up close you can see names and dates of birth (and if recorded by the concentration camp, date of extermination).
The afternoon after this I spent at the old Castle overlooking prague and its river. I thought I only had one day and I meant to spend it as busy as possible. While the hike up the hill and its cobblestone streets was epic, the castle itself was a little underwhelming, partially due to the fact that the royal palace was closed for renovation. Announce that before you pay the entry price. wtf? haha i just used an abreviation in a blog... wow. Anyway after that I headed back to the hostel for a nap, which was quite easy since the public transportation is great.
After waking up and knowing I have one night in town, I decide to go on a pub crawl with an Aussie I met in the hostel. My plane leaves at 10 am and I need to be at the airport before 8, so I decide I will stay out late and then catch a few hours of shuteye before the plane takes off. We decide to do a pub crawl where you pay a price and get a few free drinks and get taken to the "local spots," aka where gypsies can steal your stuff. So we meet up at the pub crawl destination, and its actually really fun. There are people from all over all trying to meet some other outgoing people. Realizing I have gotten into trouble in the past traveling and drinking, I am taking it easy (especially compared to others, who were taking the slogan "the best night you'll never remember" to heart). At some point we end up at a bar at 1 in the morning, and we all put our stuff down in a pile to get a drink. I am traveling with my satchel bag from india along with a few days worth of stuff inside. I go to get a drink, come back less than 15 minutes later, and about half the groups' stuff is missing, including mine.
I dont really want to get into all the details of what was missing since it is a long list, but i lost my bag (sentimental), camera (sentimental and some value) my jacket (important for keeping warm), my glasses (important for seeing) and my PASSPORT (crucial, as if you don't know). Well Im screwed at this point and realize it. Why are my glasses gone? Because someone wanted to see how blind I am without them, since i told them my vision was terrible. Karma is brutal. So I go aroundt the whole place to no avail. I realize its probably all gone and continue on with the pub crawl hoping I can board my plane to Copenhagen, and then a day later to St. Petersburg, with a copy of my passport and my drivers liscense.
I sit around at the airport for a few hours waiting for the airline desk to open, only to discover that no, I can't board without a passport. So I take a taxi to the U.S. embassy. Here is the kicker- President Obama is visiting next weekend, April 4 and 5th, and until then the embassy and American Citizen Service department is closed. After calling and investigating, it looks like I have to wait a week to get a temporary passport. At this point its about noon, Im dead tired and looking for a bed to crash in. Nothing in blocks has any open beds, so I end up crashing in a 4 star hotel (which actually wasn't extremely expensive because its eastern europe, just decently expensive). I wake up around dinner time and realize I have soooo much to take care of. I paid for that night, so I know I have a good place to stay, but I still have no clothing or vision or documents in a foreign, mostly non-english speaking, country.
I go immmediately for the mall and get in line to have my vision assessed and to get new glasses. After a few hour wait (and shopping for boxers, socks, and a tshirt nearly blind) I am with the optomatrist. He tells me I have an irregular stigma and that my lenses will take 2 weeks to order and come in. NO WAY. I made him triple check, and eventually he found ones that would work in some dark corner of the store room, thank god. So I get my glasses, go back to my hotel room and crash, super depressed and not on any positive note, except for my newly acquired vision (and the world is amazingly sharp, by the way, I started to forget that).
I woke up this morning, enjoyed the steam room in the hotel, ate a great buffet breakfast and started for another day of crap. I went and bought a new camera (Nikon coolpix so I can keep it in my pocket this time) and some food groceries and a little backpack. I have student insurance which should cover all this, which is the only reason I went and bought these things. I already lost so many pictures, I didn't want to lose any more by not having a camera. So the next stop is the Police station to report the theft. I go to three police stations, none of which have english translators. Finally I am pointed in the direction of a 24-hour service foreigners policce station (why was I not told about this at first?), excited to make some progress.
I get in there and am not paid any attention to for 2 hours. I talk to this old english man who has been living in Oslo for a few years who came to report a stolen wallet. He ends up having a short temper and gets in a terrible argument with the translator. I bashedly read the newspaper hiding my face from it all. When the translator gets to me, he accusedly asks, "Are you english!?" I say no, putting on my most gentle, kind, and reasonably upset voice. Over the course of two more hours I report everything that was stolen, describe it, and then wait for it to be translated. After getting my police report (which my insurance company better take, even though its in Czech) I head out.
Now I'm here, sitting in my original hostel, feeling somewhat at home. Since the embassy is closed for a week and I don't want to sit around waiting for it to open (something about bad memories here and also wanting to see more of europe on my spring break), I am headed for the US embassy in Berlin, one of the closest cities. I hear if you take the train immigration officials dont check your paperwork, and in any case aren't as stringent as the airlines. I'll give a report from there.
Berlin, here I come! Im trying to keep a positive face since it does no good to be upset all the time. I think Im going to have to tell about my bulgarian adventures another time, I'm pretty caught up in the moment....
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Postcards from Italy
I think I just had one of the most amazing meals of my life, all for under 20 dollars.
Let me back up a few steps. I am in Prague; I just departed from my Cross Cultural Encounters travel group in Bulgaria and got off at the connection city rather than taking the plane all the way back to Copenhagen. Unfortunately I forgot to tell the airlines this so I am getting off the plane for 48 hours in Prague without my bag; hopefully it will be on the other end waiting for me. So the first thing I do is buy a bus pass, change some money, and buy deodorant, a bar of soap, and a toothbrush/paste. Hey, if im going to wear the same clothing for the next three days i should be able to smell ok.
I am staying in a great backpacking hostel. I actually got the information from a little brochure off the wall at our guest house in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The alphabet here is no longer cyrillic but is still something foreign, albeit in romance language script, so it is a little difficult to navigate. After finding the hospital and finally figuring out the bus system, i took a shower and started to explore the awesome city of prague.
Given at this time its about 6 pm, I grab a roll and some water and hit the streets of the old town. Wow. Incredibly old towers and spires sitting in some of the most picturesque squares I have ever seen, all lit up at night. And this is against a background of sex shops and north african immigrants pushing drugs and hookers. Whooo Europe. I am starting to realize that the best way to explore this city is by wandering its streets and attempting to get lost; the mix of architecture and wierd storefronts is friendly and surprising. In my attempt to get lost I get a steaming cup of mulled wine, some of the best hot beverage I have ever drank. Unfortunately however this sped up my apetite and being lost it took a long time to get to the resturant I decided to dine in on the way downtown.
This resturant is unreal. It is a cellar bar complete with authentic czech bar food, aka MEAT. There are 6 beers on tap, rotating every week, and ove 200 varieties of bottle beer from the czech republic alone. Let me remind you that the lager-style beer was invented in Plzen, Czech Republic, and these guys know how to make their beer. In fact, Budweiser is a butchery of a wiezen, or pilsener, style beer. In any case, over the course of the meal I had three great brews: a light but complex unfiltered pale lager. This was standard mug fare, but still had some punch, and surprisingly was the least interesting of the beers. My favorite was an incredible smoked dark special on tap; it tasted like the smoke was peeled off of lox and combined with sweet cedar all in a malty cared-for beer. And the foam head was soooo delicious and thick. This beer tasted like a meal in and of itself, and I can say is one of the best beers I have had in a long time, and is called a Rauchmarzen, I need to find these when i get home. The last beer, which I washed down the dregs of my meal with, was a semi-dark malt with hints of citrusy wheat and a nice european hops kick which bit through the fat in my meal, a real necessity.
Maybe I got a lilttle carried away there. In any case the food was also awesome. Given that I could order so few things on the menu (almost everything had meat in it) I was not expecting anything good to come of it. I was so wrong. First came the friedd cheese skewer I ordered. Each golden brown block was a different cheese, and each equally delicious, especially with the vinegar-based radish slaw that acccompanied it. Next was a garlic and chili-infused spinach side, which was excellent and also happened to be the only vegetable on the menu. To round out the meal, and easily my favorite item, was a pan-fried catfish fillet with a barbeque-tinged french dressing underlaying it. The meat was flaky, crispy, and moist (what a wierd word) all at the same time, and I have to say I need to learn how to cook fish.
OK so today was just grinning walking around this soviet turned bohemian paradise and eating and drinking like a king for cheap. Still, I have enjoyed the solitude, and look foreward to my day tomorrow. I plan on exploring the old jewish quarter, the smetana family (my mom's side) has pre-WWII roots here, and then exploring the old Prague castle built in the 4th (or 9th?) century. I also plan on eating some more great food, reading the latest Economist (one of my favorite magazines, thanks ace freedman) and doing some reflecting on Bulgaria and my time in Denmark. I may end the night with a pub crawl, but we will see on how I am feeling. I also plan on ending the day watching the sunset over the Danube river, should be baller.
I am sooooo lucky with my life right now. And I have an awesome new haircut by a non-english speaking Bulgarian woman. More to come.
Let me back up a few steps. I am in Prague; I just departed from my Cross Cultural Encounters travel group in Bulgaria and got off at the connection city rather than taking the plane all the way back to Copenhagen. Unfortunately I forgot to tell the airlines this so I am getting off the plane for 48 hours in Prague without my bag; hopefully it will be on the other end waiting for me. So the first thing I do is buy a bus pass, change some money, and buy deodorant, a bar of soap, and a toothbrush/paste. Hey, if im going to wear the same clothing for the next three days i should be able to smell ok.
I am staying in a great backpacking hostel. I actually got the information from a little brochure off the wall at our guest house in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The alphabet here is no longer cyrillic but is still something foreign, albeit in romance language script, so it is a little difficult to navigate. After finding the hospital and finally figuring out the bus system, i took a shower and started to explore the awesome city of prague.
Given at this time its about 6 pm, I grab a roll and some water and hit the streets of the old town. Wow. Incredibly old towers and spires sitting in some of the most picturesque squares I have ever seen, all lit up at night. And this is against a background of sex shops and north african immigrants pushing drugs and hookers. Whooo Europe. I am starting to realize that the best way to explore this city is by wandering its streets and attempting to get lost; the mix of architecture and wierd storefronts is friendly and surprising. In my attempt to get lost I get a steaming cup of mulled wine, some of the best hot beverage I have ever drank. Unfortunately however this sped up my apetite and being lost it took a long time to get to the resturant I decided to dine in on the way downtown.
This resturant is unreal. It is a cellar bar complete with authentic czech bar food, aka MEAT. There are 6 beers on tap, rotating every week, and ove 200 varieties of bottle beer from the czech republic alone. Let me remind you that the lager-style beer was invented in Plzen, Czech Republic, and these guys know how to make their beer. In fact, Budweiser is a butchery of a wiezen, or pilsener, style beer. In any case, over the course of the meal I had three great brews: a light but complex unfiltered pale lager. This was standard mug fare, but still had some punch, and surprisingly was the least interesting of the beers. My favorite was an incredible smoked dark special on tap; it tasted like the smoke was peeled off of lox and combined with sweet cedar all in a malty cared-for beer. And the foam head was soooo delicious and thick. This beer tasted like a meal in and of itself, and I can say is one of the best beers I have had in a long time, and is called a Rauchmarzen, I need to find these when i get home. The last beer, which I washed down the dregs of my meal with, was a semi-dark malt with hints of citrusy wheat and a nice european hops kick which bit through the fat in my meal, a real necessity.
Maybe I got a lilttle carried away there. In any case the food was also awesome. Given that I could order so few things on the menu (almost everything had meat in it) I was not expecting anything good to come of it. I was so wrong. First came the friedd cheese skewer I ordered. Each golden brown block was a different cheese, and each equally delicious, especially with the vinegar-based radish slaw that acccompanied it. Next was a garlic and chili-infused spinach side, which was excellent and also happened to be the only vegetable on the menu. To round out the meal, and easily my favorite item, was a pan-fried catfish fillet with a barbeque-tinged french dressing underlaying it. The meat was flaky, crispy, and moist (what a wierd word) all at the same time, and I have to say I need to learn how to cook fish.
OK so today was just grinning walking around this soviet turned bohemian paradise and eating and drinking like a king for cheap. Still, I have enjoyed the solitude, and look foreward to my day tomorrow. I plan on exploring the old jewish quarter, the smetana family (my mom's side) has pre-WWII roots here, and then exploring the old Prague castle built in the 4th (or 9th?) century. I also plan on eating some more great food, reading the latest Economist (one of my favorite magazines, thanks ace freedman) and doing some reflecting on Bulgaria and my time in Denmark. I may end the night with a pub crawl, but we will see on how I am feeling. I also plan on ending the day watching the sunset over the Danube river, should be baller.
I am sooooo lucky with my life right now. And I have an awesome new haircut by a non-english speaking Bulgarian woman. More to come.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Under the Bridge
I think I fell in love with my first International Relations Theorist. Call me a Neotraditional Realist if you will, but I love Fareed Zakaria.
On reading that back to myself, that sounds a little pompous. Let me explain.
I have been doing alot of IR and diplomacy readings for a paper on democracy as an anti-terror tactic and whether the rhetoric of democracy is correct given the state of many illiberal democracies worldwide and the need for liberalism, not democracy, for the unrest in many of the world's simmering waters.
Neotraditional Realism is strictly a theory of international politics, which differs it from many different schools of political realism theory, in that it makes no attempt to explain foreign policy or historical events. Therefore it focuses on systematic phenomena and not very heavily on complex foreign policy analyses, which I beleive are extremely difficult to assess accurately today based on the increased globalization and interdependence of our world and the lack of distance from events to investigate many results of foreign policy in the last half-decade. This train of thought is also different because it adds the element of soft (ie cultural) power to the historical equation along with domestic policy actions, intentions, and perceptions.
In foreign policy we do not necessarily want to maximize our power or resources, but wee seek to maximize our influence. We want to increase our control on others. We want to continue to live an unsustainable lifestyle of consumption and materialism, and our foreign policy aligns with economic motives that continue this-opening new markets and promoting not democracy but regimes that provide stable access to the countries resources. In essence, I really think we are fighting a culture war. Or maybe its a capitalistic war for continued unbridled consumption.
And the guy himself is fascinating and charming. I knew his latest book, The Post-American World, sounded familiar when I was reading about him, and its because based on the title and his Indian ancestry this book was all over Indian bookstores last summer. He has also made multiple appearances on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and has had shows on CBS, ABC, and CNN. I think he may just be this generations Henry Kissinger, although Zakaria is considered a centrist. Thanks for having such a keen eye for foreign affairs and international relations theory, Fareed; I think you have saved my paper.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Paris Is Burning
During my studies here in Copenhagen one of my academic focuses has been immigration and integration in a Danish setting. I thought I would share with you some recent thoughts and observations (albeit not all my own) that make immigration and multiculturalism in Europe unique.
First off, some facts:
-Denmark is currently 8 percent Muslim, mostly immigrants over the last couple decades from North Africa and the Middle East.
-The social welfare state here is extremely beneficial for members. Free health care, education, two years of parental maternity leave (one year for mommy, following year for daddy), and cleaning staff for the homes of the elderly. Unfortunately, citizenship and benefits of the state are hard to acquire
-It is extremely difficult to acquire Asylum Seeker status here in Denmark. One has to prove that they are being personally proscecuted, which is extremely difficult for people escaping unstable regions. According to an EU charter Denmark should take Asylum seekers from unstable regions on the grounds of lacking personal but having group proscecution. Still, Denmark turns away hundreds of Iraqis, Iranis, Afgans, Roma, and Somali's every year.
-According to the Dublin Agreement a refugee is processed in the first country they are recorded or detected in. Therefore in order to get to Denmark as a refugee one has to take a boat from their native country or be smuggled through mainland europe. This policy is partially why Sweden has the most liberal integration and immigration policies; few refugees make it as far north as Sweden so they can politically and economically afford liberal policies.
-Immigrant and Native Dane communities do not really mix socially in Copenhagen.
Most people define equal citizenship as equal rights and responsibilities for immigrants and natives, along with an equality of opportunities and certain cultural and political demands on immigrants and on the states themselves. Long before immigration issues arose in Denmark has there been a polarity in the dialogue - Integration or Multiculturalism. Integration involves the immigrant community to align with the values and ways of the country, and multiculturalism allows for spheres of different cultures within another society. The United States has been fighting this battle for its entire existence, since we are a country entirely composed of immigrants (minus Native Americans, who have essentially been disseminated through re-education programs and pitiful retributions, you guys know the embarrassing history). It can be said that the United States is an example of multiculturalism with a large degree of assimilation over time.
So what happens in a liberal democracy when enlightenment ideas clash? As a case study we have been investigating the murder of a free-speech advocate and filmmaker who was shot and stabbed by a Muslim extremist in the Netherlands. Where do freedom to practice religion and freedom of speech meet when one is allowed to be slanderous to another's values? Unfortunately in November of 2004 Theo van Gogh paid for his free speech with his life. I am not implying that his death should be condoned, on the contrary. Rather how do we curb such events as this from happening?
Many welfare states stop involving themselves in the lives of immigrants after they have passed loyalty and language tests, essentially abandoning them in a new culture and society. In such an atmosphere, immigrant children have to watch their parents suffer the indignity pushed on them economically and culturally by their native cohabitants, much to their and their parents buried frustration. The freedom to free practice of religion a given in these states, and for many religion is all there is to cling to in a new country with a bleak future, given with a floor on poverty guaranteed by the welfare state.
There is a paradox within multiculturalism: that all communities should have equal treatment, but not the individuals who form those communities. Relativism demands that we see our values simply as the beleifs of the particular tribe we call the west, and multiculturalism is a part of this process. A respect for difference eliminates the framework of what is just and unjust, criminal and legal, moral and immoral. Individuals within these different communities are not allowed to free themselves from their own traditions; instead there is approval of the group and suppression of the individual within. In this line of thought repetition of the past is being encouraged and the struggle for civil rights has to be re-waged within all these communities with values separate from enlightenment thinking. It is also contemptuous thinking because it assumes certain communities are incapable of modernizing. In contrast to republican secular thought, which is based on freedom of religious affiliation and peaceful coexistence, and that all human beings have the same rights, this ideal is far from being realized in a multicultural European context where nationality may not be the first avenue of personal identity association.
So what is important in all of these communities, western or eastern, liberal or conservative? DISSENT. Enlightenment in Europe was fought for against monarchies and the power of the church through dissent, which eventually led to a plurality of individual rights. While some argue that Enlightenment thinking is nothing but another religion with a historically self-conscious perspective (something that I never considered before and I am still wrapping my brain around), I believe that this gives too much credit to the secularization of the masses and the lack of confidence in what religion can provide in personal and communal life. Enlightenment ideals do not result per se in secularism; to a certain degree they exist side by side. Toleration of dissent and discussion is important within all these communities because, if allowed to do so, it makes the community re-evaluate its values and its relationship beyond its own communal walls. Within a multicultural state where the surrounding community can protect dissenters, this practice should be encourages and can also serve as a dialogue between the communities, rather than simply within the boundaries of one or another.
There is nothing wrong with a little re-evaluation. Thats what we all desire anyway, a different perspective. I may go as far as to say that is why humans love alcohol and drugs so much (including nicotine and caffeine). Besides the effect these substances have on the brain that bring pleasure, they change one's orientation and viewing of the external and internal world. Think about it, we all want to stand in someone elses shoes or see the world in a different way, that is why so many people love to travel.
Anyway, I would love any and all feedback. My views on multiculturalism and immigration are constantly shifting, and I am firmly rooted in enlightenment values, however understand perhaps a compromise might have to be made every once in a while. All I know is that if stages for dialogue between co-existing communities are not created and sustained, dramatic intercultural travesties that involve a difference of values like the one that occurred in Amsterdam in 2004 will continue to materialize.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Inoculated City
Hey Y'all,
sorry about the lack of updatedness, I mean to fix that in the coming days. An explanation: Late two thursdays ago, I spontaneously decided to buy a plane ticket to go home to NY and visit the family, and after one night out saying goodbye to Copenhagen, I hopped on a plane Saturday afternoon and started my trek home. About 5 diet cokes, two bad movies, and 12 hours later, I was home in my kitchen eating popcorn with my family.
Some highlights of the trip-Going to Yoga at the JCC with my mom. Those jewish women really know how to stretch it out, and I am always impressed by my lack of flexibility and the sheer length of my legs from the ground every time I go. Plus, its one of the only times my mother can tell me im doing something wrong, and how to fix it (ha!). Ron and I rented a U-haul for the afternoon in order to fix the roof on Bertha, who I am proud to report is up and running.
What else..I love being hyper around my family. They never have enough energy and love of life, so I bring it hard, sometimes to their dismay. My lack of ability to be quiet or speak in a whisper comes in handy here. I also got to eat some great home cooking and talk to some of my family members, which was really important.
I also had the pleasure of heading back to campus for 36 hours. It was great to catch up with friends who I haven't seen in almost a year because they were abroad. Of course at such a small school there were too many people realizing I was there and asking the same old, what are you doing here and how is abroad questions. I became the master at diffusing this; it felt like the first day of school all over again where everyone asks how your summer was but they don't really care anyway. Well school was sunny and also had almost a foot of snow, being warmer and snowier all in one than Rochester. I want to thank all my Wes friends for being so great, welcoming, and understanding. It was great seeing all of you and getting a taste of school, I wish I could have stayed longer.
I also got to meet up with my friend Alexa in Grand Central right before heading back to CPH. She is in law school now and is getting married in May! So it was great to hear about all the details of that.
So what have I done in CPH? First I unpacked. Because of the cost of food in Copenhagen, I brought 25 pounds of groceries with me in my pack to stock up my shelf. I took a MONSTER needed nap after getting off the plane, and after a quick shower, I went to an Animal Collective show. If you guys don't know who they are, please check them out. Their latest album, Merryweather Post Pavilion, has been getting rave reviews and many think it is one of the best (or will be) albums of the year, combining synth pop, psychadelia, and strange otherworldly sounds. If you can describe them better than me, hats off to you, cause they are hard to encapsulate. Anyway, they came on stage to a packed crowd of over a thousand Danes, young and old. I was actually surprised by the amount of middle-aged people in the crowd. Playing a very ambient set that slowly built from strange emmittances and repeated beats, you couldn't help but close your eyes and follow the swirling sounds around your own head. By the end the crowd was dancing and pushing, singing "Is it much, to admit I need/A solid soul and the blood I bleed/With a little girl, and by my spouse/I only want a proper house." And at almost forty dollars a ticket, the crowd was certainly willing to help provide for these scruffy musicians turning their little knobs agreeing, "I don't mean to seem like I care about material things..."
The rest of the weekend was spent mostly in bed and catching up on papers; whoo jetlag!
Coming up-another dinner party, three tests this week, and last night I bought tickets to meet up with mitch in Budapest! Jagshemesh! I like!
sorry about the lack of updatedness, I mean to fix that in the coming days. An explanation: Late two thursdays ago, I spontaneously decided to buy a plane ticket to go home to NY and visit the family, and after one night out saying goodbye to Copenhagen, I hopped on a plane Saturday afternoon and started my trek home. About 5 diet cokes, two bad movies, and 12 hours later, I was home in my kitchen eating popcorn with my family.
Some highlights of the trip-Going to Yoga at the JCC with my mom. Those jewish women really know how to stretch it out, and I am always impressed by my lack of flexibility and the sheer length of my legs from the ground every time I go. Plus, its one of the only times my mother can tell me im doing something wrong, and how to fix it (ha!). Ron and I rented a U-haul for the afternoon in order to fix the roof on Bertha, who I am proud to report is up and running.
What else..I love being hyper around my family. They never have enough energy and love of life, so I bring it hard, sometimes to their dismay. My lack of ability to be quiet or speak in a whisper comes in handy here. I also got to eat some great home cooking and talk to some of my family members, which was really important.
I also had the pleasure of heading back to campus for 36 hours. It was great to catch up with friends who I haven't seen in almost a year because they were abroad. Of course at such a small school there were too many people realizing I was there and asking the same old, what are you doing here and how is abroad questions. I became the master at diffusing this; it felt like the first day of school all over again where everyone asks how your summer was but they don't really care anyway. Well school was sunny and also had almost a foot of snow, being warmer and snowier all in one than Rochester. I want to thank all my Wes friends for being so great, welcoming, and understanding. It was great seeing all of you and getting a taste of school, I wish I could have stayed longer.
I also got to meet up with my friend Alexa in Grand Central right before heading back to CPH. She is in law school now and is getting married in May! So it was great to hear about all the details of that.
So what have I done in CPH? First I unpacked. Because of the cost of food in Copenhagen, I brought 25 pounds of groceries with me in my pack to stock up my shelf. I took a MONSTER needed nap after getting off the plane, and after a quick shower, I went to an Animal Collective show. If you guys don't know who they are, please check them out. Their latest album, Merryweather Post Pavilion, has been getting rave reviews and many think it is one of the best (or will be) albums of the year, combining synth pop, psychadelia, and strange otherworldly sounds. If you can describe them better than me, hats off to you, cause they are hard to encapsulate. Anyway, they came on stage to a packed crowd of over a thousand Danes, young and old. I was actually surprised by the amount of middle-aged people in the crowd. Playing a very ambient set that slowly built from strange emmittances and repeated beats, you couldn't help but close your eyes and follow the swirling sounds around your own head. By the end the crowd was dancing and pushing, singing "Is it much, to admit I need/A solid soul and the blood I bleed/With a little girl, and by my spouse/I only want a proper house." And at almost forty dollars a ticket, the crowd was certainly willing to help provide for these scruffy musicians turning their little knobs agreeing, "I don't mean to seem like I care about material things..."
The rest of the weekend was spent mostly in bed and catching up on papers; whoo jetlag!
Coming up-another dinner party, three tests this week, and last night I bought tickets to meet up with mitch in Budapest! Jagshemesh! I like!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Someone Great
Alot has happened in the last week, so I will run through it really quick. At some point soon I will get back to enjoying blogging, but some recent occurences in my life make such things seem insubstantial, so bear with me.
Festelavn party-its the Danish version of halloween where the kids beat a pinata (actually a barrel that used to contain a live cat) for candy and adults party. Most guys like to dress as girls, the best girl costumes were Marylin Monroe and Princess Leia. Singsong (aka kareoke) is huge on this holiday, and I had the honor to listen to two fully grown men sing and revel in a beach boys song in Danish.
I built a 6 inch snow man. Not as much snow as new york.
I ate 4 falafel, and they were all delicious. What is the plurality of falafel? Falafels? Falafi?
I went to Malmo, the Copenhagen sister city in Sweden. It doesn't have much, although their kronor is much poorer than the Danish krown, so many go there to shop. After going to the aquarium there (awesome!), I went and watched the Liverpool vs. Manchester city football game in a pub and met a whole bunch of Irish guys (drunk) and an older man from London who fought with Americans in Columbia.
I lit some candles at the local cemetary. Everyone deserves to be remembered and honored.
I made two really good ommelets. Lets be honest, breakfast food is the best food.
I got an eyebrow piercing with my friend Sarah Brown, who got a bar through her lip. The guy who pierced us was really interesting, he had implanted horns in his forehead and had 75% of his body covered in tattoos. Needless to say we felt we were in safe hands.
More to come y'all. Wishing you all good health and happiness from Kobenhavn.
Festelavn party-its the Danish version of halloween where the kids beat a pinata (actually a barrel that used to contain a live cat) for candy and adults party. Most guys like to dress as girls, the best girl costumes were Marylin Monroe and Princess Leia. Singsong (aka kareoke) is huge on this holiday, and I had the honor to listen to two fully grown men sing and revel in a beach boys song in Danish.
I built a 6 inch snow man. Not as much snow as new york.
I ate 4 falafel, and they were all delicious. What is the plurality of falafel? Falafels? Falafi?
I went to Malmo, the Copenhagen sister city in Sweden. It doesn't have much, although their kronor is much poorer than the Danish krown, so many go there to shop. After going to the aquarium there (awesome!), I went and watched the Liverpool vs. Manchester city football game in a pub and met a whole bunch of Irish guys (drunk) and an older man from London who fought with Americans in Columbia.
I lit some candles at the local cemetary. Everyone deserves to be remembered and honored.
I made two really good ommelets. Lets be honest, breakfast food is the best food.
I got an eyebrow piercing with my friend Sarah Brown, who got a bar through her lip. The guy who pierced us was really interesting, he had implanted horns in his forehead and had 75% of his body covered in tattoos. Needless to say we felt we were in safe hands.
More to come y'all. Wishing you all good health and happiness from Kobenhavn.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Rough Gem
In my time here in Copenhagen, I have started to appreciate the AWESOME music scene, and plan to delve into it fully. Perhaps after I saw Carpark North with my core class in Arhus (think U2 meets The Police meets Bjork), I was hooked on what the Danes could do, or at least host.
Last week the Islands came to Copenhagen and played a great two hour set. Coming into the show, this band set up some serious expectations. Two members of the band stem from the indie rock band the Unicorns, who play catchy lo-fi music full of cheap keyboards, loud guitars and drum machines. Also their debut album, Return to the Sea, featured guests from both prominent indie bands Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade. Needless to say they have something going on. Anyway the Islands create great pop numbers that are catchy and yet seem to have some substance (although not in the case of their most popular songs, you be the judge). While the Danish crowd took a half hour or so to get into their set, the band was tight, well rehearsed and obviously they knew what they were doing . Montreal continues to turn out great music, and this is just another example. Still, among indie circles, these guys need something distinct to separate their shows from others. They play and wear the part, but unless they come out with something brilliant or do something to really make a name they will go down as another catchy but doomed neo-psychadelic indie pop band. Also, they could be nicer to fans. In trying to pawn off their t shirts, they seemed really uninterested in talking to fans; maybe they just had a bad day. Still, indie rock is based off of grassroots support and these guys seem itching for more than that. Give them a listen and check out "Creeper," "The Arm," and "Rough Gem."
http://www.myspace.com/islands
Tonight I had the honor of rocking with Wesleyan alums Amazing Baby. Straight after graduating these guys moved to Brooklyn to join the burgeoning music scene there, and their 70's phych pop rock has taken root. These really handsome guys straight out of 1974 really know what they are doing (or at least come off that way), coming off epic and seemingly ready to play arena rock; or maybe they are too high to not think they are rocking out a full stadium. Somehow they mix psychadelia, folk, prog rock, funk, pop and metal all into one coherent sound without being a terrible cocktail of contradictions. Playing in the same space as The Islands, there was ample opportunity for comparison. First off, these guys did not hold back at all from rocking the shit out of the crowd and room like the Islands did. From the first song heads were rocking and the crowd moving. There was a strange aura surrounding the group as clouds of fog emminated from the stage and the lead singer was already swinging his mic in circles by the cord. By the end of the show the lead guitarist was writhing on the ground with his long hair all over his face reacting to the very chords he played. The lead singer was also swinging his mic stand like a sword and beating the drummer's cymbal stand with his bare hands, creating as much rock as possible. These guys may seem a little cliche, but truly know how to put on a show and seemed to channel My Morning Jacket, The Clash, and Brian Eno all in one. Highly Recommended! You can download their EP on their website, or listen to "Head Dress," "Supreme Being," and "Pump yr Brakes" on myspace :
http://profile.myspace.com/theamazingbaby
And in the wake of awesome Wes bands (MGMT, Amazing Baby), i really feel like recent grads Boy Crisis rank right up there. This cool disco-punk band really knows how to sell sex and isn't emarrassed to do so. In fact, they have even been called a painful cliche of what popular music is today, but the way these guys channel studio 54 style disco-electronica with glamour and punk of the 70's it hurts, and one can't help but love the sex, drugs and dancing they are selling.
Lyrics like "You can do me like Woodrow Wilson/Carry my Children/Exit the Building...You can do me like Bruce Springsteen/Ask the swim team/Pass the string beans" Are amazingly sexual and comical in only the way Boy Crisis can deliver. And about their name, Newsweek ran a cover story about falling standards among young men in education a couple years back which was attributed to the way the male brain and the "biologically disrespectful education system" are hardwired. Check out "Dressed to Digress," "L'homme," and "Seven Years War." And let them "love you like you are the shit, girl." Album should come out this summer.
http://profile.myspace.com/boycrisis
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Summertime Clothes
Some societal differences:
Newspapers are free! Apparently they are paid for by advertising alone, and when I get off the bus in the morning at the main station people hand them out like hot cakes. And even more interesting (or surprising) is that these are independent newspapers. In a country where almost everything is paid for by the state (education, health care, cleaning ladies), I would assume the media would be funded by the government. I think we are all clear that there would be some serious bias in the direction of reporting in such a scenario. This is a great system to ensure readership and awareness amongst a population. Perhaps if there was a larger readership in the United States the funding could be covered by advertising. Unfortunately too many Americans enjoy soundbytes and USA Today (aka pictorial) papers.
Politics and elections are based on full or near full understanding of the candidates' positions. In one of my classes we met a young, fit, blond haired 32 year old politician who was elected based on her liberal views from a young up and coming district. She said she went to more town hall style meetings than she can count, but i guess that is easier in a country of 5 million. Also, she really utilized facebook and myspace, which is genious in the country with the most percentage of the population on these resources (60 percent!!!). And as a side note, liberal here means free thinking, not pandering to traditionally leftist politics. This came as quite a surprise to me as some of the most conservative members of parliament consider themselves liber, or not pandering to party platforms.
Social code. There is a specific law (Janteloven) that is followed by all Danes. You shall not beleive that you are somebody, that you are wiser than others, that you are better than others, you shall not laugh at others, etc. One is shamed for breaking this, and can even be fired for doing so. Bragging is considered extremely rude and uncouth, which is direct opposition to the state of affairs in the US, where bragging and self promotion is a way of life. I just had a conversation with a Dane about this, and it goes hand in hand with Danes not enjoying small talk. Asking how are you here is pointless. No one really cares-true in the US as well-but there is a welfare state that should take care of every person. Therefore, you really are fine (for example, unemployment pay here lasts for years, not weeks) and this is a pointless venture. In this way it is unfit to brag because everyone should be on an equal footing. Perhaps bragging is so much more acceptable in the US because it is a (supposedly) self-made country, full of Horatio Alger stories.
Facial piercings are in! Lip rings, eyebrow rings, chest/cleavage piercings, chin rings, industrials, dimple piercings (really cool!), they are all fair game on guys and girls. And perhaps the coolest piercing which so may girls sport is the septum piercing. This is the middle flap of flesh in between one's nostrils, and people look like hot, angry bulls with this. In the US this would be considered disgusting and unprofessional, ut here it has little effect on people's professional lives. Sarah Brown, one of the Wes kids here, is thinking about getting one, but really questioning it based on the perception in the US. Well I'm all for her getting it and letting people judge here after knowing her, but maybe I'm too vocal.
Thats it for now on the commentary front, I'll have to keep on observing. In any case, this week I hosted a successful dinner party (thanks Neelu for teaching me how to cook indian food!) in my loft, which I hope to repeat many times this semester. I attended a beer tasting and tasted the best vit bier (wheat beer) of my life. Apparently one of the ten best breweries of 2008 is a small microbrewery in downtown Copenhagen, so i hope to try all their brews. And yes I realize that best is very objective, but this was conducted by some international beer panel. And last night I went to a grunge-rock concert. I have finally found an alternative music venue here in Copenhagen. It is actually Studentehuset, the same pub where I bartended a few weeks ago. Freudian Slip, the band, was clearly influenced by Nirvana, The Clash, and Weezer, and hopefully the venue will continue to have awesome shows. The place feels/rocks like Eclectic, and everyone also sports the nerd glasses. Whoo nerds!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Our House part 2
Soooooo Im awesomely tired in Arhus, starting the second day of this awesome weekend.
In the morning we went to The Women's Museum, where we listened to a woman talk about her role with an NGO being a mentor to newly emmigrated women. Truly a great program, it helps women negotiate the workplace and cultural aspects of being new to Denmark. The next part of the day was great though.
We loaded on the bus and went to a sort of ethnic bazaar, full of Turkish and Arabic bakeries, not to mention a couple of chatchky shops. After grabbing lunch (falafel still hasn't gotten old), i picked up two great items, a keychain and a watermelon. Not just any watermelon either, this bad boy was from Costa Rica. Well it was delicious, but my other keepsake was even more special just for the fact that it exists. I am now the not-so-proud owner of a 3D glass Yassir Arafat keychain. I completely support the palestinian cause for an end to Israeli occupation and the creation of a palestinian state, but I hardly consider this man a leader after he turned down negotiations with Israel at Camp David in July 2000. Essentially Arafat turned down the right for palestinians to have sovereignty in over 90 percent of the West Bank and the Gaza strip, along with declining the return of political prisoners. Anyway, I feel like I am an owner of Nazi propaganda or something similar.
That afternoon we were taken to a bilingual school in the suburbs of Arhus, where ethnic Danes and immigrant children came together to become "world citizens." After talking to the principal it was clear the school was painted in Danish integration perogatives (versus multiculturalist approaches), but still seemed to be doing some good work. Plus, we got a tour of the school, and got to enjoy gym class with some 6 year olds. And yes, two of them were better at basketball than me. Sad.
After a buffet dinner and endless bottles of wine (thanks Danish Institute for Study Abroad!) we were treated to a concert by our program director. Carpark North is an electro-rock band, and were definitely influenced by Depeche Mode, the Police, Kraftwerk, and the Beatles. And the Danes loved it. This band may have been playing to only a thousand people, but it felt like an arena rock show, with the Danes next to me throwing their arms around me in the middle of a chorus sing along (which were repetitive and in english-i fit right in). Then after a couple hours of sweating and dancing, the climactic encore. All of a sudden my teacher who is leading the trip bursts up next to me and we start jumping up and down to the music. This guy can rock way harder than me, and he's 39 and has two kids. This was certainly the highlight of the night, dragging oneself home after one more beer and a little bit of a danceparty couldn't compare to the face-melting rock show we just experienced.
The next morning we went to the Arhus ARoS museum, an art museum with lots of interactive modern art, along with alot of pieces relevant to national identity. The interactive exhibit was incredible. There was a typewriter that as you typed projected bugs onto the page with each letter-different letters produced different bugs via a projector hovering above the extending scroll paper. There was also a treadmill with a virtual running path, some psychadelic goggles, and a light bulb pulse reader that altered the lighting pattern in its vast room.
So the tour came to an end, just in time to go home, take a nap, and go out with DIS kids. we went to a bar where a great acoustic guitar player was playing US classic sing-alongs-hilarious and fun at the same time.
And Wesleyan bands are everywhere. Every time I turn on the radio I hear an MGMT song on, and no one beleives me when I tell Danes they went to my school. Also, I was walking down the street today looking for an alarm clock (my cell phone isn't doing a great job of making me on time for things), I saw a Mixel Pixel t shirt. This band is part electro-funk, part post-punk, and part psych-folk, which all blend beautifully (and often) at Wesleyan university. It isn't clear to me if this is a Wes band that moved to Brooklyn, or are original Brooklynites, but still it all rings too close to home. Oh and people like Santogold here too. Also, next week Wesleyan Alum band Amazing Baby is playing here, and looks like its going to be a good show. Yeah Wes!
In the morning we went to The Women's Museum, where we listened to a woman talk about her role with an NGO being a mentor to newly emmigrated women. Truly a great program, it helps women negotiate the workplace and cultural aspects of being new to Denmark. The next part of the day was great though.
We loaded on the bus and went to a sort of ethnic bazaar, full of Turkish and Arabic bakeries, not to mention a couple of chatchky shops. After grabbing lunch (falafel still hasn't gotten old), i picked up two great items, a keychain and a watermelon. Not just any watermelon either, this bad boy was from Costa Rica. Well it was delicious, but my other keepsake was even more special just for the fact that it exists. I am now the not-so-proud owner of a 3D glass Yassir Arafat keychain. I completely support the palestinian cause for an end to Israeli occupation and the creation of a palestinian state, but I hardly consider this man a leader after he turned down negotiations with Israel at Camp David in July 2000. Essentially Arafat turned down the right for palestinians to have sovereignty in over 90 percent of the West Bank and the Gaza strip, along with declining the return of political prisoners. Anyway, I feel like I am an owner of Nazi propaganda or something similar.
That afternoon we were taken to a bilingual school in the suburbs of Arhus, where ethnic Danes and immigrant children came together to become "world citizens." After talking to the principal it was clear the school was painted in Danish integration perogatives (versus multiculturalist approaches), but still seemed to be doing some good work. Plus, we got a tour of the school, and got to enjoy gym class with some 6 year olds. And yes, two of them were better at basketball than me. Sad.
After a buffet dinner and endless bottles of wine (thanks Danish Institute for Study Abroad!) we were treated to a concert by our program director. Carpark North is an electro-rock band, and were definitely influenced by Depeche Mode, the Police, Kraftwerk, and the Beatles. And the Danes loved it. This band may have been playing to only a thousand people, but it felt like an arena rock show, with the Danes next to me throwing their arms around me in the middle of a chorus sing along (which were repetitive and in english-i fit right in). Then after a couple hours of sweating and dancing, the climactic encore. All of a sudden my teacher who is leading the trip bursts up next to me and we start jumping up and down to the music. This guy can rock way harder than me, and he's 39 and has two kids. This was certainly the highlight of the night, dragging oneself home after one more beer and a little bit of a danceparty couldn't compare to the face-melting rock show we just experienced.
The next morning we went to the Arhus ARoS museum, an art museum with lots of interactive modern art, along with alot of pieces relevant to national identity. The interactive exhibit was incredible. There was a typewriter that as you typed projected bugs onto the page with each letter-different letters produced different bugs via a projector hovering above the extending scroll paper. There was also a treadmill with a virtual running path, some psychadelic goggles, and a light bulb pulse reader that altered the lighting pattern in its vast room.
So the tour came to an end, just in time to go home, take a nap, and go out with DIS kids. we went to a bar where a great acoustic guitar player was playing US classic sing-alongs-hilarious and fun at the same time.
And Wesleyan bands are everywhere. Every time I turn on the radio I hear an MGMT song on, and no one beleives me when I tell Danes they went to my school. Also, I was walking down the street today looking for an alarm clock (my cell phone isn't doing a great job of making me on time for things), I saw a Mixel Pixel t shirt. This band is part electro-funk, part post-punk, and part psych-folk, which all blend beautifully (and often) at Wesleyan university. It isn't clear to me if this is a Wes band that moved to Brooklyn, or are original Brooklynites, but still it all rings too close to home. Oh and people like Santogold here too. Also, next week Wesleyan Alum band Amazing Baby is playing here, and looks like its going to be a good show. Yeah Wes!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Arhus part 1
Where we left off....
I was going Wednesday night to studentehuset to bartend. I get there, and the place is PACKED. International student night also includes regular students at University of Copenhagen, and they get cheap drinks, so the place is swarming. We are broken up into shifts, and I find out I get to bartend for two hours, and then I have to take the coat check for the closing hour.
Bartending itself is rediculously fun. Not only do you drink for free (at this place), but you meet all these people, and get to hurriedly run around, making jokes with the other people who are working. Its just a feel good job; for someone who loves beer, there is nothing like handing it over the counter to the thirsty masses.
In any case the two hours were gone in what seemed like a couple of minutes, with only a couple of mishaps (serving danes whiskey when they asked for Fisk, which is a licorice flavored liquor, but sounds the same over the din of the crowd; Danes don't like whiskey much, if I may generalize.
Coat check, on the other hand, is the worst job of all time. Everyone stands there waiting for you to run and get there coat, and occassionally the coat is not to be found on the hook. Then you are told all the details of the coat and its contents, not like that really helps in a room full of coats. Eventually people storm off cursing you, cold and without a jacket. Hey, I feel you. I lost one of my most precious possessions at a coat check. And yours wasn't made out of denim.
After that there was alot of sweeping, dancing, chair stacking, beer drinking, and pizza eating. While I didnt get out of there till the early morn, and was thoroughly exhausted, it was great to sing and dance with these people after a night of laboring. And the owner of the bar ordered some of the only good pizza I've had in town, including a falafel pizza with lettuce, fallafel crumbs, tomato, and tzatziki dressing. mmmmmmmmmm.
This weekend was spent in Arhus, the second largest town/city in Denmark, and located about 3-4 hours away in Jutland, the Western part of the country connected to Germany (for those of you who don't know, Copenhagen is on the Zealand land mass, and Denmark itself is an Archipelago with 406 islands. Also, Greenland belongs to Denmark). We had an interesting meeting with the Odense Integration council, who help match immigrants with resident permits with jobs, and a museum of Anti-Semitic caricatures. This museum really disappointed me, based on how it discussed the previous presence of anti-semetism in Denmark, and how it is gone today. However, there is no talk of how the role of scapegoat in Denmark (and western society as a whole?) has switched to the muslim and immigrant population. I know this is a controversial subject and that not all danes are racist or biased, but there is certainly a large anxiety present about this relatively new, different population. Anyway, I created my own parallels there, but I would have thought it would be more interesting if the museum covered it.
After settling into the hotel - the Cab Inn (I was actually surprised when the interior, bunks, and loo were exactly like a ship) - we went out for dinner as a group, and then met up at a local microbrewery where DIS was going to buy us our first beer of the evening.
So this place is THE master of pilseners and english bitters. I dont think I have ever had a better sweet and bitter english style beer than I have from this place, where it came in a delicious pint size plus mug. After about an hour there, a group of us decide to go to another bar. Now let me describe this group. There are 36 girls in the entire Migration and Identity program and 6 guys. Of those guys 3 are in relationships, and let me tell you news travels fast. So I was going to a bar with five young females, and if you know me, I was loving the attention.
Well that changed. I was having a good time for a while, but they all started fighting for my attention, albiet not in open airs. There were too many touches on my shoulder, back, or stomach for attention. I was always told in health class that sexual harassment was unwanted sexual attention; this for sure fit. When we were going to move to another bar too long of a period of time later, I bailed, saying I was tired.
So I enter the hotel and see two of my favorite people in the lobby, my friend Sarah Brown from Wes, and Ian, the DIS tour coordinator, who is a Dane who grew up in America in his early 30s. I end up sitting down for a minute, and we get into a deep conversation about American politics, immigration in denmark, the state of democracy and media, and alot more than i can remember. In any case, Ian continued to buy us Carlsbergs until 4 am, until we all gave up. Needless to say when I woke up for the day 4 hours later, I was tired, but still really happy about my decisions.
to be continued.
I was going Wednesday night to studentehuset to bartend. I get there, and the place is PACKED. International student night also includes regular students at University of Copenhagen, and they get cheap drinks, so the place is swarming. We are broken up into shifts, and I find out I get to bartend for two hours, and then I have to take the coat check for the closing hour.
Bartending itself is rediculously fun. Not only do you drink for free (at this place), but you meet all these people, and get to hurriedly run around, making jokes with the other people who are working. Its just a feel good job; for someone who loves beer, there is nothing like handing it over the counter to the thirsty masses.
In any case the two hours were gone in what seemed like a couple of minutes, with only a couple of mishaps (serving danes whiskey when they asked for Fisk, which is a licorice flavored liquor, but sounds the same over the din of the crowd; Danes don't like whiskey much, if I may generalize.
Coat check, on the other hand, is the worst job of all time. Everyone stands there waiting for you to run and get there coat, and occassionally the coat is not to be found on the hook. Then you are told all the details of the coat and its contents, not like that really helps in a room full of coats. Eventually people storm off cursing you, cold and without a jacket. Hey, I feel you. I lost one of my most precious possessions at a coat check. And yours wasn't made out of denim.
After that there was alot of sweeping, dancing, chair stacking, beer drinking, and pizza eating. While I didnt get out of there till the early morn, and was thoroughly exhausted, it was great to sing and dance with these people after a night of laboring. And the owner of the bar ordered some of the only good pizza I've had in town, including a falafel pizza with lettuce, fallafel crumbs, tomato, and tzatziki dressing. mmmmmmmmmm.
This weekend was spent in Arhus, the second largest town/city in Denmark, and located about 3-4 hours away in Jutland, the Western part of the country connected to Germany (for those of you who don't know, Copenhagen is on the Zealand land mass, and Denmark itself is an Archipelago with 406 islands. Also, Greenland belongs to Denmark). We had an interesting meeting with the Odense Integration council, who help match immigrants with resident permits with jobs, and a museum of Anti-Semitic caricatures. This museum really disappointed me, based on how it discussed the previous presence of anti-semetism in Denmark, and how it is gone today. However, there is no talk of how the role of scapegoat in Denmark (and western society as a whole?) has switched to the muslim and immigrant population. I know this is a controversial subject and that not all danes are racist or biased, but there is certainly a large anxiety present about this relatively new, different population. Anyway, I created my own parallels there, but I would have thought it would be more interesting if the museum covered it.
After settling into the hotel - the Cab Inn (I was actually surprised when the interior, bunks, and loo were exactly like a ship) - we went out for dinner as a group, and then met up at a local microbrewery where DIS was going to buy us our first beer of the evening.
So this place is THE master of pilseners and english bitters. I dont think I have ever had a better sweet and bitter english style beer than I have from this place, where it came in a delicious pint size plus mug. After about an hour there, a group of us decide to go to another bar. Now let me describe this group. There are 36 girls in the entire Migration and Identity program and 6 guys. Of those guys 3 are in relationships, and let me tell you news travels fast. So I was going to a bar with five young females, and if you know me, I was loving the attention.
Well that changed. I was having a good time for a while, but they all started fighting for my attention, albiet not in open airs. There were too many touches on my shoulder, back, or stomach for attention. I was always told in health class that sexual harassment was unwanted sexual attention; this for sure fit. When we were going to move to another bar too long of a period of time later, I bailed, saying I was tired.
So I enter the hotel and see two of my favorite people in the lobby, my friend Sarah Brown from Wes, and Ian, the DIS tour coordinator, who is a Dane who grew up in America in his early 30s. I end up sitting down for a minute, and we get into a deep conversation about American politics, immigration in denmark, the state of democracy and media, and alot more than i can remember. In any case, Ian continued to buy us Carlsbergs until 4 am, until we all gave up. Needless to say when I woke up for the day 4 hours later, I was tired, but still really happy about my decisions.
to be continued.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Barbie Girl
We have the quite talented band, Aqua, to thank for this number one hit from the mid nineties. Just recently I discovered they are from denmark. So thank you.
watch the music video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQxUQbF0fL4
The last 24 hours have been incredibly busy. Last night I had a workshop on website design for my media class, which was entertaining. However, before that our class walked to the parliament building and met with one of the newest members of congress. This tall, attractive 31 year old brought in a large youth vote, especially because she did alot of campaigning through her facebook and blog. As she talked to us about how she entered the political arena and then was elected to office three weeks later, I couldn't help but realize her last name seemed really familiar. I was right, upon asking my teacher why I recognized her, I was told her mother and uncle are both prominent politicians. So while she may be a hot, hip lady, I only give her so much credit.
Today for my Cross Culturalism in the European Perspective class we travelled to the Immigration and Integration offices of the Ministry. Denmark has been a homogenous society for centuries, and only recently has experienced migrants, mostly from Turkey and the near East (if you are a citizen of the EU, regulations dictate that free movement is allowed). We discussed the avenues for asylum seekers and what amenities and services they are offered, along with the law drafting process. It seems like these ministries are only civil servants to the wishes of the minister, so immigration policies change with administrations. Traditionally however, regulations have been tough.
We also met with the staff of New Times magazine. This magazine is from the perspective of immigrants and their integration into Danish society. Our class is going to cowrite and research the March edition. Should be exciting. We will be interviewing immigrants, researching into asylum centers, and comparing the asylum seeking process with other countries, most likely Canada and Sweden, since they have the most multiculturalist approach to integration and immigrants in general.
Tomorrow we leave for Arhus! We are staying downtown and it should be a great mix of interesting knowledge gathering and fun on the town. Stay tuned!
watch the music video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQxUQbF0fL4
The last 24 hours have been incredibly busy. Last night I had a workshop on website design for my media class, which was entertaining. However, before that our class walked to the parliament building and met with one of the newest members of congress. This tall, attractive 31 year old brought in a large youth vote, especially because she did alot of campaigning through her facebook and blog. As she talked to us about how she entered the political arena and then was elected to office three weeks later, I couldn't help but realize her last name seemed really familiar. I was right, upon asking my teacher why I recognized her, I was told her mother and uncle are both prominent politicians. So while she may be a hot, hip lady, I only give her so much credit.
Today for my Cross Culturalism in the European Perspective class we travelled to the Immigration and Integration offices of the Ministry. Denmark has been a homogenous society for centuries, and only recently has experienced migrants, mostly from Turkey and the near East (if you are a citizen of the EU, regulations dictate that free movement is allowed). We discussed the avenues for asylum seekers and what amenities and services they are offered, along with the law drafting process. It seems like these ministries are only civil servants to the wishes of the minister, so immigration policies change with administrations. Traditionally however, regulations have been tough.
We also met with the staff of New Times magazine. This magazine is from the perspective of immigrants and their integration into Danish society. Our class is going to cowrite and research the March edition. Should be exciting. We will be interviewing immigrants, researching into asylum centers, and comparing the asylum seeking process with other countries, most likely Canada and Sweden, since they have the most multiculturalist approach to integration and immigrants in general.
Tomorrow we leave for Arhus! We are staying downtown and it should be a great mix of interesting knowledge gathering and fun on the town. Stay tuned!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Gangalotron
I just finished talking to peter.
Peter is a young, Lutheran pastor who was locked out of his house and decided to engage me in conversation in the cafe/bar I am using the internet in. While he was a really nice guy, I wonder how often he sits down with someone and wants to have a religious or existential conversation with them. It struck me as a litte odd, but I went with it. Apparently only 2% of Danes attend church, in a state that is 85% Lutheran, and he said he was so happy to be here, because there is so much work to be done. Given, he was telling me all this while on his third beer. I found this comical. He invited me to have dinner with him and his wife sometime, which I may take him up on, since he gave off such an interesting first impression.
What else. Today I visited the Copenhagen Museum of Erotica. Basically it involved some stories of prostitutes and their diary entries displayed from a few hundred years ago, along with alot of Playboy pinup posters and wayyyy too much velvet furnishing. And in the last room, they were kind enough to set up a wall of videos showing hardcore porn. Its the only and last time I think I will go; don't believe your guidebook when it tells you its one of the sites to see.
I am continually impressed with the environmental sustainability of Denmark. I read today that half of the windmills created in the world are manufactured here. And water and electricity continue to be exhorbitantly expensive, so much so that my housemate asked me not to take showers longer than 7 minutes. And forget using a dryer, hang that stuff and let it air dry.
For those of you keeping up with the story of the jean jacket, I am checking in with the police. The club said they give all the lost items to the authorities. I have my fingers crossed.
On friday I tried to buy Phish tickets online. I got home 20 minutes before they went on sale, and went and tried to open the internet. Apparently my roomate who is moving out disabled the internet. I frantically grabbed my computer and ran out the door, looking for an internet cafe. Unfortunately I did not know of the cafe I sit in today. I bolted for Mcdonalds, and a group of 14 year old girls looked at me strangely as I whipped out my computer and intensely tried to get ahold of tickets, to no avail. I couldn't even access the ticket websites, whether it was the site being busy from so many fans descending on it at once or the internet at Mcdonalds. In either case, I had the honor of trudging home smelling like french fries.
Tonight is the superbowl. Whoooo sports!? It starts at midnight and will go to about 4 or 5 in the morning, so I am just going to try to make it to the halftime show. More to come.....
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Whatever You like
I think Im finally adjusted to the time zone here, just in time for my first weekend odyssey. The end of last week went quickly, having introductory classes - which are a breeze because you don't do any work - and I was happily meeting new classmates. Unfortunately I still do not have a cell phone because the phone registration table at orientation was out of them; A phone is being mailed to me but could have really been in use this weekend.
OK, so friday night was interesting. We had a DIS (Danish Institute for Study Abroad) welcome party at the Luux nightclub. Since I live far away from some of my friends, we decided to meet there. After cooking dinner and starting to get my drink on, I take the bus to the club. Now this is a closed party -only for DIS students- from 8 to 11. I personally found that funny because absolutely no one would go clubbing before midnight. Anyway, I'm having a good time. Towards the end of the night, my friends start to go home, and I stay because I am having a good time. I am talking to a kid in one of my classes about music - specifically Animal Collective, who are playing here in march.
I give back my jacket ticket. Now those of you who know me well know I am fond of a jean jacket, and usually wear a sweatshirt under it. Well there is a rushed line to get jackets back, where you hand in your ticket on one side, move down the line, and then get handed your jacket. Unfortunately I was only given back my sweatshirt, and then quickly ushered out of the club by the mob. No jean jacket.
So I get on the bus and pay the fare, freezing cold. The bus is so nice and warm I end up falling asleep, only to wake up past my stop. Its ok, I tell myself, I heard the buses run all night, so I will ride it longer and wait for it to come back into the city. At 6 am the driver kicks me out of the bus - apparently the line does not run all night. At this point I am freezing, barely dressed and wet at a bus station in the outskirts of Copenhagen.
I catch a cab home (I could not wait two hours outside in what I was wearing), talking to this really nice turkish man who has seven children and spoke maybe 9 words of english. 770 kroner later (around 150 dollars), Im home. I hope you understand the next day I stayed home and watched movies all day.
Today I took a long walk through Norrebro, my neighborhood here in copenhagen. After having a falafel and fries with mayonnaise (surprisingly good), I explored the famous Copenhagen Assistens Cemetery. Some of Denmarks most famous residents are buried there, including Niels Bohr, who worked in quantum mechanics, earned the nobel prize in physics in 1922, and later worked on the manhattan project before campaigning against the use of nuclear weapons.
Other notables include Soren Kierkegaard, who was very critical of the formality of the danish church and considered a leading philosopher, existentialist, and postmodernist thinker of his time. H.C. Anderson is also buried there, and the writer's most famous works include The Canterbury Tales, the Ugly Duckling, the Little Mermaid, and Thumbelina.
Today, however, I was fascinated by the discovery of a new grave/person/poet. Michael Strunge's resting place was adorned with a bottle of whiskey, multiple candles, and enough Carlsberg beer cans and bottles to put Homer Simpson under the table. I went home and looked him up. A post-punk poet who wrote romantic and bleak Cold War poems, he killed himself in 1986 at the age of 28 by diving out of his fourth floor window. I have been looking for some of his poetry online, but am yet to find any in english. Ill post some if I find any.
And lets hope next weekend is less adventurous.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Pump Your Brakes
Wow.
Thats a good place to start. Wow. Its so beautiful here. The streets are so clean, the buildings historic or sleek and modern -- not a bad duality -- and life comfortable. I understand how the danes were rated one of the most content peoples in the world. While it continues to be gray, damp, and cloudy, life has a nice pace here. Everyone seems satisfied with their work, buying their groceries at the corner kiosk, and spending time with friends. And while Danes are not outgoing enough to introduce themselves, they are more than willing to help with directions. They just don't beleive in shallow conversations, so no chatting on the bus - you get weird looks (trust me).
I got into copenhagen a few days ago, and everything has been speeding by since then. After landing into the airport and an easy customs and money changing experience, I made my way to the Copenhagen City Danhostel, where I would be spending the night with my friend Claire from Rochester. The hostel is like no other I have stayed in, more like a hotel. It had 15 stories, and was very sleek and clean. With whitewashed walls and black furniture, I knew the design here was something special. And families stayed in hostels together! Danes prefer hostels to hotels for their relative comfort and affordability. While Claire and I caught up and had dinner and a beer or two at an Irish pub (hey, its the only kind of bar we saw - I'm assuming thats not what all the drinking establishments are like), we mostly just passed out, both being jetlagged.
The most striking thing from this day, however, was a memorial in a plaza to all those who had died in palestine. There are alot of immigrants here from the middle east, and the neighborhood I live in is multicultural - actually half the store signs are in Danish and the other half in Arabic. There were little covered platforms about a foot square covering the whole plaza, each with paper saying the name and age of the person the site was dedicated to. Candles were placed around them, and little boys were running around replacing candles and trying to keep them lit, battling the bonechilling scandinavian wind. Walking around, one couldn't help but notice that so many of the dead were under the age of fifteen. Seven year olds, three year olds, twelve year olds, all dead in a mostly one-sided war. I have to say that while their is alot wrong with all war and conflict, one where over 1200 soldiers and civilians die on one side, and less than 20 die on the other does not seem like war to me. Gaza is a country bordered on all sides, and has limited access to humanitarian needs. Seems more like shooting fish in a barrel.
I was sad to see such a display, but slightly reassured by the fact that displays such as this and protests have been popping up all over europe. The reaction in the United States has been muted, with much smaller protests and an Israeli-leaning media. If you want to get a better view of the situation, read Al-Jazeera. Don't get me wrong, I love the New York Times, but sometimes I don't want culture and social climate news on my front page.
Orientation thus far has been a breeze. Besides useless seminars about transitioning to Danish society, I have been spending lots of money. Apparently Copenhagen is one of the most expensive cities to live in in Europe, and costs more than spending time in London. I am remedying this by shopping and hope to eat most of my meals at the apartment, where I have three roomates!
Thus far I have met Elizabeth and Christel, both lovely blond Danish girls who are 20 and 21 years old. They both have good, dry senses of humor, and my sarcasm should go over just fine here. Anders, the other guy, is yet to show up after two days. I guess he is having fun and I could learn a thing from him. Our apartment is beautiful, and about a 20 minute bus ride from the center of the city. It has two floors, the first with an entryway and a fully loaded kitchen with a place to eat. Upstairs is a beautiful central room with high ceilings, revealed wooden beams, and skylights, which serves as a living room with all our bedrooms coming off of it. My room is a little small and the skylight wakes me up early, but it is already starting to feel like home.
And tomorrow is Inauguration! Im so excited to celebrate it here with other American students and Danes. Apparently there are parties all over the city, so adventure tales to follow. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Like Eating Glass
whooooo! first blog entry! kindof. Blogger changed their format to only using gmail accounts, so i can't log into my own blog, and unfortunately because i wrote my blog from internet cafes, i don't have the entries in my harddrive. but its ok! here we go again!
I leave on friday. I have been packing, hanging out with friends, spending family time. I also have been trying to see a movie every day. Today will be the reader, yesterday was the curious case of benjamin button, the day before was milk.
I don't really know what to think about going abroad- it obviously will be very different from india. I guess its just time to step on the plane and go.
Bon Voyage!
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