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.

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!

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!