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.