Copenhagen revisited

Tuesday tidbits, reprise

2008-07-15T14:26:00.002+02:00

Once again I'm bored in the office, while Denmark is in the middle of its so-called "industrial holiday" period. That means everyone in the country basically is on vacation and everything is closed. And, my office is entirely empty except for me, so I'm sitting here alone listening to music and trying to work. But a break for a blog post first :) (And don't feel TOO bad for me, I'm taking a few days off soon too -- but I don't have time to take several weeks at a time like everyone else, since I have to leave soon and have to finish up a lot of stuff before that.)

Anyway -- Roskilde festival was amazing! I had a great time. It was sunny almost the whole time; just started raining right before the last concert on the last night, but by then nobody really cared. There are some nice pictures on this website. You can kind of see the scale of it in "roskilde festival from above" (more than 100,000 people -- and this was a smaller than average year since last year was so rainy, so a lot of people didn't want to come). You can also see some of the various non-music activities available, although I didn't participate in many of these since I couldn't go until after the music started (most people go several days before the music starts, but I was in London on a work trip so I couldn't go until Friday). So now I am trying to figure out how to get back for Roskilde '09! (I finish exams on June 26th, and the festival starts on the 28th, so it should be possible... already looking forward to it!)

Skt. Hans Aften, etc.

2008-06-24T10:07:00.004+02:00

Last night was Skt. Hans Aften, when the Danes celebrate the longest day of the year by lighting bonfires on the beach. It was really windy and cold, so rather than biking all the way out to the beach, some friends and I just decided to go watch the fires at the lakes, which are right in the city. The one we went to involved a floating raft with a lot of wood and a painted witch on it -- see the pictures. After that one burned out, we went to Islands Brygge, where they were going to light a much bigger fire -- but I guess because it was so windy, they decided it wouldn't be safe and didn't light it. Too bad. So we just sat by the harbour for a bit until we got to cold, and then gave up. Not the most exciting of evenings, but when the weather is nice everyone goes out to the beach and barbecues and then lights their own bonfires afterward. Too bad the weather didn't really work out this time.

The race last week was fun -- I think it's amazing how many people participate in these. This one was just for women, and held on three consecutive days. Over the whole time, 21,000 women ran, which is really a lot for a not-that-big city like Copenhagen. They have versions in Århus and Odense, as well. It's fun; you get a running jersey and a goodie-bag, and before the race they have an aerobics instructor leading warm-ups to loud music. It's quite impressive to see a group of 7000 people all doing coordinated aerobics together in a big field...

Copenhagen: The world's most livable city

2008-06-16T18:29:00.003+02:00

Monocle magazine has released it's 2008 list of the world's top 20 most livable cities, and Copenhagen has emerged as #1, displacing last year's winner, Munich. See this article and this blog post (from Copenhagen cycle chic, my favorite blog on the topic of Copenhagen's bicycle culture!) I'm also happy to see that Minneapolis is the only US city to make the cut (well, glad that it's Minneapolis, but somewhat ashamed that the US only has one city on the list, and that's at #19. Maybe it's all the Scandinavian influence in Minnesota?) It's some comfort that upon my (all too quickly approaching...) arrival in the US, I'll be going to the best city in the country!

What else... I just got back from Amsterdam on Thursday night, having had quite a pleasant week among the Dutch on an HIV-related study tour with a group of 23 students. It was particularly exciting to be there when Holland beat Italy in soccer for the first time in 30 years or something like that. And 3-0 at that!

On Saturday I went with another group of students to Malmö for the day, which was fine. There isn't all that much to do there, it's basically a suburb of Copenhagen. But I had a nice time walking around; it's a cute town with some nice old half-timbered buildings. Also enjoyed laughing at the funny-sounding Swedish being spoken around me, and seeing everyone decked out in their blue and yellow for the Sweden-Spain match that evening (Sweden lost). Then that night I went to a fun CD-release party for my friend's boyfriend's band. It was in a parking garage under a mall... weird.

Not too much more going on, just working a lot and getting ready for the next study tour, which will be to London, with another HIV class. Tomorrow I'm doing another women's race, this one put on by the magazine Alt for Damerne, and trying 10k this time -- we'll see how that goes, since I haven't worked out since before the last study tour...

Off to Amsterdam, again

2008-06-05T22:48:00.002+02:00

Well, it's once again been a while. If I've ever complained about being busy before, I didn't know what I was talking about -- the last couple of weeks have been the most hectic time so far for me at DIS. Tomorrow I'm off to Amsterdam for a week leading a study tour for the "HIV in Europe" program, and planning for that as well as some other study tours while also keeping two programs running on a day-to-day basis has been crazy. But on the plus side, the weather has been amazing for weeks, so I've been spending as much time as possible outside. I hope it holds out! The days are also getting longer and longer, as we approach Skt. Hans Aften (midsummer's eve -- I'm looking forward to going to the beach to see all the bonfires). At the moment it gets dark around 11, and then starts getting light again by 3.30 or so -- such a huge change from February, which seems like it was just yesterday! It's really nice to have so much light though, although I feel like it means I get less sleep. But it's just so much easier to get out and do things when it isn't dark by 4 -- I remember in the winter always feeling like the day was over when I was done with work, because it was already dark. So this is much nicer.

Anyway, not too much to say now, but just thought I'd write a quick update post before heading off on study tour. Oh, and I've also decided to go to Roskilde festival after all (I was debating it since I'll miss the first day on another study tour, to London -- but I've decided 3 days is still worth it, and that I deserve the reward after getting through my summer session!) So I'm excited about that -- it should be quite the experience.

Hope all is well with all of my worldwide fans :)

Congratulations Copenhagen Marathoners!

2008-05-18T15:42:00.005+02:00

Today 8373 people participated in the Copenhagen marathon, including my friends Sam and Stine, who both finished in under 4 hours! Good job girls! The picture above is taken from my friend Elisa's apartment on Østerbrogade. Later I went on a run of my own (although far from marathon-length) and admired the many ducklings on the lakes.

And congratulations also to my sister, who just graduated from law school at the University of Minnesota! Good job Anne!

Down with Hitler

2008-05-13T23:53:00.003+02:00

This inscription, "ned med Hitler" (down with Hitler) is scratched into one of the windows in the stairwell of my building. I wonder if it's real? (Well, I suppose in a sense it's obviously real, but I wonder if it dates back to WWII...)

The spring students have finals this week and then leave this weekend, but I don't get much of a break because the first session summer students then arrive the following Friday -- so things are busy as always at work. BUT, I just had a fantastic 3-day weekend, filled with beaches (one bougie one, Bellevue, north of the city, and one giant one on Amager, east of the city), parks, a picnic, and a party. A perfect relaxing break since things have been so crazy at work lately. The weather has been amazing, sunny and warm, sometimes even what I would call hot, which is unusual for Copenhagen (so much so that they don't even have a word for it...) Today was cooler again, but still sunny. Not complaining!

Bornholm is beautiful

2008-05-08T16:01:00.004+02:00

I've now been 3 times, and each time it takes my breath away. No time to write now, but check out the photos (see link on the left). So pretty. Here's one more, of Gudhjem, the town where we stayed:
It's also been beautiful out lately, and on that note I'm going to try to get out of here soon and go enjoy it!

Europe hates going to work

2008-05-02T14:27:00.002+02:00

Evidence:
1. All the days off I've been getting lately (big prayer day, christ skytravelday, and next up 2nd pinsedag (May 12th, 2nd Whitmonday, whatever that means)).
2. Sweden is closed on June 6th for Sweden day, or something like that. No visits possible for our students.
3. Recent dialogue with someone at a Primary Care Trust in London: "Oh, Pamela's on vacation right now; can you call back on Thursday?" Me: "No, I won't be in the office on Thursday; it's a Danish holiday. I'll call on Friday". When I called again today, I got to speak to Pamela. Her: "Yes, I can ask around, but I'm about to go to Spain and then Monday is a bank holiday, so I won't get to it until later next week".

Actually, I rather like it. Although other people's excessive vacation is annoying when you're trying to get in touch with them, I like having my own excessive vacation time. Plus, I think America puts too much value on work ethic. Who decided that having your work be your life is a virtue?

Off to Bornholm tonight!

Kristi Himmelfartsdag

2008-05-01T20:34:00.002+02:00

Today I didn't have to work, as it is ascension day (aka kristi himmelfartsdag, christ skytravelday, christ heavenjourneyday, etc.) Coincidentally, this also happens to be May 1st, which is international workers' day and means, in Copenhagen, that everyone assembles in a big park called Fælledparken to drink beer, listen to music, drink beer, play games, ride rides, drink beer, etc. On my way there, I passed an anarchist demonstration (peacefully overseen by police). The park is also right next to the national stadium, which added to the antics as there was a big game today (brøndby-esbjerg), so there were lots of fans out in their team colors either celebrating or commiserating. It's hard to describe the scale of events like this -- it seems like everyone in the city and suburbs is there, even though it was raining earlier in the day so everybody is covered in mud. People bring there babies, who wander around among all the people drinking and smoking joints. We wandered around, listened to some music at the anti-fascism stage, left to get some food, came back and spent some time watching a game in which grown men tried to knock each other off of a kind of balance beam thing with pillows, wandered around more and eventually left. Sometimes I just think Denmark is so weird...

Updates

2008-04-25T13:40:00.006+02:00

Well, it's once again been a while -- my excuse it that I've been really busy at work (and still am, but I'm nevertheless taking a few minutes for a quick post), and really nice outside, which, combined with my unreliable internet access at home, cuts down on my blogging time.

Anyway, last weekend I went to Oslo, which was really nice. See pic taken from the ship as we came in through the fjord. We got in at 9.30 in the morning, and had to be back on the boat to return to Copenhagen by 4.30, so we didn't have a ton of time, but we did manage to walk across town (it's really not that big) to the famous Vigeland sculpture park, where there are lots and lots of statues in a big beautiful park (some of them are really weird, with naked people fighting or, in the one below, kicking babies. There's also a big obelisk thing made up of naked bodies). Then we walked back into the center of town and went to the national gallery, where we saw (among a lot of other things) Munch's The Scream.
We had really nice weather, which held out all week long in Copenhagen too -- pretty amazing to have a full week of sunshine! So I've been spending a lot of time hanging around in the parks, going on bike rides or runs, etc, when I'm not working (which I'm doing a lot lately -- planning for the new summer programs is proving difficult...)
On Tuesday of this week I also went to two interesting talks sponsored by DIS. The first was a panel discussion about the Muhammed cartoon crisis, in which two journalists, a professor of a class called "Muslims in the west", and a representive from Dansk Islamisk Trossamfund, a Muslim organization, gave their views on the issue. Then right after that I went to another talk by the Danish minister for climate and energy, Connie Hedegaard, about climate change. Copenhagen is hosting the international climate conference in 2009, and it's interesting to hear about some of the initiatives they've taken -- for example, using trash incineration as heating for homes, which gets rid of garbage and saves energy at the same time. She also talked about the option that Danish businesses have to get financial incentives by investing in environmental improvements for a business in the developing world, which can make a bigger difference than putting the same amount of money into upgrades in their own business (if it's already pretty "good", environmentally). Seems like there are lots of good ideas out there -- I wish that other bigger countries (cough cough, UNITED STATES) with a bigger impact in the world would behave in a similar way.
Anyway, must get back to work!

Tillykke, Margrethe!

2008-04-16T19:39:00.010+02:00

Today is Queen Margrethe II's 68th birthday. This means that there were Danish flags flying all over the city, even two on the front of every city bus! I took an early lunch to go and see her greet the masses from the balcony of Amalienborg palace at noon -- as you can see below, it was packed, but we still managed to get a good spot right under the balcony. In the picture above you can see (left to right): Prince Henrik, royal consort to Her Majesty; Prince Felix and Prince Nikolai; Queen Margrethe; her son Prince Joachim (Felix and Nikolai's dad); and his fiancé, Marie. On the far left you can also see the royal dog -- I don't know its name :) Unfortunately the crown prince and princess and their two babies weren't there -- I don't know why. Basically, the event begins with the changing of the guard, after which the queen and co come out and wave to the masses. Then they go away and everybody chants "Margrethe, Margrethe, kom nu frem -- ellers går vi aldrig hjem!" (Margrethe, Margrethe, come out now -- otherwise we'll never go home!). This makes everybody come back out a few more times. Everybody waves their Danish flags and there's lots of good cheer and patriotism. It's pretty cute. America should have more traditions like that.

Another thing that's making headlines now is that certain public services employees (nurses, midwives, home care workers, and some day care workers) are on strike, which is a big deal since there is nobody to take care of kids, old people, and sick people. So hopefully it won't go on too long! We'll see. Today was the first day of the strike, and I saw lots of people picketing on my way to work and to the palace. Not on my way home from work though -- guess even striking workers only work a 37-hour workweek here!

Tuesday tidbits

2008-04-15T14:21:00.007+02:00

1. This morning I was excited to receive my first package via De Grønne Bud! These bicycle delivery men in green Tuborg apparel will (for a steep fee) deliver anything for you to someone else somewhere in or near the city. The one to the right has apparently fallen down, but normally they don't. Most of them eat lunch in Gammel Torv (the square right by my work), so I see them a lot but this is the first time I was important enough to receive something from one of them (some readings for a summer course that I needed by today).
2. On the theme of cycling, May is Vi Cykler Til Arbejde (we cycle to work) month, and to get people in the spirit, the campaign is handing out packages with rolls, fruit, juice, and reflective ankle bands to cyclists in the morning. See pic. There's also a contest in which I'm participating in which a team of people at a workplace log the number of kilometers they collectively ride to and from work in May. The winning team gets an adventure trip to Canada (maybe I could plan this for around August 2nd and then go to the US from there?? It has to be cheaper than flying from Copenhagen...)

3. This weekend I'm going to Oslo! Rachel, Sarah, and I are taking a cruise leaving on Friday and arriving Saturday morning. We'll have Saturday in Oslo and then come back, arriving on Sunday morning. The weather is looking good for Saturday, so hopefully it'll be a nice trip!

4. The weekend trip was facilitated by the fact that we have Friday off for Store Bededag, or Great Prayer Day. We also get May 1st off for Kristi Himmelfartsdag (Ascension Day) and May 12th for 2. Pinsedag (Pentecost). Danes are totally nonreligious except when it gets them out of work :)

5. Also on the theme of Danes loving to skip work:

"Sick leave has become a far greater problem for society than unemployment. According to a new report by the Ministry of Labour, five per cent of the labour force are claiming sickness benefits at any one time, costing society and companies DKK37bn annually, compared to the two per cent who are unemployed." Haha. Slackers.

Lost in Translation

2008-04-08T19:38:00.002+02:00

On Saturday I went to the chick flick 27 Dresses (or 27 Weddings, as it's called in Danish). Not a great movie; if you haven't seen it, don't bother. Like so many others, it involves a girl who reluctantly falls for a guy who is initially using her to further his career or for a bet, but who then falls for her and regrets what he's done. There's a fight, she gets mad, then she forgives him and they live happily ever after. Anyway, I was interested to see that in the fight scene of this movie, the female lead confronts the male lead for publishing a humiliating newspaper article with "1 million photos" of her. Only, in the Danish subtitle, this is translated to "117 fotos". How is 117 Danish for 1,000,000? I don't get it. Perhaps Denmark, being smaller and humbler than America, can't understand such large numbers? Perhaps they don't exaggerate, and someone went through and actually counted the photos in the article? (At least if he did, he would be well-paid for it... since Danish minimum wage is so high). Weird.

You learn other interesting thing by reading subtitles. Such as, that the Danish equivalent to the term "honey bunny" is "sukkergris", which means "sugarpig" (thanks, Pulp Fiction). And that Harry Potter's descriptions of Lord Voldemort as "uhyggelig" just doesn't quite cut it. Danish needs some stronger adjectives.

Attention, A. Fogh!

2008-04-02T15:20:00.006+02:00

Rumors are afoot that Anders Fogh Rasmussen may be planning a referendum to revote on the euro: "Leading German newspaper, Die Welt, quoted Mr Rasmussen in a February 8^th interview as saying that ‘a referendum on the joint currency is definitely on the way’, but the PM claimed yesterday that it was ‘old news’ and he was referring to a referendum on all Denmark’s opt-outs."

I have no idea what's actually going through Mr. Fogh's head on this topic, but since I assume that at SOME point Denmark will cave and switch to the euro, and that Fogh most likely reads my blog regularly, I'm offering my ideas as to what should be on the future Danish euro coins. Most countries pick one design for the 1 and 2 euro coins, another for the 50, 20, and 10 cents, and another for the 5, 2, and 1 cent ones -- although a few, who apparently have no imagination, do the same thing on all the coins. But I figure if you have the option, why not make a different design for every coin? Then you can show the world all the cool things your country has to offer.

So: My suggestions!

2 euro: The queen. Because you have to. (Ideally I think it would be cute to do the whole royal family, since everyone loves them, but realistically I don't think it would be possible in such a small format...)

1 euro: Tuborg beer. Because Danes love their beer, and Tuborg is the king of beers.

50 cents: A windmill. Because Denmark is a leading producer of windmills and wind power, and I think it would look good on a coin. I think everyone should use as much wind power as possible.

20 cents: Storbroen (the bridge connecting Sjælland to the rest of Denmark). Because again, it would look good in coin format, and because it shows how Denmark is made up of islands but still connected (and reminds Danes that Sjælland and Jylland really aren't that distinct, and that they shouldn't be so contemptuous of those on the other side of the bridge).

10 cents: Gråvejr. "Grey weather". This would be a coin that was entirely blank on one side. Never been done before, as far as I know, and a huge part of Danish life.

5 cents: Danish food. Smørrebrød with sild (herring) and maybe a Danish (wienerbrød) for good measure. Mmm. Sild would also be representative of Bornholm (famous for herring) and keep them from feeling left out.

2 cents. Tom Cruise. Because he's the face of scientology, and Copenhagen is now the scientology capital of Europe.

and finally, 1 cent: The mermaid. Because you have to include her, but like the real thing, the 1-cent coin is tiny and barely worth mentioning.

So -- those are my suggestions, now let's see if Fogh takes me up on any of them!

still here

2008-03-08T23:26:00.004+01:00

It's been a while -- Since my last posting I've been to Jutland and America, and tomorrow I'm heading off again to Poland and then Germany, so I don't have time to really post now. But just to prove I still exist, here's a picture of some friends and I enjoying free ice cream from Paradis last weekend:And another from today, of the royal gardens:
That's all I have time for now, as I still have to finish packing and then go to bed so I can be ready for a 7 am departure tomorrow -- more when I get back, I promise!

Famous

2008-02-06T21:21:00.000+01:00

Today I was interviewed by Politiken (the more left-wing of the two big Danish papers) AND by Danish Radio about being an American abroad during the primaries. Here is the Politiken article, although it's in Danish -- maybe you can run it through babelfish or something :) You know you've finally made it big when you have interviews with two big national media companies in one day! Actually, they just came to my work because they know there are a lot of Americans there, I think -- but perhaps they looked me up especially.

I can't find a link to the radio interview so far, but if I do I'll put it up here too -- I'm not sure if it will be in English or Danish though. I imagine I'll probably have a Danish voice-over, but maybe not. The DR girl said they'd make a short version for the channel targeted to young listeners, and a longer version for the grown-ups' channel. This means either that young people have no attention span, or that old people have nothing to do -- or maybe both.

I Voted

2008-02-05T21:42:00.000+01:00

Today I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could vote after all in the primary -- I had been under the impression that, since Minnesota has a caucus instead of a primary, I wouldn't be able to vote absentee. However, just this morning I found out that Americans living abroad can vote in person in various world cities at Democrats Abroad, which has its own delegates -- 11 of them. So Americans everywhere abroad count as a kind of 51st state, apparently. I don't know why I've never been aware of this before, but I suppose in most cases it doesn't end up being a deciding factor so it doesn't get much coverage, and I think it's pretty new. In any case, it was exciting to find out that I could vote after all! Polling in Denmark has already closed, with Obama coming out on top, 98-37. Maybe those 135 Danish votes will end up being the deciding factor in the closest race in history...

I really, really, really want...

2008-02-04T20:53:00.000+01:00

Monopoly Her og Nu: Copenhagen version Monopoly, in which "the rent is adjusted to the sky-high prices in today's Copenhagen". Park Place and Boardwalk are replaced by Nyhavn and Strøget, you pay for everything on your Dankort, and I think it's the cutest thing ever. I saw it yesterday at Toys R Us (while trying to kill time on the Ikea trip), and would have bought it if it weren't for the 379 kr. price tag... not that that's apparently unreasonable, as Trivial Pursuit and Cranium were both 499! I can't imagine ever spending $100 on a board game! BUT, I found a place selling Monopoly Her og Nu online for 300 kr, so we'll see... maybe if I'm feeling generous I'll buy myself one as a going away present before I leave.

Fastelavn, Ikea style

2008-02-04T12:03:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was Fastelavn (a Danish holiday in which children dress up in costumes and hit a candy-filled barrel with sticks until it breaks. Below is an old blog post I wrote on the subject when I was here two years ago:

Today is Fastelavn, a holiday marking the beginning of lent and traditionally associated with feasting, killing a cat, and beating your children. "At slå katten af tønden" means "to hit the cat out of the barrel", and originally this was taken literally -- people would hang a barrel with a cat in it from a tree and hit it with wooden clubs until the barrel broke and the cat fell out. Then they chased the cat with their clubs, killing it if they could catch it and otherwise just chasing it out of town. Sin and bad fortune were supposed to be abolished along with the cat. Today, the cat has been replaced with food and candy, and kids take turns hitting the barrel (usually decorated with black cats) until someone breaks it or knocks it down. The lucky child is then dubbed the king of queen of cats, and everyone grabs the candy, like with a piñata.

Another lovely Fastelavn tradition is the Fastelavnsris. This is a tree branch which is decorated prettily with ribbons the night before Fastelavn. In the morning, parents would wake up their children by beating them with the Fastelavnsris to remind them of the sufferings of Christ. Today, the beatings are gentle and just for fun, if they are done at all. Afterwards, the kids put on costumes and walk around the neighborhood singing the Fastelavn song (which we learned in Danish class). Originally, they would go door-to-door asking for Fastelavn buns, but now they mostly ask for money.

So anyway, yesterday I was chaperoning a student trip to Ikea, where some Fastelavn festivities were taking place. They set up a few barrels which the kids eventually managed to break, although it took a pretty long time -- a wooden barrel is sturdier than a normal piñata, apparently. But what was particularly shocking to my American sensibilities was a child there who was dressed up in blackface! Including an Afro wig and brown face paint -- I have a feeling that kind of thing wouldn't fly in the US. Crazy Danes.

Eurogoogle is bollocks

2008-01-31T23:14:00.000+01:00

The other day I noticed that in my Gmail, what would normally be called the trash folder is called the BIN. As in, "This conversation has been moved to the bin". WEIRD. I guess they think that since I'm using Google in Europe I must be British. Wrong, Google.

Actually, I enjoy British slang and the fact that most Danes sound somewhat British whilst speaking English. Maybe by the time I come home I will have picked up a British accent -- I can be the next Britney Spears!

I also just got home from like the worst bike ride of my life. Sleet and "gale-force winds" make for an unpleasant ride, and in this case a longer than usual one as I was forced against my will down H. C. Andersen Boulevard, being unable to continue straight through the intersection during a particularly strong gust. But I am home unscathed, so no worries! Bedtime now.

Copenhagen vanity

2008-01-31T11:31:00.000+01:00

In Copenhagen, all of the electrical wires are buried, instead of running overhead like in American cities. It's an aesthetic issue, and I guess overhead wires are somewhat unsightly, although I don't really tend to notice them personally. However, this means that whenever they need to do anything to the wires they have to dig up the whole street, which seems like a lot of work and inconvenience just to shield people from the eyesore of exposed wiring. It also apparently takes forever for them to fix these things, so the road will remain partially blocked off for months -- probably because unemployment is so low that they can't find anybody to do this kind of work. There's a place I ride by whenever I go to Danish where one lane of the road is all dug up and blocked off; it's been this way since I got here but I've never seen anybody actually working on it. Granted, that may be because I only go by after work and on Saturdays, so maybe it's just that they're not there when I go by -- but there also never appear to be any changes, so who knows. There has also been construction going on on the street outside my work ever since I first got here, which means that people driving by get stuck behind parked trucks, etc, and deal with it by honking nonstop on their horns for minutes on end. Which is annoying, since it's right outside my window. But what can you do. At least it's not quite as loud now as in the summer when I kept my window open.

Danish Dynomite

2008-01-29T22:51:00.000+01:00

"Den her er for mine boys, og for mine ladies, aiight?
Det her er Nik og Jay, det er Danish dynomite"
-Nik og Jay, "Det Vi Gør"

The amazing hiphop duo Nik and Jay is my new obsession. They're one of those bands whose music is so ridiculous and terrible that it's actually enjoyable. They think they're gangstas (see pic), but apparently don't realize that it's just not possible to be a gangsta if you're also Danish and white. It's also hard to rap in Danish, because the pronunciation isn't precise enough for good rhymes -- or maybe that makes it easier?? I guess in a sense you could say everything in Danish rhymes with everything else, since all the words have the same kind of in-the-throat vowel and swallowed consonants at the end -- at least it sounds that way to me. Their videos (for example, this one for the song "Boing") look like SNL spoofs of hip hop videos, but apparently they're made in all seriousness.

Their lyrics are pretty much all really stupid, (ie, their biggest hit from when I was a student here, Lækker, consists mainly of the word "delicious" repeated. They also make a clever double entendre using the number 6 (seks) and the word sex. Nicely done, boys.) However, I do like that in a lot of their songs they use the phrase "f*** Janteloven" -- Janteloven being, as you may know (but definitely would if you were Danish), the philosophical doctrine that nobody is better than anyone else, and which can be summarized in the following 10 rules:

1. Don't think that you are special.
2. Don't think that you are of the same standing as us.
3. Don't think that you are smarter than us.
4. Don't fancy yourself as being better than us.
5. Don't think that you know more than us.
6. Don't think that you are more important than us.
7. Don't think that you are good at anything.
8. Don't laugh at us.
9. Don't think that anyone cares about you.
10. Don't think that you can teach us anything.
(Thanks, Wikipedia)

While egalitarianism is good, I suppose, this is a kind of disheartening way of phrasing it. I don't think it's really stressed that much to kids anymore, but I can imagine it would have been a rather bleak paradigm to grow up with. Kind of opposite to the "everyone is special, everyone is valuable" messages that American kids are given all the time.

Anyway, so the general idea behind "fuck Janteloven" is that yes, Nik and Jay are better than the rest of us, which is a common enough theme in certain music genres -- but I think it's cute that they reference an relatively obscure (to most of the world) philosophical concept to make this point.

Hopefully they'll play in Tivoli or something this summer so I can see them live -- actually, it's entirely possible I've passed them in the street; I probably wouldn't recognize them in normal clothes...

Footnote: To be fair to the Danes, nobody really likes Nik and Jay -- they're generally the subject of mockery. Nevertheless, when one of their songs comes on in a bar, everyone seems to mysteriously know all the words...

World Flavours

2008-01-15T20:11:00.000+01:00

I just bought a pack of "World Flavours" Mentos at Netto, featuring flavors that are only available in certain countries (Denmark's contribution being, of course, licorice). The Japanese grape ones are pretty terrible, as are the eucalyptus menthol. Anyway, this got me thinking about how weird it is that different countries have their own preferred flavors at all -- how does that get started? In Denmark, the two huge staples that most Americans can't stand are leverpostej (liver paté) and salt lakrids (salty licorice). Liver paté is like the equivalent of peanut butter in the US: eaten by every little kid in their school lunches, and also enjoyed but less prevalent in adult lunches. I suppose in this case it's just a matter of what you're exposed to at an early age -- liver paté, once you get past the aversion to the idea of liver, is not that different from peanut butter: salty paste to add flavor to a sandwich. BUT this doesn't account for the salt licorice -- kids don't eat salt licorice; one popular brand (right, although I think it's too small to read the warning) even says on the label "adult licorice, not children's licorice". So, if this isn't a question of what one grows up with, how can it be that Danes love this stuff, while a taste of it sends an American running for a glass of water to rinse out their mouth? There has to be a first time Danes try salt licorice, and if their reaction was as strong as that of all Americans I've seen trying it, why would they ever try again? Is there some genetic difference that makes them love it at first taste? Or does it have to do with building up to the adult stuff by eating a lot of children's licorice? (Non-salt licorice is eaten by children, and very very different from the salted variety -- even I am growing to kind of like certain brands). Still, the huge difference between salt- and non-salt licorice makes me skeptical of the "build-up" hypothesis. It's a mystery -- someone should do a study and figure it out. Maybe one day my claim to fame will be the discovery of the salt lakrids gene. Until then, I'll just have to wonder about it.

I can't afford to live in this city

2008-01-05T18:28:00.000+01:00

Last night I was at a bar where a long island costs the equivalent of $35. Oh my god.

"Few were hit by fireworks"

2008-01-01T12:14:00.000+01:00

was this morning's front page headline in Politiken. Here is a link to a photo slideshow with pictures from the city. It was crazy -- at midnight, everyone from all of the New Year's parties in the city runs out into the street and shoots off a bunch of fireworks. The men smoke big Cuban cigars and run around lighting the fireworks, which are just like the "professional" ones we have for the Fourth of July. Sounds pretty dangerous, but apparently Falck (the ambulance company) was pleasantly surprised with the low number of injuries. Good job, Denmark!

On my way home I had to go out of my way, to the next bridge, because the Ungdomshuset kids were rioting again and the police had blockaded the bridge nearest to my apartment. Annoying. They're already getting a new Ungdomshuset, but apparently they want it right away, and at the same address it was before, and some money for their pain and suffering, etc. etc. It's silly. You've won, guys -- give it a rest with the riots! But it's nothing dangerous or anything -- they're peaceful protests, and they're always announced ahead of time, so the police are already on the scene when the riot starts. Denmark = pre-announced riots. So orderly!

I'm living in a war zone

2007-12-31T15:05:00.000+01:00

Or, you would think so judging by the noise of all the fireworks people set off at night. Fireworks are only legal/available at this time of year (for New Year's Eve), so people are going crazy with them. Every night as soon as it gets dark the streets and skies are full of them, and from inside one's apartment it sounds like the city is under siege. I guess tonight will be worst of all, since it's actually New Year's Eve now... I'm going to a party at a coworker's apartment. It begins with the Queen's annual address to the nation at 6 pm, followed by dinner, etc. Then before midnight you stand on a chair, turn on the TV, watch the clock in town hall square, and, at the stroke of 12, jump down to the floor -- jumping into the new year.

Look how Scandinavian...

2007-12-28T19:29:00.001+01:00

My Christmas eve dinner was!
Actually, the meal itself (quiche, soup, salad) wasn't really all that Scandi, I just think the picture is.

Julefrokost!

2007-12-20T21:56:00.000+01:00

Last Saturday we had our staff julefrokost. Julefrokost means Christmas lunch, but isn't necessarily really a lunch. They are really common, and most people will go to a bunch during December: with work, with family, with friends, with your old high school class, etc. It's such a big deal that all of the trains are free on weekends in December (to discourage drunk driving).

The event starts with dinner. First comes the fish course, with assorted herring eaten on rye bread. Next is the meat course, which mainly means flæskesteg -- roast pork with "cracklings" (weird crunchy skin layer on the top). Then for desert there is rice pudding with cherry sauce. All of this is Christmas lunch food, as opposed to Christmas food, which is a whole different menu. All is enjoyed with Christmas beer, wine, and snaps. In between courses, you sing Danish Christmas carols (and, in our case, some American ones).

After dinner is a gift-exchange game called pakkeleg ("package play"), which involves dice and gift-stealing. Everyone brings a wrapped present to the party, and then during the game they all run around taking them from each other. Eventually time is called and then you are stuck with whatever you've got. You can end up with lots or none. I got a big candle with snowmen and candy canes, but others got more exciting things like chocolate penises and various parts of a dismembered mannequin.

Next there is music and dancing, including running around outside in the dark holding hands in a big circle and running around a tree screaming a song whose lyrics translate to:
"Now it's Christmas again, now it's Christmas again, and Christmas lasts until Easter.
No it isn't true, no it isn't true, for in between comes the fast".
I always thought you were supposed to "dance" around a "Christmas tree", but apparently running around any tree will do. Actually, I'm surprised nobody broke an ankle or anything, given that we were running around in heels (the women, anyway) in the dark, on cobblestones, being dragged by the hand, after perhaps a bit too much to drink... But apparently no one was seriously injured.

Anyway, then is more dancing, etc. for a long time... everything takes a long time, actually: our Julefrokost started at 5, and continued until midnight, at which point a bus came to take us to the club "Vega" where we had VIP passes... very classy. Meaning, free entry into the club, reserved booths, and drink tickets. Pretty nice. Even the "old" (as in, over 30) staff came to the club... It was amusing to come into work on Monday and listen to my boss and other people in administration talking about their hazy memories of the night!

So, a fun night, and interesting cultural experience! Very different from most American office Christmas parties, I think!

If you ignore the guys peeing in dumpsters...

2007-12-11T19:31:00.001+01:00

Copenhagen is really beautiful at Christmas! Sure it gets dark at 3 pm, but that just means more time to enjoy the light displays on Strøget, the pedestrian shopping street. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me today when I went shopping for shoes to go with my new Julefrokost (Christmas lunch, literally, but not really a lunch so much as a herring buffet and boozefest) dress, but below you can see a picture taken by somebody else of some other year's Christmas decor. (I don't know what time of day that picture could have been taken though -- I've never seen that square so un-crowded in December!) I think the nicer end of Strøget is one of the prettiest places in Copenhagen at Christmas -- Tivoli's pretty good too, but a bit much, perhaps, and much more touristy.Denmark gets into the Christmas spirit starting on November 1st, aka J-Day, when Tuborg's Julebryg (Christmas brew) is released. This marks the beginning of the season, and all the shops put up their Christmas displays. I haven't been feeling Christmas-y for quite so long, but the last few weeks have been pretty full of Julehygge -- what with the decorations, the gløgg and pebernødder cookies, the Crazy Christmas Cabaret in Tivoli, and Nøddeknækkeren (the Nutcracker) last Friday, although the Danes put on one of the weirdest productions of it I've ever seen, with the exception of the Ballet of the Dolls version -- the Danish one included two Herr Drosselmeyers, a giant yellow rabbit on springs, a gorilla sugarplum fairy, and WAY more bicycles than I've ever seen in the Nutcracker before. We had terrible seats in the gallery, with a rather limited view of the stage but a very nice view of the royal box. Unfortunately Her Majesty was not in attendance.

13 days, according to my advent candle!

Dogme films and Danish lit for dummies

2007-12-06T22:41:00.000+01:00

I don't know how familiar you are with Danish films, but they tend to be dark, bleak, and depressing. I think it's strange that the happiest country on earth produces the most depressing movies, but maybe they're trying to reach some kind of balance or something -- experiencing traumatic situations vicariously since their lives are just so damn easy. Actually, I've heard speculation that the reason Danes are so happy is that their expectations are so low, and the depressing films support this idea -- if you are constantly expecting a loved one to be paralyzed in a car accident, or to find out your husband is cheating on you, or is dying of cancer, or that he molested your children all throughout their childhoods (plots elements of a few of the Danish dogme movies), then you have to be pleasantly surprised when things turn out alright.

Whatever the reasoning behind the depressing nature of Danish cinema, the same phenomenon apparently applies to literature, at least in the genre written for foreigners trying to learn the language. For Danish class, we each have to read three little books and then discuss them in an oral test next weekend which determines if we can move on to the next module. Anyway, these books are amusing because while they are written to be understandable to someone who has only been learning the language for about two months, they are not children's books -- like Danish movies, they deal with themes such as infidelity, dying/kidnapped babies, post-traumatic stress syndrome, intellectual disabilities, racism, drowning children, etc. But this is all done using very easy words and simple sentence structure -- translated opening line paragraph of one of the books I read, for example: "It is night. Mona can see the moon. It is yellow, and it shines." And it goes on, using similar language, to describe her one year old having febrile seizures, her thinking he's dead and fainting in the arms of the paramedic, etc. Pretty weird. (Btw, he ends up being alright in the end -- in case you were worried).

Anyway -- I just think it's interesting that such an apparently happy country is so obsessed with making themselves sad, but maybe it makes sense. Maybe if you live somewhere where life is difficult and awful, you only want to watch lighthearted movies, to take your mind off your troubles. If, on the other hand, you live in Denmark, where you have nothing to worry about, you need to create some drama in your life to keep yourself from getting too content and bored. Hmm.

Danes love to bite chumps

2007-12-05T15:36:00.000+01:00

This may be incomprehensible to my older readers, but to anyone familiar with Facebook it should make sense. I have noticed that Danes, and maybe Europeans in general (based on a smaller pool, so maybe it's not statistically significant) just LOVE facebook applications. Especially the vampire one, where you can "bite chumps" to turn them into vampires. But it holds for all applications -- most Danes have so many that you have to scroll down for like an hour to get to the NORMAL wall (below the superwall, and the funwall, and the daily babe, and the "if you were a _____, what kind of ______ would you be" quizzes, and the extended info, etc., etc., etc.!) It's nuts. Seriously guys, do we NEED to see your hot bag on your facebook page?? Actually, I think my favorite application I've seen so far is the "baby-ticker pregnancy countdown" which shows a picture of a floating fetus and how big it is on the current day. But this is on the page of an American, so I can't blame everything on Europe...

Zoobilee Zoo and Captain Kangaroo

2007-11-29T22:51:00.000+01:00

We had a visitor at work earlier this week who looked a lot like Captain Kangaroo. I mentioned this to Staci at lunch, which led to the topic of 1980s children's television. She said that her favorite show as a child was Zoobilee Zoo (see full cast, left). When she described it a bit, I realized that this was a show I also loved as a very young child, but had never been able to find again in my adult life, as I had no idea what it was called. I remember seeing it only a few times, but absolutely loving it, particularly the character below who I always thought was a cat but was apparently actually Whazzat Kangaroo. (In my defense, she looks a lot like a cat -- cat ears, cat tail...) I also was a fan of the character who I thought was a racoon, but was really Bill der Beaver. It's exciting to finally rediscover this gem. Of course I looked for it on youtube, and there are actually several full episodes available. I started to watch one, but it turns out it's actually pretty boring and predictable. Not surprising, I guess, given that it went off the air in 1987 and I was therefore only three when I would have watched it (although maybe I was watching reruns). It is focused around a group of people in animal suits, who are called Zoobles. The viewers, for some reason, are addressed as Zoobaroos by the mayor (in center of picture above), who helps sum up the moral lessons learned by the characters in each episode. To the viewer above the age of 4, it's pretty trite and has annoying songs, but it's nevertheless satisfying to finally answer one of those little questions that's been bothering me for years (what WAS that weird show with the animal suits??)

Does anyone else remember this fantastic program?

The Danish Language, part 2

2007-11-27T20:17:00.001+01:00

Today I went into a hardware store and successfully asked, in Danish, for some bicycle lights. I was very proud of myself, as I got a Danish reply, and had no communication difficulties, unlike this guy.

It's from a Norwegian comedy show, and they're making fun of how terrible the pronunciation is in Danish :)

Oh, and also, it's official -- I had my first bike ride during snowfall yesterday. It begins...

I'm So Euro

2007-11-25T22:53:00.001+01:00

Evidence:

1. I no longer regularly translate prices from kroner into dollars in my head. This makes me cringe less when buying things, especially given that the dollar is dropping like a stone (5.0??? seriously??) The other day, for example, upon buying an Irish coffee for 42 kroner, I thought to myself, wow, that's such a good deal! Then I thought, wait a minute, that's actually more than $8, for a pretty small drink... not something I would have EVER classified as a good price in the states. But here, that's really pretty reasonable. (By the way, did you know that the proper Irish way to drink an Irish coffee is without a straw? We were a bit insulted the other day when we had a different bartender than usual and he tried to give us straws.)

2. I know my exact weight in kilograms (since there are scales on the treadmills at my gym), but would have to think a bit to translate that into pounds. (I'd just as soon not, though...)

3. I wear legwarmers for their intended purpose, legwarming, during my daily bicycle commute when I wear skirts. Of course, the daily bicycle commute is another piece of evidence on its own, too.

4. It makes me distinctly uncomfortable when I'm with Americans who insist on crossing against the light when there are no cars around. "But, the light is red...!"

5. I light candles like it's my job. Even while I eat breakfast. And I just bought an advent candle... with a little line for each day in December, so you burn a bit more each day.

6. I could never make myself run down to the grocery store right next to my building in a sweatshirt or something. Or without makeup.

7. I never forget to put the little divider thing on the belt as soon as I put my groceries on. And I get pissed if others (obviously foreigners) do.

8. Oh yeah, and I eat open-faced ryebread sandwiches with cream cheese, tomato, and cucumber for lunch every day.

Probably there are more things. That's what I can think of at the moment. But I'm definitely still an Amerikansk pige -- I refuse to do dishes the plastic-tub-in-a-sink way, for example. I just don't see WHY this works better. So I'm holding onto my roots :)

The Danish Language

2007-11-24T15:23:00.000+01:00

I like Danish, because it is so literal. Everything is called exactly what it is. For example, a bra is called a b.h., which stands for "bryst-holder" (breast holder). Jeans are called cowboybukser (cowboy pants), a hole punch is a hullemaskine (hole machine), and wood is just called træ (tree). As in, my house has floors of tree. It's silly. On the other hand, there are also words that don't make sense at all: the verb for "to ski" is translated literally as "to stand on skis" (at stå på ski), and the phrase "I am a housewife" is "jeg går hjemme", which means "I walk around at home". The traditional word for stepmother is stedmor, but due to the negative connotations with evil stepmothers, the more polite "papmor" has been adopted -- literally, "cardboard mother". Which doesn't seem all that polite to me either, but you can always go with the other possibility, "bonusmor". Grandparents are "bestparents", whereas great-grandparents are "oldparents". Cute.

I like my Danish book because it assumes we're all refugee-types, rather than mainly European PhD students, visiting faculty at universities, and employees of study abroad programs, which is the actual composition of the class. We learn phrases like "I can't come to class tomorrow because I have an appointment with my social worker", and "Zahra's not coming anymore -- she's gone home to Lebanon." At the moment, we're learning words for jobs, and while we have learned the obvious ones like "teacher", "nurse", etc., all of the specific jobs we have learned are distinctly... immigrant: busdriver, cabbie, hotel maid, janitor, and my favorite, "jeg går med aviser", which means "I walk around with newspapers", and is about the lowest of the low in terms of jobs. These are the people, usually drunks and vagrant-types, sometimes just foreign, who try to hand you free papers at the train stations and on the street. It must be a bit disheartening to take Danish class and be told that this is what you can aspire to when you learn the language... It makes class more entertaining though, and helps the 3.5 hours pass a bit more quickly.

Mallows

2007-11-18T11:11:00.000+01:00

I just purchased the following bag of Marshmallows :
from my local Netto, for use in preparing delicious candied yams for today's "intern Thanksgiving" event. I think the "easy to make" claim in the upper right-hand corner is a bit silly, given that they're flippin' marshmallows, but turn over the bag and you find these detailed "instructions for use":

My favorite is step 3, in which upon careful roasting, the "Mallows become a real caramel". What the hell does that mean? The safety warnings are also pretty good. Finally, there's also a pictorial version of above instructions, in case you don't know any of the three included languages, or are illiterate. My favorite is the picture of the sad kid who's too young to safely eat marshmallows:

Diverse

2007-11-17T00:12:00.000+01:00

Wow, just got home from the most ridiculous dinner ever. Maybe I'll write about it when I am less tired. For now, suffice it to say that customer service is non-existant in Denmark. On an unrelated note, here is a map of drinking ages around the world. Go Denmark, in all of your 16+ glory. Enjoy!

source: http://www.unusualmaps.com/drinking.html

Fact of the Day

2007-11-14T21:35:00.000+01:00

According to my Danish teacher:

In Denmark, old people get a special free transportation pass that they can use on the train, metro, and buses. Except during rush hour. Because they are too slow.

Bamse -- the world's strongest and kindest bear

2007-11-13T11:17:00.000+01:00

From Wikipedia:
Bamse – Världens starkaste och snällaste björn ("The world's strongest and kindest bear") is a Swedish fictional cartoon character created by Rune Andréasson. The highly popular children's cartoon first emerged as a series of television short films as well as a weekly half page "Sunday strip" in 1966, before being published periodically in its own comic magazine since 1973. The name "Bamse" comes from a Scandinavian word meaning "bear" or "teddybear" or, at least in Danish, just generally stuffed animal. He is the world's strongest bear, as he gained super strength by eating a batch of honey called dunderhonung (lit. "thunder honey" or "rumble honey"), specially prepared for him by his grandmother. Most other people, with only a couple of exceptions, will only get a three-day stomach-ache from eating it. Nalle-Maja, one of Bamse's daughters will get both the strength and the stomach-ache. His other daughter, Brumma, will get none. He is also the world's kindest bear, and frequently repeats his motto, "nobody is the better for being beaten". Catchy, no?

Bamse's best friends are Lille Skutt ("Little Hop"), a very fast but notoriously frightened white rabbit, and Skalman ("Shell-man"), an ingenious tortoise who invents all sorts of machines, including spacecraft and time machines, and stores just about anything in his carapace (except for a locomotive and an atlantic steamboat, according to own claims). He also looks stoned. Skalman seems to be a polyphasic sleeper, and according to himself, his best invention is the food-and-sleep clock, whose calls he follows slavishly, even at times when sleep seems highly inappropriate. To this date, he has only ignored the alarm call a few times, including the discovery of a dinosaur's egg, the birth of Bamse's children, and a state of deep depression (due to the (false) belief that his carelessness had caused the death of Bamse's children). A bit dark for a children's comic strip, I think...

Bamse and his friends are very clear about their values. They are strongly opposed to racism, bullying and violence. Also, pro-communism... keep reading. The only villain that is depicted as unredeemable is Krösus Sork ("Croesus Vole"), a crude capitalist who will do practically anything for money. This, together with the overall focus on sharing and some of the "school" pages making pro-Chinese and Vietnam statements, has led some people to accuse the series of promoting communism. The series somewhat changed direction when Bamse had children, specifically triplets, in 1982. In 1986, he had a fourth child, Lille Skutt having one at the same time. (Skalman remains single, though.) Family life is now in focus, and here also the basic values shine through, like that of gender equality. In 1989 Skalman noticed that Bamse's fourth child ("Brumma") was intellectually handicapped, which again brought up the subject of equality. More heavy themes... awesome.

Etc, etc. Conclusion: Scandinavians are super weird. As a side note, I'm considering naming my future kitten Bamse, not after the bear but after the Danish word for stuffed animal, and because I think it's cute. It strikes me as more of a puppy name, but I'm not sure I'll ever get a puppy, so... hmm. Something to keep in mind.

Danish hospitals have no security

2007-11-12T14:38:00.000+01:00

Whenever I go to the hospital, which I do somewhat often for work, I am always surprised by how I can just walk wherever I want and nobody tries to stop me. I guess I haven't done a lot of hospital wandering in the states (at least, not without my volunteer vest that shows that I have a reason to be there), but I feel like somebody would stop you, or at least ask you if you needed help finding something, if you tried to wander into, for example, the X-ray or MRI department. Here, though, I can just waltz into whatever department I like, looking kind of lost and carrying my bottles of wine (because usually when I go there it is to deliver wine gifts to guest lecturers), and nobody even looks at me.

Anyway. I think that's weird.

Denmark is really, really small

2007-11-11T11:19:00.000+01:00

So, I started this blog when I first came to Denmark 3.5 months ago, but haven't gotten around to posting until now. So here goes, with no real introduction.

When I talk to random Danes, one of the first things they usually ask me is, "So why did you come to Denmark? It's so small!" I don't really get why they have such a complex about this, as far as I can tell the size of a country doesn't really matter for ones day-to-day life, but it is true that it's a pretty damn small country. Point of evidence: Celebrities are everywhere. On Friday evening, my friends and I were having dinner at La Galette, a French crepe place, when Sidse Babett Knudsen, pretty much like the most famous actress in Denmark (see pic), came in with her little son and sat at a table a meter or so away from us. Thing is, if you're famous in Denmark, you probably live in Copenhagen, and Copenhagen isn't really that big, so you see famous people a lot if you know who they are. Of course, an American like me usually doesn't know who they are, since famous Danes are not typically all that famous on a global scale. I've seen 3 of S.B.K.'s movies, but I'm still not sure if I would have recognized her if I hadn't been with a "real Dane" who pointed her out. It was exciting though, and interesting to see how polite the Danes in the restaurant were about leaving her alone -- I feel like a star of a similar caliber in the US would be mobbed, or at least stared at more.

Anyway, I'm late to a brunch, so that's it for now...