Sommetider Cykler Jeg, Sommetider Tager Jeg Metroen...

The streets are more familiar now. I recognize many places and my feet can take me down the right path while my mind day dreams away. I know the fastest way to get to places and I have found the shortcuts through the narrow cobblestone streets. I feel that I have the walking part pretty down pat.

Thus, I have moved on to riding a bike in this city! This is what I've learned. You must wear at least TWO layers of pants, socks and gloves in order to keep yourself from being wind burned or frozen to death. You should always use hand signals to turn. You MUST have bike lights for riding at night (or else you get a 600Kr fine). There are really good bike lanes everywhere and you should watch for the special bike signal lights. It's really pretty easy... but I have already fallen down once at an intersection.

 This is my bike. It's pink and fabulous and I love it.

On Saturday, we had a pretend "Canadian dinner" at my apartment, but really... it was a surprise birthday party for Angela. We decorated the living room, wrote a huge card, baked several delicious cakes, and brought her a princess crown to wear for the night. It was a lovely time. Everyone comes from a different part of the world and the mix of people is just so interesting. I don't think we can ever run out of things to say. We talk about the things we know and the things we don't know. We compare our countries, culture and traditions. We talk about the many difficulties and  the wonderful experiences of starting a new life in this strange and beautiful city of Copenhagen. We listen to music, we talk, we laugh, we eat, we drink, and we party.

Today, we had our oral exam for our Danish language course. I am pleased to announce that I have passed and the teacher said that I was very good! In the afternoon, we went to Signalhuset (a kollegium in Amager... kollegium means student residence) for a mini celebration . Of course, I rode my pink bike to get there... it took me 30 minutes, and my legs almost fell off from being so cold. We made crepes with all the best toppings: berries, banana, nutella, whipped cream, jam, & coconut spread. It tasted like a bit of heaven:

Tomorrow I am going to see the famous Little Mermaid statue by the harbor in the afternoon and then catching a plane to Berlin at night. I am SO excited.

Dollhouses & Hyggelig

Last Friday, we went on a tour of the Danish National Museum. Our tour guide was pretty good, but I never had the patience for listening to history - so I wandered ahead of the group. We came upon this magical room with the most beautiful dollhouses. I fell in love! It's probably the little girl in me, but I could probably spend hours playing with them. Look at the detail! This family is having a turkey dinner with broccoli, bacon and ham.

I also had the most amazing dinner on Sunday night. My roommate Julia and my classmate Claudia hosted a traditional German/ Austrian dinner at my apartment. Cooking for 16 people is not an easy task at all! Julia and Claudia started cooking at around 3:30 and we didn't finish until around 7:00. However, it was definitely worth it.

A major Danish cultural phenomenon is "hyggelig". When I asked a Dane to explain what this means, they told me that it stood for coziness, comfort, snug, feeling at home. It's a mentality. Perhaps hyggelig is like staying in on a cold snowy winter night with good friends, drinking hot chocolate or wine, with candles and good music. But I'm not sure exactly how to use the word yet...

Anyway, my point is that I think our dinner was very hygge. We didn't really have enough proper seating, tables, forks or knives... but somehow we made it work. It was also very economical. Dining out in Copenhagen is pretty expensive, so this is a good way to go. We all split the cost of the groceries. It was 25 kr per person. This works out to be about 5 Canadian dollars.

I've been quite sick these past couple of days, so I've been staying in bed. However, I think I'm starting to feel better now. Tomorrow, I am buying a bicycle from an exchange student who is leaving Denmark soon. I am excited to finally have a bike! It will make it much easier to get around Copenhagen. It is dark green and it has a basket in the front. On Friday, I have the written portion of my danish language exam. Next Monday is the oral exam. Then I'm off to Berlinnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!

Adjusting to Daily Life

Dear friends, thanks for reading this and leaving those lovely comments on my last entry. It really makes my day when I hear from people back home. I know I haven't been gone for too long yet, but I miss home a lot and I love that I can share my mini adventures with you all : )

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I find that one of the hardest tasks associated with not being able to fluently read or understand Danish is grocery shopping. At first, it was hard to tell which milk to buy (Do I get sødmælk, letmælk, minimælk, or skummetmælk???!), or what the mystery meat in the package is (kylling, skinke, kalkun??), or where the deals are... since I didn't know how to read the danish signs. Luckily, I seemed to have bought all the right things that I wanted, unlike a few of my classmates who bought sour milk and really stinky cheese by accident. Thus, our danish language teacher has taken it upon herself to help us out. This was the first meal I cooked in Copenhagen:

The mushrooms reminded me of Beth, my room mate back in Canada :P

The Danes are super friendly people. I have had to ask for directions many a times - though I haven't always gotten the right ones. Last Saturday, the three Polish theoretical physicists invited our whole class to their kollegium for a traditional Polish meal. It was a 15 minute bus ride from my apartment and a 5 minute walk. However, I got soooo lost on the way there. I wandered in the dark and windy night for about an hour before I found the place. By that time, I was freaking out (and crying, just a little). Anyway, all's well that ends well. We had a DELICIOUS meal with GREAT company. I believe that we will be having a traditional AUSTRIAN meal this Saturday prepared by miss Claudia. The Canadians are waiting until the Vancouver Olympics come on, before we host our meal.

Things have gone smoothly (for the most part) so far. I have a network of people that I can ask for help, if need be. The International Office is in the City Campus, which is less than 10 minutes from my apartment. It is in a older part of the city and the building is beautiful:

the International office shares a building with this gorgeous library

Unfortunately, I have been feeling a little under the weather. So I've been spending more time at home these days. This is a sign from a protest from the Copenhagen climate conference that some one has left in our living room. It would have been cool to be here for the excitement:

13 Things I Find Interesting about Life in Copenhagen

1.The traffic lights turn from Green to yellow then red. This is the same as in Canada. HOWEVER, they also turn from red to YELLOW, then green. I find this very strange.

2. The bathroom floors are heated. It makes waking up in the winter mornings a little more easier.

3. Danes swallow their letters and often do not pronounce words as they are written. For example, Amager is pronounced Ama. ... and ogsa is pronounced like aus. This makes learning Danish TOTALLY confusing. Plus they have 3 extra letters!

4. Hello is Hej. Goodbye is Hej Hej.

5. In Denmark, the legal drinking age is 18. However, they don't seem to be strict about this and never really check for ID. They sell wine and hard liquor in ALL the grocery stores. It's pretty much AWESOME.

6. There is cobblestone everywhere. Yes- it looks beautiful, but snow make for a very slippery walk. And if you don t slip and fall and die from the cobblestone, you may get run over by a bicycle or hit by a car. Either way, you will die.

8. There are bicycles EVERYWHERE. It's the most popular mode of transportation. Danish people make riding bicycles look good.

7. Danes are tall, blonde, and beautiful. Both guys and girls have amazing style.

9. It is always cloudy and gray. Today is the first time I have seen the sun in Copenhagen.

10. The church bell rings every 15 minutes. First, I found this very beautiful. Then, I found it super annoying. Now, I am used to it. It is actually quite useful!

11. I am always doing simple math. The Danes operate on the 24 hour clock, so I am constantly subtracting by 12. Also, Toronto is 6 hours behind. Also, the exchange rate is about 5 dollars. So, 100 Kroner is about 20 Canadian dollars.

12. Danish coins have holes in the middle.

13. Everyone speaks English very well.  However, Im pleased to say that I have carried out a conversation with a Dane in Danish. My language classes are paying off!

Update

These couple of days have been just CRAZY. Copenhagen is absolutely beautiful. I'm in love with the city and the way of life (that I've experienced thus far). I'm currently staying at a hostel that's very close to the city center and my new flat. I move into my flat tomorrow.There are so many stories that I want to write about, but I have to pay to use the internet here... and I might run out of time. So I'll save those for later : )

Anyway, I'm going to post some pictures of my adventures thus far:

Frankfurt airport

This is my home for the next six months

This is the view outside my flat.

Sara and I

bicycles everywhere!!!!