Well after writing that last post I did have a cup of tea...and then I fell asleep. So it is now Wednesday night and I am in the midst of packing so I can leave bright (actually dark) and early tomorrow for my short study trip to Western Denmark! I'll do a quick (or more likely a not so quick) run down of the last few days so when I get back I can just talk about the trip.
Sunday- I went to a Zumba class!! It was my first one here and even though all the instructions were in Danish I had a fantastic time and can't wait to go back again on Sunday. I recognized a few of the songs but most were new. I felt very at home doing good ol Zumba :)
After that I had planned to meet a friend around 1 to work on a class assignment so I had some time to get lunch. It was a really beautiful day and I meandered around the city until I found a cute little bagel shop. I decided that I wanted to order in danish so I had to walk past the shop once or twice until I figured out what I wanted to say. I was very nervous but I walked in, said Hej, jeg vil gerne have en bagel med kylling (I will have a bagel with chicken). The guy said kylling? and I said Ja. Then he said "Oh, you're learning Danish?" Darn! My cover was blown. Haha, but I laughed and said Yes, I am trying to. He seemed pleased (or at least amused) and finished making my delicious kylling bagel. Oh, did I mention that kylling is pronounced koo-ling? If you say kill-ing ... it means baby kitten. So I did my best not to ask for a baby kitten bagel. I paid for my bagel and said Tak then I found a nice bench in the square that was in the sun and I sat and enjoyed my lunch while I did a little people watching. It was still cold out but the sun made it a really beautiful day and there were so many more people outside than there usually are. People were even sitting at tables outside a few cafes in winter coats, hats and gloves eating, chatting or reading the newspaper. I must say I was quite proud of myself for this accomplishment of ordering in Danish. I even took a picture to capture the moment :)
After the wonderful bagel experience I met up with my friend Erin from my Danish Architecture class. Our assignment was to visit two housing projects in the city. The first one is called Brumbleby and it took us awhile to find it but we were thoroughly pleased with the unique little village when we finally came upon it. Brumbleby is several "blocks" of very small apartments that have a common laundry and storage area in a separate building. The whole area of Brumbleby is surrounded by a brick wall to keep it separate from the hustle and bustle of the city. The outside of the buildings looks pretty old but when sneakily looked into a few windows and inside they were much nicer than I expected! It is an interesting concept- small amounts of private space with lots of shared space (laundry, sidewalks, grassy spaces, gardens, playgrounds, etc) It seems like this area would really foster close neighbor relationships. Not only do they live so close together, but they all work to keep the common spaces nice. I wanted to post pictures but for some reason the internet is not cooperating. There were some really awesome little playgrounds in between the different housing blocks so maybe I'll have to post them at a later date. Erin and I had a great time exploring this little village-- we even made a cat friend whom we named Milo. And at one point we were near a playground taking pictures and we heard a little girl on the swings say "Look mom! Those girls are taking pictures of us!" Haha.
All in all it seemed like a nice place to live if you didn't mind having a very small amount of private space and being very close to your fellow Brumbleby-ers.
The other place we had to visit and analyze is called the Potato Rows. I can't actually remember why it's called this but it is 10 or so streets parallel to each other right between the city and the lake. It's a beautiful location and a similar concept, although the common space now is a street instead of gardens and playgrounds. Here there is room to park your car outside your "house" and the houses are much larger than at Brumbleby...although still quite small in comparison to the houses we are used to. At home, in Iowa, I live in a fairly small house...but it many Danes would consider it large just because they are used to much smaller spaces. It is all about how you handle the space you are given. Every single house in the Potato Rows had at least one skylight in the roof. Some had dormers and some had balconies. They were much more individualized than the Brumbleby "houses" but you can tell they all belong in that same area because they do look similar to each other. Again, there is the idea of being so close to neighbors and having some sort of shared common space. I really wish I were able to post the pics but I guess I'll have to try again later.
After finishing our little tour of the city housing projects, I headed back home. That evening was the big handball match: Denmark vs. France. Karina, the kids and I went to her workplace for some recreation time and to watch the first part of the game. I was so impressed. At Karina's work there is an entire building just for fitness and recreation. There is an exercise room, ping-pong tables, air hockey, billiards, a big tv and couches, free hot chocolate (yum! I think I had three cups of that) and coffee, a little book cafe area and even a beer vending machine! That's right...a beer vending machine. Karina told me during work hours you are not allowed to drink but after that, just head to the vending machine and select your choice of beer. I thought that was quite an interesting concept. Anyway it was a great place and Andreas and I played table tennis. He is much better than I am but he was able to teach me a few things and we had a great time. My favorite was when we did "China training". He would hit the balls toward me one second apart and I just had to do my best getting them back. It was so hard! We had probably 100 ping pong balls covering the floor after only a minute or two. I wish my dad could've been there to give Andreas a good match. I was definitely at the mercy of his smashes. At 6 we headed up to the nice couches and watched the first half of the match. It was so close the entire time! During halftime we went back home to watch the incredibly exciting second half. At the end Denmark was behind, but they tied it up in the last few seconds! After 10 minutes overtime I am sad to say we lost and the French were very, very happy...but it was a very good match. Kudos to Denmark for making it so far!
Ok I better make this last part quick so I can get to sleep soon!
Monday: I had classes and then my first night of badminton! I signed up for a beginners club and even though I was very nervous, I went all by myself to a gym in another part of the city, badminton racket in hand, ready to play. There were about 10 or so Danish females and a Danish coach. I introduced myself to him and he said the practice would be in Danish but he would try to sum up instructions for me in english. Well, he never needed to because a very, very sweet Dane helped me the entire time! Right away she asked if I wanted to play with her and we stayed partners for the whole practice. I tried to speak as much Danish as I knew but I think at one point I was trying to say the score was 12 and I accidentally said 20. I don't blame her for looking so confused. One of my worst fear is being in a group of Danes who can't stand Americans but so far I have yet to meet any Danes at all who are like that! Come to find out, this girl (she told me her name but it was very Danish so in my head I remember her as Hillary, though I think that is probably wrong), anyway, she actually lives very close to Bagvaerd, my town! I was staying in the city that night, but maybe next time we can take the train home together. So after my successful practice I came to the conclusion that badminton will be my sport for the next few months :)
I was in such a good mood after that that I wandered around that part of the city (called Østerbro) for awhile. It was kind of drizzly out but a little warmer than it has been recently and I took this opportunity to take some photos. Grrr, too bad something is wrong with the internet or the blog website because they really are beautiful.
Yesterday (Tuesday) wasn't too exciting until Karina and Rebecca and I ventured out in the evening to a bead shop called 1001 Pearle. Karina learned a fancy way to make necklaces and earrings on Saturday and she offered to show me how. I now have a really cute pair of what I will refer to as my homemade Danish earrings!
Another exciting thing happened yesterday as well: I got my first mail! I was absolutely thrilled when Karina brought down a cute white envelope with orange and yellow polka dots. As soon as I saw the return P.O. box number I knew it was from Ginny Dalton. Ginny and Mike are my parents' best friends and I like to call them my second parents. Ginny is my card angel as she always sends really adorable cards of encouragement and smiles. This card certainly made me smile. I think of home every day but receiving something tangible made it feel a little bit closer :)
Well, this brings me to today. I didn't have to go to the city because I had no field studies scheduled so I slept, did homework and started packing for my trip. This evening I went along with the family to do some shopping. On the way we were trying to decide what to have for dinner. I had previously told them about quesadillas, something they hadn't heard of before, so I suggested I make those. I know quesadillas aren't American or at all fancy but it was something I knew how to make off the top of my head and I was fairly certain I wouldn't screw them up. So I happily made chicken, cheese, tomato and veggie quesadillas for my family and I'm happy to say they were well received. It was really nice to cook again so I think I will have to offer to do that more often. If any of you have recipe ideas that the Danes enjoy, let me know and I'll give them a try!
Thanks again for reading my long-winded tales :) In the morning I will head to the city early, get on a bus and travel to Funen and Jutland (the two other major parts of Denmark) for all sorts of excitement.
Hope you all are staying safe and warm in the crazy blizzard! Although I am sad to be missing Knox's first snow day in who knows how long, I must say this rainy weather is a little more appealing than massive drifts and slippery ice.
Hej hej!
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