you take the good, you take the rad

as a result of my cultural immersion, i have compiled an ever-growing list of rad danish facts:

1) the word “lego” is actually a combination of two danish words: “lege,” play, and “godt,” well. the danish-born toy suggests that the builders of such should “play well.”
2) denmark uses more wax (as in candles) than any other country in the world.
3) “starving students” do not exists here: the danish welfare system pays students (from b.a. to ph.d) monthly stipends if enrolled in school.
4) denmark’s suicide rate is one of the three highest in developed countries for both sexes ages 16-50. an average of 12-15 people kill themselves every day here.
5) the danes will admit that they lack two things: warm weather and a beautiful language.
6) make a danish friend: say something nice about the danish monarchy.
7) make a danish enemy: say something nice about the swedish monarchy.

knit-picking

current music: “everything,” the juliana theory

I have found myself to be very “settled” in denmark lately. this stage coincides perfectly with pre-departure predictions that suggest that after settling into a living/socializing/schooling schedule, students feel so comfortable with where they are that they begin to consider their host country “home” and even, at times, become bored. tonight I realized that I am smack-dab right in the middle of that phase. things have been great here: today went on a u.c. excursion to the museum of arken (“the arc” in danish); popped into a yarn store where I learned (finally!) how to knit; have been making regular, semi-celebrity appearances at student house; and confirmed that my classes are, indeed, dreadfully boring. I think this part of studying abroad I will classify as the “stability” phase. I am told, thankfully, that such a phase traditionally follows the “severe homesickness” phase, so I think I successfully dodged that bullet. but I cannot pretend that a few days ago I would have gladly traded in my remaining time here for an plane ticket back to s.b... not that I felt especially homesick, I just sometimes feel like such an “extended vacation” like I have now is largely wasted on someone like me; someone who thrives when ridiculously busy, with days brimming with meetings, work, class, and social opportunities. not that sleeping-in, learning to knit, and assessing my future aren’t fulfilling (if not immediately productive) endeavors, I just get restless. I feel like I need to work really hard in order to really appreciate my down time. here, all I have is down time, so I crave a horrifically hectic schedule. sounds more sadistic than anything, and I’m sure that after I enter the working world I will shake my fist at this entry. but until then, I’ll continue to knit my pale green scarf.
Olivia is visiting in a few days, I should mention. I can’t imagine playing “tour guide” for another person seeing as how I have barely mastered this city’s geographical intricacies. I’m excited for Olivia to meet my mentor; sleep during my lectures; and for her to meet all my friends and housemates. the only other “studying abroad”-cohort that I have seen was that of olivia’s in grenoble. there were so few people and grenbole seemed like such a reserved town. funny to think that copenhagen will allow olivia to meet hundreds of international students and see millions of danes all on bikes with half of them intoxicated. I’m also excited that someone from back home will get to see me use danish in its natural habitat.had bromwen over for dinner last night. georgia and i always cook dinner for her because she lives alone and won’t admit that she gets lonely sometimes. it was good times- gotta love those aussies, right? ;) but tonight seems to be a rather tame night. some of my housemates and bret are in the kitchen, knitting and chatting- this seems like a perfect “hyggelige” night (for those of you who speak danish). a more substantive edition of my life here in copenhagen is promised to follow soon. peace.

i see london, i see france

song: "she will be loved," maroon 5 (<-- the official gods of this beautiful, little, xenophobic country)

goddag!
while purusing the great expanses of the world-wide web, i stumbled upon the cheapest airfare i have ever seen in my life. i have been tentatively making plans to travel to london, and while researching at ryanair.com, i found a round-trip ticket to london, stansted for 8sek, or translated about $1.80 (note where the decimal point rests). enter the disgusting irony: in spite of my fledgling finanical situation, i can actually afford said flight. the twist: everyone here has laready been to london, thus rendering me without a travel buddy. sweet irony! why must you grasp me so tightly in your murderous clutches!
ok, i'll cease being dramatic.
the next step on my intinerary will be recruiting people to accompany me to london. something tells me that saying "hey, guys! lets go to london: it's warmer and doesn't rain as much compared to copenhagen" might bring more laughs than volunteers.
so bartender once again last night. fell hook-line-and-sink-'er when this random australian guy said he was writing his term paper on the same subject as me and that we should get together and study. me, being the frustratingly-gullible person i am, was like "oh, my god! yeah!!" in just enough time to realize what i had done. not to be outdone, my fellow bartender (a random guy from india who calls me "the funny girl from california") asked me if i would like to "have a hot evening" with him. even better, some bolivian guy refused to believe that i was from california (versus a native dane), and that i speak spanish. did i mention that our entire conversation took place in spanish.? sigh. so the "studenterhusset" was a swing-and-a-miss. everyone is out of town, including all my housemates and my aussie, john. i met two really cool guys from s.b., one of whom lived on del playa last year and at f.t. my freshmen year. what a small, drunk world!
alright, sleep. vi ses i morgen...

home(less) for the holidays

current song: "man of the hour," pearl jam

I have allocated this blog to clear up various rumors that appear to be circulating about me:

rumor 1: I’m coming home early from denmark
truth: true! this is mother-effing true!! I’ll be arriving in sun-soaked lax on december 22, 2004!! and for those of you who plan to greet me in a frenzy of tears, signs, and hugs, I will let you know a time as soon as I access my online itinerary. being the crafty lass that I am, I scheduled time to travel during my semester, thus my plans to do so afterward became gratuitous, expensive, and unnecessary. I was going to surprise everyone but decided against that idea for two reasons: 1) I would give my poor mother and father heart attacks if I were to just “show up” at their respective doorsteps on christmas eve, and 2) who doesn’t want to celebrate christmas and new years with everyone they know and love?

rumor 2: I am living at (address)/(street)/(person’s bed) when I get back to i.v.
truth: false. at the time of this writing, I have NO idea where I will be residing upon my return to i.v, however, i am more than open to your gracious offers. I am neat, studious, pay my rent on time, and, oh, yeah, I like to party at least five nights a week, study when needed, and intermittently have random strangers sleep over. I will eat all your food, yell at your guests, clog the toilet, and steal your mail. I… wait. I was partially describing a former roommate who I had. but everything before “having strangers sleep over” is true.

rumor 3: I am planning earth day again.
truth: true! earth day 2005 is on! t-dogg and I will be on the prowl for local talent, donations, suggestions, and volunteers. this years’ goal: rock the hiz-zouse harder than last year. we gotta go out with a bang!

rumor 4: I am watching “the life aquatic” the day I return to the u.s. of a.
truth: true! not only does the new wes anderson movie hit theaters the day of my return, I also have big plans to watch it following my eating of a burrito, the wearing rainbow & reef sandals, and my consuming of a starbucks latte on the rocks.

rumor 5: my hair is naturally brown and curly.
truth: the brown hair: true, unfortunately, and the curls: very true. I plan to return to my natural hair color eventually, but it might be a traumatic process for all of us, so give me time. for those of you flabbergasted by the pics with my hair displayed in unruly, curly locks, yes, they are real. even worse, as a child my hair used to be flaming red. ask the family, it’s frighteningly true.

rumor 6: I am really hot.
truth: I’ll leave this one up to you.

and, sweetness! olivia just called to tell me that she will be visiting me for a week at the end of october, meaning she will be here for the kick-arse halloween party i’m planning for every international student and their mom!! yes, finally a beezie who can keep up with me!!

rumor 7: I am so happy I just peed a little.
truth: uh, I gotta go- peace.

speak now or forever hold your lease

current song: "the girl from ipanema," frank sinatra

crikey!!
just got back from a week on france with olivia-darling! first stop was charles de gualle airport where olivia and i waited for almost three hours at the wrong terminals for each other. after that mishap, o-dogg and i checked into our hotel, which was friggin' sweet, complete with a view of the eiffel tower and an equally-impressive mini-bar. over three days, i ascended to the top of the eiffel tower, went to the lourve and versailles. to sum paris up in one word: amazingly-awesomely-sweet-rad. next stop on the france tour was olivia's town of grenoble, located about four hours outside paris. there i got to see olivia's digs, friends, and soak up some local culture. grenoble, though small and relatively quiet, def has it charms. slightly frustrating was my lack of proficiency in french, but olivia is pro, so things went smoothly with the frenchies. the french were so cordial and helpful- hard to believe that any sterotypes about them were true. well, except the stereotype that french men are kinda creepy and will do anything to get your attention. but, hell, that's better than the blank stares or diverted glances of most danish men. tuesday, my last day in frnace, was insane. basically with tickets and hints from oilvia in hand, i had to navigate my way from grenoble to copenhagen, and for those who know me, i have trouble finding my way in and out of the shower, so getting from one country to another proved to be quite the feat. after travelling for four-and-a-half hours by train, i boarded the most crowded subway of my life toward the airport. so not only was my face smashed between the breasts of an overweight black woman, i had mr. machismo-italian crammed against my back with his euro-trash music pulsating down my back for thirty tortureous minutes. after taking a bus to the airport, waiting two hours ot check-in, and two more to board my rain-delayed flight, we hit turbulence so bad that people were gasping. good thing all the cabin announcements were in french and danish. we could have been plummeting to our deaths and for all i knew they were telling us that the drink cart was about to make ake its rounds. one more train and two more buses brought me to my street just as it started to rain.
also...
long story short: on the u.c. excursion to bornholm (see blog about my nose's encounter with pavement), my housemates and i met this older couple on a ferry whose daughter lives around the corner from us and who is also studying sociology. we exchanged numbers thinking that theur daughter wouldn't be too keen with her parents soliciting her services as a tour-guide (let alone freind) random international students. so not only does she call, her parents prepare an elaborate dinner/dessert/city tour tonight to celebrate danish "halloween." screw any danish culture class because this was the ultimate danish experience. all my housemates went to her (micayla's) parents' house outside the city where we were treated to a traditional danish dinner (read: danish food topped with beer, with a side of beer, sprinkled with beer, with beer to drink). after we went out to see the whole twon dressed up, eating pastries, and wondering in-and-out of shops that stay open late to treat kids to candy and let parents mingle. the danes are such happy people, with wine shops feeding adults champange and painting kids' faces. there were even carved pumpkins! turns out that the danes "invented" halloween traditions of their own after not being able to figure out why the u.s. celebrates it the way they do.
after the city tour, we went back to micayla's parent's house where they treated us to danish halloween pastries and more alcohol. they invited us back anytime and even gave us their phone number and address in case we need anything from food or advice. they say that the highest compliment you can give to a dane who has invited you into their home, is to say that your experience and the atmosphere was "cozy," or in danish, roughly, having attained "who-glet" (spelled "hygge," but that doesn't matter because danish sound snothing like it's spelled, anyway). they def succeeded- my housemates and i were so charmed that we couldn't stop talking about how special and welcome they had made us feel. no wonder everyone is so happy here :)
so forgot the tell my landlord that i might be leaving denmark a little earlier than expected, and, yeah, that didn't really go over too well with him. apparently i will be held in political asylum as a result of having committed myself to a lease for some months. oops.
and, yes! bartended again at the student house this wednesday, and, holy crap! out-of-my-mind-fun. i got hit on by the lurpy austrailian, a hot german, and met the coolest peeps from s.d. on vacation in scandinavia. tons of hilarious, outlandish pictures and even better stories behind them. and, and!! got the d.j. to play "ice, ice baby," and, yeah, guess who rocked the hell out onstage in front of everyone? don't think that people internationally don't know a good song when they hear it ;) so, so, so much fun!!!
until next time, goodnight and peace.