as free as the wind blows

This is my bike. I named it Blå (blue). 

This week I joined the ranks of Copenhagen cyclists. For a couple of weeks now I've had a bike sitting outside in the courtyard but either the weather's been too bad (by my standards - nothing stops the Danes) or I haven't had any place to go that I can't just walk to (gotta love my house's prime city-center location). And because the cyclists here have been riding a bike since before they could walk, I admit to being slightly intimidated at first to bike amongst them. But everyone's gotta start sometime - though at the rate I was going my "sometime" was never gonna come. So first came a couple of short test-drives (meaning that I took it out and rode straight for a while before getting off, walking across the street to turn, and riding straight back again - yeah, I'm a bit lame). Then came my first opportunities of biking to places I actually needed to go:  Østerbro to see my visiting family and Frederiksberg for a Jim Carrey film night with some of my new friends (both of these areas are sort of like suburbs to center-city Copenhagen). Success rate: 2 for 2.

Things I've learned from biking:
- I really love feeling free and independent - I feel both when I bike. I like feeling the wind in my face and hair and taking deep breaths of fresh, cold air - that happens when I bike, too. And I like having to be fully "in the moment," being slightly challenged, and having to use all my senses and navigation skills - yup, biking provides that as well. In the words of positive psychology, it's a "flow experience" for me.
- Letting people know if you're turning and/or stopping is extremely necessary to avoiding a painful and embarrassing bike-on-bike accident. So stretch your arms and use those signals.
- Turning left on a busy street is a complicated endeavor I have yet to master. Straight and right are more my cup o' tea. The left will come, though...
- Park at a bike rack if there's one around, but there's so many bikes in Copenhagen that everyone's used to having bikes parked up and down sidewalks. No biggie, then, if you have to do that, too.
- Contrary to what I thought, you won't be shunned by going slow if you have to. As with cars, stay to the right and you'll be fine. Sometimes you might even find people who are going even slower than you, in which case you can get a morale boost by passing them to the left.
- Biking gets you places a lot faster than walking. Go figure. What would've taken me 40 minutes to walk took about 20 minutes to bike. So I saved time and had a good time in the fresh air while doing it.
- If for any reason you get off your bike and walk with it down the sidewalk for a bit, you probably won't get any weird looks and may even pass someone else doing the same thing. But occasionally you might pass an old lady who makes a snide remark to you in Danish that you don't understand. Just keep walking.
- If you see policemen directing traffic, don't be alarmed. There just might be Royal Guards marching down the street you were supposed to turn on to. Forget about being on time to where you're going and whip out your camera to capture the moment.

trash on trash on trash

Yesterday I went to a trash museum. No, I didn't accidentally leave off the "y" or the "ed" from trash. It was an entire exhibit dedicated to something we have all around us and yet never give a second thought to: the trash we produce. 

The museum was divided into three sections. One about the history of Copenhagen's dealings with trash, another one about the current situation, and the final one about "how does this relate to me" / "what can I do about this" etc. 

Surprisingly enough, Copenhagen is built on top of layers and layers of trash. This has a lot to do with the history of the city and how it expanded. Imagine being in charge of a circular city enclosed by walls. No one wants to deal with the smell of waste inside the walls so everyone just dumps it outside the city limits. No big deal, right? But then comes a time when the number of people grows and you have to expand your city. The only way to expand is to knock down those walls and build new walls with a larger circumference. But wait! There's a city dump outside the walls. Hmm. Whadya do? Well, your options are certainly limited - so you build right on top of the dump, of course. And that's exactly what Denmark did. Several times apparently. And when Copenhagen got too big then they started dumping their trash on the then-unpopulated area of Amager (Ah-mah) next door (which is why everyone still calls it Sh*t Island now... pardon my French). Still to this day if you dig under the city you're met with years and years of history via history's trash. You can learn a lot about people by what they throw (and don't throw) out. 

So, currently, what are Copenhageners doing about their trash? Well, for starters, they've stopped dumping it on the land of future homes. And after a couple centuries of using the poor to sweep the streets, they've moved along to some smart solutions. I'll just mention one: incineration. Copenhagen burns most of their waste (if I was really paying attention in the museum I'd mention a percentage). Then it's turned into energy. An interesting facet of this, though, is that they don't really recycle plastic here because, when you burn plastic, it produces a lot of energy. In a very eco-friendly city, I've found it quite surprising to see Copenhageners "carelessly" throw out large amounts of plastic. To be fair, they're really big on recycling glass and paper. And there's a lot being done with using recycled materials to make other products... like felt-covered chairs entirely out of soda bottles (don't ask me how they did that one). There's also a big movement of dumpster diving in Copenhagen. Personally I don't know if I'd want to eat food out of a dumpster all the time. But the museum exhibit did have a giant dumpster that was open for you to climb in and walk through (I'm definitely still a kid at heart). 

Besides recycling at a basic level, I have to admit that I've never really given a lot of thought to what happens with trash after I put it into the can. I mean, if I can't see it anymore it just disappears, right? (Guess I never fully mastered object permanence as a child.) But living in Copenhagen where the vibe of the city is to be both efficient and mindful of the environment I'm beginning to see things differently. I may never be like that family I read about who fit literally a year's worth of non-recyclable/compostable trash into a mason jar, but I can certainly be mindful about other things. Like not overbuying on food at the grocery store so that nothing goes bad. Or not throwing something away when I could recycle it, reuse it in another way or give it to someone else who could. The museum definitely gave me things to think about. 

Excuse me while I finish my water and throw out the bottle... just kidding.

western Denmark: where they speak "real" Danish?

Copenhageners and Jutlanders (Jutland is western Denmark) make fun of each other the way that northerners and southerners do in the States. One item of contention is who speaks Danish the real way (obviously both regions claim the authenticity for themselves). 

Last weekend I went on a study tour with my positive psych class to Jutland. If I knew more Danish maybe I could comment on the differences in pronunciations but frankly, minus a word here or there, all of it goes right over my head anyway. So I didn't (and won't) even try. Instead I'll just tell you about what I did for 3 days in Jutland. First off, I should say that the purpose of a study tour with DIS is like going on a really long field trip in order to see what you're learning in the classroom in practice in the real world; there's also cultural outings mixed in there. 

Day 1. Started off bright and early with 31 of us students loading into a bus and driving a few hours and across 2 giant bridges to our first destination: Esjberg, which is on the southwest coast of Jutland. In Esjberg we had Academic Visit #1 to an alternative education program for teenagers and young adults that focuses more on the holistic "building up" of each person than on any sort of measurable academics. Before leaving Esjberg we went to The Man Meets the Sea which is comprised of 4 (makes me wonder why it's not The Men Meet the Sea) giant, all-white statues of men sitting down. And it's built near the sea. After that we drove to nearby Ribe (the oldest town in Denmark), checked in to our hostel, toured the cathedral, and ate where we wanted for dinner. Two comments: 1. the hostel was much, much nicer than I expected (probably because my perception of hostel quality was tainted after my past Montreal experience) and 2. dinner in Ribe was great because my roommates on the trip and I ended up in a cute Italian restaurant where we were literally the only customers and the food was delicious and reasonably priced. Score.

Day 2. Up early (it was a trend of the weekend) and after an incredibly delicious breakfast at the hostel, we had a walking tour of the town of Ribe. Then we drove a few hours away to Aarhus (the second largest city in Denmark after Copenhagen). Academic Visit #2 took place at Aarhus University, were we learned about a program for university students to gain knowledge of self (focusing on personal strengths) and entrepreneurial skills and get help in starting their own businesses. For our afternoon in Aarhus we went to the ARoS Museum which is a museum with primarily modern art. It was by far my favorite part of the weekend even though it had nothing at all to do with positive psychology. The best exhibits for me were those with interactive art; I really liked how they incorporated multiple senses. In one of them you were in this black room that had one light shining on a wall of mist; the art happened when you walked through the mist and in to the rainbow the light created. Another one of my favorites was "the smoke room." Before entering this one you were warned that you wouldn't be able to see more than 1 meter in front of you and so to be really careful. With that warning in mind you step inside and are fully immersed in the color red (the room's filled with fog and has colored lights that create the affect); you walk to another part and are "in" the color green, then blue, and so on. Anyway, that's just two of the cool things I saw/experienced to give you an idea of it... After the museum we all went out to dinner in downtown Aarhus and were treated to the best salmon I've ever had followed by a very yummy apple tart dessert. And after that we all went to a concert by The Pigeon Detectives. Never heard of them in my life but, for those few hours, I went all out in pretending to be a big fan. This plan was helped by being right behind a group of Danish teenagers who were really into it. 

Day 3: After staying out late the night before, we still had to wake up early. At least the hostel breakfast was yet again delicious and complete with freshly baked bread (I could've eaten an entire loaf by myself - it was so good). Then it was time for Academic Visit #3 and final, where we learned about a program that uses strengths building to teach and train young adults how to be successful in life and specifically in social entrepreneurship. The session itself was very thought-provoking and inspirational; one of those experiences that's hard to put into words exactly how it influences you. The one thing I can say about it is that I learned a new word (eldsjäl) - it's Swedish not Danish - which literally translates as "firesoul." After hearing the term "firesoul" it's just stuck with me and been at the back of my mind. There's something that resonates with me about the concept of being so passionate about something that you're described as having a soul on fire. I've been thinking about it a lot... To wrap up the study tour we went to a Danish cafe and had a traditional meal, complete with lots of different styles of herring. Then we headed back to Copenhagen. 

One more thing unrelated to the study tour but pertaining to that weekend: the night we got back from our trip, the house next door to mine - which is a kollegium (dorm) for U. of Copenhagen students - was hosting a Fastelavn party (think Danish version of Halloween). The only requirement was to dress up. I made a costume out of what I had - which ended up being a toga out of a blanket. Other people at the party had gone all out, though - there was everything from a human-sized hotdog to a giant cockroach. And to keep in line with Fastelavn tradition, there was time dedicated to "hitting the cat out of the barrel." There's a barrel full of candy (think piñata) that you take turns hitting with a wooden stick; whoever breaks it is given a special crown. I don't know the story behind the whole cat/barrel thing but I do know that candy's involved and that makes everything OK. 

a little dirt don't hurt

I like Copenhagen. Really I do. But one thing I miss seeing every day is some good ol' fashioned nature. I'm not even picky; I won't ask for a mountain or anything. Just give me some trees and some grass - anything that's just free and open.

So in my longing for wide open spaces I went on a quest this week to find a place that fills my nature-y needs. Monday afternoon I set out to go to the Copenhagen Botanical Garden along with one of the girls (a Dane) that I live with. Unfortunately it's closed on Monday (shoulda guessed it would be, since most of the museums and such are closed on Mondays) so then it was on to Plan B: my friend showed me the lakes region of Copenhagen which is made up of a series of 3 or 4 (man-made) lakes. Currently the majority of the water is frozen over so there were ice skaters and people walking about. But in the parts that weren't frozen there were swans and ducks galore (side note: swans exist here in the abundance that Canadian geese do in PA... and they're much prettier). Even though we were still right in the middle of all the city busyness it did my soul good to walk slowly, enjoy the scenery, and feel dirt (not cement) under my feet.

After that my appetite was even more whetted to go experience the Botanical Garden. On Wednesday, off I went (it takes about 10 minutes to walk there which is great). When I walked in I couldn't help but stop and take in the scene. I finally found a place (and right in the middle of the city chaos nonetheless) that had a woodsy feel to it. Despite the cold, I took my time wandering around the paths, and I didn't even care that I could still hear the sounds of city transportation in the background. Then I moved from the outdoors part of the garden to the indoors part. By indoors I mean inside a giant greenhouse that houses a rainforest! It was so cool! Well, warm actually. The greenhouse was made by a king in [insert date from a long time ago] and houses plants from all over the world and from different climates (the rainforest section is just the biggest one). Everything in it is vibrant and green. Near the entrance I noticed these 2 old spiral staircases. At first I couldn't decide whether or not they were for employees or for the public. Then I saw a small child walk down the 2nd one and decided she was too young to work there... so then I ventured up the 1st one and onto a circular ledge that went around the circumference of the dome. Awaiting me was a unique view of the rainforest from the vantage point of the treetops. Eventually I left the greenhouse and the Botanical Garden - but only because I had to be somewhere else - and decided that it's my new favorite place in Copenhagen and that I'll by all means be back.

[Transition] Because nature and food (specifically vegetables) are related in my head, I'm going to jump to a new subject: cooking.

Despite all my resolutions over the past few years to learn how to cook, my skills have been contained in the area of "the basics" and, more recently, bread baking. Nor would I've said I was confident in my cooking abilities or that I really enjoyed it (now eating on the other hand...) But in this new life of mine I'm forced to cook whether I like it or not. And as convenient as it was to live off of PB&J and bananas my first week here, my taste buds demanded an alternative. So I've jumped in with both feet into the wide and - I would now add - wonderful world of cooking. Whadya know? I really like it!

The other night I was "on duty" for helping to cook our weekly house dinner. I was standing at the sink rinsing off vegetables. Since they're all freshly grown by area farmers from the veggie co-op we volunteer at, there was quite a lot of dirt on them. But there was something really nice about "interacting" with my food in that way, from start to finish. And, slightly tangential, since we get veggies from the co-op we end up with all sorts of things, some I've never heard of  (ex: Jerusalem artichoke) or others I've never seen in their "straight out of the ground" form (ex: beet root). But it forces you to get creative, to discover new recipes, to try new things. And that's the part I've come to love about cooking. That, and having fresh and local vegetables around (with the dirt to prove it was just pulled out of the ground) coupled with the pressure to do something with so it doesn't go to waste. For both of these reasons I've spent several enjoyable afternoons in the kitchen chopping, cleaning, and cooking - again, mainly vegetables (I've only made one meat dish and it was salmon so that hardly counts).

Example 1: We'd gotten 2 GIANT heads of cabbage in our weekly veggie bag. And one of them was sitting in our fridge for several days when I decided that I wanted to make soup out of it. I looked up a recipe, added my own special touches to it, and ended up with a really yummy soup. Example 2: I love banana bread. I wanted to try out a baking substitute I just learned of - using avocado in place of butter. So between that and a couple of other additions like grated apple and chocolate, there was some delicious bread that was devoured by my housemates...

In sum: Dirt is good. Whether it's under your feet or on your food. (Before you wash it, that is.)

Turtle Chronicles Pt 2

Before I went abroad I thought it'd be fun to start a photo journey of some new and dear little friends of mine: the Braxtons (aka, those turtle people I mentioned in an earlier post). Since my family keeps wondering what happened to them and since I want to prove that they don't always sit in my sock drawer, here's proof they (or at least one of them) has been out and about in Denmark. 

 getting ready to go inside Hamlet's lair

here's "more castle... less Chester"

thinking about swimming over to Sweden

this one's for all the viking kids back home... or something like that

getting cozy with the old kings and queens

contemplating the day

day by day

For this post I thought I'd give y'all a glimpse of what my day in, day out life is like. Most of my posts are probably gonna be about big events that happen or significant places I go but it's nice to capture the every day things, too. Or at least some of them. Here it goes.

Monday: 

- Wake up. When I want. No classes that day which is a nice way to re-coop after weekend adventures. I'm not that late of a sleeper though so I've been waking up at a decent time. 

- Make breakfast. I choose between things like toast with peanut butter, bananas, eggs, or yogurt & muesli. This is also an appropriate time to mention that I do my own shopping and cooking which has been rather enjoyable. There's a grocery store called Netto (the discount store, so perfect for poor students) 2 blocks from my house. 

- Do homework. Gotta get it in somewhere. Either I do it at my house by a window or at Studenterhuset down the street. Oh and I eat lunch sometime. 

- Volunteer. This means I walk 5 minutes to the train station, ride about 35 minutes via train, and then walk another 10-15 minutes to the site of the after school program. Then I talk for 2 hours to Danish teenagers to help them learn English. Then I get on the bus for a 45 minute ride and 5 minute walk. By then it's about 8pm.

- Dinner and more homework. Maybe with some reading for fun thrown in there, too. For dinner I've been eating a lot of potatoes and veggies (carrots, peppers, zucchini), though the other night I made rice and beans. 

Tuesday

- Classes.Wake up early and walk about 5 minutes to my first class. Then it's back to back for the rest of the day.

- Positive Psychology. A fun way to start the day since it's all about making us into happier people. The class is a bit like being in a self-help group because we learn about and practice the interventions on ourselves. For example, today we identified our top 5 strengths and then described how they were apparent in our lives and how they related to each other. I learned some new things about myself actually. For one, all of my strengths came back to the common theme of finding the good, the potential, the beauty, etc in everything and everyone.

- Neuroscience of Fear. An interdisciplinary course on cognition and fear. So far we've been focusing on the neuroscience, technical side of things. It's been interesting but I don't have much of a background in that area so I'm looking forward to when we flip the coin and get to the psychological side of things.

- Danish Language & Culture. I think it's important to learn (or at least try to learn) the language of the country you're in so I'm happy to be in this class. My Danish is improving. And my "visiting family" mom (more on that later) says my pronunciation is good for an American - except for R's (give me a Spanish R and I'm just fine... but Danish R's are not my thing). We also went on a field trip for Danish class to a cafe for dinner which was fun.

- Holocaust & Genocide. In the same classroom as my positive psych class. I find it slightly ironic that in that room I'll be learning about the spectrum of humanity, from the best to the absolute worst. The term "genocide" was coined in the 1950s: Greek "genos" (race) and Latin "cide" (killing). So far we've discussed the 1915 Armenian genocide that, previously unknown to me, has either been denied full out as an act of genocide or downplayed in its significance by quite a number of people. A despicable thing, if you ask me. But, back on the class, I feel like it's going to be influential in changing my view of the world - especially when juxtaposed with positive psych. 

- Scandinavian Children's Lit. My day would've continued with this class but I actually decided to drop it. Reason being, I took it as a fun class but it wasn't ending up being that fun for me. I like reading kid-lit but the class itself wasn't up my alley. And I figured it wasn't all that great to force myself to take a fun class. Oh well. Now I have more time to do things like write these super long blog entries.

- Bible study. There's a DIS women's Bible study on Tuesday evenings. There's also one on Tuesdays with the church I started going to. So it's up in the air which one I'll end up going to regularly.

Wednesday: 

- Field studies. If I have them. Each class has 2 field trips per semester. Last week I went on a walk around Copenhagen to see H.C. Andersen's Copenhagen. 

- Museums. They're free on Wednesdays. So this past Wednesday I spent several hours at the Thorvaldsen Museum. Thorvaldsen was a very famous Danish sculptor and he has some amazing pieces, even some paintings, too. I got the free audiotour and enjoyed my time there a lot. Just wish I'd had my camera, but I think I'll go back sometime and get some shots.

- Dinner. With the Green House. We rotate who cooks the meal and we use bags of veggies from the local vegetable collective that we also volunteer at once a month. It's super yummy food, too! Afterward we have a group meeting. (The pic above is from our first dinner). Oh and for the month of February DIS is hosting Climate Seminars on Wednesdays, where local environmental leaders come and share their field of interest with us. Last week we learned all about cycling in Copenhagen. Then those leaders eat dinner with us at the Green House.

Thursday: 

- Laundry, shopping, cooking, etc. Basically this is a day to get caught up on home type things. This past week I made a large batch of mashed potatoes and cut up all my vegetables for future use. 

- Exploring. I just walk until I find things I like, go look at them, then walk some more, find more things I like, and so on. In other words, I try to get myself lost a bit so that I can see new things and find my way back. Copenhagen's large enough to explore but small enough to where getting lost a bit isn't that big of a deal. And I've found that my some of my favorite times here have been afternoons of wandering and discovering new things, talking to new people. I once had a 20 minute conversation with the employee at a toy shop.

- Homework. And some more reading for fun. 

Friday:

- Same as Tuesday with the addition of going out with friends at night. By the way, the Danes don't even start going out until around midnight so "going out" in Copenhagen makes for a very late night. Still getting used to that fact.

Saturday:

- Do something fun. So far "fun" has meant going on trips to castles during the day and going out at night... or just chillin' with other Green House folk (which we did this past week), watch a movie, bake some cookies. My friend and I made some delicious oatmeal-apple-chocolate cookies. Decided we wanted to add the apples just to spice up a traditional recipe. Result: delicious. And theoretically more healthy for you. If cookies can be...

Sunday:

- Go to church. I found this great church  that's about a 15 minute walk from my house. The service reminded me of my church in PA. Afterward they have a coffee and snack hour. Last Sunday I went out to lunch with people I met from there. It's an international church so I honestly met more non-Danes than Danes. But it's cool nonetheless.

- Dinner at my "visiting family's" house. DIS offers a program where you can meet with a Danish family, which is really great since I live with all Americans. I've been there twice for dinner. The first night we had lasagna and the second time we had a Danish dish of pork, pork, pork (it was pork chops in a cream sauce with bacon and sausage on top). I'm enjoying getting to know them and learning more about Danish culture. And get help on my Danish homework. Which turns into my "family" and I laughing at my feeble attempts to speak their language. Quality entertainment right there.

3...2...1...

In an effort to learn more about the historical side of Denmark, I've spent my first couple of weekends going to 3 towns, 2 castles, 1 cathedral... and a museum. My first Saturday I went to the town of Helsingør (Elsinore in English), including to what it's most known for: Kronborg Slot (slot = castle). This past weekend I went to Roskilde Viking Museum and Roskilde Cathedral on Saturday and to Frederiksborg Slot on Sunday. So here's a brief recap of my experiences.

Helsingør: This one was actually an all day trip so I woke up early and navigated my way across town to where the buses were picking us up, in an area that I thought I knew how to get to. Apparently I didn't. When I finally realized I didn't know where I was anymore I asked a woman for help. She put me on a bus because it was easier than explaining how to walk the rest of the way. So that day I got my first crash course in the Copenhagen public transit system. Unfortunately I didn't have my klippeport (10 use pass) with me because I was so confident in my walking abilities so I had to pay 24 kroner (about 4 bucks). When I finally found the buses all I cared about was letting my frozen nose and toes thaw out. We drove about an hour north along the coast, occasionally seeing Sweden in the distance. At Helsingør we were allowed about 2 hours to wander on our own. I teamed up with a couple other students and the 3 of us decided our goal would be to find food and a warm place to consume said food. We made purchases at a cute cheese & sausage shop and also at a bakery. Little did we know that buying the food would be the easiest part. We wandered all around  Helsingør trying to find an indoor location that it wouldn't be rude to BYOL (bring your own lunch). In the meantime, we found a stand selling homemade jam and I bought some called brombær, which I later figured out is blackberry. Eventually we settled on a coffee shop where we bought coffee, too, to give an excuse for using their tables. It was delicious and represented hygge to me (Danish coziness).

Kronborg: After exploring Helsingør it was back to the bus for a short drive to Kronborg Castle which I'm actually 99% positive that you've read about without knowing it. "Something's rotten in the state of Denmark" ring any bells? That's right. Hamlet is set at Kronborg Castle and there's even a plaque of Shakespeare to prove it. It was pretty cool to wander the castle corridors while imagining the scenes of Hamlet. It was also good to hear about Danish history and learn how important Kronborg was back in the day. Because of Denmark's geography it's (as the tour guide put it) the "cork in the bottle" or the "gateway to the Øresund." that was fought over for control of trade for ships going in and out of that sea region. I should also mention that Kronborg is just 3 miles away from Sweden so you can imagine the king looking out the window to see the land of the nation that was fighting for his.

Roskilde (ross-KILL-duh): The next weekend I took a bus to Roskilde (I didn't get lost this time) which is a town about 45 minutes west of Copenhagen that, at one time, was one of the largest in Denmark. Roskilde is home to one of the most famous Danish viking ship museums, and it houses the remains of 5 authentic ships that took 25 years to piece back together. These ships were found under the ocean, used as a blockade in a war. A brief note on the viking era: the Danish vikings didn't mess around, and consequently Denmark used to be the Scandinavian superpower. Over time and through various wars with neighboring countries, Denmark slowly lost their vast land. By the 1860s the nation was at an all time low in terms of size; but this was before they gained back land that's now part of Jutland (main part of Denmark) as well as Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Until I got here I had no idea Greenland was controlled by Denmark but apparently it is.

Roskilde (continued): Next stop in the town of Roskilde was the cathedral there. I like to call it the Westminster Abbey of Denmark. It is large, it is beautiful, and it is where the majority of the Danish kings and queens and other wealthy people are buried. We got a tour there as well but the best part for me was simply wandering around and taking in the beauty of it all. Also I took a lot of pictures (no surprise there). It was interesting to see the tomb designs of each king and queen and to speculate about the reasons each chose to be remembered in those ways. Some were quite extravagant, either in terms of intricacy or in size. Others were much simpler. Though part of the level of extravagance had to do simply with the amount of money the kingdom had at that point in time, it's also interesting to see it as an analysis of their personality and their view on life and death - or even how a few highlighted major accomplishments of their reign. Things to ponder.

Frederiksborg: The very next day I was yet again on a bus, this time driving an hour northwest to Hillerød to see the beautiful Frederiksborg Castle, which I learned is also home to the Danish Museum of National History. Unfortunately for us it had snowed the night before and even snowed a bit while we were there so we didn't get the full affect of the castle's beauty, the gardens in particular. One thing enhanced by the snow, though, were the Narnia-esque statues by the fountain. I would've taken picture after picture at this castle, too, but my camera battery died after about 5 shots. Lesson learned: always, always have an extra battery with you. Good thing some of my housemates were on the trip so at least I can get pictures from them. If I had to pick one word to describe Frederiksborg Castle it would be extravagant. Yeah, I know it was the home of royalty but even compared to Kronborg Castle, this one was up there in terms of its over-the-top-ness. Gorgeous in every way, but it made me think... I've been reading the Hunger Games series which (if you haven't read it) is a social commentary on, for one thing, the rich vs. poor question. And when I was looking around at the castle, I couldn't help but think about whether or not it's right/good for some to have so much while others live with so little. On a very different note, there were several astronomically themed things - paintings on the ceiling of the major constellations, really old devices used for astronomy, and a giant music box globe thing with the zodiac on it. I was proud that I knew the names of the constellations based on their pictural representation. I'm a nerd, I know. =)

Wow. That was really long. I'm impressed if you've read this far. 

good things come to those who volunteer

In my wealth of new knowledge on positive psychology from all of 2 classes so far, I've learned that performing acts of kindness improves one's overall well-being (I'll have to write more on my classes in general at some point). I've always been under the impression that giving up time, etc for someone is good not just for them but for me, too - helping others makes me happy - so it's nice to know that science confirms my experiences. At any rate, I decided to take some chances and get involved with some volunteering here in Copenhagen. 

The first was, to be entirely honest, a bit random. I found about this group called CPH Volunteers that helps with city-wide events and decided to give it a shot. So I got in touch with them before I got here, and a couple of days ago I found my way over to their office. I was paired with 3 Danish volunteers and we trekked down to the main train station where we handed out pamphlets for the upcoming Fashion Festival. Being still one of my first days here, I didn't really know any Danish (not that I suddenly know all that much more now) but I jumped right in and smiled my way through handing out pamphlets at the entrance to the station. If nothing else, though, I'm now very familiar with hearing the words "tak" and "nej tak" (thanks and no thanks) and learned how to say "you're welcome" (du er velkommen). That afternoon I also experienced the kindness of the Danes... After striking up a long conversation with me on the way to the train station, one of the other volunteers offered to take me to the Visitor's Center when we were done and get me some more info on Copenhagen. He was under absolutely no obligation to do so but went out of his way to walk me there, explain things, and walk with me back to where I needed to go to get home. 

The second is actually something I'll be continuing to do throughout the semester. I'll be working at an after school program for Danish teenagers (13-15 year olds) who need help practicing their English. In Denmark they start learning Danish in about 3rd grade but, as with any language, sometimes you just need extra practice to be more confident in your abilities. That's where the after school program comes in. Basically all I/we do is talk in English. Pretty simple for me and good skill-building time for them. I'm a huge fan of teenagers so getting to know them was (and will be) a lot of fun. And I also like that the location of the program is 45 minutes away from where I live. Most people might dislike it for being farther away. But since I live so close to where I have classes, it's actually really nice to have a reason to go farther away, take public transportation (for the most part I can just walk places) and see the outskirts of the Copenhagen area. 

With both of these things, I've found that volunteering is a great way to meet new people (by that I mean the local Danes) and that it "widens my horizons" a bit to experience a different side of the city that I wouldn't get to otherwise - sort of the more every day side of things that, as an abroad student, I probably wouldn't be exposed to without opportunities like these. So, guess we'll see where else the path of volunteering takes me while I'm here!