Danish Nights: Trains, Diskoteks, & Pastries

I am happy to say that this is being written on the S-tog.  I found out yesterday how, exactly, one accesses the 'fri internet', and, although it is slow, I'm finding it very helpful for a long commute.  I am 7 stops from my final destination, so we'll see just how much I will have time to write about.

While I'm still on the subject of trains- I have been having an interesting time adjusting to the train/bus system.  While I will agree that this is a much nicer public transit system, even so much so that I can hardly compare it to anything I've seen anywhere outside of Europe, it has it's problems- all of which I seemed to have encountered within one week of using.  For one thing, it runs incredibly infrequently at night.  Like once an hour after perhaps 8 PM depending on the route.  My bus stops running altogether at 12:07, and then a 'natbus' (a night bus) starts running at 1.  It too, only runs once an hour.  And... if I understood it correctly, it only takes you HOME from the station, it will not pick you up- at least not until 3 or 4 AM.  This makes late nights in studio, or out in the city for whatever reason rather difficult.  I did it, just for the sake of having the experience, last Friday night.  DIS threw a welcome party with a semi-open bar (free champagne and beer, the rest cost some small amount) at a nearby discotek (I love that they still call them that!) called IN hacienda.  The party was fun- for the most part.  I'll get to that later.  But, when I left for home at midnight-ish, I didn't get home and to bed until 2.  That made for a rough next morning.  Also, late at night isn't really my favorite time to be alone at a train station.  Not that it was dangerous, or even remotely frightening.  Actually, there were still a ton of people walking around then.  I was told by Henning the next morning that the local gymnasium (that's a high school, not a gym) was throwing a party/dance, so there were a lot of teenagers walking about being little Danish hooligans.  It was at least something interesting to watch while I waited for 25 minutes in the FREEZING cold for the bus.

Waiting at the Train Station in Greve

My other big complaint so far has been consistency.  I mean, yes, given the American standard, this is just fantastic.  I mean, the only time I ever road the BART I was 2 hours late for a lecture at a San Fran architecture firm.  But, since I've been told how fantastic it is, I won't lie.  I'm a little disappointed.  I still have to deal with buses 'not seeing' me, and driving right past (I learned that if you stay seated in the little bus stop bench/structure, they are not aware and just keep on going), buses coming 5 minutes early so that I'm not there yet and I miss them, and buses coming 10 minutes late so I miss my train.  But no serious harm has been done- I haven't been late to class yet, which is a big no-no.  Given the fact that Danes are so punctual, and expect everyone else to be so too (and for the record, I am totally in favor of this cultural phenomenon.  If I could only teach Americans that there is nothing fashionable about being fashionably late...) I can't really understand how other people here put up with it.  Although, in fact, on a bus to Nørrebro yesterday which should have taken 5 minutes and took 15, I saw (for the first time, I think) someone being openly upset in public.  Go figure.  I do think though, that with sufficient practice, I will understand the buses and trains, and maybe won't be quite so late or early for them in the future.

Me waiting for the bus... this is when the bus driver 'didn't see me'

As for the party?  Well, the party was interesting.  I think it wasn't the wisest choice I've made, given it was the first time I had ever been to a club... and most of the people there (ok, practically everyone there) was 20 or younger, so they had no real experience with drinking and dancing put in such a dense combo.  Because of this, lots of people were walking (drunk) onto the dance floor with beer in hand, and then, upon beginning to dance, spilling their beer everywhere.  The floor was like a mini stale-beer lake.  Ew.  Before I proceed- I must elaborate, because this seems very critical of my host nation, and it isn't meant to be so at all.  These drunken people were NOT Danish.  These were DIS students.  The party started at 8 (and yes, you are supposed to be on time) and Danish people were allowed to come to the club starting at 11.  I was told that this is a pretty common practice here- to throw a private event first, and then others can join later in the evening.  (For the record, this is when I had to get off the train.  I am now in a Baresso coffee house, drinking a very expensive chai and eating a very expensive scone.)  Anyway, so there were no drunk Danes floundering about, to set the record straight.  Only drunk Americans.  Which, we're all kind of used to.  As a whole, I don't think Danish people get DRUNK very often.  I think they save that for special occasions, and religious holidays... like Christmas.  And no, not kidding.  They are, however, very heavy drinkers, but high tolerances make it social drinking (even if it is 10 shots) rather than blackout status.  Truly, it is a socially accepted way of completely changing social behavior.  Danish people keep to themselves, don't talk to strangers unless approached, and follow an unspoken code in which they do not stare or pay too much attention to other people's going-ons so as not to embarrass anyone.  Which means tripping down a set of stairs here is a lot more fun than at home.  But, to prove my point about the alcohol thing opening them up, I was at the train station with Sean after the aforementioned party.  We were waiting for his train (the C) and mine (the A) and just chatting about the things we've noticed and learned about Copenhagen since we got here.  We got into a good discussion about the trains (and then things we like and dislike about them) when out of nowhere this Danish man approached us, and started to ask us what we are complaining about.  For the record, not complaining.  Just commenting.  Like I said, the trains here are better than anything I've seen anywhere, but there are still kinks which make such a reliable system sometime unreliable.  Sean, who is from San Jose, and has no public transit, tried to insist that no, we are not complaining.  We love it here.  The man doesn't really believe us, and asks again.  Sean explains very clearly that this is the best public transit we have ever seen.  The man seems relieved... and his friend seems even more relieved when their train has come and they must board immediately.  Apparently, his friend had not had quite as much to drink that evening.

København at night

Unfortunately, the evening wasn't just about people pouring drinks down my shirt and on the floor and meeting that very funny Danish man.  It also involved theft.  And a 7-eleven.  You see, it was Pablo's birthday, so we felt it necessary (at 11, when we left the party... just as the Danes were coming in, because everyone- well, but me- was pretty much plastered) to get his some equivalent to a cake.  We settled for a nearby 7-eleven and a cupcake.  For 11 at night, the place was really crowded.  And Marcella, grabbing a kroner or two to help cover the cost of the cupcake, got her wallet nabbed.  I'm not really sure if it fell out and someone picked it up, or if someone actually took it out of her purse, but the result is the same.  In it, as you can imagine, she had many necessary objects.  However, Marcella is perhaps the most prepared person ever, and had all of the emergency numbers written somewhere else, and was able to call and sort things out right away.  She filed a police report, and our DIS insurance should cover everything except the stolen cash in her wallet.  That is the bad side of 7-eleven.  I have noted to never enter one when it is late and very crowded.  Now let me tell you about the good side of them:  first of all, they are absolutely everywhere.  I think I ought to go around and count them all sometime, but to give an equivalent- anyone who has ever been to New York or Boston or another East Coast city- they are like Dunkin' Donuts.  But better than either a Dunkin' Donuts or a regular, American 7-Eleven.  Inside, one finds many exciting consumable items.  Beer, for example, which, yes, is everywhere else anyway, but is a pretty good price there in particular.  But best of all, they have amazing FOOD!  There is a bakery section at the front of the store, with fresh baked pastries, like cupcakes, danishes, muffins, croissants, as well as fresh baked breads.  There is also a case dedicated solely to sausages, which I haven't had yet, but are very cheap and delicious.  It's something like 26 DKK (a danish kroner) for 3 sausages... about the equivalent of $5.  In Denmark, that is an insanely good price.  The pølservogn is about that much for one.  Anyway, these 7-Elevens, as well as all of the other bakeries (I feel like there is one every-other shop!) are making staying out of debt and at a healthy weight very very difficult.  I know a lot of people don't like Danish food (although I do- I find it fascinating!) but I think no one can resist their breads and pastries!

An amazing cupcake from the nearby 7-Eleven

I think for now that is all.  Not that that is all I have to say, but I'm trying to keep these a readable length... and to control my desire to obsessively post things.  If I tell you all at once I won't have anything left to say!