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!

Initial Impressions

I've been in Copenhagen for a week now, and I'm only finding time to write this due to an unfortunate decision by one of my new professors to NOT photocopy a required reading and put it in the compendium (a large bound packet of readings and information) that we were given for the course.  There are perhaps 30 students and 8 books, all but two of which have been put on reserve.  The other two have been taken without being checked out.  I know this because there are no librarians in the library until 5 today... and I was told that there were 2 copies on the shelves this morning.  So... I am waiting until I can get my hands on one and leave.

The reason I'm in such a hurry to go home is that home is pretty far away.  Something between a 45 minute and 1 hour commute, depending on if I catch the exchange just right and if there is railway traffic.  I didn't even know there was such a thing.  The town I live in is called 'Greve' (pronounced grey-ve, with the r rolling in the back of the throat).  And technically, it isn't even a town- it's a village.  There are maybe 2,000 people, which may be an overestimate, and one very cute village store.  They have their own train station, serviced by the 's-tog', the regional trains of Copenhagen, E and A route.  BUT my family lives a good 5 kilometers from the station, which a reasonable bike ride, but not a reasonable walk.  So, I have to take a bus, the 600S, from my closest stop, about a block away, to the station.  And, I would ride my bike, because I've been told by my host parents, Henning and Inga, that it's usually faster and more convenient, but the weather forecast has called for rain and strong winds since I've been here.  And that isn't really preferable biking weather to me.

In fact, the weather here hasn't been entirely preferable.  Or really preferable at all.  To anyone.  I guess this has been an incredibly wet season, and they have gotten twice as much rain as normal this month.  And it's so much rain that not even the farmers like it.  I would know, Henning used to be a farmer.  What I find most impressive about the weather however, is how quickly the weather changes.  The clouds move with visible speed in the sky- like nothing I've ever seen before; a downpour turns into sun in a matter of minutes.  Yesterday, in fact, I went with some other DIS students to a cafe after we were done with orientation, and it rained and stopped two or three times while they were eating (and I was drinking a chai latte).  It was actually funny to watch, because the Danes seemed to understand this fickle weather, and the pedestrians and cyclists simply moved off of the streets and sidewalks to wait it out under store awnings.  For a few minutes the streets were completely empty (something I have not seem any other time here), but then, as soon as it had begun, it ended, and everyone went back on their way.

Probably the second most interesting thing I have begun paying attention to is the food here.  First of all, it is incredibly expensive.  Well, I guess everything is incredibly expensive- they say about twice as much.  But, I mean, it's a little ridiculous.  I street vendor hot dog, a pølser (which is really, really good by the way) is 25 DKK, which translates to about 5 dollars.  A hamburger with fries at a restaurant can be as much as 22 dollars.  Yikes!  However,  I've found all of the food very delicious- they seem to really like salt, sugar, butter, and pork, so everything is very flavorful.  I think a lot of things they eat are probably looked upon with a little skepticism by foreigners (especially Americans, who have little experience with European food culture), but mostly I've found it appealing.  They eat a very dense rye bread (which, I think they think is the only kind of rye bread) almost religiously, and frequently use it to make open-faced sandwiches called smørrebrød.  It frequently involves both butter and pork on top.  But, while many DIS students I've spoken with seem to detest the rye bread, I actually really like it on the smørrebrød.  The butter (or, alternately, mayonnaise) adds the necessary moistness to the bread, and I like the flavor.  Especially when put in a packed lunch the evening before, and then let to sit overnight.  I was really proud of myself, actually, because last night I made my packed lunch (a common Danish way to avoid the expensive prices of restaurants in the city) for myself.  In my little box (with a picture of the Sun Maid raisin lady on it) I had one open-faced sandwich, made with mayo and salami, a carrot, a sweet Danish pickle, a brownie cookie, and a PB&J on white bread.  Which, for the record, was a big deal.  Peanut butter is hard as hell to come by here.

My packed lunch of smørrebrød, tomatoes, and a cookie the first day.

But, I have probably the nicest host family I could imagine.  They have had 3 previous DIS host students, and seem to already understand everything I am going to need.  So, they had already found the peanut butter.  And nutella.  Plus, Inga is a really amazing cook.  I hope someday once I'm settled she'll teach me how to cook some of the food she has been preparing, but so far she's done it all.  And it has all been SO good.  We had frikadeller (pork and beef/veal meatballs that are panfriend), hakkebøf (basically beef patties, served with cooked onions and gravy on top), grilled pork, rice, salad, and of course... potatoes.  I'm getting the impression that Danish people really like potatoes.  Not that I mind.  Potatoes are a pretty unoffensive starch.  Besides that, they definitely like beer.  Locals like Tuborg and Carlsberg are available in every corner store (most of them a 7-elevens), and because there is no law against open alcohol containers in Denmark, they are frequently seen on the train and bus at all hours.  I guess drinking is legal at the age of 16 here, and like in the US, they start earlier than that.  So, by the time they reach 21, they have very tolerant livers.

I guess you could say Greve is a little inconvenient because of the travel time, especially if I want to stay out at night (when the bus stops running, and the train only comes once an hour or so), but I like it nonetheless.  The house is brick covered in a thin, sleek layer of plaster, with a red tile roof (I thought I was leaving those in California!).  Some neighboring houses even have real thatch roofs! The village then, has the feeling of a quiet, quaint, old countryside.  Best of all about the house, they gave me a big room all to myself with a breathtaking view out over a wheat field.  In the morning, when the sun is still low, you can see the rows made by the combines, and the rhythm and color is so beautiful.  I've never lived in the country, so I guess I'm probably just not used to it, but really.  Every morning out my window.  And on my way to the bus.  And on the way home in the afternoon.  It's probably one (of several) highlights of my day.  Another thing I like (slightly less) about my room is the bed.  When I first walked in, I thought I didn't have one, because all I saw was a desk, a crib (for one of my host sister's friend's daughter), a love-seat, and a couch.  But, it turns out a very frequent substitute for a 'real' bed in Denmark is either a futon or a couch with a roll-out bed.  And no, I don't mean like a bed hidden under the couch.  I mean, there is a bed rolled up behind the back cushions.  When you're ready for bed, you take off the cushions, undo Velcro straps on either end of the couch, and unroll a pillow-top, a bottom sheet, and a comforter, as well as a pillow.  For the record, the comforter thing is pretty cool.  They are incredibly warm, and very soft and cozy.  But this time of year since it isn't too cold yet, they can be too warm, so I usually end up curled to one side of it, or with the bottom half of me sticking out from underneath.

The view as I walk out the front door in the morning.

Aside from the basic living conditions, and cultural norms, I have seen some amazing places here.  Over the course of orientation activities and personal wanderings, I have seen: 1.) The Støget, which is the longest pedestrian shopping walk in the world and has expanded itself into other side streets as well.  It has a slight touristy impression, but I guess I can't complain as I would say for now I still count as a tourist.  But it also has some high-end shopping, and some more reasonable shops too, like H&M.  There are also lots of food carts and stands set up along the way.  Mostly, the options are shwarma or pølser, which are the least expensive anyway, but there are also gelato stands, a few cafes and restaurants in the plazas and squares (called torv), and even some fruit vendors.  2.) The Botanical Gardens, made with a lake that ties back to Medieval bastions in the old, old city.  The walks are winding and quiet, all with great views of either the lake or the surrounding historical buildings.  There are also self-guided tours that look at poisonous plants, or conversely, biblical plants.  3.) The Royal Gardens & Rosenborg Castle, which are found together across the street from the Botanical Gardens.  The Royal Gardens are much more formal, with straight walks and alleys under perfectly groomed trees.  There are also expansive lawns where Danes go to have picnics and sunbathe.  The Castle is also very old, dating back to the Renaissance.  It still has the original moat, as well as guards who patrol the grounds with very large guns, but like the British, completely ignore everything and everyone but their duty.  The Castle itself had gardens, again, very formal, but very beautiful, full of roses.  4.) Nyhavn (pronounced new-haav'n), the pictorially famous canal/port section of the city.  Honestly, I understand now why they take so many pictures of it.  Once the 'new' part of the city (ny means new, and havn means harbor), the buildings have lasted longer than in most other areas, and in fact, are some of the distinguishable oldest, at least the oldest in a large quantity.  The buildings are also a mix of stunning colors- red, yellow, white, blue- all along the street, which has in its center a canal full of (also) very old looking boats.  It feels a little like going back in time, except for all of the people walking around.  It was very, very crowded. 

A view of the canal, boats, and buildings of Nyhavn

5.) Rådhus, which means 'town hall'.  It's a neo-gothic building, which I don't greatly appreciate, but it has a grand stage presence.  Why?  Well, most obviously, it's quite large, but more than that, it is fronted by a large plaza, which seems to dramatically increase its perceived size.  Also, this square, lines with flashing signs and huge posters, has almost a hint of Times Square in it, and the overwhelming quantity of information makes the building look majestic and simple in comparison.  On the inside, there is a natural-light (but indoor, thank goodness) courtyard where events are held.  For us, it was orientation speeches, which were quite boring and long-winded.  What was nice were the many Danish flags hanging from the walls, and the 'pancakes' served to us afterward.  I put quotations around pancakes because that is what they were called, but they were really custard filled crepes.  What they are called in Danish, I am not sure, because I asked and was never told.  Hm. 

The DIS Opening Ceremony in the Raadhus Courtyard

6.) Parliament, the planned original home for the royal family, which is not where they live now.  But it is where the democratic government is run, as well as the justice system, and it is the location of the Queen's weekly council.  Apparently, the building is relatively new, given the fact that there were 2 others before it, both of which burned down in fires.  Again, it's big and imposing, but beautifully, crafted.  7.) Tivoli, perhaps the happiest place on earth.  I know, I know, people say Disneyland is the happiest place on earth BUT think about it this way: the Danes are the happiest people on earth, and this is their amusement park.  Plus, rumor has it that Disneyworld was inspired by Tivoli, with its international themes, and most importantly, its castle.  The lines for rides are shorter (although they do cost money on top of the entrance fee... leave it to a Dane), and there are shows and events that are presumably free all night long.

The gardens of Tivoli at night.

For now, I think I'm out of words.  Too bad, since I still have 45 minutes before a librarian shows up to let me check out a book.  However, in closing remarks: I like it here, in spite of the poor weather, and am looking forward to the even colder, wetter months (even though that does mean several fewer hours of sun), and to learning some the words to this very complicated language.  Classes start tomorrow, and then some structure returns to my life.  But, I plan to find some time for more unstructured wanderings and explorations to blog about very soon.