I've Got a Gut Instinct About These Biscuits....

The first day I stepped foot in Denmark it was a freezing, snowy, dark and lonely Sunday.  (This is last winter, people).  All the stores were closed.  No open grocery stores....  What to do?  I was not brave enough to step foot into a restaurant to sit down for a meal by myself in a foreign country.  I looked for something familiar.  I found a 7-11.  I scanned the shelves for something I recognized...all Danish words I can't understand...but then at the end of the aisle is a red shiny bag of what has come to be my new best friends:  Digestive Biscuits...in all their English language glory.  I didn't want to take my chances on skinke or oste, but even if digestive biscuits do sort of sound like they might make me sh*t my pants, at least I know it's going to be a cookie cracker and not a fish liver patty.

I bought my first bag of digestive biscuits and an accompanying jar of nutella, went home, cracked open the bottle of vodka I brought from home and vwhalla!  Dinner for weeks!

Well I am not embarrassed to say that once I landed back in Copenhagen one of the first things I bought from the Netto grocery store was a bag of Digestive Biscuits.  And to keep the tradition going, I had Digestive Biscuits for dinner last night.  With a bottle of wine this time.

I promise I will not eat Digestive Biscuits for weeks again.  The kitchen is too damn nice here.  Did I mention that it has a dishwasher too?  Yes.  Awesome.  Tonight I made frikadillers.  Sort of like quesadillas with a hillbilly twist.  Just kidding.  They are pork patties.  And Danish potatoes and peppers and onions.  Mmmmm and the pots and pans and spatulas and cutting boards are so nice and there are so many and I don't have to use the washing machine as countertop space!

One of the drawbacks to the apartment is the internet.  There is no wireless setup at the moment.  We only had one ethernet cable for a couple days so we had to take turns using the internet.  Can you imagine?!  How direly barbaric to not have internet all the time and everywhere!  Well we have a router now so we can both use it at the same time, but yet another drawback is that every time you log onto the internet it brings you to a Danish web page with a phrase saying something you can't understand and a timer counting down from....150 seconds.  Every time you log on to the internet you have to wait for the clock to count down from 150 to 0.  It s the longest 150 seconds of my life.  Today I copied the page while it was loading and figured I would paste it into google translate once the internet started working again.  I did.  And I found out that if you restart your computer than you can automatically connect to the internet and will not have to wait the 150 seconds every time.  I love figuring stuff out.

I also figured out that I should not drink from a full, large-mouth water bottle when the bus is stopped because once the bus starts moving again you will dump your whole water bottle down your chest.  Refreshing, yet chilly.  And now I'm cold....

At work we again have the Danish stand-up desks that can be adjusted to sitting or standing level.  I think Trevor is jealous or maybe just looking forward to his visit because he has been doing some Danish re-decorating:

Summer Lovin'....Had Me a Glass

I love love LOVE Copenhagen in the summertime.  The sun sets for about 3 hours each night.  Everyone is out jogging or riding a bike.  And despite the insane amount of work ahead of us, people at work seem rather happy.  A line in the meeting minutes reads:  "due to the pleasant weather and the appearance of the sun 'so and so' has taken the day off."  I love the appreciation that Danes have for relaxation and mental sanity.  I could get used to it.  I would love to get used to it.

Additional information I learned about Danish high school graduations... each Danish graduate gets a hat for graduation.  No gown.  The hat looks sort of like a sea captain hat or a pilot hat.  Depending on their religion they have a different symbol on the front.  The students' heads are measured to get a hat that fits.  The students with the largest and smallest heads are expected to buy something for everyone.  That something is often beer.

The legal drinking age in Denmark is 16 for alcohol above 1,3% and bellow 16,5% and 18 for alcohol above 16,5%.  You have to be 18 for to buy alcohol in bars, restaurants and discos. There is no age limit for drinking at home.  Facts courtesy of wikipedia (and yes they say bellow and not below on wikipedia).

Down the street from the apartment is a grassy park that spreads out down the water's side.  It is full of people picnicing, bbqing, drinking, laying out, playing games.  Fun times indeed.... 

Livin the Life of Luxury

After 19 hours of waiting and or flying, I made it back to Copenhagen.  I can't even begin to emphasize how drastically different my arrival has been this time compared to last.  Last time it was cold, snowing, dark, I was alone, depressed, I was terrified.... This time it's warm and sunny, the sun sets after 10, and I am more excited than I thought I would be to be back, to get on the train again, to walk around aimlessly downtown, to see all the usual hotspots, and see some old familiar friends.  Everything seems all the more happy and exciting because it's warm, and crowded.  Other people are speaking English.  The city is teaming with tourists.  It honestly feels like a strange dream..... maybe it's because I am half asleep during the day due to jetlag, but regardless it is an odd surreal feeling.

I arrived at the airport and was picked up by an old co-worker.  We arrived at the new apartment to find out that, once again, the pictures I saw beforehand did not match the pictures sent to me prior to the visit.  My mind immediately went into "oh-sh*t-they're-gonna-stick-me-7-stories-high-and-make-me-shower-in-the-toilet-again" mode.  We found the correct address and went inside...  Phew....

kitchen

dining area

living area

ground floor = no stairs

the sink is not in the shower

Separate shower = major upgrade

washer and dryer that do not need to hook up to the kitchen sink

bedroom is bigger than then bed

separate office

kids room... I don't know why either

Views from the old town

 

Driving around the city we spotted this bunch of rambunctious teens singing and waving off the back of a truck:

Apparently it's the senior class from the highschool who, according to tradition, rent a military truck and drive around to each students house for at least 15 minutes, drinking, dancing, and singing off the back of a truck:
 

I rolled my window down to capture the audio, but....got squirted...



Taking the metro:

The Return to Cakes & Coffee

So the blog web address:  http://julieindenmark.blogspot.com/   will finally make sense again.  (I knew I didn't change it for a reason...besides not knowing actually how to change it or motivating myself to try to figure it out).  The rumors are true.  I am shipping out overseas again on Saturday for another extended stay in the land of the Danes.


And although I still don't know exactly where I will be living, I am a lot less nervous about it this time around.

I know the city...

 I know where the castles are...


I know my co-workers....

 


 


I know the trains....

I know the bike lanes...


I know how to keep myself busy in times of boredom

 

I know the most important Danish phrase:  tak for kage  (thanks for cake)



I have friends and family to visit:



 








Although there are some aspects of Danish life that have scarred me...


 

 

 I can do this...again........  good morning extended periods of sunlight! 

 

Rope Swing Time and other fun photos

Baby ducks under the deck

peace out shadow

Trevor got new sneaks!

poppies will put them to sleep

fuzzy flowers

these guys

stand tall

Sally's boss's house

Jimmy picking weeds

stop and smell the flowers, Tickles

Love BBQs

?

AND more rope swing time...

Caught