First Nights in Copenhagen

After my last post, I got really lazy and have not updated since. However, I am now ready to begin writing again, hopefully in a much more detailed manner. In the few weeks since my first post, I have been to London, Brighton and Scotland. London was nice, although very crowded and hectic all the time. I learned about the magic of an oyster card, and the problems of a mass system of public transportation (especially on the weekends). In Brighton, Jamie and I had our first experience in a hostel, and saw what an English beach looks like (we also went to our first casino!). After a nine hour bus ride we arrived in Scotland and we had our second experience in a hostel, this time it was a bit more interesting. We mingled with some of the workers there, and went out every night. Eventually we traveled back to London and sadly have departed from each other. Jamie and Rachel went to Spain, and I am currently at my "visiting family's" home in Copenhagen until my official housing starts on the 18th (Sunday).

My first impression of the city of Copenhagen...thank god everyone speaks English! I do not know one word of Danish (well I didn't until I set foot here). Now I know a few words.. like udsalg (something like that) means SALE. One of my favorite words. I already bought a pair of boots here, and some mittens... oops. But when someone speaks to me in Danish I give them a blank stare and they immediately switch to English, very convenient. In addition to shopping, I have explored a grocery store, the city center of Copenhagen and have even ventured to my program DIS's main building. Also, today I went to Christiania.

Christiania was an abandoned military base, and in the 70's it was taken over by some Danish people. A "free town" was established where everything was cooperatively owned, and the laws were decided by the people (by consensus). Today there are anywhere from 800-1000 inhabitants. A few years ago you could walk down "pusher street" and purchase marijuana from brightly colored carts, but the police raided the town in 2004 (I think?) and closed down the open sale of cannabis. However, as I witnessed today people still sell weed on the street, even hanging out in the open off of small carts. I was a little nervous by myself, but I still managed to see a majority of the place (I think.. I want to go back for a guided tour on a weekend sometime). The houses were built without any regulations, so some are very interesting! In fact, they kind of reminded me of the houses in Hawaii, where they could just fall over (but some were built very well). Inside the "town" there are restaurants, jazz clubs, theaters etc in abandoned military buildings and in buildings they made themselves. Next time I go I want to eat there, but I will be sure to bring a friend or two with me so I feel more comfortable.

My visiting family is very nice, and they say I am welcome to come over and visit anytime I want. I have a key, and access to a bike, so I can come and visit whenever. One idea is for me to stay here on Sunday nights, since I have an 8:30 am class in Copenhagen (which is very close to their house). My Folkehojskole is far away, probably close to an hour, so that would be a very early morning. Yuck. Luckily I only have the 8:30 class twice a week, so I think I can manage.

Well I need to shower (it's late here, almost midnight) and I want to be awake at a reasonable time tomorrow since it is the first day the kids will be home all day (they are 5,10,15). I hope everyone else is doing well!