The Last Day Before my new bike....hopefully!

As a side note, this morning I woke up at 05:30 and couldn’t sleep anymore so I finished my book The Help. In case anyone cares, it was an awesome read and I can’t wait to see the movie!

 

Today I got a bike. I think it will be the best way to explore the city and plus all the other kids already have them so….yah. If any future international students have found this blog, DON’T buy from Glen Kaiser. He may be a fiend at marketing on fb and getting all the international kids’ business, but actually, he sells lousy bikes. I found an old looking granny bike at a mom & pop shop that the dude is putting a basket on and I will have it by 2pm tomorrow!

Also, I think I may have to invest in a pocket Danish-English dictionary that I carry everywhere with me. That carton of something I thought was skim milk I bought on my first day? It turns out that was sour milk. I tried to put it in my coffee this morning and it was epic failure. No milk and no sugar for me. Just black. Ugh.

My great roomie, Cecilia, took me to the better grocery this morning and I bought a bunch more stuff like juice, real milk and fruit. Think it was called SuperBrugsen or something. Then we caught the bus with Nora and headed to Christiania. Now, apparently this section of the city is notorious but I had no idea. It is a piece of land that is centrally located that the hippies took over some time ago. It is filled with abandoned buildings, graffiti and tree-filled lots that the government currently just turns a blind eye to. Everyone goes there to smoke weed, do drugs and other fun stuff involving getting out of your right mind. I took some pictures of stuff but no photos were allowed on the main strip. (More pictures to be uploaded when I actually get internet access!) This place is not somewhere you want to be when it gets dark as there were seedy people everywhere but if you come visit and need to get a fix, you know where to go!

Following the visit to Christiania, we found lunch at a nearby bakery chain called something like “Lagkagehuset.” OMG. This was a place of true awesomeness. I now understand what Tahir meant when he said I would wake up to the smell of danishes. If I could wake up to the smell of baked goods from this bakery….my life would be complete.

I had a latte and a chocolate Danish which I felt completely guilty about. Until I started the hike up some church tower at our next stop. It was some Christian Danish church built in 1696 and we hiked it up really really far. The height we reached was almost scramble-worthy. Almost. =) BUT, it made for some really nice photos and views of the city – also to be uploaded later!

 

Next we did some shopping in city centre then went to pick up my roomie’s new bike. She was ecstatic and it was hilarious. I assume I will be the same way tomorrow when I get mine! We headed home for dinner and although the girls went out for drinks afterwards, I was so exhausted I fell asleep at around 1800ish and slept until morning. A whopping 12 hours of sleep – it was super fantastic and I feel invincible today!

PS: I almost forgot to mention: I tried my first Danish hot dog! I got the classic frank with some Danish ketchup and it was delicious. I can't wait until I get to try everything on their menu. Mmmm!

PPS. I wish I could make this prettier but right now I have no internet access so using the schooløs and it is a Danish keyboard and Danish windows which means I have no idea what is going on.My apologies.

Day One!

My first day in CPH was a long one. The first 2 things I noted upon setting foot in the airport were:

1. The color hair platinum blonde actually does exist. In Canada people with that color blonde are generally posers. In Scandinavia? This stuff is real people.
2. Guys are much more inclined to wear skinny jeans/khakis. It’s all over the place.

My mentor, Elise, met me at the airport and she was completely sweet. And in fact, she just returned from a trip abroad to Whistler where she worked as a ski instructor for the winter 2011 season! We waited at the airport for an hour until her other mentee flew in. There we met Carolyn and Laura, both from Brussels, Belgium.

Apparently Scandinavian people are very frugal (just like us Asian peeps!) and so we took the metro into town with our 6 pieces of luggage. I was hauling my weight in suitcases down cobblestone roads which was not that fun but eventually we caught a cab back to my new flat. My new neighbourhood is called Vesterbro and as my mentor tells me, it is filled with an eclectic mix of prostitutes, seniors and international students. Yay!

More excitement: Hot dogs are Denmark’s signature food. They are EVERYWHERE. I LOVE IT. I will let you know when I try them with their 3 awesome sauces.

After an afternoon of touring with Elise, Carolyn and Laura, we figured we needed groceries and stopped off at the closest one to our flat, Netto. It was really small, crowded and everything was in Danish. Grocery shopping after being up for over 24 hours and not being able to read anything means I have no idea what I really bought and is currently in my fridge. Good thing my roommate seems to be a good cook – I got home to her and her friend making homemade pizza! Obviously I got in on that and after wiping down my entire room in the Danish Lysol equivalent called BANG, it was finally bedtime!

T-5 days!