A Boat Tour, A Smørrbrød Party and Park Jobs

The international student group put on a Danish Culture Day on Sunday. We started at the National Museum which was a nice museum (with free admission!) except that I was all museumed-out by this time. One day when I have more patience, I may go back and read all of the interesting tidbits. Next up we got treated to a lunch of the classic Danish cuisine of smørrbrød – the open-faced sandwich. I had seen signs on the streets advertising smørrbrød pretty much everywhere but this was my first time tasting it.

I LOVE IT.

There are so many different options you can put in and I love that the open-faced structure makes the sandwiches so much prettier! There is so much more visual appeal to a sandwich where you can see everything except the bread! Don’t get me wrong, bread is a necessity and I love it too but it really isn’t much to look at. Instead look at the colors and shapes! What’s not to love right?!

Me and J Fern got invites to a smørrbrød dinner party later in the week with the North American crowd and it was pretty awesome. There was smoked salmon, little shrimps, cheese, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, pesto and tomato tapenades and pate all on rye bread. It feels so healthy and yet so tasty! Check out the spread:

Anyway, after the smørrbrød lunch, we skipped out on the Danish culture quiz and instead took the canal boat ride since it was the perfect sunny day out. The guide on the boat was great and smoothly transitioned through 4 different languages while telling us about all the important buildings.

 The Canal

 The Boat and Nyhavn where we started

 The New Opera House



 The new extension of the Royal Library called The Black Diamond

And after the boat tour we sat on a patio in Nyhavn enjoying the sun a bit more. The place we went to had a herring festival! Check it out!

I should also mention that following the boat tour day was the celebration of the 40th birthday of Christiania. There was a big party for a week celebrating this including outdoor concerts, food amongst other things. And that's all I have to say about that. 

The stand where we got our banana nutella crepes. Mmmm!

More biking woes. How does one park properly? And what are the rules on parking? The other day I knocked over 5 different bikes, not including my own, while trying to park Max before heading into a store. I ended up in such a predicament (imagine me hanging onto 3 bicycles that have fallen sideways on a crowded street of pedestrians, cyclists and other moving vehicles) that two different Danes had to stop and help me while they tried to muffle their laughter. It was quite embarrassing.

Over in good old North America where most people drive as opposed to cycle, parking a bike is really a non-issue. But where there are gazillions of bikes everywhere, it is a serious issue how to maximize your bicycle park job.

First of all, there are no lines. It’s not like cars where the parking spots are clearly delineated for you. Yes there are bicycle racks, but when those spots are full, it is customary to start making up park spots wherever you see fit. As you can see, I have been failing miserably at this technique.

Secondly, even if you can get your bike easily into a sweet park spot, there’s no guarantee that you can get it out just as easily. After you come out from class or from a day out on the town, the parking climate could have changed completely. Several other bikes may have made up some park spots next to you and you come out to find Max and 3 other bikes in a bit of a bicycle love tangle, if you will. Then, upon trying to untangle your bike from this love nest, you knock over the 3 other bikes and you’re like, oh god now I have to pick all those up and re-park them. This has ALSO happened to me and trust me, it sucks.

Aside from parking, I have had to get used to bringing my bicycle lights with me everywhere. It is illegal here in Denmark to cycle without lights at anytime 1 hour before dusk and beyond. In classic Jen-style, I forgot my bike lights for the first 10 times I biked after dark and thought for sure I would get arrested or at least stuck with a hefty fine each time. I have since learned and now I take my lights with me regardless of when I leave home or when I plan to be home.

Finally on the blogging agenda is the fact that I now have a plan. Yes. That’s right. I finally got my act together and have booked the majority of my travels for the next month and a half: Sweden, Germany, Russia, The Netherlands and England here I come!

Miscellaneous Copenhagen Delights

My Relationship with Rye Bread

This relationship has been tumultuous to say the least. It began with a sense of curiousity and wonderment: what is this flat very square dark brown bread that doesn't seem soft at all? I bought a random bag of this on my first day here. Most people eat their rye bread at any time of day with jam, or with a slice of cheese, a piece of meat and some cucumbers on top. I began on my very first morning trying to adopt this practice and well, it tasted just ok. Like I said, the bread isn't particularly soft nor is it fluffy. It is quite hard and dense. This is probably the reason that rye bread keeps much longer than other breads.

After one loaf of rye it lost its novelty and I went back to normal white bread. But then I decided to give rye another chance, this time picking out a smaller loaf of the darkest rye possible. It was similar to my first loaf of lighter rye except there were lots of flax seeds and other grains in the bread which I knew to be good for me. The only problem with that was the grains always got stuck in my teeth and I had to spend time after every rye bread session flossing or otherwise.

This seems like a long drawn out story and so I'll cut it short. The pivotal moment in this relationship was when I decided to try rye bread toasted, then either buttered or with jam. It was delicious! When toasted, the edges of the rye bread turn crispy while the inside of the slice retained its normal non-toasted rye bread texture except hotter temperature wise. Slathered with butter and some good jam, this is a tasty treat I now look forward to eating in the morning or as a late night snack. I'm thinking of packing a couple bags of these babies when I go home so I can keep tasting the goodness for a little bit longer. In other words, I've been converted. As they would say in somewheres French cross Danish land: Viva le rugbrød!

The 10,000 Calorie per cup Hot Chocolate

My roommate is a woman of incredible talent. She can shop like no one can, cooks me pancakes when I'm hungover and taught me to make an unreal cup of REAL European hot chocolate.

Maybe most normal people don't drink nearly the amounts of hot chocolate that I do but I go through several tins of hot chocolate powder every winter. When it gets cold, I drink this stuff all the time and sometimes multiple cups in a single sitting. I drink one cup and I always think, well that was tasty and hit the spot but didn't quite fill the entire void. Do you know what I mean? But this cup of REAL European hot chocolate? One cup is enough.

We melted a bar of chocolate into some water in a pot, then added butter, vanilla sugar, cinnamon and milk. Then we stirred until all the chunks had dissolved and after we used the milk frother on it a bit, it was ready to be enjoyed! It was a treat that tantalizes all the senses.....mmmm. And of course it was so rich that you really cannot have more than one cup at a time. SOoo good.

The 20 km Dinner

On Thursday we had our very first dinner party amongst Club ODP. (That stands for Open-Door Policy. We've noticed some other groups of students forming very exclusive circles and think that is a load of pish posh. Instead we've decided to adopt this policy and welcome anybody to join who isn't a flake.) Lovely Maureen held it at her place which was a very cool student housing with lots of common areas to hang out. However, this cool place was also very far from my flat and my roommate and I, being very ambitious, decided we would bike the 8 km each way instead of taking the 10 minute train ride over.

The ride there was beautiful. We went through a cemetary and along streets that we didn't know existed that were home to numerous cute cafes and restaurants. We also passed this very neat looking old fashioned family market that had a maze of bushes next to it! I'll definitely be going back there. Anyway, after zigzagging our way through many streets with names I could not pronounce, we got to the dinner party even earlier than the train-takers.

The ride home was a bit different. It was near midnight so a bit colder and we got lost. But not very lost. I would say we rode about 12 km instead of the 8 km that we should have. Eventually we found our way home and the point of this story is that with all this bikeriding I think I worked off the dinner before I even got home. I was starving and ate a lot of crackers before heading to bed that night. I'm hoping this cycling is also very suited for burning my continuous intake of danishes!

We rode all the way from where Cecilie is pointing to the red dot!

Louisiana 

This museum of modern art was actually quite fabulous and I'm glad I went. At first I wasn't sure since J Fern is much more artistic than me but the exhibits were not only on the art of architecture but also the practical and cultural side to it so was pretty fascinating. At least for the first 4 hours. The museum was HUGE. I stopped being fascinated after about 4 hours but I think this is normal. There were cool visuals like the Doppler Effect, architecture models along with real art like paintings and sculptures. Please refer to facebook for more pictures on this adventure.



Also important, I tried my first piece of herring! It is an important food here in Scandinavia and the overall good health of the Danes is attributed to their large consumption of pickled herring containing lots of omega 3 fatty acids. Not surprisingly, I didn't much care for it. It was ok tasting. Even with all the pickledness, it was still fishy and so I put a lot of garlic cream and capers in with the fish. I suppose if I was stuck on an island like Tom Hanks in Outcast I would definitely eat it but I don't think I'll order it at a restaurant again.

Danish Women Pee In Groups 

Cultural phenomenon. I've definitely noticed early on while in line for the pee room that groups of girls will go into one pee room together. Bathrooms here are a bit different than in most North America where there is one big bathroom hall divided by stalls. Here most bathrooms are unisex with either the sink and mirrors outside in a hallway while the toilets are in separate rooms or there will be several completely independent bathrooms containing their own sink, toilet and mirror.

A group of generally 2-3 girls will go into the single independent bathroom together and either come out one at a time or altogether. Maybe it's just because people over here are more comfortable with their bodies and bodily functions. (ie. showering naked in the change rooms, peeing together, etc.) So, for the sake of efficiency, yesterday I did it. I just really had to pee and to be honest it wasn't that bad I suppose. Of course, all of us had been drinking a lot so we just got in there and got right down to business. I don't know if I'd necessarily be excited to do it again, but if it shortens ladies bathroom lineups overall, I'm definitely ok with it.

Life Without a Microwave

It definitely makes me sad, but I must say, after 3 weeks of living without, it IS possible and life does go on. All leftovers just have to be reheated in the pan which means extra washing of dishes and no easy microwaveable popcorn. This latter fact will probably save me from dying of cancer early although with all the chocolate danishes and hot dogs I've been consuming, my life span has most likely already been considerably shortened. Check out this tasty bacon wrapped dog I had as a snack the other day!

Speaking of foods that will kill me one day, all 30 Rock fans should remember those crazy Mexican cheezy puffs that Liz Lemon (my idol) keeps snacking on constantly in every other episode. I've always wonderered what they tasted like and never could find them in the grocery store in Calgary. Voila! Ostepops are here in Copenhagen! Apparently there is quite a hype surrounding them with lots of people talking it up and such. (according to my roomie anyway) Buut Meh. They were tasty because they were really salty and I will continue to finish the bag that I've bought but I don't know that I would go looking for them all the time. Plus they weren't cheap! $4 CDN per bag! Say whaaat??

Moving past the discussion on killer foods, things have been rather tame here on this end with only moderate news to report. The best thing that happened today was that I got news my Russian visa is ready and I can finally get my Canadian passport back....which means more traveling yippee! We are currently planning a trip to Hamburg this weekend. Fun fact: Hamburg has the largest red light district in Europe. Wowzers!

All this traveling and eating is costing me a pretty penny (lots of pretty pennies actually) and I should mention that the other day I had a minor breakdown while doing some budgeting in my head. I thought it was a rather minute detail so didn't blog it at the time but then J Fern told me she also had a mini stroke after looking at some recent bank statements. So I'm thinking this is a rather common occurence amongst exchange students who want to do it all. Anyway, the thing is, after I had this breakdown (it happened one day during class while I was spacing out) I felt really terrible about myself and couldn't figure out how to find a solution to this problem so I roamed the streets of CPH. And what do you know? I ended up spending a whole bunch more money shopping and it somehow made me feel better.

Following this incident, (and upon learning that other law students seem to be in much more debt than me) I decided to adopt the motto: MEH. It's just money. That being said, I feel like after 3.5 weeks of living here I think much more like a local now. When walking around a store today, I asked myself 'Do I REALLY need that?' And 10 different times I put the item down and walked away. I got home empty handed except for a Danish chocolate bar called Daim, which was delicious btw. So congratz to me and now check out this peach danish I had the other day. It was the closest I could get to a lemon danish....

Also, here is a photo of the mall parking lot close by my flat. LOTS of people bike here! It is true it's very economical but also very dangerous. Motorbikes and mopeds also travel in the pedal bike lane and I find that everyday there are at least 4 times where some vehicle whizzes by me at way-to-close proximity and I find myself thanking God that I'm still alive. Of course, sometimes that has more to do with me running yellow and red lights and some big truck turning left just continues on like I'm not really there. I've really got to stop doing that.

Tonight was a truly magical night spent at Tivoli with some great company. Tivoli is like the Copenhagen equivalent to Disneyland. Except smaller. And less commercialized. It was awesome. And especially because we went there at night, the lights were all up. There were tonnes of quaint cafes overlooking lakes all in combination with games, rides, music stages and picturesquely lit structures. I am much too lazy to repost the pictures here so please check them out on facebook. =)

Bad News / Interesting News

Dear Friends,

It is with a heavy heart I report here that I don't think lemon danishes actually exist here in the land of the danish origin. I have been by many a bakery and supermarket but have yet to come across such a tasty treat. In fact, though there are many variations of this flaky pastry (ie. the snegl, the chocolate danish etc.) the only traditional looking danishes that I have seen come in two flavours: raspberry and a yellow custard type mixture that I have yet to try. Perhaps the lemon danish is a creation of the North American world, developed to satisfy the cultural taste palate of us Westerners, I don't know.

In other more interesting news, I found an article that seems to have the answer to a hot topic of discussion that I've had here with J Fern and pretty much everyone else.

Like I mentioned, the Danish are a very reserved people. They are so reserved, in fact, we are uncertain as to how social interaction ever happens and how it is that reproduction occurs in this country.

After being here for almost 3 weeks, I have been out on a number of occasions to test out the city nightlife and well, let's just say it's been different than most of my late night experiences in other countries. J Fern is an attractive caucasian fashionista while I am supposedly exotic with my Asian-ness. Together we form a team that could be said to entertain most all different inclinations. In my experience in other places, the men are much more forward about talking to women whereas here, the men could be best described as cold and distant. If it happens at all, eye contact is minimal so nevermind having a conversation! Needless to say, we have all been completely baffled at how it happens that people even get married and have babies over here.

However, we are apparently not alone in this and someone else has documented this phenomenon in an article that was published in a Danish newspaper entitled, 'Get Drunk and Find Your True Love.' I found it randomly in a link to a blog I was reading and found it absolutely hilarious. I'm not really sure if I support the conclusion that it comes to but it definitely was a good read and makes me feel better about myself. =)

http://xmel.com/denmark8.html

A Weekend in Århus and Skagen

I had been forewarned that Danes are not outwardly friendly people and tend to be quite reserved so I was generally prepared for some quiet people that it may take some time to get to know. That's fine but today I met 3 very rude Danes at the grocery store and it upset me. I was in a long line at the cashier and the Fakta employees were talking in Danish and suddenly the line seemed to move to the other till. I couldn't read the sign they had put up and while I was trying to figure out what happened, 3 danish people behind me in the original line walked over and basically budged me in line. I must have looked confused because some old man took pity on me and told me that particular cashier had closed and we were all to line up at the other cashier and then he let me in the line. What a nice old man but how rude of those other 3 people right?! Anyway, I just wanted to get that off my chest. Especially since had those people not gotten ahead of me in line I would have just missed the huge downpour outside on my bike ride home. Instead, me and my groceries got soaked because of those 5 extra minutes I had to wait. Sigh. Oh wells.

There are nice Danes though and I met my first Danish friend today. Or at least I'd like to start calling him my friend. He is in my foreign investments class and we had to prepare a presentation for class together with the rest of our group who actually dropped the course. So it was just me and Rasmus. He was really nice and we got on really well. Being that he was my first real Danish friend I asked him all the questions I could think of: What is the Danish kijiji? Where can I buy a kettle? Where are the good cheap eats close to school? What is bike etiquette? (Apparently most intersections have 3 sets of signal lights: one for cars, one for bikes and one for pedestrians. And to think, all this time I have been blowing by like I'm colourblind!)

Anyway, Rasmus was awesome and showed me a cheap pizza joint with student pricing, how to scan documents at the library and we also killed our first class presentation. Rasmus is a very popular Danish name. We have two in that class alone and one of the football coaches also goes by that name. I felt like we got on so well I asked Rasmus if I could please call him Razzie. He laughed and then very seriously said, "No." So I said fine, maybe Razzie is a bit feminine, how about Raz? He gave me a look and said no, there's no nickname, just Rasmus. To be honest I was really disappointed. Razzie just sounds so awesome to say! Guess I'll just have to get friendly with all the other Rasmus's and see which one will let me nickname him. Lol.

Another administrative matter: I have been going on and on about J Fern and some of you are like, who is this person? She is my partner in crime here in Copenhagen. We are both from University of Calgary Law and she is a mad party animal who makes me drink and go hard or go home pretty much every day of the week.

ANNDD I have another thing to get off my chest. There is a senior citizen who lives in the flat just below mine and he must be deaf because he just pumps the tv volume at audio level 45 from dusk until dawn. Literally. I am listening to it right now. He doesn't do it every night of the week (thank god) but once every week or so he has an all-night slumber party. Just him and his tv. I don't really know what to do with him because it isn't quite loud enough to file a complaint and yet I am above him and can hear it all. Especially when he runs his tv ALL night long. Perhaps we have thin walls/floors but STILL.

On the day before I left for Århus, I woke up sick but I still managed to run some errands and hang out with Noora in the centre. It was probably the nicest day we had seen yet so we took in the Christiansborg castle and the Royal Library.

 Christiansborg Slot

 View across the canal from the Royal Library

Royal Library

On the way home that day I found these and thought they were quite entertaining. Tomorrow is the federal election for Denmark.

Onto our first weekend trip to see more of Denmark!

It began with an early morning flight to Århus at 0800. Nothing better than a 7-11 hot dog for breakfast at 0930! We then checked into a great hostel called Danhostel and went to make the most of our day even though we were dead tired. First stop was the Aros Museum which was very cool architecturally. The color ring pedestrian walkway on the top of the building was really neat! We spent quite a bit of time checking out the exhibits and J Fern even took a short nap in between exhibits. After a quick dose of caffeine (and a chocolate croissant for me!) we were ready to rock and roll again to Den Gamle By (The Old Town). It was kind of like Heritage Park but better. No rides but the old buildings were real buildings preserved and moved from different areas of the country and put in one place. They had bakeries, horse carriage rides and really rickety cobblestone.

Den Gamle By

 Danish Pancakes are a historical tradition. Yum!~

Finally we found dinner along the canal and made it back to our hostel to rest up. I slept 13 hours that night and got over my cold. Amazing!

The next morning we headed off to Moesgard Museum to see the infamous bog body. And since J Fern takes way better photos than me these are stolen off her album just so you can see it clearly. Apparently bogs have some sugar compound called sphagnum or something which preserves things. So human bodies, butter, bread etc. This dude was killed and dropped in the bog from 2000 years ago and they found him intact like this. Pretty darn cool.

That night I had my first plate of nachos since I left Canada and although it was sort of a disappointment (no tomatoes, jalepenos or olives! What is going on??) the supercute bartender made up for it. He was so friendly it was quite obvious he wasn't Danish. =) He was Norwegian with a hint of Aussie, having spent a year surfing there. This photo didn't really turn out that well but know that he was much cuter in person. And don't worry, I am going to continue to document all the interesting bartenders I meet. Seriously. How is it that all the people here are blonde and gorgeous?? It just doesn't seem fair!

As for Skagen, I have 3 words: SO DAM WINDY. On our way to the northernmost tip of Denmark I seriously biked and walked thru a hurricane to get there. Wind and rain pelted us at speeds of at least 30 km/hr. I definitely questioned why I went there but after two train rides (where we almost accidentally went to Hamburg instead) there was no question, I was for sure making it to that bloody tip. And we did make it! See happy photos below.

School and other stuff

Badass Angry Pig view from my window.

The past few days I have been just getting to classes and trying to get books, etc. Most classes seem pretty doable borderline easy. For example my mediation course meets for 3 hrs every other week and that’s it! I kind of felt like I went back to junior high for those 3 hours what with our constant small group discussions and idea web diagrams that we posted on the wall.

I also managed to go out nearly every night of the week and now I think I’ve gotten sick. =( But it was very worth it. On Tuesday, me and J Fern went out to a pub to watch the Denmark vs. Norway football game and the rivalry was great to see! Everyone was cheering, singing and wearing their team colours and this one dude even tried to pay us off to cheer for Norway. Denmark won 2-0.

Wednesday night we headed out again for the weekly international student night at Studenthuset. It was a good night and we started out at this weird bar called BankeRat where they used doll heads as lighting amongst other oddly inspired furniture.

 Check out the leather-clad deer riding an ostrich

Doll head lamps!

Thursday night I went to the law football team practice. I am so glad I went now but it started off with me crying a little inside and thinking it was the worst possible decision I could have made. I couldn’t get any of the other international girl students to come with so after much agonizing I bought new cleats (which are beautiful btw….they feel like they were meant to be on my foot!) and headed there myself. They had a bus picking us up at the square and everyone I could see was yapping away in Danish. I thought I was the only international student there and started to think why the hell am I here. BUT, once we started playing the girls really opened up and were super nice. I even met a girl who did a high school exchange in Calgary at Crescent Heights High!

Practice was awesome after that. The trainer ran drills and the girls had varying degrees of play experience. In other words, I was far from the best but also not the worst either. =) After practice everyone piled into the showers and this is where there was a striking difference between locker rooms in North America vs. Europe: everyone just stripped down and was very comfortable with their nakedness while communal showering. (I heard later that it was exactly the same in the boys room)

There was free pizza and beer in the law student lounge afterwards but I was debating not going since everyone would once again be speaking Danish. But while piling on the bus I heard these 2 dudes speaking English! It was like music to my ears!! Apparently there were 5 international guys who came to practice while I was the only international girl. So, needless to say, I went and pigged out on free pizza and beer. All in all a great night and I signed up to join the team for training once a week. It was the best way I could think of to work off the chocolate Danish pudge I have been accumulating.

I am pumped for this weekend! Me J Fern and Noora are heading to Aarhus and Skagen to sight-see more Danish cities! More pictures and stories of that to come later.

Oh yes. And please meet Max. Short for Maximilian. He is my pimpin’ ride for the next 4 months.

Who cooks rice in bags??

I cook rice in bags! Even Uncle Ben has conformed to this crazy norm of cooking rice in bags over here in the land of danishes. At least Uncle Ben had the courtesy to put in pictorial directions. So last night I had Spolumbo type sausages and rice for dinner and while I was cooking, it occurred to me what I totally should’ve brought from home but never thought of: chopsticks. It just isn’t the same cooking without them! A fork and spatula can never fulfill the function that chopsticks can! That’s from the Asian hardware part of me. (Take that Marv! I’m more fob than you!)

I should probably tell you that this particular Sunday morning started off in a very blurry and hungover state for me. I was out late with J Fern the night before and mixed way too much wine, vodka and Tuborg beer. We had dinner on a patio at Nyhavn, the famous colored houses street overlooking the water canal. The food wasn’t that great but the ambience was. The place was pretty packed and there were wandering musicians playing their hearts out while we chatted on about AIDS in Africa and the roommate from hell. (Not mine!)

The evening continued with a bottle of wine at J Fern’s place and then we went to some place called Duke on Gothersgade street where old people party. (I should mention that we engaged in a 2-person riding of my bike on our way to Duke. J Fern pedaled and I hung onto her screaming. Video to be uploaded later =) The sign said (or at least I think it said) 25+ only and so I thought it was the perfect place for us but as it turns out there were some much older patrons in that bar. Nonetheless, after paying 60 DKK for cover and 20 DKK more for coat check, the Asian part of me wouldn’t let me leave. So, we spent the rest of the evening sitting at the bar chatting up a very cute 22-yr old bartender named Oliver. After some greasy Arab people tried to pick us up we decided it was time to leave and had some pizza on the street before my bike ride home.

The next morning a very grumpy and tired Jen was pleasantly surprised when her lovely roommate made her pancakes for lunch! My roomie is so awesome! Below are some photos of the flat so far. With the exception of the double mattress that’s randomly sitting in my room, it’s quite spacious and very IKEA looking.

After I cleaned myself up a bit we headed to the Farmers’ Market at the city centre. There were so many fantastic things for sale! Good thing I was still in my exhausted-after-too-much-alcohol state otherwise I would’ve spent way too much on food there. We even found a kiosk on Asian foods!

Bread

That says we will make cakes in almost all formations

Fudge

Cheese!

Me and the roomie with Asian Foods



After the market we took a bit of a walk in the park to meet some other students. It's a popular park called King's Park right in the centre. I decided I was too tired to do any more exploring that day and so hit up Super Best before going home to make dinner. This is like the best shopping market ever...it's almost like Superstore at home!

The one thing that has been on my mind is the question of what is proper biking etiquette? I've never really been much of a cyclist. Back home my mountain bike from the 90's has been sitting untouched and collecting dust for the better part of a decade and then some. But even if you were a cyclist in North America, is there really a set of unspoken rules that exist between the fellow cyclist? And do these rules transcend international borders? Needless to say, even if these rules existed I have no idea what they are and have been cutting people off left right and centre. While I realized quite quickly that just as there are passing lanes on the left when driving, this is also true of cycling. There are no lines in the bicycle lane but people will still pass you on the left and with no warning either.

And what of hand signals? I've been doing some lame raising of the hand when I turn but only sometimes when I remember and when I'm frantically trying not to get run over by a truck while turning. I think the trick is to stay positive and know that at the end of these 4 months I'm going to be a fantastic bike rider. And I'm going to be really good at dealing with rain too.