It's cold. And snowy.

I knew when I signed up for this that Denmark would be cold, and I figured that living my whole life dealing with New England weather would suffice for preparation. Still, walking around Copenhagen in the dead of winter (or "feels like 13º") can begin to deflate a bit of your exploratory desires. I guess it could be worse, I could be a whopping 10º latitude farther north at the Arctic circle (located at 66.5ºN, whereas Copenhagen is 55º40'34"N). Regardless, even the locals tell me this is freakishly cold for Denmark.

Today we actually had quite the snowstorm by Copenhagen standards. By now there's got to be four to five inches on the ground, and I didn't see one "snow plow" till I got home around 4:15 pm. The ones I have seen just look like sidewalk plows, and they are indeed just doing the sidewalks/bike paths. On each busy street there's a raised, pavement lane for bikes, just before the sidewalk for pedestrians. Each time I get off the bus, I have to look for bikes so I don't get killed. I came dangerously close a few times during my first week.

Today, however, I was surprised by the number of people riding bikes to work, etc. in the four to five inches of snow. On the bus ride home from Nørreport station, I saw an unsettling amount of red-faced parents pedaling through the snow, their bikes fishtailing dangerously close to the bus, kids in tow. Maybe they didn't look up the weather forecast. Any New Englander would know not to try two-wheeling it that kind of weather, especially when the bus fare isn't that expensive. Come on, its Copenhagen. I'm sure the price isn't so high its not worth killing yourself in the snowstreets of København.

Albeit the weather, which I know I did sign up for, I'm still learning a great deal from this city. Today, my Danish Politics & Society class had a field study to the Danish Institute for Human Rights, an independent organization that is UN-approved to check the Danish government on human rights violations. It was enlightening in many respects, namely that as perfect as this social-welfare state looks to an American Democrat, there are imperfections as one might find anywhere. Ask me personally for details if interested. Overall I enjoy my classes so far, particularly the EU and Danish Politics, which are both taught by Jacob Butski, an ex member of Parliament; he was once Minister of Transportation. Funny enough, he admitted to being caught speeding while Minister. I guess Danish diplomats don't enjoy the same type of immunity as they do in the USA.

Anyway, settling into my kollegium has been rather stress-free. I have a kitchenette, and a private bathroom with a heat-generating floor! It has all been very agreeable, besides the fact that two nights ago, some hooligans decided to set off a mini rocket from the bus stop pretty close to my window. I thought the drop off van, the frequent arguing, the setting of things on fire, the car-backfiring-noise, and the getaway-van were all too sketchy in sequence... Otherwise everything is fine. :)

View from my window aka SCENE OF THE CRIME:


My Kollegium as viewed from my bus stop:


I also live right next to my "girlfriend" Phoebe (her boyfriend makes fun of us when we get dinner together at school alone a lot), which is so nice. She, our friend Kellye, and I went with a guy from our kollegium, Sean, to celebrate his birthday. That's where we had a most exciting experience: we met Danish friends!

I befriended a girl named Louise (apparently a common Danish name), who was 20 but definitely looked super mature. I'm noticing that lots of Danes look older than 20 and when they're over 40, they definitely look younger. It's the genes!

Me with Louise

Anyway I obviously have much more to say but I think that's enough info/pictures for one post.

Word/Pronunciation of the day:
toget: train (toh-weh) (the - in this case represents a kind of guttural stop, says me)