Copenhangin'

Farvel, København...

2008-01-02T05:28:00.001+01:00

[this was written Friday, Dec 14]

So, this is it. It's hard to believe the year in Copenhagen has come to a close. Tonight is my last night in this beautiful city, and I am very sad to be leaving (though of course excited for what lies ahead!). Today was focused on saying goodbye to the place I (sort-of) called home since last November.

I remember arriving in the dark, rainy city, alone, nervous... and though I am leaving in the dark (hopefully not rainy) time of the year, my nervousness went away, and I feel I have learned so much and have been so lucky to have had this experience. My colleagues at work gave me a heartfelt send-off. I received several Danish-design housewares at work, then last night was presented with a sexy new "N" phone that has our chip in it!! Being the gadget freak that I am, and having put many hours into that project, I am so excited! (And according to Jonathan, the sound from the microphone sounds great!). Along with the phone came a warm speech from my boss. Another colleague sent flowers to my apartment, wishing me luck in Canada. It is amazing how kind and generous people are, and what is more touching, is that it comes from people who otherwise don't tend to express their emotions openly. It was all the more meaningful as a result. Today the tears came when saying goodbye to my boss, when riding the S-tog and bus, and when saying goodbye to DL. In fact, my two best friends here (JN and DL) are both leaving Copenhagen as well (for Israel and UK, respectively), so perhaps my departure is even more well-timed. Though leaving is sad, as my boss said, it is better to leave on such a positive note. I will have very fond memories for years to come!

And so, 4 check-in bags and 2 carry-ons representing my life in Denmark will accompany me back to Boston and then to Canada (along with 5 large boxes shipping next week). I will fly through Zurich and if all is well will end up in Jonathan's arms in Boston. What a nice way to start the next chapter in my life!

Farvel, København, og tak for sidst!

Julefrokost

2008-01-02T05:18:00.000+01:00

Nearly every company in Denmark has a Julefrokost, which literally translates to Christmas lunch. These events used to be just that, lunches, but over time they have evolved into the more common evening party. The funny thing is that they are notorious for people going crazy. It is important to note that spouses are almost never invited to these parties; it is just co-workers. Consequently, apparently it is the number one cause of divorce in Denmark... because people get very drunk, and do things that they normally should not. In fact, I was reading one of the daily newspapers on the train that had something like 10 tips for your Julefrokost. Some of the items I could understand were things like:
- leave your cell phone at home. This is because you are likely to send SMSs that you might regret when sober, for example, SMSs to ex's or your boss.
- Monday morning do not hesitate to go and apologize for something you may have done to or with a co-worker; it is always better to settle these kinds of things right away rather than have it cause problems later in your working relationship.

Another thing I learned about these parties is that they are highly organized. I was on the 'committee' to organize ours, and it involved far more than just a nice dinner...

Ours was held on Thursday Dec 13. First we started out with Glygg, which is warm, mulled red wine with spices and raisins, served with various cookies (pebern¯dder, brunkager, etc). Then we had hired 2 dance instructors, and we had a 1.5 hour group lesson on jive and cha-cha. People were really into it, and it was great fun! Note that we did invite spouses, otherwise the male-female ratio would have been disastrous. Here are some photos.

From there, we hired a bus to take us into downtown, where we had dinner at one of my favourite cafes, Cafe Katz (another bonus of being on the committee, choosing the venue!). We had the entire downstairs of the restaurant and enjoyed a lovely 4-course meal. Even during the meal we had some organized events; one was a sort-of contest - we had asked everyone to provide photos from their youth, and we would call upon 2 people at a time to compete against each other to guess who was the subject of the photo. This was alot of fun! Finally we attempted a sing-a-long which went somewhat south when we tried to teach a Slovak song... We ended the evening at a local pub around the corner. No one got too crazy so I don't think there will be any negative fallout from the evening. People were jovial, outgoing, and generally seemed to have a great night!

Channuka

2007-12-12T22:56:00.000+01:00

OK so I am one day late...
Happy Channuka!
Somehow I managed to celebrate decently, by making latkes, and lighting candles. The latter proved challenging since I did not have my channukia with me in Copenhagen, so I had to improvise - with a potato! Thanks to JN for the inspiration...

Then last Saturday night there was a channuka party at shul for young people, and there was a great turnout (and a great range in age!). I was able to hang out with my Jewish friends, all in one place! Only the 'older ones' had enough chutzpa to dance, but it was fun even though we were few on the dance floor. Here is a photo including the Chabad rabbi, who has been a very positive influence in my life this year...

Belated Chag Sameach!

par-té!

2007-12-08T19:28:00.000+01:00

Almost a year ago to the day, I held a going-away party in my apartment in Somerville, and I felt the same was necessary here in Copenhagen. So, last weekend, somewhere between 20-25 friends came to my place. I had prepared some yummy food (pasta salad, apple crisp, cookies, and of course potato latkes in honour of channuka!). Just as the 1st guest arrived, the power went out! Luckily, I had bought a bazillion candles to create the right 'hyggelig' atmosphere, so many people did not even notice that there was no power! (And, luckily, everything cooked was out of the oven by then).

Here's a photo of me which kind of shows the lighting...

I also put some tea-light candles on the stairway, which people thought was to create more atmosphere. The only down-side was lack of music. Once the power came on about 2 hrs later, and I was able to turn on the music, the mood of the party completely changed. It's amazing how music can do that!

It was nice to reflect on how I had met these people - some are work colleagues, some are friends from the Jewish community, and the rest are friends-of-friends. In Denmark people are very clear in distinguishing 'friends' from 'acquaintances' but for the purpose of the party, everyone there was my friend!

Here are some photos - yes I do actually have female friends...

And here are some work colleagues...

The rest of the photos can be seen here.

The last guests left at 3.15, so I guess that is a sign that it was a good party!

Surprise!!

2007-11-28T19:06:00.000+01:00

Last week I decided to book a last-minute trip to Paris. Most of my good friends were not going to be in Copenhagen for the weekend, and I did not want to spend my 30th birthday alone. So I booked my flight on Tuesday last week, for a Friday early morning flight. The plan was to stay with EF and his girlfriend in the city.

Friday morning I woke up very early, took a taxi to the airport, and after check-in learned that my flight was delayed by 2 hours. Then on the plane, a nasty Swedish couple was not so friendly about letting me sit in my assigned window seat... not a nice way to start my birthday. But, I did happen to run into a Danish friend of mine (who is living in Paris) so I was happy that I would have someone to assist me with navigating the trains and metros in Paris.

Upon arrival, and leaving the baggage area, as I made a sudden turn to head towards the ATM to get some Euros, I felt a tug on my jacket. I turned around, and who was standing there....

Jonathan!!!!

He had surprised me (and was also the first to wish me happy birthday in person)! He had worked extra hours and booked an even-more-last-minute ticket, and arrived a couple hours before me. I was speechless, and shocked, and was making some kinds of squeaks for about 20 minutes, alternating between laughter and tears, I was so touched. It was the best surprise I could have wished for!

Here is our initial happy reunion at the airport:

When we both came back to Planet Earth, we caught the train into the city and headed to his aunt and uncle's, in the 11ieme arrondissement (near Bastille). We had a delicious lunch with the family, then Jonathan and I headed out for a stroll around the city.

(more photos from the weekend can be found here and here)

We walked through Place des Vosges, around Pompidou, city hall, and stopped at a café. In the evening we celebrated over dinner at Cafe de l'Industrie, enjoying delicious french food (now I am very curious to read Why French Women Don't Get Fat). We ended the evening at a cafe/bar with EF and F.

Saturday we started out at Place du Concorde, then walked through Musee d'Orsay, around St. Michel, through Notre Dame, and met some more relatives before having a lovely family dinner back at the apartment.

Sunday we walked through the weekly market with Jonathan's uncle, then said goodbye to his aunt who was working at the synagogue, then grabbed another quick cafe, then headed to the airport. The 2.5 days together were 'priceless' and most memorable!

Sunday night I made it to the 18ieme arrondissement, where I met up with EF and F, sat at a cafe, then ate delicious racklette at their apartment (with view of the Eiffel tower!). Monday I returned to Copenhagen, filled with joy from a most wonderful weekend! Merci Jonathan, tu me rends la plus heureuse femme au monde!

The even bigger announcement...

2007-11-26T17:26:00.000+01:00

Jonathan and I are engaged!

I have taken awhile to write since I have been trying to tell people via phone and e-mail, but in fact I want to announce it to the world :-)

Let's rewind.

Jonathan came to Copenhagen to visit me and arrived Thurs Nov 8. We had a happy reunion at the airport, and a nice dinner at Taormina (though not so nice on Jonathan's tummy). Friday morning we were just relaxing and talking, and he looked like he had something on his mind so I asked what he was thinking about. He told me to close my eyes, and when I opened them, he had placed a pillow on my lap with a white box on top (with my name on the label), and inside was a book.

Inside, he had written out our entire story, from when we were first in touch over the internet, to now. At one point there was a cut-out, where he had put the key to our condo in Montreal. Then, at the end, there was another cut-out, which contained the ring! At that point we were both speechless but the result after some time was that we got engaged.

(text blurred on purpose :-) The bigger cut-out has the key, the smaller one had the ring)

The rest of the day felt somewhat surreal...but we did manage to walk around despite the awful weather (Jonathan's umbrella broke, so now I am not the only one who has no luck with umbrellas in this city!). At night we celebrated over shabbat dinner at JN's parents', with champagne.

Saturday we walked around Østerbro, and enjoyed some time at the lakes.

At night we cooked a delicious dinner. Just beforehand, the doorbell rang, and it was a delivery of flowers and chocolate from my boss!

Sunday we went to probably the ugliest museum on the planet, the technology museum near Helsingør. I thought it would be interesting for both of us but it was a bit of a disappointment. It did not hamper us from taking some fun pictures, though...

see the whole album here.

After braving some hail in Helsingør, we relaxed at a cafe then came back into CPH.

It was a sad farewell on Monday, but not the worst, given that from that point we were going to see each other in about 30 days...and now being engaged, we have a whole life ahead to get excited about!

Nov 2-4 weekend

2007-11-04T22:01:00.000+01:00

One of the nice things on Friday night was that I met a very nice French/Belgian couple (courtesy of DL, who met them on the street!) at synagogue. It's amazing how just being Jewish means you are welcome among other Jews, and can easily meet new friends!

Saturday I jogged in the morning, walked around the neighbourhood in the afternoon (errands), and curled up and relaxed with some tea and my book, which I was very happy to finish. Don't bother with The Emperor's Children (even though the author is from Somerville!), I found it rather pretentious and not particularly entertaining. In any case, in the evening I went to Dag H with DL and friends (we were 7) then came back and enjoyed my daily pre-bedtime phone conversation with Jonathan :-)

Today the weather was just magnificent. I awoke to a perfectly clear blue sky. I ran with Sparta (13km) and the temperature, sunshine, and golden leaves made for a perfect run (ok, it would have been slightly more perfect if we weren't so crowded, trying not to step on each others' shoes... but that's a minor price to pay for enjoying a group run). I then biked to the city and had brunch at Cafe Katz (yummmm) with DL and our new friends from Friday night. Afterwards we came back to Østerbro and walked around the lake and the neighbourhood. Here are a couple of pictures from our outing...(the full set is here)

What unites the Danes...

2007-11-02T23:10:00.000+01:00

So I have been thinking alot lately about Danish culture (or, 'culture' in general), and why it is such a strongly connected population, and why Danes are proud to be Danish. I have found that there are many things - events, festivals, rituals - that are very unique, and that these things unite the population and become part of the culture.

One example is biking. There are thousands (millions?) of biking commuters each day. Everything in the city is built to accommodate bikes - ramps down stairways, special train cars with bike holders and accompanying seats, bike racks everywhere, and of course the wonderfully wide bike lanes on virtually every road in the country. People bike in the snow. When young people are going out on a Friday night clubbing, they bike there (biking home is a whole other adventure...) in little groups. Older women bike to the grocery store on Saturday. People bring their bike baskets filled with their workout clothes into the gym. It is not uncool to wear reflectors to hold your pant cuffs (though helmets have not quite yet become fashionable, unfortunately). It's just a way of life.

Another example is the various unique cultural events sprinkled throughout the year. There is Fastilavn in the spring (like Halloween), the various music festivals, and recently Kulturnat. The latter is a Friday night in October when most of the museums and other cultural places have late hours, with special performances or events. You buy a pass that entitles you to free public transit and entrance to all the events. On the train home from work I saw many people wearing the mandatory pin on their jackets. Then in Østerport station, I saw a special kiosk set up where one could buy the pass (the pin), and also a beer. It was so organized, and people seemed very enthusiastic about it (unfortunately I didn't end up going, but wanted to!). Another event is something I experienced tonight, on the way home from a hyggeligt dinner at the synagogue: Julebryg - the celebration of the launch of the Christmas beers! On the first Friday in November, the beer companies deliver the special Christmas beer to all the bars. The bars looked very busy, and I got to see a spontaneous delivery in action!

Now it is not the greatest picture but you can get the essence. Large truck pulls up, man with blinking hat opens the back, and out come Tuborg party people with ghetto blaster, fresh beer, and a little dance. They they unload the truck at the closest bar and leave, to do more deliveries.

Other small things I have noticed:
- common showers in the women's locker rooms in gym... a natural place to form a secret bond or understanding at the most basic level
- the tendency for people to have a small group of friends - quality vs quantity
- the emphasis on family - everything from being able to leave work to pick up a child at daycare and not feel guilty, to giant prams for babies and special bicycles to take children around the city
- the cafe-goers are almost always small groups of either men or women, or couples - but not often a mix of genders

It certainly helps that the city is small in size, and the dark winters naturally gather people together indoors, but it seems like it is these kinds of other things that are truly Danish, and it is these kinds of traditions that bind the people together. At least that's what I have noticed...

Last weekend

2007-11-02T22:58:00.000+01:00

Hi all!
I figure I should update last weekend before I experience this weekend...
It was a great, relaxing weekend. It started with shabbat dinner at JN's parents' on Friday. Saturday the usual morning run, then I made cookies in the afternoon (my co-workers are getting spoiled, they get disappointed if there is nothing on Monday morning!), then dinner with JN and PS and friends at the Italian place near my apartment. Afterward we biked downtown to the bar (now, in how many places in the world can you really say that?!) for some expensive but yummy cocktails, then came home. Sunday I ran the Sparta (running club) Marathon Start-Op, a race to mark the start of their training season for the CPH marathon next May. I can't believe it is almost a year since I started running with them on Sundays...
I ran a 10k along with my boss, his wife, and PS. Here are a couple of photos before the race:

Afterward I enjoyed a Sunday danish (mmmm kanelstang!) then biked up to Hellerup and met up with DL and SM, where we relaxed at a cafe for a couple of hours then walked around the neighbourhood, to the beach.

That is what I love about Sundays here. As frustrating as it is that things are closed, it forces one to relax and enjoy time together with friends, with no schedule, no hassles of parking lots and errands...

Finally, I rented The Last Kiss on DVD, which was a surprisingly excellent film (I was going for chick flick and lucked out with something more profound). All in all a great weekend!

The big announcement...

2007-10-27T17:36:00.000+01:00

So, I have some big news ... I will be moving back to Montreal! This has been something I have wanted to do for a long time, and now with added incentive [:-)] it has become a reality! I will finish up my work here in Denmark, work one more week in Boston before xmas, then will pack up all my stuff and head up to the Great White North.

The hardest part is leaving behind the 'family' I have acquired both in Boston and in Denmark, mostly through work and outside. Working at company A has been an incredible experience, and it is hard to believe over 5 years have passed by! Through A, I have been able to see the world. I have learned a huge amount from many bright, talented and passionate co-workers. I have worked hard, partied hard, played and listened to countless hours of music, laughed, cried...I only hope that my new job (company O) will provide the same fulfillment. But now I will also have fulfillment from being close to family, old friends, and of course Jonathan! The future is very bright...

Fear not, I have plans to morph this blog into a Montreal blog when the time comes. Until then you can still read about adventures from Denmark, Boston, and beyond! Please, company A current and former co-workers, keep in touch...

Friends

2007-10-20T23:31:00.000+01:00

Friday night I went to Chabad for shabbat dinner, it was a gathering specifically themed toward young people. As I was sitting at the table I realized I was surrounded by almost all of my friends I have made in Copenhagen. It is amazing thinking that if I had never come here, I would have never met them, nor had such a wonderful year. If you ever stop to think about how something in your life, could be very small, can have such a profound impact on subsequent events, it is quite astounding. Many events in my life led to my coming here. Then JDate led me to meet my first friend in Copenhagen, which then led to my meeting most of my other friends here. If I wasn't feeling lonely one night in a hotel in Tampere, I may not have logged into JDate and started chatting with Jonathan, who for whatever reason was online at exactly the same time...

So, sitting with my friends, I was feeling nostalgic, and emotional about leaving Denmark in December. But, I have many exciting things awaiting me...and I'm sure I will now have visitors to North America!

Another visitor!

2007-10-20T22:58:00.001+01:00

My list of visitors has gotten quite long, it's pretty impressive in one year to have had so many friends and family come and stay with me! It has been great fun, I like sharing my love for Copenhagen with others...

MN came and we had 2 weekends together. During the first we caught up with our friend MS, first at Pussy Galore's Flying Circus cafe/pub, then later at Vega.

The next night we went to a concert given by the Klezmatics (grammy winners!) at the synagogue. It was finally an opportunity for me to take some photos inside the synagogue, since it wasn't shabbat!

The following weekend we did the canal tour (I can probably give the tour myself at this point!), taking advantage of the beautiful weather...

Japan again

2007-10-20T22:43:00.000+01:00

After Berlin, I flew to Japan, for a whirlwind customer-visit-filled trip. I got to pass through Kyoto and Osaka, but did not see much of either - other than a nice skyline view of Kyoto from the hotel room:

On the second-to-last day, we had a sukiyaki dinner - where they cook the meat right at the table:

One was to dip the cooked beef into a bowl of raw egg. Yes, I tried it. And yes, I believe it was this meal that caused a nasty bout of food poisoning the next day. Unfortunately I could not enjoy my favourite restaurant in Tokyo, the Panic Cafe, since I was spending most of my time losing that day's portion of Pocky into a potted plant sitting outside the restaurant...Thankfully MD took excellent care of me, and I was fine by the time I had to board the plane the next day. Definitely a memorable experience!

quick note... some photos (Updated)

2007-10-11T10:05:00.000+01:00

[Some photos of a recent night out with friends from work can be seen here...]

Ok, I have some more time to breathe to catch up on blogging.

These photos are from a night out with DM and RT. We had dinner in Nyhavn:

We then had the best drink (Honey Smash) at the bar at Hotel 27, then went to the Ice Bar. I have been there before when DL was visiting. It is entirely made of ice! They give you coats and gloves to wear, and you stay in the bar for about 30 mins or so (until you start to feel the cold in your fingers and toes!). The cover charge includes one drink; every drink is made from Absolut vodka. The drink comes in a 'glass', which isn't a glass at all but really a chunk of ice! It is very cool (literally). The ice comes from Sweden. I definitely recommend going to an icebar; there are a few in other big cities around the world.

Berlin Marathon: 4:28!!

2007-09-30T17:00:00.000+01:00

Hi all,
I am quite proud of me :-) I beat my own personal record and finished the Berlin Marathon in 4 hours and 28 minutes. It was a fantastic race. Aside from some pain in the last 10km, I really felt good overall, and the time went by extremely quickly! There were spectators lining the sides for the entire 42km. There were orchestras, marching bands, jazz bands, rock bands, and millions of people cheering us on. It was a very special moment finishing up running through the Brandenburg Gate, and having the crowds in the stands cheering us on. The weather was perfect - around 17C and mostly cloudy. It also helped to follow the pace-setter for the 4:30 group, which made my split times quite consistent.

Here are some photos. More can be found here. (I'll post something else about the rest of Berlin later...)

Big day tomorrow...

2007-09-29T21:14:00.000+01:00

I'm sitting in my hotel room (Novotel) in Berlin, trying to finish a 1.5L bottle of water, getting nervous for tomorrow's marathon. I really just want to finish, but it would be great to beat my best time and end up finishing around 4:30. Though today was cold and rainy, they expect some sun and 18C for tomorrow; I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be dry.
Morning breakfast: muesli, banana, yogurt, water.
Outfit: running shorts, short-sleeve t-shirt (purple, if you are trying to find me on TV :-) ), running shoes, runner number F4274.
I am loaded up on pasta. Time to prepare my clothing drop-off bag and get some sleep!

Yom Kippur 5768

2007-09-28T16:25:00.000+01:00

The past 6 years or so, I have spent Yom Kippur in Boston, so it was an exciting change to spend it here in Copenhagen.

Friday night was quite hectic. I met with DN at the little Italian place around the corner from my apartment, where we inhaled a pizza and pasta dish in about 20 minutes. From there we rushed to the synagogue, since Kol Nidre was supposed to start at 18.30. However, it was 19.15 by the time it actually started, so we just sat there and moaned about our stomachs... Having been to the synagogue several times on Saturday mornings, I was used to a skeleton crowd, but last Friday, it was completely packed. Women even crowded themselves to double-up on the seats, so we were standing 2 levels deep in one row. Unfortunately I could not gain much wisdom from the Rabbi's sermon, since it was in Danish. But it was a nice service, and loooong... we got out of there at 22.30!

Saturday morning I made it back to morning services (fewer people this time), then hung out in the courtyard with DN and some other friends. We then walked over to the lakes and sat outside for about 1 hour (it was a beautiful day), then came home and rested for 2 hours, before heading out again. We decided to go to Chabad for Neilah; it is closer to my apartment (and we were starting to get weak), and we wanted to hear what Rabbi Yitzi had to say. It was a lovely small service, interactive, educational and enjoyable. Finally, we were able to eat at around 20.30. I made it! The fast was not too difficult this year, I think I'm getting better at it... From there we went to JN's parents' and had an amazing full dinner. It was a warm and inviting atmosphere and a great way to celebrate the break-fast.

I did not have much time to reflect during the day, but over the course of the past few weeks, I have realized what a fantastic year it has been. I am truly lucky to have experienced all of the wonderful things and am grateful for my family, friends, and Jonathan :-) I hope everyone is healthy and happy in the next year; I'm sure it will bring some exciting times!

Lund, Malmo

2007-09-28T16:15:00.000+01:00

Last weekend I went with Rama to Lund on Sunday. It is a very cute university town, but is quite dead on a Sunday, since everything is closed! We walked around, saw the main church, the university, a small archeological museum, and the botanical gardens. Here is a photo showing the nice fall colours.

And here is a photo of the University of Lund's main building.

We ate some delicious smoked salmon and pizza for lunch. Since we were pretty much done with the town by 3pm, we took the train to Malmo. Almost everything was closed there except one store, so we had some fun trying on accessories...

Aren't we stylish? :-)

Boston-Montreal, Rosh Hashana 5768!

2007-09-25T22:29:00.000+01:00

Hi all!
Shana tova!
I'm a bit behind, but am determined to catch up on recent events.

A couple of weeks ago, I flew to Boston to work at the office and also to continue the green card saga. This time, the officer was very friendly and knowledgeable, my file was actually there (from Vermont), and I got my stamp for another year! It was remarkably painless.

Thursday evening, Jonathan finally arrived! We spent the weekend doing the tourist thing. It was extremely hot and sticky, but we did alot of walking around the city, including MIT, Newbury Street, Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, Davis Square and Harvard Square. Jonathan's photos are all here, but I'll include some below:

Here is a photo of the Ray Stata building at MIT, designed by Frank Gheary.

And here is a photo of us taking a break in the shade near Harvard Square.

Other highlights included watching a friend's band play at a transvestite club, visiting friends and their babies, and sitting on a quiet pier at night overlooking the skyline.

One thing we both noticed was how rushed the lifestyle was, compared to Montreal and what I have become accustomed to here in Copenhagen. It could be the places we chose, but the restaurants seemed to want to quickly turn over the tables which made dinners and brunch seem rather stressful. But anyway.

Sunday, we drove up to North Hatley and enjoyed some quality time with Jonathan's mom. Despite the rain, it was nice to sit out on the porch bundled in blankets and chat. After a delicious dinner, we drove (with Kilo, the dog who was not very pleased to be relegated to the floor of the passenger seat) to Montreal, stopped off at my parents', then settled in at Monkland. The week zoomed by, filled with appointments, visits with friends and family, and finally Rosh Hashana! Wednesday night I experienced my first Rosh Hashana seder, with the full meal of sephardi delicacies! The synagogue was interesting; I was one of maybe 6 women, and I also experienced my first 'auction' for aliyahs! Thursday morning we went to the Shaar with dad and granny, and Friday night was my family's dinner. Here are some photos from the dinner (again, the rest are on the site linked above:

The week was far too short, and after experiencing a moon-set (I was not aware that the moon actually sets so early in the night!) and a 2-hour flight delay, we said a teary goodbye at Trudeau airport.

Frilandsmuseet and Møns Klint

2007-09-17T21:08:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I explored a couple of sites in Denmark, with RT and JH.
On a Saturday, we visited Frilandsmuseet, an open-air museum that recreates the life of the Danes back in the 1600-1800s. We saw old stone and concrete homes, farm animals, and traditional Danish dances.
Blogger is not cooperating nicely in my adding photos to this post, so I can just point you to this page to see my photos...
... here is one photo, of JH and RT in front of one of the houses:

Later in the evening JH and I walked around the central part of CPH to enjoy the festivities commemorating the 100th anniversary of the British attack on CPH. From what I understand, it was quite a slaughter of the city, and it is rather unclear as to why this would warrant a celebration... but any excuse for the Danes to have a party and drink beer is always welcome!
Sunday, we rented a car and drove 1.5 hours south of Copenhagen to the island of Møns, where we visited the national park at Møns Klint. It is probably my favourite thing I have seen in Denmark so far. It is a natural cliff composed mainly of chalk, so there is a stark contrast between the white cliffs and the blue water of the Øresund. It was truly breathtaking!

Again, due to technical difficulties I cannot seem to upload easily, so you can see the whole collection here and RT's photos here... On our way back, we found a park that had outdoor exercise equipment, it was quite funny! You can see pics in the albums.

The past little while

2007-08-27T20:09:00.000+01:00

Hi all!
I have been quite lazy with posting to the blog lately, and thought we are all overdue for an update...
What have I been up to lately? Here are a few highlights:
- Free outdoor opera and ballet in various parks around Copenhagen
- Quick visit to Christiania, which in my opinion, is kind of a let-down from what people hype it up to be
- Cycling to Bellevue Beach (which is shared by 'normal' visitors and nude bathers...weird mix!) and playing beach volleyball
- Evening picnic at Charlottenlund Fort (also a beach, and also frequented by nudists, though I did not see them)
- BBQ party at a friend's apartment, also expats
- lots of running... 27km has been my maximum so far, and I ran 25km yesterday with JN. Getting excited and nervous for Berlin after receiving my official race package in the mail
- Back to Danish class, with a new teacher. I can now describe people in brief detail... me: meget lille, halvlangt og krøllet hår, øreringe på (very short, mid-length and curly hair, earrings)
- Of course getting excited to see Jonathan next week in Boston!!

Helsingør garden party

2007-08-14T19:20:00.000+01:00

Saturday I went up to Helsingør for a birthday party, which was labeled as a "love party". It took place in the back courtyard of an adorable pink house. The atmosphere was very 'hyggeligt', or cozy, with flowers and candles adorning the food. There were even some musicians, who played some klezmer music, but also played during the 'singalong'. Apparently this is quite common in Denmark. Sheets of paper were handed out to all of the guests with lyrics to 5 songs, which were sung at a specific time after the cake. Very organized! It was a fun party, and the ladies and I ended up back in the city at Hotel 27, where we enjoyed my favourite drink in Copenhagen so far, Honey Smash (well, it is tied with the mojitos at Vega night club).

Some photos...
The spread:

The ladies:

Some more random thoughts on Denmark

2007-08-14T19:04:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone,
Sorry for the lack of posts. Evenings are still bright here and I'm trying to maximize my outdoor time in the summer...or, I am likely talking with Jonathan! (which can last an entire evening :-) )

A few random observations:
* It seems that urinating in public is a common practice. I see it at least once a week if not more. Men do it rather conspicuously, in broad daylight. They pee against the wall of the bank, in someone's front yard bushes, near the lakes where everyone is out running or walking. A woman was letting her young boy (maybe around 7 years old) pee into one of the lakes from the side. I suppose with children it can be urgent, but it seems like teaching this at a young age doesn't bode well for the future.

* It is very popular for people to eat pizza right out of the box while they sit by the lakes.

* People drink an inordinate amount of beer, and not just men. Sunday morning, while running by the cafe at the lake, I saw women drinking draught beers at 10am with their brunch. Ew!

* Greeting family at airports is quite a scene. In fact, this picture actually captures a few typical Danish phenomena:
1) Flag-waving [young girl]. Danes love their flag, it even has its own name, the Dannebrog. It is very popular for families greeting loved ones at the airport to wave flags en masse. (Note, it is also popular to put little flags in the food at parties as decoration)
2) Beer drinking [man in overalls]. See above. The airport arrivals terminal is no exception.
3) Sausages [young girl]. They are everywhere (heaven for Dad!)... hot dog stands on the street, at 7-Eleven, etc.

* Danes have very cute dogs! They are often seen as puppies in little children's arms, or accompanying their owner on the train, or riding in a basket on a bicycle.

I'm sure I'll have more to add in the coming months!

Boston-Montreal, again

2007-08-03T18:45:00.000+01:00

After my temper calmed down from the green card thing, I managed to thoroughly enjoy the weekend.

In Boston, I got to see JL and MM and we dined at Not Your Average Joe's (I do miss their goat-cheese salad!), and played with JL's iPhone. What an impressive piece of technology, I was won over (though not practical for me at the moment, as it does not work in Asia). I stayed at MD'As Thursday night, and it was great to catch up. Friday I went into the office (after the mandatory stockpiling at Target), worked pretty intensively, enjoyed Bertucci's for lunch. As I was rushing out and rearranging my things in the trunk of the rental car, I shut the trunk door and immediately cursed, realizing I had just locked my keys inside. JL and iPhone to the rescue! He Google-mapped the Avis rental agency at Logan, and I called their emergency service. $60 cash and 15 minutes later, I was back inside the air-conditioned Corolla and on my way!

First - my apologies to any Montrealers whom I did not visit on this trip - as I mentioned it was extremely last-minute and not very long...

I was entertained by my book-on-CD all the way to North Hatley. I had a memorable evening with Jonathan and his family at the house, and thoroughly enjoyed the company and surroundings. The moon over the lake at night, with a light foggy-mist over the water, was so peaceful. Saturday we had a late brunch, and Jonathan and I canoed into town (how often can you really say something like that? Pretty cool!). The way back was pretty windy, and it started to rain, so we all relaxed on the porch during the storm. We had an early dinner (while my feet were kept warm by slippers crocheed for me by Jonathan's grandmother!) and then Jonathan and I drove back into the city, where we had some dessert with Mom and Dad (mmm carrot cake!). Sunday we had brunch with Jonathan's friend, then ran some errands, then went back to Mom and Dad's for a BBQ with the whole family (H and K and the kids, grannies and zady). I'm so happy I could see everyone all together this time! Green card rants aside, the timing of the weekend worked out very well. Monday, Jonathan and I did some grocery shopping and cooked together for Mom and Dad, which was a great success. Tuesday, a sad farewell, and a long and tiring drive back to Boston, then a long flight to Amsterdam, then the start of nausea in Amsterdam, then an interminably long 1-hr flight to Copenhagen, then a train to my apartment, then me crashing in my bed for about 24 hours solid, with fever of 101F and bad nausea... There was that feeling of helplessness again, being sick and alone. Luckily, it only lasted a little over 30 hours and I'm on the mend. Coincidentally, Jonathan had the same bug, but he seems to be feeling better too. No, we didn't give Mom and Dad food poisoning, in case you were wondering!

Back in DK, the weather seems to have dried up. But, it is lonely. I'm already counting days until September...

Green card woes

2007-08-03T18:26:00.000+01:00

[begin rant]
So, luckily I checked my passport last week to figure out when I needed to renew my green card stamp, since I found it expires Aug 6. In a panic, I booked an extremely last-minute trip to Boston. It's amazing that one can decide at 7:30pm to be on a 5:55am flight the next morning across the Atlantic.

First, some background.
I had a temporary green card for the first 2 years. After they approved the renewal of the card last June (don't get me started on how painful that was!), I got a stamp in my passport which served as my 'green card' while they took away my old one and started the process to send me a new one. That was Aug 7 last year. It seemed to be taking a long time to get my new card, so I would call every few months to find out what was going on (tip: a good way to reach a human being when you call the 1-800 number is to choose the "change address" option in the automated menu). Typically, I'd get the response that they could not look up my case in the computer; the system they were looking at wasn't really linked to the system in Boston (which seems ridiculous to me). So, I was told to just wait for the new card. So, when last week rolled around and it popped in my head that the stamp must be expiring soon, I booked the flight, had 2 hrs of sleep, arrived in Boston at 10am, rented a car, parked at the exorbitantly-priced Government Center garage ($32 for about 4 hrs!), walked around Faneuil Hall a bit while enjoying the heat (I miss that in DK), and went into the JFK building for my scheduled InfoPass appointment at 13:30. Once inside, they told me that since my case was already 1 year old, I needed new photos and a new I89 form. $12 later, with an absolutely horrible photo to boot (keep in mind lack of sleep and 10 hours of air travel), I waited 40 mins before they called my number. At the desk, they could finally look up my case in the computer. They informed me that last year, my file was sent to the service center in Vermont, but my I89 form and photos did not accompany the file, so they never even started the process to issue me a new green card... !@#$!!! Why could they not tell me this any of the many times that I called? They then said they have to have the file sent back from Vermont to Boston, and I need to come back in and fill in a new I89 form with photos, in person, and that they could not issue me a renewed stamp. This is where I get annoyed. Sparing details, we agreed that they give me a stamp valid until September 12, that they will order my file from Vermont, and hold it until I come in again before September 12 to re-file the darn thing. I ask, "how can I be sure that when I come back in September that my file is actually here? Can I call and check?" to which the officer replies "oh, it WILL be here". I'm about as confident in that statement as I am in Bush winning the war in Iraq. But that's another story. The good news, I got a stamp, and I get another trip to Boston/Montreal (which was planned anyway, for Rosh Hashana). The bad news, confidence in and patience with US immigration authorities continue to erode...
[end rant]
...funny anecdote: it was the first time that my name was called over a PA system in an airport: "Passengers Reich (and 2 others), you are delaying the flight; please proceed to the gate immediately or your luggage will be removed from the aircraft" ! I will think twice next time before booking a 50 min connection in Amsterdam. Thank goodness I only had check-in luggage.

Vacation

2007-07-23T19:12:00.000+01:00

Everyone is on vacation in Denmark, it's quite amazing. At work, last Friday, 2 people had their last days before taking off for 2 or 3 weeks. Many in my office go to exotic places like Kenya, Malaysia, Greece or Cuba. Some go to "sommerhus", the Danish equivalent of country houses or cottages, usually near the coast. Someone today told me that a tiny beach house (60m2) that needs a lot of work can sell for over 1 million dollars! For a wooden shack!

One feels the effect of vacation very closely. Stores in Østerbro have signs on the door wishing you a good holiday, and announce their return in September. My local bakery now closes every day at 14h instead of 17h30 for the next two months. The kind woman who sells delicious fruit at the train station is away. Her replacement was not around at the usual 7h45 this morning (Zady, I know what you would say about that!). Even the guy who shoves free newspapers in your face at the train station is not there! The slower pace of life can be felt, with fewer people on the trains, the office nearly empty, and many sitting out at cafes until late at night. I have to say, I'm quite jealous of the almost-6 weeks of annual vacation that the Danes get per year!

Pass the Peas!

2007-07-22T19:28:00.001+01:00

Thursday July 12 I had the honour of seeing my favourite musician, Maceo Parker (more photos here), in concert in my own town of Østerbro! He was here as part of the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, and I timed my arrival back from Korea just in time to make it to the concert. It truly amazes me how he can so easily elevate one's spirits. The band is so tight, and he is a fantastic entertainer. He just has to smile, and the crowd goes wild. He punctuated his songs with his usual crowd-pleasing phrases like, "we...love...YOU!" and "to be... or not to be.... FUN-KY!!" . I had to wait until the encore before he played my all-time favourite, Pass the Peas. But it was worth the wait. And, to top it all off, at the end of the concert, I walked away with probably my best memorabilia to this day (well, it's a close tie between this and my signed CD copy Time Out by Dave Brubeck), one of the drummer's drumsticks! It even has wood splinters down the middle. Last year AF and I had the honour to get a VIP tour of the jazz musicians' after hours jam session at the Montreal Jazz Festival courtesy of the organ player. This year I was quite content with the drumstick. Thanks for a great show Maceo!

Happy Weekend

2007-07-15T10:47:00.000+01:00

So far the weekend has been amazing!
Jonathan arrived Thursday morning, I arrived back from Korea Thursday evening, and after a happy reunion at the airport, we made it in time for the Maceo Parker concert in Østerbro (separate post), which was fantastic!!

Note, these photos are courtesy of Jonathan, he is an excellent photographer.

Friday, we walked around Christianshavn, and up the 400 steps of the church for some great views of the city. This photo made both of us laugh out loud...

After a yummy smoothie, we walked to the modern city library and admired the interior architecture, a mix of the modern and the old.

We ate lunch outside Cafe Katz, one of my favourites. Afterward we ran a romantic errand of buying a router, which has now made my desk a high-tech hub of telecommmunications - including Vonage, Skype phone, router, modem and wireless access point. We then listened to some jazz outside in Nyhavn, then headed back to Østerbro for a cafe at Dag H. We then met up with the jewish group visiting Copenhagen for the weekend, and led them to services at shul. Finally, we ended the day at Taormina, the little Italian restaurant around the corner (just for you dad!).

Saturday, we spent a romantic morning configuring above-mentioned router (Jonathan won the geek competition between the 2 of us), then headed up the coast and spent the afternoon at Bellevue beach. It was a little too chilly for a swim, so we passed the time taking some photos (tripod with remote)

Whose iron ring looks better?

We walked through Dyrebakken, the oldest amusement park in the world (apparently), then headed to Charlottenlund for a snack and cafe. We walked to the beach there, and there was a circus set up (yuck). We arrived just at the time when they were letting the elephants do their business on the beach, so were lucky enough to catch some photos. It was really strange seeing elephants mingle with people, on the beach, with the city in the background!

From there, we came back into the city, then had a very romantic dinner outside at Sebastopol, a French cafe (merci a la mere de Jonathan!), and discussed many things, from Israel to our childhood, to personality similarities and differences... it was a lovely night. We were then going to meet up with the jewish group, but there was mixup in club location, so it was not meant to be.

Today, we went running (around the lakes) and enjoyed the delicious pastry from the local bakery. We met up with the jewish group in the afternoon and took the local canal cruise. It was a beautiful day, so a perfect opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. Finally tonight we seemed to have passed the test of cooking together (well, Jonathan did most of it, working with a very limited set of tools).

I don't think the weekend could be any better!

Korea, again

2007-07-10T15:20:00.000+01:00

I'm back in Korea for a short trip. So far it has been quite exhausting, probably compounded by the fact that I went from Montreal time zone, to Copenhagen time zone (for 2 days), followed by Seoul time zone. So it is no wonder that I wake up at 5am wondering where I am!
Most of the time has been spent in the car, so here is a typical view entering a tunnel:

The trip has consisted of customer visits and Korean Bar-B-Q, which is quite good (though slightly unforgiving to the stomach, unaccustomed to not-entirely-cooked-meat). They bring raw beef to the table, set a small fire underneath, and the meat cooks in front of you. Then you dip it into a small bowl of coarse salt. And there are always a million small dishes on the side (I'd hate to be a dishwasher in an Asian restaurant!), usually quite spicy.

The strangest thing I saw was today inside the women's washroom at one of the companies. There was one area with the stalls, then another area with comfortable chairs around a table, which was set up to be ready for an impromptu tea and snack session. Not sure why this would take place inside a bathroom. Then, next to the door, there was a gigantic bag of raw onions. Not sure what to make of all that!

Time for bed, hopefully I will sleep through the night this time!
And also hoping that time passes quickly, so that Thursday arrives, when I have a special visitor in Copenhagen :-) ....

Return to Sender

2007-07-10T13:52:00.000+01:00

Just a short interesting tidbit, featuring the postal service of Denmark.
I sent a letter to Canada (GST tax refund) in a normal business envelope, complete with sufficient postage for Canada, or so I thought.

About 1 week later, I received a letter from the Denmark postal service. The letter was in Danish, so I did not understand it entirely, but from the gist of it I figured out that my letter that I had sent had insufficient postage - and amazingly, on the back of this letter, there was a scanned photograph of my original letter, sitting on top of a letter sizing guide, showing a standard DK business envelope (which is actually larger than a North American one). After some translation help from a colleague, I learned that since this was my first "offense", they put on the extra postage for me and sent the letter anyway. But next time I'll have to pay. Pretty cool system, I think!

Gotta have that funk!

2007-07-10T13:42:00.001+01:00

Last Friday, I organized a group outing with my colleagues to Tivoli. We first had dinner at Faergekroens Bryggehus (a brewery), which is set on one of the ponds - very 'hyggeligt'! Here is a photo of the restaurant (on the right):

At 22.00, there was a free show (part of the Copenhagen Jazz Festival) with one of my favourite bands of all time - George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars!! I could not believe my amazing luck, that he should come to CPH this summer, and for free, to top it all off! He played some of my favourites (We Want the Funk, Flashlight), and it was definitely enjoyable. Here he is, with the red wig. Not sure what his guitarist was thinking, wearing a cloth diaper, but whatever. It was a great show, and impossible to keep my feet from dancing the whole time!

And I can also look forward to Thursday's upcoming concert featuring Maceo Parker! I love funk!

:-)

2007-07-04T17:36:00.000+01:00

Meet Jonathan. You will be hearing alot about him in the future, I am sure.

On est cute ensemble, n'est-ce pas? :-)

Boston-Montreal

2007-07-04T16:47:00.000+01:00

I just returned from what turned into a most memorable weekend in Montreal...

First, I had a brief stopover in Boston last Thursday and was able to catch up with some friends and satisfy my craving for Indian food and loud Irish music. I was also able to accomplish some of the errands I had to do, albeit in a short period (less than 20 hours) and with an oversized vehicle (I hate SUVs!).

I flew to Montreal on Friday for AI and RG's wedding. What a wonderful party weekend! Friday night I was expecting a quiet shabbat dinner for out-of-town guests at AI's house; but this was a huge party with a tent, DJ, bar, full delicious buffet, dancing and henna, for almost 200 people! Everyone was so happy and it is so nice to see them happy together. The wedding festivities continued on Sunday, with the cocktail hour, ceremony and party at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue. It was truly a joyous affair. Mazal tov, A and R, I wish you all the best for a happy life together. I put the photos from the wedding here.

dansk for udlændinge

2007-06-27T20:16:00.001+01:00

(that's Danish for Foreigners)

Last night we had one of our last Danish classes before summer break. I've enjoyed taking the lessons at Studieskolen and will miss the group and our excellent teacher. We resume in August, but will have a new teacher and probably a new group of classmates.

Here is our class photo - and, as nothing has changed in 25 years, I'm still the shortest in the class!

Summer solstice weekend

2007-06-27T19:58:00.000+01:00

We have sadly passed the longest day of the year, which was last week. Over the weekend, there were several fun activities celebrating the summer solstice...
Friday night I went with Dave and SM to Tivoli. We ate at a brewery, then watched the Fredagsrock free concert outdoors. The headliner was none other than Grace Jones! She is very strange... she spent a good 2 minutes with her back to the audience, lifting her skirt up, and jiggling her well-toned behind. She's lucky she can still get away with it. There were several other Danish bands, and one very enjoyable artist named Thomas Buttenschøn. Then in an incredible coincidence, I ran into someone I vaguely knew from the Media Lab! He is engaged to a Danish woman and they invited me for Saturday BBQ.

Saturday I ran, during what was the only hour of pouring rain for the day. After drying off, I met up with the ML alum and some Danes and actually experienced a real Danish dinner at an apartment! It only took 6 months to get to this point, but I was proud. And I could converse somewhat so that was appreciated. After dinner we headed out in search of bonfires for the celebration of Sankt Anne. This is a bizarre ritual around the time of year of the summer solstice, where bonfires are set up all over the city and witches (now fake) are burned. We ended up at the lakes, and I got some good pictures of the group, the sunset, and the bonfire (you can kind of see the witch's broom).

(Spot the non-Dane!)

Sunday I went for a longer run (17km... training is getting more intense! ...and painful) along the coast. Afterward I went to SM's for some tea, and then to another concert at Tivoli. This time SM was singing in the Tivoli concert choir, and they performed Haydn's The Creation. It was quite an impressive piece! The soloists were also excellent; it is quite an undertaking to sing for 3 hours!

I also spent the weekend thinking more about music (merci JA!) and downloading a few more songs. I've been meaning to make a list of songs that will always remind me of my time here in Copenhagen, because they play on the radio frequently. My favourites these days are:

I don't feel like dancin (Scissor Sisters)
Grace Kelly (Mika)
Sweet Escape (Gwen Stefani)

... and all of Justin Timberlake's new stuff. I'm pretty bummed that I missed his concert on Saturday night! The Danes are REALLY into JT, and apparently the concert was fantastic. Oh well...truth is, I couldn't find anyone my age who wanted to come with me.

The summer nights are still long, so summer is hopefully far from over...

Stockholm

2007-06-20T20:59:00.000+01:00

At the last minute, I decided to prolong my stopover in Stockholm (coming back from Tampere, Finland) for the weekend. It was a bit of a comedy of errors, as first all hotels were booked, and then when I arrived they lost my luggage (in such a tiny airport like Tampere I am stumped as to how that happened), and once I arrived I was turned down to eat at a restaurant. After the initial rocky start, it turned out to be a relatively nice weekend. I say "relatively", because I have to say that as nice as the city is, in general the people were not. In 2 days, I (and Dave and his mom) were refused at 4 different places (restaurants, bars). We would approach a restaurant that looked nice (or about which we had read in a travel guide), had several empty tables, and ask for a table for 3. As soon as they heard English, their faces changed, we got some not-so-friendly looks, and were told something along the lines of "no tables are available until at least 22h00". This seemed like a load of baloney, given the numerous empty tables we could see inside the restaurants. It was quite astounding and frankly quite unacceptable. Nightclubs were almost the same; luckily we got in early - we still got sideways glances but nevertheless we managed to get into a few places. Anyway, enough with my rant on the Swedes...

Since I had some time on my own, I bought some fresh clothes (which will be partially paid for by SAS!), and found a fantastic indoor food market where I enjoyed a delicious vegetarian pita with hummus/falafel/other mediterranean yummies inside. Here is a photo of one of the corridors of the hall:

Friday night, Dave and I found a very posh outdoor bar. It was filled with what seemed to us like supermodels. Everyone was tall, blond, and very skinny. The drinks were extremely pricey, but they sure make a mean mojito! We left there around 2am (still light outside!) and went to a nearby club, which was not quite as much fun, but still interesting. With all the money we spent on these clubs, we looked upon the night as visiting "museums", where we were observing a foreign people in their own natural habitat.

After a late morning on Saturday, we wandered around Gamle Stan (old city):

We later just lounged at an outdoor cafe, and finally ended up at a snooty place for dinner. Afterward, we asked the hotel for a club recommendation, and ended up at Cafe Opera. This was a great place - it is in the back of the opera house, and at dinner it is a fancy restaurant with huge bar and good crowd. After midnight, the whole place transforms into a thumping night club, with a packed dance floor. Fun night. This is what everything looks like at almost 4am when leaving the clubs...(I will blame the poor quality on my camera-phone)

Sunday (another late morning), we took a guided boat tour. Here was one of the prettier parts of the ride (it was all very beautiful):

Despite the fact that it was not really all that warm, many Swedes were swimming in the cold water!

Afterward we walked through the grounds of city hall, which is where the Nobel Prizes are handed out. Here is a view from the grounds onto the water:

And here is Dave pretending to be Birger Jarl (founder of Stockholm):

Later, we walked around the stores (open on Sunday, unlike in Denmark) and ended up at a music museum. It was a great place to explore various instruments, and even have a short karaoke stint as a lead singer from Abba.

After another cafe, we headed to the airport and came home. I have to say it was a relief to come back to Copenhagen, which is a relatively more laid-back city after all...

Ven

2007-06-18T21:06:00.000+01:00

Two weeks ago, DL had the idea to spend Sunday in Ven, a small Swedish island in the Øresund. Dave, DL, her mom and I boarded a ship at 9am and enjoyed the sunny 90-minute ride to the island. Here is a view of the Copenhagen opera house (on the left) from the boat:

Upon arrival, we rented bicycles (I had my own) and proceeded to have one of the most memorable Sundays... the weather was perfect: sunny and around 25C. The island is extremely peaceful: it is a giant plateau with slightly rolling landscapes of huge grassy fields with all kinds of flowers (mostly wild orange poppies). The homes are traditional Swedish bungalows, and the gardens are meticulously kept. We cycled around for awhile...

... and descended from the plateau towards the coast.

We swam in the (cold!!!!) water, lay on the beach, then ate delicious freshly-smoked fish (mackrel and salmon). After lazing around some more in the sun, we biked along the coastline back to where we started. The ride was out of the movies... cool breeze, pebbly paths, views of sailboats in the water, and I even managed to see some cute scotties having a nap in a backyard! Before boarding the ship we split a big basket of fresh strawberries. They are in season now and are in abundance (global warming has made them arrive early this year), and are incredibly sweet - not the genetically-modified humongous strawberries from back home...

Once back in Copenhagen, I cycled home then went for a 12km run. What a perfect day!

Some observations

2007-06-14T17:26:00.000+01:00

Now that another Montrealer/Bostonian is visiting Copenhagen, I have another source of unbiased observations regarding small things in Copenhagen.
From Dave's observations:
- the women are all very pretty
- parents intereact very interestingly with their children. We saw two incidents in Sweden (I know this isn't Copenhagen, but I think the generalization is valid) where young children took some pretty significant tumbles off of a small sandy ledge at the beach, and in one incident the father just looked on and waited for the kid to get up, and in the other, the kid fell face-first, then a second later broke into a big smile. Back home I think parents would rush to the child's aid, and/or the child would start bawling. I suppose one can't generalize with an observation sample size of 2, but in general I have seen that parents are rather laissez-faire with kids, which in turn makes the kids quite independent.
- the taxis are way nicer than in Boston
- at cafes, there is always the question of what you are supposed to do. In some, a waitress comes to take your order. In others, you order at the counter and they come with the drinks and food. And in others, you order at the bar, take the drinks to your table yourself, then wait for the waitress to deliver the food. It can be embarrassing to sit there and not know what to do.
Some other things:
- I have actually seen people spray painting walls in broad daylight in Copenhagen. I guess people don't think this is a very big deal.
- I am betting that Finnish women have smaller feet. It was extremely easy to find my child-size (but adult) shoes here in Tampere today. Now, if only they made it to Stockholm, with the rest of my clothing...

Denmark vs Sweden: 3-3? 3-0?

2007-06-03T12:32:00.000+01:00

Yesterday afternoon I watched the crowds of people walk up Østerbrogade towards the stadium in preparation for the Denmark vs Sweden soccer match. This is a VERY big deal here... there is quite a rivalry between the two countries (not just relating to soccer) and people will talk at length about the subtle differences between them.
Here are some fans in my neighbourhood:

I just relaxed during the day and then after dinner, decided to take a stroll around and possibly walk by the stadium to see if I could hear any of the game action. It turns out that on one side of the stadium, there is a driveway, and it was open almost all the way to the field (aside from a fence, of course). In the photo, what you can't see (lousy camera from my phone), is that behind the ambulance is the field and the goal is right there.

The noise from the crowd was amazing. It was a sea of blue/yellow and red/white. The atmosphere was electric!

A few people were watching from there so I joined in. When I arrived, the score was 3-1 for Sweden. I befriended the other fans around me, and we all got very excited when we saw Denmark score the next 2 goals! All we could see was the ball flying into the net, but boy was that exciting! I managed to borrow some random person's (not the guy in this photo) hat long enough for a picture:

The time was almost up, and then it was very strange... there was lots of "boo"ing and we couldn't figure out what was going on. Then everyone left the stadium. So, I joined two of the Danish fans for a drink at a cafe (one from the photo) and we got the story from some other people: turns out, in the 89th minute, one of the Danish players punched one of the Swedish players in the stomach. The referee handed out a red card (as he should) and just as he pointed towards the penalty bench, some crazy Danish fan from the crowd came onto the field and lunged towards the referee. Luckily someone fended him off (he was later arrested). But the officials decided to end the game in the 89th minute, and declare that Sweden won the game 3-0! So, if at some point in the future someone looks back in history and sees this game as 3-0, I can know that I witnessed 2 of the true goals scored by the Danes. What a game!

Tivoli

2007-06-03T12:23:00.000+01:00

Tivoli Gardens opened in 1843 and is Copenhagen's best place for amusement (many roller coasters and other carnival-esque rides) and open-air concerts.

Friday night I was invited to a classical concert featuring opera and the symphony. A friend of mine is the rehearsal pianist for the opera so we got in for free. The concert was very enjoyable. Afterwards, we were lucky enough that the Pet Shop Boys were playing a free show outside! Two free concerts for the price of... none! The crowd probably numbered around 5000 people and the atmosphere was hard to describe... the grounds are very beautiful, and it was a cool night, near perfect. They played their famous hits (the lead vocalist does sound exactly the same as he does in recordings) and it was great for my love of 80s music. Maybe this photo captures some of the magic...

Those summer nights...

2007-06-03T12:20:00.000+01:00

It is the time of year now when the days here are incredibly long. Sun rises around 4am and sets around 22:15 (and continues to get later until mid-June)! Now when I come home from Danish class at 22:00 it looks like this:

The hardest part is winding down my day. When it is light for so long I still have energy to do things, but of course need to get to bed to feel fresh the next day. But it sure makes for some very enjoyable evenings!

Last weekend (May 27-28)

2007-06-03T08:13:00.000+01:00

I'm trying to catch up on my posts...

Last weekend was extremely relaxing. I took Friday off (well, made up for a Danish holiday I missed while traveling) and caught up on the usual laundry, cleaning and grocery necessities. Also spent 1 hr at the Foreigners office to get my renewed work permit sticker, only to find out that they wouldn't put it in my passport because it was expiring before the sticker was. So, I'll have to go back another time. Good thing to know that every country has its red tape, not just Canada and the USA!

Over the weekend there were a few things going on in the city. Near the lakes some artists were exhibiting their works. Here was my favourite:

There was also a "Carnival", which was a big festival of Carribean music and dance, as well as all kinds of ethnic foods and fun things for kids. Luckily there were tents, because the weather wasn't great.

I enjoyed 2 afternoons of sitting by the lakes reading my book (Suite Francaise, at the moment).
I also enjoyed a fun evening with DL cooking dinner and watching "Efter Bryllupet". It stars the villain from the recent James Bond Casino Royale (Le Chiffre - Mads Mikkelsen) I didn't realize he is Danish. Funny to watch him in a film speaking Danish fluently!

Japan part III: work

2007-06-02T19:50:00.000+01:00

Yes, I actually do work on these trips, and plenty of it.
The rest of the trip was packed with cars and more trains, to one customer near Mt Fuji (quite spectacular views!), one customer near Osaka centre, and a third in a suburb of Osaka. On the Wednesday (Osaka day), I took a total of 5 trains to get to the last customer! It was quite a trip. Mid-way through the day, I realized that my flight the following morning was not taking off from the airport I had originally thought in Osaka, so thanks to the ADKK office for changing my hotel reservation at the last minute! Good thing I checked...

Japan part II: Hakone Park

2007-06-02T19:25:00.000+01:00

My big Japanese adventure day was on Sunday. I probably rode almost every possible mode of transportation to get to and around Hakone National Park.

First I rode 2 hrs on the JR train out of the city to the main train station at Hakone-Yumoto. The further you go from the city, the further you are from people who potentially speak any English...this was the big challenge of the day. Nevertheless, I followed the suggested itinerary from the free guide given to me when I bought the Hakone Free Pass (not free, but lets you get into all the sights for free).

First was a 45-minute bus ride that zig-zagged up the mountain and arrived at Motohakone-ko. I was supposed to follow some trail to some checkpoint/exhibition, but I could not find it, so not wanting to be lost on my own, I went straight for the next leg of the trip, which was a 40-minute boat ride to Togendai. Here is a photo of the boat.

I think on a good day one is supposed to be able to see Mt Fuji, but it was quite overcast, so I didn't see it. But, the scenery along the way was lush green forested mountains and the occasional temple... very serene.

The next step was supposed to be a "ropeway" (cable car), but it was under construction (I laughed when I saw the sign that announced that service was "suspended"... good [likely unintentional] pun!). They had busses instead, which were supposed to take 15 minutes, but took 1 hr instead because near the peak of the mountain there is only 1 lane of traffic, so it backed up for many kms.

We reached Owakudani, which is a valley formed by volcanic explosions! There were multiple sulfuric hot springs (i.e. smelly!) and you could walk up the side of the mountain to a little hut which was selling "black eggs" which were recommended to eat in order to increase your life span (7 years for 1 egg, 14 years for 2). How could I refuse? Here are photos of the mountain:

and the eggs:

Note that they were normal hard-boiled eggs inside, and just the shell was black. It came with a little package of salt. Yummy!

From there, I took the functioning ropeway to Sounzan.

At the station in Sounzan, I met a very nice Japanese woman, who was acting as interpreter and tour guide for about 15 Indian software engineers (on temporary work assignment in Japan). So, I latched on to their group and did the rest of the tour with them.

At Sounzan, we boarded the funicular to Gora park. Note the perspective between me standing upright, and the slope of the car!

The park was very peaceful and the flowers were in bloom.

From there, 1 more stop on the funicular, then we boarded the Hakone Tozan train, and had another zig-zag ride down the mountain back to the central station of Hakone. It was quite funny, because the train would pull into a small station, then would start backwards again, as it was doing switch-backs all the way down the mountain.

Finally, the JR train took me back into the city, where I enjoyed a most delicious tofu dinner at a restaurant upstairs from the Shinjuku station. I love the restaurants where you can point to pictures, or better yet, to plastic renditions of every dish that is offered. Takes the guesswork out of the whole thing!
I have to say I was impressed that I managed to do all this on my own, though it would have likely been more enjoyable in the company of others!

Tokyo, part 1

2007-05-19T14:39:00.000+01:00

Since I'll be in Tokyo for a week, I imagine there will be a few posts.
This one is a long one, but don't despair, there are photos!

I love this city! It is truly fascinating. There are so many layers of people, roads, trains, monorails, metros, subways... you never really know when you are standing on ground level. And there is so much to see, it is overwhelming!

Friday after I arrived I went straight to Akihabara, the electronics officionado's (i.e. geek's) heaven. Prices are quite a bit higher than in USA, so all I bought was an el-cheapo plastic cover for my iPod shuffle.

Traveling alone is usually OK during the daytime, but dinnertime always is a bit of a challenge. You pretty much need to have a good book with you, otherwise you a) finish dinner in about 10 minutes, and b) feel very self-conscious. I ended up eating at a "pub"-style restaurant (though not at all what you would call pub food by any other standards), located under a bridge. My only companion was a stray cat, which kept me company for the duration of the meal. I guess lost souls seek each other out somehow...
Here's the photo of the outdoor seating:

And my dinner companion:

Friday morning I literally ran into a colleague from Wilmington while on a jog. It's always nice to be surprised by a familiar face. I spent the (long) day in the office, had a sushi lunch, then a group dinner on the 47th floor of a building. Here is the view from up high:

This morning I jogged again, had a leisurely breakfast with another colleague, then headed out on the JR train to Harajuku station, en route to the Meiji-Jingu Shinto shrine. [side note: the subways and trains can be tricky to navigate because the system is so extensive, but thanks to some previous experiences with JL in 2003 and 2005 I am more confident now at choosing the correct destination!]

However, as soon as I got out of the station, I was facing this...

So, naturally I spent quite alot of time (um, and a bit of money) there. So cute!

So I finally made it to the shrine, which you reach after walking through a very peaceful forested road. There were several weddings going on, so I was able to observe some of the traditional Japanese regalia for such an occasion.

Here are some shrine and wedding photos.

I am guessing these are the equivalent of bridesmaids...

One can also leave messages written on little wooden boards, which adorn a wall surrounding a tree.

Some of the messages are quite touching and profound (families reuniting, world peace, etc).
This one was just plain amusing.

From there I headed down Omote-Sando road, which is packed with people and stores. It is an area where teenagers hang out and dress up in Anime costumes, which was pretty bizarre. Alot of school-girl-type outfits gone awry. Off the side streets are more off-the-wall stores, and made me feel totally UNcool, compared to these ultra-stylish locals. Found a rooftop cafe and had grapefruit ice tea while enjoying some sun and reading my book.

Further down the road I came across a store that at first glance looks like a children's boutique, but upon closer examination one realizes it is just for dogs.

Being alone, it can be difficult to fill an entire afternoon in one place, so I managed to find a Dean and Deluca's (of Felicity fame) nearby!! I had some tea and read my book there before dinner.

Finally, I ended up on the top floor of Bell's Commons mall, at a restaurant recommended by a vegetarian colleague, since it specializes in tofu. Again, it was a bit strange eating in a formal setting on my own, but the meal was fantastic! I think it was meant for two, but since I had skipped lunch and walked all day, I managed to do it some justice. They kept bringing out more and more small dishes. Some were not easy to identify, but since the emphasis was tofu, I assumed it was acceptable. Yum!

Time to soak my sore feet and head to bed. Tomorrow I plan to get out of the city to see the countryside.

...and an ad for toilets (still Taiwan)

2007-05-19T14:35:00.000+01:00

Note the spray jet...

Toilets of Taiwan...

2007-05-15T16:43:00.000+01:00

...run the gamut from the simple to the rather complicated.
Here are two of the extremes that I have encountered thus far.

Upon arrival at my hotel, I was reminded of the multi-functional toilets that are popular at Asian hotels. In my opinion, toilets with a "Power" button are just weird.

Notice the icon for the "family" function:

In contrasts, here is what I was faced with moments before my customer visit (in nice business-skirt outfit). At least there was water in the tank and toilet paper on hand...

In most public washrooms, you have a choice of stalls with either icons or text saying "squat" or "seat". I wonder why anyone would willingly choose squat? I suppose, hygienically speaking, you don't really end up touching much when you squat...

Well, all I can say, is that all of what I have encountered are better than a hole in the ground, so I should consider myself lucky!

My new toy

2007-05-14T17:10:00.000+01:00

I could not resist this cute little cell phone, and it was not expensive either.

But what really drew me in was its appeal to the female user...

"Planning assistant for ladies:
A range of special ladies' lifestyle menus on your phone to provide practical planning assistant functions - female calendar, shopping list, weight measurement, calories intake suggestion, discount calculator and card info management"

The female calendar predicts my "high fertility risk" days. Awesome!

Taiwan

2007-05-14T16:36:00.000+01:00

This is my first time in Taiwan. So far the impression is a vibrant, hectic, eclectic city. The hotel is very luxurious so I can find some serenity here after a long day. Today we were picked up at 8h30 and did not return until 21h00. We visited 3 customers, scattered all over Taipei, with typically 1 hr drive in between.

Here is my road warrior pose - complete with no-time-for-real-lunch McD's in hand...

There are an insane amount of motor scooters here!

Tonight LH and I ate at a restaurant where we could at least point at pictures to identify the food. Afterward we walked along the streets and saw some interesting sights....

Some of this seafood was still moving (including this obscenely large mollusk).

This dog was wearing jeans!

OK time for bed.

Busy, busy

2007-05-08T21:30:00.000+01:00

Korea, Boston, and back in DK... it's no wonder I wake up and can't quite remember where I am! About 1.5 weeks ago I flew to Korea and stayed at the Songdo Beach Resort, which is neither beach nor resort. Rather, it's a depressing town with tax breaks for industry, so it was close to the customer we were visiting. Spent most of my free time in the hotel, either working on my presentation for GTC or wondering why there was a mini driving range in the hotel's fitness room. But, the bipembap was delicious!

Somewhere between Washington DC and Boston, my luggage got lost. So, I arrived at my (very much in disarray and not so clean) Somerville apartment, didn't feel inclined to shower and didn't have a change of clothes - not the most warm welcome. The week got better, though, especially after my presentation was done on Thursday. I managed to cram in a few dinners, parties, and friend sightings in a short time, then was thoroughly exhausted by the weekend. They literally had to shake me to wake me up as we were landing in Frankfurt (en route to CPH) !

Back in CPH, the days are nice and long (it gets dark around 21h!) and somewhat warm. Flora is lush, and on the drive back from the airport I saw half-naked people playing beach volleyball, a true sign of summer. Work is very busy, I'm quite behind in my Danish class, and I will be taking off again on Saturday - this time to Taiwan and then Japan. I will have a weekend in Japan so I hope to see some sights (and thus post more photos!).

OK, time for my jet-lagged self to get to bed!

Prague

2007-04-25T21:51:00.000+01:00

One of the things I have wanted to do for a long time is visit Prague, and I finally did just that last weekend with Mom. The trip, though short, was incredible.

Friday we flew SkyEurope and arrived in the afternoon. Our first impression (while we made a mad dash to the Jewish Quarter, so we could see the synagogues before shabbat (nothing was open on Saturday)), was how beautiful the architecture of the city was, and how sad it was for an entire Jewish population to have been expelled and exterminated...

Our mission was to visit the "Jewish Museum" of Prague, which is really a collection of 6 synagogues and the Jewish cemetary. There is only one operational synagogue and the rest are for visiting and host exhibitions of various themes.

We first visited the Pinkas shul. This shul has been turned into a memorial for the Czech victims of the Holocaust. You can read or hear about how moving it is to see the names written in teeny tiny script covering all the walls of the shul... but it is quite another thing to see it in person. When I walked in, it literally took my breath away and immediately I felt incredible sadness. We located Granny's family on the wall, which of course made the whole experience even more personal. After a solemn walk through the downstairs, we went upstairs and saw the collection of drawings that were done by children of the ghetto in Theresienstadt and concentration camps.

Appropriately enough, the Jewish Cemetary lies next to this synagogue so we walked through. The stones are piled on top of each other, and there are over 100,000 people buried in layers underground!

From there we saw an exhibit about the Jewish rituals of death (yes, very light-hearted) at the Klausen synagogue, followed by a walk through the Spanish synagogue. The most touching thing I saw in one of the exhibit cases there was a postcard in German from someone in the ghetto to a relative. I couldn't understand all of it, but what I did understand was the postscript - something like "P.S. - uncle xx is dead". It was so matter-of-fact, and so tragic.

From there, we had some time before evening services, so we located both of Granny's apartments (close to the Jewish quarter). When we returned, we could not figure out when services were starting at the Altnei Shul, and no one would tell us. It turns out that was kind of a security measure; promptly at 19h30 the doors opened and after some intense questioning we were allowed inside. This synagogue dates back to the 15th century! We sat in the womens' section, which was all but blocked off to the men's section aside from some narrow slits in the thick concrete walls, through which we could peer into the main sanctuary.

Afterward we had a delicious meal at King Solomon kosher restaurant. Here is Mom in front of the very cozy place:

Saturday, we walked through the old city (Stare Mesto), across the Charles Bridge and up the stairs to the Prague Castle. Here's a photo from the stairs

The castle is really a collection of courtyards and the notable St. Vitus Cathedral - amazing!

We then followed a walking tour from my travel book, which took us through the palace Gardens, then to Wallenstein Palace. What a find! There was beautiful artwork on the ceiling of the Baroque Wall:

... and a fake stalactite wall which supposedly has themes of gore and horror...

...and in the garden, some surprise friends lurking behind the bushes:

From there we had a delicious lunch at a parisian cafe, then ended up in one of the most peaceful parks I have ever visited (Vojan gardens). Despite the number of people in the park, you could hear nothing but birds singing. We had a nice rest on the bench:

From there we walked further and saw the flood levels of 1890 and 2002, the "John Lennon" peace wall, a giant water wheel, and then headed back to the old town. We took in a classical concert at the Municipal House:

...and then had a traditional (= heavy!) meal afterward. Here is a sample of the type of food you can order:

Unlike Copenhagen, though, they do have a many more vegetarian options to offset the ample offerings of pork.

And how to better finish off an evening than a little dessert?? It has always been my personal philosophy that every day must end with the taste of something sweet...

All in all it was a most memorable weekend!

Frederiksborg Slot

2007-04-25T06:37:00.000+01:00

Mom and Dad came to visit for 10 days and we all had a great time! It was nice having them here, and I think they enjoyed Copenhagen.
One weekend we took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed out to Hillerød, to Frederiksborg Slot (castle). Here are some photos of the castle and surrounding.

It takes 2 people to play the organ! (Dad got a kick out of that...)

The gardens are just starting to bloom...

Kudos to European Airports

2007-04-11T22:13:00.000+01:00

Here's a story that I think could only happen here.
Yesterday, I left my nice earphones (Etymotic Research ER-6's for those in the know) on the airplane from Copenhagen to Stuttgart. I only realized they were missing when I reached Torino. I looked up some airport and airline phone numbers on the web and tried a few, but all leads were closed for the night.
Today I had some time in the Torino airport on the way back, so I called CPH airport. After only a short automated menu, I got a person. He told me that if anything they would be at lost and found in Stuttgart and they gave me a number there. I phoned, reached a person (!), who said she thought she had them there. I described them and sure enough she said they were the ones. Keep in mind that these earphones come in a tiny black pouch, smaller than a deck of cards, so I was amazed they were even taken off the plane to begin with. I asked if she could ship them to me in CPH and she said no, but she could send them to the CPH airport, to the lost and found of SAS airline. There was a flight arriving from Stuttgart at 19h30, which seemed good, since I was due to arrive (from Munich) at 22h00. Sure enough, I landed in CPH, found the desk (which was still open at that hour), and there were my headphones in an envelope with my name on it. Amazing!! I guess after my awful experience when my digital camera was ~~stolen from my suitcase~~ "misplaced" by TSA in Atlanta and I could hardly reach a human being at Delta or TSA or any airport counter, (and finally after a lengthy claims process, they only reimbursed me for the depreciated value of the camera, which was about 1/3 what I paid for it), I was expecting that my headphones were long gone.

Another thing I greatly appreciate about European airports: food establishments that use real plates and cutlery. Air travel is so rushed and unpleasant, and having fast food with plastic and an abundance of packaging just adds to the discomfort and notion that air travel is one of the most environmentally unfriendly ways to travel. The restaurants at Munich airport (even the fast food take-out options) are so nice, I enjoy taking the extra time during a layover to sit and "relax" (as much as is feasible after a stressful business trip...).
Hooray for good customer service :-)

Montreal

2007-04-08T21:05:00.000+01:00

Just thought I'd post a couple of interesting photos from my trip to Montreal for passover.

First - this is an interesting photo, taken from my airplane as I was waiting to leave Zurich. I don't believe I have seen police escort tanks of this variety around any other kind of airplane. Sad that this is the reality of our times.

Here is a pretty aerial shot of the approach to Montreal (unfortunately I was not on the side of the plane that had the view of Mount Royal).

Next, evidence of the snowstorm that came after passover and dumped 10cm of snow on the city. Temperatures during the week started at a balmy 7C, then dipped to -9C with the wind by the end of the week. When will spring finally arrive??

Finally, this is a photo of one part of my "kosher" meal on Swiss air. Can anyone explain to me why ordering a kosher meal DURING passover does not necessarily imply that you will receive a meal that is kosher FOR passover? On this tray you will see a challah roll, smoked salmon atop a slice of bread, and another roll in the corner.

The second tray (the warm meal) that came with it was salmon and rice. This lack of passover food has also happened to me on United a few years ago, but I dismissed it since it was right at the start of passover and maybe they had not yet received any special meals. Needless to say I was not pleased. Sad, considering the food on Swiss is generally quite good!

Back in Copenhagen today, I went to a lovely brunch at DN's. She prepared delicious passover food, and it was nice to come back to a group of friends to ward off the loneliness of leaving family behind in Canada...
And, yes, it's raining in Copenhagen. Some things never change!

A spring weekend in March

2007-04-08T20:52:00.000+01:00

Hi! I'm back in Copenhagen and have some time to update the blog with some recent adventures.

A few weeks ago I had a weekend visit from QL. Luckily the weather was fantastic - sunny and warm - so we had a chance to explore the city and surroundings. We visited the Rosenborg Castle, which is in the centre of the city. Here is a picture of the castle with obvious signs of spring ...

We also spent a day at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. The museum is about 40 mins by train from CPH and is located on the coast in Humlebæk. The building itself is designed into a small cliff and offers many views of the Øresund (body of water between Denmark and Sweden). The two exhibits were not entirely my cup of tea; there was a collection of art from modern China (potentially an interesting collection but was somewhat strange and not terribly impressive), and the other was a collection of works by Cindy Sherman. These paintings were extremely disturbing, in that they were exaggerations of portraits (ex. Mona Lisa) with physical features enhanced, giving each portrait a clown-like appearance, and, well, we all know how much I like clowns...Needless to say, the highlight of the day was lunch outside, atop the cliff, overlooking the water.
Here is one of my favourite items at the museum:

On our way back, we stopped for some hot chocolate and sat by the lakes. We saw 2 people with extremely bizarre shoes, which had springboard-like attachments underneath and are seemingly used for running very long strides:

Has anyone seen these around? They don't look very safe to me... I think I'll stick to my regular runners.

Passover in Montreal

2007-04-06T18:23:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone -
Sorry for the lack of updates, but most who read this blog are family from Montreal (which is where I am at the moment, spending pesach with family). Happy Passover / Easter, and look forward to some updates on my outing at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and the upcoming visit from my parents...

Borat etc

2007-03-25T18:41:00.000+01:00

Last weekend I had my first house party; I had about 10 people over at my apartment to watch Borat and eat pizza. The film was hilarious - I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Since all of the guests were Jewish, we could appreciate the parts when Borat was speaking Hebrew (which was supposed to be passed off as Khazak). Despite the gathering being on a Sunday evening, it was a fun evening.

The week was busy. My Tuesday could have easily passed as a Monday: after sitting on the S-train stopped in a tunnel for an extra 8 minutes, I missed my connecting train to work. So, I caught the slow S-train and took it as far as it could go, hoping to catch the bus from there. After waiting outside for 15 minutes, a kind cyclist informed me that the buses were on strike. So, I went back down to the platform, only to discover that all trains were delayed for 20 minutes plus some (apparently some electrical wires had fallen on the tracks that morning, which delayed everything). Finally I made it to work after a 2-hour commute, so I was not in a good mood. Add to that some work frustrations... made for a bad day. Thankfully the weather was nice so I didn't just turn around and go back home to crawl into bed.

Later in the week I went out with the students from my Danish class, which was a good way to "bond" with the group. Our current class comes to an end this week, and then it's on to the next level in April...

Dublin

2007-03-14T21:31:00.000+01:00

This past weekend I went with DN and AB to Dublin. The trip was organized by a progressive Jewish group (who shall remain nameless), and there were about 40 attendees from all over Europe.
On Friday we arrived and, with AB as sherpa for DN's broken suitcase, made our way slowly through the town to the restaurant to meet up with the group. I sat next to a very nice couple from England (who later became sympathizers to our anti-progressive cause), and met others (mostly also from UK but also a large Russian contingent). The food was quite tasty at Gruel.

We then made our way to Isaac's Hostel. It is sad to say, but after 10 years being away from backpacking, one tends to forget the basic hostel mantras, such as never to arrive at one without flip-flops for the shower. Thankfully our roommates (we were 6 to one room, 3 bunkbeds) could lend theirs. Luckily I did have earplugs, but also forgot how much a bunkbed moves when the person sleeping above you rolls over. Anyway... the whole weekend package was a good deal, so I'll quit complaining.

Saturday, we went to a progressive synagogue. The plan was to have a Torah breakfast, go to services, then have lunch and discussions. It became quite apparent at the Torah breakfast that progressive Judaism is not my thing (nor DN's, nor AB's), so after services (where the actual prayers have been altered!), DN and I cut out and went back into the city. We figured, it was a sunny day, almost 15C, and we sit in an office all week, so the last thing we wanted was to stay indoors all day when we could explore a new city. Also we just couldn't sympathize with a rabbi who claims that there is no point negotiating with the orthodox.... not a very good role model for acceptance (or, "progressiveness") within one's own religion. To be fair, I'm not a model Jew by any stretch nor do I consider myself orthodox, but I'm just not into changing the thousands-of-years-old traditions of Judaism, calling it progressive, then making others who are not feel alienated. OK that's the end of my bit of controversy for this post.

Once back in the centre, we walked along Grafton St (also a pedestrian street) and wandered in and out of stores. We could even eat outside (in early March!) on the terrasse of a great crepe place. Later we walked through St Stephens park, met up with AB, and sat in a cafe for a long time, people-watching (one of my favourite activities). Later that night we met up with the group at a restaurant where we had the entire top floor to ourselves, complete with Irish musicians who taught us some traditional Irish dancing.

Sunday we did a historic walking tour of the city, then had some warm soup to make up for the cold and damp weather, and then DN and I headed back to the airport. I was quite happy to be back to my bed and shower...

The most noticeable thing about Dublin was how alive it felt, compared to Copenhagen. To be fair, parts of CPH can be quite bustling on a Saturday afternoon, and of course it is still 'winter' here so perhaps people are not out quite as much - but the city just does not have the same kind of "pulse" that one feels in Dublin. Both cities, though, have their distinct advantages, and it was interesting to have the change of scenery for the weekend.

And, of course, some photos...
The view from the terrasse where I ate lunch:

Something typical to the UK: a large quantity of surveillance cameras... they are on every corner!

Let's not forget that Ireland is a Catholic country... this store was pretty heavy on the religious ornaments!

A picture of a busy corner at the end of Grafton St:

And finally, a picture of a subset of the group.

Malmo

2007-03-14T21:11:00.000+01:00

Last week I went with AdK and JB to Malmo, which is a small town in southern Sweden. It is very easy to reach from Copenhagen by train, over the relatively newly-constructed Øresund bridge. The town is similar to Copenhagen in that it has a nice pedestrian walking area with nice stores, but does not quite have the same charm in a way.
The day consisted of shopping, walking, eating, and visiting 2 interesting sites.

First, a photo of one of the canals:

Next, a great sculpture along the pedestrian street:

A cute picture of JB and I (if I may say so myself):

The Malmohus castle and museum:

And the "turning torso", a very impressive apartment building completed in 2005.

Berlin Marathon 2007

2007-03-13T10:23:00.000+01:00

It's official, I have signed myself up for 42km of running on Sept 30 2007. Again, the only way to motivate myself is to sign up and tell everyone, so then I am obligated to do it. Berlin here I come!

Copenhagen in (relative) chaos

2007-03-05T21:33:00.000+01:00

So, I'm sure many of you are worried about the riots in Copenhagen. In fact, they have been pretty violent, according to a friend of mine who lives in the middle of it. She also has quite a bit to say about the police brutality and the general violent attitude of the protesters to the casual passer-by. They are pretty much confined to Nørrebro, the next town over from Østerbro where I live. In general I have been quite far removed from the whole thing, but yesterday evening I think we saw some of the more peaceful protesters in an organized bicycle ride down the main street near me:

No, I don't yet know what the signs mean - I'll have to ask some friends...

For the background to the riots, I'm probably not the best person to ask, but the gist of it is that there has been a group of left-wing youth activits squatting in a big house for the past few decades. This house used to be owned by the city and they kind of ignored the squatting issue. They then sold the building to a fundamentalist Christian organization, who have been trying to evict the youth for the past 15 years or so. The city threatened to throw everybody out and was scheduled to do so in December, but there were massive protests then so it didn't go through. So, 4 days ago, a helicopter dropped a special SWAT-like team of police onto the roof of this building and they attempted to arrest everyone in the house and clear it out. Riots ensued, and they got reinforcement from other left-wing activists from around Europe. Mostly the riots involved the usual burning bonfires, throwing trash cans around, hurling stones at people, and clashing with police. On Saturday and Sunday during my jogs there was a relatively constant presence of ambulances and police vans (which were covered in paint) driving around. Today apparently the house was razed down. I do wish I understood a bit more Danish to be able to understand the newspapers. If your Danish is any better than mine, you can read the main local paper here.

But, fear not, the riots are quieting down, and they are quite far from where I am. It's pretty much business-as-usual in the rest of Copenhagen...

Helsingør

2007-03-05T21:19:00.000+01:00

Sunday I went to Helsingør with AdK and JB. It was a beautiful day, sunny and about 5C. The train ride follows the coastline and from Helsingør you can see Sweden.

The Kronborg castle in this town was the setting for Shakespeare's Hamlet.

In comparison to the elaborate castles in Vienna, the starkness of the castle was refreshing in a way. We did a very rushed tour of the "apartments", the chapel, and the underground tunnels.

Here is the moat as you enter the castle:

Here is a typical side street of the town, which I'm sure is much livelier on any day other than Sunday!

The search is over

2007-03-05T21:12:00.000+01:00

The danish of my dreams has been discovered. It is from the bakery on Classensgade (5 min walk) and has the perfect balance of icing, cinnamon and gooeyness. It is not flaky, nor is it overly doughy. I did not eat this on my own, I shared it with AdK and JB who are visiting from Montreal. Yum!!

"Just wait until the summer..."

2007-02-25T12:58:00.001+01:00

This is probably the most common line I have heard from Danes, whenever they ask how I am liking Denmark so far. This summer thing is being built up into something pretty fantastic... I think I will have to experience it for myself!

Though this week we got dumped on with about 15 cm of snow (and had a snow day on Thursday!!), the days are getting longer so it does start to feel like the end of winter is in sight. It is very disconcerting, though, to be driving (actually, being a passenger, technically) through a snowstorm after work and having it still be light outside. I always associate snowstorms with short days. Here is a photo of a typical winter scene - trying to figure out how to manoeuver one's bicycle in the snow:

Friday I experienced another typically Danish phenomenon - where everyone leaves work at 15h and heads to the pub for drinks. One thing I have to say is that it would be nice if Denmark ever adopts the non-smoking rule; places here are not well ventilated and it can get quite overwhelming and unpleasant.

Earlier this week I played piano at Chabad, and also began my Danish class. There are people from Portugal, Germany, USA, New Zealand, France, Lithuania, the UK and Italy in the class which makes things interesting. It is a very difficult language to learn. We spent much of the class making grunting sounds, which are supposed to be the "soft 'd' ". Many call Danish the throat-disease language and I'm beginning to understand why!

Yesterday after synagogue and Chabad, I went to a murder-mystery party with DN. It was held at a soccer club and we had the place to ourselves (about 40 people), complete with catered buffet. We were all assigned a character (I was a cheerleader) and had to enact our personality and then attempt to solve the crime. It was an interesting twist to your typical party, but I have to say I'm not sure it was fully appreciated by the guests, who were generally quite reserved (until the alcohol started flowing) and not likely to act out any kind of personality. Congratulations to DN who won the Drama Queen award for the evening!

Afterward we met up with YA and EB-H at a club in the city centre, where we danced and generally had a fun time.

There were these bizarre string things that were in the middle of the dance floor, suspended from the ceiling to the floor, and it was interesting watching what different people do with the strings...

Today I vetoed Sparta since running for 2.5 hrs in slush was not appealing. So instead I ran by myself in slush for 1 hr. At least I wasn't being elbowed or jockeying for space on the sidewalks (which, given the insanely high taxes people pay here, are not well-cleaned from the snow). I listened to some podcasts of This American Life and NPR Health news. Did you know that female brains shrink by 8% during pregnancy and only regain their original size 6 months after the birth of the child? And that females are naturally more attracted to males with lower voices, especially during ovulation? Fascinating!

22km, no rain!

2007-02-18T13:28:00.000+01:00

This morning I managed to finish the 22km run with Sparta. The route combined the best parts of our usual two routes; the scenic park, the view of the ocean, and the run along a nice shopping street on the way back. I realize that the trick to feeling good on the run is NOT to drink the night before (this may seem obvious to some), not even 1 drink. Also one has to be very careful about what one consumes the evening before, else one encounters some "gastrointestinal unpleasantness". Danish was all the more rewarding today.

Friday night was another pleasant evening with JN's family for shabbat dinner. Saturday morning was synagogue followed by lunch at the community centre with a group of visiting Jewish Europeans who are here for a conference. In the afternoon I did some shopping with DL, then at night went to a club with the same group and heard some live music. It was amusing; it was a Danish cover band of another Danish band. The music reminded me a bit of Blue Rodeo (minus pedal steel guitar twang). It was a fun evening, and a shame I had to leave "early" (1am) to get enough sleep to enable me to finish this run.

Later today I biked to Chabad to practice some piano, then biked to the community centre to listen to a talk on negotiation in the Middle East (or, rather, lack thereof). Interesting talk, and always fascinating to listen to someone with very informed opinions on the subject. Biked home, and am now thoroughly exhausted!

Cambridge UK

2007-02-17T19:19:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to Cambridge UK, on a combined business-pleasure trip. The town is home to many historic colleges, some of the oldest in the world. After spending so much of my time in the past few years in Cambridge, MA, it was nice to see the origin of the archetypical "college town".
I took a walking tour of the city. The highlight was King's College and its famous cathedral.

Further down the road at Trinity college, I witnessed one of the enforced rules whereby only professors of the college are allowed to walk on the grass, which is off-limits to anyone else.

At this college, in the cloister pictured below, Newton apparently did the first measurement of sound:

Here is just a nice picture of one of the rivers that flows through the picturesque town.

I ate lunch at the most famous pub of the town, The Eagle. This is where the structure of DNA was announced. Also on the ceiling of the pub one can see many signatures of the American air force pilots of WWII who stayed in this town and frequented the pub.

All in all Cambridge is a very cute town worth visiting.

Vienna/Bratislava (out of sequence...)

2007-02-14T06:19:00.001+01:00

Hi!
I'll post about Vienna before Cambridge UK, since I have all my photos with me right now, and I'm in the Vienna airport writing the majority of this post so it seems more appropriate...
Vienna is an amazing city. Everywhere you look your mouth can drop open and linger in a dumbfounded state, admiring the incredibly beautiful architecture and historical significance of the sites. I took 137 pictures this weekend and could have taken more but honestly got tired of constantly whipping my camera out of my bag to take another picture of another beautiful building! I could write a very long post about Vienna but will mention the highlights:
- watching people skate in front of city hall (Rathaus)

- original Sacher Torte at Cafe Sacher - amazingly delicious and not too heavy

- Haus Der Musik - a museum completely devoted to audio, hearing, sound, and music - I spent about 3 hours there!
- tour of Schonbrunn castle and grounds. The castle has rooms numbering in the thousands! (thankfully the tour only covers about 40)

- eating apfel strudel at Cafe Central, complete with live piano music and an atmosphere where staying a long time is actually encouraged (newspapers available for all to read, no one hovering over your table all the time). In fact, here I shared a table with a professor from the University of Wien and his daughter, and afterward he gave me a personal 1-hour tour of the area around the Rathuas (city hall) !
- Marc Chagall exhibit, showing the murals he did for the Moscow Jewish Theatre
- Lift up to the top of Stephansplatz cathedral

- walking tour of Jewish Vienna. I could probably write an essay on this... maybe another time... needless to say the entire trip made me very sad and mournful for an entire population once thriving, decimated by the Nazis.

Saw the original wall of the ancient synagogue, buried underground, from around the year 1200!
- Jewish museum which had an enormous collection of Judaica that was gathered from the destroyed synagogues from Kristallnacht or the homes of the Jews who were forced to leave or perish

- coffee with a gentleman who claims to own Roger Moore's Rolls Royce from the film "The Spy who Loved Me" - he also has homes or apartments in Morocco, Rome, and Frankfurt. His Jaguar is parked outside Hotel Sacher and he takes his dog Pooky with him everywhere.
- trip to Bratislava by train to recruit at the university. Let's just say that the outskirts of the city have a very communist feel to it - many large, cement apartment buildings and very old city buses. Interesting that no matter where you are in the world, engineering departments at universities are generally the same!

- beautiful sunset on the train ride back to Vienna

- concert by 76-year-old pianist Alfred Brendel at the Musikverein concert hall.

I could go on and on... but best to stop here!

A no-rain weekend!

2007-02-04T11:54:00.000+01:00

Amazing! So far, both Saturday and Sunday have been rain-free! The temperature has been around +7C so I have to say I am quite enjoying this mild winter.

Friday was a fun night at Chabad. Since it was Tu Bishvat, the dining room was set up with some trees and plenty of fruit on each table. It was packed with people, maybe 100 or so. The "young" group of us sat in the corner, and squished onto the sofa around one of the tables. We had a very amusing night, interesting conversation, some tequila or vodka or scotch mixed in, and stayed until 23:30 or so. Saturday I went to synagogue and could now have 2 women with whom I could chat during services (quietly, of course!). The kiddush was outside as usual and the weather bright and sunny. I walked home, and on the way, picked up a half-bread (pumpkin seed) at Emmery's bakery (you can do that here - ask for half of a bread and they cut the loaf for you) and some green pea soup around the corner from my apartment. I have to say it was one of the most delicious lunches. That, combined with a nap, made for a perfect afternoon.

Afterward, I rode my bicycle to the harbour and took some photos:
First - what is a blog about Copenhagen without a photo of the Little Mermaid?

As some may know, she is much smaller in real life than you might imagine.

Here is a photo of the new opera house; it was built with funding from Maersk:

Maersk is one of the biggest companies in Denmark and their main office is right on the water. People call the building the Blue Eye building (I think) because the water reflects in the windows and makes it look like the building has many blue eyes:

Here is a view of a ship across the water:

And here is proof of the sunshine! This sunset was behind a church, along a path for pedestrians and cyclists. This is only a 10 min bike ride from my apartment (well, probably 5 min if you are a better cyclist than I am, which isn't difficult to accomplish):

Later, I went for Vietnamese food with DL and AB, then we went to the Radio Concert Hall for a classical concert. This time it was the Danish violinist Nicolaj Znaider, accompanied by Robert Kulek on piano. They played Beethoven Violin Sonata Nr 4 op 23, Schumann Violin Sonata Nr 2 op 121 and Beethoven Violin Sonata Nr 9, op 47. Mr. Znaider is 31 years old, Jewish, and very easy on the eyes :-) DN kept exclaiming how she felt a "genetic affinity" for him which was quite funny. Oh and of course his violin playing was amazing. In fact he played 3 encores (Brahms dances), the last being the famous Hungarian dance. After that, we went to a house party of a friend of AB's, where there were quite a few Canadians.

After not quite enough sleep, this morning I ran the first of the "Nike Test Run"s with Sparta. Today was a 10km race, which I ran in 53:05 which is generally a good time for me. The course was not particularly interesting; we basically made several mini-loops around the stadium. But it was a challenge to keep up the pace and fun to be running with about 2500 other people.

Today's danish was OK, a bit flaky.

This afternoon I will go to hear an Israeli speak; he fought in the Lebanon war this past summer. Then tonight I fly to Cambridge UK for work. Hopefully more pictures will follow from that trip.

Pigs

2007-01-31T12:49:00.000+01:00

I've also heard that Denmark produces approximately 23 million pigs per year for consumption. Considering that the population is 5,450,661 (July 2006 est.), that is alot of pork! And bacon... and ham...and sausages... and many variants on the above...
--PS points out that much of this pig-derived food is exported. Still, that's alot of pork.

Some more thoughts

2007-01-31T12:29:00.000+01:00

After being here for awhile, I've noticed that the Jewish community is very hidden. Being in Europe means being closer to the aftermath of WWII. As a result the community is very closed, secured by guards at the synagogue, and does not outwardly display any signs of being Jewish (for example no one discusses the fact that they are Jewish at work, nor do they wear Magen Davids necklaces that are visible in public). In fact, at Chabad last week, one of the guests made a short speech in honour of DAP (the one making aliyah). He was saying how he admired DAP for not being afraid to wear his kippah and tzitzit out in public. In North America it seems quite safe to do this. Here, DAP once got hit by a piece of fruit thrown at him. Many of the young Jews are leaving DK and heading to Israel or other cities with bigger Jewish communities, and many say the community here will be gone in 20 years. I don't know if it is that extreme, but you can definitely sense a difference between being here and North America, where it is much easier to be freely Jewish.

Another thing that is strange here is that it is very much in fashion to wear Arafat-like kefiyah scarves. The teenagers have them in a myriad of colours. How this became a fashion statement is beyond me!

On a less-serious note...

One cool thing I saw the other day:
Everyone has lights on their bicycles for night-time riding. There is one kind of light that is powered without batteries. There is a rubber block that is placed near the front wheel of the bike that very lightly touches the front rim. As you pedal and the wheel turns, friction is created, which then gets transferred to the light and it turns on! Apparently the fact that it requires more effort and might slow you down is quite negligible. I thought this was very cool.

Danish sales:
Udsalg is the word for sale. Here in DK, after Christmas, every store has a sale (big Udsalg signs everywhere). First they start out quite modest at maybe 40% off, but by now, stores are offering 70% off and more. In fact, they basically try to empty out their entire store - there are stores here that look like they are closing because the shelves and walls are entirely bare and they are re-arranging the store for new merchandise. I wonder if they have the same thing at the end of the summer.

Jan 27-28

2007-01-28T19:17:00.000+01:00

Hi!
Let's see... last week was not too eventful, I explored the swimming hall near my apartment (nice but busy), played badminton, and went out with some Irish and Slovakian co-workers. Friday night was a very nice evening at Chabad - even a small hora broke out as a farewell celebration for DAP.
Saturday morning was near-perfect: it was bright and sunny when I woke up, and I was also suprised to see a nice layer of fresh snow. I went for a short jog and it was so peaceful and beautiful. I then went to synagogue (we even had kiddush outside despite the cold weather) then walked around Charlottenlund for awhile in the afternoon. I cooked Granny's spinach "meichl" in preparation for DL's brunch today. I then went out for dinner with the Slovaks to Cafe Norden (one of my favourites, just for the location and atmosphere) then to Copenhagen Jazzhouse for a jazz show. It was interesting and borderline too modern for my taste but quite enjoyable. It was unfortunate for one of the percussionists as his vibrophone broke during the second song - a large metallic piece just fell off! He managed to fix it during intermission.
Today I ran 18km with Sparta, in the rain. It wasn't all that much fun (too much slush, ice, driving rain and elbowing runners) but also didn't feel too strenuous. Brunch at DL's was really nice - there were 6 women total and great food and conversation. None are Danes, so we had a fun time discussing our various culture-shock experiences here. Afterward, I met up with PS and friends at a cafe and now I'm off to dinner with another co-worker.

Some interesting observations / occurances:
- this weekend was the first time I randomly ran into people I know on the street (in my neighbourhood), on two separate occasions!
- there are funny signs in the locker rooms at the pool that explain how to wash yourself. Here is my rendition of the sign from memory:

- no danishes today because of brunch
- people do not clean up after their dogs here, and I can't figure out why. So watch where you step.

20km!

2007-01-21T13:09:00.000+01:00

It was a supreme struggle to convince myself that running 20km with Sparta today was a good idea, but I'm definitely glad that I did. When I left my apartment this morning, it was pouring rain. The prospect of running 2 hours in those conditions (combined with yet more lack of sleep) was not inviting. In fact halfway on my walk to the stadium I stopped and nearly turned back. But I have learned taht the surefire way to convince one's self to go through with the run is to tell many people the night before that you have plans to do so. Then you are almost obligated to do it just so people don't think you are a flake! So, I made it to the stadium, we huddled under the stadium roof until the run started, and miraculously after about 10 minutes the rain completely stopped! I was rewarded with a very scenic run, on a different route than the past few times. Today we ran through some residential neighbourhoods (Gentofte, Charlottelund, Hellerup) and even saw the ocean. Running past the bakeries on the busy boulevards, though, is very tough... but keeps one's motivation strong. Here is the ultimate reward for my efforts:

Today's danish and chocolate-chip scone are from Reinh Van Hauen, it is a chain around Denmark. Notice that this danish is of the flat variety, less dough-y, more croissant-y. Very tasty. No, I did not finish both in one sitting...

To backtrack to yesterday -
I went to the Danish Broadcasting Concert Hall with PS and enjoyed probably the best performance of Rachmaninoff's 3rd piano concerto (my 2nd favourite after Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto) that I have ever heard. The pianist was Arcadi Volodos, in his early 30s. He had a bear-like presence but (from where I was sitting, at least) seemed to have not very large hands. Despite his outward appearance he was able play incredibly delicately during the quieter, more melodious passages. It nearly brought on the tears. He got a standing ovation, along with the rhythmic clapping, and then he played a short and romantic encore. The Danish National Orchestra was also excellent. They played Glinka Overture (Russlan and Ludmilla - you would know it if you heard it) before the concert and then Tchaikovsky's 4th symphony afterward. It was a purely heavenly 2 hours.

Afterward PS and I went for some Asian food, restaurant name escapes me, but is described as a "street kitchen where your food will arrive promptly". I'd say the latter part might not have been so accurate but the food was excellent. Here is a photo of me sipping a lychee drink (you'll see some lychee fruit in there) - yum!

After that we went to a hotel near the central station where they have a bar in an old library/study type of room - full of books, old paintings, dark wood furnishings. After a short time a jazz trio started playing, which perfected the atmosphere. Finally after that I went to Sydhavn to a going-away party for DAP (MW's roommate), who is making aliyah. The funny thing at that party was that there were about 6 people there named Daniel.
All in all, what a great weekend!

Rain

2007-01-20T13:54:00.000+01:00

Have I mentioned how much it rains here? I believe I'm correct when I say that in the time I have been here, there have probably been only 3 days where it has not rained. Of course there is a scale of wet-ness; some days it is just a fine mist (which can even appear when it is sunny!), and some days it is all-out wet-feet umbrella-inverting rain, with wind, like today.

It is a small miracle that I made it out of bed and to synagogue this morning, despite the rain, and despite the fact that I was up a bit late at the Park Cafe (also doubles as night club) last night with DL and her friends (side note: I can't recall the last time I have been in the presence of so many females!). The dinner part was quite tasty (very large portions though) and the night club was... interesting. I have heard that this is typical of the Danes, but the social phenomenon of nightclubs here is just strange. First, we were ushered away from our table into the nightclub at 10:30pm and it was empty. No DJ, no other guests (thank goodness we were 12 people so we had our own little party). Since we were booted from our table we got a free bottle of vodka and orange juice. In any case, by midnight, the club was finally filling up. However no one dances. People just sit (or stand) and stare at the few of us on the dance floor, while they proceed to spend hundreds of dollars on alcohol (remember, Copenhagen is an expensive city... but still, the quantity of alcohol consumed is high). I left at 1am and by that point there were a few more people on the dance floor, but not many. Now, I know people can be wallflowers at nightclubs, but usually there is a balance between the introverts and extroverts. I am told that as the night progresses and more alcohol is consumed, that people finally get moving on the dance floor. But I wasn't quite up for waiting for that to happen, after a tiring week at work.

OK, I think I will have a short nap, dry off my wet toes, then I'll be off to see a classical music concert with PS. I'll report back later.

Mid-week special

2007-01-18T22:52:00.000+01:00

I know it isn't customary for me to post during the week, but I figure if I don't finish writing about last weekend, I'll forget by the time this weekend rolls around tomorrow!

Sunday I managed to run 18km with the Sparta club. The conditions were tough - hurricane-force winds throughout the run! I did challenge myself and moved up one group to group 10 (5:45 per km instead of 6:00). The downside was that since we were the slowest of the groups running 18km (the last 2 groups ran 15km), they had run out of granola bars by the time we finished :-(

Anyhow half a danish and a shower later I was off to Chabad for the party to welcome the new baby (she's quite cute!), #6. After that I went to a cafe with some of the friends from Chabad, then to see Everything is Illuminated at the festival. It was OK. I found it kind of slow.

Monday I flew to Bochum, Germany. It was my first time outside of an airport in Germany, but unfortunately I didn't get to see much. I took a taxi with my colleague to the customer, ran a meeting for about 3 hrs, had lunch at the cafeteria there, then took a taxi back to the airport. So I'll have to make another trip sometime to see more of the country.

This week has been busy - Tuesday was another film at the festival (Sarah Silverman - Jesus is Magic - it was pretty awful), Wednesday I played badminton at a badminton hall near my apartment, and tonight I went to see one last film at the festival. This one was Just and Ordinary Jew (EIN GANZ GEWÖHNLICHER JUDE) which was quite good; it was a monologue about one man's opinions on being a Jew in Germany. Afterward I went to a cafe with PS and had probably the largest bowl of soup I have ever seen (which I guess is why they can charge 85DKK, or about $15!). It was broccoli soup and it was quite delicious, though I could not finish such a large bowl!

All right, must get some sleep now. TGIF tomorrow...

Bicycle success!

2007-01-13T17:11:00.000+01:00

I am now the proud owner of a bicycle that fits! Finally!

I paid one-week's-worth membership to the online version of the classified paper Den Blå Avis. This time I searched for youth bicycles. I contacted one person who was selling his daughter's bike. She had outgrown it at the age of 12. This morning, I took a couple of buses and found my way to Amager (south of the city, near the airport), to this man's house, and bought the bicycle for 350DKK (about $60US) and it fits (26" wheels, for future reference, is a good size for me)! I rode it all the way home. I have to say that bicycling in Copenhagen is a true pleasure. There is at least a bike lane if not an entire section of dedicated pavement for bicyclists, so you almost never have to worry about cars. Oh, and since the sun was actually shining today (!) and it was 10C, it was a perfect day for riding.

On my way back I stopped off at one of the nice bakeries where you can actually sit and enjoy your edible purchase. After snacking, reading my book, and drinking chocolate milk, I rode home, did some groceries, and am now relaxing before making dinner with MF. This week is the Copenhagen Jewish Film Festival, so tonight we'll go to one of the films (Alles Auf Zucker). More tomorrow...

Aalborg for the 3rd time

2007-01-13T17:03:00.000+01:00

Hi!
This week's work diversion was an overnight trip to Aalborg from Thursday to Friday. There were 3 of us - a Finn, an Irishman and myself. Upon arrival at the airport (Aalborg airport is one of my favourites - only 4 terminals and they only open security for one flight at a time, 20 mins before your plane leaves), we were informed that the GPS unit was not available for our rental car. So, it was an adventure trying to find our hotel, which was about 15km outside of Aalborg, in a suburb of Nibe (a suburb of Aalborg). We came upon the castle that was our hotel, an imposing white building from 1762. There many "gentlemen's" parlours, so I felt a bit out of place among the men. It really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere (the moat surrounding the hotel added to that feeling). The next day we had our customer visit, then spent some time in downtown Aalborg, then headed back to the airport. After I got back to Copenhagen (raining yet again), I went to JN's parents' in time for the dessert part of shabbat dinner, with the family and JN's friends. Finally, it was nice to be back in my own bed last night.

Sunday

2007-01-07T17:38:00.000+01:00

Today is a typical Sunday for me in Copenhagen.
First, though, a photo of my apartment building (I'm to the left of the 3rd window up):

This morning I ran 13km with the Sparta running club. This time I managed to meet an American woman in the pack and we chatted for most of the run, which was a nice way to pass the time. I experimented with a new danish from a different bakery today. I am in search of the perfect danish - this one was different from the flakier varieties; this one is more dough-y. The next couple of photos are really for Dad's benefit...
The danish (H - notice the cup!):

It was very tasty, and still is not finished, but not quite my favourite just yet.
Here is a typical sausage vendor "hut", they have these everywhere around Copenhagen. Unfortunately the sausages are all pork-based so I won't be trying any (though they smell divine!).

Here is one of the main thoroughfares near my apartment, Østerbrogade. Notice how the bicyclists have their own dedicated elevated pavement (more than just a lane painted on the road) next to the sidewalk.

Here is one of the 5 lakes where I typically run on my own. There are typically many walkers and runners (and cute dogs) along the path.

And here is a nice photo taken in the botanical gardens.

I walked through here with PS, on our way to the Danish Workers' Museum. The museum shows how a typical Danish working-class (thanks PS for the correction!) family lived in the 1800s-1900s. Afterward we had some pizza and stopped off at one of the nice cafes nearby. That's it for today!

Happy 2007!

2007-01-06T16:53:00.000+01:00

Well, now the blog is officially worthy of its name!
I'm back in Copenhagen after a whilrwind trip to Boston, Toronto and Montreal over the past 2 weeks. I'm happy to have seen all of the family and friends and I apologize to those I may have missed on this trip.

So, I finally received my Danish work permit! It was quite an adventure to get the actual sticker in my passport. Initially, I was told to pick it up at an office in Roskilde (same town where I work). Someone at work then told me that this office is undergoing rennovations, so I would need to go to a different office on the opposite side of Copenhagen. So, I used the convenient "Rejseplanen" website to map out my public-transit trip from my apartment to Karlslunde. 1 hr later I was at this office, only from my limited amount of Danish it seemed like the equivalent of the Registry of Motor Vehicles. After a brief wait I was told that I was in the wrong office (as I had suspected), and that I was supposed to go to the Criminal Police office in Roskilde. Roskilde? I thought this office was closed? No, it's a different office. So, back on the train I went, and found a bus that would take me to Roskilde. Luckily I made it to that office before it closed at noon and, lo and behold, I obtained my permit! I managed to make it back to work by lunchtime.

The rest of the week was fairly uneventful. Some highlights: outdoor skating at night in Kongens Nytorv (big circle in the centre of the city), karaoke, Shabbat dinner at Chabad, watching Ushpizin with MF (great film, highly recommended), and wandering around the pedestrian streets this afternoon. Looking forward to my Sunday Danish tomorrow :-)

Apartment in Osterbro

2006-12-17T13:25:00.000+01:00

Here are a few photos from my apartment. First is the view out of the front windows - I just love this view:

Here is a photo of the living room:

And finally the kitchen (if you can spot the cookbook on the counter - you get 10 points if you figure out which one it is! probably only the Canadian crowd will guess)

Dec 16 weekend

2006-12-17T13:03:00.000+01:00

Once again, I'm having a busy weekend in Copenhagen.
Friday night was Shabbat dinner at JN's parents' home, and they had also invited a group of American/Canadian exchange students from the university as well as some of JN's friends, so there were about 15 people at the table. The food was excellent and plentiful, and we did a fun channuka-gift-swap.
Saturday I ran around the lakes in the morning, checked out of my hotel (after trekking over there in the rain), managed to figure out that in order to buy a hair dryer I need to go to the kitchen store, went to Ikea and then to a "hyggelich" cafe in Lyngby, then to JN's friends' apartment to light the channuka candles, then out with a group of JN's friends for a delicious 3-course meal. Here are some photos:

Afterward a few of us attempted to go to a party but it was the strangest place I had been to so far, kind of a mix between a gymnasium and an art gallery, with alot of very drunk people and extremely smoky, with loud music. Needless to stay we stayed for about 10 minutes then headed home.
Today I joined the Sparta running club and ran with the 6min/km group, total 15 kms. It was a good easy pace, which I needed since I haven't done that kind of distance in awhile. I did not really talk with anyone, only briefly to ask someone to translate what the group leaders were saying. The run took us through some very muddy park trails and (I think) northeast suburb of the city. Afterward all runners could enjoy free hot chocolate and muesli bar! Here are my shoes post-run. Yuck!

After a shower and Danish I'm ready for the rest of the day - Channuka cafe-party at AB's apartment and packing for my trip to Boston and Montreal/Toronto. Soon to come are photos of my new apartment...
Chag sameach!

Torino, Italy

2006-12-17T12:45:00.000+01:00

Last week I had the chance to take a break from the office and visit a potential customer in Torino, Italy. The flight left CPH 15 mins late, which made my 50 min connection in Munich extremely tight so I had to sprint across the airport to make my flight. Once in Torino, I had the taxi take me to the Golden Palace Hotel. I can only describe this hotel as very James Bond, hard to put into words - it was opulent yet modern, with lots of mirrors and dark colours. Here's a photo of the lobby, and me in the mirrored elevator.

I did not get to see much of the city, only the view from the taxi of the old city and the more industrial area the following day. At least I got to eat some delicious pizza :-)

Torino is right next to the Alps, so the airport has a nice view of the majestic mountains.

One thing I love about European airports is that you can eat a real meal on real plates, it makes the hectic experience much more humane and relaxing, and there is less waste as a result.
That's pretty much all about the Torino trip as it was quite short!

December weekend

2006-12-10T20:51:00.000+01:00

Hello,
So I think this will become a weekend blog, as this is when it is light enough outside for me to take pictures! The weekend passed by quickly, sadly. Friday night - Shabbat dinner at JN's parents' house. Saturday: first I went to a police auction for lost and stolen bicycles. This was an adventure, since I don't speak Danish and have never been to an auction. Here you can view the bicycles for 30 minutes in advance, then they bring up one by one, and the auctioneer decides on a starting price. Depending on the starting price, by raising your hand you are agreeing to "up" the bid by increments of 25 or 50 or 100 DKK. He hits the gavel when there is a final bid. Since I was nervous and a bit over-eager, I won the bid on the 2nd bicycle they brought out. Afterward you take the bike outside and there is man out there who will saw off the lock for 20DKK and will also sell you a lock from the trunk of his car for another 50DKK (give or take a few DKK). Unfortunately when I went to lower the seat of the bike, it seems it is jammed, and may not be able to be lowered. Danish women are apparently very tall, as I cannot even mount this bike as it is. I will take it to my friend's place; he has 9 bikes and likes to repair them so hopefully I will have some luck.
Here are photos from the S-train (one of the 3 train systems in Denmark) and auction:

After this I rushed to synagogue, then walked around central Copenhagen, then went for a jog as there was actually sun shining (!).

Today I went for another jog as the sun was still shining (!) and almost literally ran into hoards of runners that apparently are training for the Copenhagen marathon in May. They run in very organized groups, arranged by target pace. I discovered a new park very close to where I live. I also ventured to the big mall in town and did some shopping.
Here is a photo of the bicycle parking area - very unique!

Later I saw Little Miss Sunshine (HIGHLY recommend it!) and to a cafe with a Jewish group of people whom I organized via e-mail. Here is a picture of the cafe, and no I don't know the people in the photo (there are laundry machines in a separate room, not visible in the photo):

All in all a nice weekend!

More weekend

2006-12-03T21:50:00.000+01:00

This weekend was really busy, as I like it. Saturday I went to synagogue as promised, enjoyed the services and outdoor kiddush, then walked over to Chabad (and stopped along the way at the Botanical Gardens, nice and warm and steamy inside!) with some others. Lunch at Chabad was nice, long, drawn out, mixed with singing and conversation. Saturday night I went with MW to the apartment of some Israelis and helped cook dinner (MW makes amazing chicken shnitzel!). My new skill learned this weekend is how to make mojitos. It can be a skill that must be used wisely...Today I went running once I saw a glimmer of sunshine outside. Afternoon was spent at the Staten Museum for Kunst (State Museum of Art), taking in a wind ensemble concert of the Nutcracker Suite and wandering around the permanent collection. Don't worry, the fish in the blender is not alive...

Later watched Flags of Our Fathers, a bit too violent for my taste. The weirdest part was that for 2.5 hrs I really forgot I was in Copenhagen until I came out of the theatre (and it was dark, and it was raining... yep still in Copenhagen!). Now it's time for bed!

Shabbat in Copenhagen

2006-12-01T23:53:00.000+01:00

It's amazing how, [almost] no matter where you are in the world, you can find even the smallest Jewish community. Through e-mails, online searching and a well-connected US expat contact, I ended up at the Rabbi's house for services and Shabbat dinner tonight. We had to show up promptly at 5:30pm at the synagogue gates so we could be let in (security is tight here). We went up to the rabbi's apartment on the 4th (i.e. 5th) floor. He and his wife are young, probably around my age, with 2 young children. They hosted about 30 young adults for dinner, which consisted of several salads to start (apparently challah is bake-your-own in Copenhagen as it is not to be found - despite the wealth of bread in this city!), soup, chicken, meatballs, potatoes, vegetarian dish, pareve ice cream and cookies. It was an interesting mix of mostly Danes (including a few who are converting to Judaism!), a backpacker from Chicago, and an expat Israeli. The evening lasted 6 hours, including the usual shmoozing and singing. Finally it was an evening where I felt as close to "at home" as I could, being 6000km away from Canada and USA. I promised to show up at synagogue tomorrow morning, so I'd better get to sleep in order for that to actually happen. Shabbat shalom!

Some mid-week thoughts

2006-11-29T10:57:00.000+01:00

So I have been in Denmark for 9 days already, it's hard to believe!
Some good things about the office I am visiting:
- fresh fruit basket delivered Monday and Wednesday
- no cubicles - the only disadvantage being that phone conversations are tricky, otherwise I prefer this arrangement
- everyone works very hard between 9 and 5, and promptly leaves. Getting home to one's family is very important
- lunch is brought in every day. Of course some of it is off limits for me, but in general, it is nice to have the service.

Some good things about my whole setup:
- big grocery store located inside the train station where I come home - easy to just pick up food that I need to cook dinner
- can catch some zzzz's on the train to/from office, no driving stress
- gym in hotel has TVs at every exercise machine! pool and sauna are nice bonus
- it's just cool being in Europe!

Frederiksberg

2006-11-26T21:55:00.000+01:00

Spent the afternoon wandering around Frederiksberg, which is sort of west of the city centre. Was able to navigate the bus and metro today, as well as purchase dish soap and laundry detergent (and figured out the washing machine). Here are some photos of a typical Smørresbrod (open sandwich) shop and Konditerei (bakery), as well as the view of Frederiksberg city hall from the street.

Saturday

2006-11-25T17:42:00.000+01:00

Here's an update of my 1st Saturday in CPH...
Woke up a bit late (see last post) and went for a jog. I realized I was the only jogger wearing shorts, and must have stood out like a sore thumb. Typically my shorts cutoff is 7C, and it was supposedly 9C, but with wind and rain and in the interest of looking like everyone else I think I will stick to leggings next time.
My next task was to purchase my train pass. There are many permutations of tickets/passes/zones which makes things a bit complicated, but finally I figured I needed an all-zone monthly pass. Once I asked for this, I was asked for a photo, and since I didn't have one, I was instructed to go to the photo booth at the other entrance. Of course the photo booth did not take bills (only coins). I recalled I had a spare passport photo so I went back to my hotel room, retrieved the photo, then went back to the train station. Also most places only take the special "Dankort", or Danish debit card. Luckily I had enough cash for the transaction - equivalent of $183US for a monthly pass! Yikes!

Got my pass, and was on my way to Norreport station, which is close to the pedestrian shopping area in downtown CPH. It's amazing how 4 hours of wandering around in a foreign place can be quite tiring. Well, I guess part of that was due to the fact that I went up the tall round tower of one of the churches to admire CPH from above:

My mission was to purchase boots to match my new outfit (birthday treat to myself) and get a cell phone. Boot mission was eventually successful; cell phone mission was not. As with almost everything else, I need my special Copenhagen ID # to get a contract. So, no cell phone for now.

Grocery shopping can also be a challenge. Here when you buy fruits and veggies you have to weigh them and get a sticker from a machine so when you get to the cash they just have to scan the sticker. These machines have photos of the fruits and veggies so you select the appropriate photo, but some photos don't quite look like what you are buying, so I had to ask some strangers how to say PLUM in Danish so I could match up the words. One more note to self, remember to bring plastic bags to the store, otherwise you have to pay to purchase bags. If only North America were so progressive!

Well, I'm back in the hotel, and might venture out later tonight to explore a different part of the city. Miss you all!

Night on the town

2006-11-25T03:03:00.000+01:00

Tonight was my first night out with locals, JN and his friends. We went to Vega club, which is a mega-club with approximately 3 floors but with staircases so confusing there were probably more like 6 different dance floors. JN's sister's friend's band from Israel was playing... check out Terry Poison ... pretty wild. I think the strangest thing that happened was when one guy walked by and stuck his finger in my drink. Very strange!

In other news, I have decided on my apartment in Osterbro, and am very excited to move in (around Dec 15). It's on the 3rd floor, which is really the 4th floor, since buildings here start at floor zero.

OK, it's quite late (or early?) so time for some zzzzzz's.

Tiny bathrooms

2006-11-23T16:07:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone!

Thanks for reading and posting comments, this is fun :-)

So, I'm back in Copenhagen after a couple of days in Aalborg, visiting our office there. Today I opened a bank account, and went to visit 4 apartments with our relocation agent. Three were close to where my hotel is situated (Ostebro) and one was in Frederiksberg. One common theme: tiny bathrooms. I am told that not long ago (well by European standards that could mean 200 years), most apartments actually did not have bathrooms, so people would go to communal toilets in the courtyard. Once it was decided that apartments should have bathrooms (whoever mandated that must be thanked), they needed to carve out space from existing rooms, so no bathrooms are very large. In fact, some do not really have a dedicated space for a shower - you just have a hand-shower that you use standing in the middle of the bathroom, which of course makes the entire bathroom soaking wet. Luckily the apartment I'm leaning towards has a little 'nook' for a shower. I will however see one more apartment tomorrow in Frederiksberg. I can't resist since it is located on a street called "Nimbusparken" - so for those who knew and remember my Civic fondly you will understand why I would want to at least take a look at that apartment.

Sorry for lack of photos; it has been kind of dark and rainy. Hopefully I will take more this weekend.

I have to thank everyone who wrote, e-mailed, or sent gifts in honour of my birthday... it has really made my day! :-) I think I will now head out in search of my (so far) favourite Danish danishes (which, ironically, are called Wienebrod here [i.e. Viennese, not Danish]).

The lighting is amazing

2006-11-20T18:13:00.000+01:00

Greetings from Copenhagen!
The flights were uneventful.
Interesting thing in the vending machines in Zurich: Cannabis flavoured ice tea.
After 2 comical incidents with luggage trolleys in Boston and Copenhagen somehow I and all my luggage miraculously made it here. The hotel is really nice...

I walked around the area in the 1 hour before it got dark and saw many shops, cafes and generally cozy-looking places with candles and nice lighting inside. Oh, and I did have a Danish danish, which was excellent. It's funny how seemingly simple tasks become difficult in a foreign place, like buying groceries (what kind of milk is "Minimaelk" ?) or operating an oven.

I will try to force myself to stay awake just a bit longer to be able to get a good night's rest tonight before heading to Aalborg first thing in the morning.
Love to everyone!

Packing

2006-11-19T01:26:00.000+01:00

So, I have determined that packing a winter wardrobe and various odds and ends that make up my life into 3 suitcases is no easy feat. I have a feeling that the snow-friendly winter outwear that I own may not stand up to the heavy rains of Denmark. It doesn't help that I hate packing, and frankly am quite tired of it, after having moved roughly 5 times in the past 6 years (Cambridge, Winter Hill briefly, Arlington, Maynard, Somerville). You'd think this would make my belongings rather streamlined, but instead I keep carting around the same knick-knacks that I have owned since childhood (when will I really use that old brown Mundi wallet that is ergonomically incorrect?).

Yesterday I had a nice send-off at work. I'm really going to miss my "surrogate family", friends, and social life that work provides.

The reality still hasn't quite hit and I'm not sure when that will happen - probably once I buckle myself into my seat on the airplane, take off my shoes, look out the window and put on my Danish language course on my iPod. Taking off on an airplane always makes me wistful, emotional, thankful, hopeful and sad all at the same time.

OK, back to the mess...

Preparation...

2006-11-17T04:34:00.000+01:00

Hi and welcome to my blog!

I cannot take the credit for the name; a good friend from Somerville dreamed up that one, probably somewhat in honour of my affinity for puns (and also owing to her literary intellect).

Preparations for the trip are ongoing, interspersed with multiple outings with friends. Yesterday I bid farewell to Nimbus, my first car (Honda civic sedan EX, 4 door, silver). It went to a nice home in Somerville so I hope it will be in good hands. It's amazing how one feels the loss of independence without a car... but it seems ironic to have a sense of independence that is so dependent on something else.

Anyway, enough philosophizing (is that a word?), it was never my forte. And neither is writing, so these posts will likely be brief. I'm hoping to keep those close to me informed of my adventures overseas, so please enjoy the ride!