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!
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Yes! I did know that about women's brains during pregnancy, which reminds me...
Forgot what I was going to say.
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