getting around

i don't think i emphasized in my first post how pretty copenhagen is. people who have left new york more than i have may disagree, but i can't imagine a prettier city than copenhagen. there are no skyscrapers or big avenues, just a lot of little twisty streets. which makes it impossible to find your way anywhere, but i don't mind getting lost because there isn't a part of the city that isn't good for walking around. i could stay in copenhagen forever.

when i decided not to take danish i forgot how much i hate being in a foreign country and not taking the language. the thing is, danish is impossible to pronounce. there is nothing intuitive about it, and my crash course in danish teacher began most instructions with, "imagine you have a potato in your mouth . . . " when i go into stores i mostly just point and say "tak." it works because danish people are usually taciturn to the point of rudeness. there is no word for "please" in danish, and while there is a word used to apologize for bumping into someone, there is no expression for alerting someone to your presence to avoid a collision altogether. the polite thing to say after a meal is "tak for mad"--my book translates it as "thank you for the lovely meal" but it actually just means "thanks for food."'

i went to the studenterheust (student house) on wednesday, where we met some dutch students but no danes. on the way home i forgot to get my ticket stamped. on the copenhagen trains, you don't go through a turnstile; you just put your ticket in a machine. police officers occasionally come around and check for tickets. so far, i had never seen it happen, and i was amazed that anyone bothered to pay. of course, the first time i don't is the first time they checked, and i was escorted off the train by two very frightening danish police officers who took down my information and gave me a 600 kroner (100 dollar) ticket. i played the stupid american card, explaining that i only got into the country a few days ago. they said if i brought my plane ticket to some office they might waive the fine. which they did. danish legal system: random, but not heartless. still, i'm kind of terrified of the train system now and i'm hoping to buy a used bike and avoid it altogether.

last night i went on a tour of the carlsberg brewery (slogan: "probably the best beer in the world"). a ceo at the company showed a video about the importance of beer and then said, "when i look at you all, i think of what our marketing director called our target demographic." he was surprised at our interest in cheap beer, because "all of our research shows that people your age are very brand-conscious." clearly he has never seen the price differences between america and denmark. then they gave us beer. afterwards i went to a jazz club with some people and i had carlsberg elephant beer (8.4%). brand loyal, maybe, but not very smart--classes started today.

god dag

i got to copenhagen today after an overnight flight. on the plane everything came in small, pretty packages. the television in the back of each seat included a camera from which you could see the view outside (mostly ocean). we had penne with fish on top that tasted kind of like lox. the couple next to me drank four or five bottles of complimentary wine and some little ones of liquor between them. stereotypes about scandinavia confirmed: intelligent design, weird smoked fish, alcoholism.

then we had orientation and i went home with my danish roommate. she lives in a house with her family but we have our own floor. she likes the simpsons and pimp my ride (both come on the television with danish subtitles, along with a bunch of horrible us sitcoms they must only show during the day in the states). i have a balcony, but i probably won't spend much time in it until it's less freezing out. we had pizza for dinner, and i think i ate more meat-topped pizza tonight than in my entire life. there was ham and mushroom, pepperoni, and kebab. you can also get pastrami. how are these people so thin. probably because they smoke everywhere.

favorite kind of coffee is one word here: favoritkaffe.

all in all i like denmark.