little chairs

we went on a trip to flensburg (in northern germany) and ribe (the oldest town in denmark). it was europe as i'd imagined it being and was starting to worry it didn't exist--thatched roofs and sheep and medieval churches with big intimidating jesuses (jesui?) hanging from the ceilings. in copenhagen i can sometimes forget how far i am from home, because half the signs are in english and streets are streets and fancy clothing stores are fancy clothing stores. but out in the country it's so foreign and amazing. danish people frequently ask me why i came here, but in copenhagen they're usually just surprised that any americans can locate denmark on a map. in ribe they were genuinely shocked--a small town in denmark is very small (about 9,000 people). the locals thought longingly about nearby ejsberg, the fifth largest city in denmark (about 90,000 people). i took a lot of pictures of stained glass and old stone things that i'll put on here soon. also, in germany the beer is much cheaper and much better. i need to go back to germany. i feel a little guilty about liking it so much--my grandparents still won't go there--but at least in the north, it's a lot like denmark but a little more familiar.

funny thing a man told me in a bar in ribe (one of two or three) --in denmark you can get a stipend for going to prison. some people can also go to work or school during the day and then come back to prison at night. this is a ridiculous country. my roommate's mother was saying that she won't leave her shopping bags in her bicycle basket when she goes into a store anymore, not because someone might steal them, but because (in light of recent events) someone might think it was a bomb. she would, however, leave her baby outside. she told me about a danish woman was visiting new york and left her baby outside a restaurant and was arrested for child endangerment. "why would someone steal a baby?" she asked me. i tried to explain that someone would take it just because it was there, and not consider about the potential benefits of a free child. i think even criminals in denmark are more practical than we are.

"clearance sale" in danish is "slutspurt."

april 3 to 6 or so i'm thinking of going to latvia. i know you've all been dying to go to the ever-popular baltic coast, so if you want to come let me know. i'm also probably going to barcelona for a day or two, to appease my parents, who seem concerned that my desire to visit cold eastern and northern european countries over warm, happy southwestern european countries is some kind of masochistic disorder. it's true that if my plans work out, by the time i leave i'll have gone to germany (three times), latvia, britain, the czech republic, iceland, norway and of course, denmark, but not italy, france, or greece. i don't know. there's a straightforwardness, a kind of lack of pretense, in northern europe that i really like. people are shy and a little rude and then they drink a lot and sing in inappropriate places, which i think fits my personality.