Catch 1000

The Danish university system emphasizes different things than the Canadian one does. I am in five hours a week of classes for what would be twelve hours a week back home. Evaluation is also more lenient. Instead of a midterm/paper, a paper, and a final/paper we only have either a paper or an oral exam. That is it. I will write about fourteen pages this semester.

So I was thinking to myself what is the catch. Well, there is a catch. Reading, lots and lots of reading. I am expected to read 2000 pages in four months — each syllabus prescribes a certain number of pages that must be read for the number of credits given— which is how they balance out the limited amount of class time. It is an adjustment for sure and requires a lot of discipline to get done. For my one class this week I had to read an article and 120 pages of one of the textbooks — that is just one.

It’s not like back home there were no readings, they were often just considered to be optional. The key to being a good student was to figure out which readings needed to be done, and which ones didn’t. Perhaps that is the key here. We will see.

It is also nice to know that we are indeed covering a lot of material, just not in class.

Culture? shock

Before going on exchange I was warned that there was a chance that I would get culture shock, and find it strange to adjust to fitting into a different culture. This hasn’t entirely been the case. Ultimately the most confusing thing about Copenhagen is the zone system used on the S-tog and metro (mostly because the penalty for having the wrong zone ticket is almost as much as my bike cost and the maps are as clear as mud).

Overall most of the people I hang out with are international students — there aren’t a lot of Danish students in my housing and all of us English speakers seem to gravitate to one another. We are a jumble of people mostly from Australia, the U.S., Canada and New Zealand, as well as the Netherlands and Finland. There is really no natural culture amongst us. Some of us say elevator, while some of us say lift, while all of us complain about how slow it is — sadly I live on the top floor and have managed to paint several masterpieces in the landing while waiting for the elevator. We use different terms, with the Australians and Kiwis sharing a lot, and the Canadians and Americans sharing others. There is an on going disagreement on whether brunch is a favourite meal or a favorite meal — Americans do not use the British spellings of words.

Then there are other subtle differences. A Canadian invited me over for tea and I happily went over, while my Australian roommate fretted about showing up empty handed — apparently tea means a meal in Australia, whereas in Canada tea means a hot beverage. I never know whether to take my shoes off inside, usually it is split but I take them off because wearing them inside is weird. Apparently in Australia only lowbrow people drink beer out of cans or tins, whereas for me it is more efficient than having to clean out a glass unnecessarily. There isn’t really a culture to shock us, because we don’t really have a particular dominant culture. Sometimes differences are quite noticeable, other times they are funny.

Otherwise Danes are a very efficient and sometimes cold people. If you ask someone for help they tell you whether or not they can help you. That is all. Canadians are not so efficient. We are also far friendlier when checking out. One day I will train myself to stand stoically at the grocery check saying only ja and tak. No “have a great day” you crazy Canadian.

Construction

There is construction everywhere. Next door they are building an apartment building, the metro and S-tog are being expanded, and a lot of apartments still have the new building smell.

Parts of Copenhagen have the feel of a classic European capital with cobblestone (a paving material that is far more aesthetically pleasing than it is comfortable to walk on), while elsewhere there are signs that it is a growing city.

Growing up in Calgary I was always surrounded by construction, as the city’s skyline expanded and neighbourhoods gentrified. The city was booming and constantly expanding. I get some of that feeling here. There are no sky scrappers going up, or a massive new C-train line, but it feels like a city that is growing, especially in the newer suburb where I live. It feels like it is expanding and becoming more modern.

I am surprised by finding that feeling in older more established cities — I felt it in parts of London too. It seems fitting to a city like Calgary that is still so young, and is really just taking shape. I guess that other cities are never finished either. Copenhagen is not done growing yet, as new buildings and suburbs spring up, and people move towards urban centres.

I seem to have accidentally purchased a pamplemousse

Buying things in a foreign language can always be fun. This is how I ended up with a duvet cover instead of sheets — although I have found a way to make my duvet cover function as a sheet — and how I ended up buying grapefruits instead of oranges. I was at the store and found round, small, and orange fruits. A nearby sign said Citron and I was like citrus that must be referring to the delightful orange fruits that are obviously oranges (wrong). It so happens that citron was in fact referring to the nearby lemons. Instead the not oranges were called grape and I couldn’t figure out why. I thought what a strange language Danish is to call oranges grape, but it turned out that they are grapefruits as opposed to their actually edible cousin the orange. I had the unpleasant surprise of peeling a fruit that turned out to be red on the inside, to which I thought maybe they are just blood oranges. Wrong again. No, they are grapefruits. I have half of the one I ate sitting on a plate — I can not bring myself to finish more because it is a grapefruit, which has a fairly vile taste. Oh well at least I have a reason to say pamplemousse.

Tivoli Gardens

While on our walking tour we were told that Tivoli Gardens is a must see in Copenhagen, that even the locals go there to hang out and grab a beer or a meal, so when some friends invited me I though why not check it out (admission without rides is only 100DKK).

The thing is I hate amusement parks, or more specifically I hate rides. If it’s fast, or involves heights I probably don’t want to get near it. A ferris almost guarantees a breakdown of some kind. So I tagged along, and did not buy the ride pass — though I do enjoy bumper boats and cars, I would rather spend the money on overpriced hot chocolate. The other value that amusement parks have is that they are a great place to take pictures, though this was limited by the rain.

All in all Tivoli was not a bad place. It is said to have inspired Disneyland and I can see why. It is right beside Copenhagen’s central train station, and you can see the Radisson from parts of it. Most surprisingly it is filled with various restaurants and bars. One can find really good (somewhat overpriced food) all over Tivoli. This is definitely a more European approach to amusement parks.

Then at the end of the night there was a huge Danish rap concert. It was crazy to see this huge crowd of Danish people waving their arms and totally into what sounded a lot like the Beastie Boys. I will hand it to them, they were really good. It helped that we didn’t understand a word they were saying and that the crowd had so much energy.

Rain rain

Fall in Calgary makes up the two most beautiful weeks of the year. It is extremely fleeting. The weather is perfect and mild, and the leaves are changing. It is quite simply beautiful.

Fall in Copenhagen seems to mostly consist of rain — though there are rumblings that it will warm up later in the week.

People usually don’t take me seriously when I tell them that I love rain. I love it the way I love otters, or the colour baby blue. It is something simple that fills me with joy. They usually tell me to move somewhere rainy and see how long it takes me to get over it, how long it takes for it to become annoying.

The last few days in Copenhagen have been rainy. Yes, this does make it a pain to go outside and riding a bike in the rain can be a trying and cold experience — though I will take rain over wind if given the choice, but usually they are partners in crime. At times it makes you want to stay in and do the bare minimum possible. It makes things muddy, messy and grey. Those are just the superficial sides of rain.

Then there is the real side of rain, the simple pleasure of watching the rain fall down outside from a balcony, common room, or back door. Listening to it hitting the ground, steadily coming down. The look of the outline of rain on a balcony, coming close to the door but not quite. There is the joy of bundling up, sucking it up, and families wandering around with colourful umbrellas. There is something peaceful and serene about rain. Last night I went out on my balcony and just watched the rain come down. I thought it may be a bit of a pain, but isn’t it wonderful.

Walking tour

Today I went on a free walking tour of Copenhagen. It was delightfully informative and such a good feeling to know more about this city that I am living in. I have now seen many of the most touristy bits of Copenhagen like the harbour and the royal palace (both of which I plan to go back to take more pictures in a non-group setting.

These tours are usually a great way of getting to know a city. As a backpacker I loved them and tried to do them in every city. They show you around, give you some fun facts, and allow yourself to get to know a city better. It was especially fun today where we would say oh yeah that’s really near campus or I was lost in this area yesterday.

While on the tour I spotted a bike submerged in a canal behind the parliament buildings. It reminded me of Amsterdam where I stumbled on the machine that uses a magnet to pull bikes out of the canals. Apparently it is a huge problem there. I have heard very little about it in Copenhagen but this one seems to have met an untimely watery end.

ABC: Another bloody chore

One of the downsides of living somewhere is that there are always little things that you have to get done. You have to go pick up your bike, print off a copy of something, top up your cellphone. There are a constant stream of errands that must be completed and today is no exception to that.

Being a tourist has its downsides. The people you meet, especially in hostels are fleeting friends. There is no sense of loyalty and no bonds that are really built up. You do not have their back and they do not have yours. They are there for a good time, and a short time. However, you can meet some very interesting people and backpacking offers a very fun lifestyle. Living in one place you build up a network of friends, plans, hangouts and inside jokes. These friends are far more loyal and true than any friend I’ve ever made at a hostel.

You get bogged down in the ABC (another bloody church/castle) problem — you can add museums to that list. But today I would like to go to the harbour, photograph the colourful houses and then go to the art gallery at Louisiana. Instead, I need to do laundry and a host of other small tasks, and maybe just maybe study. Today I want to just be a tourist. Another day and another time.

The chore definition is a screen shot of https://www.google.dk/search?q=chore&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Flat tire

Copenhagen is a city of cyclists. It is said that there are more bicycles in Copenhagen than people, and I don’t find this hard to believe. Owning a bike is part of the experience, and the downside of bikes is that they break.

Most international students buy cheap bikes, and along with this comes the risk that bikes are going to break down. From the beginning I knew that my bike was not a beautiful new machine carefully built and examined by trained mechanics. It is more likely that mine has been owned by a few too many students who don’t know the first thing about bicycles. The brakes aren’t everything they could be, nor is the chain but all in all it gets you from point a to point b.

Unfortunately, I got a flat tire — my tube went flat and then fell out of my tire and then got caught on my fork — and I got to explore the inefficient part of bikes. This is taking your bike on the S-tog to a station that you know has a mechanic and then dragging your bike to the mechanic — it also taught me that I lack upper body strength — maybe I should start doing pushups. My bike should be back up and running soon, and the repairs were not terrible expensive.

The Danish House of Commons

We went on an excursion to the Danish Parliament for my Danish politics class. Here are some photos of the Danish HoC.

Tak

I’ve started getting pop-up ads in Danish and being sent to Danish versions of websites. It’s like the Internet knows that I now reside in a different place. Still, I instinctively type in google.ca and not the Danish version. I also receive an abundance of junk mail in Danish — as if they haven’t figured out that my housing is at least half international students who have no use for the heaps of flyers we receive.

I am surprised that Danes tolerate this amount of junk mail given the high level of environmental awareness that is generally around. Within view of my housing are several wind turbines — the area I live in is close to the airport and the ocean. I found these a weird sight when I first arrived, but you can’t hear them and they are not very noticeable.

The other thing I have noticed, and I was warned about this before leaving, is that Danes are an efficient and curt people. As a Canadian this can sometimes leave me feeling cold. When asking for help with something people — especially at the university — will only help you if it is specifically within the capacity of their job to do so, if they can’t they politely say they are unable to do so. Every time I say have a good day after making my purchases at the store my “have a great day” is met by confused looks and has not been reciprocated. It is my goal to start consistently saying thank you in Danish (tak).

I feel bad for speaking in English to everyone but I know that everyone speaks excellent English and I have been having trouble remembering thank you. I am only here for four or five months and know that I will never learn enough Danish while in classes to communicate anything worthwhile so I am sticking to English.

I haven’t gone out and taken any pictures yet, but I am starting to really want to. I have been mentally bookmarking cool places that I want to go back to. It is hard when you are usually just out exploring with friends, which usually means feeling rushed and not taking enough time to get the right shots. Every day life and classes also get in the way.

I also haven’t been to any of the touristy areas yet. Those shots of the colourful houses in Copenhagen’s harbour feel far removed from my experience of the city. I haven’t gone to a single museum either. Those shots feel like they belong to groups of tourists, like the ones I saw back home wandering around downtown. But after all that is the point of residing somewhere. I don’t need to go to museums — not that museums are bad but that is my typical experience as a tourist — and the landmarks that I’m building up are the grocery store across the street, and the student cafe.

Items left by previous tenants

Our housing comes with a fully furnished kitchen (minus microwave because Danes do not seem to believe in them). Previous tenants have also left a number of other objects behind with varying degrees of cleanliness and usefulness.

• Chalk. The kind that comes in a bucket that you use to draw on the sidewalk as a kid. Mostly used up and stubby.
• A ping pong ball.
• A plastic snake we have named Harold.
• A jar of red and white straws.
• Several pillows and sleeping bags.
• A broken couch.
• An incomplete deck of cards.
• A bouncy ball.
• A poster of meerkats.
• A couple of old magazine holders with a thick layer of dust in the bottom.

So you're from...

So you are going to a new country where you don’t know anybody. You are leaving behind your network of friends and family back home, and starting fresh. Crazy.

The first people I meet are through my housing. Both on a tour of where I am going to be living, and otherwise there is the best conversation starter of all time, “So where are you from?” The upside of being an international student is that most of the people you encounter are also international students who don’t know anyone either. This breaks down the usual boundaries and comfort zones you inhabit when you can just hang out with your friends at an event. You talk to people you don’t know and it’s easy. You just have to get past the awkward bit where you are standing there saying to yourself but I don’t know anyone and start talking to people.

Going to a foreign country is all about breaking out of your usual life and habits. It is about pushing your boundaries and discarding your comfort zone. And yes despite what you say to yourself during your exchange orientation — where they warn you about these things and you fancy yourself immune — you are likely going to be lonely at times. You may spend a Friday night on your own for the first time in a long while — this of course depends on the type of housing you are in and hopefully your university is smart enough to schedule orientation after international students can move in, which KU was not. You may not have that friend that you usually text by default to go for brunch with when you discover a cool new place. A girl I meet who was on exchange last semester told me it takes about two months to build up a life in a new place — a network of friends, dinner plans, regular hangout spots, inside jokes, and routines.

But it’s okay. You will meet people. You can text people you only kind of know and go for brunch with them and then they become your new circle. But hopefully you appreciate them more because you know the work that it takes to build a social group. Hopefully you become more open to talking to people you don’t know — as long as they are not standing near unmarked vans with bags of candy. Dive in and see what happens.

I want to ride my bicycle

There are bikes everywhere in this city. It is impressive to see how many people ride bikes and get used to it being their main way of getting around.

Unfortunately I have as of yet to get buy a bicycle but I am working on it. It seems like a bit of a scramble has been going on so far to buy bikes. Lots of people are just buying the first one they find and it seems like a crazy system.

Perhaps I know too much about bikes and have a specific idea of what I want and that is why it has been harder for me. I want one that is mechanically sound, has a more aggressive fit than the upright town bikes that are so popular here (I think there is a good chance I will compromise on this one), preferably an old school road bike or a hybrid style one, that is inexpensive, and fairly mechanically sound. It will also be nice if it fits me reasonably well.

I think these are questions that people who have not been taking their time buying a bike may have missed. But then again it would be nice to just bike the first bike I find and be done with it.

•••

I went to a shop this morning that is supposed to have good bikes but unfortunately I could get a new bike for less than the used ones there. The process of finding these stores, and then going in and looking around at what they have on offer is quite disappointing. You want to find something cheap and moderately good. If only there was a Tiger used bike store.

Most of the used bikes I’ve encountered are the upright townie style and unfortunately you have to pay a premium if you want something else. I think it is time to settle, that or raise how much I am willing to pay for a bike. Or I can buy a town bike and see what I find. The process continues.

That is the downside of only being here for four or five months, you don’t want to spend a whole lot of money on a bike you will only be using for a short period of time.

•••

I bought a bike. I can now stop looking and going through Facebook groups and waiting for replies to posts, and finding shops to discover that they do not have any good deals despite what the Internet claimed.

I am finding Danish bikes strange to ride. You can not back peddle them to get the peddles in your preferred position like you can in Canada so I’ve noticed a lot of people do a bit of a running start and hop on. Luckily my bike is a step through so it is relatively easy to get on and off of in a pinch. It will be an adjustment and I don’t think spending more money on a bike would really solve that problem. It’s funny how even bikes have little differences between countries.

It is nice to finally have some wheels. It felt strange to not have a bike in a place that may have more bicycle parking facilities than it does car parks. If you sit at a cafe during rush hour — or pretty much any other hour — you can watch all the bikes stream by. It was weird at first watching all the cyclists stream by but I am now one of them. You get used to it, and in a good way. Back home you would never see that many cyclists, especially not outside of rush hour. Something for Canada to work on.

Settling in

I have been here for almost a week now and I am finally at that point where it is starting to feel like I live here. All of those logistical things like getting a cellphone and CPR number, and finding my classrooms have been sorted out. I know where the local supermarket is and I bought sheets (or a duvet cover that I thought was sheets). I can make it from the metro to campus and back without getting hopelessly lost.

The river here is beautiful and it feels strange to go to class right next to it but it is also nice to know that I am not a tourist here. I reside here, at least for now I do. I do not feel a compelling need to go to museum or to rush from site to site. It is enough to walk to and from the metro. I get to collect coffee shops I want to drop by instead of post cards. To walk down the street just hanging out with new found friends.

There are still things that are confusing like grocery shopping. I am happy to just be buying flour, I don’t really care what type it is. Cooking instructions can also be a challenge. I am getting used to guessing and making due with whatever I end up with.