It is now Tuesday afternoon here in Copenhagen and my third full day in this amazing city however, I feel like it has been forever. We have been walking everywhere and when you mix that with the extreme winds that Copenhagen is currently experiencing it is easy to get worn out but the excitement and anticipation of exploring our new home has kept us going.
Oh yeah, and knowing that at any point you can sneak into a cafe that serves pastries and adorable lattes since they are more abundant that Starbucks in New York City makes it a little better :)
Yesterday morning, a large group got together to head over to the Danish Government Office to get some paperwork taken care of. The looks on the faces of the Danish workers as a group of 30 American kids walked into their office to get our ID numbers for living in Denmark were priceless. However, they quickly got everything processed and us on our way so that we could walk over to the main CBS campus to turn in lease agreements- I will spare you the details because it was honestly quite boring but I know that my mom is secretly sitting at home wondering what the hell I am doing with all my time so I just wanted to share.
Once we were able to check a few tasks off our list of to-dos we headed back to our residence hall for naps, showers, and dinner before reconvening that evening to attend our first Introduction Week Social. This event was called a Danish "Hygge". The Danish kids explained that hygge is just one of those terms that can't exactly be translated in English but is more or less a concept meaning "that warm and fuzzly feeling you get when you are surrounded by good food and good company" and that was more or less exactly what it was.
All of the exchange students got together in the common area of another residence hall for a meet and greet. The CBS exchange social program had set up a bar with "discounted" drinks, emphasis on the quotations. Here in Copenhagen, a discounted drink is 25 Danish Kroner which coverts to about $4.50. Anyone who has been to a happy hour in the US can probably tell you that a small cup of wine or beer for $4.50 is not exactly discounted but hey, we're all on vacation right? Sorry Dad
We did get our moneys worth though for we were provided a delicious dinner of traditional Danish sausages AKA hot dogs with onions, mustard, and some of the best buns that I ever had. The bread was more like a baguette or toasted roll than the standard mushy hot dog bun.
Yesterday morning, a large group got together to head over to the Danish Government Office to get some paperwork taken care of. The looks on the faces of the Danish workers as a group of 30 American kids walked into their office to get our ID numbers for living in Denmark were priceless. However, they quickly got everything processed and us on our way so that we could walk over to the main CBS campus to turn in lease agreements- I will spare you the details because it was honestly quite boring but I know that my mom is secretly sitting at home wondering what the hell I am doing with all my time so I just wanted to share.
Once we were able to check a few tasks off our list of to-dos we headed back to our residence hall for naps, showers, and dinner before reconvening that evening to attend our first Introduction Week Social. This event was called a Danish "Hygge". The Danish kids explained that hygge is just one of those terms that can't exactly be translated in English but is more or less a concept meaning "that warm and fuzzly feeling you get when you are surrounded by good food and good company" and that was more or less exactly what it was.
All of the exchange students got together in the common area of another residence hall for a meet and greet. The CBS exchange social program had set up a bar with "discounted" drinks, emphasis on the quotations. Here in Copenhagen, a discounted drink is 25 Danish Kroner which coverts to about $4.50. Anyone who has been to a happy hour in the US can probably tell you that a small cup of wine or beer for $4.50 is not exactly discounted but hey, we're all on vacation right? Sorry Dad
We did get our moneys worth though for we were provided a delicious dinner of traditional Danish sausages AKA hot dogs with onions, mustard, and some of the best buns that I ever had. The bread was more like a baguette or toasted roll than the standard mushy hot dog bun.
I am still semi-new to whole blogging thing and so I apologize for only remembering to capture the meal after I had devoured half of it, but you get the picture.
A word on the beer: Carlsberg is the signature beer here in Denmark, for it was founded right outside of Copenhagen in 1847. The brewery is still open today and a main tourist attraction that I hope to visit someday soon. The Danish people are also weirdly proud of it but after trying it I don't exactly blame them because it is pretty delicious. I had never tried it before yesterday but I was far from disappointed and it definitely did not make me miss the fratty Busch and Keystone Lite back at UW.
A word on the beer: Carlsberg is the signature beer here in Denmark, for it was founded right outside of Copenhagen in 1847. The brewery is still open today and a main tourist attraction that I hope to visit someday soon. The Danish people are also weirdly proud of it but after trying it I don't exactly blame them because it is pretty delicious. I had never tried it before yesterday but I was far from disappointed and it definitely did not make me miss the fratty Busch and Keystone Lite back at UW.
After a couple rounds of Carlsberg, our group decided to head back to our rooms to continue the night time celebrations. One of the best things about having people from all around the world together in one room is teaching them American drinking games. The game of choice last night was King's Cup mostly because it's easy, if you don't remember the exact rules you can pretty much make up whatever the heck you want, and someone had a pack of cards.
Once we decided that a cooking pot was sufficient to replace a red cup we were all set. We all settled for staying in for the night because we were told that bars and clubs are mostly closed on Mondays. I personally wasn't too upset about that since I am still slightly feeling the effects of jet lag.
Fast forward eight hours. I am waking up to the beautiful sunshine streaming in bright light through my window- oh wait, it's the middle of winter here in Denmark and currently about 30 degrees with winds that make it feel like 5 and grey skies that show no sign of letting the sun peek through. I had motivation to get up though which can be summarized in one word: Christiania. Christiania is a freetown in the middle of Copenhagen that is basically one big commune that is run under the special Christiania law. The main tourist attraction is that Christiania law allows for the legal and completely open selling of cannabis. The "Green Light District" as they refer to themselves has an extremely strict no photo policy and once you are in there and see some of the people fully adorned with some of the largest Mastiff dogs ever, you quickly throw your phone and camera right back into your bag and zip it up.
I personally had no interest in the marijuana aspect of the whole place but Anders had told me about how unique and unreal the whole place is so I just wanted to tag along and see what all the talk was about. Not even kidding, you are walking down a street in Copenhagen and all of a sudden you see this building and it pretty much sums about what you are going to see for the next hour.
Fast forward eight hours. I am waking up to the beautiful sunshine streaming in bright light through my window- oh wait, it's the middle of winter here in Denmark and currently about 30 degrees with winds that make it feel like 5 and grey skies that show no sign of letting the sun peek through. I had motivation to get up though which can be summarized in one word: Christiania. Christiania is a freetown in the middle of Copenhagen that is basically one big commune that is run under the special Christiania law. The main tourist attraction is that Christiania law allows for the legal and completely open selling of cannabis. The "Green Light District" as they refer to themselves has an extremely strict no photo policy and once you are in there and see some of the people fully adorned with some of the largest Mastiff dogs ever, you quickly throw your phone and camera right back into your bag and zip it up.
I personally had no interest in the marijuana aspect of the whole place but Anders had told me about how unique and unreal the whole place is so I just wanted to tag along and see what all the talk was about. Not even kidding, you are walking down a street in Copenhagen and all of a sudden you see this building and it pretty much sums about what you are going to see for the next hour.
Like I said though, once you pass through the gates, pictures are forbidden so I can't provide much more than this.
Our little adventure was complete with a stroll down to the water before getting back on the Metro for a lunch at home and a quick nap to ensure that we are fully prepared for social night number two which will be complete with bowling and a nightclub outing. Time to break out the dancing shoes woooo!
Oh and I am making progress on moving in!
Oh and I am making progress on moving in!
It is like the room was made for all of my shoes and coats.