Bits and Pieces of Week 1 & 2 in CPH

Upon arriving in CPH I was immediately occupied with an orientation course which was a mix of academic stuff (like research ethics, some methodological stuff), and practical things (like a crash course in Danish). Mainly the benefit for me attending the course (well half of it anyway) was to get to know some of my colleagues who I will study with over the next year and perhaps in Wales as well next school year.

As KVL just merged with University of Copenhagen we were taken on a tour of the main campus which sits in the center of the city that still in part resembles the old medieval city. This is an inside and outside picture of the oldest building in Copenhagen (not sure about the year actually) but it was where the first rector of the University lived. Most of the down town was destroyed during the Napoleonic Wars because at that time Denmark has a sizeable military force and was leaning to support of Napoleon and so in order to prevent that from happening the Brits basically levelled the entire center of the city. They were aiming from far away, and their target was the main catholic church in the downtown (right next to the main campus of the University). So anyway, a bit of history for you.
































Shortly after arriving and settling into my home here I had a guest! Lucky for me I got to begin my explorations of this city of georgeous people (I'm not kidding, this is a very attractive population here) with my friend Zare who is Brazilian and studied with me in Japan. Zare took heaps of pictures of the city (so i didn't) and once I get some of these I will be sure to post some of them. In the meantime here is a picture of the two of us!


















What has surprised me about CPH is the diversity, particularly in a neighborhood called Norrebro which is quite close to me. In this area you find lots of halal meat shops, women with veils, lots of people from India, Pakistan, various places in the Middle East, and Asia. Zare and I talked about how some of these shops, beauty parlors, eateries could be in any number of places around the world. I didn't expect this of Copenhagen but I am glad for it. This is also a great area for food shopping as it is one of the only places to find Asian vegetables, though I am still trying to find a place to get good tofu, a must for a veggie like me!

You might have heard of Norrebro recently, particularly if you live in Europe and read the news. Recently there was an arrest of some suspected terrorists there. Apparently six guys were arrested on Monday, and four of them were later released. Norrebro is also the location of a former youth center which was closed down and sold recently. The center had been a place for youth, musicians, artists, activists to gather since the 1980s. Officially those occupying the house had not ownership or deed to the place. When the new government (which is more conservative that the last one) got elected they shut the center down. Last Saturday was the 6 month anniversary of the shut down and there was a huge demonstration, repletes with broken windows and burning cars. My friend Anders calls it the last flame of anarchism left in Europe. They demonstrate every thrusday as well and I can attest that it was a large gathering as this week I just happened to be downtown meeting a friend for drinks.

In speaking with some of the Danes about this diversity there is this comment of yes it is diverse but.... This seems to mean it is diverse and aspects of that are nice but these people also cause problems. This is a similar response as one that I have found in Japan (if you can actually get someone to answer you directly, a major feat in Japan). I spoke with my friend Allan about this the other night and he explained that (like Japan) whenever one foreigner here is involved in anything on the wrong side of the law people start making big generalizations. I suppose this is a way for us to compartmentalize events, people, etc but that doesn't make it right or accurate in my opinion. Surely much of this was (and to a degree probably still is) happening in the US, especially after 9-11.

Another things I have noticed about the Danes is that in addition to 80% of the population being tall, blond (often dirty/dark blond) and beautiful is that these are serious party-people. The drinking age in bars here is 18 but you can legally buy alcohol from the age of 16 and it seems that most people start drinking even before that age. So perhaps its not surprising that its a boozing culture. The beer is good, Carlsberg and Tuborg are the staple beers (actually both owned by Carlsberg), I have sampled just well...a little bit ;-) Have to partake in local culture after all.

I also tried Smorrebrod with Zare when he was here which is a traditional Danish meal. Essentially it is a bunch of stuff, mostly meat sometimes fish or pate on top of rye bread - they love their rye bread here. I was overall unimpressed with it, and shocked that it was served cold but people love it here. The perk about the place we went to try this stuff out was the giant glasses of wine the waitress gave us, a good reason to go back (even if the smorrebrod isn't too tasty) ;-)

I should note for you all that I actually don't live IN Copenhagen, I live in Fredriksberg (pronounced Fraisbea, Zare described the pronounciation perfectly commenting that Danes swallow a lot of consonants). Fredriksberg is a seperate city which sits more or less in the center of Copenhagen. The best part is that I am only about a 20 minute walk from the University (great since I have been lazy about getting a bike) and a short walk from a bus to downtown and to my friend Kata's house. It is easy to get to from the airport, anyone want to come for a visit?

Anyway, once I get more pics of this pretty city I will be sure to post some of them.