North by Southwest

After a brief respite in Copenhagen, I headed north to Bergen, Norway. It was a cloudy day, but as my plane broke through the clouds on its descent, I discovered I was going to heaven. For one, the hilly, rocky islands and slopes of the fjords only accentuated the bleak flatness of Denmark. But honestly, my train ride from Bergen to Oslo illuminated the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen in my entire life on this planet. Bergen is a cute little city worth visiting, but after everything I had seen, Oslo was kind of a letdown and way too expensive. There are some museums there that would be nice to visit, but my timing was off so instead I slept through most of my time in Oslo.

Madrid's a nice city, and my hosts were certain to make sure I had the necessary cultural experiences, though it's not someplace I feel I need to go back to. My hostel was loud, but the people in my room liked to sleep, and I met lots of nice people. I drank sangria and cider, ate paella, and had way too much tapas. I visited the Prado, home of Hieronymous Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights and too much religious art, the the Reina Sophia, a more interesting modern art museum that is home to Picasso's Guernica. I walked all around town, had a cafe con leche in the Retiro and a beer in Plaza Mayor. Despite two dinners that other people paid for and free tapas, it was an expensive trip since the Carleton contigency is used to eating out for lunch since they get most of the money in a stipend from Carleton to pay for it. It was very nice though to see and spend time with Ann and others from Carleton, and my Spanish friend Miguel that I met at French camp years ago.

From Madrid I flew to Cologne, the hub of discount airlines Germanwings. For all its randomness as a destination for me, Köln's a rather nice city, which a famous cathedral that miraculous survived WWII bombing right outside the doors of the train station. On Friday I went to the Chocolate Museum, which claims to be like Willy Wonka but is really just a museum about the history and production of chocolate, and does include some active chocolate making machinery and a glass elevator. The most impressive part of the museum, really, was the gift shop, with more flavors of chocolate products that I ever thought possible. I bought myself a Bio-Beer chocolate bar--an organic, fairtrade dark chocolate candy bar with a chocolate filling that has organic beer brandy. Fascinatingly delicious.

After the chocolate museum I headed south to the quaint old town of Oberwesel in the heart of the Rhine Valley to attend the fall retreat of the European Unitarian Universalists with Christopher. It was quite odd being a *conferee* of sorts, but a really enjoyable and relaxing time after all. Most of the attendees were expats and the children they've raised in Europe, though there were some honest-to-god Europeans among the crowd. Because of the ex-pat domination, the retreat had a very UUA feel, but with broader perspectives and a more international outlook. The guest speaker was Rev. Gordon Oliver from South Africa, who spoke on the theme of forgiveness and reconciliation. During the theme talk he discussed the steps he took to fight apartheid as mayor of Cape Town. The Sunday service took a more spiritual approach, and made me feel more connected to my faith here in Germany than I have been for the past two years in Minnesota and even on Star (which loses its religious affiliation somewhat when you work there). Sometimes you need to go far to find home. I had my first Samhain service since my youth group days, which was really nice. On Saturday afternoon I attended a workshop on international UU theology, and although I was rather critical of the New Zealeand theologian I had to present, I really liked what this one young Spanish theologian had to say about person-centered faith. The workshop in particular and the retreat overall made me much more aware of international Unitarian perspectives and standpoints. Still, in many ways this retreat could just have well have been in the states, yet I wonder what it's like to be a member of this religious minority in Europe. So many Americans have never heard of UUism, and the denomination is even smaller in most of Europe. Having retreats like this a couple times a year, even if there is often less than 100 attendees, most be really meaningful for the European UUs. It was pretty meaningful for me, as it is.

25,000 words on Berlin & Prague

disenfranchised?

My absentee ballot arrived in the mail yesterday, so I quickly filled it out, sealed it up, and went to the post office today to mail it. In my experience in Denmark so far, mailing ANYTHING to the US costs at least 8 kroner. But the postal worker today, when I was sending the most important document I have sent so far from Denmark, charged me only 7 kroner. Maybe it's cheaper to send things is official government envelopes, or maybe the woman was new and confused, or maybe she was taking a stand against American hegemony and ensuring that I couldn't be an active American citizen while living in Denmark. Either way, I'm concerned that my ballot will not get to New Jersey and thus my vote won't be counted in this close election. (Someone's actually running against my asshole Representative, and although he probably doesn't have a shot he does have a similar last name, so if you're from NJ's 5th, get out and vote! And watch the clip of Paul Aronsohn on the Colbert Report.)

In other news, autumn is in full swing. The trees haven't really started changing yet, because it was such a warm summer, but there's that chill in the air. The apple I ate today just tasted like fall. It was delightful. I'm about to head south to slightly warmer weather, but so it goes.

I had a pretty busy weekend; I went out with some friends Friday night, but didn't stay out to late because I had to wake up early on Saturday to make some nice fluffy American pancakes with real maple syrup. My host family didn't really think there was anything so special about the syrup, as my mom thought they would, but they quite enjoyed the pancakes. At the dinner table on Saturday night I observed the universality of tension between a mother and her sixteen-year-old daughter. "You can only go out with your friends if you get your homework done beforehand, and no talking online while you're doing it!" Mothers will always, wherever they are and whatever their daughters do, find some point on which to hassle them.

On Sunday, I returned to Jutland, spending many hours on a bus in order to visit Legoland. It was well worth it. The miniature world is AMAZING, and although the park is aimed towards kids, there are a lot of great rides. It's definitely a place I'd like to bring my kids some day, as an excuse to experience it even more fully.

In Danish news, the Danish People's Party has made a fool of themselves and their closed-minded racism. There's a travel warning for Danes going to Muslim areas, such as Turkey, where my host sister is going with her father tomorrow. Besides that, I don't think the rest of the world cares, yet. But we'll see--it took a few months for the cartoon crisis to get out of hand. That whole situation exploded because of a lot of overreacting on all sides along with an unwillingness to engage in dialogue. People even outside of Denmark continue to defend the publication of the cartoons as freedom of speech, as though in objecting to them Muslims are backwards people who will force us to do away with our most prized freedoms. An article in the New York Times quotes a Dutch woman with a Muslim husband: "No amount of explanation about free speech could convince her husband that the publication of cartoons lampooning Muhammad in a Danish newspaper was in any way justified." I do agree that the government can't legally do anything to Jyllands-Posten for publishing the cartoons, but the Prime Minister could have still met with the Muslim leaders in Denmark, and there is certainly no need to socially defend the paper. Just because there's freedom of speech doesn't mean you can be a complete jerk without suffering social consequences.

more disconcerts

Alas, DIS sponsored no such musical event. But "disconcerted" continues to describe my existence.

Yesterday I went to Dannerhuset, the women's shelter where I'm supposed to be volunteering, for a meeting with the committee I'm suppose to volunteer with. I had missed their first event because they had my wrong email, but now that everything was straightened out, I was excited to make it up to them. The volunteer coordinator had emailed me that the meeting would be on October 4th, at 18:30, and unless I let them know I couldn't attend, they'd be counting on me. So I go. And although there are plenty of people in the house, there's absolutely no sign of the meeting. One nice women helps me look in all possible places, but the events committee could not be found. So I left, frustrated because I had scheduled my day around this meeting and even more because my attempt to be productive and proactive had failed.

When I got home, I emailed the committee. Turns out the meeting was at 19:00, though this hadn't been communicated in any of the emails I had received (unless of course the Danes decide to invent their own numerals). I will be at their meeting next Monday at 19:00, godwilling, and hopefully I will be able to contribute in some way, though I will be traveling during the event they will be discussing, the house's birthday on November 2.

My travel plans, the flights at least, have finally been finalized. I may still end up sleeping on the streets of some random European city, but so it goes. I wish I could make some sort of interactive map showing where I'm going, but since I have not been graced with such talents, an explanatory paragraph will have to do.

On October 14th, I leave for my study tour of Berlin and Prague. I don't know the itinerary yet, but I will be back in Copenhagen on the morning of October 20th. Bright and early the next morning, this Bergen County girl flies to Bergen, Norway, to spend a day and a night before seeing the fjords and the mountains by rail on my way to Oslo. I'll have about 24 hours to experience Oslo before I take off for Madrid, to visit my Carleton roommate Ann and my friend Miguel. I'll be there until the 26th, when I'll fly to Cologne, where I'll spend the night and then take the train to Oberwesel, Germany, to attend a European Unitarian Universalist retreat with Christopher. After the weekend retreat, I'll spend another night in Cologne, before flying to Athens on October 30 to meet up with my friend Dan. We'll spend two nights in Athens before traveling north to Bucharest, Romania, where we'll spend another two nights before moving on to Bratislava, Slovakia. Finally, after taking advantage of the cheap prices of Eastern Europe, we'll return to Copenhagen on the morning of November 5th, full of energy and ready to go back to classes the next day.

topsy-turvy

While in America, a teacher was suspended because some kid told his parents he saw nude art on a class field trip to a mainstream museum (Museum Field Trip Deemed Too Revealing), parents, students, teachers, & pedagogues took to the streets in Copenhagen today to protest budget cuts in childcare and other welfare programs (Protests paralyse nation's schools and day care centres). There are times when it's hard to notice the differences between Denmark and America, but reading the news today, it's almost disgustingly obvious. In the US, there are places where one crazy parent can complain that her child was exposed to some art and a qualified teacher is out of a job. In Denmark, people who already pay up to 60% of their income in taxes are more than happy (in principle and in reality) to pay even more if that means that their children can attend better schools and childcare and the elderly can live in better nursing homes. Denmark is far from a perfect country, but America...sometimes America just sucks.

domestications and destinations

Now that I actually have some pictures on my family and house, I suppose I'll introduce them to you.
This is the living room and dining room of the house, as seen from the kitchen. Besides this, there are three small bedrooms and a bathroom. It's small, even by Danish standards, but very hygge.

This is me with Eva, my host mother, and Siv, my host sister. I don't have any pictures yet of Mikkel, my older brother, because he lives on his own and only comes around occasionally.


Everyone in Denmark has a summer house (practically—and it would have been harder to save the Jews if they didn't), so on Friday night Eva and I took to Askø, a little island north of Lolland, which is south of Sjaelland. If possible, the islands of southern Denmark are even flatter than the rest of the state. There are dykes and tall trees along the coast of Askø so that everything doesn't wash away when the water is high. It's quiet and peaceful, but unless you're one of the handful of farmers who lives there year round, there really is nothing to do. There are lots of orchards on the island, both on the farms and in the summerhouse yards. Mostly apples and pears, but we found some plum trees and wild blackberries grow everywhere. There's no beach, just a platform jutting out into the water where you can swim or fish or sunbathe. The water is incredibly calm and clear. It made me realize that there aren't enough seas in America. There are rivers and there are bays and there are harbors. And there are plenty of inland lakes and such. But anywhere there's ocean water it's usually deep and cold and moving. Out here, all the salt water is calm and shallow and warm, at least everywhere I've been. Even at Skagen on a windy day, the waves were pretty insignificant.

Being that there's not much to do on Askø and the adjoining island Lilleø (ø is Danish for island), we left early Saturday afternoon. Saturday night I met up with my friend Dan, intending to go to the International Party at Studenterhuset. The party turned out to be pretty lame, so we decided to wander around and barhop. We ended up going to the Happy Pig, where I lightly bumped into someone on my way to the bar. He started saying something to me in Danish, so I told him I only spoke English. Turns out he's South African, though has been living in Denmark for 9 years. Dan and I started talking to this guy, who later introduced us to his Danish friend and his Norweigan friend. We talked a lot of politics with them; they were very happy to hear that we weren't Republicans. I also learned a very sad fact, that New Jersey's bad rep isn't limited to the states. In fact, the state's image might be even worse in Europe, because people are less likely to have the firsthand knowledge that it's not all the trash it's talked up to be. Despite the fact that I'm from New Jersey, these three guys were very nice and friendly, and when they left the Happy Pig they invited Dan and I to come with them to Cafe Sommersko. The event at Cafe Sommersko was a birthday party, and although we felt awkward because we knew no one at this private party, there was plenty of free wine and cake to enjoy. Eventually all the partigoers started leaving, so Dan and I did too, and walked around the city for a while, heading home around 3 am. Copenhagen is actually more awake at 3 am than it is at 11 pm. It's a crazy city.

Today was also adventure filled, as I went with DIS to a football game. FCK v. Brøndby, the two biggest Copenhagen teams. It was pretty crazy. Louder than I expected, but also more in order than I expected. There were no fights between fans, as far as I saw, though some Brøndby fans, upset by their defeat, did tear apart their stadium chairs and throw pieces at the field. The players themselves were pretty agressive as well. We had the lyrics to the FCK song and had been taught them by our Danish teachers, but when they played it there was too much overall loudness to understand anything. Because there were so many DIS students, I think we kind of missed out on some of the cultural experience because we weren't sitting next to regular rabid fans. However, on the train to DIS hours before the game and on the walk to the train station after the game we certainly got a sense of it. Everyone was screaming, whether their team won or lost. There was definitely some tension between the fans, but what I saw never seemed on the point of eruption. The stadium is in a really nice upscale neighborhood, quite the contrast from most major American sports stadiums, I think. It was an interesting juxtaposition of the loud, drunk fans and the ritzy restaurants and apartments. This is a country of interesting juxtapositions.