European extravaganza part one: The Netherlands

I've finally made it home after a loooong three weeks. I've realized that time really is objective; these past three weeks have been packed with so many sights, sounds, and people that it feels like it was enough to fill a lifetime...Well maybe I'm exaggerating just a little bit, but you get the idea.

Things didn't quite go exactly as planned -I ended up spending way too much time in Paris, and not nearly enough time in Barcelona, not to mention not even making it to Florence or Rome. I knew things were going to go wrong, but not like this, but when you're traveling in this fashion you just have to deal with everything that life throws at you in the best way that you can. Consequently, I never want to go back to Paris again -not only because the french are just kind of assholes in general, but also because after Jenna left, everything that could go wrong did...but more on that later. I want now to go back to Barcelona for more than the few hours we had between trains, and seeing that I didn't even get to see Rome, I have to go back -but I think I wouldn't have had enough time there anyways, so maybe it was a good thing.

Seeing that I've taken over 600 pictures, and a few videos, there is no possible way that I'm going to be able to fit everything in one post, so I've decided to split it up into each country I was in, proceeding in chronological order: The Netherlands, Spain, France, and Italy.

Part I: The Netherlands

Gronnigen

So we began the journey on a ~7 hour bus and ferry ride from Copenhagen to Gronnigen, NL (located in the northern part of the Netherlands). We stayed here for the next two days in the Martini hotel -named after the famous, and well-known to the inhabitants of Gronnigen, Martini Tower. It was a cozy hotel, and much to my luck, I was in the coolest room out of anybody from our group in that it had more space than just barely enough for the beds, like most of the people (suckers) got. Just to our luck, the following morning after we arrived, there was a leak in a water main somewhere in the northern Netherlands so we didn't have water...what a great way to start out the trip!

I don't exactly remember the order of events that took place, given that it was three weeks ago, so I'm just going to put down events that happened in whatever order they come to my mind. The first, and probably my most favorite part of the visit to Gronnigen, was the bike tour that we were taken on. The tour leaders were two Dutch guys who would have probably made a great comedic duo. It seems to me that the Dutch people are generally just more goofy than the any of the other sorts of people I met on my trip (French, Spanish, Italian, etc.) Of course this could be a complete over-generalization but I'm willing to say it. The bike tour took us through the entire city of Gronnigen -and it didn't really take that long given the face that Gronnigen is not that big of a city. Another unique Dutch thing was the prevalence of bikes, both in Gronnigen and in Amsterdam. The picture on the left (the bike parking outside of central station in Gronnigen) brilliantly illustrates this observation -probably the most bikes I've ever seen at once -with the possible exception of the critical mass rides that I frequent back in mpls.

The bike tour ended where it began -at the Martini Tower. What followed was the scaling of the nearly 200ft tall tower by way of a narrow, dark, stone, and spiraled-staircase. We were supposed to count all the steps, but I lost track along the way and just focused on making it to the top -which was more physically exhausting than I thought it would be. Once we were there, however, all of the work was worth it for a beautiful view of the quaint little town of Gronnigen (see panoramic below). On the way down, we stopped at the bell-floor, upon which we were able to actually ring one of the bells. There was a long rope dangling from whatever contraption is used to ring bells, and an open space next a brick wall around the rope. If you got the bell ringing hard and loud enough, you could hold on to the rope at just the right moment, and it would propel you up to 15 ft in the air! I'm proud to unofficially claim myself as the champion of air out of all of my classmates.

view from the Martini Tower

Some other highlights from Gronnigen included a really cool Indonesian restaurant that our study tour leader took us to -I'm not 100% sure, but there must be some kind of connection between the Indonesian islands and the Netherlands because there was just way too many Indonesian restaurants and shops for there not to be. Also, I went to a modern art museum that had such an impressive, and distinct style of architecture that I had to go in and see what it had to offer. Unfortunately, it wasn't all that the outside seemed to crack it up to be -although maybe half of the museum was just being inside this wacky building. Don't get me wrong, there were some really cool art pieces, just nothing that really surprised or attracted me. The picture on the right really doesn't do it justice, but it's the only one I managed to take -the museum was situated on the banks of one of the many canals that run through Gronnigen. The textured blue and white tiles/paintings on the outside of the building seemed to act as mirror reflecting the water upon which the museum was seated.

We left Gronnigen for Amsterdam as planned on the morning of March 12th, so I'll leave the Gronnigen topic for one last, suitable photo of this small town in the north of the land of the Dutch.

(the boats pictured here are peoples' houses!)

Amsterdam

Well, I'm not really sure how to even begin to describe the experiences I had in Amsterdam. This city was like nothing I've ever seen before -but come to think of it, neither was any of the cities I visited...I definitely started to get a feel for the Dutch design in Amsterdam, not only in terms of architecture and buildings, but also the way the city was designed, and the way you maneuvered through it. It was like constantly being in an urban obstacle course. At every moment you needed to be on the lookout for the hoards of bicycles, fast-moving and dangerous above-ground trams, and the steady flow of cars and buses. Also, the way to navigate this city was completely unique from any of the other cities I visited. The city is constructed with the central station at the north, surrounded by a series of circular canals -so instead of using street names to navigate, it was much more convenient to think in terms of how many canals you have to walk past, or walk-along in order to get in the general area of wherever it was that you were trying to find.

By far the most memorable experience in Amsterdam came at the finale of the academic study tour -Cirque du Soleil. This performance of Varekai was located in a giant tent (see picture) about half an hour away from the city by train -the 'Arena' stop to be precise. The stop is called this because of the giant Olympic-style arena of sorts that was located near the train stop. If you've never seen a Cirque du Soleil show, I highly suggest that sometime in the future to check one out. There's no way that words can do justice to the lights, sounds, acrobatics, dance, and circus-esque theatrics that was Varekai -and if you have seen any Cirque du Soleil performance, you will understand why I can't describe the beauty and majesty in words.

Among the many famous people in history who called Amsterdam home was the well-known earless painter Van Gogh. During our stay we had the opportunity to check out the local Van Gogh museum which claimed to have the most extensive collection of works in the world -and I don't doubt it since it was his hometown. I didn't spend too much time here because we were a little crunched for time -I can't even remember what for anymore, but it was the case nonetheless. I read about his entire life and briefly looked at the paintings that reflected each time period of his life -he was truly a revolutionary and gifted artist whose boundaries were unknown to me before this point. His paintings of trees and flowers were really what struck me as his most beautiful -so intricate and colorful, and all in a sort of impressionistic style that can only be described as Van Gogh. Sometime later that night I snapped a picture of a couple trees somewhere in Amsterdam with a specific setting on my camera resulting in the,
what I believe to be, very Van Gogh-esque style photograph you see on the right...

The other most famous person to reside in Amsterdam was Anne Frank. A trip to Amsterdam is not complete without at least a stop by her place of residence (located on the outskirts of the Jordan neighborhood). I didn't have a chance to go into the actual house because I think it costed money, and there was a long line -but I did see her statue and the doors to where she lived. It was at least some form of consolation. Following this brief viewing of the historic site we were led on a walking tour of the Jordan neighborhood. If i remember correctly it was a traditional working class neighborhood now turned into student housing area. The streets of this section of the city, along with most of the rest, are so narrow that you can barely fit one car down the street, which is why most people living in Amsterdam get around by bike (not to mention the fact that owning a car and paying for parking costs a fortune).

Another one of the 'must-see' sites of Amsterdam is the flower market. The below sea-level altitude of the Netherlands, and the overall climate make it one of the most premiere places to grow flowers. The flower market is exactly what it sounds like, a street of flower vendors offering tulips, daffodils, cacti, and many more flowers that I can't recall (if you can't tell I'm not much of a botanist). I'd really like to come back here in the summer to really see the bounty that this spring still has yet to offer.


Of course I can't really go without mentioning the absolute decadence that really made Amsterdam feel like a different world. The red light district is a pedestrian filled section of town marked off by small red stoplight-looking posts. It is filled with the infamous coffee-shops of Amsterdam, girls in bikinis displayed in windows, and countless strangers whispering the names of different street drugs in your ear as you walk by. Certainly it is something worth seeing, but definitely not somewhere I would want to be hanging out for an extended period of time -especially at night when the darkness seems to bring out the madness in everyone...

The following day after Cirque du Soleil my school group left, and I had planned on meeting up with a couple of friends who, coincidentally, were in Amsterdam at the time. They had a hotel not too far away from where I was, so with a little sneakery I was able to spend an extra night for free only to wake up the next morning and hop a train destined for Madrid.

I could go on and on telling you more about the Netherlands, but it seems that this post has become sufficiently long enough for my liking -besides I have three more countries to talk about in the upcoming posts. For now I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from Amsterdam that, for me, describe the whole trip pretty accurately. Be on the lookout for upcoming posts in the next few weeks -although I'm not exactly sure when I'll find the time to do them with school starting up in full gear tomorrow.

the essence of Amsterdam

I had been Amsterdamned indeed.

PS: I don't know why the text gets smaller sometimes, but it's really starting to bug me -maybe i'm just too much of a perfectionist. Oh well, enjoy anyways!

Too much to think about

If there was any picture to convey the combination of academic intensity of the past week with the fact that I'm going to be traveling across Europe for the next three weeks, it is the stencil on the left (can be found near the entrance of Vestergade 7-A).

1 presentation + 3 papers + midterm + 8.5 hour day at a farm with little kids followed by political rally = FUN!?

Well, as I predicted earlier, it really will make these next 3 weeks feel much more like a vacation than if I had been sitting on my ass the entire time. It feels like so much has happened in the last few days that I don't really know where to start -I can't imagine how I will be able to describe the next 3 weeks...

But I'll give it a shot...


On Monday our group gave our presentation on the Christianian kindergarten, and I'm happy to say that we thoroughly dominated. A couple of the group members decided to create a diorama of the adventure room using the pictures and schematics I had created. The diorama was based on the style of dioramas that I had seen in the kindergarten. They were interesting because you would look through a porthole cut into the side of a closed shoebox and see a miniature world with whatever you decided to put in it. We also incorporated clips of the audio very nicely -it was a presentation I felt proud of when I got out of class...

On Tuesday I had a music swap with one of my friends and I've subsequently gained a massive amount of new, un-listened to by me, music. A good portion of the day has been spent transferring most of it onto my iPod -which hopefully will accompany me for the entirety of my trip.

The midweek was spent writing a paper on...wait for it..."The social and political consequences of the industrial revolution." I hope someone who's reading this understands the urge I had to write the entire story of "The puppy who lost his way." -the story Billy Madison (Adam Sandler) answers with when asked about the industrial revolution. Anyways, I ended up writing a pretty kickass paper that had some good flow to it, and I'm pretty sure I sounded like I was smart -the other three-quarters of writing a good paper.

Thursday, March 6th, was one of those days...I'm not really sure what I mean when I say that, but hopefully you'll have a better understanding after you read the following:

Woke up at the crack of 6AM and arrived at the kindergarten at 730. We took off for the farm, despite the rainy, bleak, and downright dismal conditions of the morning -WOW, DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING DENMARK! This trip was very unique, and for a couple of reasons. For one, the group of kids we took this time were younger than the usual group, and had never ventured into the actual farm part of the town; rather, they would stay at the kindergarten facility a few miles away. Luckily, as we left the city and were on our way to the farm, the clouds parted and a the sun embraced the green fields of the danish countryside.


One of the more interesting things that happened throughout the day was a good ol' fashion sheep shearin'. I immediately noticed the leashed-up sheep upon our entrance into the farm and my intuition was correct -later that day the kids gathered round while two of the workers gave an angry sheep a haircut. This was a first-time experience for me, and just another added first time experience to all the kids who came that day. The things these kids must learn here...constantly absorbing the sights, sounds, and smells of their playground away from home.


What did we do with all that wool? Well, we folded it up into a ball, covered the ball with warm soapy water, and softly condensed it of course. Afterward, the wool-balls were to be soaked in ice cold water for some period of time, followed by a drying period. When they were dry, the balls were supposed to have shrunken into bouncing balls of wool. I've never done this before, or even heard of it being done, so it was quite the disappointment to know that I wouldn't be able to see the finished product.

My mind was elsewhere as we played and explored the farm with the kids. I couldn't choose what to think about -how exhausted I already was, my upcoming 830AM midterm the following day, or the prospects of the next 3 weeks. Eventually we returned to the city around 4PM and it was back to the grind...or so I thought.

On my way home I decided to make an attempt at starting the mental transition toward my health care in Scandinavia midterm. I got in contact with a friend in the class and we met up in Gammel Torv (Old Square) to discuss the next day. I really didn't have studying on my agenda because I was too exhausted and needed some form of a break, so it was a good thing when I learned that Gammel Torv is the gathering point of the weekly rally of supporters for Ungdomhuset. The scene was like something out of a movie -everyone had some kind of black, torn, punk-looking garment on. Hair came in all colors of the rainbow, and a truck carrying two DJ's with equipment and four giant speakers blasted aggressive hip-hop, punk, and electronica. After a little while of hanging out in the square the truck started to move, and so did the crowd. We casually walked down the streets of Copenhagen -specifically from Gammel Torv to the National Museum, and then to Tivoli. Every so often, the music would stop and various speakers would fill the air with heart-felt monologues that I have no idea were about, but seemed to motivate the crowd. It was amazing to see how the city reacted to this kind of a protest...

The police blocked traffic for us, there were people in yellow vests looking after the crowd, and although mildly disruptive, we were contained. I broke away from the crowd at Tivoli where I waited not more than 3 minutes for the bus to take me home. On the bus I listened to Leftover Crack and energetically reflected on the quick sequence of events that had just occurred.

I got home 5 minutes after my host mother left, and my host father was at work -so I was alone. I heated up some leftovers and sat down to eat. I thought to myself, "what better time to get a little tv watchin' in than when you're all alone eating food?" I flipped on the tv, and without having to change the channel, the very beginning of an episode of The Simpsons started. It reminded me of eating dinner at home, back when there was a solid hour of Simpsons from 5-6. This episode was about how Bart destroys Lisa's steroid-enhanced giant tomato -if you are/were a Simpsons fan and haven't watched many episodes recently, I would highly suggest rewatching them -freakin' hilarious.

The night was followed by some 'hard-to-concentrate' and 'sleep-deprived' studying that, in retrospect, probably didn't really even do me much good. I took my test at 830 the following morning, turned in the industrial revolution paper along with another paper for my Danish class, and came home to write another paper for one of my psychology classes. IT WAS FINALLY OVER!!!

I went out last night, as did probably every other student who had finished, and had a great time. My most memorable moment last night was when I had just gotten into town, grabbed a couple beers at your local 7-11 (literally on every street corner in the city), and the clock in city square struck midnight. I cracked the beer, turned to a guy standing next to me and said the only word I could think of that adequately summed up how great it felt -skål.

Turning now into the future...

Here's the plan:

Tomorrow - Board bus to Groningen, Netherlands. Spend the two days in Groningen before heading out to Amsterdam. This part of the trip will be spent with a group of psychology students from DIS -the same people who went on the western Denmark study tour. I should mention at least something about the content of this part, because there is one thing that sets it apart from other study tours with DIS. Not only are we going to the Van Gogh museum, but later that night we'll be seeing none other than a performance by Cirque du Soleil. This particular performance is called Varekai -a visual feast set in the depths of a fantastical, mysterious forest.

I'll be spending a few nights in Amsterdam with the DIS group, but then they're leaving to go back to Copenhagen. I'll be staying in Amsterdam with three of my friends, all of whom study at the University of Minnesota, and all of whom are currently studying in different places across Europe. It's amazing that we'll all be in the same, extraordinary place for a brief moment in time.

March 15th - Leave via train for Amsterdam to Paris. Two hours layover while I attempt to get from one train station to another. Leave overnight for Madrid to meet up with my girlfriend, Jenna. It's been so long since I've seen anyone that knows me beyond the relational level of a DIS student, and I'm really looking forward to it.

March 16th - Arrive in Madrid sometime in the morning.

March 17th - Madrid.

March 18th - Leave Madrid for Valencia, Spain. The festival of Las Fallas completely changes the coastal town of Valencia during a week in March. We're going to be here for the very last part of it -and consequently the most exciting part. This is supposed to be one of the craziest festivals in Spain, and since Spain as a country is known for having wild, elaborate festivals what can I even expect?

March 19th - Hopefully have found a place to stay -just banking on the couchsurfing community at this point.

March 20th - Take morning train from Valencia to Barcelona. Spend day in Barcelona seeing the sights, and possibly trying to rendez-vous with a friend. Take overnight train from Barcelona to Paris.

March 21st - Arrive in Paris and check into hotel - Central La Defense.

March 22nd - Paris (itinerary not decided yet)

March 23rd - Paris (last night Jenna will be with me) - itinerary not yet decided.

March 24th - Paris - Rendez-vous with Vicki from DIS and stay with her friend somewhere else in Paris.

March 25th - Leave Paris for overnight journey to Florence, Italy. Rendez-vous with a friend studying in Florence.

March 26th - Florence.

March 27th - Leave Florence for Rome, spend day sightseeing.

March 28th - Fly out of Rome back to Copenhagen.

Here's what I got...

Well I guess this is it, time to say goodbye for a little while. I have no idea what to expect on this journey, and I'm sure there will be a bump in the road at some point -but sometimes not-knowing what lies ahead of you can be more exhilirating than knowing.

I don't know how limited my access to a computer will be so I'm definitely not going to be posting nearly as much as I had been -plus, who wants to spend time talking about what's happened when there's so much more to do! Maybe I'll get a chance to check in once or twice...

And for anyone still wondering if Charlotte the spider is still chillin' above my head every night, here's a little update...

Spring is right around the corner and I hope for everyone reading this that your March is a reflection of the natural rebirth and rejuvination that it is.

Farewell everyone!

IT'S MARCH!!!

Well, I figure I'd better post something about the last few days, but I don't really know how to go about it. This whole week was pretty exhausting, and I'm sure the next one will be just as bad if not worsel. I've got a big presentation about the Christiania kindergarten tomorrow, a Danish oral exam on Tuesday, a paper outline due Tuesday, and two papers due on Friday....eugh.

Anyways, I ended up going to the Christianian kindergarten and meeting with the main pedagogue to talk about the differences and similarities. I recorded 47 minutes of an interview with him and if you feel so inclined as to listen to the whole thing go here and then enter the three-letter code in the upper right. You'll have to wait 25 seconds for the "Free Download" button to become activated. Click that and it should start downloading. It is a pretty big file, so be prepared for some waiting...
























I could talk for a long time about this place, but I'll save that for the actual presentation, and instead focus on one of the coolest parts about the kindergarten -the adventure room. This is a room that is completely covered -walls and ceiling- with an elaborate fairytale-esque mural (see reconstruction). Wanda, the guy I was talking to, was an amazing story-teller, and during lunch he told a great story (in Danish of course, so I don't know exactly what it was about) that all the kids were on the edge of their seat for. This is really one of the most unique kindergartens I've ever seen...

I've also started to become able to understand bits and pieces of Danish, and the structure of the sentences -as opposed to hearing complete nonsense when a Dane is talking. I watched a Danish flim called "The Bench" on Wednesday for my Danish class. This movie is really quite depressing, but depicts the supposedly non-existent social classes in Denmark. It is one movie out of a trilogy of movies by the same director all trying to capture different social classes in Denmark. The Bench is about the lowest class, and involves a drunk named Kaj who rediscovers his long lost daughter haphazardly at the social benefits office. It's been so long since she's seen Kaj that she doesn't even recognize him. When Kaj realizes that he has a grandson, and his daughter is a victim in a domestic abuse case, he tries to turn his life around -but it doesn't quite work out the way he planned...If you're looking for some very good acting, good filmmaking, but a serious downer, check out The Bench.

Last night I hung out with the pedagogue from my kindergarten. He had been at a demonstration for the one-year anniversairy of the destruction of a now infamous youth house called Ungdomhuset all day. There is an incredibly interesting story behind the reasons why it was demolished, and the struggle thereafter between the government, a nasty old lady, and a violent youth culture. For example, when it was cleared and demolished, the entire area of Nørrebro was set ablaze in a chaotic riot.

Anyways, I met up with Uffe in Nørrebro and went to one of his friends' house. On a side note, when I left the house, the bus drove through what looked to be a riot in Nørrebro...

Immediately when I walked in it felt like a good ol' college house. We took off our shoes and coats and headed to his friend's room in the basement. We had to climb through a circular hole in the cement wall to get to his room -something I can say I'd never done until that point. His friend was an artist and had lots of paintings hung all over his room, along with, much to my delight, a guitar. We hung out there for a while and eventually went upstairs where a group of Danes were painting and writing on circular porcelain tiles -an awesome party activity. All the while, this amazing Danish music was playing through one of the sweetest sound systems I've ever seen hooked up in a house. The music was very reminscent of the band Beirut, but had a distinctively nordic feel and sound to it. We went back down to his friends' room and played guitar and just hung out -some definite hygge. At one point the guy sitting next to me picked up the guitar and started playing while a girl across the room accompanied him vocally -turns out they were a songwriting duo who called themselves Den Fjerde Væg. There really aren't words for the disbelief I had while I was sitting in this room full of amazing art, interesting people, and beautiful music...in Copenhagen.

If you're interested in hearing the band, check out their myspace.

So there's about one week until the European extravaganza begins, and the excitement is killing me. The academic ferocity of this week should make this travel break even more delightful. I'll be updating later this week on my tentative schedule of events, and possible map of where I'll be going, but for now I've got some work to do...(on left, Jackie and I in the kitchen of the kindergarten in Christiania)

Yo, Oslo!

I've returned safe and sound from a weekend in which the majority of my time was spent on the turbulent waters of the North Sea. We took a cruise-ship style ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo (see map) leaving Friday at 5:00 PM and arriving in Oslo the following morning at around 9:30 AM. Friday was probably one of the windiest days since I've been here in Copenhagen, and it only got worse as we sailed past the land barrier of the islands of Zealand and Jutland and into the open sea. Nonetheless, we survived unscathed but off-balance for the rest of the weekend. The ship was extravagant, but no Titanic by any means. On board there were a few cafés and bars, a discotheque, a cinema, a live band, and a duty-free store amidst a maze of winding hallways that became increasingly difficult to maneuver through as the waves intensified and the festivities of the night progressed. I was confident that my sea-legs were sea-worthy given the amount of time i've spent fishing in my life, but a cruise ship is an entirely different story. What really got to me was the fact that you could only feel the boat moving instead of being able to look out at the water either directly or through a window and see it moving. It was no matter, just an added sensation that interestingly contributed to the night.


All of the places on the boat were ridiculously expensive, and knowing this, I had brought supplies for sandwiches, snacks, and beverages that lasted me all weekend -thanks host family. The night was spent hanging out in the cabin, rocking out, and exploring the nooks and crannies of the ship. Met some interesting characters, but there's only so much to do on a cruise ship...We tore it up on the dance floor with a hilariously over-dramaticized rendition of The Village People's YMCA. One of the more memorable -and uncomfortable- moments of the night occured when, as we were sitting around the piano, listening to the entertainer sing "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", he abruptly stopped and verbally confronted another man sitting across from us. I hadn't really noticed, but the man had been singing a different song while the piano player was performing. It obviously offended him greatly, and the rest of the song was performed among awkward glances back and forth between everyone around the piano. We ended up talking with the guy who had insulted the piano player, and his wife for a while and they were really nice classic Danish folk -that piano player had something up his ass.


Eventually we made it to bed and I slept like a baby through what I'm told was an extremely wavy night. We awoke to conditions that were drastically different -the sun was shining, the wind was absent, and the scenery of the fjords of Norway coming into Oslo was stunning. Now I really want to go to the northern part of Norway and see what the people call the real beauty of Norway -it must be beyond imagination. The picture on the right is a view of Oslo right before we docked.


We grabbed the necessary information from the front desk on the boat, and headed out for a day in Oslo. Looking back on it, I'm kind of glad we had only 8 hours to explore Oslo, because I think that's all we needed. I'm sure there's much more of it to see, but we did and saw pretty much everything I wanted to see.

Based on a whole bunch of information that was dumped upon me at an extensive dinner session by my host family and their relatives, I had a pretty good plan of what to do. We first figured out which train to take to get to "the best view in the city" -confusion was floating in the air at the train station, but we eventually found out where and which train we needed to hop on. The trainride was about half an hour and the entire time we were ascending higher and higher into the coniferous, jagged, and snow-filled mountains of Oslo. This was the first time in a while that I'd seen snow, but I'm pretty sure just about everyone back home is absolutely fed up with the sight. When we arrived at the top the view was breathtaking. I took some pictures, but it's one of those things you can't really capture with pictures -nonetheless, I've compiled a panoramic view of Adam looking over the city of Oslo (see below).



We spent a good amount of time up there just soaking it in, and in heinsight this was probably the coolest part of the trip. There were also a bunch of people that rented sleds who were sledding down the mountain and taking the train back up periodically (above and left). We were seriously considering renting some sleds, but decided not to because of our lack of time and waterproof clothing. We took the train back down and decided to go to the sculpture garden.

It was a huge park filled with stone and metal sculptures of people in iconic poses. Looking back on it, the art really reflected the culture of Norway, specifically the emphasis of children and family-life -many of the sculptures depicted adult figures interacting with childlike figures. Again, we were pressed for time so we didn't explore this area to it's fullest, but got a pretty good idea of what it was about.


We took a pit stop at a "Bagel Juice" café that was ridiculously overpriced -as with everything in Norway- and filled with colorful murals, comfortable couches, and a cozy atmosphere. From here we walked to the Royal Palace, which was quite bland and unroyal if you ask me. I thought that the architecture of the houses and shops we passed on the way were more interesting.


At this point we were back to the city center, and time was running short. We walked along the harbor to Akersus fortress, an earthly castle, church, and prison situated on a high hill and constructed in the middle ages. This was another place that could not really be captured in pictures because it was more than just the sights. The walls were stone and covered in grass, the whole thing was surrounded in a muddy mess, and around every corner was a breathtaking view of theocean. After wandering around the fortress for a while we decided to make our way back to the boat. Our legs were tired, our bodies were still swaying with the sea, and we were fenced in, so it was with much reluctance that we had to walk all the way back around the fortress to get out. Despite the exhaustive circumstances we eventually made it back to the boat before it set sail. We all needed a rest so the next hour or so was spent relaxing/napping in the cabin.




With a little more readiness and familiarity for the journey that lay ahead, we sailed off into the sea while the sun set over Oslo. One of the nicest things they had on the boat was the hot tub, and it was a pleasure to sit and relax in it with some good company and even better scenery. I made myself a sandwich for dinner and started off the night with another musical extravaganza in my room. I mostly wandered around for the next few hours and hung out with the other students from DIS who were also on the boat. Like I said before, there's only so many places to go on a boat, and only so much to do, so the night was spent socializing and dancing. We first hit up the live cover band who were cheasy but perfect for the mood. I got talked into buying three giant Tolberones at the tax-free shop because there was a deal -three for two- How could I pass it up? The night moved from the live band music area to the discotheque where the electronic beats were manifested into a raving dance-a-thon. Eventually I wore myself out and hit the hay, the weather was not nearly as stormy, so the night was actually quite pleasant. We arrived in Copenhagen at about 9:30 AM and we said goodbye to our cabin, packed our stuff and hit the road.

What a weekend. If you had asked me a couple of years ago if I thought I would ever be in Norway, I would have undoubtedly said no. The mood of the trip seemed to reflect the idea of being amazed to be where you are, but it need not only be applied to foreign countries and settings. I think it's more of a philosophy and mindset than anything else. If we were constantly in a state of excitement and exploration no matter where the geographic location, it might make life a little bit easier. Anyways, I'm just rambling at this point, and since I didn't have any time to do homework over the weekend, I gotta get crackin' today.

youtube treasure

If you're bored, and you most likely are since you're looking at this, you might want to check out some amazing youtube videos that have been shared with me in the past few days. Some of them are pretty weird, but I really love the quality of the content, and the craftsmanship of editing that has been put into these videos.

Any of the following will be amazing, so it doesn't really matter what order I put them in...

Here's a band from Copenhagen (click here for information and more videos) called Efterklang, there are a lot of videos on their site, but here are three of the best (in my opinion).

• Illuminant

• Mirador

• Prey & Predator

This next band is called "The Knife" and is from Sweden.

• We Share Our Mothers' Health / Live

I believe this next band, Familjen, is also from Sweden. The video is compiled from an old church meeting, and the first time I watched it, I couldn't stop laughing at 1:20 -I dare you to try and not.

• Det snurrar i min skalle

I can't believe how much youtube has to offer as I'm sure there are countless other extremely creative and hilarious videos out there that I probably will never see. Hopefully the good ones will be weened out from the crap and spread like wild fire through the global word of mouth that has become the internet.

Enjoy!

Midweek mayhem

Returning from the blissful weekend to a fiery Denmark was quite odd, and now today a bomb went off in a tanning salon about 200m away from where my host mom works. Does it have anything to do with the republishing of the Mohammed cartoon? Most people say no, that rather it is an cry for attention by the nydanskere (the new Danes). This particular group of second generation immigrant youth's are caught in cultural identity limbo. That is to say, they are Danish citizens, born in Denmark, but their mothers and fathers are not. They are mostly from Turkey, Pakistan, Somalia, Palestine, Lebanon, and various other areas affiliated with the religion of Islam. The crisis for these youths is that they are not considered Danish mainly because the way they look, and they can't relate to the cultural traditions of their parents because they were born in Denmark.Brief story here

I don't know if the fires and the bombing that took place today are related, or whether any of it is organized in any manner, but the racial tensions between the immigrant population here and the 'ethnic Danes' is growing. On my way home from school on Monday there was a warning being displayed periodically on the LCD screen of the bus that mentioned the word 'nydanskere'. Of course it was in Danish and I couldn't read the rest of it so I don't know what it meant.

I don't really know if there is a solution to this problem except for changing the mental portrait of the nydanskere in the minds of the Danish population. Fires, bombs, and other acts of violence are obviously not the way to be doing this. It's hard for me to understand why they don't realize that the only thing that vandalism and arsonry is going to create is more prejudice and discrimination in their own daily lives. The topic could be, and will be debated in the coming weeks I'm sure, but for now I'm going to focus on other things...


Our group finally came up with an idea for the presentation and paper we having coming up on March 3rd. We're going to be looking at the kindergarten and after-school programs that are offered in the area of Christiania. It will be interesting to see if and how children are taught or treated differently in the notoriously unique area of Christiania versus the way it is being done in the greater Copenhagen area. On the right is a picture of the colorful Dr. Seuss-esque playground of Christiania's kindergarten, located right on the lake. I don't know how easy it will be to accumlate information about this topic due to the fact that everyone who lives in Christiania is usually pretty selective on who they talk to, and don't really take too kindly to strangers. Oh well, should be fun anyways...

I've decided to take an overnight ferry to Oslo, Norway this weekend with a group of DIS students. The cruise-style ship sails from Copenhagen harbor on Friday at 4:30 overnight, arriving in Oslo sometime in the morning -hopefully it will be around sunrise, it would make for some beautiful pictures. I'll be spending all day in Oslo and then sailing back that night and returning to Copenhagen on Sunday. I'm going with 3 people I met over the short study tour to Western Denmark who are all in the same Psychology and Child Development program as me.

(Adam looking over the lake surrounding Christiania)

I mentioned earlier in the blog about a song entitled "Dream inside a Dream" that I was writing, and it's progression is continuing into one of the most beautiful things I've written so far. I'm also working on completing "Beautiful Lies", which is also blossoming into a fantastic song. I might get a chance to record them before I leave for the March Euro trip, so be on the lookout!

A weekend in Western Denmark

So, I've returned from a wonderful weekend in western Denmark with a new perspective on what Denmark is, instead of just what Copenhagen is. Here is the general route that we took over the weekend. I got to know some really cool people, and we stayed in an absolutely gorgeous hostel in Skanderborg -a definite contender for highlight of the trip.

Day 1

We left Copenhagen at around 745AM for Odense, crossing the second longest bridge in the world (or so I'm told). We started off the weekend by touring a kindergarten that was comprised of 90-95% ethnic children from places like Somalia, Turkey, Palestine, etc. The kindergarten was in a heavily populated immigrant neighborhood that was referred to as 'a danish ghetto' only because of the public housing complexes, but there were hardly any signs of blight or crime, and I felt like I was walking through a nice apartment complex. Anyways, we spent some time there talking with the guy in charge and learning about the intensive danish language classes that they offer to children with no danish background. We also learned how they try to 'socialize' or prepare these children for the danish lifestyle by mixing with other, more ethnically danish kindergartens. The highlight of this part of the trip was playing outside with the kids on some, what looked to be homemade, bike-cars.

We took off for Odense, a city of around 100,000 inhabitants in the center of Denmark. Here we were on our own for lunch, and I went to a nice Italian restaurant named "Mama's". I think our waitress was composed more of plastic than flesh, and some of the people I was with didn't exactly get what they were expecting for food, but nonetheless I had some decent to pretty-decent penne with beef and tomato-cream sauce for a reasonable price (as reasonable as it gets here in Denmark). Odense is also the birthplace of the famous writer/artist/creator Hans Christian Andersen. If the name isn't ringing a bell think 'The Ugly Duckling', 'Thumbelina', and 'The Little Mermaid'. The town is extremely proud to be his hometown, and we visited the house he was born in, the H. C. Andersen children's museum, and the adult museum the following day-all of which were very enjoyable.


After lunch we checked into our hostel which was not really what comes to mind when you hear the word 'hostel', but rather when you hear the words 'sweet-ass hotel'. My roommates and I took a walk in the city and got a feel for it before we took off again as a group for the 'Kultur Hus' (Culture House). This was truly one of the most memorable visits in the trip. Upon entry of this so-called 'culture house' I was a little confused as to what exactly it was, and why it was even called a house of culture, but when I left, I knew why. Basically it's a center for mentally handicapped people of any age where they are employed as musicians, artists, bartenders, fabric-makers, and anything in between. The idea behind it roots itself in the fact that a lot of what determines your sense of identity is your occupation -and this is probably the most important aspect of identity in Denmark. In Denmark, the mentally handicapped recieve a considerable sum of money from the government in order to be able to live. Sure, it's enough for food and rent, but money isn't the sole answer. The culture house offers a full-out, top of the line music studio, a bar and cafe with kitchen, a computer lab, an art studio, a fabric/textile making room, a theatre, and a safe environment where the mentally challenged can socialize, and learn important real-life lessons. My favorite part was the music studio -we actually got to hear a performance of the band and it was amazing, every member was rockin' out and having fun. Oh yeah, they provided us with bottled cokes -I think I had like 4 of them by the time I left...

We returned to the hostel briefly, and then headed out to dinner at a Danish-style buffet located right in town. Four words -All you can eat. I don't really know if I really need to say anything else, other than it was delicious and a good group bonding time. After dinner we hung out in the hostel for a bit and hit the town, a smaller and less routey atmosphere than the Copenhagen nightlife.


Day 2

I woke up at the crack of 8AM and was one of the first people to enjoy the bread, jam, cheese, juice, and delicious coffee provided by the hostel. It was a good morning, and after everyone was packed up we checked out and headed for the Hans Christian Andersen museum. We first visited the children's museum which was quite the interactive and wimsicle experience. This museum uses the imagery and creativeness of H. C. Andersen in an interactive way that prompts kids to actively engage themselves and participate in the fairytales that have become culturally ingrained into their lives. They also have a really nice art space in the upstairs that is illuminated beautifully with an abundance of skylights and windows. The art supplies are top quality and some of the artwork that was in there was amazing, and it was all made by the kids! After the children's museum we headed across the way to the adult museum where I learned much more than I knew there was to learn about Hans Christian Andersen. I'll spare you with the details, because it took me about an hour and a half to read his whole life story -time well spent. One of the more interesting things that struck me as a surprise was his ability to draw and create paper cut-outs. The blue, elaborate paper cut-out below was his last and most elaborate.

After a few hours of exploring in the museum we went out to lunch and got some cheap falafel that hit the spot pretty hardcore. These were our last hours in Odense, and reflecting back on it, it was quite an experience and I would like very much to go back sometime -it's only an hour and half by train from Copenhagen!

So we boarded the bus and Otto -"Yo Otto!!"- drove us out to a danish design museum that offered a breathtaking view of a lake with a small town situated on the coast. The museum itself was filled with innovative, creative, and sometimes downright strange furniture and art. I snapped some photos of the art, but as I was setting up my camera for a panoramic shot of the sunlit grass in the foreground of the beautiful lake and danish town it died...I was quite pissed, and because it is a lithium battery I couldn't buy any batteries (either way, the museum didn't sell any). Hopefully I'll be able to snag some pictures from people I was with and give you guys a sense of the beauty and serenity that this view created.

So after a long day of visiting museums and fartin' around we boarded the bus once again and set off for Skanderborg (see map above) for our hostel. This was probably the most beautiful hostel that I'll ever have been at. It was just outside the town of Skanderborg situated amidst a dense forest. The rooms and cabins were situated a stones throw away from the biggest lake in Denmark. As we arrived the sun had begun to set, and it was one of those moments that you really can't describe in words. At this point, I was pretty pissed my camera died, but decided to try to turn it on anyways. I managed to get 3 pictures, and I stole some from my friend, but once again, it's one of those "you had to be there" moments. (Photo courtesy of Vicki). We ate dinner at the hostel and talked about our experiences thus far in a discussion type setting, led by our fantastically goofy professor, Jan. After dinner he proceeded to serenade us with some Flamenco style guitar. It was quite elegant and beautiful. We proceeded to a bowling alley in town and stormed that place like nobody's business. High score for the night -112...yeah, I'm on my way to becoming pro. It was a grand ol' time, and we returned to the hostel to find another group of DIS kids eating dinner and drinking wine -the business kids. One of the guys in our group, and my roommate for both nights -Maury- borrowed Jan's guitar and proceeded to tear it up to an extent that this particular guitar probably had never been torn. We both played each other some shit, but for the most part Maury provided the entertainment of the night as he sang the party favorites at the business kids' cabin all night. The stars were bright, the moon was shining, and everyone was happy.

Day 3

I awoke again at the sharp crack of 8AM and was, once again, the first person down to enjoy the delicious, and eerily similar breakfast of bread, jam, cheese, cornflakes, and coffee provided by the hostel. We packed up and left the hostel for Århus (see above map), the second largest city in Denmark with a population of 300,000. As I was giving a synopsis of the trip to my host mom I referred to this city as Copenhagen's little brother -I'm not sure if I heard that on the guided bus tour that we received upon our arrival, or if I just coined it myself, but I use the term because the city tries to emulate Copenhagen's big-city feel in every way. There's even a royal palace that is used occasionally by the royal family as a sort of second home. It's a beautiful town that centers around it's harbor, and I would also very much like to go back to this city and explore.

After the bus tour we went to a place called Den Gamle By (The old town). It's one of the most popular tourist attractions in Denmark and it features authentic old-town buildings dating back as early as the 1500's. After industrialization, there was a mass disappearance of these types of town centers as they were replaced with factories and the new metropolis. This old town includes everything that would be in a traditional town anytime before the age of industrialization like a blacksmith, a leathermaker, a general store, a barber, etc. They really try to be authentic, and it was very interesting to just be in this kind of surrounding. The weather was not so nice and our tour guide was not so interesting, so most of the time I was just walking around and goofin' with the gang. Again, I was camera-less for this portion of the trip, but I'll probably be able to steal some pictures from someone eventually (above: how I felt without my camera...but actually a picture that was in the Kultur Hus in Odense drawn by a mentally handicapped person).

After a brief traditional Danish lunch in the old town we headed off for a drastic shift in time and focus, to the museum of modern art in Århus. This was really a design spectacle, for there was a huge atrium in the middle of the 8-floored complex, and the outside of the building was an atypical clean and modern red-brick style of architecture. The stairs spiraled up all the way from the basement to the top of the building, and you could even go out on the roof and see a semi-breathtaking view of the city. There was one exhibit that really was amazing, and without a picture words won't do it justice, but I'll try. It was basically a 15ft, incredibly realistic sculpture of a boy wearing nothing but shorts (giant shorts) crouched close to the ground with his head inbetween his hands looking out into space with a reserved, weak, and helpless look. It was amazingly well done and extremely creepy to look at. Other than that, it was a standard modern art museum with multiple floors and an innumerable amount of work each amazing and thought-provoking in their own way.

After this museum we boarded the bus for one final bus ride with our busdriver, Otto -"they call them fingers, but I've never seen then fing." It was about a 5 hour drive back to Copenhagen, and we watched 'A Beautiful Mind' on the way -a phenomenal movie. Everyone was excited to get back, riding on the high that was acheived in a few short days in western Denmark.


If you read this whole thing, congratulations, you pretty much experienced western Denmark and don't ever even have to go there! Just kidding of course, you should go there because it was amazing. I hope whoever's reading this appreciates the depth and time I put into it, and a little feedback would be nice every once in a while -so don't be afraid to comment on whatever, whenever you want.

Most epic post ever.