back in baltimore

i have been back stateside for almost a week now, and it has been wonderful! i had such a terrific time in denmark-- i thoroughly enjoyed copenhagen and feel so fortunate to have had that opportunity. however, one of the most important parts of travel is how it makes you appreciate your home in a new light. especially after studying immigration issues in denmark, i have a serious, newfound respect for ethnic relations here. of course there are problems and we have a long ways to go before everyone is on an equal footing in american society, but compared to the pretty blatant disapproval and tension i witnessed in copenhagen i feel that american race relations are not too bad. it was so wonderful to come back to a place where, for the most part, diversity is both a certainty and something to be celebrated. seeing so many different types of people-- in terms of age, size, ethnicity, politics, religion, social interests, dress, etc.-- was a really welcome change from denmark, where i often felt that i was being stared at for wearing a bright red ski coat instead of a black jacket all winter. it seems that conformity is the ideal in denmark, so i was more than ready to come back to the land where we pride ourselves on standing out. i value uniqueness too much to fit into danish society!

another major difference (and something that i have experienced in a mild form of reverse culture shock) is how open and friendly americans are. on my second day back i took a city bus and saw a woman tap the old, slightly disheveled man in front of her, ask if she could fix his collar for him, and proceed to fiddle with his collar until it laid smooth. it was great. later that day a bus driver gave me a free ride to where i needed to be because i was exhausted from walking around in the heat lost for an hour. further examples came with the helpful customer service at the grocery store (i forgot american checkers stand up, make small talk, and even bag your groceries for you-- without charging for plastic bags!!! and they are open in the evenings and on sunday!! certainly not the case in denmark!) and a genuinely apologetic waitress who felt awful that they were out of what we ordered. i am still used to strangers saying hello on the street, which i forgot happened during my four months among mostly private, straight-faced danes.

of course i have taken pleasure in other joys of american life as well: namely, food. i was so happy to once again taste cheddar cheese, veggie burgers, bagels, mint chocolate chip ice cream...perhaps this reinvigorated interest in american food (amerikansk mad, in danish) will motivate me to do some more cooking. it hasn't so far but it has been hard without much kitchen stuff!

speaking of which, i love my lovely rowhouse! timmy did a fantastic job picking the place out, and then moving all of our stuff single-handedly! i came home to the new place with virtually all our stuff in boxes and suitcases, so i spent the first few days focusing my energy on moving in. i am so excited to decorate and settle in-- i love that stuff! the location feels quite urban, certainly more than i'm used to, but in a good way. in less than 20 minutes i can walk to johns hopkins (and the many bus routes located near it), the neighborhoods of charles village and hampden, the baltimore museum of art, two of my favorite restaurants of all time, a gorgeous park, a grocery store, pharmacy, etc...

my parents are visiting next week and i am really looking forward to seeing them and showing them around charm city. it will also be invaluable to receive interior design guidance from my mom!

last days in københavn

it is hard to believe but i am finished with all of my academic work here! i just took my very last final and am not sure what to do with myself now! i got excited and already started packing up my stuff, so that won't take much more time. i leave on sunday but have a good 48 hours left that i don't want to waste. not having a job this semester has been strange and then without classes to structure my day it has been even more odd. i am really looking forward to getting back to the states, moving in to my new home in baltimore!, and then eventually establishing a routine again. i will be interning at the maryland state arts council from june 1- august 15, which sounds like it will work out just swimmingly!

i have been doing some fun things of late. namely, sitting in various parks around town and just enjoying the glorious nordic springtime. last weekend i planned on going to see møns klint, white cliffs on an island south of copenhagen, with some friends-- but due to transportation and other difficulties, we made it about half-way there, to the medieval market town of køge, and ended up hanging out in their public park for most of the day instead. it has been a pleasure to study for my finals outside, although i'm sure it would have been more productive indoors.



another fun day outside was spent at the annual DIS picnic, where all 600 students plus their host families, danish roommates, etc. are invited to celebrate the semester. it took place last sunday in the utterly amazing charlottenlund strandpark in the affluent "whiskey belt" north of copenhagen (sort of like boston's north shore). i had a great time with my host family and friends there together-- and my little host brother johannes (who turns two this weekend!) really bonded with my friend alex!




i have also spent a lot of my last few weeks here looking at buildings. last week i had a great field study with my history of copenhagen class to some new development areas in the "brownfields" (former industrial sites) around the harbor. some of the projects are really interesting, such as cantilevering luxury condos around two old silos (see below-- the gemini residences) and hiring dutch architects to create a very upscale yuppie amsterdam-inspired district of houses on the harbor.



finally, i have been enjoying biking around my house lately. i am very grateful to my host mom for lending me her bike and to denmark for building bike lanes. i have discovered an amazing park just a few minutes away from me that is just perfect for an afternoon adventure. one of the coolest parts about the copenhagen area is that the municipalities have gone out of their way to balance developments with green space. in fact, as early as 1947 they adopted the "finger plan" to keep suburban development along the five railroad tracks extending from copenhagen-- and to ensure green lungs between each "finger" of suburbia. it really does improve your quality of life to know that no matter where you live, you aren't too far from a luscious, well-maintained park! good job, denmark...

springtime in copenhagen

københavn really transforms in the springtime-- everyone comes out of their hygge home and goes to the park! until this wekk, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous since i got back from the break— just perfect for enjoying an ice cream outdoors. it is warmer and lighter and i really feel like i have gotten to know the city well. classes will be done tomorrow and i have a strange amount of free time on my hands. i just finished my danish oral exam (i managed to get an A, but it doesn’t really matter because i am taking it pass/fail!) and just have a few finals left after that.


last week was a holiday called først maj, or first of may, that is best described as socialist labor day. i went to the biggest park in copenhagen with literally thousands of other people—apparently there were some 100,000 people there. it was outrageous! while there were some socialist speeches, a parade, and some booths set up with political agendas, most people were there to sit in the park and party. it was like gig (get into goucher day, an annual springtime tradition that involves the entire student body having a good time on the quad) x 1000. besides the sensory overload, our drunk neighbors hitting their soccer ball into our area, and the vast number of men peeing in the open, it was nice. i just like the idea that so many copenhageners hang out together in one public space. there were all types of people-- including the omnipresent adorable danish baby brigade-- all sharing the park. i am really glad i went! the day before i had spent a total of about four hours in the park closest to dis, called h.c. øresteds parken, doing a variety of things: eating lunch with friends, having our last danish class session, then chatting for a few hours with my danish class... i am really going to miss the laid-back and nearly universal danish appreciation for a good urban green space in which to sun oneself, have a picnic, and see friends!

other recent events include a class trip to the sandholm asylum center (where all refugees and other asylum seekers spend their first and last days in denmark...a strange alternate universe where people live for years without being able to engage in the real world in any way), the open air museum (a sizeable collection of historic buildings from across denmark gathered in one place), celebrating the queens birthday (dronningens fødseldsdag) by watching an anticlimactic wave from her balcony, shopping at the only dollar store in dk, eating lots of ice cream, sitting at the picturesque harbor (nyhavn), getting together with my lovely danish friends/acquaintances, riding my first roller coaster at the folksy bakken amusement park, visiting the historic roskilde cathedral, riding my bike (so much fun!), babysitting my host siblings, enjoying pretty much every moment of my history of copenhagen class/feeling more confident in my recent decision to go into urban planning, accompanying my friend katie to "copenhagen body extremes" to get her nose pierced, writing term papers, going out to dinner with my classmates, and many afternoons of sitting in the park. perhaps the most exciting news of the last week, however, is that i will definitely be moving into a cute rowhouse in the remington area of baltimore (close to johns hopkins univ. and the baltimore museum of art) with my boyfriend, timmy! he signed the lease yesterday and will begin moving this weekend! i am going to soak up these last two weeks in denmark and but am really, really looking forward to moving in this summer!

manchester

i am happy to report that i was very pleasantly surprised with the city of manchester. although i must confess it wasn’t my top choice of places to go and i have never felt a strong desire to visit england, it was on the top of timmy’s list because he is a passionate soccer fan. he bought tickets to see his beloved team fulham play against manchester city a while back and we planned our trip around that. i found that manchester, however, has much more to offer the world than just soccer. i was relieved to return to a place where i could understand the language, although some accents we heard were so thick i had trouble determining which language they were speaking!

my initial impression of manchester was surprise that it was so cute and charming. it, like gothenburg or even baltimore and pittsburgh, is known for its past as an industrial capitol and not so much as a tourist destination today. from an urban planning perspective manchester is a fascinating place because of its many successful urban regeneration projects. we passed quite a few old mill and factory buildings that have been converted to condos, offices or mixed-used facilities. they also had an awesome arts and crafts center housed in a small factory building in the hip northern quarter, where a dozen or so local artists had studio and exhibition space. i was also impressed with their “urbis” center, a combination museum, tv studio, classroom, community center, shop and café all in a striking glass structure in the heart of the city. they had a very thorough exhibit on black panther artist emory douglas, which was interesting to see american history presented from a british point of view. urbis reminded me of baltimore’s creative alliance but on a much larger scale—it could serve as a source of inspiration for many community arts organizations. the people we saw, a strangely large percentage of whom were men, were mostly dressed as if it was summer. granted, the temperature there was the warmest of all of our destinations, but i found it strange that in early april so many people were walking around in shorts and tank tops. the weather was ideal for people watching in the park, which we did plenty of!

most memorable in england and perhaps the whole trip were two events on our last day of traveling, easter sunday. we did some research and decided to attend the easter service at manchester’s gothic cathedral. although i had never experienced an easter service and thus have nothing to compare it to, this traditional church of england service involved a lot of incense, singing, and interesting costumes worn by church officials. i wasn’t always sure what was going on but it was very interesting to observe from a cultural standpoint. later that day we took part in a ritual of the other national religion: soccer. it is hard to describe (you can see timmy’s blog for his take on it) but was quite an experience as well. as fans of the away team, we were segregated in a section constantly guarded by two rows (on each side) of security guards. fulham is not known for their tendency to win while playing away, but they surprised us all with a 3-1 win over the home team. my favorite part of the game was observing the crowd repeating their chanting taunts and erupting with joy at every goal. it is clear that soccer (or football, as it is known there) is more than just a hobby for these people, but a passion that absolutely defines their lives. it was through a mutual love of fulham that we found a place to stay our last night of the trip— we were greeted at the airport by an enthusiastic fellow fan named dan who let us stay in his family’s delightful home in acton town, london. it was a warm end to a wonderful trip and i am very grateful to dan for that. before flying back to copenhagen in the afternoon i did get a chance to meet up with a friend of mine, anne, who has been at oxford this year. it was great to reconnect with her and see how she has thrived in her new life in the uk.

i feel infinitely lucky to be able to have experienced all of these places and to have shared it all with timmy. it certainly energized me for future travels, especially in england and further into eastern europe, but also exhausted me. i was happy to return back to copenhagen and to wash some of my clothes. i am really going to try to appreciate every single second of my life in copenhagen for this next month but i must say i am really looking forward to returning to the states as well!