this friday was a bit more exciting than last friday, but of course my night has ended early again. that’s my way of living life, no matter where i am: go to bed early, get up early! i’m going to try to branch out and trying the nightlife a bit, but i’m much too tired for that tonight…
this afternoon i met up with “dis network” buddy. the network is intended to link young danes with DIS students, since a common complaint is that the “island program” makes it difficult to meet people who are not american. at any rate, my partner in this is, like me, 20 years old and studying sociology. i think we’re going to get along swimmingly. we met for coffee and intended to go to this really hygge (rough translation: cozy) coffee shop but it was too full for us to sit down. so we headed to baresso, a chain equivalent to the starbucks of denmark. i thoroughly enjoyed my 30 dkk “varm chokolade.” actually, it was probably the strangest but best hot chocolate i’ve ever had...but for about $6 it had better be! i was handed two glasses: one with only whipped cream in it, and the other with warm milk and a stir-stick. as i stirred the second glass it turned brown. i guess a chunk of chocolate was stuck onto the end of the plastic stick, and then i stirred to make my own hot chocolate. strange but delicious.
after the coffee stop we (four of us total: two DIS kids and two danes) ventured onto the longest pedestrian shopping street in the world (not sure how much of a claim to fame that is…), stroget (pronounced straw-ugh). sorry about all the parenthetical comments there. in any case, i’d walked down it many times before but never dared to venture into any stores because they were clearly light-years out of my price range. it was an absolute pleasure to check them out. we saw cutting-edge danish design right in front of us. whether it was the rigorous precision of the designer furniture store illums bolighus—my personal favorite—or chic and completely impossible-looking clothes in the many boutiques, it was such a treat to actually go in and interact with all these valuable objects. danish design is awesome because the relationship with the beholder really is something unique. i was surprised at the cheery salespeople, who didn’t even mind my taking pictures in the stores and were not pretentious in the least.
oh, and before this little adventure i went to the statens museum for kunst, or state art museum, briefly with my friend caroline. it is free, about 15 minutes by foot from dis, and overwhelmingly gigantic. we did a quick walk-through of the main rooms, including their exhibits on frames as art and one on national identity, but i will definitely need to return with either more time or a more precise idea of what i want to see.
yesterday i had the pleasure of exploring some gardens in the area. my first stop was orsteds parken, a lovely lake and walkable public garden less than 10 minutes on foot from DIS. after witnessing lots of seagulls and ducks walking on a frozen pond, i moved on to the botanical garden, just a few minutes up the road. this was awesome. i had a good time in their greenhouses, which you can enter for free and walk through atop a balcony. the humidity felt great! i am really looking forward to returning here in the spring and picnicking on the benches. the final park of the day, just across the street from the botanical garden, was the king’s gardens at rosenborg castle. these were equally impressive in that they were immense and immaculately taken care of. again, probably more pleasant when it’s above freezing, but still quite nice for a stroll.
and on wednesday, i made it to the little mermaid statue that gets so much attention (i found it kind of underwhelming). i took an optional bus tour, which was a bit longer than it could have been, but it was nice to meet some more people. wednesdays are wonderful because we do not have classes. i love all my classes, but it is unspeakably awesome to be able to stay up late tuesday night, sleep in wednesday, then have the day to explore and recharge before the second half of the week begins. it’s also great to take care of business and errands considering most shops/offices are closed on the weekends…
here are some shots of my closet (see anything out of the ordinary?) and my host brother johannes:
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