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!