Little things

So I stumbled upon my blog because I have to make a blog account for a final project for my Geography class, and I realized how much I missed my blog! I am going back to Copenhagen in less than a month, and I could not be more excited... a Christmas in Denmark is just what I need to end 2011.


However, what I most looking forward to now is going home for Thanksgiving in a little more than three days! I have not been home in the Pacific Northwest in ages it seems like. My mother was telling me it is nice and cold, unlike this strange place I am now where there are no seasons:( Another reason I am so excited is that I get to see Martin! It has been the longest since we have seen each other (a little over two months) and he will get to experience my home, and a real American Thanksgiving, 20 pound turkey and all.


Well now I must get to work on that final project, if you are interested it is going to be about exploring the interactions of people and the temperate rain forest of the Olympic National Forest. Sounds thrilling I know, but should be fun:)


Vi ses!

Better late than never

First off, apologizes to my neglected blog. But lately I have not been in the blogging sort of mood, too many things to do, people to see, books to read and etc. since I have finished with my exams.


So over the next few days I will be publishing lots of posts about what has been going on this past month.


22. - 25. May
If you have been reading my posts, you know that for my 21st birthday Martin gave me plane tickets to Paris. So we had a lovely trip in France, my fourth time in Paris actually! We hit some of the must sees, because this was his first time in Paris, such as Notre Dame, Scare Coeur, Louvre, Les Invalides, Eiffel Tower, le Marais etc.


Even though we are both poor students, I managed to find us a nice little hotel near Place de Clichy (XVIIe arrondissement). Although we felt like giants in the small little room with a ceiling that barely accommodated us, it was cozy nonetheless. Plus it is nice to get a break from the hostel life of sleeping with 10 or more people. 


On Monday, Martin finally got his 24th birthday present from me, a wine tasting lunch & a champagne cruise on the Seine. It was through this great company called Ô Chateau (they have student discounts!). We started out with a wine & cheese lunch in the cellar of their new wine bar near the Louvre. On the menu was one champagne, two whites, and two reds - accompanied with an assortment of cheeses from all over France (Comté, Camembert de Normandie, Daint Félicien etc.), tapas, and delicious bread. I can honestly say that I feel more knowledgeable about wine, we learned how to properly taste it and the intricacies of how it is manufactured. Champagne is surprisingly laborious in its production, that surprised me! My favorite white was the 2009 Cote Chalonnaise from Burgundy, and my favorite red was the 2006 Fronton from South West France.


There was a good selection of people at the tasting. Americans, Australians and Canadians... and a Dane;) Some had been to tastings before and clearly knew what they preferred, and others had no clue about anything. But what I liked best about it was the fact that it was not pretentious; although we had a very strongly accented sommelier, he was fun and emphasized the fact that not everyone smells "fresh cut grass, and lemon peel when they smell wine." 

The second part of the day was the Champagne cruise down the Seine, which featured three different champagnes, two white and one rosé. This was a pleasant trip and much more generous than the earlier wine tasting, we easily drank up to seven glasses of bubbly. It was not really a sightseeing trip like other cruises you can take, the sommelier would only stop occasionally to point out highlights - this I did not mind because it was far more relaxing. However, and I think Martin will agree with me, the most entertaining part of the cruise was the family of three from Texas sitting behind us. A daughter and her parents with a very strong Southern accents, they must have originally been from Tennessee or something, were something else. The best quote of the night was when the father said "You're supposed to sip it!" referring to the first glass of champagne in his daughter's hand which was already empty, then she responded "I am sippin' it! My sips just drank it all up." This girl was clearly ready to rock the boat, and did get rather tipsy by the end of the tour. When the rosé came out she just loved how fancy it was, because "they sing about it all this time in rap songs... rosé rosé rosé."


It was truly an enjoyable trip, and a wonderful birthday present. Tak min kærlighed. Vi ses!

Paris after finals

Meaning that I will be posting a lovely blog post about my travels in Paris earlier this week with Martin (it was my birthday present). But I still have two more days of working on my final exam papers, so it will be soon!

Random thought. I hate spraying a sample perfume on myself and then realizing that it actually doesn't smell that good... it's a bad decision that follows you around all day. Vi ses!

Hello, it's Copenhagen calling!

Last Saturday was a great night full of awesomely kitchy pop music, with bizarre costumes and 90s boy-band dance moves. Yes it was none other than Eurovision 2011, broadcasted live from Düsseldorf, Germany. I must admit that I was rather ignorant about the contest, as most americans are. But it is kind of like American Idol in a way, except each country has an original song entry(and they are most often professional singers).


A little history lesson for you guys back home: Eurovision has put many great groups on the international track to success, most successful of which was ABBA. They performed Waterloo at the 1974 Eurovision contest in the United Kingdom. Denmark has won th contest twice: 1964 "Dansevise" by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann, and "Fly On the Wings of Love" by the Olsen Brothers.


Although most of the songs are horribly corny and do not have the deepest of lyrics, it is just good fun. The best thing was seeing how different countries chose to represent themselves, the songs, costumes, dance moves and singers they choose. Although most groups sang in English, a few sang in their native tongues.


The following songs are some of my most favorites and least favorites. Oh and I guess I should say that Denmark came in fifth place, while Azerbaijan won the entire competition and will get the honor of hosting the 2012 contest.


My Favorites
#1 Estonia - "Rockefeller Street" by Getter Jaani (Placed 24th)

#2 Ireland - "Lipstick" by Jedward (Placed 8th)

#3 Denmark - "New Tomorrow" by A Friend in London (Placed 5th)

#4 Moldova - "So Lucky" by Zdob & Zdub (Placed 12th)

My Least Favorite
#1 Sweden - "Popular" by Eric Saade (Placed 3rd)

#2 Georgia - "One more day" by Eldrine (Placed 9th)

#3 Ukraine - "Angel" by Mika Newton (Placed 4th)

#4 Russia - "Get You" by Alex Vorobyov (Placed 16th)

Enjoy. And now wish me luck as I go back to work on my exams! Vi ses.

An interesting day at Udlændingeservice

This past Tuesday I spent the majority of my day at the Danish Immigration Service - no, I am not being deported or kicked out - but I had some matters that did need attending to. Since I was originally supposed to study in Denmark from June to December, my student visa was set to expire in January. However, as we all know things changed and I found myself wanting to stay in Denmark for the remainder of the academic school year. Consequently I took the necessary steps towards extending my visa to June or July, by submitting an application for extension to the Immigration Service back in December. I was told that I would be hearing from them in about 2 to 3 months. 

However, my visa was set to expire in 1 month, ahh! But the kind man at the information counter informed me that I am legally allowed to stay in Denmark after my visa has expired if I have a pending application for extension, sweet right?! Yes - well except for the fact that it is now May and I have still not heard from them about their decision. And even though I am technically allowed to remain living in Denmark, I am not allowed to travel outside the country unless I have a permit that will allow me to reenter Denmark.

Bahh so complicated!

In about 8 days Martin and myself are going to Paris on our little getaway! So this is where we come back to Tuesday. I went in to get my re-entry permit to make sure that I would not be shipped back home, nej tak! When I came into the office I took a number... then I looked at the number being helped at the moment... looked back at my number... then whispered "aww shit." The number being helped was 82 and my number was 202, insert very sad face. I was so glad that I brought a book, or else it would have been even more painful!

Now for the interesting part. It was a very foreign experience for me waiting in that office. From a quick count of almost two hundred, I was 1 of 3 blondes and 1 of 13 Caucasians... I was definitely stared at by many in the waiting crowd. Normally in Denmark and Scandinavian I never feel out of place, but this was a different story. There were many people obviously seeking asylum from their tumultuous countries, others were fighting to keep their work permits, and some were securing the citizenship of their spouses (many of whom were older Danish men trying to keep their southeast Asian wives in the country). It was a weird feeling for me, thinking "here I am sitting and waiting to get some sticker in my passport so I could go on a romantic weekend trip with my boyfriend, whereas others were fighting for themselves and their loved ones to remain in Denmark."

Three hours later I finally received my sticker, and finished my book! And now I can safely travel to Paris and be assured that I can return home to Denmark. Vi ses! 

backstreet boys, curling & sangria

Me at the Castle of the Moors

What do all those things have in common you might ask... well they all remind me of my wonderful trip to Lisbon, Portugal about two weeks ago. The last item on the list is pretty obvious, I had my fair share of this delicious drink (even though it's Spanish) at our cozy hostel - it was refreshing and cheap, perfect! We had some very musically talented people. Often we would end our day of sightseeing by having a drink in the courtyard while listening to fellow travelers play their favorite songs on the guitar. One favorite was backstreet boys... everyone knows the words and "I waaant it thaaat waaay!" It inspired me to make a boy band play list when I got home, perfect for singing in the shower. Lastly curling, next to speed-walking and badminton, it is probably one of the most made-fun-of sports in the Olympic Games. But it surprised me to learn that so many people did not know about it, both Europeans and Australians.

Okay that is it for my random rant. But I very much enjoyed my little get away to sunny and beautiful Lisbon. I had been there once before in 2005 with my family on our European cruise, but only for about eight hours. This time around I got a much better feel for the city, and it surprised me to see that it is exactly San Francisco. The street cars, numerous and thigh killing hills, Golden Gate-esque bridge and the street view that lead straight down to the water.

It was also nice to get a bit of sunshine and warm weather. But I had to lather up on the 50 spf sunscreen because my Danish skin had not see the sun in ages. And I believe that I was quite successful in not turning into a lobster, but I failed to protect the top of my feet which had been covered in sand - very awkward spot, it was painful and looked like I had red socks on haha!

Pena Palace

My favorite thing that we did was visit the town of Sintra, which was a 40 minute train ride outside the city. It was a very historic and beautiful little village that had many fairytale qualities, particularly because of the Pena Palace. I have never seen such a colorful and vibrant castle before and the furniture inside was amazingly crafted. It was built on top of a mountain in the 19th century and has some cool modern features like running water and a very old school telephone. I would have to say my favorite thing was the incorporation of sea life into the architecture and furniture. There was one archway in particular that looked like it was built of coral and had sea shells embedded in the facade, also there were numerous tables that had shells inlaid on the surface and even a little chapel made entirely of shells.

Me very tired from climbing

After thoroughly exploring the Palace we walked over to the Castle of the Moors (Castelo dos Mouros) on the neighboring mountain top. These are considerably older, being built in the 8th century during the time when the Moors controlled most of the Iberian Peninsula. It was an amazing strategic position for the Moors because from the towers you could see over the entire land and the ocean. I pity any soldier who had to patrol those walls though because they were a major bitch to climb! My friend Vanessa and I powered through the steep steps and were rewarded with breathtaking views of Portugal.

One last note worthy thing was the day we went to the Belém district of the city, it was there that I had one of the most amazing pastries. Pastel de Belém is an egg tart which has a flaky crust with a sweet custard like center - and the best thing was that it cost less than one American dollar! Dangerous. Fortunately we were able to go to the 160 year old pastry shop were they were first sold.

Over all it was nice break and escape, but I was glad to get back to Copenhagen which is feeling more and more like home. Additionally it was wonderful to see my dear friend João, who lives in Lisbon, and was able to show us a good time and give splendid advice on things to do, see and eat!

Well I better get ready to go to the airport to pick up my parents! Tomorrow we are renting a car and going for a road trip to Fyn and Jylland to see the cities of our Danish forefathers. It will be nice to see the rest of this country I have fallen so hopelessly in love with! Vi ses.

frustrations

A student hard at work at the Royal Library

If I had 20 danish kroners(crowns) for every time I became extremely frustrated and annoyed with the University of Copenhagen I would be a milliona... no wait this is Copenhagen we are talking about, well I would be one or two steps above a poor American college student.

I probably should not be blogging right now since I desperately need to go to the grocery store and get another million things done, but I needed to rant a wee bit!

Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed my education at the University of Copenhagen immensely and this frustration is mostly due to the fact that I have not become acclimated to their foreign system. Well the frustration started this morning when I went to class and "Ahhhh!" there was no one there... apparently we did not have a lecture scheduled for today. Fair enough, and you might even ask "Isn't that a reason to be happy, no class and it's sunny outside!" That would be my mindset if I didn't have to get my professors signature on my literature list that is due on Friday.

Back story: When you write a final exam paper for a class at KU (Københavns Universitet) you must turn in a large bibliography that includes all the literature you plan on drawing your research from. In my case, as a bachelor student, this list is required to have at least 1.600 pages of research material.

So I spent the majority of my weekend getting this long list of citations together (brought me back to junior high and HID, thanks Mrs. Zapatka!). My grand plan was to go to class today get his signature of approval and then drop it off at the SAXO History Department. This plan was scuttled by the fact that my professor lives on Jylland (the peninsula of DK attached to Germany) and will only be in Copenhagen on Wednesday, which is the day I leave for Lisbon.

But thank god for Martin because he is going to get my prof's signature and turn it in for me... insert sigh of relief.

I am really glad that I have had the opportunity to experience a European University, but I will be glad to get back to a system that I am familiar with and which suits my style of learning better. Vi ses!

headaches & bruises

Are both a sign of a good night for Samantha. Last night was Tietgen's much anticipated Ladies Night. It was good fun dressing up in cocktail dresses and sipping drinks made by hired professional bartenders, at very very discounted prices I might add. In Copenhagen you can easily pay $20 for a good cocktail.

The dorm life in Copenhagen is much different from the dorm life at UCLA. I remember one time my freshman year for instance when we had a beer pong tournament in our common room... well root beer pong that is. Then my sophomore year my roommate Hannah I decided that we wanted to have candles in our room, but when it came time for room checks we had to make sure they were hidden away. I think there would be an all out violent revolt if Danish students were told that they could not burn candles... probably after beer, big windows, and hot dogs, candles have to be one of the most loved things by Danes.

My kitchen's Beer Fridge

And probably the most obvious difference is that every student dorm here in Copenhagen has some sort of bar or party room. Here at Tietgen, arguably the best student residence in Denmark and maybe even Scandinavia, we have contracts with Carlsberg, very smart business move on their part! Because of these agreements each kitchen has their own fridge stocked with any combination of drinks depending on the preference of the people living in the kitchen. Possibilities include an array of Coke products, ginger ale, tonic water (Danes love their gin & tonics), Cocio (heavenly Danish chocolate milk that is ideal for hangovers, definitely had one this morning), Tuborg Grøn, Tuborg gold, Carlsberg classic, regular Carlsberg etc. The Tietgen bar has then been outfitted with taps of various Carlsberg beers.

So it is safe to say that no one has ever gone thirsty in our fair dorm! Or broke for that matter because one beer from the beer fridge only costs about 5,50dkk or about $1, and at the bar all drinks are also cheap.

I think this is a really great style of student housing because instead of dangerously riding your bike home drunk, you can just stumble into the elevator and crawl into your bed... or if you have had a really good night, seek the solace of your toilet, nej tak!

Well this post was mostly just me putting off all this reading that I have piled next to me in the Tietgen study room. Ohh something else to touch upon (haha such a good procrastinator) in addition to facilitating our drunkness and party animal instincts, Tietgen also offers an array of both common and private study rooms which have proven very useful since my final exams are looming. Okie doke guess I better get to it, vi ses!

Life of a Journalist

Well I got my first taste of it this past Monday morning.

After a very productive editorial meeting where I was assigned three articles (pause for celebration!! WOO:), I decided to go to every international students favorite study/coffee spot, Paludan. Just as I sipped my last drops of coffee, fortunately, my phone started buzzing like mad. My editor was calling me frantically asking if I "was home" and if I "knew anything about Radiohead," I responded that I was home (lie, not sure why I said that haha) and that I had heard of them but was not particularly a big follower. "Okay then can you be on the KUA campus in 10 minutes because rumors are circling that Radiohead is going to be there promoting their new album."

In my head I sighed "fuuuuuuuuuck" then I hung up the phone, quickly packed up my bag, threw it in my basket and hopped on my bike. It was quite the bike ride. Heart pumping. Swift pedaling. Crafty weaving. It felt like I was driving my car again! All in all I made it to KUA from the central university campus in 7 minutes. As my bike came to a screeching halt in front of the bike racks my phone started buzzing again. I thought it was going to be more information on where I could find the band, but it was just a text from my editor. "No Radiohead. Just some gossip bullshit." Then I proceeded to laugh. Vi ses!

The weather it is a changin'

Sunrise over Amager

Well ladies and gentlemen it is finally looking like the long cold Copenhagen winter is starting to come to a close. As of two weeks ago the canals were still very much frozen and my radiator was working overtime, but a couple of days ago temperatures reached 15°C (60°F). And despite the blustering winds, which sound like they came out of the Wizard of Oz scene, the skies are beautifully clear and blue!


On Tuesday when I was biking to Danish I noticed people to be more friendly and smiling. Down side was that all the old people who refrain from bike usage during the cold winter months have come back out on the roads and are certainly in no hurry to get anywhere or tell you when they are stopping. But besides that it is a welcome change. Now when I go out the door I no longer have layer myself up like I am going on an Everest expedition... maybe just a base camp expedition;) 


I am looking forward to what the Copenhagen spring brings with it, namely Tivoli opening, the cherry trees blossoming, and biking through the various parks and gardens! One of the things I am most excited about it going out to Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. I was supposed to have gone there on a trip with my Danish Culture class, but I was most likely nursing a severe hangover that morning... oops! They are having an exhibition on Picasso called "Peace and Freedom" that looks particularly enticing. Plus I heard that the views from the museum are supposed to be pretty amazing themselves.


The spring will also bring a few other exciting things with it, like my parents! They purchased their tickets and are going to be flying out late April for a visit. Since they have both been to Copenhagen before, we plan on spending a couple of days here (to meet people mostly) and then renting a car and seeing the rest of Denmark including Jylland and Fyn. My mom is particularly interested in going to Odense and Aalborg, the cities where our ancestors came from.


Another trip which lies in my imminent future is one to Lisbon, Portugal with my friend Vanessa. It is going to be a very relaxed long weekend which we decided will solely revolve around beaches, sangria, and yummy food. I have been there once before with my family when we went on our European cruise, so it will be nice not feeling the pressure to see all the touristy sights. And Paris with Martin is in the making, we have yet to book our flight but it is looking to be in mid May for four nights... so very excited:)


And lastly, the trip that I am probably looking most forward to, Martin and myself will be going north to the island of Læsø to spend a couple of weeks in late June at his family's summer house. Why am I looking forward to this vacation on an island of 2000 people in the North Sea? Well I will tell you

1. For the longest time Martin had a picture of Læsø on his computer and it just looks absolutely gorgeous.
2. I have been promised there will be lots and lots of fresh fish.
3. There has been rumor about a legitimate pizza oven that makes some pretty mean pies.
4. Biking to and from the little village in the sunshine.
5. Going hunting for amber just as the sun rises.
6. Having no homework and being able to relax 100%

And probably the most important reason would have to be spending some quality time with Martin before I leave for the states. 

Hmm the sunshine is looking very very attractive right now and my vacant balcony is calling my name, so I think that will be all for now. Vi ses!

Quick Catch-up!

I feel like an abusive mother who has left her child abandoned in a car, without even cracking a window! Haha yeah the past couple of days and weeks have been very busy, but the funny thing is I cannot think of what I have been doing. Oh well the important thing is that I am back again.


So in order to pick-up again on my blogging I think I shall just give a few highlights of what has happened in the past couple of days, deal? deal!


6. March 

Faxe Stand - Brøndby Stadium

The smell of sweat, grass and dirt are in the air finally and it was time to kick-off the second half of the Danish Football season in the Superliga! Martin, Vanessa and myself took the free train (it was the first Sunday of the month) to Brøndby to watch the Brøndby IF boys take on Lyngby. Thankfully the football gods blessed us that day with blue skies and tolerably cold weather. We made the 3-beer and one Haribo candy bag walk to the stadium, which was made all the more tolerable with a big fluffy beer jacket! 


Once we took our places in the Faxe Stand (where the real dedicated fans stand, sing, jump and cheer) it was kick-off time! One of my many favorite things about Brøndby IF is at the beginning of every home game they play "Jump" by Van Halen when the home team comes walking out and at half time they play "Can't Help Falling in Love with You" by Elvis and everyone sways back and forth with their scarves held high. This is a football club with good music taste. There was also little bit of extra American flare at the match too, because I brought a flag to the game to support the newly acquired American player Clarence Goodson, I felt oddly patriotic. The game was rather enjoyable even though it ended in a 1-1 draw, partly because I was a wee bit tipsy but mostly because I was so happy to be watching football once again. 


I also went to another match last weekend, the 13th, with Martin, Nickolaj and his girlfriend Erika. It was kind of like a double-date football match, very fun and very hyggeligt. The match was made even better by the fact that they beat SønderjyskE 2-0... second place here we come! See the end of the post for a video of the Van Halen introduction at the games.


11. March 
Very early this Friday morning with coffee and bananas in his backpack, Martin and myself biked on over to a movie theater in the center of the city to watch Inside Job. Martin had free tickets to the 9.30 showing because his bank went bankrupt and practically said "Hey we fucked up, sorry. But go see this movie about how screwed up the economy is for free!" Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.


The film was really good, it definitely deserved the Academy Award for Best Documentary Film this year. I have never really understood this economic crisis that we are in, it was just this giant enigma wrapped up in economic jargon, pie charts and red/blue arrows going all sorts of directions... so confusing. However, this film did a very good job at explaining how this all happened. Perhaps it was Matt Damon's sultry voice that helped me make better sense of it, nonetheless I would definitely recommend it to everyone!


Side note it was really funny eating bananas in a movie theater! They should really catch on, quite food and if the movie is bad throw the peel at the screen.


14. March
The reason I bring up this date is simply because I was really proud of the compliments that my professor gave me in my History of the European Union class. We had to write up a synopsis of what we were going to write our final paper on and then discuss all the proposals in class. I was a bit intimidated having a prof critique my paper in front of my classmates, but my worry was proved needless. Morten (in the Danish universities it is preferred that you call the prof by their first name, very informal) thought it was well focused, thought out and a really great jumping off point to my exam paper. 


For all those curious academics, I chose to write my paper on the legal framework of Protected Geographic Status in the EU. I am going to be asking the questions: What were the driving forces behind the creation of the Protected Geographical Status? Perhaps discuss which countries and industries were elemental in its creation and who, if anyone, opposed the labels. Secondly, I will analyze to what extent these regulations have actually succeeded in preserving local expertise and tradition, whilst preventing the over standardization of food, wine and spirits within the European Union. To give an example of what these labels are, if you buy Champagne you are guaranteed that the grapes for that wine were grown in the Champagne region of France because it is against the law to call something Champagne if it does not come from there. Additionally there was a recent court case between Denmark and Greece, because Denmark was producing Feta cheese and selling it under the name "Feta," however Greece protested because that name is a protected name so Denmark had to change the name to "salad cheese." Interesting, eh?


17. March 
"I dag er din fødselsdag, hoorah hoorah hoorah" Yes yesterday was Martin's birthday, the big 24 woo hoo!! It was a wonderful day. In order to have a real Danish birthday breakfast we biked over to a bakery on Islands Brygge to get some freshly baked pastries. Once back home we ate our Danish delights and drank Starbucks Mocha Lattés (the kind you buy in 7Eleven), it was a very decadent start to the day. Then it was time for a little Band of Brothers watching, courtesy of the gift that my parents gave. 


Later on we biked over to his place and had a sampling of brie cheese, blue cheese, salami, chorizo and crackers with a lovely French wine. It was kind of my interlude to telling him that his birthday present from me was a wine tasting class in Paris, when we go for my birthday... I honestly cannot stop daydreaming about our trip together, can't wait!


After relaxing at his place and watching the weather quickly turn from decent to dårligt. As it began to rain more and more and then quickly turn to slushy snow we decided to forgo the energy and money saving bikes and seek the warm interior of the city buses instead. So the 5A it was to the sushi restaurant at which I made reservations. We indulged in a platter of sushi for two, edamame, seaweed salad, Asahi beer and a small bottle of the warm house Sake. It was a lovely day with the birthday boy! And on Sunday I have been invited to a family get together to celebrate not only Martin but his aunt and cousin who coincidently have the same birthday, I am looking very much forward to meeting more of the Ast/Grand family:)


Well that did not take too long. It gets rather overwhelming when I do not update my blog for a long time because I feel like I have to catch up on EVERYTHING that I have done, but it is pretty easy just to hit the highlights... no more slacking on the blog, promise! Vi ses.

 

Birthday Video

Here is a compilation of the videos taken on my birthday, enjoy!

Jeg er enogtyve!!

I am twenty-one!! Finally.


Well it is official ladies and gentleman I have finally reached that magical, mythical age of 21, and how does it feel you ask? Honestly not much different simply because I have been living in Europe for the past 7 months, buzz-kill right?! However when I go back to the states I have a feeling it is going to be weird the first time I get carded. So as promised in a previous post I will recount my danish "fødselsdag" festivities.


The morning started off early with a certain someone singing a very cute danish birthday song about chocolate milk and cake, it goes like this:

I dag er det Sams fødselssdag 

Hurra, hurra, hurra! 

Hun sikkert sig en gave får 

som hun har ønsket sig i år 

med dejlig chokolade og kager til

Translation:

Today is Sam's birthday 
Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! 
She'll probably get a present 
For which she has been wishing 
All with tasty chocolate and cakes

While eating breakfast I made some birthday Skype calls to my mom and dad. It was really strange not seeing my parents on my birthday, the first time I believe. And after Martin left for work I cleaned myself up for class. No I am not lying, I did in fact go to class... well for the first hour at least! I simply had too many errands to run before my little party at 17:00.

With my wallet full of danish kroner from my Mom, Dad, and Grandmother I commenced my shopping adventure on Strøget. Before I set out on this mission I promised myself that I was only going to buy things that are unique to Copenhagen, so that meant no Urban Outfitters or H&M. My first stop was Georg Jensen, who was a Danish silversmith in the late 19th century, and today his collection is sold worldwide and is like a danish Tiffany's, in my opinion. After some researching online I had decided that I was definitely going to buy something from the 'Daisy' collection, designed for the reigning Queen Margrethe II. I could not decide between a pendant necklace or a ring; for Christmas Martin gave me a pair of earrings that I absolutely love. After trying both on, consulting the friendly girl helping me (who had the strongest Australian accent! Danes tend to be like chameleons when it comes to their English accents I find), and doing a fair amount of talking to myself (I tend to do that when making decisions) I purchased a sterling silver ring!

The next stop, which is conveniently just down the way, was Nørgaard på Strøget, a beautiful ivy covered store which sells clothing from the Danish designer Mads Nørgaard. I bought a really nice wool sweater that has colorful diagonal stripes, very danish looking. I had seen it on his website under the new spring collection and was happy to see that it was even cuter in person... and on me! *for a picture see the last picture and video in this post*

Although I had only spent about a quarter of min fødselsdag penge, or "birthday money," I decided to call it a day on the shopping and avoid hasty purchases that I would later regret. Plus I had received an SMS from Amager Blomster (a flower shop near where I live) saying that I had some flowers that needed to be picked up!But three days later I went to Field's (Scandinavia's largest shopping mall) and bought a Fjällräven backpack (in Ox Red) and a Bodum French Press, the coffee press is Danish but I strayed from the theme on the backpack but hey Sweden is close!

To my great surprise I had a beautiful basket of flowers from my parents waiting for me at Amager Blomster! The first of three flowers that I got on my birthday... I love how full of color they make my room, especially in this bleak Copenhagen winter. I returned home just a few minutes before Martin who had a dozen or so gorgeous red tulips with him. Pressed a bit for time, I quickly immersed them in some water and we rushed off hand-in-hand to Netto to acquire the ingredients necessary for a real Danish Fødselsdag. But not before he informed me of what my birthday gift was... a plane ticket to Paris in the spring! He has never been and we have often been day dreaming about drinking (bottles) of wine with cheese and baguette on the banks of the Seine - and soon those daydreams will be a wondrous reality. 


At Netto we bought Lagkage "layered cake", Fødselsdag Boller "birthday buns", and Varm Chokolade med fløde "hot chocolate w/ cream." Martin and I made all these delightful things before my guests started arriving, it was good fun except for the fact I could not seem to follow instructions haha!

Lagkage or "Layered Cake" with bananas & raspberries

Then around 17:00 people started arriving to my kitchen in Tietgen. My guests included Martin's Aunt Mette, his best friend Nikolaj and his girlfriend Erika, Vanessa, Katinka, Frederik, Sofie & Oliver. It was a nice little gathering and very very hyggeligt*see next post for video*


Once the candles were extinguished by yours truly, we indulged in the decadent birthday feast, which might I say had zero nutritional value... oh well, fødselsdag only comes once a year! While digesting the massive amounts of sugar we had just consumed, my friend Katinka suggested that I partake in another danish tradition. I stood on top of a chair and waited there while everyone else whispered "hoorah" 20 times and then on the loud 21st "hoorah" I jumped off the chair and into a new year in my life. See next post for the video, and feel free to marvel at my mad jumping skills. Also you can tell that I am nervous, as I play with the danish flag next to me haha!

After the dishes had been washed, the left over lagkage wrapped up, and final "tillykke med fødselsdagen" or "happy birthday" uttered, myself and Martin were starved for some real food, of which we had none that day. We had a very danish meal of leverpostej, mushrooms and pickled beets all on top of rugbrød or "rye bread." And in true 21st birthday fashion, in the states at least, we decided to brave the cold sub-zero winds and biked to my favorite café/bar Bang og Jensen. Although I was not carded it was still fun to take a picture with my first legal drink and say "Hey I am 21 and I can drink!" Being a Monday night the bar was deserted but it was really cozy with all the candles, the music and the snow fluttering outside the window. We almost closed the place down as Martin and I leisurely drank our beers and talked about everything and anything. 

It was a perfect birthday in Copenhagen and certainly one to remember. Not because of the drunken stupor, the fact that I got carded for the first time or the infamous 21 bar crawl; but because of the new traditions I got to experience and the new friends who celebrate min 21st fødselsdag with me. Vi ses!

Last day of being "illegal"

For some unknown and very unforeseen reason I have actually started enjoying this whole blogging business. There are about 10 more minutes on the enchiladas that we made, so plenty of time to make a quick update and comment on some interesting sightings I have been meaning to write about.

One night when going through the check-out with Martin in Netto (Danish grocery store chain, that is might I say "off tha' chain!") I glanced behind the checker at the products behind glass. As one might guess it was mostly items that you would expect to see back there, cameras, digital frames, fancy perfume etc. However I was a little taken back by five items located on the third shelf far right. It was none other than western Washington's pride and glory (NOT!) The Twilight Saga; yes apparently danish grocers feel that these books require protection behind padlocked plastic doors. But the funny thing was that they were not even that expensive haha! The fifth item that I found bizarre (because there are 4 Twilight books) was a sealed silver bag which contained  D&G men's underwear... strange.

Tomorrow is the fateful day of my 21st birthday, WOOOOOOOOOOO! Although it is rather anticlimactic and obsolete, my turning 21 in Denmark where I could have been legally drinking for the past five years, I am still very excited for a Danish Fødselsdag or "birthday" as you might have guessed. Danes love their birthdays, and I cannot wait to see what a proper fødselsdag looks like. I will definitely be posting a birthday post later this week all about it and hopefully with some great pictures.

Success

Well enchiladas are smelling good and done, so vi ses min kære venner!

A couple of great days

Friday 11.2.2011

I love seeing new parts of Copenhagen, I feel like I am slowly adding pieces of this wonderful city together like a puzzle... and hopefully when I leave I will have an accurate picture and idea of my Scandinavian home. So Friday night I got to experience another part of the city (well an outlying suburb) called Albertslund. This so called "ghetto" part of Copenhagen is where my boyfriend grew up and don't worry everyone, contrary to his sporadic flashing of the "A-town" hand sign he is not ghetto in the least haha! When I use this word "ghetto" it is of course in the Danish sense, compared to South-Central in Los Angeles it is quite tame. But nonetheless they probably have a higher occurrence of crime than other parts of the city, I was told by more than one Dane not to go there by myself at night.

Martin and myself went to Albertslund to have dinner with his dad and afterwards go to a concert. We ate in a little shopping complex at a Turkish (although I kept on wanting to call it Greek... oops!) restaurant called Marmais. The food and beer was delightful! For some reason I feel like Mediterranean food is best showcased in a buffet, so I found it to be more than ideal... and yummy! Not to mention it was very "hyggeligt" talking with Martin and his Dad over dinner and a couple of beers.

Niels Skousen & Band

Afterwards we walked over to Forbrændingen, the concert venue, to see Niels Skousen. Even though I was easily the youngest person in the crowd and most likely the only non-Dane, I had a lot of fun! Skousen's music was really enjoyable. He received a lot of his inspiration from Bob Dylan, and has really good guitar melodies with deep, sometimes satirical, lyrics (as I have been told, I must see them translated). I think my favorite songs were "Go' Aften Danmark," which was commenting on the danish talk shows like "The Today Show," and "Herfra hvor vi står." That last song is his most popular one and it was really cool when he played it because everyone, including the bartenders who mounted the bar table, linked arms and joined in singing. Here is a sample of his music, it is a song called 68.

Saturday 12.2.2011

Small Local Train near Brede

I got yet another piece of the Copenhagen puzzle the next day as Martin, his mom, sister and I took the train north to Brede. In the summer I went to the Frilandsmuseet, or the Open Air Museum near Brede, where they have centuries old houses from all over Jylland, Fyn and Sjælland. We went to Brede to visit Martin's "mormor" or grandmother. Side note: One of my many favorite things about Danish is that the names for grandmother and grandfather make so much sense, for instance your mom's mom is "mormor" and your father's mother is "farmor." So there is no need to ask that usual follow up question of "now, what side is that on, your mothers or fathers?"

I found it to be very fun and interesting to interact with a Danish person from an older generation. Martin's mormor lived in Denmark during WWII and the German occupation, her husband actually participated in the Danish Resistance movement. She was very sweet and I was shocked at how well she spoke English, apparently she speaks it about four times a year because she has friends from the Netherlands with whom she speaks in English with for birthdays, Christmas etc. Our "frokost" or lunch was delightful. The best part about it was all the pretty plates, I felt as if I was having a tea party but with delicious Danish food! My favorite part of the meal was the coffee and cake at the end. The cake had a fudge type top layer with vanilla cake underneath, but the best thing was the marzipan crust around the edges.... ohhh so good!

Here's Looking at You Kid

For the first time in 21 years I have not had the pressure of being in a relationship for Valentines Day shoved down my throat. I think it is that peer pressure and the reminder that you are single makes Valentines Day a most dreaded day for all those single ladies (though the song helps a bit, right?)


So as luck would have it, my first time spent away from all that madness is the first Valentines day I have actually had a valentine! Although it is a bit of a silly holiday, I must admit it is nice to do something special, exciting, and out of the ordinary with the person you love. Accordingly when I woke up that morning I made the chilly wind-blown walk to Superbrugsen, a local grocer, to shop for ingredients for Martin's Valentines Day surprise. I decided that I was going to make something sweet from my Lion House cookbook (a.k.a. Mormon Cookbook) that my Mom gave me for Christmas. Being my first time baking in Denmark I figured to go with something familiar, and what could be more familiar than snickerdoodle cookies?! This posed its challenges though. Sure butter, flour, sugar and vanilla are easy enough to find once you translate them; however, cream of tartar proved to be difficult to find. I researched online substitutions for this ingredient and found that if I left out both the cream of tartar and baking soda then I could just use baking powder instead... and fortunately I was able to find that! I also grabbed some corny looking pink and purple heart sprinkles, just for the hell of it.

Valentines Day Snickerdoodle Cookies

After my shopping adventure I was a good student and went to class, I found it hard to pay attention to European integration in the early 1950s when I was trying to calculate how much baking powder I should use. After class I began my first shot at baking in this foreign metric-using land. Sadly I did not have the convenience of my mom's Kitchen Aid mixer, so I used my muscles and whipped up these suckers by hand. Judging from the final product I think it turned out well, I would give myself a A- because it probably could have had a bit less baking powder.


Martin then came over after work with beautiful danish tulips in hand, then I led him blindly to a mountain of sugary Mormon goodness. After indulging in some of my baked goods he informed me that we should probably not eat too many because he had made dinner reservations. Around 1700 we made our way over to Christianshavn, a neighboring area just north of where I am living that I would love to explore more. We ate at a restaurant called Kanalen. I really fell in love with this little restaurant located right on a canal, in fact it was so small that the kitchen was actually located across the street! The interior was the epitome of danish design and simplicity. And the food? Oh lord. Words cannot describe the pleasure that my mouth experienced (hmm why does talking about food always sound sexual haha!). So instead of trying to gush about how good it was I will just tell you what it was and you can fantasize and drool on your own accord:

On the Table: 

(most likely) Danish butter with sea salt on top and

some freshly baked bread

Starter:

Slightly salted salmon from The Baltic Sea with salad of Jerusalem artichokes, apples, water cress and mild horseradish

Entreé:

Roasted veal fillet and braised veal brisket with baked celeriac, sauce with olives and Pommes Savoyard 

Dessert:

Baked red orange with carrot sorbet and crisp licorice

And of course we washed that all down with a bottle of red wine. It was truly a dining experience to remember, not only because of the food but also the company.

Danish Tulips

As we digested our world class cuisine and braved the below freezing gusting winds, Martin and I walked out and stood at the edge of the harbor. I love looking at Copenhagen from the water at night, being able to see both the historical and modern sights lit up and reflected in the water. To our right we saw the centuries old Børsen or Stock Exchange and the rooftops of Christiansborg or Parliament. And to our left we saw the modern Skuespilhuset or Royal Danish Playhouse, the Operaen or Opera House, and in the distance Holmen where you can experience Danish Naval history and see the Sælen!

Once we returned back to Tietgen, frozen from the wind, I decided that we should watch Casablanca because neither or us had ever seen it and wanted to know what all the fuss was about. I enjoyed the film, it had some very clever writing and interesting cinematography.

So yeah I had a pretty amazing day, thanks to someone very special. I hope everyone else had an enjoyable 14th of February. Vi ses!