Money & the Enviornment

How much does it cost to get a cup of coffee?
The cheapest place I found so far was 20 kroner equal to $4 at the 7-11
Also while I am at the 7-11 if I decide to get a diet coke (the 250 ml size) to keep my self up during class after a great night, that will cost me $4
But don't worry, the beer I had the night before was only 10 kroner, or $2

The Danes are extremely environmentally friendly...
In most stores, you don't get a discount if you bring your own plastic bag, you pay if you want to use one of their plastic bags
It is almost impossible to find ziplock bags
You get one kroner for depositing a water bottle (thats 20 cents!) --> it makes up for the $4 you just spent on the bottle
Also, I am pretty sure there are no dryers in the laundry room here...that should be interesting...

Finally...

I found a target!!! I was walking around and stumbled upon some store that is like a mini target/ wal-mart. It was definitely an experience. Imagine walking around in one of those superstores without knowing the language or brands and trying to figure out what you need. The exciting part was that I found Ziploc bags and Vinegar! However, I still like my mustard dressing.

Not so much

So in our orientation they told us not to be alarmed when the Danish make racist jokes and not to take if offensively. I was not particular comfortable or happy about the fact I would easily hear a religious joke while out at the bar. However, I did somewhat understand the explanation. He said that Denmark never had racist past like the KKK. My partial understanding and minute acceptance of this fact changed when I saw “Fuck” and a Jewish star underneath it on a lamp today.

Christiania

Christian is a part of Denmark where they established themselves independent from the country and can make their own laws. I heard from some people that the police still come though; I have not really figured the situation out. Anyway, I visited today and it was like nothing I have ever seen before. It was kind of run down and artsy and looked straight out of the 70s. Christian is most famous for its allowance of pot. There is just tables everywhere of weed spread out; people are so casual about it, its like they are selling regular brownies.

Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures because pictures are forbidden in Christian. When you enter there is a sign that reads “Christiania” and on the back it says, “You are now entering the EU.”

I had my first Danish today in Survival Danish Class. It was delicious and humongous. I think it will be the first and last Danish that I have in Denmark. Well, maybe I will have one more just before I leave.

Home Sweet Home

So my room has no light. There is a lamp stand with no light bulb or shade. I use the bathroom light, the light over my stove and a small desk lamp to “light up” my room. Also, there is no heat; I don’t think I have ever felt heat that comes out of the radiator in my room.

Food

What food? I think it is safe to say my weight will stay the same. I won’t be eating food, but I will be drinking beer. The grocery store is tiny and in Danish. I wanted turkey but got roast beef because it was the only meat that the word was close enough to English. I think the meal bar stash that I brought from home will be gone a lot sooner than I thought. The first few days we ate out and the food was good, just too expensive.

As some may know, my salad dressing of choice is plain balsamic vinegar. However, of course I could find every type of oil, but no vinegar in the drug store. So this left me to get very creative. My new snack is lettuce with mustard and some pepper I fond in the cabinet from the last person who lived here.

Arrival

After my suitcase breaking as it was going into the car and arriving to Newark airport a little less than two hours before my flight before having to dump my suitcase into a new one and hang upside down in the car to find everything in the car that fell out, my trip to Denmark was fairly uneventful. My flight was filled with DIS students but I was next to a very affectionate couple.

We arrived in Copenhagen at 6 30 in the morning and after some disorganization made it to my Kollegium in the afternoon. I have my own room with a bathroom and mini kitchen, its pretty sweet! The bus to school is right outside my Kollegium and it lets me off half a block from school! Cool!!!!

It definitely is winter here but not really as bad as I thought. It’s a lot warmer than where I am coming from.