The Next Thing on My List

I just wanted to write a little bit about things I miss. I don't want to sound whiny, like I can't live without these things. I just wanted to let everyone know that they should be thankful for the things they're given, especially:

1. Peanut Butter - they aren't big fans of Jif over here, most likely because the peanut butter in this country tastes like crap. It's grainy and kind of separated, and nothing like the sensation of pure joy on my tongue that Reduced Fat Peter Pan gives me.

2. Free Bags at the Grocery Store - that's right. In Europe, you pay to sack your food purchases, or you bring a bag of your own.

3. Private Transportation - this one I don't miss very often. It's only when it's late and I'm tired, I've been walking all day and then I have to walk to the bus stop or even worse, all the way home. I enjoy walking a lot, especially on the really pretty days when I'm wearing comfortable shoes. But I miss my crappy Pontiac sooo much at 1am in spike heels, on the way home from a friend's house.

4. Sunshine - here, the sun doesn't come up until almost 8 am, and it sets around 5 pm. When it is up, most of the time it's cloudy. I'm really missing the bright sunshine of Oklahoma/Texas. I'm sure I won't miss it when summer comes, and you guys are dying in 100 degree heat, but for now, I could use some sun.

That's all I can think of now, but I'll add more as they come to my mind.

Analysing What's Available (and What's Not)

This weekend was good. Everyone is comfortable enough now in their new places to start throwing parties, and there were two this weekend.

The first one was at Teknolog. Most of the Italians live there, and they cooked dinner for a girl they lived with, since it was her birthday. A lot of people came - most of the Italians, most of the Spaniards, the Americans, the Dutch. I got to talk with everyone, and I had a good time. I met some Danish guys through my friend Emily. One was very attracted to her, and asked Enzo (our Italian friend) to introduce him. So I met him and his two friends, and we all hung out together that evening. It was good to meet a Dane in a social situation. The only other one I've met is my mentor.

The second party was the next night at Vennelyst. It was mainly hosted by the native English speakers - Brits, Aussies, and Americans. Everyone was there, and I had such an amazing time. Most of the Americans left early to go to a club, but I stayed and waited for the Italians. I'm so glad I did, because so many people came! I met a girl from Slovakia, and talked again with a cute French guy. I chatted a lot with the Italians, and just enjoyed myself in general. I learned how to say "Cheers!" in Polish and French, but I forgot already. I couldn't really pronounce the Polish one anyway.

I found more men attractive this weekend than I have in the past. I don't know if my tastes are changing to like the European style more, or if I was just in the right places at the right times, or if maybe more students are returning from their holiday. Either way, I'm not sure that I really want to date a European man. I'm sure I'll get used to the differences, but for now, there are things with almost every nationality that I think would present problems for me. Italians are roamers, and I can't have a relationship with someone who will cheat on me. I know it's a stereotype, but, according to my Italian friend, it's a true stereotype. I believe that the French and the spanish can be the same way, although I don't know this for sure. The Benelux men aren't very masculine, and I find masculinity very attractive. Scandinavian men aren't chivalrous at all. It's not their fault, it's their culture. The women's equality movement here has come so far that holding a door open for a woman or paying for dinner on a date is considered sexist. I just don't like that attitude - I am a woman, and I want to be treated like one. Germans seem a little on the cold side, or maybe it's not cold, but kind of harsh, like they have edges instead of curves. That's a bad way of explaining it, because I'm not referring to anything physical. But that's the best I can do. So, I've eliminated everyone except the Swiss, Austrians, and Eastern Europeans. Unfortunately, I know none of those. Which is OK, because I'm not feeling desperate or anything. If an opportunity arises, I'll seize it, but only if it's a very good opportunity. Dating isn't a priority for me in Denmark, only a nice aside.

Little Suzie Homemaker

I am so tired of cooking. I'm tired period, because I get up at 7 for class Monday through Friday, and then the Denmark Today people will inevitably have an afternoon event for us planned. If, by some chance they don't, then usually I have a friend doing something that afternoon, so I go along. I want to go with them, and to work on building up the friendships I'm making. I always have a good time, too, even when I'm tired. Then, in the evening, I cook. I usually spend at least an hour cooking, because Heaven forbid I stick to the easy stuff, like tomato sauce from a jar and spaghetti noodles. No, I have to improve my cooking skills, be adventurous, learn to make new (and far more complicated) things. What's wrong with me? These amazing ventures into the cullinary world are, of course, time consuming. And once I've finally squeezed dinner out of my poorly stocked and equipped kitchen, there's some evening event requiring my time at least 4 days a week. These events are so much fun, and I never regret going. I work on those friendships again and almost always have a great time. I'm just whining because I wish I had more energy. I'm tired of being tired.

My cooking masterpiece for this evening is homemade spaghetti sauce with pancetta. I've spent two hours preparing it so far, and I'm not done. All I want to do is have a bowl of cereal and go to bed. Instead, I saute onward, cooking my sauce and hoping it's good. Once I finally finish, I'll get to go out, either to my friends' kollegium, where lots of Italians and Spaniards will be having a good time, or to the club where all the international students hang out. No matter where I end up, though, I realize one important thing - I spent far too long cooking my dinner.

Finding Normalcy

I'm getting everything here arranged the way I like, and figuring out how to get everything done. Soon I'll have all my paperwork done, for my Danish residency and my apartment. I opened a bank account today, and set up my cell phone. (Curses and hellfire on AT&T and Samsung - may they both rot in a business graveyard). I'm finding a daily routine, which will change once real classes start, but is still comforting for now. My kitchen is set up, and I'm figuring out what to buy and how to cook. My apartment is arranged the way I like it, except that I haven't put up pictures yet. My mentor is going to translate the directions on the laundry machines today, and I've pretty much decided on my classes for this semester. Things are good.

I went to Social Club again tonight, and had such an amazing time. I knew probably a third of the people there, and I danced most of the night. Every time I sat down, a good song would come on and I'd have to get up and go dance again (no, Mom and Amanda, of course I wasn't dirty dancing). Before I even knew it, it was 2:30 and we had to leave to go catch the last night bus at 3. If I had been wearing less painful shoes, I think I would've stayed and walked home. I had a great time! Tomorrow night is a party hosted by the International Student Center, and I'm excited about that. I hope I have as much fun there as I did at Social Club.

New Places

I had a great time at the club on Friday night. It was a lot different than American clubs, and it took me a little while to get used to the dancing. It was fun, though, and I think next time I go I'll do a couple of short videos with my camera, so everyone can see what it's like. Today I walked to the city center and wandered around for awhile, trying to learn the area. I managed to get lost on the way there and on the way back, but I never got lost in the actual city center. Almost everything is closed on Sundays here, and the streets have far fewer people on them than normal. That's the way I wanted it, since I walked around aimlessly and took pictures like a tourist. It was bright and sunshiny when I left, but that changed about 20 minutes into my walk. It started raining, then hailing, but I decided to keep going. It only lasted for 10 or 15 minutes, and I enjoyed the rest of my day. I found this little bakery downtown and bought a foccaccia pizza. It was really good, and I ate it on this trail overlooking the ocean with the harbor off to the right.



Really pretty, huh?

I saw so many Danes out jogging today. Maybe I'll pick up their pension for exercise while I'm here - but probably not. Danish men seem more involved in fatherhood than their American counterparts. Today, as I strolled Aarhus Centrum, I saw these two fairly tough looking guys. They were in their 20s and had that sort of British punk look with the shaved heads, only not that extreme. And both were pushing prams - not cute printed strollers, real prams. I also saw at least as many dads out walking with their children as I did moms. And not old dads or nerdy dads with nothing better to do; these guys were young and trendy looking. I was impressed.

I'm not sure that I like Danish fashion. The two biggest irritations to me are jeans tucked into boots, and black & brown together. It's all practicality, though. Danes also seem to have fewer total articles of clothing in their wardrobes, so they wear things I would consider summery in the winter. For example, capris with tights and boots; same thing with skirts. I'm sure I'll get used to it, and maybe even start to like their styles and wear them myself.

The First Crop of New People

I started learning Danish on Thursday - it's hard. The Italians are having trouble too - our mouths don't work right for this language. Although during the first day of the Denmark Today program, everyone was in a large lecture hall, they divided us into groups of about 10 people for instruction in Danish. I am the only American in my class, which I'm pretty happy about. I've met so many Americans already; I guess we gravitate towards one another. I want to meet more foreigners, so my class is just what I want. There are a couple Italians, a couple Dutch, a couple Spaniards, a couple Canadians, a Venezuelan, an Australian, a German, and a Czech. The other OU students in the program are stuck in classes with almost all Americans. I've made a special effort to meet Italians, and I think I've met all of them except one. The social opportunities around here are almost endless. There's a tiny bar next in the laundry building of my kollegium on Thursday nights, and I had a good time there this week. That's Else (Holland), Carla (Italy), and Eric (Michigan), then Joe (Michigan), Jennifer (OU), and Emily (OU).





There's a club that all the international students go to; it has free admission from Thursday to Saturday, and I'm going tonight. The Spaniards and the Italians hang out together, and that's the group I want to be a part of. I have had a good time with the Dutch, though; the girls from Holland seem more genuinely nice than those from Italy. Sometimes I wonder if the Italians girls are nice only to my face. But I guess time will tell. I hope to meet some Danes soon, but that's difficult right now because most of them are gone for the holiday.

Arrival

I spent roughly 24 hours traveling to Denmark. The food on the plane from Washington, D.C. to Copenhagen was good, but I was afraid to sleep on the 7 1/2 hour flight because I didn't want to snore. The train ride to Aarhus made me feel sick and I threw up, and my baggage was a hassle. I was really tired by the time I got to my apartment - I was really glad for the help I received from my mentor and Mar (an Estonian girl I met on the train who lives in my kollegium). I like living here. The weather is bad - I haven't seen the sun shine since I arrived, and you only thought Oklahoma wind was bad. The wind almost blew me over, and I had to fight it to take my trash out today or risk getting pushed into the next building! There is no snow, and they don't get much. I'll probably see some for a few weeks in February, but for now it just drizzles and sleets a lot. All the Danes seem to have given up on perfectly styled hair; they accept that the weather will ruin it, and have learned to work around it. My apartment is nice, and I like the food here. My eating habits are already dramatically different. I cook for myself, and junk food just isn't available like in the US. When I want a snack, I eat yogurt from a milk container and a slice of durum wheat bread from a loaf I cut myself. Frozen pizzas are the only thing at the grocery store that are prepackaged and easily cooked. I am having to adjust to the time it takes to prepare my own meals. I have a stove, fridge, and oven, but no microwave, so I am also learning to reheat with the stove and cook small portions. More on Danish life later - I think this entry is long enough.