The Witch is scared away!

Mid Summer’s Eve Festival

I am quite impressed. I visited three mid summer’s eve festivals last night and am sure that witch has been scared away so we in the States need to worry that she may be flying around our part of the world. As you can tell from the pictures many of the locals take this festival very seriously. They bring their children, their friends, and most importantly their Carlsberg. The first two festivals I happened to stumble upon were taking place on the lakes. The lakes are not like Lake Tillery or Norman. They more resemble Freedom park or the mall lake in Washington DC. There are 5 lakes in total and they split the city into Vest (west) and Ost (east). Once you realize that then the city starts to make more sense. I didn’t make it to Faelledparken like I had hoped, but I did happen to find a kick “art” mid summer’s eve celebration. There was a band singing in Danish and the crowd was rocking out as a bonfire larger than any Tiger Burn I have seen was burning in the middle of them all. Amazing. After snapping some photos I headed home about 11pm. It was still light outside and my body felt like it was only 7pm b/c of the light.

June 24, 2008

Today I slept in until 11 am. This is really not normal for me, but I had nowhere to be so I slept! I decided that today I needed to get out and run a little. A little turned into a 40 minute jog around all five lakes. If anyone was paying attention they could tell I was the American with my white socks on. I laughed every time a Dane ran by in their tennypumps (for Drew’s mom) and black socks. It felt good to get out and do something other than walk.

I got back to the room and mapped out my day. My plan was to learn the metro and S-tog(S-train) system. It didn’t take that long. Kristin told me before I left that her and her brother were able to understand the train system when they were kids so I should be fine. She was right. I asked for directions the first time and now I know.

My next stop was Frederiksberg which will be my home for the next six weeks. According to my map book Frederiksberg is a classy upscale neighborhood blessed with spotless streets, tree-lined avenues, theatres and many green areas, including Frederiksberg Have (garden). I am not sure why the rest of Copenhagen isn’t called classy and upscale. I have yet to see a part that is a dump, to me it is all pretty classy and upscale. My goal of this excursion was to find out where I needed to be tomorrow. I found the school and kept walking to the Garden. On the way to the Garden I found my home. Porcelaenshaven is the dorm I am living in this summer. It was once a old Porcelain factory which is located next door to Royal Copenhagen. Not even a minute from my dorm is Federiksberg Have which more resembles Central Park except more green. There is even a zoo at one end and today I happened to walk right by the brand new Elephant exhibition. I will be running by elephants every morning, so you might think I am in Africa not Scandinavia. There is one hill in this park and I will be running it hopefully on a daily basis so I will be ready for the Mayberry half come November.

After a late lunch I hopped back on the metro and got off at Kogens Nytorv Station. This is within walking distance to the most famous street in Copenhagen. Nyhavn. (havn means bay) Anytime you see a picture of Copenhagen then you probably will see this street and canal. I was impressed, I just can’t wait to go back with Erin and others to stop for a beer at one of the sidewalk cafes.

On my way back to the hotel I stopped for some much needed Gelato and a quick email check.

Some things I have noticed. I had not real expectations of Copenhagen perhaps because I had to find it on the map when the study opportunity was brought up back in early spring. I knew very little and still feel like I know very little about this town, but I try to learn something new everyday. The people here are extremely friendly even though they may act or seem rude at first glance. Never bring up taxes unless you want to buy the round of beer. Apparently they tax 50% of you income at least no one really goes without, but still 50%. Most of the women and men are blonde, pale, and thin. I keep trying to find someone that resembles the Vikings but I can’t seem to find one. I guess thanks to all the walking and bike riding the Danes do keeps them thin. I have seen a couple redheads, no freckle though. I did see two people today with Freckles not including my own! And I will never be able to learn any Danish.