Have a cold and its one month on

I survived and I love my first month here in the Merchants Harbour. So far it’s been an interesting journey but I have absolutely no regrets of coming to Copenhagen. The most annoying thing at the moment though is I have raging cold. So I’ve pretty much spent the last few days in bed trying to get better as quickly as possible. So I can go out and party! (Not too hard of course)

This week though started off extremely well as I passed by Danish course exam which I was really happy and extremely relieved about.

Also this week, I went to the Statens Museum for Kunst which is the Danish National Gallery. It had many interesting works especially some really gripping modern art pieces. Below and on the slideshow, on the right, there are some pics from the Gallery.







So in getting to know the locals and other international students this week I came across an interesting cultural point. In Australia I’m sure everyone is familiar with the term ‘to scull’. (For the uneducated Australians and everyone else that might not know what scull means – it is to drink your drink in one go). Well in Denmark they have a similar would skål (Pronounced scull). A direct translating is essentially cheers. So this is a big tip for any Australians going to Denmark firstly when everyone is saying scull DON’T drink your beer in one go. Also make sure when you say scull you look the person you are saying it to in the eye. For some reason when you cheers here it is the height of rudeness if you don’t look the person in the eye. (Or maybe that’s a German thing. I might be getting my cultural points slightly mixed because I’m socialising with alot of Germans and they have some very weird customs, similar to the Danes.) I just want to caveat this little cultural point I have made that of course I wasn’t stupid enough to drink my beer in one go every time anyone said scull. I figured it out straight away, naturally. Also to all my work colleagues and family rest assured just because I’ve dedicated a bit of my blog to drinking (My last post) and drink cultural (This post) that I’m going out every night and getting drunk. That would be completely irresponsible. Also every picture that I’ve posted and will post in the future with me holding a beer let me make it clear that it is not my beer. I was just holding a beer for someone else.

Enough about drinking, of which the Danes do ALOT of I’ve been discovering, next week is the beginning of university and I will be starting lectures. I know no one is probably interested but for the few that are the subjects I’m taking here are: Public international law, space law, Intro to EU law and EU law (Free movement). I’m actually really looking forward to starting class especially space law (And yes this is dealing with the laws in outer space).

Also I finally put up some photos of my room. See below and on the slideshow. Interesting I was speaking with a Dane yesterday and they asked where I live, I said around Nørrebro. They replied, “Oh in the ghetto then.” I have since found out that I live in the most dangerous area of Copenhagen. (Mum and Dad don’t worry the really bad part is about 10 mins walk from where I live, it’s a mile away. Literally) But the best night life is in Nørrebro so it’s sort of a win/lose.





Also in my last post I mentioned that I was going to Arhus. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a place to stay in Arhus and decided to stay in Copenhagen and just have a rest. Boring I know but I think I’ll save my money and go away when the weather is a bit better. On the weather it has been insane. I know I keep mentioning the weather and its always snowing and cold. I know you are probably all sick of reading this but the snow keeps of getting more hectic. It is suppose to be the coldest and snowiest winter Copenhagen has had in 20 years. Below is a pic from outside my bedroom window the other day. Looks I picked a good time to come.



I think that’s pretty much it for now.

Cheers
Jono

Drinking, numbers and riding

Hey everyone. First things first I’ve finish my Danish course finally. It’s funny I’ve only spent 3 weeks learning the language but it feels like I’ve been doing it for a couple of months. Mainly because we have covered so much in such a short amount of time. Below is a picture of the people in my Danish class.



Also this week I FINALLY got my CPR number. For those that don’t know (Which is probably pretty much everyone reading this) Basically in Denmark everyone (whether your or a citizen or not) has to register with the government and let them know where you live. Also a really cool thing is that once you get this number the government actually lets you select a local doctor which I can go to anytime for free even though I’m not a citizen. The big thing about this number deal about getting a CPR number is that if you don’t have one you can’t setup a bank account or get a mobile phone plan. So it’s really a big deal and I’ve been trying to get my for 3 weeks. So now I can actually setup a bank account and get a mobile phone plan. Thank God.

Also this week I went to the Carlsberg Brewery which is awesome. Had a few beers there (Obviously) and also it went through the history of the beer and how the beer is made. One really interesting thing was they actually used the swastika on Carlsberg beer label from about 1900-1930 which I thought was quite bizarre. Also the first beer they reckon was brewed in c. 2000BC whether you believe that or not. Otherwise it was great fun drinking. I mean, um, seeing the brewery and drinking responsibly while at the brewery. Below is a few images from the Carlsberg brewery.





This bit is for Paul (and everyone else Foosball at SEE), some of us at the brewery were playing foosball (Table soccer) and one of my friends from my Danish class, who is an Italian girl, was amazing and actually beat all the guys (I ashamed to say it but it including me). So Paul I think I might have found someone who can take you down and she’s a girl!

Anyways enough about girls beating guys, which hopefully doesn’t happen too often (And yes I am joking), I went out on Friday night to a club which you pay 60kr (about AU$15) and you get all you can drink from 11pm-1am. I thought this was a unique concept but I’m sure we have clubs like this in Australia just I’ve never been to one. Anyways let me start off by saying the legal drinking age in Denmark is 16 and is not strictly observed. So basically you can get in anywhere without any id. At this club though they had an age restriction of 20+ on Friday night and 21+ on Saturday. Can you believe that! Obviously I was with a few people who were 19. The girls got in fine (Typical. Glad to see the sexism in clubs is universal) but one of the guys didn’t get in and I ended up not going. :( Have to go next week without the youth.

So enough about drinking. I went riding on Friday afternoon which was really good fun. They have awesome bike lanes here (Which I have said before) and because it is super flat its really easy to ride. Also it helps I have a 7 gear bike. I also ended up going onto the main lake in Copenhagen and walking on it as it’s completely frozen up. Some of the Danes I know told me that this doesn’t happen every year and is becoming quite rare. So looks like I picked the right year to come.

So last night I got together with some of my classmates from my Danish class to practice our Danish. Also got an awesome pasta dinner cooked by an Italian. Can I just say the Italians can cook. Then had chocolate cake for dessert. It is great knowing people that can cook. Means I actually get a meal once in a while and one that doesn’t include me getting food poisoning (Isn’t that right Nick. Sorry this is an inside work joke. As I got food poisoning when my parents were away for 3 weeks and I had to cook for myself. In my defence though who knew that Indian food doesn’t keep after 3 days. Live and learn.)

So tomorrow I have my Danish oral exam which hopefully I will limp over the line for (Don’t worry it doesn’t count for anything. More a pride thing than anything else.) Also tomorrow we are having a celebration of completing the Danish course at one of my classmate’s places. We will also be celebrating Australia Day. So I and the other Australian in my class will be educating everyone about what Australia day is. The birth of the greatest nation in the world in which we have a bbq, drink beer, listen to the triple J top 100 and play some cricket (preferably beach cricket). So we will be having some out of a bbq (don’t worry we will have lamb) and either attempt to play cricket or just watch a bit of cricket. Also we are going to watch The Castle. My mate thought this would be a good movie to watch as it gives a good insight into Australian cultural. So I’ll let you know how it goes.

So I think that is about it. Not much else has happened (More accurately that is as much as I’m willing to communicate on the world wide web. LOL) but I’m probably going to Arhus on Wednesday as I couldn’t be bother to organise a more exotic destination and since I’m in Denmark and can now fumble out the language I thought I may as well use it. I’ve put a link to a map below for those that might in interested in knowing where Arhus is.


View Larger Map

Love you all. Take care.
Jono

Danish and museums

It is freakin insane here. Stuff is happening all the time and I seem to meet new people all the time. Surprisingly alot of them are from Australia.

So this week I did alot of sightseeing. Went to the National Library which is called the Black Diamond because it looks like a black diamond, obviously. An interesting thing about the library is they actually have concerts inside. I don’t just mean a classical music concerts but rock concerts! I reckon that’s what we need to have in Australia is a rock concert inside the NSW State library. Also went to the National Museum which went through the history of Denmark from about the 1400’s. This was quite interesting especially seeing how Denmark developed into such a liberal state. Also went to the Ny Carlsberg Glypotek. This is a museum which was the brewer of the Carlsberg beer donated all his artwork to the City of Copenhagen so the people of Denmark can enjoy his collection. This is an amazing building and an amazing collection of artwork. The collection includes numerous statues, artefacts from various eras and some very famous works by Monet and Renoir.

Most of my time seems to be devoted to Danish, cooking, sleeping and food shopping. Thankfully on Wednesday got a bit of a break and cooked in the common room in my apartment building with about 30 other people and then went out to the Student House. The Student House is a bar in the centre of the city with cheap beer and is run by students. On Wednesday night it is international night and is basically just packed with international students. This was great fun but it was not fun getting up the next day and going to Danish class in the morning. But all part of the experience right?

So coming up to my last week of my Danish course and looking forward to having a week off before uni starts. So thinking of going somewhere local for a couple of days like maybe Stockholm, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Brussels or Oslo. But if you have any suggestions feel free to comment.

Also great news today got a bike and a toaster. I will put pics up of the bike but I
just got it and I really need to do a bit of Danish study as I’m way behind. I've got a Danish exam on Friday. (Can you believe that!)

Anyways take care everyone.
J

1st week, settling in

So I made it through my first week here in Copenhagen. It feels like an age as I’ve done sooo much in such a short period of time. I suppose the biggest thing has been starting my Danish language course. Just to show you I have learnt something, here is a quick bit of Danish for you –

Jeg hedder Jonathan. Jeg er Australier. Jeg kommer fra en by i NSW, der hedder Sydney. Jeg kan selvfolgelig tale engelsk. Vi er 14 studerende og en læner i Klassen. Vi er 10 piger og 4 fyre så vi er 15 personer i alt.

So my Danish course is from 9-12.30 every day for 3 weeks. It has been incredibly intense and our class is conducted a lot of the time in Danish. My main difficulty with the language has been pronunciation. Not only is there sounds that in English we don’t use but the way the language is written is completely different to the way it is spoken which makes it insanely difficult. The best thing about the language course has been I’ve meet heaps of new people from all over the place including a few Australians doing law. So even though the course is tough there are heaps of people in the same position as me which makes it easier.



The other big event of the week has been moving into my apartment. I now officially live in Keops Kollegiet which is right next to Bispegjerg Station. My apartment is about 20m² and has a kitchen, bathroom and one room. It’s quite nice but I went to one of my friend’s apartment the other day it was like a palace compared to what I have and it is cheaper than my apartment. But I’m still quite happy.

The cost of living here is completely mental though. It was costing me roughly $5 (Aus) for a one way train or bus ticket. Thankfully I now have a monthly pass but it is just incomprehensible how much stuff costs here. The biggest surprise was that the beer is really cheap and so is IKEA compared to Australian standards, go figure. So it looks like I’ll be drinking and buying lots of cube furniture!



It is still really cold here. (I will probably never get over this!) It hasn’t snowed in a few days but still around -2 to -5. One amazing site is that the main river here is completely frozen. I saw heaps of people skating and walking over the river today which was incredible (I will get a photo of this and put it up just, haven’t got round to it yet).



My main bit of sightseeing for the week was visiting Christiania. This is basically a hippy commune where they have established their own little society. It has essential no laws (Except for you can’t take photos inside) and is the place to go for cheaper alcohol, jazz music and weed (For medicinal purpose only of course). It is a very weird place and is a bit like stepping back in time to the 60’s and 70’s when hippies and free love was the rage (Not that I would know of course). Other Christiania I haven’t really had a good look round the city mainly because of the hecticness of getting settled in but hopefully will be doing more sightseeing next week.



So I better go and get my Danish homework done (Yes I have homework) otherwise I won’t understand anything in class tomorrow.

Stay in touch. Farvel.
Jono

PS There are a few photos here just to show to you what Copenhagen is like. There will be definitely more photos in my next post with some of me barely surviving the elements I promise.

First impressions

So this is my first post. Feels a bit weird as this is also my first blog as I didn't see a need to do one before this, (Never did anything interesting to warrant a blog really) so here goes!

Firstly, quick background I'm studying human rights and international law in the Danish city of Copenhagen (Also known as the Merchants Harbour thus the reason for the blog called 'Odyssey to the Merchants Habour'). I arrived on 2nd January 2010 from London after spending NYE with my family.

What are my first impressions of Copenhagen - its cold. This morning (3/01/10) it was -11 but sunny outside. It’s really freaking me out seeing the sun out but having it soooo cold outside. Other impressions are that everything is very ordered. Such as, you must obey the little red man when crossing the road as J walking is really frowned upon. Also there is a very Russian look and feel about Copenhagen. This might just be because all the buildings are covered with snow but a lot of buildings are spiral at the top and does give off a very Russian vibe. On top of this because of the cold there are a lot of people wearing Russian fur style hats.

Also something really cool happened to me today. I was on my way to visit my student accommodation just to check it out and get my bearings of where everything would be. So I caught the train to Norrebro Station which is near to my student accommodation. Whilst on the train I was just looking out the window thinking how bloody cold it was as the snow covered houses whizzed by. Then behind me I heard someone saying that they would be on Manly Beach if they were at home. I then thought, "Hang on that's what I would be doing if I was at home." (FYI probably more Freshie though) I then spun round and said to the 2 girls behind me, "Are you from Australia?" One replied yes and then I just got talking with her and her Danish friend.

We then all got off at the same stop, Norrebro, and then I enquired to where they were going. Would you believe they were going to Church. (Let me say at this point that Denmark has the lowest Christian population in the world and as many of you are probably aware I have been a little apprehensive of Copenhagen because of this fact. Also though today was Sunday I had no intention of going to Church as it was only my second day in Copenhagen and thought I would leave this to next week. I thought it would be more important to get my bearings and see a bit of Copenhagen than going to Malmö C3 which is over 1hr away from Copenhagen in Sweden)

I then asked if it was ok if I join them. They said that was fine (Obviously). The church they I went to was all in Danish, naturally, but it turned out to be a similar type of church as Lane Cove C3 back home. We even sang some of the same songs that I sing in Church back in Sydney. As it turned out probably even more amazing is that the church is 5 mins walk from my student accommodation. Also would you believe that the Aussie is actually over here to start up a Church in Copenhagen. So an absolutely surreal experience. 2nd day in Copenhagen, 1st full day in Copenhagen and I meet 1 Aussie Christian girl and 1 Danish Christian girl.

Tomorrow I start my 3 week intensive Danish language course at the uni. Also I have to move into my student apartment. Going to be a really busy but interesting day. Can't wait to see where God is going to lead me. Really exciting times.

I hope everyone has a fantastic year and I'll try and keep you all updated as much as possible on my antics in Copenhagen and maybe put some pics up in the next entry.

Thinking of you all. Take it easy.
Jono