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