Birthday and Paul's Stay

Hey everyone, sorry I haven’t written for a while but it’s been tough to find the time to actually sit down and write. So firstly I celebrated my 23rd birthday here in Copenhagen. This was the first time I’d had my birthday outside of Australia which was a really weird feeling. (Also thanks everyone for your facebook birthday messages). So I didn’t expect that much for my birthday just though I would head out to one of the bars on the Tuesday night and have a few drinks as I had class all day. But very kindly some of the people from my Danish class cooked dinner for both me and the other Aussie from my class who has his birthday a few days after mine. This was really nice and unexpected also the dinner tasted superb. Then we were going to meet the others from my Danish class the bar. But instead we went into one of the common rooms in my building and my whole Danish class was there to surprise my Aussie mate and me with a birthday cake. I was completely taken back by the effort that everyone had put in as they had a cake, drinks, nibbles and a birthday present. Later they told us that they had sent like a 1000 txts to organise everything. The present my class got me was a love heart shaped jewellery box and then they had stuck a picture of Jay (my Aussie mate) and I at the bottom of the box. The reason for this was my whole class thinks that we (Jay and I) are in a bromance together (Sorry Borty but I found someone else over here. Lol). Also they gave us both a signed and framed picture of our Danish class. So below are some of the photos of the birthday party. (Thanks Daniella for photos and I just want to thank everyone in my Danish class you guys are awesome.)

This is Jay and I opening our presents.

So the other big thing that happened over the past few weeks was that Paul visited me and saw my life here in Copenhagen. First off it was a bit of a squeeze but Paul just managed to fit into my apartment so it was very cosy at night. On the way to pick Paul up from the airport on Saturday morning I nearly got a ticket for not having the correct train pass. Don’t worry though I was able to talk my way out of the 600kr fine which is not easy in Copenhagen as they don’t care if you’re a foreigner. This is because it is very big here that everyone should be treated the same and there is no special treatment, a truly socialist society. So once I picked Paul up from the airport we went round the city and went to some of the very touristy places like the city centre, black diamond, etc. Also we went to the main frozen lake here in Copenhagen. It was twilight and no one was actually walking on the lake but I just assumed it would be ok. So we started walking on the ice when some locals started yelling at us and told us to get off as the lake wasn’t properly frozen. Then they threw a snowball into a patch where the snow had been cleared and the snowball plopped into the water. Thus demonstrating to the ignorant and stupid Aussies that the lake wasn’t frozen. Lucky save.


Then on Sunday we went to the largest flea market in all of Scandinavia which was interesting but definitely nothing special. We then headed to church and got there just as everything was starting. Normally I get my own personal translator as the whole service is in Danish which is really cool. I don’t know how they do it as they have to listen to what is being said in rapid Danish and then repeat it pretty much word for word in English, truly incredible to experience. But because we got there late we couldn’t sit next to the guy that normally translates for me. So I freaking out a bit as I had brought Paul to experience church life in Copenhagen and he wasn’t going to understand a thing. Amazingly it was a guest preacher from Malmo and preached in English. Saved again.

Monday was event filled as well. It seems that Paul just attracts drama. So Paul, Jay and I all headed to Christiania. As I explained in earlier blogs this is a hippy commune which has no laws and is where they sell weed. (For more info on this interest part of Copenhagen got to - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetown_Christiania) Also before you all condemn me for going here and showing Paul it is actually one of the main tourist attractions in Copenhagen. So when we got into Christania there were a lot of guys that looked liked skinheads standing round open fires. Just to give some context in Denmark heaps of the guys have these skinhead haircuts and dress in a manner which might give the impression of a skinhead. So there I was with Paul and he was freaking out thinking he was going to get attacked at any second because everyone looked like a skinhead. I asked some Danes a bit later and they said that Christania is one of the safest areas and all those guys are harmless and actually near where I live in Nørrebro is suppose to be the place you have to watch out for. From Christania, Paul again wanted to walk on a frozen lake near where we were. I refused to go because of the day before but Paul, who might I add doesn’t swim, started walking on the frozen lake. Again a local told us to get off the ice and there are warm patches where the lake wasn’t properly frozen. (God is really watching over us so that we don’t die!). So I don’t think I’m going to be walking on any lakes for a while. Overall it was awesome having Paul stay over and hopefully a few more of you guys back in Oz will come and visit and experience the Danish lifestyle.

This is Paul setting up his camera to take a group shot. (Hey Paul where are those photos)

This is Paul walking on the frozenish lake. What an idiot!

That’s probably pretty much it from Copenhagen. I have just got back from my law camp but I think I might save the stories and photos from that for next week. Also below I thought I might include a pic of my cooking achievements while being here in Copenhagen. See everyone I can cook!



All the best and God bless.
Jono