Same old, same old

Hey Everyone,

Not much to report from Copenhagen this week just more of the same. Uni and going out, much more of the latter, selvfølgelig. But the weather has definitely improved and thus I’m riding my bike heaps more. This truly is the city of bikes. It is just so easy to ride here and everything is built for bikes; the roads, trains, metro, etc. I also found out the main reason everyone rides a bike here. The Danish government puts a 180% tax on all cars! Also you can’t just hop over to Sweden and buy a car as they have laws which make it cost a fortune to register your car in Denmark and you can only register your car in Sweden if you live there. So glad they don’t do this is Australia, I don’t think I could live without my car. (Sorry Dad I mean your car)

Also this week I was the centre of comic relief among my Danish friends as they make me pronounce Danish words which I couldn’t pronounce properly. One of their favourite words to make me pronounce was - Rød grød med fløde, which is a Danish dessert. Basically unless you are a native speaker you won’t be able to pronounce it. But I got them back though as I found a few English words which they struggled with such as hypothesis, thwart and thistle.

Another interesting thing I found out this week is what the most popular Danish TV show is at the moment, Paradise Hotel. I think they show this in Australia but from what I’ve heard and seen of the Danish version it has to be the most debaucherious version of this reality TV show. But please judge for yourselves -



I think the scariest thing about this show is not the content but that it is massively popular. Who the hell is watching this rubbish? And they are up to the 6th season. Unbelievable. Welcome to Denmark.

Finally, for those into indie music I was put onto this awesome Norwegian band called the Whitest Boy Alive. Really liking the Scandinavian music at the moment.



Take care.
Jono

Law camp and pancakes

Yeah everyone, so another week here in Denmark and I’ve now been here two months and still loving it. It’s been an fantastic week weather wise in Copenhagen. The snow is melting and we have had a week of sunshine and of +2 degree weather. It’s really cool they actually have seasons here. Not the season of really hot and not too hot like we have in Australia.

So last weekend I had my law camp weekend away. This was a weekend away to the western part of Denmark about 2-3hrs out of Copenhagen on the beachside. A number of you have made reference to how nerdy this camp sounds. Let me reassure you it was far from nerdy (Though I did have some pretty intense religion discussions at 2am in the morning!). So the camp was for international students studying law in Copenhagen and was an opportunity for us to get to know each other. Basically it descended into 2 nights of “drinking, sex and rock’n roll”. Ok maybe not that insane on my part anyway. On the first night we had a white themed party. I dressed quite boringly and had just had white shirt and whitish pants. This was alot of fun until about 3am when someone set off the fire alarm TWICE. Thankfully (or not) the fire department didn’t come and we didn’t have to pay a fine. It’s very reassuring that the Danish fire department know when it’s a real fire and when it’s just a false alarm.

Me in my white costume. Lame I know.

The white party

On Saturday we all spent the day recovering from the antics from the night before. This including playing cards and some team based games such as table curling which was surprising a really cool game. We also went down to check out the beach which was an amazing sight. Due to it being so cold the waves are completely iced and the shore was just ice and snow. Nothing like Aussie beaches.

The beach

Curling action

Then we had another themed party for Fastelavn which is a traditional Danish festival where you dress up in Halloween style costumes. The festivities include something called slå katten af tønden which translates to "hit the cat out of the barrel". An interesting tradition. To be honest I’m still a little confused on what this festival is. To me it just seemed like a Halloween style festival where you hit a cat out of a barrel and drink. I’m sure there is more to it than this but that was the impression I got of Fastelavn. Still it was heaps of fun.

My costume for Fastelavn (I'm on the right if you can't figure it out)

Me again but posing with my mates costume. Extremely original I thought.

Also last week I signed up and started playing badminton. Yes I know in Australia badminton is seen as a bit of nerdy sport but surprisingly the Danes love it and are really good at it. So I thought as I way of embracing the Danish culture I would start playing one of their typical sports.

I’ve realised recently I haven’t mentioned much about the church I’m attending here in Denmark. So here is a quick update. I’ve been going to United CPH which has a loose affiliation with Hillsong here in Copenhagen. This church is very young (Only be around 10 years I think) and only has about 30ish regular members. Also I’ve joined one of the connect groups which has been really good and they have been nice enough to speak English even though I’m the only native English speaker. Also I’ve joined one of the uni student organised bible studies which is run by the Lutheran church here in Copenhagen. So I’m definitely been connecting with alot of Danish Christians and getting their perspectives on being a Christian in Denmark which has been interesting and really helpful. Also I’m really keen to head down to Malmo and check out C3 there but unfortunately laziness mixed with cost has prevented me but rest assure I will be heading there soon and checking out the C3 movement in Europe.

Finally last week I went to a welcome to Copenhagen ceremony which was run by the city. The Mayor spoke and welcomed all the new residents of Copenhagen to the city and we got free pancakes, a speciality of Copenhagen. Definitely felt welcome.

Take care everyone.

Jono

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

Drunks and indie music

So I’m sitting in my room typing this week’s blog entry and I feel like I’m about to cough up a lung. Not cool. So obviously I haven’t got over my cold. I actually rang up to see the doctor as I’ve been sick for a week and thought I might see if I could get some cold medication. The doctor asked, “What’s your temperature?” I then replied normal and he just said, “Just have lots of hot tea.” I then asked if I could get some cold medication. He flatly said no and just hung up! Couldn’t believe it. So without cold medication I’ve just been having lots of oranges and lemon and honey. But I really only have myself to blame that I’m still sick though as I’ve been going out alot. Unfortunately there are always things to do here in Copenhagen. Like the Insomnia tour. (Don’t worry didn’t go to every event. Not that hard core. Yet.)



(Note: Completely kidding about that Mum)

So I had my first lectures this week. My first class was on Monday afternoon, introduction to EU law. This class is only a week long and is to give students a brief introduction to EU law. It is mainly for people that come from countries not part of the EU, like Australia. So after spending a bit of time trying to find out where my class actually was, as all the law classes are located in the city campus which is spread out over the main part of the city. It is actually pretty cool once you figure out where everything is as all the lectures and law library are right in the middle of everything. Anyways I went this class and about half of the students were from Australia. It seems as if half of Australia is here in Copenhagen at the moment and all are doing law. Also I have at least 5-7 other Aussies in most of my other classes as well. In this class though the lecturer was a 70 year old, grey hair man with a very Scandinavian English accent. He turned out to be a leading expert on EU law but he was completely eccentric (Or so I thought). He had no lesson plan and just talked for about 1 hr on just random aspects of the EU structure and its history. He then sought of ran out of things to say and then proceeded to talk about the weather. (I think this is a good segue into saying its freezing still here and snowing heaps would love the weather if I wasn’t still sick). It was extricating to sit there and listen to a man well past his prime. One of my friends commented after the lecture that they thought he was drunk which in my opinion wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. Rest assure I haven’t been back to his lecture since. Thank God it only runs for a week and is not one of my main subjects. At this point I was extremely apprehensive of the quality of lecturers at the uni. Thankful they redeemed themselves as my lecturers for all my other subjects have been extremely good and leaders in their field of expertise.

So I also went to a connect group with some Danes this week which was really good. Unfortunately I haven’t meant many Danes but have connected with a few through Church which has been awesome. Anyways I went to one of the guys I had met apartments and we got into some interesting discussions that I thought I might share with you all. Firstly in Denmark less than 2% of the population is practising Christians yet over 85% of the population will get baptised and confirmed in the Lutheran Church. Also over 85% of the population pay a tax to the Lutheran church. I thought this was absolutely crazy to pay money to something people didn’t even believe in. Supposedly it’s a cultural thing. Is it just me or is this really weird? Anyways moving on from not understanding the Danish physic, I meet a Dane who is into indie music! It’s taken 4ish weeks but I have found someone who I can talk to about indie music. So already he has got me onto some really good Danish music which I wish to share with you all. Below is a link to a song by Choir of the Young Believers. Love this song at the moment. Hopefully more good music recommendations to come.



Not sure what else I can mention but that is probably enough news for the moment. Don’t want to make you any more jealousy than you already are.

Hope you all have a great week. Take care.

Cheers
Jono

PS Sorry there have been n no pictures this week but I've been sick. Plenty next week.

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