From being here a few days I’ve been through some things that I have definitely noticed and taken note of. This blog is for the purpose of realizing and writing all the things I think are interesting/fun/ frustrating down.
1. 1. 1. My host family is awesome. I met them today for the first time and they were so bubbly and nice. My host mom, Helle, and host dad, Claus welcome me with open arms. We met in the town, Hillerød, where they proceeded to take me to the castle, which is surrounded by lakes and huge gardens. My host dad, Claus, tells me that if I want to ride a bike to the train-stop that I will have to ride through the gardens of Frederiksborg slot (the castle) every day. I am not complaining at all. Even though the weather is crappy outside we go up to the gardens where there is a little fair going on. It was pretty cool considering the future Queen of Denmark just happened to be there. Oh you know, the princess is just chillin at the fair. We unfortunately did not get to see her because she was up in another area, taking photos and such, and Claus only had a limited time because he sadly had to go back to work. : ( One of the things that I have really noticed here in Denmark is that there is a big… transparency almost, with their government/royal family. I mean, in Copenhagen you can just walk right into the parliament area, or stop to say hello to one of the parliament when they go into work. It’s crazy. Also, the palace where the royal family lives during the summer is not surrounded by a gate, or anything really. You can just walk right on through taking pictures and stuff. You can go INTO the palace or anything, it’s just interesting to see that you can just about go anywhere you like. It’s like taking the gate around the white house and tearing it down. Then it makes me think, could we ever do that in the US? And today at the castle, the King’s car was just chillin’ in the parking lot, and the princess was just hangin’ at the fair. Although she did have some guards, it’s like everything here is just so SECURE.
2. 2. 2. #1 leads me to the subject of #2, WHY IS EVERYONE HERE SO FREAKIN HAPPY?! In Denmark, there is some serious, serious happiness going on. Although the weather can be crappy sometimes, it’s like everyone took happy drugs and can never be sad again. It could be Armageddon and the Danes would still be smiling. Today on the train, Giulia and I watched a mom interact with her kid, who was laughing and trying to talk to her, it was so freakin cute I almost died. Almost. Another time today, I was standing in the middle of the road (for some reason I don’t remember) and a car was waiting for me to move. It took me a while to figure this out, and when I finally moved the driver waved to me a smiled at me like we were old friends. Try doing that in New York. Not only that, but you will find that there is a lot of romance, where couples are very romantic without getting into the too much PDA mode. Here and there you will see couples steeling a moment for themselves, and it’s very cute, not overdone. In the end, all the Danes I’ve met are good natured and nice, and it brings my spirits up a lot, because I know when I miss home at some point I’ll need their happy faces.
3. 3. 3. People here have little concept of space. Even with their happiness there is definitely a lot of bumping into people going on here. Maybe it’s because I’m clumsy, but I’d bet it’s just because there are a lot of people in the walking lane... Always. Oh? You want to venture walking on the bike lane? Prepare to be killed. Bike lane= bike stampede of death. Don’t be stupid, don’t walk in the bike lane.
4. 4. 4. Everything here is EX-PEN-SIVE. Giulia and I were talking about it last night with another Italian staying at our inn. He says he wasn’t expecting it either. SO. At least Giulia and I aren’t crazy. It’s funny that the least expensive drink I can get here is at 7-11, and even that is always around 4 dollars… yes, even if it is water. BUT. Today Giulia and I went to a store called TIGER, which is like a dollar store, but the two dollar version. We found water for 2 for 10 kroner, which is unheard of. That’s about a dollar per water. Needless to say we bought a lot of water and hoarded it back to the inn.
5. 5. 5. Ah, the elephants of Copenhagen. Well, all these 103 elephants and billions of hearts around the city is no coincidence. The other day I looked at a post card with the royal family on it… look closely and they are all wearing necklaces with elephants on them. Not only that, but look at the elephant statues in Coppy, they all have hearts lining their left front leg. Hearts are ALL over their money coins. Giulia and I both thought this was a little clue so we looked into it. The Danish Royal family is part of the Order of the Elephant, which was created a long time ago in Denmark. Only very important people can be in this order, like kings and high ranking parliament members. The hearts are part of the Danish coat of arms, there are nine of them. Why elephants? I have no idea. Why nine hearts? I don’t know. But I think it’s cool, I like both elephants and hearts.
6. 6. 6. Living in a fashion designers house is deadly. Giulia and I went through the clothes again today. We started playing dress up with Signe. Now I want to buy everything, but if she wasn’t so good at designing then I wouldn’t want anything. Signe is a really lively person, telling us the stories to her clothes. She fits us into the clothes and tailors them to what they should look like. It’s pretty cool, and I want this sweet looking jacket. Signe’s designs are all very classy, well made and interesting to look at. Signe is a very good designer, she makes clothes for movie stars are parliament members. It makes me wish I could sew.
These are only a few things that I have really thought a long time about in Denmark. But there will be a lot more when I get the time to write about all the weird stuff that is happening, like not really knowing what you’re eating. Here are a few pictures of Hillerød so you can be jealous.
The fam fam is above. Well only host mom and dad. Thats the castle behind me.
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