Survival Danish

Hej!

Copenhagen is amazing! Although I am admittedly still in my ‘honeymoon stage’ where I have yet to hit culture shock, or at least this is the warnings I have been given. After landing in the airport, and sneaking a picture of the wind turbines from the sky, I finally met my host family! Not only does Copenhagen have a much more comfortable, youthful, and less-touristy feel than Reykjavik, but my family has been awesome.

Inger and Bent, my host parents, have been extremely supportive and they speak English very well. Although we have had many fun discussions about some specific English words, phrases, and practices (such as drinking age, youth independence, what a moose is, and the phrase ‘soccer mom’). Here in Denmark, the young people leave the home much more slowly then they do in the states. Their education is a longer process and they are often in school much later, finishing their specialization when most Americans would want to be settled and advancing in their career jobs.

Last night Inger and Bent took me out in their canoe on Bagsvæard Sø, pronouced bah-o-sverg soo, I think. (Everything in Danish looks NOTHING like you say it, which of course makes it very easy to learn…) My host sister Louise has also been very helpful in showing me the ropes of life in Denmark and in my family. She’s the same age, and very much like my sister Annie, which is also very comforting.

I’m starting to settle in to a routine here and have begun to perfect my train-riding skills. I ride a bike my family is letting me borrow, sky blue with a basket on the front (!), to the train station down the street where I hop on the train, ride if for about 25 minutes, and then walk the rest of the way, about 10-15 minutes, to DIS. This week so far has been DIS orientation which has been good but exhausting. We saw the sights on a bus tour one afternoon including the Little Mermaid, the Queens Palace..etc. Otherwise we have had some ‘survival Danish’ classes, tours of our area, and general orientation stuff. City life is great here, and the shopping is amazing, although very expensive. It’s refreshing to see so much color and style here, even if it seems strange to me.

The first day of classes it tomorrow and I don’t feel ready at all. This semester is going to be a huge time-management challenge. I’ve never had a problem with it before but juggling 5 courses (more than I usually take at SLU), family life (also not normally existent at college), the commuting schedule, ski training, traveling…etc. it is going to be much more difficult. A whole different beast than I’m used to. It makes me nervous. I think these nerves are the beginning of the end of my ‘honeymoon phase.’

But anyway, here are a few interesting things I stumbled upon so far. Not nearly an exhaustive list, but a few things I sent in an email home the other day:

1) They have ENORMOUS slugs here. HUGE! The size of my index finger. I almost fell off my bike when I saw them the other day.
2) They drive on the right side of the road...I was surprised by that slightly. Although
the same is true in Iceland.
3) The traffic lights flash yellow before they go green as well as before they go red. So, at one point both the red and yellow are lit up, and then it goes green. This is interesting…not sure how it’d work in the US but its cool.
4) Most Danes don’t walk until the WALK sign is given. They will stand and wait even if no car is coming.
5) Bikes are EVERYWHERE. In the city there are double-decker racks and I’ve almost been hit by many more bikers than cars.
6) No one talks during travel. Except the loud Americans…like me.
7) Danes are big on second helpings during meals, I have to insist that I am fine and don’t need anymore.
8) They don’t wear helmets (apparently if you wear one and leave it with your bike it runs the risk of complete destruction by another Dane!)
9) They like to wear slippers in the house (at least in my family it was clear that I needed slippers!)
10) The word for a ‘danish,’ as in the pastry, in Denmark is actually translated as Vienna bread because at one point (a long time ago) chefs from Vienna were brought in to teach the Danes how to cook pastries. But now in Vienna, like in the US and elsewhere their word translates back to Danish pastry! (a random, but interesting fact of which I have many.)
11)What absolutely made my sight seeing tour. This man. Picture was taken stealth style. For a minute I thought I was in Russia!

Sunday, August 26, 2007
Keflavik Airport, 6:30am

Thankfully, I made it to Iceland in one piece and on time, and now that I am sitting in the Keflavik airport again (the international airport in Iceland that is conveniently located about 45 minutes from the city…) I have survived my time in Iceland with only one major injury, a huge whole in my wallet. Iceland, while it has a unique volcanic terrain, a relaxed pace and a deep history, it also has high prices. High prices on everything. For the most part the only real money I spent was my stay at the Reykjavik City Hostel, a 10-hour bus tour of the Icelandic countryside and sites, and transportation to and from the airport, all of which were very expensive but my inability to rent a car left me no choice.

My first day in Iceland, I spent in Reykjavik, the capital city. Being too cheap to take a bus to the city center, I walked the three kilometers from the hostel and spent the rest of my day on my feet, logging at least 15 miles. I walked up and down Laugavegur street which had most of the shopping, ducking in and out of stores along my way. I eventually reached the Information center where I had a snack (thank God I brought food with me) before planning out my zig-zagging route for the rest of the afternoon. My walking tour of Reykjavik turned out to be quite fun, although exhausting and a little lonely. Reykjavik, while it seemed relaxed and safe, also seemed very empty during the day.



I visited Hallgrims Church and took the elevator up its tower (had to pay for that too) where I was lucky to get an amazing view of Reykjavik under the glow of a rainbow (very common over the course of my time in Iceland where I was lucky to have passing showers and partial sun.)

I then walked to the Tjörnin Pond, and hiked up to the Pearl, an impressive building which provides the hot water for the city, and also houses a beautiful, yet expensive (surprise), restaurant. I finished off my tour by visiting the National Museum, another pricey exhibit (although by now, it didn’t matter how much it cost, I didn’t want to pay it) but one with great information on the history and culture of Iceland. If I wasn’t so tired at this point I would undoubtedly have gotten much more out of it. As I strolled back to Laugavegur street, where I spent the rest of my evening browsing for the lowest prices for dinner (I ended up with a soft tortilla with rice and ham for 750 kroner, or $12) and a few small souvenirs, I couldn’t help but wish I could buy some of the gorgeous wool and stone crafts instead.


The next day, I signed up for a day bus tour with a local company, happy to sit my exhausted and now jet-lagged body in a comfortable seat while being shown the greater Iceland terrain. While the day tour was expensive, all told probably costing me around $150, I had no other way to see Iceland outside of Rekyjavik, and these tours also had guides which gave some interesting facts about Iceland and pointed out sites along the way.

We visited the Blue Lagoon first,and while I was skeptical of if the experience would be worth the cost, I actually found the naturally heated pool amazing. It was definitely a tourist hot spot, no pun intended. I really enjoyed it and even tried the natural silica face mask! (See picture of me with white stuff on my face. Picture taken by a kind British bloke.) We then headed out into the countryside visiting various sites including the location of the first Parliament: a beautiful spot with old houses, visible fault lines, and a gorgeous lake. Following a ‘summer road’, aka scarily narrow passage weaving through the extremely rocky hillside, we roamed the tree-less volcanic terrain traveling to Gullfoss, a large waterfall from which we could see the Long Glacier.

We also visited the Geysir, which went off every 8 minutes, shooting very warm water around 20ft into the air. While we visited many other minor spots, I was just as exhausted after this twelve-hour tour on a bus as I was on my walking tour the day before. I crashed at the hostel again, only to wake up at 3:30 am and catch a cab to the bus station (another 20 bucks down the drain just because I was taking the early shuttle that does not offer pick up at the hotels) where after arriving at the airport I am now waiting to meet some of my fellow students at the airport on our way to Denmark!

Start at the beginning

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Well! It’s official. As I sit here in the terminal at the BTV airport (trying to learn a few words in Icelandic, thanks IBM crew!) I have gone almost nowhere, BUT, I am on my way. In typical Bednar travel fashion, I have encountered a few hang ups. My original flight to JFK from Burlington was cancelled, which has now landed me on a later flight that will have me running through the airport at JFK in an attempt to connect with my flight to Iceland. Hopefully I will make the flight to Iceland and bags will be transferred etc. We’ll see.

Once in Iceland, I plan to spend two days in Reykjavik, one touring the city and it’s museums on my own, and the other on a bus tour. I am staying at the city hostel until the morning of the 26th when I will meet up with some other students on the way to Copenhagen. With any luck (of which I have little) I will make it to Copenhagen on Sunday, but be ready for the next installment of travel with the Bednars. As many of you know, it’s always interesting.

Anyway, since this is my first entry, I feel obligated to give a little background. I’m from Essex, Vermont and worked this past summer as an intern at IBM. I am a junior at St. Lawrence University and am traveling abroad this semester to Copenhagen, Denmark. I have decided to keep a blog of my time abroad to help me remember the trip, to keep my friends and family informed, and also to keep me writing! I plan to minor in writing and keeping on blog through this journey will hopefully help me to at least stay used to writing. I will be studying at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad, or DIS, in Copenhagen and will be living with a family about 10 miles outside of the city. I am studying in the business and economics program, taking five courses total: three with a business and industrial focus, Danish and a course on modern China (I will visit China for 2 weeks in October!). It should be an interesting semester and I’m exited for my classes. But, let’s take this trip one step at a time. Right now, I just need to get out of Burlington!