Day 39: Music, Anarchy, and More Sightseeing

Wednesday, 28 September 2011

For all you foodies, Sunday was a most delicious meal: pumpkin soup, followed by veal roast with baked veggie roots, herb potato wedges, carrot paste, and watermelon slices to finish off.  It's almost like a Hogwart's feast!

Tuesday night, I attended a recital at the Music Conservatory.  Most of their concerts/recitals are free for all, and they host musicians and groups from all around Europe.  So this one I watched Jacob Shaw (British cellist) accompanied by David Lau Magnussen (Danish pianist).  This wasn't one of their biggest events, so the venue was the Studiescenen, a modest but still very lovely recital hall, with excellent acoustics.  The music menu was:

Bloch, 3 pieces "From Jewish Life"
Bach, Gamba Sonata No.2 in D
Messiaen, Louange à l’Egernité de Jésus from "Quatour pour la fin du temps"
Faure, Elegie
Grieg, Sonata in a minor for piano and cello


I will say it was very worth my time and effort to go see, and best of all, it was free!  So if you have free time in Copenhagen, stop by for a concert.

Wednesday was another adventurous day.  In the morning, we had our DLC field trip to Christiania.  It is a small district on the eastern edge of the canal-made island Christianshavn that has isolated itself from the rest of Denmark.  How did this happen?  Back in the 1970s, it was an abandoned military site, and a bunch of homeless people, junkies, hippies, and otherwise societal rejects moved in.  Nobody bothered them, and they decided to create their own "free" society.  They have 9 rules (no violence, no weapons, no sale of hard drugs, no sale of fireworks, no private vehicles like cars/motorcyles, and other things....)  It's equal parts slum and suburbia.  Pusher street is the sketchiest place, the one central road where people openly sell marijuana.  There's a sign that says no photos and no running.  The 1st, because selling marijuana is still illegal, and 2nd, because running implies the police are nearby.  The community has no government, only that people have the option of attending general meetings to decide things.  Their state animal is the snail, because the prime minister once termed them "slow as a snail," which is about the fastest you can be with a communal gov't like that.  It is supposed to be equal, but I think in real life, it ends up being "rule by elocution."  The territory encompasses a beautiful nature park and stream, and if you follow the trails, you can spot some interesting architecture (the banana house is worth seeing, except it doesn't look like a banana) and see the prettier side of Christiania.


Still, it seems there are things festering under the egalitarian peaceful facade.  There is a children afterschool center, where it opens to a beach on the streambanks.  Unfortunately, the building used to be an ammunition factory, so the soil underneath the beach is toxic, and they put a membrane over the soil and add new sand every year to keep the children safe.  My prof said that if it was under city control, they would've dug out the entire bank and filled it with new soil.  Also, the tour guide took us to a dog's burial.  Apparently, one day, a plainclothes policeman came to check out pusher street.  A chase ensued, ending near the burial site, where the dealer and policeman came to blows.

The romanticized version: someone's pet dog ran over and started barking from excitement.  The stupid policeman didn't know what to do and asked someone to shut the dog up.  No one did, so the policeman did what all policemen do (quoting), shoot whatever they can't control.

The more likely realistic version: someone's attack dog was set on the policeman, and in defense, he shot and killed the dog.

In any case, the community rose up in retaliation, rioted outside the Christiania territory, ransacked/smashed some stores, set fire to a high school, messed up a library, etc, etc.  All for a dead dog.  And this was honestly told by the tour guide, who lives in Christiania, and appeared to think this was an eye for an eye.

In other news, Sept 26 was the community's 40 year birthday.

It's an interesting site, at least for a tourist to see, but certainly they don't really generate revenue for the city because the community is self-enclosed, doesn't really pay taxes or city-managed utilities/public services (they installed their own trash compacter thingy and their own electricity and plumbing).  Some kind of negotiation is happening next year btwn Christiania and the gov't.  The Christiania-ans believe they will be able to buy and finally own the piece of land.  The rumor going among the Danes is that the gov't will price it high and sell them out.  Who knows.

Wednesday night was more music.  At Tivoli, they have a Pantomime Theatre for free (after entrance fee).  I didn't get to see the actual pantomime show, but that night they had a dance show, "Catching the Bolero."  It was a storytelling dance (I dunno if there is a technical term for that), where in a population of birds, a white bird fell in love with a black bird.  Both birds flirted with/were tempted by other colorful birds but they eventually came together, to the tune of Ravel's Bolero.  The only strange moment was they actually threw in a scene where the lovers embrace and kiss for several minutes while the other birds dance around them.  I have never seen black-and-white PDA in a dance before.  Maybe it's a Danish thing, maybe it's me not being very familiar with dance.

Last weekend was a trip to Sweden, to the Kullaberg Peninsula!!!!  Sweden is luuuuvely, or probably because we just went to the nature reserve.  Saturday we canoed down Ronne Å (Ronne River).  Slow and gentle river, with fall foliage and willows hanging over the edge.  The canoe business family stopped by halfway to give out ice cream to everyone.  A very well-spent morning.  The afternoon they took us to Nimis.  Actually, it's a micronation called Ladonia (probably recognized by 0 countries).  An artist built a huge structure of random driftwood nailed together and called it Nimis.  The Swedish authorities said he wasn't allowed to build random stuff in the nature reserve.  Therefore, the artist delineated a border and declared it an independent nation.  You can sign up to be a citizen online for free, or pay 12 bucks to get yourself a nobility title.

Outside of the political technicalities, the beach is a beautiful place, if you are fit enough to cross the treacherous slope and make it to the entrance of Nimis.  It's essentially a maze of tunnels and towers built of wood and nails.  The beach itself is all big rocks, not sand.  Once you reach the shoreline and turn left, there's another structure of rocks and cement, the artist's second masterpiece.  This is a must-see place!!

In terms of housing, we stayed at a manor-like hostel.  They provide linens (though you have to put it on the bed yourself), and simple but delicious food (personally, I found a country vegetable beef stew preferable to the calorie/butter-high feast at the Vejle Danhostel).  The bathrooms are in the hall and are common use, which is okay, BUT my biggest complaint is that there is only 1 shower room per floor, and the two shower heads are in the open, not separated into stalls or even with a curtain.  Therefore, I left while everyone was still at the barbecue and occupied the shower room all to myself.  :D  Other than that, everything is clean and the grounds are also beautiful grass with a gazebo and picnic benches.

Sunday we went cliff rappelling.  They started us off on a 25 ft cliff and then progressed to a 100 ft cliff.  You can either walk down the cliff, sitting in your harness, or progressively bounce down the wall as in (I quote) the James Bond style.  The cliffs are by the Øresund overlooking the coast towards Denmark, but it was extremely windy, so the view was accompanied by a frigid chill.

That afternoon, before we left Sweden, they took us to a cafe where the former king of Sweden was a regular customer, and we all tasted his favorite snack, a Vanilla Heart.  It's a dough pastry in the shape of heart sprinkled with powdered sugar, simple and elegantly sweet.  A wonderful end to an equally wonderful trip.

Last week Wednesday was also Sofie's birthday, so as a gift, I bought tickets to Voice 2011, a big concert with a pantheon of artists at Tivoli (Rasmus Seebach, Aqua, The Wanted, Medina, Sak Noel, etc, etc).  (125DKK for those with the season pass)  And the concert was this Monday.  Man, was it crowded!  It reminded me of China, until the concert started, and then it reminded me of Auschwitz, the great hordes of people packed together.  The only artist I knew was Aqua, but I enjoyed discovering the others.  The only sad thing was that I didn't know the lyrics to any song, while you could hear the crowd sing to almost every one of them.  It was definitely an experience, I'll say that, having never attended a modern pop music concert, but it also made me value the experience of sitting at home and watching these things on TV for free with easy access to water, food, and a toilet.  So stay at home, peeps.

And finally today, Wednesday September 28, we had a field study trip to Frilandsmuseet, an open air museum of reconstructed homes.  It was like Den Gamle By, except the focus was on the homes of countryside farmers and stuff rather than a town with cobblestone streets.  So we progressed across canals, up grassy hills, through fields, to see different homes of different time periods.  There were also animals of the same original breeds, geese, goats, moocows, and sheep.  It was most interesting because our Prof (this is for the european storytelling class) once worked here, so she knew a lot about each place and gave an entertaining and informational guided tour, which is better than if we wandered about staring at wood and thatched roofs and grass without a clue.  I don't know if it's a must see, but it is definitely a nice looking place.

Tonight, we have a party at Louise's, originally dedicated to celebrating her graduation with her colleagues, but she invited the family and us students too :D.  Next week is the long study tour to Berlin, Germany and Poznan, Poland, so you will be hearing a LOT from me next time.

Until then,
Cheerio.