I procrastinated so much in keeping up with my blog, because there was so much to do in my very last month in Denmark. I'm home now, and it's time for reflection.
Saturday the 19th: The Royal Music Academy held it's annual commemoration a.k.a. "årsfest." So many people came in tuxedos and evening dresses and I felt vaguely underdressed in my jeans. Luckily there were other students who also didn't upgrade to black and white swag. When the conductor ascended the stage at precisely 7:00, the audience quieted, but nothing happened. After a while, I realized the queen was not in her box yet! So we were all sitting there for 10 minutes when she finally arrived fashionably late, or were we all unfashionably early? As soon as she came in, we all stood and I think the orchestra played some royal fanfare piece. The focus of the concert was Mahler, the composer who supposedly mastered the concept of music as a language. Thus ensued a twenty minute lecture by the director about Mahler....unfortunately it was all in Danish, so I napped. I can now say Mahler has verily achieved music as a language. His phrases and melodies portray exactly a certain mood or feeling, a certain atmosphere and each note is emotionally-charged in your mind. The only thing I don't like is that he rapidly switches to different scenes with illogical transitions, so that I'm busy constructing a silent film in my head for one section and suddenly it switches and I am left to pick up my bewildered ear and attempt to recreate a new scene.
Sunday the 20th: Today was the DIS chrismtas lunch, otherwise known as the "julefrokost" christmas parties held between coworkers or a group or sportsklub or some other gang of colleagues that are not your friend group or your family. In fact, the general rule is that you don't bring your spouse to julefrokost, and whatever happens at julefrokost, stays at julefrokost. But considering there were students and entire host families in attendance, the DIS version was very PG-13. A jazz band entertained in the background while we all devoured the traditional flaeskesteg (roasted pork with crackling rind on top), fried fish fillet with remoulade, frikadeller, warm leverpostej, potato wedges, and red cabbage (my favorite!!!!). Afterwards we had the pakkeleg, or the christmas present game. Everyone had to bring a small wrapped gift, and the game goes in 2 parts. 1) Everyone passes around a pair of dice in a cup and each person throws the dice. If they get a six, they can grab a present from the pile. This goes on until all the presents are gone. 2) With a timer set to however long you want, everyone continues passing the dice, but if you get a six now, you can steal someone else's present. When the timer ends, they who have presents have presents, they who have nothing have nothing. Considering how egalitarian Danish culture is, this unfair game is very strange. I am of the opinion that if you invested 10DKK in bringing a gift, you should rightfully get a 10DKK gift back. Ah well. Clearly no one was interested in sharing gifts. The final tradition of julefrokost is the rice pudding (ris a la mande). It is boiled rice in milk and cream and butter with chopped almonds. If you can find the one whole almond, you win a prize (obviously you can't stir or peer around looking for it when you take your portion). Also, the goal is that you don't reveal you have it until the end (so that the rice pudding gets finished!). It also comes with cherry sauce. Since I don't really like creamy mushy stuff, I only nibbled at my share.
Monday the 21st: First day at Fisketorvet! I was so excited and nervous (after today it became just a regular workday) but I had brought and printed a lot of music so that I wouldn't run out. Occasionally I had a fan who stayed a bit and clapped after each piece, but otherwise it was a relaxing two hours to just enjoy piano. I would have liked to put out a small hat on the piano for tips, but the piano was roped off. Since it has been converted into an art piece (the "Liquid Piano") they are very interested in protecting such an investment. Apparently during the housewarming party, people were kicking at the section where the piano drips, so they have had to fence off that part as well with heavy-duty potted plants. No faith in humanity.
Thursday the 24th: Well I had come up with an idea to decorate a box and hang it on the railing around the piano. I was feeling the flow that day with piano and certainly that was the most I had ever earned in tips (about $15). Afterward, I attended a Thanksgiving dinner with Caitlin's huge Danish family (many uncles/aunts/leetle cousins). They were very excited to experience Thanksgiving and debated about how to translate the dishes. Apparently they do have a dish called sweet potatoes, but it's really caramelized regular potatoes with cinnamon on top, hence "sweet" potatoes, not yams.
Friday the 25th: So since I was plotting my own Thanksgiving, I had to find some yams. Note that I have not nor ever cooked an American Thanksgiving (a Chinese Thanksgiving usually consists of Peking Duck YUMMMM), so internet recipes played a big part. I went to shop at the open markets at Torvhallen at Israel Plads (near Norreport)--they have all kinds of interesting foods and cakes and wares and even fish and chips, and they had yams. I stayed up til midnight doing prep cooking.
Did I mention DIS provides a Thanksgiving stipend? Well, you have to apply for it. The goal is to involve as many Danes with American students as possible and include some fun activity that is traditionally American and Thanksgiving. We had our host family and some other students as well as a hand-turkey competition! DIS provided 1000 DKK, which covered the turkey and all the ingredients and all the crafting supplies. Hooray!
Saturday the 26th: SO MUCH COOKING! We had to last minute pick up some bread for stuffing and Stuart (my falling-out-of-canoe partner). Together we prepped the stuffing, cleaned and stuffed the turkey, and then PIANO LESSON WHAT? Yes, I had a make-up piano lesson and the only possible time was randomly at 2 pm on my Thanksgiving Saturday. So I did abandon Stuart (my roomie Caroline would soon return to help) for 3 hours (1 for getting there, 1 for lesson, 1 for coming back). As soon as I came back the kitchen was crowded--Caroline had brought her friend to assist. Crackers with cheese and Christmas jam, roasted zucchini soup (blending the soup makes it delicious!), turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, marshmallows on sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce with orange juice, sweet pepper cornbread, and sweet corn. EAT EAT EAT. I think we were all in a food coma. Afterwards it was making hand-turkeys and hats with construction paper, foil paper, feathers, sequins, color pencils, and glue. Several people paired up, so there were 4 lavish entries for 3 equal prizes of RitterSport choco. DESSERT was apple pie and pecan pie, both amazingly wunnerful. So stuffed, tired, sleep.
Sunday the 27th: Today was the DIS trip to Lubeck, Germany to see their world-famous Christmas market. So, I had to wake up at 4:30, jump on the train west towards Ringsted (only way to get to københavn on time but not too early is to go backwards to Ringsted and then eastwards to Copenhagen b/c it ain't stoppin at Borup). So I was in the city on a Sunday and I wandered the empty streets until bus time. Remains of a party night littered the cobblestones, but there were also city cleanup crews busy stashing the trash away. So that is why the city is pretty the next day. It was a LONG bus trip and when we got there, severe rain and wind awaited. Denmark itself was having a hurricane, so Germany had the edges. Still we went shopping shopping shopping. It is a very extensive market with some trite tourist things and some really interesting things. I think because it was so lauded as world famous I had imagined more, so I was minutely disappointed. The rain didn't help and also many of the other shops that had building space were closed for Sunday. In any case, we nomm'd a BIG SOFT PRETZEL, chicken and onion kebab, and muzen (little doughnuts sprinkled with powdered sugar). More rain and wind on the bus ride back such that a bridge was closed. Our Danish driver complained that the Germans get terrified over so little wind and braved across the bridge. Back in Jylland, we found that the bridge to Zealand was closed, so we drove an extra few miles north to find the other bridge. On the highway, we passed CAR ON FIRE OMG. It was entirely on fire, like the flames were inside and outside the car, fanned by the wind. I hope no one was inside. I was in bed at 1:30 am because the driver was nice enough to drop me at exit 32, closer to home, rather than me having to catch an hour train back from Copenhagen.
Tuesday the 29th: Twas the last class of Human Health & Disease, there was food, pictures, hugs, and last minute good-byes, and we all got to leave early. There was some talk about how some students in the US do not have the ability to go shadow doctors or find research. Often they have to resort to connections and friends in high places in order to get to do that. That is something I think I have taken for granted, how JHU organizes, promotes, and even give away opportunities to do research at a lab, do your own research, implement a community project, shadow doctors, and offer grants to accomplish these things. I guess JHU being founded as a research institution and having a small undergrad population makes it easier. Then it was to dinner at La Galette (105 DKK for drink and pancake). I chose the Asterix, which was egg with chives and ratatouille. They use special blue wheat to make their stiff and more filling pancakes, and the topping goes quite nicely. But I think you would be better off getting a cheaper galette in France. Then to ROLEPLAYING. Let me explain. Roleplaying or the modern form tabletop RPG like Dungeons & Dragons is an interactive and traditional form of storytelling, where everyone plays a character adventuring in the world created and controlled by a gamemaster (who also voices the NPCs). Some things are of course, up to chance or fate, so we figure them out using many-sided dice. For those who like fantasy/sci-fi books or enjoy RPG videogames, the world of roleplaying is necessary to experience at least once, and I'm so amazed our European Storytelling class was providing this.
Another observation. Danish Language & Culture class has often impressed on me how lax Danes are with work. Doctors work only 40 hours a week, to give an example. And rush hour happens between 3:30 - 4:30. And most things close Sunday. My observation is that my hostmum is an exception. She works 6 days a week often, and several nights have to stay there until late evening, like 10 pm. Now, this might be the description of the average postdoc slaving away to get published, but it is actually her work as manager? at the National Gallery cafe. Sometimes I think she is drowning in work.
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