And to continue with my Danish experiences of December:
Thursday the 1st: So the first of December, or when the Christmas month begins, we celebrate with......rice pudding. Considering that the food at the DIS Christmas Lunch could not compare with my host mum's version, I supposed the host mum's version of ris a la mande might also be tastier. Except this time, we had warm rice pudding for a meal. There was no almond to find, and we sprinkled the top with butter slices and cinammon sugar. Much better than the DIS supermarket-provided version. Also, it was the lighting of the ADVENT candle. OOOOOO. You burn it down to the next number every night, until CHRISTMAS.
Saturday the 3rd: We traveled to a Christmas market in Svenstrup Gods. It rained and blustered and blustered and rained. I got some fuzzy soft nisse gnomes. They are ADORABLY CUTE. Then there is a little place called Mosehuset, an adorable little cottage turned cozy teahouse/shop. It was PACKED. I think people come from all over the nearby towns to visit this little place. They sell old style candy in jars by the cashier, tea leaves by the kilogram, boutique-y plates, mugs, kitchen furnishings, as well as homemade toys and things in the attic!
Sunday the 4th: An inspiring thing happened at Fisketorvet. As I was playing Christmas music, a woman leaned over the railing and asked if she could sing with me. Victoria Gydov, Danish-born soprano who currently lives in Canada, knew both American and Danish songs, and I think the shoppers were definitely more interested in hearing singing than background piano. Lots of crowds and clapping. She has an amazing voice. I offered to arrange with my employer if she could come back and sing more and get paid. Ironically, ever since I started Christmas music, even with Victoria along, we had ZERO tips (I guess classical is more appreciated??
Tuesday the 6th: I went with a group of students to Tivoli to see this year's Russian-themed Christmas. It was soooooo cold. The lights and decorations are beautiful, what with dangly lights on willow trees, swans on the "ice pond" where the fountain used to be, giant Russian minaret towers, and Father Winter taking pictures with kids instead of Santa Claus. If you can stand the cold, it is definitely worth seeing. Normally, there is ice skating, but since a guy decided to buy Tivoli for the season and make it Russian, the ice skating didn't happen. Afterwards, it was my piano recital! Not mine solely, but all of my teacher (Niklas Sivelov)'s students. I forgot the intro and had to restart 3 times before I remembered. After that it went smoothly. The other kids wanted to go to Kulør Bar because on Tuesdays, it's 60 DKK ($12) entrance free and unlimited beer/drinks all night. Except they didn't know how to get there. I called a Danish friend who gave me directions, first to ride the metro to Kongens Nytorv, and then to walk down to Gothersgade (it was number 8). I told them the metro part first. Except Daniel Ernst (cute, shy, from Munich, music studies major) had his bike and going on the metro would be awkward. So I offered to bike with him (I had conveniently left my bike at the academy several days ago). Daniel and I got to Kongens Nytorv and no one was coming out of the metro. ? This was a problem, because neither of us had the phone numbers of the others on the metro. After waiting a bit, we decided they would figure their way out and we went to Kulør Bar ourselves. It was 10 pm and the bar was 90% empty. They also didn't let us keep our bags and coats, and checking them in would be an extra 20 DKK ($4). The music was also at the volume that left you deaf for 10 minutes afterwards. Well, we decided we'd go to a nearby bar, and if we saw the others come in, we could join them again (still had the UV stamp on our hands). The neighboring bar also had a happy hour, 2 for 1 on all beer/drinks. It was a much more quiet, hyggelig setting, and we chatted til midnight, when I said I had to go home. He accompanied me to Central Station and I promised to visit Munich someday and he promised to show me around when I did. I got on the train and was sooooo tired, so I set the alarm for 40 minutes, the usual amount of time. I woke up just as the train was leaving my stop. NOOOO! I frantically ran to the ticket checkers to ask when the next train going back at the next stop would be. It would take an hour. They offered to call me a taxi at the next stop. I said ok, not wanting to bother my host mum at this hour. So, at the next station Ringsted, I got on the taxi. The cost started at 45 DKK ($9). I slept on the way back. When I woke up, it was at 350 DKK ($70). Holy what??? I was not sure I had that much in my debit card, so I would have to use credit card, and explain what happened to my dad later... I asked the driver if he took credit card. The driver said, "No, the train company is paying." WHATTT?????? Before the dream could end, I hastily thanked him and ran out. Wow. Why does DSB pay for dumb Americans who oversleep their stop? It was MY fault and they're paying for it. I wonder if something's wrong with the system (more on this below--see the 14th).
Thursday the 8th: A friend and I finally traveled all the way up the coast to see the Louisiana Museum. They had an exhibition on Ai Wei Wei (the Chinese dissident modern artist), but also other exhibits like Klee and Cobra. We walked through everything. I thought Ai Wei Wei's art can be very thought-provoking and it is also not hard to discern his point. I think it's because he wants to make political messages, that he can't make obscure art, that it has to be so obviously to the point. He's also multimedia, making documentaries, sculptures, paintings, photographs, etc, etc. If you can see his work, go see his work, wherever you are. He has pieces everywhere except in China. Klee and Cobra, on the other hand, I have little to no respect for. Why can I not frame my childhood doodles and make it worth a million bucks? Because Klee drew these doodles when he was an adult? Nope. When he found his collection of doodles saved by his mother, Klee said he hit upon a great treasure. Paul Klee and the Cobra artists both attempted to recreate art from the perspective of children (for separate reasons), painting and drawing vague monster doodles and whatnot. Their puppets, I give credit to, because they are childish monsters made of everyday materials, like an electrical socket, that frighten small children and do make impacts on the viewer. But that's just my opinion.
Friday the 9th: DIS organized ice skating at an open air rink in Valby. COLD and the rink was not well-maintained (only hockey skates, uneven surface with leaves stuck in them, etc etc). We stuck it out for an hour and then went to Cafe HP (not Harry Potter) where DIS paid for hot chocolates for everyone. A good end :D. Ice skating is pretty popular though among Danes.
Saturday the 10th: With a friend, I went to the Christiania christmas market. They have it all packed into their biggest building, the Grey Hall, and it is PACKED. Walking from one end to the other took half an hour. There's lots of homemade decorations, jewelry, pottery, etc, etc. They have so many interesting candles (I bought a lot of those, hehehehehehe) and it's just a bigger selection of different things that you don't find in the other markets like on Axeltorv or Gammeltorv (where they sell all the same touristy things). On the way home, waiting at the train station, a clearly drunk man was pestering another girl, who didn't have the heart, I think, to rudely leave him and walk somewhere else. So I sat down next to her and attempted to distract the guy. He was terribly drunk and only spoke English, and kept asking the girl to come home with him, or try to touch one of us on the cheek or knee. Had he attempted anything else, I would've have kicked him rather hard in his sensitive spot and left. But it was only 15 minutes to banter (mostly trying to confuse him with difficult math problems of how far away I lived) and finally the girl left to get on her train and I abandoned him too. Creepers.
Sunday the 11th: The day that everyone was home and would celebrate Christmas together (at least for us American students)! Baking baking baking, fletting fletting (weaving paper into those beautiful christmas hearts), drinking glog, eating KRINGLE, eating eating, dancing around the tree, singing Hojt Fra Traets Granne Top and Silent Night, opening presents, goodbyes, and so much love. It cannot be captured in words, only that if you do get to stay with a host family, and they are a nice host family, it is worth all the hours spent on commuting and all the money you paid and everything.
Monday the 12th: Nyhavn! You cannot say you have visited Copenhagen without having a beer in Nyhavn (the mini port with lots of colorful houses and beautiful sailboats). I was so underwhelmed by the Christmas market, however, that the Tuborg was so unsatisfying and I didn't stay long. It's much more beautiful to go in August, not December hehe.
Wednesday the 14th: I spent today shopping for gifts for the host family (I like surprises! They aren't allowed to see what Santa brought them until Christmas). Tomorrow, DSB was going to cancel some trains because workers were going on strike. They also publicly announced they were not going to budge on negotiating pay because they were having their own financial troubles. I think it's because they pay the taxi for dumb Americans like me (see above--the 6th).
Thursday the 15th: My first final went by easily, and I spent the rest of the day packing packing packing (and last minute shopping :D). I love packing. It's like organizing. My host mum buys a new nisse doll or figurine every year, but this year, she didn't find any cute ones at the markets we visited in Svenstrup Gods and all. So I went back to Tivoli where I had seen an adorable wooden ladder dotted with little nisse girls and boys and gift packages playing on the rungs and bought it for her. Hee hee hee.
Friday the 16th: I packed late into the night, and we had some last cheese and crackers at midnight. So depressing and so excited at the same time. Glad I was not alone, and happy to have been with some awesome people.
Saturday the 17th: SAS had overbooked. By 30 people. WAYYYY too many American students. We hurried to get ourselves checked in, had tearful hugs with my host mum, and scurried to our gate. The flight was uneventful, and I was glad to be home (my sister came back from university on the same day!). I still skype with my host mum regularly, and I sleep in now, and I have had a wonderful christmas and new years at home. I don't regret studying abroad in any way, and I feel sorry for anyone who cannot afford the time or the money to go, or those who think they don't want to go. It is an amazing experience that I wish could be more universally available.
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