Posted in Everyday
Weekend before last, I went to Sweden.
There was a certain amount of "Um. Because I could?" involved in this venture. I hopped on the train, and an hour later, after a brisk trip across the Øresund, I was in Malmö.
Malmö is pretty cute. There are some interesting buildings and such-like. Malmöhus, the castle thingy built by the Danes then promptly used by the Swedes to repel the Danes, is pretty cool looking.
Mostly, however, it was cold. (It was also cold in Denmark, but I was out and about in the Swedish cold, so I blamed Sweden.) Also, it was a Sunday (Søndag!), which in Denmark means all the shops are shut but not so much in Sweden. It was warm in the shops, and the Swedish krona is worth less than the Danish kroner. And the books are cheaper.
So I didn’t see all that much of Malmö.
Posted in Travel
If you’re going to move to a country where you don’t speak the language, Denmark is a pretty great choice. While the signs and the websites and radio and television don’t usually speak English, everyone else does. Everyone! It’s ridiculous. They speak to me in Danish, I answer in English, and without a missed beat, the conversation continues. Everyone! (Where everyone = everyone minus my weird Baba-Yaga-looking next door neighbour, but Australian-level language skills are not her only problem.)
The general consensus is that you can get along perfectly well without speaking a word of Danish. I’ll testify to this. I might get confused on the Metro by the friendly announcement that tells me why we seem to have taken a smoko on the tracks for no apparent reason, and I might be completely stumped at the supermarket, wondering which washing detergents don’t contain bleach, but otherwise I’m doing fine.
This doesn’t mean I’m necessarily happy about it. It’s not just due to my aversion to having to speak to real people rather than just look information up. I’m very conscious of not speaking the language and am going to give learning it a go.
Last night I had my first Danish lesson. It was pretty fun. Danish pronounciation and spelling will, however, be the death of me. Sometimes letters are randomly pronounced in different ways. Often, bunches of letters aren’t pronounced at all. "Of course" (or obviously, or naturally, or something like it) for example is ‘selvfølgelig’. In our class, we did an exercise where we struck out the unpronounced letters. (Apparently I should get very used to this exercise.) Selvfølgelig ends up as selvfølgelig; "seføli" (= "sefOORly").
With my memory being so picture-based, I can’t remember any of these words or phrases until I’ve seen them written down. Once I’ve seen them written down, the pronounciation is gone. It’s gonna be tough.
My logical nerdy little mind wouldn’t mind so much if there was deviation from the norm, as long as there was some kind of consistency. But there isn’t. Selvfølgelig.
Posted in Denmark
Back when I first arrived here, I had a rental car for a little bit. I took advantage of temporary mobility on my first weekend to throw a change of clothes in the boot and set off to explore the country.
It was a pretty awful weekend from a weather perspective. It didn’t snow, which was nice, but it was very rainy and very windy. Denmark is able to get 20% of its energy from the wind, so I’m gathering that the latter is not all that uncommon. Graceful windmills scattered over board-flat countryside makes driving through Denmark a pretty experience. When you can see beyond the windscreen wipers.
First, I headed up north to Helsingør. Or, as literary types know it, Elsinore. Checked out Hamlet’s crib. Then swung down through Hillerød to gawp at Frederiksborg Slot. Roskilde came next, which, when it isn’t over-run by a major music festival, is where all the Danish royals are planted. On my way off Zealand (old, not New. *shudder*), I stopped by Trelleborg and waded through a lot of mud to wander around the Viking settlement.
On Funen, I overnighted in Odense. Odense is known for being Hans Christian Andersen’s home town. Now there’s an interesting character. My over-whelming conclusion on exiting the Hans Christian Andersen museum was "weeeeeeeeirdo".
I made it over to Jutland (that’s the bit of Denmark that’s attached to Germany), and checked out Ribe and its wonky old buildings before getting jack of the weather (and the return of my cold) and heading back to København. Due to middle-of-winter-ness, I wasn’t able to visit the most important site in Jutland: Legoland! I shall have to return in summer. I, too, want my Lego driver’s licence.
Posted in Travel
Really.
Mostly, it’s about suitable motivation. Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. They serve a really good one at work. Hence 7am.
It’s pretty dark when I get up. This is actually not as grim as it sounds. A warm apartment (and a heated bathroom floor) helps.
Lately, I’ve noticed it is getting lighter in the mornings. I was surprised to discover that I found this disappointing. I spent a little teeth-brushing time on some self-analysis. Turns out, deep inside I seem to think that rising before the sun gives me some sort of victory over the day.
I guess it’s nice to start the day with a win.
Posted in Everyday
Posted in Denmark
It’s cold, foreign, strange, cold, over-whelming, confusing, lonely and cold. I hate not knowing the language. I hate not having anyone to really talk to. I hate being in a different time zone. I hate missing out on being there. I hate being confused in the supermarket. I hate not knowing anything at work. I hate how much books cost.
And yet, all in all, I’m pretty much loving it.
I love my cute little apartment. I love my posh little area. I love walking to the grocery store. I love the Metro. I love my hour-long commute. I love the breakfast at work. I love the lunch at work. I love having a window office (even if I have to share it). I’m working up to loving my new team, my new product and my new job. I love having Europe on my doorstep. I love all the trips that I’ve planned for the next few months. I love how readily Danes swap to English. I love H&M. I love the bread. I love the pastries. I love the nice little cobbler down the street who fixed my shoe and didn’t charge me. I love having people coming to visit me.
Things are going to be fine.
ToDo: Invent Brilliant Title 