Today was a monumental day. Today I became a (pseudo)Dane. Last week I got my 'yellow card' and became a temporary citizen of Denmark with all of the rights entitled to a Danish citizen and some would consider that the moment they became a pseudo-Dane, but for me it was not. For me, it was today at the train station when a confused and disoriented man approached me and asked if I knew what train to take the Lyngby. I asked him whether he meant Lyngby in Denmark or the nearby Lundby in Sweden (they sound almost the same). He informed me he was looking for the one in Denmark and I replied, to his misfortune, that I only knew the train to the Lundby in Sweden (odd and not very useful, but hey), but showed him the map and the route. Then a woman approached me at the station about five minutes later and asked me in Danish something about a train, Østerport station, and Østerbro neighborhood. Understanding half of what she said (which I was pretty proud of) I told her what train to take and how to get there, giving her multiple options on S trains, regional trains, or metro. I walked away feeling pretty damn good, like I finally blended. Today was a good day.
Given that... I am going to reflect a bit on my past five weeks here in Denmark and what I have learned thus far:
1. If you want to blend in, wear black. Do not wear yellow, or green, or God forbid, orange. Wear black, boots, and some kind of poofy black jacket. Luckily for me, I only own black clothing. Unlucky for most of my American classmates, orange and yellow are dead giveaways that you don't belong.
2. Semi-socialists states brew some kind of political homogeny, but with seven political parties, all of which have a chance in power (except maybe the Unity Party which embodies the ideals of the 1960's hippie movement), there is a definitely diverse political landscape and openness for cooperation and compromise, it's not so "either or" like in the States and not as one-sided as people seem to think.
3. Trains don't run so well when the tracks are pure ice, I also don't run so well on ice.
4. The metric system rocks.
5. I thought that the cars would hit you if you got in their way, but those bikers are the scary ones. They will hit, they will not only hit you, but they will break your nose and give you a concussion (information courtesy of my friend Kelli)
6. Denmark is beautiful. The atmosphere, the natural environment, and the people. The people are especially beautiful thanks to the Viking who raided nearby lands and took the most beautiful women to be their wives and reproduce, thus creating a beautiful gene pool.
I keep adding to this list, but I do have another gym adventure to share with you...
Today I went to the gym, did a circuit training class (so much better), and then went back to the locker room, opened my locker, and proceeded to the sauna and steam room to relax. It is important to note that I went to the steam room and sauna only in my towel. I returned to the locker room only to find that the code I punched in my locker wasn't working and I couldn't open my locker. I tried three times. Didn't work. Finally I go upstairs to the main desk which is in the center of the gym (and the gym in the center of a busy square with every wall being comprised entirely of windows)... I did all of this in my towel. The desk assistant came to the locker room, opened my locker only to find out the locker I had been trying to open was in fact not mine. Sh opened the one next to it as I sat there bright red, that locker was also not mine. Turns out my locker was across the locker room and my code did work, I am just a dummy.
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