"Bye!"

Another observation about Denmark: the doors work the opposite of the way they do in the States! You know how when you are going into a place you pull the door towards you? And upon leaving you push it out? Yeah, other way around here. When I want to go into a store or cafe, I push the doorknob in, and when I leave, I pull it towards me. Which is so confusing. Kinda like driving on the other side of the road, I guess. I've looked like an idiot so many times cause I will always pull when I'm supposed to push and vice versa. Haha oh well, guess I'll learn....

Anyway....
I went to Robert's Coffee after class today to finish reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which has been my fun book for like the past month, and the place was so crowded that I couldn't find anywhere to sit. Pretty much every single chair or couch was occupied or claimed by groups of people. So I was unsure of what to do cause I had just ordered a cup of coffee and obviously needed to sit down but I was walking around like a lost puppy. It's very uncomfortable to be in a social situation like that, you know, cause you're this American student--essentially a guest in another country--and you don't want to offend anyone or bother anyone and you don't want them to think of you as just another stupid American who says "Oh my God" all the time (slight digression: a Danish guy in the elevator told me that he thinks all Americans say this to no end). So finally I got up the nerve to ask a group of three Danes who were sitting by the window if I could sit down next to them cause there was some extra room on the couch. So they were like, Sure! And so I sat down with the three of them and we all read our books and whatnot and I tried to lose myself in Oscar and not feel awkward about the fact that I was a visiting American sitting amidst a group of Danish friends in a coffee shop. Truth be told I did feel intrusive the whole time, especially when they were speaking in Danish across me. But, here's what delighted me: I said no more than "Can I sit here?" to these people, but when they got up to leave, the Danish girl paused and said to me, "Bye!" and looked so genial and happy when she said it that I felt like we were friends in a strange way. I mean she literally paused and looked directly at me and waved and said goodbye. (You like me! You really like me!) So yes, that was my happy moment for the day: feeling included and welcome in a foreign country.

Oh, and I also finally bought a hair dryer. Now I won't have to get on the bus with wet hair in the morning. I think Danes find that strange. haha.

Wanna get hygge with me?

My favorite feature of the Danish lifestyle is a unique concept called "hygge," which is sort of pronounced like Hugh-Gee (Gee as in Gordon, not like "golly gee"). Because it's so cold here, and because it's always overcast and the sun is only up between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm, the Danes have this idea of retreating into a cozy atmosphere, lighting candles, sharing drinks and having conversation. That's hygge. Cause picture this: you're walking around outside, your ears are hurting from the cold, your toes are numb, and then you see a cafe or a coffee shop on the side of the street; and upon looking through the windows, you notice small groups or pairs sitting at tables with flickering candles on them, and these people are having coffee or beer and enjoying each other's company. Also: the lighting is usually dark. Sounds romantic, right? So of course you have this urge to go inside and sit down yourself so that you can take off your scarf, your gloves, and your coat and sit at a table surrounded by candles and chatter. Doesn't that sound cozy?! So yeah, that's hygge. The problem is that it's bad news for my wallet because every time I go in one of these places I always end up buying some kind of refreshment or food (more times than not I just get a chocolate croissant cause those things are amazingggg).
What amuses me most about hygge is the focus on candles. I kid you not: candles are everywhere. You want to go get your hair cut? There will be candles in the barber shop. Restaurants: check. Bars: check. Grocery stores: check. What's strangest (to me) is that the use of candles even extends outside of the shop! As in, when you're walking down the cobble stone streets (I know you're jealous right now), you will see a cafe with candles inside and a few candles outside. Like, right there on the street. Just sitting there by themselves in these huge candle holders. Enticing you to go in and spend more kroner on croissants (which I don't mind).
So yeah, anyway, because I'm trying to adopt When in Cope, do as the Copenhageners do as my mantra, I went out and bought some candles for my own room. Three small cinnamon-scented ones at this cheap place called Tiger. (Tiger reminds me of Walmart in the sense that it has a random assortment of inexpensive stuff--everything from food to kitchenware to books--but it's a lot, lot, lot smaller and is kind of just another typical Danish shop on the street corner.) Now everytime I come home in the afternoon or at night I get out my little silver lighter and light my three candles! It makes me feel so cozy.

Hej from Kobenhavn!

Hej! It has now been 11 days since I arrived in Denmark and I'm finally settling in. It was chaotic and confusing and emotionally straining at first, but now I've finally gotten used to daily life here and I'm starting to enjoy it. And I've noticed so much interesting stuff that I am finally caving and starting a blog. But I don't want it to be all "Yo dudes, here's what I did today," so instead I'm just going to write about whatever suits my fancy and not necessarily my daily life. Sound good?!
And now, for my first official post, I give you a litany of assorted things I have noticed so far about Copenhagen and Denmark:

• Dogs are everywhere. I was in a cafe the other day and this woman had her shih tzu in there (which made me miss Lily like crazy). I also saw a woman on the bus who had her dog in a basket next to her. She was petting it during the bus ride and I was surprised at how docile it was: it was just, like, chilling. And, of course, people walk their dogs everywhere. Yesterday I saw this reallyyy huge black dog with long, thin legs; it was so tall that its head was definitely level with the owner's torso.
• This is very cliche to write about (because everyone notices this) but biking is very, very popular. I think more people probably bike than drive. And this spans all demographics. I've seen old people and I've also seen children go cruising down the street. I mean, there's a bike lane and everything, and bikes have the right of way. They actually warn you to check for bikes when you're stepping off the bus so you don't get hit (it's kind of a fear of mine, haha). People will raise their left arm or their right arm to indicate when they're turning, and the first time I saw this I thought the biker was putting their hand out to give me a high five! Yeah, silly, I know, but it's hard to get used to the biking thing! Mainly cause in the States people just go "bike-riding" recreationally and not as an actual means of transportation.
• Because of the popularity of bikes, I have seen more bike shops here than I've ever seen in my life. Top three kinds of shops I notice when I ride the bus: Eating places, convenience/grocery stores, bike shops (not necessarily in that order). Oh, and there are a lot of hair places too. Not full-out salons, but tiny barber shops sprinkled every few blocks.
  
• Speaking of shops, there are tons of independent booksellers! I haven't seen any huge Waldenbooks, Borders, or B&N stores, but when I walk down the street I see tons of small book shops. Which just makes me so happy inside. I actually found the Danish versions of Harry Potter and definitely plan on buying at least book seven in Danish before I leave.
  
• All the toddlers I have seen are always dressed in those full-on one-piece snowsuits. They all look like they're going sledding. It's funny because everyone else just wears skinny jeans and some kind of fashionable coat and a scarf, but then their kids look like they're about to go tobbagganing.
• Apparently the Danes do not consume macaroni and cheese. Or at least, not the Kraft kind anyway. I have gone to the ends of the earth (read: to four grocery stores) looking for that beautiful blue box, but to no avail. I shall have to suffer without my Easymac and my Spongebob Fun Shapes dinners for the next four months.
• While I'm on the subject of food I'm eating (or not eating), my diet's been a little crazy. Most of my "meals" consist of pasta, pb&j, or frosted flakes if I'm eating at home. When I go out for lunch, I usually just eat chocolate croissants. Cause they're amazing. But I've also had a couple of pizzas and one deliciousss sandwich the other day. So my mom's all concerned because I'm not exactly eating a healthy or well-balanced diet. But here's my philosophy: it's only for sixteen weeks. I can eat random crap for sixteen weeks. And frankly, I loooove chocolate croissants and pastries and all of this "European food" and when will I ever have the chance to have a diet consisting of chocolate croissants again? So I'm just gonna go with it. Also, fear not, darling Mother: last night I had a big bowl of Thai food for dinner. It had vegetables and everything! So I'll eat the occasional normal meal, I guess.

Enough for now!

P.S. I just wanted to tell everyone that the template I chose for this blog is called "Harbor," which is very appropriate since Kobenhavn = Koben (merchant) + havn (harbor)! Yay for the Havn template!