6 måneder

Today is my 6 month anniversary of moving to Denmark and unsurprisingly time seems to have gone by in a flash. Though I feel like I got here just yesterday, looking back I can tell just how much I'm gotten accustomed to life here. So here is a breakdown of what I've learned in 6 months.

Food
Upon first moving here I knew little about Danish food and when I asked Danes to describe their cuisine, it was usually described as 'kind of gross' or just unimpressive. In my expereince Danish food is a little dull though ultimately delicious. It's not exactly your fancy french cooking with wine sauce or anything. You're far more likely to run into "brown sauce" which doesn't need much more explanation. The diet is very meat and potatoes (literally) but I've become really fond of lunch.


These photos are actually pretty old and are back from the old office, but you should get the idea. Lunch is a huge pile of meats and cheeses and whatever else and you just dive in and make an open-faced sandwich. Anyone who knows me from my TODA days will recall that it was PB&J pretty much every day. Well NO MORE. I eat so many different things these days I don't know if I could ever return to the simple pleasures of peanut butter. How do you come down from rugbrøg, chili gouda, cream cheese and jalapenos? Well, I can't imagine it's pretty.


Here we've got rugbrød (the bread), roast beef, remoulade (the bright yellow stuff, much like a relish), tomates and dijonaise it looks like. Man that dijonaise is good.


And what have we here? It's a Denmark classic. Leverpostei (liver, but it's practically the danish peanut butter), cucumbers and roasted onions. In the background you can see the red beets which are very hard to pronounce in Danish.

Culture
While I can't really claim to know very much about Danish culture there are a lot of small things, some of which were raised in the post a couple of days ago. Bascially it's a little tough to get into Danish culture because I don't speak the language and am the foreigner and everyone treats you like it. Not that it's a bad thing, people are lovely here but mostly having lived in very large cities it's tough for me to get a grasp on a smaller, more intimate city. Also it's in Denmark. In general I've found people to be super nice, but perhaps a little hard to connect with. In contrast, in the states people are quicker to write you off initially but are quick to accept you as a good friend. If you can make it past that wall however, people here are really good to one another. Again I can't speak for the population one a large level but the friends I have here are some of the best people I've met in my life. Nearly every single one is one of those deeper connections you really keep with you. It's almost crazy. Because of the socialized government everyone in Denmark really has a chance to make it and I think homelessness is almost a choice you have to make. Most people are really seen as equal and I think people carry this over to their personal relationships. And to quickly touch on diversity, there really isn't any. I've seen like 5 black people here, but you do get a fair amount of middle eastern people as well as polish. Also the practice of picking cans out of the trash happens here, and it's always old chinese women. Whenever I see that I smile; it feels just like home.

The Langauge
Man, Danish is a tough language. It's not pronounced very much like it is spelled, and even then Danish people like to cram a lot of words together or just leave some out sometimes. "Tak skal du have" might become "tak sk'ha" It's usually spoken pretty quickly as well which leaves me, as a foreigner, in the dust. However, I think I'm making some pretty big strides. I take Danish lessons twice a week and I'm getting there. I even read a book. I went to Paris for New Years and it felt extremely foreign, I really missed hearing Danish actually. It started to become second nature to say 'tak' and 'undskyld' which I guess is a sign that I'm catching on. I feel a little slow on the uptake and it's probably because everyone in Denmark speaks amazing English. Everyone. Amazing. It's really pretty surprising at first. Of course one must realize that Danish isn't very useful outside Denmark save maybe Greenland (which is Denmark territory btw), but I don't think that even Danish people really want to go there. I've run into 2 people that don't speak it well and they are the pizza guy at Hawaii Pizza and the turkish guys who run the barber shop I go to. Fortunately all they do is make pizza and cut hair respectively, so you can't go too wrong. I mean, it's not like I'll go in for a pizza and walk out with new shoes or something. Worst case is I get the wrong delicious pizza.

Work
I really like my job. There are such good people there and the work is infinitely more interesting than previous jobs. I know like half the people who read this are my coworkers so I won't dwell on it, but yes. I think it's fantastic and I'm worried that I've been spoiled and will forever be thinking up reasons why future jobs aren't as good as hello monday. We've launched some cool stuff recently though so check it out.
http://www.hellomonday.com has some updates (notice '.com' mofos)
http://www.gudrunoggudrun.com designed by sebastian and programmed by me is looking good. A few more touchups and it will be ready for the award circuit
http://www.businessaarhus.dk designed by jeppe and given life through johanna, never ends but was a neat project to work on all the same

ME
I'm doing quite well myself. I'm pretty happy to be here and I'm nice and healthy. I think I eat a lot better than I did in the states and I'm also eating less. I initially dropped a cool 20 pounds when I first moved here and I've put a few back on though I am still 2 belt notches shy of when I entered the country. As of tonight I weigh 185 pounds (84 kilo) which is just about where I should be, so that's all good. And because peeps be askin, here is me in front of a canvas for my roommate that I will finish in another 6 months.


Random
I haven't seen tv in 6 months so I spend a good amount of time in front of my computer for entertainment. Invariably, you get popups and stuff, but though I never though about it, it was quite obvious that they would be different here. I try to remember to take screenshots when there is a good one so here are a few I've grabbed.

Working in the US isn't all that great. If only I could warn these people.

Also: Johanna and Pelle got married over the weekend and didn't tell anyone. That is crazy. Afterwards they got some Burger King. That is awesome. Since Jo and Palle are one of the big reasons I'm still alive in Denmark I'm thrilled for them. Congratulations!

The Next Six
I feel like I've had a great time here but now coming up is the back 9 and more importantly, nice weather! I feel like I should set some goals but I'm really bad at following through on doing things for myself. So instead here are some think that I'd like to do without calling them goals.
- kick more ass at work. I feel like I'm getting to be a pretty good programmer and each site is really a step up coding wise. I'd really like to kick up my production rate and make some really impressive work. I'd also like to try to design more in my spare time as I've gotten quite rusty. I think that exercising helps with thinking in that it helps stimulate your mind. In the same way I think designing and drawing helps stimulate your creativity which is essential for problem solving in code.
- meet some more people. I love the people I know now but it would be nice to know a few more people. I'm a huge stick-in-the-mud so I should just get off my ass and make the effort.
- exercise a little? I probably won't but it would be nice. Besides walking around 2km to work and back I don't do much else for physical activity. Hopefully warm weather will make me get out.
- travel. this one I really have to do and I'm sure I will. If you're planning a european trip anytime this year let me know and we'll meet up!

Otherwise I'll probably be back in MA/NY late may early june for a little so we should meet up and you can laugh at how i talk weird after a couple drinks.

Watch my feet!

My feet are famous. It's true. Foot model is going on my resume. What am I talking about you ask? Well if you visit toda.com you'll see a video some hairy legs connected to some large feet fit into socks which were obviously not meant for feet that size. Ya, that's me. That has been up, oh I don't know, 7 months or so? But just recently my feet got the shout out on the american apparrel website. Recognize (link)!

I hate lists

I almost hate to do this because these lists are always pretty stupid. However(!), I think these are all very true and it gives a little insight into little aspects of Danish life that I myself have really noticed as well. So having said that, here is a list copied from the interwebs plus little comments by me marked with stars (*).

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You go to the supermarket and buy three good beers and 10 not too good ones.
*Its really common to go into supermarkets and just pull a couple beers out of a six pack. It's much more mixing and matching than I'm used to.

You honestly believe that the distance between Copenhagen and Aarhus is long.
*It is fucking long. Like 4 hours by train. That's NYC to Boston.

The first thing you do on entering a bank/post office/pharmacy etc. is to look for the queue number machine.
*Yup, it sucks and was really confusing initially. You get a little slip of paper with a number, kind of like at a deli or something.

You accept that you will have to queue to take a queue number.

When a stranger on the street smiles at you, you assume that:

a. he is drunk;
b. he is insane;
c. he is American;
d. he is all of the above.

*I guess people don't smile but I usually try not to look at people anyways for fear they will ask me something in Danish.

Can't remember when to say "please" and "excuse me".
*There isn't a Danish word for please, so I don't really know what this one is about.

You start to believe that if it weren't for Denmark's efforts, the world would probably collapse pretty soon.

You know the meaning of life has something to do with the word "hyggelig".
*hyggelig basically means cozy which is a word you only really use if you're trying to give someone a veiled gay compliment. Here they say it all the time and like this one implies, I'm not really sure about it. I sort of know what it means, but I feel like it has a lot more to do with the Danish culture than I know.

You are very surprised when you receive compliments about ANYTHING - including your appearance/clothing! In fact when you do, you find it suspicious and start thinking they might have ulterior motives.

You've completely forgotten what a "date" is - no one ever comes to pick you up and unexpected gifts are VERY unexpected.

You don't think it strange that no one ever comes by to visit without being invited and you never show up at any one's place unannounced either.

You wouldn't dream of coming even 10 minutes early to a party. (Once around the block is always an alternative)

You find yourself lighting candles when you have guests - even if it is brightly sunny outside and 20 degrees.
*This one is definitely true. The Danes love their candles and it has started to rub off. In the grocery store there is a big shelf just for candles. The section for candles is maybe 5 or 6 shelves and I think there are just 2 for cereal.

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So I'm sorry about that, but it's little funny Danish culture things that you don't really know until you live here for a while. Speaking of which, I've been here for nearly 6 months. That's ridiculous.

fuck! i just set my headphones on fire and now my room smells like burning rubber.

The cursed holiday

New Years Eve is a cursed holiday for me. Every year something always happens to make it a train wreck of a night. What better way to welcome a new year? Not that I want to get into it, but in the past couple of years there was the time we thought my friend Justin was dead, the time I accidentally mixed prescription medicine with alcohol (sidenote, turns out I'm deathly allergic to amoxicillin), and then the fist fight between my two good friends; just so you know what we're dealing with. My friends and I have learned to look back at these and laugh (oh Justin, remember that time we thought you were dead? har har har), but I don't think I'll be laughing about this one for a long time. (The rest of the entry is me whining, so feel free to stop reading here).



The story is a simple one though. My family is nice enough I suppose, but being around each other for more than a few hours at a time begins to cause a lot of friction. Someone decided we had to go down to the Champs Elysees (though later there would be much arguing about whose stupid idea is had been with nobody eager to take credit). We sensibly decided that we would be able to make it across Paris in 15 minutes on New Years Eve and get over there with plenty of time to admire the Arc De Triomphe before the corks popped. During the four days we were there we typically spent as much time planning our route as actually in transit, however, this being our first night we argued 20 minutes prior to setting off and then the whole time on the train. It quickly became apparent that we weren't going to make it, and decided we didn't want to spend new years on the subway so we jumped out at the nearest stop and tried to follow the crowds hoping it would lead to some festivities. So now here we are, Paris, the city of love and fine wine, except we are under a bridge in the middle of nowhere because it started raining. We rung in 2008 much like we would spend the rest of our trip, arguing over a map. We looked for the train station we'd just come out of but couldn't find it again. Also being unable to locate a cab we began our long walk home shooting mental daggers at anyone smiling.

God Jul!

It's Christmastime in Denmark and I was lucky enough to spend it with Jeppe and his family. I don't know when I've felt more welcome, especially at the holidays.


Note the real candles on the tree. I guess I've always thought of this as pretty dangerous but I was assured at the most there has just been a little smoke and never any real fires. Sweet! Anyway safety is probably the last thing you're thinking about while dancing around the tree and singing songs.


The food was also pretty amazing. Traditional Danish cooking is sort of weird just in that it's pretty straight forward, but also pretty delicious. It almost seems equal parts taste and tradition. Kind of like drinking schnapps at julefrokost, it's gross, but you keep doing it anyways. Here is the classic mother and daughter generational cooking method.


This method is called "drink until it tastes good".


And here's what's cooking! Just look at that pan full of sugar. That's what I call cooking.


Now the meal winds down with lots of wine. And it's almost time for...


Rice pudding! Now there is a tradition in which somewhere in the giant serving bowl of rice pudding (which really was quite large) there is hidden a whole almond. If you end up with this almond, then you get a prize, so it is in your best interest to eat as much pudding as you possibly can so as to increase your odds. Now the tricky part, if you get the almond the idea is to hide it as long as possible so that everyone else gets sick trying to eat all the rest of the pudding too fast. Just to you know, add a little injury to insult.


And this is what it looks like when you win. I've played this game twice now, and have won both times. I figure the odds of this are around 1 in 64 so I pretty much rule. The first time I won I didn't know the hiding the almond thing but this time I made so to hold on to it as long as I could, but trying to hide an almond under your tongue is only comfortable for so long.


After dinner it was time for a visit from santa! It was met with joy and a little confusion, but in the end it works out for everyone.






Glædelig jul!

Thanksgiving

Well its a bit late so now I'm playing catch up. There is of course no thanksgiving in Denmark so this was just a little something to remind me of home. Happy thanksgiving!