Farvel København

The time has come to say goodbye to Copenhagen and Denmark. But first let me update you on my activities since my last post.

There was an Unofficial Going Away Party last week. In two parts, actually, the first having a makeshift bar, and the second being BYOB. Aside from taking place at different dormitories, that was the only difference, as they were each the typical let’s-all-drink-together party. I was shown an interesting drink, Sambuca, that changes from its natural colorless state to an opaque white when water is added, which was quite interesting.

My goodbye can actually apply to the entire Scandinavia as of Sunday since I visted Malmö, Sweden, a pretty but small city that is only a 30 minute train ride from Copenhagen.  Apparently, many Danes have moved to Malmö since the opening of the Øresund bridge and rail link, as the living expenses are much lower there. We had a nice tour of the city center from a local with ISUP, then wandered around on our own. The most interesting, and fun, activity of the day was renting a couple of paddle boats with some friends and going through the city’s canals.

On Monday, however, I started studying like mad to prepare for my finals. Tuesday’s final, Economics for Business, went much easier than expected. Strategic Management on Wednesday was more difficult, but I think it went well. It was a computer-based exam, which was an interesting experience in itself, and I would say a good one had I not first forgotten my CBS password, gotten a new one, then be locked out of my account with the new password. The woman from IT was kind enough to get me a new password herself, instead of making me miss more of the exam.

Today, I had a last day to enjoy Copenhagen for the great city it is. I first went to the city center to get some souvenirs for the family, which I found more difficult than I had expected. I observed some street hustlers playing a version of find the ball with three matchbox sized containers and a rolled-up paper ball. I found it quite easy to follow their movements, but didn’t have the 500 kroner (about US$100) playing fee. I’m not too upset since that is a lot of money to gamble, but after watching them, I’m sure I could have made a nice dent in my summer spendings. When I told a questioning bystander that I wasn’t going to play because I didn’t have the money, he literally pushed me away from the crowd, leading me to believe that he was not a bystander at all, but an accomplice. After returning to my dorm, I continued some packing I had begun last week, and then went to Fredericksberg Have with a friend to enjoy the good weather. This time around, I remembered to go see the bordering elephant area of the Copenhagen Zoo. On my way out of the park, I managed to take what I consider very nice pictures of a couple of artificial waterfalls in one of the artificial rivers. All in all, it was a very pleasant and enjoyable day.

Now I must finish packing and cleaning so I can get a decent amount of sleep before rising at 6AM to catch my 9:20AM flight to Prague.

Farvel København.

Here are the links to the pictures on Facebook. I have yet to upload any of them to deviantART.

Going Away Party
Malmö
Last Day

My Latest Adventures

Last Wednesday, a friend and I made an excursion to Kronborg in Helsingør, a grand castle made famous by one William Shakespeare when he based Hamlet in Elisnore, the English name for Helsingør, and based Hamlet’s castle on Kronborg. The trip took about 2 hours of train travel, though we had to get up early to get to the central station to confirm our route and fares.

Visiting the castle itself was great. The casemates, which comprise the underground system of vaults and corridors, were interesting and contained a striking sculpture of Holger the Dane, Denmark’s legendary hero who slumbers under the castle, though ready to rise as Denmark’s savior should the country come under attack. The Royal Apartments had a wide collection of items that the various kings had collected over the years, which got boring after a while. The climb to the Telegraph Tower was mildly arduous, but very rewarding, with a great view of Helsingør. The castle also hosts the Danish Maritime Museum, which had some interesting exhibits, the most memorable of which (for me) is a series of model ships in small light bulbs.

There wasn’t much else to see in the city, although we did stop by a church that was hosting an organ concert later that evening and got to hear someone–presumably the organist–practicing, which I must say was quite impressive. The trip back was painless and actually only took an hour and forty minutes.

Thursday was uneventful, except for going to a ridiculously nice cinema–with extraordinarily comfortable seats and the largest screen I ever remember seeing in a regular purpose theater–to see The Dark Knight. The price for the ticket, which has an assigned seat, was a cool 100 DKK, or over $21, and was worth every øre. The fantastic movie, in combination with the theater’s accommodations, ranks that evening among the best movie-going experiences I’ve ever had.

Friday heralded a tour of Christiania, the so-called Free City, which sits on a former military base that was claimed by hippies who started squatting there in 1971. Our guide, a 10-year resident of Christiania, gave us a very informative tour of the colorful settlement. Dubbed as a “social experiment,” the Free City has many interesting features, from the infamous Pusher Street with its few hash stands to the eccentric houses, such as the one constructed of almost exclusively window frames. This house, our guide was sure to point out was made by her neighbor. My favorite part of Christiania is the quintessentially defiant message on the back of the entrance sign: “You are now entering the EU.”

Not too long after I returned from Christiania, I was approached by some housemates. They had rented a car and wanted to go on an adventure outside Copenhagen. Liking adventures, I joined them in a trek to a beach in the northern town of Gilleleje, which isn’t too far from Helsingør. It was a pleasant beach, with a good view of Sweden across the water, though we didn’t hang around for sunset.

On Sunday, the social program took us on a tour of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Museum. More accurately, they said they would do that, while in fact the coordinators hadn’t shown up on time, which left us to enter the museum on our own (Sundays is free admission). After wandering around for a couple of hours with a friend, I had enough and went over to the Tøjhusmuseet (Royal Danish Arsenal Museum) in the historic district of Slotsholmen, where I saw incredibly numerous displays of cannons and other artillery, as well as (what I read somewhere is) the largest collection of firearms from over 500 years.

I finally went to the doctor at Frederiksberg Hospital for my 3+ weeks cough on Monday. After waiting over 3 hours and having read the entire Business Communication from the Harvard Business Essentials series, I was getting a bit hungry, so I asked how long it would be until it would be my turn. The receptionists couldn’t give a definite figure, as there was only one doctor in that day, but since there were 12 people ahead of me in line, they said if I came back in 2-3 hours, I should be alright. I went home to eat dinner and relax for a bit, got back in 2 hours and had to wait another 45 minutes or so until I was called in, where I was quickly informed that I had what appeared to be a viral infection, which cannot be treated. While happy to confirm that, I was a bit annoyed at the time it took.

Today was rather run-of-the-mill until I went to the Amager Strandpark beach with some friends for a beach barbecue/party with other CBS students. I got some nice pictures, but quickly discovered that I was ill-equipped for the outing since I had forgotten a sweatshirt of some sort. I was amused to find myself at a beach twice in a week when prior to that, I had been at a beach twice in three years.

The rest of the week should go by nicely, with my last classes on Thursday and studying for finals next week. I have been thoroughly enjoying my time in Copenhagen, but I feel as though I could use a change of scenery and am looking forward to moving on to Prague next Friday.

Pictures can be found at my deviantART gallery and the following Facebook albums: Kronborg pt 1, Kronborg pt 2, Christiania, Beach at Gilleleje, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Tøjhusmuseet (Royal Arsenal Museum), and the beach party.

Tivoli

As I had written in my previous post, Thursday evening brought a trip to the Tivoli Gardens amusement park. I traveled there with some housemates by bike, though the trip took a while since some of the bikes we were using were not quite in working order. We had already paid the 85 DKK (US$18 and change) admission to Tivoli through the ISUP social program, so we collected our tickets and entered the park. The first stop was an open-air stage where a pantomime show was being held.

Tivoli Mime

The colorfully dressed actors held my attention briefly, but as it became clear that I had completely lost the plot, the show completely lost me, and I moved on. It may have been a cultural aspect that I failed to grasp, but I simply could not follow what was going on.

We continued lazily moving around the park. It turned out to be rather small, at least compared to the amusement parks back in the United States, but it is a nice, quaint place. The only issue I have with it is the costs of activities. Rides and attractions usually require tickets, and the number of tickets for each ride varies from one to three, whicle each ticket costs 20 DKK, or about US$4.25. Naturally, the one-ticket rides are intended for children, while the rides I would go on cost three tickets. That means $12.75 per ride on top of the $18 admission. There was a 200 DKK ($42.50) pass available, but as we arrived there at 6:30PM, I did not see the value in getting a ticket that would require at least 20 tickets’ worth or rides to break even. Instead, I enjoyed walking around and taking photographs in the picturesque park.

Tivoli Lake at Sundown

In the end, my group, which had changed over the course of the evening, decided to go for beers in the nearby beer garden, and to return for the fireworks show before midnight. On the way to and in the beer garden, I had an interesting conversation on linguistics, specifically the differences between English and most other languages, such as the gender neutrality of the syntax and the technicality of the language in its myriad of nuanced synonyms. Upon returning to Tivoli, however, we discovered that there would be no fireworks, although there would be a light show. Of course, as Murphy’s Law would predict, we were too late for the light show, and simply entirely missed out on any sort of midnight spectacle at all.

This weekend was rather uneventful apart from catching up on class readings, a book, and many movies. In no particular order, the movies I watched are:

• Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
• Atonement
• Casino Royale
• Charlie Wilson’s War
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall
• The Prestige
• Unleashed (aka, Danny the Dog)

Of these, I had only seen Casino Royale and Forgetting Sarah Marshall before. They are all quite good.

The rest of my Tivoli photos are available for your viewing pleasure on Facebook and at my deviantART gallery. Until next time.

Belated Update

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last week. I have no excuse, really. I’ve just been lazy about it.

Last Wednesday afternoon, I walked around Frederiksberg Have, enjoying myself and taking photos. It was a very pleasant, warm day of relaxation and exploring the park, though I discovered I have to go back at a time when the islands in the lake are open to the public.

On Friday, the ISUP social program brought us to Copenhagen’s largest garden party, a first annual gathering in Kongens Have. There must have been at least 1,000 Copenhageners in the area when I got there, and I got there on the late side. After 20 minutes, I got bored and decided to walk around for a while, and to buy a book for the weekend. I chose The High Lord, the third book in the Black Magician Trilogy, and was pleased when it was just as good as the second book in the trilogy, which I read a couple of weeks ago.

While in the process of finishing this wonderful novel on Saturday evening, however, I was rudely interrupted when the fire alarm went off. We’re not sure as to the exact cause, although some people had the front door open while using the grill outside in preparation for one of our dorm member’s birthday party. The fire department never came, but as I had evacuated and was outside, I finished the book out there and joined the festivities.

Sunday was uneventful as I was feeling unwell. My illness continued through Monday, but I went out on my bike anyway and decided to be a tourist for the day. I covered the following attractions:

• Frederikskirke, a.k.a. Marmorkirken, which is The Mable Church
• Amalienborg Palace and Royal Danish Collection Museum, as well as the accompanying Amalieparken
• Den lille Havfrue, The Little Mermaid statue
• Kastellet, The Citadel, a still-functioning military fortress
• The Gefion Fountain, which is based on the legend that goddess Gefion plowed out a lake in Sweden tossing the land into the sea, thus creating the Danish island of Zealand

Photos from this trip can be found at the Facebook album.

Perhaps the best part about this trip was that I did it by bike. I estimate I traveled at least 10 miles total distance on Monday, which was a fantastic cardio workout, as well as legs.

Class went by as usual on Tuesday: too long. The only other items of note are that I acquired the V for Vendetta series to read at some point and that I read many good photography article and blog posts, largely from Digital Photography School.

Today–yesterday by the way the calendar works–I took another bike trip out on my own, and went to the Rådhus, or city hall, where I saw Jens Olsen’s World Clock and climbed the tower, which is the tallest in Denmark at 106 meters. I took a series of pictures at the top and stitched them into a 360°panorama of Copenhagen (warning large image to load), which at full resolution, is over 16,000 pixels wide.

Following the Rådhus, I cycled off to the Nationalmuseet, or National Museum, where I cycled through a whole slew of exhibits, which ranged from an exhibit on ancient Denmark to modern day Denmark to an exhibit on toys. The building is quite large, giving me trouble to get through all the exhibits I had wanted to in a reasonable time, although I did manage to do so.

Leaving the National Museum at closing time, I zipped along to the Royal Library in the Christiansborg complex which resides in the district of Slotsholmen, the historical heart of Copenhagen, to which I will return for further touring. The library garden is lovely, but I quickly turned my attention to the Black Diamond, a modern extension to the library, that is situated on the waterfront and is designed to catch the noontime reflection of the sun from the river in a spectacular manner.

I had arrived far too late for this event, but I did get to enter the building, and look around, as well as see a few exhibits. One exhibit was on Danish political cartoons and was completely incomprehensible to me, although I did get a gist that I would find some quite humorous were I to understand it. Another exhibit was quite of a different nature. It portrayed the controversial photography of Sally Mann, whose subjects include nudes of her children, as well as corpses. While I appreciated her photographic skill, I cannot pretend to be unperturbed by her occasional subject choice. In the rest of the Black Diamond itself, I mostly just walked around taking photographs of various areas and books.

To see my photographs from today, please use the following links to my Facebook albums for the Rådhus, National Museum (note two separate links), and the Black Diamond.

I would have uploaded a select few–which is admittedly relative and for the sum of over 450 photos from today’s expedition would be more than usual–to my deviantART gallery, but as it was rather late and I had to choose between writing this post tonight versus uploading photos to deviantART, I chose to satisfy you wonderful people first with an update on my recent endeavors. I hope you’re happy. Since it’s 4AM now, I’m going to go to sleep and save the upload to deviantART until after my next batch comes in tomorrow night when I go to Tivoli with the ISUP.

EDIT: In my exhaustion, I completely missed out on a major element of this evening. Actually, since it’s getting light outside, I should say last evening. When I returned, I had little peace before people began to arrive for a large barbecue at our dorm, which was scheduled to commence at 7:30PM. I would estimate we had a total of 30-40 people show up, which is a rather impressive number of people to host in our backyard, as the dorm building is made for 18 people. Now that I have updated you on that, I will bid you adeui and go to sleep with the rising sun.

Weekend #2

NB: I apologize in advance if this post has any inconsistencies as I have a bit of a cold. And now to our regularly scheduled programming.

Friday heralded the annual Danish Jazz Festival, a large…well, jazz festival that runs from July 4-13 this year. I saw a bit of an open-air concert at the famous anchor memorial by Nyhavn. Saturday, I took a stroll through Fredericksberg Have, a nearby park that is one of the most enjoyable parks I have ever seen. Many other people agreed; it was very crowded, with people of all ages–from young families to groups of youth and teenagers to old couples–walking around, sunbathing, playing games, and just in general having a good time. An added bonus is that the Copenhagen Zoo is adjacent to the park, specifically the elephant exhibit, and although I intend to visit the zoo properly, I happen to have gotten a free preview.

On Saturday evening, we hosted a BBQ/Garden Party at our dorm, as we have a nice yard with a concrete patio that’s furnished with a grill. It was a pleasant experience; the air was filled with the sounds of chatter and laughter, and the aromas of barbecue and alcohol. I’d say we are quite liable to host more of those. Some people hadn’t had enough and went out afterward, but I did not join them due to a slight exhaustion and lack of interest.

The social program had a canal tour planned for Sunday afternoon, leaving from Nyhavn, going through Christianshavn, past Christiania (the “Free City”), Holmen, and up to the renowned Little Mermaid statue, before heading back. I took many photographs. Following the boat tour, I walked around on my own for a few hours, exploring the jazz festival by Nyhavn. I then went to a flea market across the street in Kongens Nytorv, and again took many photographs of the food and wares. One of the more particularly interesting goods I saw on sale was wooden figurines of ducklings wearing sneakers.

I continued walking down Gothersgade, a main street, and arrived at Kongens Have, Copenhagen’s oldest park, where there was another, much larger, free concert as part of the festival. And once again, I took many photographs. After Kongens Have, I contued walking down Gothergade and quickly came to Botanisk Have, the botanical gardens, where I did not take many photographs on the account of discovering that, sadly, my camera battery had died. Rather than walking around the gardens for the 38 minutes that it would remain open, I found the nearest Metro stop and went back to Fredericksberg.

Once back in my room, I decided to forgo my readings and watch as much Flight of the Conchords as I could manage. Between then and today, I managed to watch nine of the twelve episodes from the first season. I did eventually go to the library and do some of my readings, eventually getting frustrated with the fact that the reserve copy of one of my textbooks was out–without a time limit–and I subsequently bought a copy. Luckily, they have the softcover, international edition, which is much cheaper than the regular edition although it was still pricey. I may buy a slightly older edition from Amazon.co.uk.

The good thing about that expedition was that it was my first time using a bicycle to get around over here. I was slightly nervous to be riding one lane over from moving motor vehicles, and to have impatient Danes cycle past me at high speeds, but all in all, it was a beneficially quick way of transport that I will definitely use again, perhaps even back in New York.

As usual, here are some links to my photos:

Canal Tour & Nyhavn
Flea Market & Jazz Festival

And, of course, you can find selected photos at my deviantART gallery.

Got nat.

Classes, Folk Dancing, and Miscellany

I had my first classes on Tuesday. Although I was initially registered for an entrepreneurship class and an economics class, I decided to switch out of entrepreneurship and into strategic management as it will transfer as a required class back at NYU. This is a fantastic development since I will now only be taking one elective course, and not two, which I didn’t have room for. It didn’t hurt that the entrepreneurship professor is an abrasive, hardball, V.C. type who specifically said that not everyone has what it takes to be an entrepreneur, yet expected us all–through the coursework–to act as though we were entrepreneurs. This is not to say that I expected a different course–I had, afterall, seen the syllabus already–but I found him to be slightly hypocritical. But what do I know? I suppose one gets the privilege of being a rude hypocrite toward his students after having two successful startups.

The courses I am taking are alright. The professors, a French woman for economics and  an Australian gentleman for management, are both nice and affable. However, the class slots are three hours each, back to back, Tuesdays and Thursdays, so it gets a bit difficult to pay attention; the 10 minute breaks every 50 minutes of class time are quite welcome.

On Wednesday evening, there was a surprisingly fun Danish Folk Dancing activity as part of the social program. It was held in a large gymnasium that was part of a nearby commune, and led by some Danes in the traditional garb. They first performed each dance, after which the ISUP (International Summer University Program) students, who numbered well over 100, got up to perform it in a much too crowded space. It was a comedy of errors, the hilarity of which alone made the event worth attending.

I missed the International Dinner last night, which wasn’t too much of a shame since I would have been late had I gone, and would have missed all the best foods. I heard that three countries tied for the best food, one of which was some sort of Israeli flatbread with hummus; I’d guess this means laffa, but I couldn’t confirm it. Following the return of my dormmates from the dinner, we relaxed in the backyard until going to the Kuler Bar club downtown, where they give free beer from 11pm to 1am. I’m no fan of beer to start with, but it was decidely bad beer.

In other news, there are some bikes in the backyard that until recently were locked up, with corresponding signs posted around the dormatory letting the summer residents know that we can email someone to arrange for the keys. I had emailed this person early on, and he responded by saying we should make an offer for the location of the keys he had hidden. I then replied that we do not know the going rates, and he should please give an asking price. He said that he’d tell us where the keys are for 1500 DKK, which is about US$320. I responded that that was an insane amount for a 6 week (pointing out that it was actually 5 weeks at that point) rental for the 8 people who would use the bikes. I also asked whether the bikes were even his to rent out. He replied that he could go no less than 1000 DKK, and that the bikes were his “becouse [he has] been fixing them for a hole year.” Now, the fellow isn’t from an English-speaking country, so I don’t quote his words to poke fun of his grammar, just his logic. I decided to search for the keys, found some in the basement, and tried them out; one key worked for all the locks. Following that discovery, I emailed the guy back, saying that we’d look elsewhere.

Some other things I like or find interesting about Copenhagen:

1. The Metro is quick and efficient, and although it’s not particularly expansive, it does connect with another train system meant for the surrounding area, akin to a light rail system. The Metro is also completely automated (there is no conductor onboard at all) which I find fine, although some of my friends have indicated slight unease at this.
2. It is legal to drink in public in Copenhagen, and while people do carouse, it doesn’t seem as though anyone feels unsafe.

Tonight is a jazz festival, which should be enjoyable. That’s all for now.

The Not-So-Amazing Race

It has been a long short day. I woke up after noon having gone to sleep about 5 AM between jet lag and talking to some people who are stateside. The main event of the day was the so-called “Amazing Race”–a quasi-scavenger hunt-esque, semi-tour of some major, strategically located historical sites in downtown Copenhagen designed to give us a working knowledge of the city. The sites included Amalienborg and Christiansborg palaces, Marmorkirken and Vor Frue Kirke churches, Rundetårn (round tower observatory), and Nyhavn (harbor) with the accompannying Nyhavnskanalen (canal). The Rundtårn was enjoyable and provided several nice shots, including a few photos I want to stitch together as a panorama. Nyhavn is a popular hangout and was also interesting; I wish we had had more time to spend there, so I will likely return. We did not get a chance to go into the palaces or churches, though it was pointed out that a member of the royal family was staying at one of the palaces, as indicated by the presence of a notched Danish flag. By “notched,” I mean a flag whose end is cut like the notch of a snakes tongue. Does anyone know of a term for this?

Anyhow, the noble, lofty goal of the race would theoretically work; in practice, however, I don’t think it helped most people as intended due to the rushed nature of the competitive aspect (the winning team won some chocolate). As it turned out, the team I was on–number 12 or the Lucky Dozen– was the first to finish and reach The Dubliner pub, although we did not get everything on the accompanying questionnaire correct, so we did not win the prize. This was not a big disappointment. No, really.

After the race, I walked around on my own to find some ice cream since we had passed at least five shops or stands and did not stop for any. Following that, I returned to The Dubliner, then left for a biergarten, or beer garden with some other people to watch the European Championship in football (again, that’s soccer) between Germany and Spain. Spain won in the end (1-0) though I did not find this out until I saw the results online. The bar was packed beyond all belief–I had, in fact, been watching through a window–and since I was not particulalry interested in the game, I left to walk around the relatively empty streets and continue photographing interesting things. The results can be seen in one of the following Facebook albums, and a selected few in my deviantART gallery.

Now to get some sleep and prepare to prepare tomorrow for my classes on Tuesday. Farvel.

Mostly Settled

I am mostly settled in to Copenhagen, and have gotten a feel for the city. As long as I have my map, I won’t get lost, although I know my way around campus rather well. And I’ve recovered from the jet lag, despite writing this at about 3:30 AM.

One notable experience I’ve had was watching a football (i.e., soccer) match in a pub on Thursday night. Well, half the match, anyway. I had to leave at halftime because I was so tired from the flight and all. The beer I’d had when in such a state didn’t help matters. They really like beer in Denmark. Case in point, the minimum age to buy alcohol is 16.

My first weekend was pleasant. I visited the synagogue which houses a grand, old sanctuary. Although the congregation was small, the enjoyable services were led by a superb cantor. After the service, I was graciously invited to dinner by some locals. My hosts of the meal, which was quite delectable, consisted of six 20-somethings who provided excellent company for over three hours. The walk back to my apartment, however nice, was indubitably and objectively “long.” I believe it is several kilometers.

On Saturday, I decided to sleep in and ended up reading a book that had been left in my room named The Novice, the second in a trilogy called The Black Magician. It is somewhat of a mix between the Harry Potter and Eragon series, and although I have not yet finished the book, I highly recommend it to those who like that sort of fantasy story. However, it was apparently not released in the US, so it may be difficult to get a hold of for those of you stateside.

Tomorrow, there is an “Amazing Race” event as part of the social program. It is intended as a way to get to know the city, but it should also provide me with many opportunities for some quality photography. I will happily post the results.

First Impressions

So I’ve been in Copenhagen for about 16 hours. Here are some impressions:

I like the bikes, the location of the bike paths between parking and the curb, the cleanliness, that the natives are nice and speak English, and the people in my program.

No dislikes yet, though there is something disconcerting with actually experiencing daylight until past 11:00 PM.

On My Way

Well, I’m well on my way to wonderful Copenhagen. It’s 9:22 PM EST, which would make it 3:22 AM in Copenhagen. Even though I was exhausted today, having gotten no more than six hours of sleep last night, I have not slept, nor does it seem that I will. Of course, I’m writing this on as we cruise somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, and will most likely not get a chance to post it until I settle into my dorm in Fredericksberg.

In other news, I have thoroughly enjoyed my D40 thus far. Here are some sample pictures from my deviantART account:

Hilary 1 by ~IamMickey on deviantART

Mother and Child by ~IamMickey on deviantART

There Goes the Planet by ~IamMickey on deviantART

Boston Mix by ~IamMickey on deviantART