First Week - Arrival and Adjustment

It's Sunday the 27th, and I've been in Denmark for just over a week now. Five hours more than a week, to be exact. I landed in Copenhagen Airport at 7:15 am local time, or 1:15 am EST. We went to Copenhagen University at Amager for orientation. After a few hours there, I met and was picked up by my host family.

I am living with Benny and Vivi Hansen, 60 and 61 years old. Vivi is retired, and Benny is getting there, only working four days a week now. They, or I guess now I, live in Ishøj, a suburb of Copenhagen. It takes me about 40 to 45 minutes to get into the city, by bus and then train.

The public transportation here is quite slick, especially compared to the T. The trains are quiet and clean, and actually quite comfortable to sit in. But I digress.

On the way back to Ishøj (pronounced EESH-oi), Benny and Vivi were pointing out some landmarks and points of interest to me, but I didn't absorb much of it, as I was falling asleep after travel. It was mostly Vivi doing the talking, though, as her English is significantly better than Benny's. I managed to stay awake for most of the day, though, and when Monday rolled around I didn't suffer from jet lag. That was quite nice, as the days have been pretty long, so far.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wedneday were more orientation and some survival Danish. Probably the the most important thing I learned in that was to say "Jeg taler ikke dansk" (yie tal-eh eega dahnsk): "I don't speak Danish." On Tuesday there was a sightseeing tour, and I took some photos. I'm still figuring out the best way to let everyone see my pictures. I'll probably set up a flickr account, or something. Tuesday's the only day I took any pictures so far, because the weather has been pretty bad.

It's been mostly around 40 degrees, rainy, and windy. There have been comparisons to Seattle, but I've never been there. It's like what I hear Seattle is like, anyway. It is warmer than I expected, though, which I guess is kind of nice. Apparently it doesn't ever snow very much here at all. I was surprised to hear this, given that the latitude approximately matches up around with Juneau, Alaska, and Hudson Bay. I guess the jetstream flows right in and keeps things warm. I have heard, though, that sometimes the winds change and we get the Arctic winds from Russia. Then it gets cold. That hasn't happened yet to me, but I'm sure it will at some point.

Thursday and Friday were the first days of classes. On Thursday, I have International Law, Danish, and Terrorism and Counterterrorism in Europe. Danish was canceled because the instructor was sick, so I haven't had that yet. On Friday I have European Politics: The European Union and Global Business Strategy. International Law is going to be quite interesting, I think. I suppose I could say that about all of my classes. Maybe it was because it was the first class I went to, but I don't have as much of an impression of this class as I do the others. Terrorism and Counterterrorism is shaping up to be my favorite class so far. It's being co-taught by a couple of members of the Danish intelligence services, so these guys know what they're talking about. We spent the first class trying to define terrorism. Coincidentally, near the end of class, there was a loud demonstration outside. I was told that it was the weekly demonstration of the Copenhagen anarchists. Funny how that works out, huh? The course on EU politics is going to be nice, because last semester I took a course on the EU as well. This course should cover some of the same information, and then go much further. During the travel tour, we are actually going to Brussels and the Hague. I'm really excited about that. Global Business Strategy is slightly intimidating, because I've never taken any sort of business class before at all. The instructor is quite good, it seems (as are they all), and I think that I'll get more comfortable with it after another week or so.

Friday night was the wrap-up of orientation, and the program sponsored everyone going out to a club. That's not really my scene, but it was fun nonetheless. Yesterday I went on a walking tour of some of the trendier spots of Copenhagen, to see the "other side" of the city. The tour was great, the weather was about as bad as it has been since being here. Oh well. Then, Benny and Vivi picked me up from the city and we went to one of their daughters' apartments, where she was having a birthday party. I met their three daughters' families there, as well as Benny's parents. It was pretty fun.

Then we came back and watched the handball game. It's like a combination of lacrosse and basketball, and I believe you can find out more on the rules by searching Wikipedia for Team Handball. Anyway, the European championships are going on right now, and Denmark was playing Germany in the semifinals. Germany won the tournament last year, but this time Denmark won. It was a very tight game, with Denmark winning on a literal last-second penalty shot. The final is today, the 27th, at 3:50pm local time. The opponent is Croatia, and I'm going to watch. It's quite exciting.

Today is somewhat relaxing, for a change. Benny's parent's stayed the night, and we just finished lunch. They left to get home for the handball game, and we may take a brief walk, as the weather is quite nice today. I'm not sure, though.

As I spend more time here and get more comfortable with the city, I'm sure things won't fail to get better and better!