The Week of Graduations

Original Post Date: June 30, 2019

Original Post Location: VED MØNTEN, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

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Throughout this week, all the high schools around were celebrating graduation. The way that they celebrate here is each class loads up in the back of an old box truck, with the sides cut out, and they drive around the city to each student’s house. Here they all pile out and head inside for a drink and then they are back on the truck within 5 to 10 minutes, because the real party is on the truck. Each truck is decked out in crazy decorations and banners, blaring music, and the students have whistles that they continuously blow, or air horns that they use. Also, while driving down the street the driver of the truck is honking the horn, and all the locals here know what is going on, so they then start honking back. Throughout the week I could not even count how many different trucks I would see, and they were out and about from morning until well past midnight. Basically, the streets were continuously filled with loud music and excited students, which added a fun feeling of excitement throughout the city for a week.

Session 2 is now done, and I will be starting my last session on Friday. My next class is called the Philosophy of Happiness and I will be spending the next four weeks learning how and why the Danes are the happiest people in the word.

6.24.19

On this Monday, we had class in the morning where we spent our time reflecting on what we learned in the Faroe Islands and also discussed our final project. We were let out of class a little early so Hannah, Shannon, and I went to the Living Room Café to complete our homework for the next day. Once we finished our homework, I rode my bike to a bookstore that I had been wanting to visit for a while to pick out a new book to read. After this pitstop I made my way home for lunch. Later in the afternoon I went to Amager Park to forage for edible plants, as part of my homework for class. Surprisingly I was able to find quite a few varieties such as nettle, elderflower, and daisies. When I got home I helped cook dinner for our group of friends and we all sat out in the courtyard while eating to enjoy the beautiful weather. After dinner I sat on our balcony to start reading my new book and watch the sun go down, which was a great end to a relaxed day.

6.25.19

We had class in the morning again and discussed how our foraging went and learned how to make Koldskål. This is a sweet and tangy cold summer treat that is popular in Denmark. It consists of a thick cream that you top with small cookies. It tasted somewhat tart and lemony. After class I decided to explore a little bit so I thought I would try out an antique store that I had ridden past a couple weeks ago. It turned out to be another one with just a lot of plates and dishes. Since this was a bust, I rode my bike home for lunch and read my book on the balcony while I waited for all of my friends to get out of class at 4. For dinner I was able to talk them in to eating at one of the restaurants along the Nyhavn canal with me, since I had to do this for class. Our dinner ended up being quite the awkward experience because our waiter was very unsure of himself and his timing was very off. Later, when we got back home, Natalie, Raechel, and I booked our trip to Prague for next week.

6.26.19

We did not have class until 6 PM so Hannah, Shannon, and I went to the amusement park Bakken. This is an old amusement park in one of the suburbs of Copenhagen and it has no admission fee, and on Wednesdays the rides are up to 50% off. It ended up being a super hot day, but a good day to be at a theme park. Since I am not a big fan of rollercoasters I choose to sit back on some of the rides that Hannah and Shannon went on, but there were still so many fun things to do. We ate ice cream for breakfast, rode the log ride to cool off, and enjoyed running around the park like we were little again. Before we left Hannah decided she wanted to play a “Spin-the-Wheel” game, one that she only had a 2% chance of winning, and much to the employee's surprise she did win a giant stuffed animal. Around 4 PM we made the trip back to our apartments to cool off and get ready for class. We were meeting our professor at the street food market Reffen to explore the Global Brooklyn food scene and analyze the space. Sadly, our class had to be cut short though because a storm was starting to build up and we all didn’t want to get caught in it.

6.27.19

In class we recapped from Reffen and then discussed various topics relating to Food and Gender and the cultural norms related to them. After class I went to the computer lab to work on creating wedding invites for my friend’s wedding and spent the afternoon working on various tasks. For dinner I decided to make one of my favorite meals from home but was working with completely different ingredients than I am used to, so it was quite the adventure. I also do not like having left over ingredients, so I threw everything in the pot and ended up making enough to feed a small army. But thankfully this means I have food to eat for at least a week now! After dinner I went to one of my new favorite spots along the canal to read and watch the sunset.

6.28.19

I did not have class until 3 PM so I decided to sleep-in, in hopes of getting rid of my cold. When I woke up, I was slowly getting ready and trying to decide what part of Copenhagen to explore before class when I heard a small bang. At first, I just assumed that someone had gotten into a small fender bender outside, but shortly after I started to hear multiple fire trucks making their way closer, and then I could smell smoke. This is when I started to get really curious and I went to find out what was going on. As I looked out the window, I saw smoke, and then realized that the building across the street was on fire. There was smoke billowing out of windows on the top two floors. I then quickly put shoes on and headed outside to see what exactly was going on. By the time that I got down to the street level there were at least 20 law enforcement vehicles including fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances. When I could finally see the building, I could tell that there were at least 4 apartments with smoking coming from the windows. I watched for a while until the smoke started to dissipate, and then I went back up to my apartment to grab my bag and head out for the day. I had decided to go to the Kastellet Fort to explore this site before class. This ended up being much cooler than I expected with multiple barracks, an old-style windmill, and a moat in the shape of a star. There is also a walking path around the top of the moat that provided great views of the city and neighborhoods that I hadn’t seen yet. After exploring for a little while I biked off to class. In class we started by discussing Global Brooklyn, as well as food and gender again. We then went on a culinary walk through the city to see various street markets that are following the current local and global trends. Our first stop was the Glass Markets (called this because they are located inside glass buildings) and we were able to taste two local beers as well as frikadelle, pork meatballs. We then walked down to the street Blågårdsgade, which is a street lined with street vendors as well as new shops and eateries. Here we tried two different types of vegan pizza, one with potatoes and the other with eggplants. Lastly, we walked to the street of Jægorsbrogade. This street used to be one of the sketchiest streets in Copenhagen, until a New Nordic restaurant decided to move in and renovate the street. Now it is lined with boutique shops and restaurants. Here we were able to sample some artisan chocolates. This culinary tour lasted until the evening so by the time I got home I just worked on homework and called it a day.

6.29.19

We finally had a weekend when it wasn’t rainy, so Natalie and I tried to make the best of it. We started off by exploring areas of Copenhagen that we had not seen yet. First on the list was Den Sorte Plads, a hardscaped park with fun bike lanes, topography changes, and multiple structures for kids to play on. After riding around this space we stopped at a flea market and a couple of cute stores along Nørrebrogade. Now that we were in a suburb, it was interesting to see the differences in prices of items compared to what we are used to in the city center. We then moved on and rode our bikes to Leckerbaer, a café that I have been interested in for over a year. Although when we arrived we found that they were closed, as of this day, for summer break, and they will not be opening again until July 29th. After realizing this, we rode our bikes to Nordhavn, a very industrialized area. We thought that there was another giant located here, but we had no luck in finding him. By this time we were very hot so we stopped at Ocean Coffee to take a break and eat a popsicle. Instead of riding our bikes all the way back to town we decided to take the train instead. We stopped at Nyhavn on our way home to look for a birthday present for our neighbor. Later in the evening after we were home we all went together to ride boats along the canal. We were on the water around the time the sun was setting, which made for a great way to end the day.

6.30.19

I started my day as I do every Sunday since being here, with a bike ride to the Hillsong Church. This time I was bringing two of my friends, Raechel and Delaney, who both really enjoyed it. After church I rode home to eat lunch and get ready to go to the beach. It was another really hot day and Natalie and I thought it would be best to enjoy it near the water. We decided to go to Bellevue beach, which is north of Copenhagen in a suburb. This ended up being one of the most perfect beaches that I have ever been to. There were plenty of shade trees and space to lay out, the waves were gentle and did not crash over you, and the water was incredibly clear. We spent a couple hours here walking in the water, relaxing in the shade, and reading our books. Around 5 PM we made our way home to eat dinner and work on some homework. Once home our neighbor was gathering everyone to come eat ice cream sundaes for his birthday. Later in the evening I went to watch the sunset along the canal and eat snacks with Hannah and Shannon.

Weekly Overview – Copenhagen Week 6:

1. Places Visited

• Bakken

• Kastellet

• The Glass Markets

• Blågårdsgade

• Jægorsbrogade

• Den Sorte Plads

• Nordhavn

• Bellevue Beach

2. Favorite Moment

Racing Go-Karts with Hannah and Shannon at Bakken.

3. The Best Food I Ate

Frikadelle from the Glass Market.

4. A Helpful Tip

If you are looking for an amusement park to visit while in Copenhagen, I would highly suggest Bakken over Tivoli.

5. The Best View

Standing at the top of Kastellet looking out over Copenhagen and the ocean.