louisiana museum of art / fredensborg palace

malmö

Here are some pictures from our 24-hr trip to Malmö, Sweden. It only takes about 25-30 minutes by train to go from Copenhagen over to Malmö. Because of the cold weather, there wasn't too much happening. However, once it warms up, the city is full of life. In May, the famous Eurovision Song Contest happens here. This is an annual competition where various countries submit a song and accompanying representative artist to sing it on live TV. Celine Dion became famous because of Eurovision in 1988! So did Julio Iglesias. The more you know!

On our way across the Øresund bridge!

Malmö

Marching band in the Stortorget district

Stortorget district

Stortorget district

Karl X Gustav, King of Sweden until 1654

Town Hall

St Petri Kyrika (church)

Gaga sculpture in an art gallery?

A lot of the buildings and shops look like this here. So cool.

The "Turning Torso" building from a distance

Malmö Museet (Museum) is housed in an old castle

In the Malmö Museet- a poster that was used in schools. This one obviously about how germs are spread. Poor Svelka (that's the name I gave her) is now sick in bed because Olf hacked all over her.

Another poster used in schools- I'm not sure what it was depicting, but Jason and I thought it looked like a drag queen.

Malmö Museet- a frightening art piece that had a crank. When turned, the mannequin hands would play the toy piano. I'm a bit happy that this was out of order that day.

Exhibit in Malmö Museet. The sign was in Swedish, so I'm not sure what the point was. But I used it to take a selfie.

Inside the St Petri church

Piano inside the church- it was locked up :(

Cheers to you with Falcon beer from Sweden!

let's talk a little danish!

Well, since +Howard Frankel is off at chorus practice, I guess it must be time for me to post something :)

Last night was our first attempt at Danish lessons.  So how did it go, you ask?  Well, let's just say the instructor was having a little trouble breathing at one point from laughing so hard at our pronunciations of such expressions as "Hvordan gar det?"(loosely translated to "How are you?" I think).  I was laughing a lot too.  Hopefully the stuff we learned sticks with us until our next session.

Now that I'm 9 days into the new job at Lundbeck, I guess I have a little sense of the place.  Overall, a lot of nice people so far.  I haven't quite figured out if it's just a grace period of niceness or if they really are just generally nice.  But certainly less ego than in most US places I've ever worked, so I'm taking that as a good sign.  As with public places in Denmark, a lot of folks don't go out of their way to introduce themselves, but if you initiate something yourself, they've been quite nice.

So what do I miss the most at this point (other than the people back home of course)?  ICE CUBES!!!  Most people have probably noticed at one time or another that I use a LOT of ice cubes when I drink soda.  I don't usually drink soda straight out of the bottle because carbonated soda makes me hiccup.  Well, apparently it's time to learn how to deal, because in 2 1/2 weeks so far I've gotten exactly 2 drinks that contained ice cubes... and one was naturally a cocktail.  And since the freezer in our apartment is slightly smaller than a shoe box, I feel a little bad using the whole space to make 2 trays of ice cubes.  Eh, soda is expensive here anyway (~$4 for a single-serve bottle).

Otherwise, I think we're settling in.  I know it's a change, and there are definitely things that I wish we were in Philly for (like the completion of a new roof-deck on the house!), but I'm enjoying things here so far.  Still trying to figure out how we meet a few more locals, but it's a beautiful city, easy to get around, and eventually warmer weather will get here!

That's all for now.  Stay warm everybody, and take care!
Jason

all killer, no filler

Your voices have been heard. Another update, which will be full of details and pictures! Which is why this entry is called "all killer, no filler"!

So, we were teased the first week we were here because it was comfortably cold- mid to low 30's with barely any wind chill. Then, this past weekend, it was as if someone jumped out at us yelling "fooled you!" and the face numbing coldness took over. That said, it didn't stop us from our weekend plans.

Saturday, we explored Østerbro, which is located just a bit north of the center city of Copenhagen. In warm weather, it's certainly walking or biking distance. It was a very nice area and reminded me of a little town/village with tons of shops and restaurants. Still, with our limited time here, we both decided that we prefer to be in the hustle and bustle of the city, which is where we are now. Here is a picture (Googled) of some housing in Østerbro. There were hundreds of these yellow residences in the area. We weren't sure if they were some sort of commune or project housing. Upon further research (aka when I Googled this picture), I learned that these were built in 1853 as special "healthy" housing for the working class after a cholera outbreak. You can read more info on Wiki: http://wikitravel.org/en/Copenhagen/%C3%98sterbro

 

The Marmorkirken (The Marble Church) - complete with a nice crane

After Østerbro, we ventured over to another popular (as of recently) area of the city- the Meat Packing District known as Vesterbro. This neighborhood is incredibly close to where we are now and we really liked it. It's a little "seedier" than other parts of Copenhagen, but when I use that term, it doesn't mean what it would mean in somewhere like North Philadelphia. This is where you'll find a lot of tattoo shops, dive bars, a few adult toy stores, biker dudes, and hipsters alike. We liked the chill factor there. We ate at one of the most unique restaurants I've ever been to. It was called Bio Mio, a strictly organic place. I had been reading up on it when investigating the vegetarian-friendly places of Copenhagen. Let's put it this way- anyone coming to visit us here is going to eat here! When you go in, the host or hostess gives you a menu book (lots and lots of selections) and a card. Rows of tables line the huge space and you can sit wherever you want- even if it means with other people. The kitchen is right there out in the open and you can watch the chefs preparing the food. When you know what you want to order, you go up to any of the chefs and tell them what you want. They scan your card so that it's properly billed to you. Then, it is brought to your table. There's a separate counter to order beer, wine, cocktails, and dessert. Each item on their menu even has a special icon, so you know what mood your food will serve. For example, there's "energy booster", "macho", "winter ease", and "after shopping relief". It was awesome- and delicious!

Bio Mio dinner- my "EnergiBoost Salat"- a big salad with veggies, fruits, and nuts. I felt awesome afterwards. Meat eaters, I don't wanna hear it :-) On the other side of the table, you can see Jason's chicken stir fry.

Humor of the Bio Mio menu- see the English description!

Best name ever for a Thai restaurant!

Receipt from lunch earlier in the day- Moms are inclusive with your purchase.

I won't go into boring detail about Sunday. We went to a huge shopping store called Bilka. It's sort of like the Danish version of a Super Walmart. Although, the shoppers there aren't really the same. You decide whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. It was a royal pain in the ass to shop for groceries since everything has a different name, but we did it. I must admit to being a huge grump by the end of it, though.

Last night, we went to as seminar that was hosted by an organization called Expat In Denmark. The seminar was called "Why Are The Danes So Weird?" I found it to be very informative. Basically, it confirmed and explained the things Jason and I have noticed about the culture here. I didn't take a notebook or anything, but I did jot down some fun facts that I knew I wanted to share here:

• Only 10% of Danes and Swedes believe in the existance of Hell.
• The only right way to show you are a Christian in Denmark is NOT to show it at all (reiterating the fact that you do NOT discuss politics, religion, job status, etc. a social gathering! I think we as Americans need to adopt this principle. Agreed?)
• "A disagreement is a discussion that ended prematurely." (This is based on the fact that, mostly in the workplace, Danes choose to discuss something ad nauseum until a decision is made about something. A disagreement or decision made simply out of frustration is not encouraged.)
• 51% of the Danes say they have their "dream job."
• 69% of foreigners say it's hard to form friendships with Danes.

Companies that have either 'Dan' or the Danish flag in their title/logo. Why? Because Danes are proud of their home!

Below: to demonstrate the blunt and very dry Danish sense of humor, we were shown a clip of director Lars Von Trier at a press conference for Cannes Film Festival, where he jokingly admits "sympathy for Hitler", complete with Kirsten Dunst's priceless, uncomfortable reaction. To a Danish person, Von Trier's comments were very obviously meant to be funny. To anyone else, it was controversial and unsettling. 

 

Well, I think that this entry has certainly made up for a few no-news days. We are starting Danish lessons tonight! I'm quite sure I'll have some reporting to do on them, so stay tuned. Also, I'm excited about meeting a new voice instructor who teaches at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. I'm looking forward to getting the pipes warmed up and going again. Until then, farvel (goodbye)!