Out with the old, in with the new...

Winter finally arrived last week. Monday (Jan. 22nd) we had a few inches of snow and nice brisk, cold weather. Something we haven't seen for a long while after living in Houston and having a warm Christmas holiday on the east coast last month. Saturday it snowed again, leaving another couple inches followed by a nice sunny and warm-ish day. I rode my bike to get a haircut in the morning, and discovered that what I heard was true. In every way, bikes take priority over cars. By 9AM the bike lanes had been plowed and the streets were still a mess. That made the intersections tricky because the cars dragged the snow across the bike crossing, but I survived. In the afternoon we took a long stroll down Østerbrogade to find a drill. Over the weekend we mounted some pictures on the wall (yes, we're still moving in) and took another long walk and otherwise relaxedasy since we're getting over yet another cold (not as bad as previous ones).

On the Danish language front, last Wednesday marked the last of our company-paid lessons. We miss our teacher, but she's been kind enough to keep in touch and we're planning to get together sometime next week. We found ourselves wondering what to do with our Monday and Wednesday evenings this week. Of course we should be studying, but we figured we'll take a week off before diving back into things.

Today we went to a language school to get signed up for a course that runs on Saturday mornings and uses computer programs to support homework during the week. We tested out at level three. I'm not quite sure what that means, because each program here has its own scale. In any case, the levels at this school go up to level six which is probably functional, but not fluent. If nothing else, we'll get to meet some other folks in our same situation.

In that vein, I went on Sunday to a meetup of an international residents of Copenhagen that get together monthly for "Vi Taler Dansk" meetings. The goal is to use what Danish we know and learn from each other in a non-threatening environment. The people were very nice and we'll enjoy doing more with them in the future. We played a Danish quiz game where we moved pieces around a board that was a map of Denmark with spaces at each of the major towns. We answered questions and had to visit four cities from all parts of the country. It was difficult to answer some of the obscure Danish trivia, but it was good practice and a nice chance to learn more about the land where we live.

So, between the meetups, our choir, the old lessons, the new language classes, and our few Danish friends, we should have lots of opportunities to practice. That's good, because we'll need it.

I Dreamed

In our choir we're singing Danish, Swedish, and English pieces. It's been fun to learn and read some of the Danish poetry as we're learning the Danish language. It's also an insight into the culture. Many, like the sample below contain references to nature and the Danish countryside. We look forward to singing more.

Here's a sample, written by Aage Berntsen (1885-1952)

Jeg Drømte
Jeg drømte i min Ungdom, Kærligheden
var som en Solskinsdag, en Dag i Maj,
hvor under Himlens rene Blå vi vandred
hen ad en hvid og vårlig Blomstervej

jeg drømte i min Ungdom, Kærligheden
var Foraarsfugles store Jubelkor,
var Sommerhavers stærke Rosenånde
var som en Sang med hede, skønne Ord

Nu ved jeg, ak, nu ved jeg, Kærligheden
er som en Vandring over skarpe Sten,
er som en Vandring mellem mørke Hække,
hvor Rosen dufter bag en tornet Gren

er som en Nat, når Regnens Væld er stilnet,
er som en sølvbleg Sommernat mod Nord,
hvor Hjærtet fyldes tungt af alle Tider
og Nattergalen hulker Sjælens Ord.

(attempt at a translation)

I dreamed

I dreamed in my Youth, Love
Was like a sunny day in May,
Where under Heaven's clear Blue we wandered
down a white and spring-like Flower strewn lane

I dreamed in my Youth, Love
was Spring birds' big happy choir,
was Summer gardens' rose scent,
was like a Song with hot, sweet words.

Now I know, arghh, now I know, Love
is like wandering over sharp stones,
is like wandering between dark hedges,
where the rose fragrance is behind a thorny branch

is like a Night when the Rainfall has stopped,
is like a silver pale Summer night in the North,
where the Heart is filled heavy by all times
and the Nightengale sobs the soul's words.

In other news, we found an option for Danish lessons after our tutor finishes. It a course that a friend recommends that uses a combination of computer and classroom learning to allow for a more flexible schedule. The traditional schools here typically involve about ten hours of class time per week, after work or during the day. Maybe we're wimps, but after a full day of work - three hours of Danish may push us over the edge. Hopefully, we're disciplined enough to do the online training at a good pace. We'll see.

Blown away

We're back in the routine here again, not much news to report. The flip side of the autumn darkness is that it's getting noticeably brighter now - light after 4PM. So, after all, it's only about a four week period from early Dec. to early January where it seems excessively dark. It is gradually getting colder, still not nearly as cold as normal.

The winds are getting strong. I'm not sure if it's normal, but today we went for our run along the lakes and at times could make no forward progress. We even had to turn around once because we were getting pelted by small pebbles blown off the running/walking path. The average winds today were 22 m/s which translates to a little over 50mph, but gusting to above 60mph. Just a reminder that we're living on an island. The upside is more electricity (is that bulb burning a bit brighter?) since Denmark gets 15-20% of it's energy from wind power. The best source of information about the weather is the Danish Meteorological Institute where you can see information on current conditions and forecasts, just remember your Celsius conversion table - in the top right of the weather page is an British flag to click on for information in English.

In closing, here is a good site for pictures of Denmark showing many of the tourist attractions in the area.

Godt Nytår

Happy New Year to all. We're back after a very nice Christmas trip to the states. We enjoyed seeing many friends and family. We returned to Copenhagen on the morning of New Year's Day to find it very quiet but with lots of spent fireworks covering the streets. It must have been quite a show. I'm sure the cats were not amused. Here, instead of having community fireworks displays like the Independence Day celebrations in the U.S., people buy their own fireworks and set them off in the streets or in parks, etc. We'll have to see what it's like next year.

When we got back from our trip we found Kevin (our newly-identified Norwegian Forest Cat or norsk skovkat in Danish) even fluffier than before. It turns out that the reduced sunlight in the fall/winter triggers his coat to grow out. He'll shed in the spring, so we'd better have the vacuum ready. He never went through this cycle when we lived in Houston because the light change was not so dramatic. Speaking of the changing light, we're on the upswing now and it's already noticeably brighter than when we left.

Today we took a nice bike ride to a park between Emdrup and Husum on the north side of the city. We saw lots of birds, mostly ducks, herons, and swans. We also visited a large church (Grundtvigs Kirke click on "Galleri 2" or "Galleri 3" to see photos) and ate lunch at a cafe.