Melodi Gran Prix

First things first - no baby yet. We're only 3 days over the due date. Alexa may not agree, but the upside of an extended pregnancy is another "last restaurant meal" before the baby. Tonight we went to Chico's Cantina to make another stab at finding a good Mexican restaurant here in Copenhagen. This was better than the last place we went, offering free chips and salsa, a nice atmosphere and friendly service. This time we had the enchilada platter which was okay (cheese-good, chicken-okay, beef-not so good). We may go back and try the fajitas. The sparkler-adorned sorbet dessert was a nice touch.

On Saturday we settled in for the Melodi Gran Prix finals. This competition in Denmark determines which artist/group goes on to compete in the annual Eurovision Song Contest. People vote via text message and the results are compiled by region to determine the winner. At several dinners and parties we've heard our friends reminisce about Eurovision and Melodi Gran Prix competitions from years past, and we found ourselves getting a little caught up in the experience. Andy voted for "La' mig være" performed by The Dreams (lyrics). Alexa voted for "Den jeg er" performed by Charlie (lyrics). All of the other songs in the finals were sung in English. The winner was "All Night Long" by Simon Mathew.

On with life

The Phillies didn't make a good show of it, but just wait 'til next year... Until then, I'll try to develop an undying passion for soccer (just kidding). On that front, the news story of the week: American football gaining yardage on soccer.

We had another epic choir dinner on Saturday. Saturday was an all-day choir rehearsal followed by the dinner. It was quite a treat. The rehearsal was fun too, with the afternoon led by John Høybye, a well-known (in Denmark) Danish composer. Afterwards we relaxed while the dinner team prepared the meal. We were on the coffee/cake team that prepared the snack which followed the "light lunch." As you can see, this choir always knows where their next meal is coming from. The backdrop to our choir activities was the attempted occupation of another city building by Ungdomshus (Youth House) activists which occurred less than a quarter mile from our rehearsal. Streets were blocked off and several choir members got turned back when they attempted to go home before our big meal. Back to the meal...we had 5 courses (7 if you count all three appetizers as separate courses) ranging from cucumber soup to smoked salmon guacamole wraps to pesto pasta then the roast duck. Everything was delicious and we had a good time getting to know people and practicing our Danish with patient friends. It was a good exercise in immersion. I we did that every day we would be fluent and 50 pounds heavier.

Running routes

It has been nearly a year in our apartment here and I've really enjoyed access to some nice running trails. I try to run a half-hour three or four mornings per week. This summer, despite the rainy weather, has been very enjoyable. Winter can be trying when it involves running into a cold windblown rain, but I still managed to keep up the habit. Mostly I run around the lakes which are two minutes (running) from our apartment. On weekends, like this morning, I've been running around Kastellet which affords nice views of the harbor (with cruise ships coming and going in the summer), the fortifications, and the city. Today I ran once around the inner ramparts and once around the outer ramparts and past the Little Mermaid. In the future I may add a route through Øster Anlæg park and around Kongens Have by Rosenborg Slot.

Our Danish class started yesterday after a summer recess. We both felt like we didn't lose any ground and in fact may be understanding more than when we stopped in June. We have the same teacher, but half of the class has been moved to a different teacher, so we can get to know some new people.

On the subject of Danish, we celebrated a birthday this weekend. We've learned the Danish birthday song. The (rough) translation is:

Today is Alexa's birthday: hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!
She is certain to a gift that she has wanted this year,
And wonderful chocolate with cake.

The other verses, which we haven't memorized, are about how the person gets to come home, have a party with family and friends, with wishes for long life and fulfilled desires. These are all good things, and more fun to sing than the standard English fare. Really, "Happy Birthday to You" is a song with lyrical complexity exceeded by "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" and that's not saying a whole lot. To end on a positive note, they're both easier to memorize.

On a final note, by the time you read this the Sea Stallion will likely have arrived in Dublin after a 40+ day journey from Roskilde.

The Swedish Interlude

We enjoyed a weekend of (mostly) sun by taking in the last days of the Jazz Festival, watching Italiensk for Begyndere, and taking the train to Sweden to explore Lund.

Friday evening we saw the end of a jazz performance by a good group at the Østerbro stage, only a 10 minute walk from our apartment. Saturday had some promising weather, so we went down to the harbor and saw another band featuring a xylophone. It was enjoyable - modern, but not too "out there." Afterwards we took a walk down Strøget before heading home. On the way we picked up Italiensk for Begyndere which is a Danish film from 2002 that won some awards, see here for reviews. We both enjoyed the film - it developed slowly but really drew us in.

Finally, we took the train to Lund. Lund is a university town in Skåne (southern Sweden). Lund was founded by one of the early Danish kings (Knut the Great?) in 990. It remained part of Denmark until 1658 when it was ceded to Sweden, thus beginning "The Swedish Interlude," as described in the museum we visited. The Swedish Interlude continues to this day. Danish flags flew alongside Swedish flags, demonstrating the divided loyalties of the region (it's a long way to Stockholm). We spent most of our time at Kulturen, an open-air museum with about 40 homes mostly from the Skåne region. Like the other museums of this type in Scandinavia, we enjoyed the insight into the history of the region. Since most monuments preserved for posterity were built by the military, the church, or the aristocracy, these museums are a rare chance to see another side and get a feel for how people lived then. You can see a picture of me crawling out of a Småland farmhouse that was home to a family of 9 until the father ran off to America, not to be heard from again. Unfortunately Kulturen didn't have the reenactors like the denizens of Den Gamle By or Skansen, but it did have good written descriptions about the people who inhabited the buildings preserved on the site.

After Kulturen we visited the cathedral. It was compact, as cathedrals go, but impressive and solid. We were treated to a half-hour choir concert by a touring group from Bowling Green University (Ohio). They did several African-American spirituals and some other favorites we knew from our choir days. It was a nice reminder of our own European choir tour 12 summers ago.