blustery bornholm

I've neglected to talk about my Bornholm bike trip! I 've been so busy with classes as of late, but I had just finished my final thirty minutes ago. 

So! Bornholm. 

Googled Bornholm. Got the band.

This was a trip offered by DIS (the program I am with) and we took an overnight ferry to reach this tiny island. Funny enough, it's on the other side of Sweden, but it's still considered part of Denmark. 

As soon as I stepped off the boat at 5am, bleary eyed and feeling a little crumpled up, it was like I had stepped  into one of those calendars they sell at the mall with beautiful pictures of far-away places that you just assumed were photoshopped. 

People. Screw Narnia. It's the real deal. 

Indeed. Those are Terracotta rooftops. 

And this is what we did the entire two days we were there:

like a boss (and yes, I took this picture while biking >:o)

Here I met some of the best temp. roommates ever. Sara, Danielle, and Sonya. 

We went to a museum in Bornholm which hosted a lot of Danish artists. The whole building was also so artistic, built to maximize light with glass and whiteness (very Danish). There was even a little little stream that ran through the entire museum to lead the people around.

Sonya and Sara also taught me how to Marco the shizniz out of everything on my canon. Score. 

disturbing :o( 

After our excessive biking and museum trip, our bums were feeling quite sore, so we decided sit them down at a praised local restaurant that had Bornholm's well-known dish: pickled herring. 


Here is the wiki definition:
Pickled herring, also known as bismarck herring, is a delicacy in Europe, and has become a part of Baltic, Nordic, Dutch, German (Bismarckhering), Polish, Eastern Slavic and Jewish cuisine. Most cured herring uses a two-step curing process. Initially, herring is cured with salt to extract water. The second stage involves removing the salt and adding flavorings, typically a vinegar, salt, sugar solution to which ingredients like peppercorn, bay leaves and raw onions are added. In recent years other flavors have also been added, due to foreign influences. However, the tradition is strong in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, The Netherlands, Iceland and Germany. Onion, sherry, mustard and dill are some of the traditional flavourings.


I didn't read it because it might ruin it for me, but it is DELICIOUS. 
But to find this restaurant called Sommer was a bit of a problem. 

We biked.... and biked... and biked some more.

 But we didn't give up! And we found it in Allinge, a northern town on the island. And Sommer was there, tucked away near the port area. And this is what I had:

yep, macro-ed that

 After finally feeling full and happy, it was time to grab our bikes and pedal our 18 miles back. 

stopped to take some picture. That's me :o) 

And we enjoyed the sunset near the hostel

Our butts were feeling quite painful the next day, so we decided to stick around the town near the hostel and check out local things. We found an interesting shops ranging from eco-clothes, hydrangea flavored caramel, and "sexy hats". 

The name of these hats are lost on me. 

As a side note: in foreign places you tend to find thing you would have never imagined to be a flavor. Here in Denmark there seems to be a strange fascination with the flavors of hydrangea and the combo of pear and banana. Not that I'm complaining, it's delicious. :o) 

We got hungry again and went to THE BEST BRUNCH IN MY LIFE. It had authentic danish food. And it was all. so. delicious. 

Had to throw some American food in the mix

And sadly, as quickly as I had come, weary and disheveled, we had left. 


Thus: Beloved Bornholm  


I'm seriously debating whether to give my parents a summer home here so I can just make an excuse to visit them. 
(Mom, Dad, if your reading this. Don't take it too seriously. Last time I checked, humanities studies is the leading cause of unemployment.)

Tonight I'll be leaving to Munich to meet up with Steff Forbes! So excited, since I haven't seen that girl in a year or so since she left us Americans to study abroad in Germany. 

And Saturday I will be taking a day trip to Vienna, Austria to go see an grand 150 year celebration exhibit of Gustav Klimt's work. My favorite artist. 

I will probably have a nervous breakdown and burst into tears at the front gates of the museum and be assisted out. 

Love - C 

hygge & fika

Before I delve into my weekend biking trip to the beautiful town of Bornholm, Denmark, I wanted to write a bit about the concept of hygge and fika. 
Part of what I want to do when I go to each country is to learn a word that is untranslatable. A word that's meaning is so specifically within the culture that it is hard to grasp the understanding without experiencing it yourself. And hopefully I will have experienced it enough to run it by. 


The word hygge very directly means coziness. But it's more of an all around good and peaceful feeling. You can most often find this word when a group of friends enjoy one another's company and conversation at a comfortable regular cafe. 
And yes, as I have asked Mette, you can hygge yourself. This would be done curling up in bed and reading a good book or watching a good movie. It's just the general feeling a peace and well-being. This is a Danish word.

A super oldie, but I think this exemplifies "hygge" well

In Sweden I learned the word fika, which is in a general sense, means getting coffee. However, it's more of a social institution and has more of a cultural meaning than just coffee break. Fika is another positive word that can be used many times a day. 
Used in a sentence:
"Let us fika after this marvelous modern museum tour."
or
"Yo, let's fika the shiz out of that cafe." 


More commonly found in the former than the latter. 

Fika-ing with the finest.

More on Bornholm trip tomorrow.

-C 

urgent trains

Well, it's been quite some time since my last post. I've been quite caught up in a whirlwind and have just finally settled a bit. 

Currently, I am back in Copenhagen, Denmark, in my new student apartment or Kollegium. It's very special to Danish culture because a Kollegium is a student run apartment for students, where a lot of the people living in there can be much older and there is a shared kitchen on each floor. I started my class today, Human-Trafficking in a Global Context, where I just received --- I'm way too tired to do this.

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Okay! After my morning croissant and coffee, I'm ready to go! 

So when I last wrote, I was still at Lotte's mom's place. 

I walked around the new neighborhood which is apparently quite family orientated. 

Yes, they would have beautiful swans serenely drifting in their lakes

My first attempted locs sandwich

Then I got really bored and recorded this just for you! 

Be easy on me haha, I'm not the greatest. 

Friday night, Lotte and I went to a Montremond Jazz club, which was filled with an older crowd but still so good. And we hop skipped away next door to her usual bar with her friends. 

So instead of dart boards and pinball machines they have foosball tables. 

And we owned everyone's butt and reaped all the free drinks :o) 

It's nice to know that however classy Europeans are, they're pretty willing to get just as drunk as you. 

The next day I took a thirty minute train to Sweden! So fast, it makes my head spin. 

This was my first official experience in Couch Surfing: Malmo, Sweden.

 Introducing Mette Carlbom. She is by far the best first Host I could have ever asked for. (Not to mention fashionable and cute to boot!) Not only did she take time out to show me around and circle all the cool hipspots of Malmo, she even invited me to hang out with her friends whenever there was something going on.


The first day I got there, things already got pretty interesting. We were invited to be extras in a Swedish film from one of her friends that was going to debut in Boston. 


Yeah, you read that right. I went to Sweden and got filmed. 


Awesomeness aside, it was pretty fun. Mette, Malva (the main actress) and I sat in a cafe and made silly banter while the director ran around taking shots from every angle you could think of. 


That night, we went to Lund, a University City of Sweden:
a k a the hometown of my favorite band: The Radio Dept.


There I met some of the most articulate, intelligent, and fun people. They were all much older (mid to later 20's). They're fields of study ranged from Feminist Theory to Business to Sexology. We talked for so long about so many interesting topics, and not once did they treat me like the baby of the group. It was so cool of them, and I'm so blessed to have met them :o) 


As a sidenote, even terms here sound classier. Or it may be just me. 
It's not "pre-gaming", it's "pre-drinking". And it's not "getting yo cherry popped" or "swiping your v-card" or "putting da p to da v" its "sexual debut". 


So after we were done pre-drinking, we headed out to a hip bar that had a show that night for free. Along the way I asked one of the girls if they knew The Radio Dept.


Here are the replies that followed:


Sophia: "Oh yes! They were my favorite band along with Bright Eyes! We went to school with them."


Saga: "Haha we partied with them."


Sophia: "I'm surprised that you would know a little Lund band like The Radio Dept.! I was at a concert once, and they were recording right next door at the building over."

Me during that entire conversation

The music was very cool and it was strange that there was no stage, so I was literally standing right in front of the singer, trying not to awkwardly stare at his face. I could tell he was also avoiding eye contact, but he was so into his music so I squirm-danced a bit. 


That night Cajsa, one of Mette's friends, talked about an open cold-bathhouse that was very special to Malmo, and that she was going to next day and that I was invited. 


yesyesyesyesyesyes. was my reply. 


So the next day, I went to go meet her at the bathhouse which was unfortunately the other side of Malmo. But when I found it, it was on a beach and very very cute. 


On route however, I had to cross through this giant field where gnats attacked me. I had had a shower that morning and my hair smelled like flowers thank you very much. 
I see know why Pig-Pen always had gnats around him... or was it dirt.

I smell like peony and honeydew

The Swedish Cold Bathhouse

They waited for me! Even though I got lost for an hour. 

I can't explain how cool this place was. I couldn't take pictures because of all the naked people. Or maybe that was a blessing on our part. 

Basically this but a lot more wrinkles and saggy things.

Basically, you strip down and, if you were smart and brought a towel, you would walk around pretty much butt nakey. They do provide you with this sad multicolored rag dubbed "ass-towel" to sit on in the saunas. 


But it was thrilling! Being completely nude and letting the ocean wind and sun gently kiss your bare-naked caboose was one of the best experiences I've had. And since everyone else was so chill about it, it was easy to do. We even sat on the rocks and dove into the extremely chilly ocean. 


I was not too happy about the sauna's however. Since it was a co-ed thing and there was limited space, there was a daunting understanding that somewhere behind you, some guy's junk was right next to the back of your head. They really had no problem just sitting there with legs spread. Too many pee-wees in one day for me. 


After that, we got some falafels (which are ridiculously cheap and delicious), and sat down on the grass across a graveyard and scarfed it down. 

Mmm... falafel....

Cat obsession must be a very universal thing

Then I got invited to dinner at another friend's place where they would be grilling up some vegan food.


And they had a cat!! 

"Touch me." 

Mette: "I'll touch you."

Chriss' first Vegan Meal

It was absolutely delicious, I had no idea that vegan food could taste so good. They really knew what they were doing!




The next day there was a free concert at their community park, name translated to "People's Park".

And the next day I went to Moderna Museet, their Modern Museum in which there were having a Co Hulten and Niki De Saint Phalle exhibit. Which. was. awesome. 

The head from "She-A: Cathedral" (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Absolutely love her work. It's so playful and intimate.

Later, Malva showed me around to a lot of second hand shops and cute places to buy cloathes. A bit pricey, but worth it for memories sake. 

Oh! And I was invited to an "American Party" for this weekend from Cajsa. They would play beer pong and dress up like high school cliche cliques. I thought that was pretty hilarious. 

And now! I've moved into my room in the Kollegium where I am starting classes for most of the summer.
Whew!

1/8 of my room

Ciao for now! 
Chriss

freckled pears

2/3 of the Danish girls I stayed with. Thanks again, friends! 

my mode of transportation

very typical parking place in Copenhagen

Not wanting to overstay my visit, it was decided that I would stay at Lotte's mother's place until I left to Malmo, Sweden. 

Before meeting up with Lotte to show me the new place, I had two hours to kill around central city. I parked my bike with all my life's worth loosely locked to it, and walked about for around two hours. 

Came back two hours later, stuff was still there.

I even had fruit just hanging in a plastic bag off my bike. No one even tried to take them. 

Thus, Kobenhavn: safest city in the world. 

This picture above probably represents the Danes in their entirety. I giggled a bit at this. The way they hold themselves is actually quite humble and not at all boastful. Where else in America it would probably be something like: BEST BEER IN TEH WORLD, B1TCHESS!!!!!!!11

Oh, and they also allow public drinking. Score. 

Having read the Lonely Planet before coming to Copenhagen (and consequentially being laughed at by the Danes for doing so) my curiousity was drawn to a foodstuff called Smørrebrød, which is actually just open-faced sandwiches. According to Lotte, Cecilie, and Amelie (who I henceforth dub LAC), it's not as popular as it used to be or as the LP book professes. But I still wanted it. So bad. 

So keeping my eye out, I found one the other day! A hole in the wall small cafe that sold this Danish good. Price wasn't bad either, 3 for 32DKK, which is equivalent to around 6 dollars. Believe me. That's cheap in Denmark. 

and so cute!

After a confusing runabout with Lotte, I'm currently residing in Lotte's mothers apartment. Her mom is gone on a business trip for a week, so I get the whole place to myself. How amazing is that! 


And, she's an artist and heavily cultured in music and films... I could just stay in this well-decorated apartment for days :o) 

my favorite of her paintings

honk. 

Band of Horses?? Kings of Convenience?? Who is this woman??

my dinner with a spot of wine. yum de dum

One thing I've noticed about Danish utilities is that everything is efficient and sustainable in design and manner. The rooms are quite small, but created in a way to use up the space efficiently without having to sacrifice the quality of living. Large windows without screens lets light enter the soft white rooms, creating a sense of freshness. 



For cheese's sake, even the pears are efficient in less waste production. (And still tastes wonderful!)
Which makes me a happy lass, because pears are my favorite fruit. And because of it, the Danes eat pears differently. 

insane, I know.

So, for the next couple of days, I'll preparing myself to go to Malmo, Sweden, which is a thirty minute train ride from Copenhagen. While there, I guess that I will legitimately couch surfing. Should be interesting :o)


Oh! And shout out to my friend Katie for getting an internship abroad in South Africa for this summer!! Congrats!

Until the next update: Cheers. 
-Chriss