We visited Vestre today, which is Denmark's center-right party. The biggest party in Denmark.
The party has 16 full time staff. An annual budget of about $6 million dollars, most of it funded by the state. That is their total budget for the entire country. Smaller than a senate race in the US?
Denmark has a 3 week election cycle. The prime minister calls the election, and then in 3 weeks it happens. I get the impression that this is a very busy time. :) Political television advertising is *not* allowed, so costs are kept down.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Travel break traveling
Our next study tour runs March 17-24. We then have March 24 until April 9 to travel on our own. I've been busy researching different places and trying to decide where I'd like to go and what I'd like to see.
A lot of people are trying to do the whole London->Paris->Barcelona->Rome->Vienna super whirlwind tour in 2 weeks. I don't have any interest in that at all. Besides the fact that those transportation costs add up, you don't really actually see any of those places. You see the top 3 sites in a town, and then it is off to sit in the airport waiting for the next flight. It is probably delayed too.
I think I'll pick one area of Europe I'd like to see, and then leave myself time to actually see some stuff without sprinting to the next. Where that destination will end up being, I do not know. I'm definitely going to stop by Vienna and visit Johannes. I've been thinking of going down and exploring Italy from there. Maybe Praque (where our study tour ends) -> Vienna -> Venice -> Florence -> Rome -> Sicily? Unfortunately that means bringing my business attire with me in the suitcase for those two weeks. Maybe I can just mail it back to Copenhagen inexpensively... The alternative is to go with DIS on the bus back to Copenhagen, but that seems a waste of time and heading in the wrong direction.
Europe has dozens of really low-fare airlines. This is good when you are trying to find really cheap flights (sometimes $10-20 flights, although the tax more than doubles that), but it also means that you have to spend *a lot* of time searching different airlines, different flight dates, and different destinations. The majority of really cheap flights go to and from the UK. I think it is usually cheaper (sometimes quite a bit) to fly to one of these hubs in the UK and then fly to Copenhagen or Malmo, Sweden (across the strait) from there. You also get a day or part of a day in London or Dublin out of the deal.
A lot of people are trying to do the whole London->Paris->Barcelona->Rome->Vienna super whirlwind tour in 2 weeks. I don't have any interest in that at all. Besides the fact that those transportation costs add up, you don't really actually see any of those places. You see the top 3 sites in a town, and then it is off to sit in the airport waiting for the next flight. It is probably delayed too.
I think I'll pick one area of Europe I'd like to see, and then leave myself time to actually see some stuff without sprinting to the next. Where that destination will end up being, I do not know. I'm definitely going to stop by Vienna and visit Johannes. I've been thinking of going down and exploring Italy from there. Maybe Praque (where our study tour ends) -> Vienna -> Venice -> Florence -> Rome -> Sicily? Unfortunately that means bringing my business attire with me in the suitcase for those two weeks. Maybe I can just mail it back to Copenhagen inexpensively... The alternative is to go with DIS on the bus back to Copenhagen, but that seems a waste of time and heading in the wrong direction.
Europe has dozens of really low-fare airlines. This is good when you are trying to find really cheap flights (sometimes $10-20 flights, although the tax more than doubles that), but it also means that you have to spend *a lot* of time searching different airlines, different flight dates, and different destinations. The majority of really cheap flights go to and from the UK. I think it is usually cheaper (sometimes quite a bit) to fly to one of these hubs in the UK and then fly to Copenhagen or Malmo, Sweden (across the strait) from there. You also get a day or part of a day in London or Dublin out of the deal.
No more snow
Yea, our "most snow Copenhagen has had in 10 years" is gone. I guess higher than freezing temperatures and rain will do that.
A few things I learned my Danish Politics and Society class. Denmark's labor force is highly organized into unions. Actually everything in Denmark is highly organized into groups, businesses too. These groups are an engaged part of the political decision making process, so Denmark has very few "outsider" lobbyists as we might have in the US. In return for having a say, these groups also have responsibility to hold their members to the agreements that are made, otherwise they won't continue to get that access.
Anyways, the overall-umbrella worker's union and the overall employer's union (Danish Industry something) have been at odds for quite a while, and it was looking like there was going to be a general strike in about a month of all members of this union. Which would have been about every worker in the country. 2 days before the first deadline they reached an agreement though.
Employers will give a 4% raise in salaries, increased funding to the job-training fund, increased funding to the pension fund, and raised the minimum wage slightly to 103.6 kroner. (about $18)
About the Danish flag... it isn't a patriotic symbol like our flag is. It is more a symbol of the Danish people. It isn't something they salute, but rather something used at birthday parties, etc.
I feel at home and settled in here. This really hit after our little trip and we came back home to "familiar" Copenhagen. There isn't anything in my daily routine that I feel uncomfortable with anymore. On the first day here, there was a lot of anxiety (if thats the right word) in just buying a danish at the bakery. Not knowing where anything was and dealing with jet lag... I feel very comfortable with the geography of Copenhagen now (and of Denmark overall). I've been taking the bus more and more, both due to the fact that I recognize where the stops are at and it is generally faster than the metro I think. Not faster in direct comparision, but faster when walking times are factored in. Contrary to what I normally end up doing, it *isn't* faster to just walk rather than wait the 5 minute for the bus to show up. :)
A few things I learned my Danish Politics and Society class. Denmark's labor force is highly organized into unions. Actually everything in Denmark is highly organized into groups, businesses too. These groups are an engaged part of the political decision making process, so Denmark has very few "outsider" lobbyists as we might have in the US. In return for having a say, these groups also have responsibility to hold their members to the agreements that are made, otherwise they won't continue to get that access.
Anyways, the overall-umbrella worker's union and the overall employer's union (Danish Industry something) have been at odds for quite a while, and it was looking like there was going to be a general strike in about a month of all members of this union. Which would have been about every worker in the country. 2 days before the first deadline they reached an agreement though.
Employers will give a 4% raise in salaries, increased funding to the job-training fund, increased funding to the pension fund, and raised the minimum wage slightly to 103.6 kroner. (about $18)
About the Danish flag... it isn't a patriotic symbol like our flag is. It is more a symbol of the Danish people. It isn't something they salute, but rather something used at birthday parties, etc.
I feel at home and settled in here. This really hit after our little trip and we came back home to "familiar" Copenhagen. There isn't anything in my daily routine that I feel uncomfortable with anymore. On the first day here, there was a lot of anxiety (if thats the right word) in just buying a danish at the bakery. Not knowing where anything was and dealing with jet lag... I feel very comfortable with the geography of Copenhagen now (and of Denmark overall). I've been taking the bus more and more, both due to the fact that I recognize where the stops are at and it is generally faster than the metro I think. Not faster in direct comparision, but faster when walking times are factored in. Contrary to what I normally end up doing, it *isn't* faster to just walk rather than wait the 5 minute for the bus to show up. :)
Monday, February 26, 2007
Smoking
I saw a man biking through København today and smoking a cigarette at the same time. That is a new one for me. He wasn't just biking with one hand either...both hands on the handlebars. Not exactly sure how that works.
Our first of two larger papers in my business class was due today, so I was up late last night writing it. It was an analysis of the competitive strategies of the three companies we visited on the western Denmark (Jutland) tour. Naturally I put off writing it until late. I kind of like writing papers late at night. You can focus completely on the paper, you have no distractions, and you are forced to keep at it or you lose out on sleep. Managed to get some laundry done and popcorn ate too.
Gangs of New York was on Danish TV yesterday while I was eating (with Danish subtitles). The Man with One Red shoe (Tom Hanks) was on TV the other day as well. Lots of American movies and TV shows.
Vi ses!
Our first of two larger papers in my business class was due today, so I was up late last night writing it. It was an analysis of the competitive strategies of the three companies we visited on the western Denmark (Jutland) tour. Naturally I put off writing it until late. I kind of like writing papers late at night. You can focus completely on the paper, you have no distractions, and you are forced to keep at it or you lose out on sleep. Managed to get some laundry done and popcorn ate too.
Gangs of New York was on Danish TV yesterday while I was eating (with Danish subtitles). The Man with One Red shoe (Tom Hanks) was on TV the other day as well. Lots of American movies and TV shows.
Vi ses!
Friday, February 23, 2007
Denmark pulling out of Iraq
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced on Wednesday that Denmark is pulling its 430 troops out of Iraq. They did this the same day that Tony Blair in Britian announced the Britian was reducing its troop levels in southern Iraq.
We talked about this in my Danish Politics class. The reason for the pullout is basically based on the domestic political climate here in Denmark currently, and has really nothing to do with a military decision or something like that.
The current government here is a coalition of the parties on the right. Fogh Rasmussen is from Vestre, which is the largest Danish party and center-right in ideology. They have a coalition government with the Conservative party. Their government is also supported by the Danish People's Party, which is a very nationalistic party. So the government is run from the right.
They have been the coalition in government since 2001, and supported the Iraq War from the start. The left-wing parties were initially against it. Then after Bush declared "Mission Accomplished", the UN Security Council passed a resolution regarding helping rebuild Iraq. At that point, the left-wing parties in Denmark supported troops in Iraq to help rebuild.
Late last year the left wing parties in Denmark changed their position in opposition to Denmark getting bogged down further in the Iraq War, and wanted Danish troops out. This was a politically smart move for them, because public opinion is against the war. The Social Democrats (2nd biggest party) would like to regain control of the government, and opposing the Iraq War would help that. It was an issue they could attack Anders Fogh Rasmussen's party with.
Basically, Vestre wants to keep control of the government and they are diffusing the campaign issue now before it becomes a problem for them. The justification is that things in southern Iraq are "getting better", so Denmark has fulfilled its agreement. This is painted in contrast to Italy/Japan who just withdrew last year without finishing the job. They are sending 200 new troops to Afghanistan, because they don't want the impression that they are giving up on the war on terror.
From a small-country perspective, they need to have strong allies if they want to have influence. It isn't in Denmark's interest to alienate the US, so thats the reason for the increase to Afghanistan. Politics in Denmark is all based on compromise, and I think their foriegn policy is kind of being run the same way. They want to have good relations with the US/Britian, but still get out of an unpopular war. So they compromised and sent more troops to Afghanistan.
We talked about this in my Danish Politics class. The reason for the pullout is basically based on the domestic political climate here in Denmark currently, and has really nothing to do with a military decision or something like that.
The current government here is a coalition of the parties on the right. Fogh Rasmussen is from Vestre, which is the largest Danish party and center-right in ideology. They have a coalition government with the Conservative party. Their government is also supported by the Danish People's Party, which is a very nationalistic party. So the government is run from the right.
They have been the coalition in government since 2001, and supported the Iraq War from the start. The left-wing parties were initially against it. Then after Bush declared "Mission Accomplished", the UN Security Council passed a resolution regarding helping rebuild Iraq. At that point, the left-wing parties in Denmark supported troops in Iraq to help rebuild.
Late last year the left wing parties in Denmark changed their position in opposition to Denmark getting bogged down further in the Iraq War, and wanted Danish troops out. This was a politically smart move for them, because public opinion is against the war. The Social Democrats (2nd biggest party) would like to regain control of the government, and opposing the Iraq War would help that. It was an issue they could attack Anders Fogh Rasmussen's party with.
Basically, Vestre wants to keep control of the government and they are diffusing the campaign issue now before it becomes a problem for them. The justification is that things in southern Iraq are "getting better", so Denmark has fulfilled its agreement. This is painted in contrast to Italy/Japan who just withdrew last year without finishing the job. They are sending 200 new troops to Afghanistan, because they don't want the impression that they are giving up on the war on terror.
From a small-country perspective, they need to have strong allies if they want to have influence. It isn't in Denmark's interest to alienate the US, so thats the reason for the increase to Afghanistan. Politics in Denmark is all based on compromise, and I think their foriegn policy is kind of being run the same way. They want to have good relations with the US/Britian, but still get out of an unpopular war. So they compromised and sent more troops to Afghanistan.
Snow Effects
Copenhagen can't handle this snow. The entire town has been barely getting by. The buses are all off schedule and coming at odd times ... the metro sometimes doesn't go all the way to the end of its normal runs ... the S-trains (trains to suburb areas) are all running really late or cancelled. Some kids who live farther out (and take the S-train in) were an hour late for our test in the business class today.
My Danish politics professor said this is the most snow he can remember in the last 10 years. My history professor made the comment that all Swedes keep tire chains in their garage so they get by just fine.
The roads are now starting to get cleared off a little bit better. I had to wait a long time for the bus today though. Here is a news article in USA Today about it. Jutland got more snow, but there is some reference to Copenhagen transportation at the end.
My Danish politics professor said this is the most snow he can remember in the last 10 years. My history professor made the comment that all Swedes keep tire chains in their garage so they get by just fine.
The roads are now starting to get cleared off a little bit better. I had to wait a long time for the bus today though. Here is a news article in USA Today about it. Jutland got more snow, but there is some reference to Copenhagen transportation at the end.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Visit to Øster Farimagsgade
I visited Julie's 7th grade English class today at Øster Farimagsgade. The class is about 20 kids. They were taking a test today, so I had a chance to sit and work on some of my Danish homework. 2 of the kids finished about a half-hour early, and they gave me a tour of the school. I commented to them that they must be pretty good to finish the test so fast. "Oh, no, we just don't look over our answers" was his reply. These two guys only took 30 minutes to do the test, and the rest of the class took an hour. I don't think the rest were looking over their answers for 30 minutes. :) Thats the response I would have expected though from a Dane.
The school is kindergarten through age 16. 3 stories and a basement. The gym is in a separate building in the "backyard". The kindergarten is also in a separate building back there.
I peeked at the front page of one of the tests. They were given about 30 words and had to write the plural form. Child, negro, deer, etc. I'm not sure what else was on the test.
For the last 10-15 minutes of class, I gave a little powerpoint presentation about Minnesota. I compared it to Denmark by putting a map of Denmark inside Minnesota. Denmark fits inside, and is about 1/4 the size of MN. We have nearly identical populations and size of economy.
Then I showed a bunch of pictures of Minneapolis, St. Paul, Ortonville, and our farm (got these from Johannes). Gave some facts about Minnesota, talked about the Mall of America, did a 2 minute overview of Minnesota history, and then told them the Minnesota sports teams.
I'm going to be going on Tuesdays after school to help in the library, and then on Thursdays in the 7th grade English class.
The school is kindergarten through age 16. 3 stories and a basement. The gym is in a separate building in the "backyard". The kindergarten is also in a separate building back there.
I peeked at the front page of one of the tests. They were given about 30 words and had to write the plural form. Child, negro, deer, etc. I'm not sure what else was on the test.
For the last 10-15 minutes of class, I gave a little powerpoint presentation about Minnesota. I compared it to Denmark by putting a map of Denmark inside Minnesota. Denmark fits inside, and is about 1/4 the size of MN. We have nearly identical populations and size of economy.
Then I showed a bunch of pictures of Minneapolis, St. Paul, Ortonville, and our farm (got these from Johannes). Gave some facts about Minnesota, talked about the Mall of America, did a 2 minute overview of Minnesota history, and then told them the Minnesota sports teams.
I'm going to be going on Tuesdays after school to help in the library, and then on Thursdays in the 7th grade English class.
Day after Blizzard
I haven't been very impressed with Copenhagen's cleanup job after the Blizzard. Most of the sidewalks still aren't really cleared. The roads aren't much better. Everything is just a big slushy mess all over. The public transportation is goofed up today too. I think they've been spoiled by really nice winters, and aren't used to having lots of snow. I suppose we had 4-5 inches. North of Copenhagen they had as much as a foot.
Maybe I'm being unfair and we don't clean up much better in Minnesota. It just seems that there has been very little clearing of snow done. I'm sure the cobblestones don't make the cleaning any easier.
Maybe I'm being unfair and we don't clean up much better in Minnesota. It just seems that there has been very little clearing of snow done. I'm sure the cobblestones don't make the cleaning any easier.
Ikea
I read this story from Reuters about Ikea starting to charge for bags in the US.
Every store in Denmark does this to cut back on waste. There is just a stack of bags at the beginning of the checkout line, and you throw as many as you want on the conveyor belt with your stuff. About 50% of the people get bags. The other 50% bring a backpack, etc to put their groceries in. I'm not sure how much the bags cost, because I've never bought any.
Those big Ikea bags are very nice though. DIS gave us one (our books came in it). Very heavy duty bag, and quite large. I use it to do laundry.
Every store in Denmark does this to cut back on waste. There is just a stack of bags at the beginning of the checkout line, and you throw as many as you want on the conveyor belt with your stuff. About 50% of the people get bags. The other 50% bring a backpack, etc to put their groceries in. I'm not sure how much the bags cost, because I've never bought any.
Those big Ikea bags are very nice though. DIS gave us one (our books came in it). Very heavy duty bag, and quite large. I use it to do laundry.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Blizzard today
Had a nice Minnesota blizzard today. First bad weather since I've been here really. Made me feel at home. :) Checked out the Statens Museum for Kunst today since there wasn't a whole lot one could do outside. This is a picture of the building I took on our bus tour (too much blowing snow for a picture today).
Candy
I found a really amazing candy bar made in Sweden. Chocolate/carmel etc. They were on sale for 16 DKK (about $2.80), so I bought one. It is really big, so maybe not really that bad of a deal. Also found some great cookies called Muslinger.
Our Danish teacher brought some licorice for us to try on Monday. I guess she eats it all the time, and it is probably the most popular Danish candy. It is like black licorice, but salty. Really sticks to your teeth when you chew it. From my perspective, it was edible but not that good. I don't really like black licorice in the first place.
I'll make a post about our trip to Jutland soon. I go to visit the 7th grade class tomorrow. Called Julie (the teacher) last night, and she scheduled a test for tomorrow so I probably won't be doing a whole lot. She had reserved a room for doing powerpoint too, so maybe I will still give a little presentation about where I'm from after they finish the test. Johannes had some nice pictures of our farm, so I'll use those.
Our Danish teacher brought some licorice for us to try on Monday. I guess she eats it all the time, and it is probably the most popular Danish candy. It is like black licorice, but salty. Really sticks to your teeth when you chew it. From my perspective, it was edible but not that good. I don't really like black licorice in the first place.
I'll make a post about our trip to Jutland soon. I go to visit the 7th grade class tomorrow. Called Julie (the teacher) last night, and she scheduled a test for tomorrow so I probably won't be doing a whole lot. She had reserved a room for doing powerpoint too, so maybe I will still give a little presentation about where I'm from after they finish the test. Johannes had some nice pictures of our farm, so I'll use those.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Observations
It's raining today.
Just a few observations.
Always stand on the right side of the escalator. The left side is left open for people walking up. From what I understand, Danes don't really have a phrase for excuse me. So, if you are standing on the left side where you shouldn't be, they will just come up behind you and lightly push you. I think this is just meant as a reminder that you shouldn't be standing there and to get out of the way.
There are many young kids that I see riding mass transit alone. Kids of the age that I would expect their parents to be with them, but they are riding the subway by themselves. Also in central Copenhagen there are younger kids wondering about on their own. I guess they have been using public transportation from a young age, and Copenhagen doesn't have any bad neighborhoods or other reasons that would necessitate parents always watching over them. A Dane might say I'm overexaggerating this, but I don't think you'd see a younger kid riding the subway in New York City by themselves.
The taxes are very high in Denmark, although this hasn't prevented them from having one of the best economies in Europe. Our Danish politics professor frequently says the phrase, "the bumblebee can fly!". Apparently if you look at the size of a bumblebee and its feeble wings, it really shouldn't be able to fly but it does. Denmark's economy is the same way.
For wages up to about 25,000 kroner a month, the income tax rate is 40%. Over that rate, the income tax rate is about 70%. It is very difficult to become rich in Danish society. On the other hand, there is a social safety net from "the cradle to the grave". Denmark funds a comprehensive health care system, a great transportation system, aid for the unemployed, and other social programs. Danish college students are actually paid a stipend while they attend school. They certainly don't make money, but it is enough that they can get by with little debt when they graduate from school.
Perhaps one of the reasons that Denmark's economy is competitive is because they have a very mobile labor market. Unlike France and Germany, Danish companies can hire and fire workers very easily. This is similar to the United States, where workers can be fired and laid off relatively easily. Once out of a job, Denmark gives the person unemployment aid with conditions applied to it. Part of that is job training programs, so that if the unemployed can't find a job with their current skill set they need to get retrained to be able to fit into a new job in an area that needs workers.
Denmark is also different from France/Germany in that their economy is comprised mostly of small companies. There are few companies in Denmark with over 100 employees. A small company is probably able to shift their momentum to changing market conditions easier than a large company, so that is perhaps another reason why their economy does well. France and Germany have many large companies.
Most fast food places do not have free refills. The Coke 1.5 liter bottle was about 3 times the price of the generic cola in the grocery store.
Copenhagen has weather that flucuates more frequently than in Minnesota. I think we can generally predict our weather very well, and if it is sunny in the morning then odds are it will be sunny for the majority of the day. Copenhagen's weather is much more unpredictable I think. It might be nice in the morning, but the wind shifts in the afternoon and it is snowing. Mogens Been told me that it depends which direction the wind is coming from. If it comes from the east, you are going to get weather effects from the ocean. If it comes from the west, then there is land over there and you'll have different weather.
Copenhagen has no skyscrapers. Nearly every building is 5 stories tall. No exceptions for the most part. They all have similar architecture, and they all rise to the same height. I should ask someone about it, but I'm guessing there is some sort of city ordinance prohibiting different building in Copenhagen. The many church steeples are the obvious exception.
Copenhagen is a very "organically" laid out city. I would contrast it with New York maybe, which has regular city blocks. If you know the street in Manhatten, it isn't very difficult to find it. Central Copenhagen was once a fortified medieval city, completely walled off from the outside. All of those original roads and city organization are still there. The effect is lots of small winding streets and no rigid organization. Very few cars as well, because there simply isn't room to drive them, nor parking spaces to park them. Not to mention the 200%+ tax on cars. You must be 180% tax to register your car in Denmark. Then you must also pay the 25% sales tax. This isn't very popular in Denmark, but it generates billions and billions of krones in revenue. Removing it would be very difficult, because you'd have to either find some other way to generate that revenue or you'd have to drastically cut the social programs.
There are certainly parties in Denmark who would like to do that. Maybe I will make a post later about Denmark's politics.
I usually run into someone every day trying to sell me something on the street (a newspaper, magazine, etc). Or sign some petition, etc. They are always very well dressed and polite, and will start walking along side you and say "excuse me, can I ask you a question?", or "excuse me, do you have a minute?". I just keep walking. Most of the time they'll try starting a conversation in Danish, but I think that has even less chance of success. :)
Just a few observations.
Always stand on the right side of the escalator. The left side is left open for people walking up. From what I understand, Danes don't really have a phrase for excuse me. So, if you are standing on the left side where you shouldn't be, they will just come up behind you and lightly push you. I think this is just meant as a reminder that you shouldn't be standing there and to get out of the way.
There are many young kids that I see riding mass transit alone. Kids of the age that I would expect their parents to be with them, but they are riding the subway by themselves. Also in central Copenhagen there are younger kids wondering about on their own. I guess they have been using public transportation from a young age, and Copenhagen doesn't have any bad neighborhoods or other reasons that would necessitate parents always watching over them. A Dane might say I'm overexaggerating this, but I don't think you'd see a younger kid riding the subway in New York City by themselves.
The taxes are very high in Denmark, although this hasn't prevented them from having one of the best economies in Europe. Our Danish politics professor frequently says the phrase, "the bumblebee can fly!". Apparently if you look at the size of a bumblebee and its feeble wings, it really shouldn't be able to fly but it does. Denmark's economy is the same way.
For wages up to about 25,000 kroner a month, the income tax rate is 40%. Over that rate, the income tax rate is about 70%. It is very difficult to become rich in Danish society. On the other hand, there is a social safety net from "the cradle to the grave". Denmark funds a comprehensive health care system, a great transportation system, aid for the unemployed, and other social programs. Danish college students are actually paid a stipend while they attend school. They certainly don't make money, but it is enough that they can get by with little debt when they graduate from school.
Perhaps one of the reasons that Denmark's economy is competitive is because they have a very mobile labor market. Unlike France and Germany, Danish companies can hire and fire workers very easily. This is similar to the United States, where workers can be fired and laid off relatively easily. Once out of a job, Denmark gives the person unemployment aid with conditions applied to it. Part of that is job training programs, so that if the unemployed can't find a job with their current skill set they need to get retrained to be able to fit into a new job in an area that needs workers.
Denmark is also different from France/Germany in that their economy is comprised mostly of small companies. There are few companies in Denmark with over 100 employees. A small company is probably able to shift their momentum to changing market conditions easier than a large company, so that is perhaps another reason why their economy does well. France and Germany have many large companies.
Most fast food places do not have free refills. The Coke 1.5 liter bottle was about 3 times the price of the generic cola in the grocery store.
Copenhagen has weather that flucuates more frequently than in Minnesota. I think we can generally predict our weather very well, and if it is sunny in the morning then odds are it will be sunny for the majority of the day. Copenhagen's weather is much more unpredictable I think. It might be nice in the morning, but the wind shifts in the afternoon and it is snowing. Mogens Been told me that it depends which direction the wind is coming from. If it comes from the east, you are going to get weather effects from the ocean. If it comes from the west, then there is land over there and you'll have different weather.
Copenhagen has no skyscrapers. Nearly every building is 5 stories tall. No exceptions for the most part. They all have similar architecture, and they all rise to the same height. I should ask someone about it, but I'm guessing there is some sort of city ordinance prohibiting different building in Copenhagen. The many church steeples are the obvious exception.
Copenhagen is a very "organically" laid out city. I would contrast it with New York maybe, which has regular city blocks. If you know the street in Manhatten, it isn't very difficult to find it. Central Copenhagen was once a fortified medieval city, completely walled off from the outside. All of those original roads and city organization are still there. The effect is lots of small winding streets and no rigid organization. Very few cars as well, because there simply isn't room to drive them, nor parking spaces to park them. Not to mention the 200%+ tax on cars. You must be 180% tax to register your car in Denmark. Then you must also pay the 25% sales tax. This isn't very popular in Denmark, but it generates billions and billions of krones in revenue. Removing it would be very difficult, because you'd have to either find some other way to generate that revenue or you'd have to drastically cut the social programs.
There are certainly parties in Denmark who would like to do that. Maybe I will make a post later about Denmark's politics.
I usually run into someone every day trying to sell me something on the street (a newspaper, magazine, etc). Or sign some petition, etc. They are always very well dressed and polite, and will start walking along side you and say "excuse me, can I ask you a question?", or "excuse me, do you have a minute?". I just keep walking. Most of the time they'll try starting a conversation in Danish, but I think that has even less chance of success. :)
An Update
Apparently I haven't been updating this blog very well. As I've been informed from a number of people, there has been no posts at all in February! :) I'll try to post more frequently...sorry for the lapse.
I've been using the kitchen here quite a lot now. Tacos were on the menu for yesterday, and I was able to use Carol's tupperware she sent cookies in to save taco meat for lunch today too. I've purchased a number of other meals as well. It is a little difficult finding meals that I can both cook and find the ingredients for. This isn't a bad thing, but a different set of challenges than I would have cooking at home. Not that I cook at home... :)
This weekend we go on our trip to western Denmark with the business program. Our events start on Wednesday afternoon when we visit Denmark's largest company, Maersk. This is the largest (or one of the largest) shipping companies in the world. They ship those large containers around the world.
On Thursday morning, we leave for western Denmark. Take a ferry to Aarhus, Denmark, which is the second largest city. From there we visit nearby Danish Crown, which is Europe's largest slaughterhouse and the world's largest exporter of pork. Danish Crown's export amounts to 6% of Denmark's total export. It is owned by more than 20,00 farmers. Recently it has been closing down a number of smaller slaughterhouses due to globalization pressures, which has brought it under some public debate.
On Friday, we visit Arla Foods. Arla Foods is Europe's largest dairy company and is a cooperative owned by approximately 13,650 milk producers in Denmark and Sweden. They also own several large European grocery store chains. We will visit their headquaters and a dairy. Also on Friday, we will visit Aarhus Kunstmuseum. This is a new museum that just opened in 2004.
On Saturday, we visit Ribe. Ribe is Denmark's oldest town. We will visit a museum about the town starting from the Viking age, through the Middle Ages, to about year 1700. Then a guided walking tour of the old town and the Cathedral. Then we drive back to Copenhagen that night.
You can click on the links above for more information. If you want to find these places on a map, I have laid out our route on Google maps. Click here to see where I'm going in Denmark.
On Sunday, the Been family has invited me over to their house again for dinner. I believe two of their three sons will be home as well. It should be fun.
I met with Julie at the Øster Farimagsgade school on Wednesday. I will be going to her Thursday morning 7th grade English class on February 22 to give a little presentation about where I'm from. She had two volunteers at the school last fall from DIS, and they did a number of lessons throughout the semester. Julie told me they weren't comfortable talking about US history, so she is hoping I can talk about that somewhat. Basically, her main goal is to force her students to communicate with someone who they can't fall back to Danish with. She says they know enough English to get their point across but many of them are not confident in doing that.
I've been using the kitchen here quite a lot now. Tacos were on the menu for yesterday, and I was able to use Carol's tupperware she sent cookies in to save taco meat for lunch today too. I've purchased a number of other meals as well. It is a little difficult finding meals that I can both cook and find the ingredients for. This isn't a bad thing, but a different set of challenges than I would have cooking at home. Not that I cook at home... :)
This weekend we go on our trip to western Denmark with the business program. Our events start on Wednesday afternoon when we visit Denmark's largest company, Maersk. This is the largest (or one of the largest) shipping companies in the world. They ship those large containers around the world.
On Thursday morning, we leave for western Denmark. Take a ferry to Aarhus, Denmark, which is the second largest city. From there we visit nearby Danish Crown, which is Europe's largest slaughterhouse and the world's largest exporter of pork. Danish Crown's export amounts to 6% of Denmark's total export. It is owned by more than 20,00 farmers. Recently it has been closing down a number of smaller slaughterhouses due to globalization pressures, which has brought it under some public debate.
On Friday, we visit Arla Foods. Arla Foods is Europe's largest dairy company and is a cooperative owned by approximately 13,650 milk producers in Denmark and Sweden. They also own several large European grocery store chains. We will visit their headquaters and a dairy. Also on Friday, we will visit Aarhus Kunstmuseum. This is a new museum that just opened in 2004.
On Saturday, we visit Ribe. Ribe is Denmark's oldest town. We will visit a museum about the town starting from the Viking age, through the Middle Ages, to about year 1700. Then a guided walking tour of the old town and the Cathedral. Then we drive back to Copenhagen that night.
You can click on the links above for more information. If you want to find these places on a map, I have laid out our route on Google maps. Click here to see where I'm going in Denmark.
On Sunday, the Been family has invited me over to their house again for dinner. I believe two of their three sons will be home as well. It should be fun.
I met with Julie at the Øster Farimagsgade school on Wednesday. I will be going to her Thursday morning 7th grade English class on February 22 to give a little presentation about where I'm from. She had two volunteers at the school last fall from DIS, and they did a number of lessons throughout the semester. Julie told me they weren't comfortable talking about US history, so she is hoping I can talk about that somewhat. Basically, her main goal is to force her students to communicate with someone who they can't fall back to Danish with. She says they know enough English to get their point across but many of them are not confident in doing that.
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