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. :)