Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Pictures
Walking around from Radhuspladsen Square to Amager. Click on picture to view the photo gallery.
Walking around from Rosenborg Slot to DIS. Click on picture to view the photo gallery.
Snowfall around Orsends, and then the neighborhood that Mogens and Birte Been live in. Click on picture to view the photo gallery.
Rain Today
I don't have any classes on Wednesday, so I slept in today. Actually, I don't have class until noon on Mondays and Thursdays, so I can sleep in those days too. My schedule is very strenuous. :)
I took the subway into central Copenhagen today to get my CPR number. This is like a social security number, and you need it for the library and for health care. I had to go the the Copenhagen folkeregister (or something like that). Then you take a number, and wait until a person is available. She asked me which doctor I would like to use, male or female. Turns out there is a 60-year old male doctor 500 meters from Oresunds on Amagerbro Blvd. Thats who I'm signed up with now.
Taking a number is very common in many places. I stopped at the post office today, and it was the same thing. Take a number and wait until it is called. A post card stamp to the US cost 8.25 kroner ($1.38). That was more expensive than I was guessing.
Took a trip to Netto today as well. I guess that is the cheapest grocery store. Bought bread, meat, cheese, lettuce, chips. Sandwich materials. There wasn't much selection in this supermarket, so I might try going to a different one next time. I bought some butter-like stuff...not sure if there is real butter available. Butter is the kind of thing that doesn't have nice pictures or see-through packaging so you can see what you are getting. I managed to get through the checkout without speaking English. :) Not that I spoke any Danish either.
My new shoes are amazing. Might be the best shoes I've owned. I've done a lot of walking since being here, and my feet are never sore wearing these shoes. Well, I guess they did get a little sore yesterday, but that was after walking for 3 hours in the afternoon. The shoes are waterproof too, which is great. Walking around in the rain or in the slushy snow doesn't mean cold, wet feet. Copenhagen usually has a number of puddles at intersections or on sidewalks that you need to manuever, so the waterproof shoes is a very good thing.
Food is very expensive. I bought a muffin yesterday for 6 DKK ($1). Rolls and related things at the bakeries in town are usually about 7-10 DKK ($1-1.50). Eating at McDonalds is going to be about 50-60 DKK ($8-10). To eat any sort of meal at a fast food type place is usually at least 40 kroner. At an actual restuarant, probably much more.
The pizzeria and burger/fries place in our kollegium is quite cheap I guess. Austin got a pizza yesterday for 33 kroner (about $5.50). It was cheese-only, so maybe that is cheaper. Still, not too bad. I think you can get a burger/fries down there for 40-45 kroner. The ice cream is expensive though...I bought a Nestle ice cream bar that ended up being 14 kroner ($1.30).
The subway system runs similar to how MnDOT runs the light rail at home, on the honor system. They don't check your pass or ticket when you get on the train. You are expected to have paid the correct fare. Occasionally there will be an officer that walks down the train as it goes between stations and asks to see your ticket. It is a 600 kroner fine if you don't have the correct one ($100). I wasn't checked at all the first 6 days here, but have been checked twice in the last two days.
The subways run with no driver or any staff on board. All automated. There is a big window at the front of the train, so you can sit up there and watch as you zoom through the tunnels.
I think I'll be working in the IT department here for my work study, doing stuff in the computer labs. They assigned me to IT at a meeting on Monday, and I'm still waiting for them to send me an email about the training session.
It looks like there might be some difficulties with volunteering at the school. I talked with Julie on the phone last night, and the English classes are Monday, Tuesday, and Thurday afternoons. I have class Monday/Thursday afternoon, and I don't get done on Tuesday afternoons until 1:30pm. Apparently the other DIS volunteer has the same problem. Julie was a little disappointed that DIS didn't pay closer attention to when people had free spots in their schedule. I meet with her next Wednesday, so we'll see if we can work something out.
I took the subway into central Copenhagen today to get my CPR number. This is like a social security number, and you need it for the library and for health care. I had to go the the Copenhagen folkeregister (or something like that). Then you take a number, and wait until a person is available. She asked me which doctor I would like to use, male or female. Turns out there is a 60-year old male doctor 500 meters from Oresunds on Amagerbro Blvd. Thats who I'm signed up with now.
Taking a number is very common in many places. I stopped at the post office today, and it was the same thing. Take a number and wait until it is called. A post card stamp to the US cost 8.25 kroner ($1.38). That was more expensive than I was guessing.
Took a trip to Netto today as well. I guess that is the cheapest grocery store. Bought bread, meat, cheese, lettuce, chips. Sandwich materials. There wasn't much selection in this supermarket, so I might try going to a different one next time. I bought some butter-like stuff...not sure if there is real butter available. Butter is the kind of thing that doesn't have nice pictures or see-through packaging so you can see what you are getting. I managed to get through the checkout without speaking English. :) Not that I spoke any Danish either.
My new shoes are amazing. Might be the best shoes I've owned. I've done a lot of walking since being here, and my feet are never sore wearing these shoes. Well, I guess they did get a little sore yesterday, but that was after walking for 3 hours in the afternoon. The shoes are waterproof too, which is great. Walking around in the rain or in the slushy snow doesn't mean cold, wet feet. Copenhagen usually has a number of puddles at intersections or on sidewalks that you need to manuever, so the waterproof shoes is a very good thing.
Food is very expensive. I bought a muffin yesterday for 6 DKK ($1). Rolls and related things at the bakeries in town are usually about 7-10 DKK ($1-1.50). Eating at McDonalds is going to be about 50-60 DKK ($8-10). To eat any sort of meal at a fast food type place is usually at least 40 kroner. At an actual restuarant, probably much more.
The pizzeria and burger/fries place in our kollegium is quite cheap I guess. Austin got a pizza yesterday for 33 kroner (about $5.50). It was cheese-only, so maybe that is cheaper. Still, not too bad. I think you can get a burger/fries down there for 40-45 kroner. The ice cream is expensive though...I bought a Nestle ice cream bar that ended up being 14 kroner ($1.30).
The subway system runs similar to how MnDOT runs the light rail at home, on the honor system. They don't check your pass or ticket when you get on the train. You are expected to have paid the correct fare. Occasionally there will be an officer that walks down the train as it goes between stations and asks to see your ticket. It is a 600 kroner fine if you don't have the correct one ($100). I wasn't checked at all the first 6 days here, but have been checked twice in the last two days.
The subways run with no driver or any staff on board. All automated. There is a big window at the front of the train, so you can sit up there and watch as you zoom through the tunnels.
I think I'll be working in the IT department here for my work study, doing stuff in the computer labs. They assigned me to IT at a meeting on Monday, and I'm still waiting for them to send me an email about the training session.
It looks like there might be some difficulties with volunteering at the school. I talked with Julie on the phone last night, and the English classes are Monday, Tuesday, and Thurday afternoons. I have class Monday/Thursday afternoon, and I don't get done on Tuesday afternoons until 1:30pm. Apparently the other DIS volunteer has the same problem. Julie was a little disappointed that DIS didn't pay closer attention to when people had free spots in their schedule. I meet with her next Wednesday, so we'll see if we can work something out.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Classes yesterday
Some things from my classes yesterday.
Business class
The professor is the director of the Danish Brewers and Soft Drink Association. He helps beer and soft drink companies with their Danish and EU business strategies. He was formerly an executive with Scandanavian Airlines, and was a Danish diplomat to the EU in Brussels for 8 years. This class sounds like it will be very interesting, and he has a lot of first-hand experiences to bring into it.
One interesting comment he had about Norway. Norway has a very good economy (because of oil and natural gas), and hasn't joined the EU because they don't want to lose soveriegnty and the final say over economic matters, etc. However, it was hurting them to be outside the EU economic system, so they did join the common market because they really had no choice. In order to do this, they had to accept all of the EU economic policies anyways. So, by not giving up the final say in matters, they actually give up even more because they don't have any say at all. Norway actually loses soveriegnty by not being in the EU, rather than being in it. Follow that? :)
History class
I really liked this professor. He seems very knowledgable, and he gives a good lecture. The class is 20th century European History, and he spent basically the whole period explaining what the class was about. Discussed what fits into this time period (1871 unification of Germany to 1989 fall of Berlin wall). He said we really can't tell at this point if the period has ended, but he thinks it has. Maybe a better ending date would be 1982 with the first personal computer he said.
How to define Europe? Common heritage/background in Christianity. Compared to the other nearby cultures, Europe is similar. Historically large muslim areas to south and east.
Danish Politics and Society class
The professor was just in the Danish parliment for the last 12 years, so he has a lot of first hand knowledge too. Denmark has 6 political parties. The US Democrats would fit about in the center as far as Danish politics is concerned. The US Republicans would be far far to the right of any Danish political parties.
The Social Democrats (left of center) had been in power since the 1920s I think, but lost power in 2001 to Venstre (right of center). Venstre governs the country with the Conservative People's Party, but together they have under 50% of the legislature. So Denmark has a ruling group that doesn't even have a majority. Denmark's politics are full of comprimise as a result (rather than conflict). The system is set up so you need a majority to remove a ruling group from power, rather than a majority for them to get power.
About 75% of Danish vocabulary comes from German words. The grammar is completely different from German though, and has Angelo-Saxon roots I guess. So the grammar has more similarities to English than German. He said Norwegian was really just a dialect of Danish.
Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes have a lot of stereotypes of each other I think. Not all positive stereotypes either. :) I figured Scandanavia was Scandanavia, but I don't think anybody here would believe that for one second. While the rest of us might see a lot of similarities, they see a lot of differences. Perhaps both are right.
Business class
The professor is the director of the Danish Brewers and Soft Drink Association. He helps beer and soft drink companies with their Danish and EU business strategies. He was formerly an executive with Scandanavian Airlines, and was a Danish diplomat to the EU in Brussels for 8 years. This class sounds like it will be very interesting, and he has a lot of first-hand experiences to bring into it.
One interesting comment he had about Norway. Norway has a very good economy (because of oil and natural gas), and hasn't joined the EU because they don't want to lose soveriegnty and the final say over economic matters, etc. However, it was hurting them to be outside the EU economic system, so they did join the common market because they really had no choice. In order to do this, they had to accept all of the EU economic policies anyways. So, by not giving up the final say in matters, they actually give up even more because they don't have any say at all. Norway actually loses soveriegnty by not being in the EU, rather than being in it. Follow that? :)
History class
I really liked this professor. He seems very knowledgable, and he gives a good lecture. The class is 20th century European History, and he spent basically the whole period explaining what the class was about. Discussed what fits into this time period (1871 unification of Germany to 1989 fall of Berlin wall). He said we really can't tell at this point if the period has ended, but he thinks it has. Maybe a better ending date would be 1982 with the first personal computer he said.
How to define Europe? Common heritage/background in Christianity. Compared to the other nearby cultures, Europe is similar. Historically large muslim areas to south and east.
Danish Politics and Society class
The professor was just in the Danish parliment for the last 12 years, so he has a lot of first hand knowledge too. Denmark has 6 political parties. The US Democrats would fit about in the center as far as Danish politics is concerned. The US Republicans would be far far to the right of any Danish political parties.
The Social Democrats (left of center) had been in power since the 1920s I think, but lost power in 2001 to Venstre (right of center). Venstre governs the country with the Conservative People's Party, but together they have under 50% of the legislature. So Denmark has a ruling group that doesn't even have a majority. Denmark's politics are full of comprimise as a result (rather than conflict). The system is set up so you need a majority to remove a ruling group from power, rather than a majority for them to get power.
About 75% of Danish vocabulary comes from German words. The grammar is completely different from German though, and has Angelo-Saxon roots I guess. So the grammar has more similarities to English than German. He said Norwegian was really just a dialect of Danish.
Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes have a lot of stereotypes of each other I think. Not all positive stereotypes either. :) I figured Scandanavia was Scandanavia, but I don't think anybody here would believe that for one second. While the rest of us might see a lot of similarities, they see a lot of differences. Perhaps both are right.
Mogens and Birte Been
I went to go visit Mogens and Birte Been this afternoon. They came to pick me up at 2pm, and then we drove to their home. They live in Bagsværd, which is about 15 km northwest of the center of Copenhagen. They are their own municipality, although I think it is considered part of "Greater Copenhagen". Click here to see their house. They live very close to a large lake. You can zoom out to get an idea of how far it is away from Copenhagen. It is quite close. I guess about a 20 minute ride on the S-train. Or 15 minute car ride.
They both have degrees in electrical engineering from what I understand. Mainly doing work with power electronics. Mogens worked for Phillips for a long time, in the lighting department. Now he does consulting work. He just got back from Serbia for a week, where he was giving advice to a steel girdar manufacturing company (on quality issues, etc). Been Business Development. Birte stopped her regular job a few years ago too, and now owns a small business too. She does work with acoustics and noise reduction in industrial areas, offices, etc.
They have 3 sons. 17, 21, and 25. The youngest just started gymnasium, and is in a rock band. The 21 year old is in the service, doing firefighting type work. The oldest will graduate this year with a Masters doing work in digital image processing.
They were very nice, and we talked for a long time. Mogens is big into kayaking and biking. He also is president of the local theatre association. We had a snack when I got there, and then took a walk around their neighborhood. I got to eat dinner with them too, which was very good. Pork chops, rice, and peas. Their house is not wood at all. Brick, and the walls are more of a cement/plaster/etc. Not sheetrock. Hardwood, brick, or tile floors with big rugs on them. Very cozy furnishings. The lighting is all hung really low, so you can easily see what is on the table, but the higher areas of the room are dimmer. Makes a nice effect in the room. Their main living/dining room has huge windows going outside, so they have lots of natural light as well.
I guess I should be thoughtful what I write in my blog. The whole world can read it. :)
Mogens commented that my accent sounds different than that of George Bush. I thought that was interesting that he noticed that.
Cars have a 180% tax in Denmark. The reason is to provide a disincentive for buying a car (and using public transportation or a bike instead), but they said that was just a convienant reason. Actually the big tax is a large revenue generator to pay for transportation costs, and thats why it sticks around. Same tax on motorcyles too. A Harley might cost 400,000 DKK I think he said. Some younger people are buying homes in southern Sweden now, because they can get a bigger apartment and buy a car cheaply. The bridge costs 235 DKK to cross though. $40. Cheaper if you do it daily. Train ride much cheaper.
They both have degrees in electrical engineering from what I understand. Mainly doing work with power electronics. Mogens worked for Phillips for a long time, in the lighting department. Now he does consulting work. He just got back from Serbia for a week, where he was giving advice to a steel girdar manufacturing company (on quality issues, etc). Been Business Development. Birte stopped her regular job a few years ago too, and now owns a small business too. She does work with acoustics and noise reduction in industrial areas, offices, etc.
They have 3 sons. 17, 21, and 25. The youngest just started gymnasium, and is in a rock band. The 21 year old is in the service, doing firefighting type work. The oldest will graduate this year with a Masters doing work in digital image processing.
They were very nice, and we talked for a long time. Mogens is big into kayaking and biking. He also is president of the local theatre association. We had a snack when I got there, and then took a walk around their neighborhood. I got to eat dinner with them too, which was very good. Pork chops, rice, and peas. Their house is not wood at all. Brick, and the walls are more of a cement/plaster/etc. Not sheetrock. Hardwood, brick, or tile floors with big rugs on them. Very cozy furnishings. The lighting is all hung really low, so you can easily see what is on the table, but the higher areas of the room are dimmer. Makes a nice effect in the room. Their main living/dining room has huge windows going outside, so they have lots of natural light as well.
I guess I should be thoughtful what I write in my blog. The whole world can read it. :)
Mogens commented that my accent sounds different than that of George Bush. I thought that was interesting that he noticed that.
Cars have a 180% tax in Denmark. The reason is to provide a disincentive for buying a car (and using public transportation or a bike instead), but they said that was just a convienant reason. Actually the big tax is a large revenue generator to pay for transportation costs, and thats why it sticks around. Same tax on motorcyles too. A Harley might cost 400,000 DKK I think he said. Some younger people are buying homes in southern Sweden now, because they can get a bigger apartment and buy a car cheaply. The bridge costs 235 DKK to cross though. $40. Cheaper if you do it daily. Train ride much cheaper.
Kvickly Supermarket
Took a walk down to Kvickly Supermarket today. Probably 6-7 blocks away, along Amager Boulevard (kind of the main street for Amager). Our guidebook says it is somewhat like a Super Walmart. I don't think I'd put it quite that way, but it did have a very large selection similar to a Super Walmart. The focus was mostly on food though, and then clothes/electronics/etc were added on to that.
Bought a shaver, headset for making phone calls, and two loafs of bread for DKK 491.90. About $82. The MOMS tax (25% valued added tax) was DKK 98.38 of that. So $16.39 of the $82 was tax.
The exchange rate is about $1 = 6 DKK. So I'm getting very good at dividing by 6 to get the cost in dollars. Yet another reason why your kids should learn those multiplication tables Mom. :)
Bought a shaver, headset for making phone calls, and two loafs of bread for DKK 491.90. About $82. The MOMS tax (25% valued added tax) was DKK 98.38 of that. So $16.39 of the $82 was tax.
The exchange rate is about $1 = 6 DKK. So I'm getting very good at dividing by 6 to get the cost in dollars. Yet another reason why your kids should learn those multiplication tables Mom. :)
Answering some questions
Some stuff that people asked me about in emails.
My camera is a Canon Powershot SD800. I couldn't figure out how to turn the flash off on the camera (at Carlsberg Brewery), and it kept flashing and making glares on the beer bottles. So thats why there is a movie in that gallery...I figured the movie wouldn't make a flash.
I'm finding food to eat just fine. Haven't made much use of the kitchen yet though...still need to run into a Danish person in there and ask them the rules, etc. I think we have space in the cupboards and fridge we can use, but I want to make sure I don't take someone else's space...
The Amagerbro shopping area is huge...much bigger than it looks on the outside. Most stuff is pretty expensive I think. Lots of clothes and shoe stores. Everything is UDSALG UDSALG UDSALG (sale sale sale). 50% 50% 50%. I guess Denmark stores have two big sales a year. One at the end of January, and one at the end of August. We have sales for every holiday, and even a few extra holidays if the stores can create them. :)
In general, everybody speaks English (and quite well). They aren't annoyed when you start speaking in English, for the most part. I think most people are happy for a chance to practice.
Living in Copenhagen is very cool. I can get anywhere I want by walking or the easy public transportation. I haven't lived in a big city before, but this is very nice. No long driving commute to get places, and no traffic jams. Just a nice, green, walk to the subway (with a bakery on the way), and then a short subway ride into downtown Copenhagen.
A bit intimidating going someplace new, because you want to make sure you know how to get back. I have my address in my wallet, just in case. :)
People do have accents on their English. Some are much better than others. I ate at a bagel shop in Copenhagen, and the guy running it spoke perfect English with hardly an accent. Other people aren't as good, but you can certainly understand them. If anything, they will say the vowels just a little bit differently, or change the length of them just a little bit. So you can still hear the word, but the tone of it seems a little off.
My camera is a Canon Powershot SD800. I couldn't figure out how to turn the flash off on the camera (at Carlsberg Brewery), and it kept flashing and making glares on the beer bottles. So thats why there is a movie in that gallery...I figured the movie wouldn't make a flash.
I'm finding food to eat just fine. Haven't made much use of the kitchen yet though...still need to run into a Danish person in there and ask them the rules, etc. I think we have space in the cupboards and fridge we can use, but I want to make sure I don't take someone else's space...
The Amagerbro shopping area is huge...much bigger than it looks on the outside. Most stuff is pretty expensive I think. Lots of clothes and shoe stores. Everything is UDSALG UDSALG UDSALG (sale sale sale). 50% 50% 50%. I guess Denmark stores have two big sales a year. One at the end of January, and one at the end of August. We have sales for every holiday, and even a few extra holidays if the stores can create them. :)
In general, everybody speaks English (and quite well). They aren't annoyed when you start speaking in English, for the most part. I think most people are happy for a chance to practice.
Living in Copenhagen is very cool. I can get anywhere I want by walking or the easy public transportation. I haven't lived in a big city before, but this is very nice. No long driving commute to get places, and no traffic jams. Just a nice, green, walk to the subway (with a bakery on the way), and then a short subway ride into downtown Copenhagen.
A bit intimidating going someplace new, because you want to make sure you know how to get back. I have my address in my wallet, just in case. :)
People do have accents on their English. Some are much better than others. I ate at a bagel shop in Copenhagen, and the guy running it spoke perfect English with hardly an accent. Other people aren't as good, but you can certainly understand them. If anything, they will say the vowels just a little bit differently, or change the length of them just a little bit. So you can still hear the word, but the tone of it seems a little off.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Some pictures
Pictures from the Amager neighborhood near where I live. With captions. Click on the picture above to view all of them in this album.
Tour of Carlsberg Brewery. This was part of the DIS orientation activities. Click on the picture above to view all of them in this album.
Bus tour of Copenhagen as part of DIS orientation activities. Click on the picture above to view all of them in this album.
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