Lesson in blogging efficiency.

Here are some things I've been obsessed with in the past month spent here:

1. Dark chocolate, marzipan, Nutella...

I've tried to curb my consumption, but something tells me I will be dying a slow, delicious death from sugar. It's bad when you've abandoned any concept of Nutella as a spread and simply eat it by the spoonful.

2. Jens Lekman.

Oh Swedish man, why are you not touring in your homeland of Scandinavia? The world makes no sense.

3. Danish hot dogs.

Never before have I had so many condiments in one bite, but it is so worth the multiple heart attacks to come. These put New York hot dog stands to shame.

4. Danish pastries.

If you think they look good, wait til you smell them everywhere on the streets of Copenhagen, especially at 3:00 in the morning - it is incredible.

5. Finding little unique spots in the city.

Ok, I might have tacked this on to make myself feel better for the fact that 3 out of my 5 "obsessions" were food. At the same time though, #5 represents perhaps the truest of my obsessions. In a city as homogeneous as Copenhagen, it is extremely exciting to find local dives or areas with real character and individuality. Which is why Nørrebro and Christiania stand out in my memory as unique places to hang out. The debate on the increasing "problem" of migration in Denmark has centered mostly around how foreigners are perceived as a threat to Danish culture, and while I understood this viewpoint upon first arriving and experiencing the novelty of Danish society, the multi-ethnic neighborhoods and areas not strictly 'Danish' or European have offered the most refreshing view into the city.

Things I've missed in the past month:

1. Television. I'm not a huge TV watcher, but the fact that the Olympics are halfway over and I have yet to watch a single event is literally killing me. The TV in our bloc is broken and/or missing; in addition, Danes simply don't seem to care about the Olympics. Out at a pub, they were playing everything but the Olympics: football, hockey, even an old movie at one point (who goes to a pub to watch a movie?). Also, I simply miss being able to have the TV on in the background every so often. BBC World to keep me just a little more informed when I don't have time to read the news. The Food Network too, although I think the adventures that go down in our kitchen are more than enough for a program of its own. Speaking of which, I made pasta carbonara yesterday! Without pancetta, but Danish bacon as a substitute ain't too shabby.

2. Speaking the native language. Sure, Danes all speak impeccable English, some better than Americans I know, but Danish is very much the national language. Even with the knowledge that you could just initiate a conversation in English, it is very alienating to be unable to understand the conversations around you, the announcements on the train, the nutrition facts on the cereal you buy. However, it's also reinspired my desire to learn languages and stressed the importance of language as a bridge into a culture. I speak Chinese to my parents now whenever they call. I talk to Chinese students I meet doing laundry in my kollegium. I try out the little Danish I've learned on the Danes I live with. I have conversations with students from Spain (though they usually want to improve their English, so it generally becomes Spanglish).

It seems I like a lot more things than I've missed in the past month. I'll take that as a good sign for the coming months.

god mondag på nørrebro.

Mondays are long - class runs from 8:30 in the morning to 6 in the evening, with a scant few hours tossed in as a break. While it sounds torturous, Mondays usually also tend to be the most productive and pass most quickly, usually with the aid of coffee and plenty of work with which to occupy the time.

Today was an especially busy Monday as I had done absolutely no work over the weekend (yet a day trip to Sweden and consumption of far too much beer were clearly a priority). It has been enormously difficult to get anything productive done here, let alone anything for the real world, such as job applications and making plans for the future. Which is why I was so proud when I successfully finished and faxed out my application for an internship at NPR today, just before going to class at the University of Copenhagen. Despite the near impossibility of actually getting it, it was such a sense of achievement to actually finish something tangible and put myself out there. If anything, the fact that it was such a reach freed me more to be myself, since the main concern for me was not actually getting the post but finishing something that was true to myself.

Though I scrambled with my limited time frame between classes, the finished product I faxed out at least felt complete, something I could be satisfied with. Walking to class afterwards was refreshing, revitalizing, even though I was already 15 minutes late (but as it's a 3-hour lecture course, 15 minutes is negligible). It was nice to be back in the city, out in the fresh air and snow, being frustrated at the general absence of pedestrian right-of-way but at the same time not all too worried about the delay.

After class (which was actually quite interesting in covering torture and transitional justice, concepts I had been introduced to in South Africa), an evening of celebratory unwinding was in order. I met up with friends close by in the city where we enjoyed a highly affordable Mediterranean buffet. The American love for all things cheap and all things all-you-can-eat combined with the fact that we hadn't eaten since 11 o'clock led us to shovel our food with no mercy, much to the horror of our cruelly outnumbered European friend.

Following an overindulgent feast (complete with wine and dessert), we trekked to Nørrebro, a district known for its multi-ethnic community in a city of daunting homogeneity. A sketchier part of town, where some of our first welcoming sights included "Satan" graffitied on the walls, but one with definite character and much to offer to locals and visitors alike.

We went to a bar called Cafe Blågårds Apotek, where there's live jazz music and free entry on Mondays. Inside, it was crowded and warm, a haven from the frigid evening; the music was vibrant, atmosphere was cozy, and a good time seemed to be had by all. Hip, friendly bartenders greeted us with refreshing beers and engaging banter; the intimate environment made it feel more like sharing a living room with old and new friends alike than being out on the town.

In total, I spent around 15 hours in the city today, and while I was exhausted upon finally returning home for the first time since 7:30 AM, it was a god mondag.