As I mentioned in my last post I went to Tivoli on Friday and had a very nice time. While some of the others got the "rides pass" to ride all of the rides I wanted to save the money and just paid the entrance fee. Tivoli is more or less a theme park but caters to all ages. There is a large amount of restaurants, rides for big and small, a concert venue, and several gardens. I did go on one of the rides (you can pay for the rides idividually if you just want to go on one or two) that is easier shown than explained so I put a picture of it on my photo album. It was pretty amazing; you could see the whole city while swinging around and holding on for dear life.
On Saturday ten of us went to a park that had both both regular soccer fields and a couple "box soccer courts" if you will. If you are familiar with indoor soccer it is very similar to that except it's outside. Its an oval shaped court about a quater the size of a normal soccer field and has walls. Saturday night we went to an area called Vesterbro which is the old meatpacking district. When we left we got turned around and walked about 30 minutes in the wrong directions. Needless to say we got home a little later than planned.
I went on my first mini trip a couple weekends ago to Malmo, Sweden which is about 45 minutes away. Little known fact: there is a bridge that connects Copenhagen, Denmark to Malmo, Sweden. It was a pretty rainy and gloomy day but we still had fun. A shopping center in Malmo sends a bus to Copenhagen every Saturday for less than what the train would cost. The only catch is that the bus takes you to a shopping mall which is not really anywhere near the center of the city and it goes back to Copenhagen at 1:00pm so you only have a couple of hours. We had to first figure out which way the city center was and then which bus would take us there. Several busses later we finally made it. It was a fun adventure. The girls we were with wanted to go shopping (what a surprise) and the guys were more inclined to explore so we split up and met back with them later in the afternoon. We found a nice park and a casino that looked more like a Country Club than a casino in terms of its cozy look and lack of flashing lights and signs. The city is obviously much smaller than Copenhagen but the architecture was pretty similar. We didn't make it back to the bus in time (not that we even tried to) so we took the train home.
While the Danish life and culture is more similar to the US than some other countries I have started to notice more differences. The kids (ages 5-15) seem much more independant and somewhat more mature than in the US. Its not unusual to see a couple 6 year olds walking by themselves in the middle of the city. Even though Copenhagen is much safer than other big cities, I get the impression that parents have instilled a sense of maturity in their childen that is different from the US. Just the other day I saw a boy no older than 6 walk onto the metro by himself on his way to school. And the stigma about Americans being loud...it's true for the most part. When people talk here it is just that, talking not yelling. I am having fun finding the little differences now that the big I was noticing when I first got here have passed over.
Mom, you asked for style differences so I figured I would post here so everyone can see. The most noticeable one is that most people dress up more than in the US. Not so much suits and ties, but more business casual. As I write this in the CBS library I see mostly jeans with button up shirts, sweaters, and polos. Tshirts are rarely worn by themselves. The jeans people wear are pretty different too. Mostly straight leg jeans and tapered jeans for both men and women. It definately took some getting used seeing all the guys which skinnier jeans on. No baggy jeans. Tights are very popular for women and most people men and women wear scarves when it's chilly out. One of the styles that I find very strange is that of teenagers (boys and girls) tucking their jeans or whatever pants they are wearing into their socks.
So I have talked several times about how a friend of mine has learned to love averican foods and now it's my turn. I have a new found love for falafals. While I know this is not danish, middle easterners have little stands everywhere that sell them and I can't get enough. What's funny is that I didn't even know I was eating a chickpea patty the first couple of times i ate it. I just figured it was some sort of meat.
Well I should probably get caught up on reading before class tomorrow so I will let you go. I started a new album called Copenhagen 2 so you don't have to scroll through old photos. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.
Coop
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