City Center

Ok…sorry for the lack of postings this week.  When I started the blog I figured I’d write a little each day, and that has not been the case…so far.  I wind up making little mental notes in my head all day long about cultural observations and social commentary, but then of course forget to actually comment on it when I get home every night.  From now on I’ll try to actually write down some of those things each day and, of course, a highlights section.

For today: Not much to say about the past week.  More of the same—getting to know my routines, making new ones, and just soaking up what’s around me.  For now I’ll tell you a little bit about where I spend most of my day in the city center.

Somehow I missed the memo that DIS truly is SMACK in the middle of Copenhagen (literally a block from the “Times Square” of Denmark, called “City Hall Square”), but it’s such a comfortable city that you don’t really realize it.  Yes, there is the hustle and bustle that accompanies any city, but it’s more personal here.  It’s cozy.  Hygge, even.  The Danes have this feeling down to a science, and I LOVE IT.

A good example is my daily commute:  I take the train from Allerod to Norreport station every morning.  Not only are the trains immaculately clean with upholstered seats, but it is so quiet you could literally hear a pin drop.  Not an awkward quiet either, just calm.  I usually listen to my iPod or read a book (I’ve gone through four books already…I’m out of my Amercian stash :(      ).  Locals do generally the same thing, or read the daily papers provided for free at the train stops (which are actually quite good by journalistic standards).

On my walk to school from the Norreport train station, I take Fiolstraede, a pedestrian street lined with small shops, restaurants, bookstores, cafes…and bookstorecafés (those are my favorite).  In the morning, it’s bleary eyed commuters walking silently to their destination.  Quiet, stillness, and yet…friendliness. 

Coming home (in the dark at 4:30 pm) the shops are all open, many with candle lanterns or even GIANT 3 or 4 foot pillar candles in front of their shops.  Everyone is briskly walking, but chatting with their friends, looking in shop windows, or enjoying the hygge ambiance of the cafes.  I can’t really describe how much I adore this street.  I’ve come to know the subtle changes in the cobblestones, how to avoid the Amnesty people on the corner, and where to go to enjoy a latte and good book.  Walking down the street, I’ve started feel anonymous and yet part of all of it—moving to an emic perspective from an etic one.  My anthropology professors would be so proud.  : )

Via the side street where I bought my boots, Rosengarden, there comes Kultorvet, another square I walk by if I want to shop or take the long route.  It’s not the most charming square, but it’s a fun place to people watch and see the neighborhood come together.  This is also where Tiger is located—the mecca of Dollar Stores.  It’s a two story place with all the essentials—a little like Target, actually.  However it’s more like the little dollar section in the front of Target:  everything very low priced, a little on the cheaply made side, but really cute and oh-so-appropriate for a poor American college student.  I’ve been there about 4 times for school supplies, band aids, and a coffee mug to make tea in at DIS. Tiger=fabulous.

DIS is located on Vestergade, half a block from another favorite spot, Gammeltorv.  This means “Old Square” and connected to it is Nytorv, or “New Square.”  Gammeltorv is not immaculate, but is—again—that perfect Danish mix of being old and spectacularly, historically beautiful without being ostentatious or pretentious. Perfect.  Separating Gammeltorv and Nytorv is Stroget, the famous pedestrian street.  In the square there is the requisite “fresh” vendor, selling fruit and a HUGE assortment of flowers.  Stroget shops spill their wares on racks into the streets, and most all of the doors are propped open.  You get the feeling that apart from the 7-11 on every corner and the pulsing music heard faintly from the local H&M, things haven’t really changed much.  This could easily be what people saw and felt hundreds of years ago.  The timelessness of Europe is, to me at least, wonderful.  America feels so very young.

But now it is time for this young person to go to bed in this very old city.  My host family taught me how to decorate candles with cutouts from cocktail napkins, and my latest creations are burning away next to me as I snuggle into bed.  (Might I add that Danish duvets are amazingly fluffy and snuggly…America doesn’t know what it’s missing).  

For now, that’s all.  Vi ses!