Broen (The Bridge)

If you're interested in a bit of Danish popular culture, I noticed that right now all you Americans can watch "The Bridge" on Hulu here (with English subtitles).  (I'm going to do it.  Because...subtitles! What extravagance!)

I've heard a lot about "The Bridge," or Broen, as it's called here.  It's the cousin of Denmark's first real international TV hit, you may have heard of it, called "The Killing" (or Forbrydelsen, or "The Crime"), which follows the investigative skilz of Detective Sarah Lund as she solves a murder and wears the same sweater over the course of 20 days.  Last in the triumvirate of Danish TV hits is, of course, Borgen, which follows the ups and downs of Denmark's first, female, fictional prime minister (something that actually became reality the year after Borgen was released).  A little trivia: Borgen was just called "Borgen" in its English release, but, if you want to know, it literally means "The Castle,"and is the nickname of the parliament building in Copenhagen so, there you go.  So, we have Forbrydelsen then Borgen then Broen.**

Aaaaanyway, I just wanted to point out to the Americans that they can have a chance to see some Copenhagen sights and hear some Danish and Swedish if you're interested.  Or, you know, if you just like crime and/or political dramas.  Or, you know, if you have a thing for really noir settings where people never seem to actually do anything during the daytime.  Or, you know, if you're just curious about this big ol' surge in the popularity of Danish actors, films, and television in America.

P.S. I refer you to this in explanation of the main actresses' lack of overly styled hair.  It's a particular cultural trait that I happened to integrate very easily in my (lack-of) morning preparations.

**A Danish language lesson for you:  If you are ever identifying a definite ("the cat" rather than "a cat"), then you kick the article to the end of the word.  So, "a cat" is en kat but "the cat" is katen.   Definite articles are either en or et and so (I'm pretty sure) that if you ever see a word ending in "en" or "et" then it is "the something"  (e.g. huset is "the house" and hunden is "the dog").  AND that is why Broen, Borgen, and Forbydelsen all mean "The Bridge," "The Castle," and "The Crime," respectively.

2013: A Retrospective

Eiffel Tower (duh), September 2013

Silvester is upon us again and though I bravely and humbly admit that this year has not been one of particular blogging prowess, I couldn't not do the year in review.  Take it sort of like an apology (sorry, Dad...).

So, generally, I could split up the year pretty broadly and call it good.  If I did, it would look like this:

Spring ~ Moved to Denmark and everything was weird again...

Summer ~ Please let me finish this thesis acceptably....

Fall ~ We're just going to call this period "The Stupid Time."  I don't really want to talk about it (but if you ask me about it, I can talk about it for a looooong time so...best to just move along.)

Winter ~ EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OKAY!  DAGNABBIT! 

But, let's be frank, that just sounds really vague and cryptic and weird.  So, without further ado, I give you the usual format.

***

January

Mostly we just finished up all our moving-from-Germany arrangements.  I basically wrapped up my teaching at the University of Rostock and Paul basically packed up his entire lab.  

February

A house-cooling party where it was surprisingly more difficult than I thought it would be to fob off  various refrigerated condiments on our guests.  Oh, and we moved to Denmark.

March

Began our Danish courses and wondered if we'd ever see the sun again?

April

Masters coursework, new lab setting-up, Danish classes.  We went to a concert where the Odense Symphony played The Beatles; it was kind of the highlight of the year at that point.  That isn't to say our year wasn't good but more to say it was a really, really awesome concert.

May

By now you may be thinking, "But wait, I thought you guys traveled, like, every month?"  Well, see, residency permits were expensive, moving was expensive, Denmark in general is expensive, tuition is(was) expensive.  So, you get the idea.  But in May we forked out the crazy train fare to go to Copenhagen for my birthday (and for a new passport...and new expensive residency permit...).

Copenhagen was awesome!  I like Copenhagen and the canal boats and the castles and that one Mexican restaurant we found that almost made us cry with joy (we're severely deprived).  I especially like saying Copenhagen the Danish way:  KOObenHAWen.  Saying it all the way there and back on the train. Super annoyingly.

June

We saw the sun again (too...too much sun...) and went to the biggest bonfire I've ever seen.  Also, when I look at the calendar, it's completely blank except for the words "FINISH YOUR DARN ANALYSES!"   So...that was that time.

July

July was prrrrrretty much the same.  Paul had a doctor's appointment on the 30th at 1:15pm, too.  That was literally the only thing noted on our calendar.  High times.  Oh, but I did get my Masters in GIS, so that was a huge relief!

August

WE WENT SOMEWHERE!  TO LISBON!   Finally!

Lisbon was a pretty great long weekend and I will forever and ever dream of the salted cod, Bacalau (which, when prepared...not salty?), and the shellfish stews and the Pasteis de Belem...  We ate good food there.  After being in sad expensive-food Danish wasteland for eight months, it was a kind of "release the hounds!" situation for us.  Also, if ever in Lisbon, there's this one, particular gelatto place... Also, go to Sintra.  ALSO, Lisbon was part of the most recent season of "The Amazing Race" so, I'm pretty much fulfilled.

September

Paris, folks.  We went to Paris for our 5th anniversary.  And now that we've been to the "Big Three" (Paris, Rome, London)...I think Paris won?  I know!  But, to be fair, maybe we need to try London not in mid-January.  Also, Versailles is huge.  Also, I maintain that my old ipod got pick-pocketed (Paul has his doubts) and I see it as a right of passage to be celebrated.

October

I took Paul to Helsingoer for his birthday.  It's the "real" Hamlet castle.  We could see Sweden.  It was cool.  Also, I went to a family Halloween party as Pippi Longstocking and didn't realize that was about the Scandinavian equivalent of going to an American little girl birthday party as Princess Disney-Fill-In-The-Blank.  Wide, wide-eyed, whispering ("Mama, it's Pippi!") little kids all night long.

November

Paul went to Australia and saw a marsupial we didn't know existed (quokkas).  I spent the month mostly being jealous.  Also, Thanksgiving was real exciting because we could find a turkey!

December

 We went back to Rostock for the Christmas Market and to visit our "German mom," Ute.  It was real weird to walk by aquahaus, but also kind of nice and homey to be in the city again. We got our hot sheep cheese pita sandwich things and bratwurst fix.  And, of course, there was our first Danish Christmas where we tried risalamande (and decided to never eat anything else ever again) and roasted up a good ol' northern European-style duck.

***

Onward.

2012  /// 2011

My Sister Told Me to Blog More

When we talk to people who don't live in Denmark, we invariably say something about how expensive things are.

Sometimes I get the distinct impression that they think we're exaggerating.  

But I'm here to tell you that when I say that the milkshake cost $10, it cost $10.  Just a regular ol' medium strawberry milkshake, folks.  

For further proof, I will now give you various items from my grocery list today.  As a note, we tend to only buy the ultimately cheapy brand called "Budget."  Cardboard toilet paper kind of brand.  Just FYI.

1 liter orange juice: 25.95 kroner, $4.70

1 small head of broccoli: 11 kroner, $2.00

1 Lindt chocolate bar: 24.95 kroner (on sale!  Usually 30 kroner), $4.50 usually $5.40 

1/4 lb. bean sprouts: 11 kroner, $2.00

1 toothbrush: 29.95 kroner, $5.40

Oh, and here are some other cooooool stats for ya.

1 takeout order of korma from neighborhood Indian place, no sides: $16.00

2 small, one-scoop ice cream cones from corner store: $9.00

Normal-person running shoes: $235 (I will never buy shoes again)

But...then again...there's this:

Full set of dental x-rays and cleaning with no insurance coverage: $70.00

Monthly gym membership for two people: $35.00

Monthly cell phone bill for two smart phones, incl. data: $50.00

Go figure.

We Went Somewhere Again

Fem År

Today is our fifth anniversary.

I don't have much to say about that here because there's too much to say about it.

This year was one where we planned the celebration together (rather than taking turns like in the other four).  And we've kind of outdone ourselves this time, I think.  It will be hard to top in the future, let's just say.  At this rate, our 25th will have to be a trip to the moon.  

But, that particular part of the celebration actually won't start until next week.  For today, we just woke up together and went for a long walk in the park at 8am.  Maybe we'll rent a movie from the library.  We'll go out to dinner (mostly so I have an excuse to wear those regular-ol' boring black nylons I got at the department store that ended up costing $35.  Come ON, Denmark!).  

We'll just enjoy being together.  It's what we're good at.