Denmark v America: what we do all day.

Before I share just how I'm feeling, I want to give the following statement: I know it's only been one week that I've been here. I know the weather is the coldest it's been in 14 years, and I know once school starts I'll have loads more to do. I know.

But it is hard to find your place. Everyone in my hall has been very nice. No one has blown me off for hanging out, and generally people talk to me when we're in the kitchen. But this morning I was thinking about how much I missed waking up in the morning, reaching for my cell phone and texting Colleen or Tasha about something that happened the night before. I miss reaching over and checking to see who wanted to grab lunch. I miss picking up a conversation right where it ended yesterday.

Don't get me wrong, I am making friends, and making plans and exploring the area. I'm trying to buy new foods and drinks. I'm getting really good at dividing by five. (Five Danish Crowns is one American Dollar.) But I miss starting a conversation with "Oh OK, you HAVE to hear this..." or "OK, so you remember..."

A friend told me my stay was way too long to be looking forward to the end already. I'm not. I'm looking forward to having something to do. I was speaking with another exchange student from Holland, and he was remarking how hard Americans work. He said he goes to school a few hours a day, and that's it. He watches a lot of movies. I go to school a few hours and then have two jobs plus outside journalism work. I love taking 15 hours of class and working 30 hours a week on top of that. I am never bored. I feel like I'm wasting a lot of time here. I suppose that's something I'll need to get used to.

I don't want to sound as though I'm unhappy. I'm just looking forward to tomorrow, the first day of school.

Video Blog: First Danish Post

Or you can view it here on Vimeo.

In Århus

At a public library actually. My dorm doesn't have an internet connection that I can tap into yet, and so here I am. Århus is cold and kind of big. My dorm is the same way. The people who live with me are lovely. There are 15 of us on the floor, and we share a massive kitchen. Last night we had a common dinner, where one person cooked for everyone, and then a meeting to talk about kitchen rules, money paid for shared items and parties. We're having one in the next month.

I don't think they know it, but I'm the youngest person there. Everyone else is 23 or 24 or even a little older, but last night they said they thought I was 23, so I suppose it doesn't matter.

I got my Danish phone finally. It's a fairly new model, on loan from Kathrine's dad. The phones here are small. Very few people have iPhones or touch screens or blackberries. Everyone has a small compact basic phone. I'm really OK with that. I like that aspect.

Last night I took my first bike trip through Århus. Two other dorm mates of mine took me to the Student House, a University owned building in the city with a cafe and bar and other student meeting places. It was a long, cold ride, but I am glad I went. I'll be getting a bike soon.

All is well otherwise. I'm attempting to meet up with some other students from my program, but it's proving to be difficult because no one knows where anything is. Not all of us have bikes or bus passes or any sense of direction, so we'll see how this turns out...

Danish news has no commercials

DR doesn't need to worry about advertising because their news is paid by licensing fees, a fee paid by all those who own a television, cell phone or have an internet connection. Mikkel took me to see a news cast at DR, one of the two big news outlets in Denmark, from the production room. They had a full 30 minutes to fill. There were no teases, no headlines. Stories were over two minutes long, and the whole cast was just one anchor and no reporters had standups or live shots. Sports had a few minutes, and weather was only three minutes at the end of the cast. In my opinion, the whole thing flowed a lot better than an American news cast, which is constant segues and and shifting clips and graphics. Despite the fact that I couldn't understand most of the news cast, the shots were interesting. Lots of rack focus and jump cuts, but a lot of artful shots too. From what Mikkel said, the responsibilities of the reporters seem to be the same as in America, mostly needing to shoot and edit for themselves.

Because DR is such a large organization, they have a fitness center, cafeteria and a cafe in the same building. It was huge and beautiful. The studio is in the middle of the news room, with a tinted glass wall separating the anchor desk from the desks of reporters. The set was much smaller than KOMU, with very few TVs or sets or designs on the wall. There was just one video panel to the side of the anchor where they displayed a picture or short clip of video, but other than that, everything was very minimal.

I'll try to shadow a reporter in Aarhus, but if I have the chance to visit again, I would try to spend more time at DR, or perhaps the other outlet, TV 2.

Danes will wave back, but never wave at you.

It's true. The people here are by no means unfriendly, but the waving and smiling at strangers I've grown up with is incredibly foreign here. But today on the canal tour, I waved at people on the streets and we cruised through the icy water, and they smiled and waved back, all the while thinking "Silly tourist." I'm OK with that.

I'm learning some Danish. I have down the yes/no, hello/goodbye, thank you, see you later, cheers and delicious. Really though, what else is there? They have a "soft d" sound in Danish that I simply can't pronounce. I try, but apparently I sound really silly. I'll keep working on it though.

Also, we've been discussing how you can tell I'm American simply by looking at me. It's not the way I dress or anything we can put a finger on, but even before I open my mouth, people can tell I'm from America.

Tonight I'm meeting with Mikkel, a student who spent the last semester at MU, at a Danish TV station to watch a newscast. I'm finally getting down to some journalism after a few days of orienting myself. I'm really excited to see the differences.

Today, I tried a Danish hot dog. They're thinner than American hot dogs, and red. Also, the bread is served on the side. It was tasty though.

If it has a golden pretzel outside, it's a bakery.

No kidding. Most every bakery in the city has a golden pretzel hanging out front.

I learned this when we bought our breakfast this morning before seeing the changing of the Danish Guard in front of the castle. Because the Queen is home, they have music and lots of marching. It was freezing cold out, but still fun to watch.

After that, we walked around the city and even did some shopping. The main shopping street, Stroeget, was full of people. Two men were playing violin on the street, so I took a video. You can see it here. The city is beautiful.

I'm here!

I'm finally here, after three different flights and what seems like forever in layovers...

But Kathrine and I are enjoying her apartment, after a lovely lunch. I enjoyed my first real Danish meal. We had some very traditional spreads and meats on very hearty, soft bread. I'm so tired, but we're just going to lay low before we head out to perhaps a benefit for Haiti. I'll be sure to post some pictures soon, but for now, here's some of the travel blog I typed up while making my journey to Scandinavia:

11:22 Central Time STL Int’l Airport

So I’ve been at the airport for an hour and a half. I had no problems with security, no problems finding my gate. I brought a magazine, a book, my computer with video editing software and a movie ad my iPod. One would think I would have so much to do, I would have a hard time choosing. I tried to start thank you notes for all my party guests, but this prepared traveler forgot a pen. Highlighert? Check. Permanent marker? Check. Eye liner? Check. Bic? No luck. If I wanted to get up and buy an eight dollar pen from one of the CNBC shops, I’d have to pack up this three ring circus that is my carryon baggage, lug it all there, find a pen, and then sit back down. We board in half an hour…

In better news, I have window seats for all of my flights to Copenhagen. The fog in the Midwest will prove to be a boring view, but I imagine flying into London will be interesting to see.

I really hate being early to the airport.

4:30 Eastern Time Raleigh Durham Airport

According to Angel, the Bulgarian bartender at Carolina Ale, the bar where I had some food, Thursday, Friday and Saturday a flight to London leaves at 6:30. Every other day, it leaves at 8:30. It’s bizarre hearing some of the british accents here, coupled against southern accents. Folks here are mostly headed to Las Vegas, as far as I can tell.

When I got off the 17-person flight from STL, I was so hungry I could hardly stand it. I know I’ll be served dinner on my flight to London, but I could hardly wait the three or four hours it would be until I got some disgusting airplane food. Buffalow chicken tenders and some Blue Moon were exactly what I needed before I headed out of this country. Angel was kind enough to ask where I was going. He said Copenhagen was a little overpriced, but overall, a beautiful city. The people sitting behind me in the terminal are going to London as a family. The mother is over 80 and her children seem to be in their mid fifties. They’re telling her soothing things about the flight; she’ll be able to sleep, she’ll be there before she knows it.

London, here we come.

8:25 Central Time, 3:00 AM London Time (Because I have no idea where in the world I am)

This plane ride is not even half over, and the man behind me will not stop snoring. There’s basically no one on this flight, so most people are spread out across two or three seats. There are a lot of people on this flights with British accents, and one of them who helped me stow my carryon in the overhead compartment told me to mind the size restriction, because if it fell out during flight, it could decapitate someone.

I haven’t been able to finish watching The Hurt Locker yet. Not because it isn’t good, but with all the combat scenes and the turbulance on the plane and the crappy food I ate at weird times today, I was getting sick. I was able to sleep for an hour, and despite my three seat spread, I woke up after dreamig about something weird. The airline is streaming NBC programming, and Simpsons Scene It. Too bad they aren’t playing all the new episodes I missed tonight in the states… Only nine more hours of travel.

Oh, I also spilled vinegarette on my jeans during “dinner,” so I reek of bad salad.

More later.