My Usual Lunchtime Rant

I understand there's a great importance to allowing yourself to open up to the culture where you live. I tried the liver pate, I've slept with the wierd flat pillows and even forgotten how to drive a car. But one thing I just can't live with is the sandwiches. What would I have to do to get a turkey sandwich in this country? Apparently, kill someone. Danes hate turkey. It's so dry they say. This coming from people who slice cold meatballs and use that instead of lunch meet. I understand its not fancy to just have a few slices of deli meat with a slice of cheese and some mustard, but can we skip the strange beet sauer kraut or sliced eggs with tiny shrimp? This country loves a piece of rye bread with sliced hard boiled eggs topped with baby shrimps and mayo. You know, it's not bad... I just miss a turkey club. There is also rarely a place to buy deli sliced turkey in the supermarket. Even if you find it, it's 6 slices for 5 dollars. Danes never put more than one slice of meat on a sandwich. They also love mayonaise. There is mayo on most sandwiches and always offered with pizza. I'm not sure why.

Other strange food facts...
- Light beer here is light in alcohol.
- Cola, Doritos and other snack foods are sometimes categorized as 'Original American Flavor.'
- No ice in drinks.
- 7-11s have no fountain soda machines.
- 'Toast' is not just bread, but a pressed ham and cheese sandwich on white bread.
- Danes have never heard of bread bowls.

Anyway, now that I've been dreaming of an American lunch all day, I'll get back to my Danish day.

Documentary: It's on

So I'm coming nearer to the end of my time in Denmark, and the final project is all that's left to do. I've decided to center my project around a street art school called Frontløberne. It's an art school where students are free to try all different kinds of projects. My overall story will be on street art and grafitti. I want to look at this subculture and the artistic aspect of it. Moreoever, I want to see what these art students have to learn and if they get a degree, what does one do with a degree in street art?

This weekend Frontløberne had a street art party and painted a lot of walls around the school. I got to watch and talk to people and even got some footage. It was a nice enough day out, but it just won't warm up, so everyone is still wearing coats and scarves. I'll be making a documentary that is hopefully between 15 and 20 minutes long. I'm working alone and for most of the time I will be using a small handheld camera. I anticipate there being some difficulties along the way; trying to work with people who are vandalizing isn't exactly the best for video. But I'm sure we'll work something out.

As the project moves along, I'll be getting coaching from my teachers and feedback from friends. I'll need a lot of support and focus, because making such a long piece could prove to be challenging. Luckily, we have more than five weeks to finish the project. For now, more research and more filming.

Here goes nothing...

Stories finished this week

Here are the two stories I had to work on this week. First is a portrait of a Greenpeace recruitment worker and the second is a one-minute preview to the documentary topic I've chosen for the final project. I'm not as proud of the Greenpeace story as I have been of other projects, but you can't win them all. The only critique of the preview is that there are a lot of shakey shots, but the point was to be artful and tell a story without words. Unfortunately, Blogger is not letting me post videos right now, so until I figure out why, here are the links on Vimeo.

Greenpeace

Art

The life abroad

So people keep asking what I miss about home, what I like best about Denmark and what I'll want to do when I get back. First, there are things I miss, but I learned from my Mom that its never smart to count down days, because you miss so many good things on the days between. Yes, I will be so happy to see everyone back home again, and I can not wait to drive a car again or have a 44 oz. Diet Dr. Pepper from a Quick Trip. I can't wait to watch TV shows at their normal time with no subtitles. I will probably be overwhelmed by being able to understand the conversations of those around me, as I now just tune out all the Danish as ambient background noise to my Danish experience.

Friends. There are so many friends I miss. Not to mention family members. So people, there are people I miss. It'll be great to sit down with them all again and play cards or watch shows together. Glee is back tonight and I am green with envy at those who get to see it. No spoilers please! But at the same time there are some people here it's going to be so hard to leave. It's difficult to think of not seeing my classmates or dormmates every day. It's so amazing how close you get to these people, even with only a few words a day.

I remember the first time I really cleaned my room here. I had stuff to put in drawers and trash to take out and a bathroom to clean. It was such an exciting and strange feeling to have really moved in here. Now I look around and wonder how I'll ever fit this life into a suitcase weighing less than 50 lbs.

But it's not all about what I have to leave and what I can take. Building a bridge with so many people from across Europe means there will always be a part of me over here. I know it's early to be thinking about it, but sometimes when you think about home its hard not to begin to think about the day I'll have to say goodbye.

But for now, I have two good months of playing time. I have a documentary ahead of me and the best weather of the year so far. There will be trips to the beach and lunches by the canal. Movie nights are already planned and hopefully one more trip to Copenhagen once the weather is really nice. There's so much more to look forward to, and I can't wait.

Sometimes it's sunny

The weather is getting better all the time here. It's been very sunny all week and the sky has been very blue. Mikkel, his sister Kim, her boyfriend Thijs and I went to the ARoS Art museum last week to see some exhibits. One was from a Danish photographer who hitchhiked around the USA and documented his time. He became fascinated by the racism he saw during his stays in the 60s and continuing through his most recent trip in 2009. His name is Jakob Holt, and he now gives seminars on racism and acts as a mediator throughout the states. He's traveled all over the world, sometimes accompanied by famous poets, authors and musicians. You can see his work here on his Web site.

The most famous attraction at the museum is the giant boy statue. It's creepy and cool and interesting all at the same time.

We also saw an exhibit called "I love you." It was a series of different works, from paintings, to movies to installations, all talking about what love meant. A certain piece was especially sad. It was called Portrait of Ross in L.A. It was a pile of candy that viewers were allowed to eat. As the pile got smaller, it mimicked how the subject withered away during his battle with AIDS. 

But on a less sad note, the flowers are in bloom and everyone is getting to be in great spirits. I even snapped this shot on the way home the other day.

Danish Drinking Culture

In Denmark, it's pretty common to drink beer at lunch. We sell it in our school cafeteria, and most schools and some businesses have Friday Bars, a bar open only Friday, for staff members or students to come together and drink. Ours opens at 14.15 or 2:15.  Most school events have also been celebrated with free beers, and Schnapps at celebratory meals is common. The drinking age is vertually non-existant, though I think one must be 16 or 18 before buying hard alcohol in stores. Most people I met here were drunk for the first time when they were 11 or 13.

At the Carlsberg Brewery in Copenhagen, the management stepped in to limit the amount of drinking at work. Now there are no beer vending machines and the only time and place employees can buy beer is at lunch in the cafeteria. Workers went on strike. You can read the article here if you want further information.

The Danish perspective is that they drink more and more often than pretty much any other country. On numerous occasions I've had teachers, classmates and even people I've interviewed ask "so we drink a lot here, don't we? I mean, it must be pretty different." And not that I'm proud to do so, but I think back to tailgates and downtown Columbia bars, and say "No, it's really no different from college life back home at all."

Perspectives on Paris

So it's been a while since I've been at a computer long enough to post, so here are a few snapshots from Paris.

First view of Arc de Triumph

Snails the first night in Paris

The Eifel Tower

Birds

Louis Vutton

Lighting candles at Notre Dame

Woman in the rain

The Louvre

Partner in Crime

Moulin Rouge