More photos...

I love sharing my pictures!

The pictures in the previous post are:
1) a church (kirkke), I think, on a back street in the center
2) near Ny Torv (new square)
3) near a quirky art shop - more on this in a future post
4) ship in the Limfjorden
5) fountains at Ny Torv, near the waterfront

Here are a few more:

1) Jens Bang's House, "the finest example of renaissance domestic architecture in Northern Europe, built in 1642." It's hard to see on this photo, but there are faces sculpted into the side of the building. My tourist booklet tells me that Jens Bangs, a wealthy merchant of Aalborg, wanted to be on the Aalborg equivalent of our city councils, but had never been named a member, despite his riches. To show how he felt, he designed this ornate building and included the faces, said to be charicatures of his enemies. One face has its tongue sticking out - and all are in the direction of town hall. Way to show 'em Jens.
2) Danske Bank and...Burger King. Ah, sadly, I couldn't escape American fastfood even in Denmark. (McDonald's is across the street - and I've been told the burgers are $5 or more).
3) By the bus stop, in Ny Torv. The sidewalk is embedded with lights - adds to the city atmosphere here in the evenings.
4) A castle in the city - built between 1539 and 1555 by King Christian III to "intimidate the citizens and farmers of Northland Jutland, who had been in revolt." Very intimidating...
5) A side street in the city.

Your first Danish language lesson

Warning: This is a long post.

Lesson #1: Counting to 10

1 = en
2 = to
3 = tre
4 = fire
5 = fem
6 = seks
7 = syv
8 = otte
9 = ni
10 = ti

Congratulations! You now know some Danish. Of course, reading Danish and speaking Danish are completely different chores...

Danish ranks 16th in terms of most written languages in the world (according to our language instructor at AAU)...and 121st on the spoken languages list (with about 5.6 mill speakers worldwide - #103 according to wikipedia). This is not by coincidence. Here is a link to a video that will illustrate my point : ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-mOy8VUEBk - or just search "youtube danish language" on google.

The Saturday after the first week of classes all international students were given the opportunity to attend a Danish "lanuage bath" (I think this is "sprogbad" when translated). I don't want to miss any opportunities for learning while here (especially if the opportunity is free!), so I went. From this experience, I can tell you that learning Danish will be a slow process - not like picking up Spanish. No, trying to learning dansk is, I imagine, comparable to leading a petulant child through a toy store while Christmas shopping for the kid's cousins. When you finally make it back to the parking lot you are utterly exhausted and you swear you'll never enter another Toys-R-Us in your lifetime.

Ha - okay, so I exaggerate, but after each two-hour class (Mondays and Wednesdays for the next five weeks), which comes typically after six hours of classes for my program, my brain is begging for a break. At least I'm in good company in class. My typical expression melds with others' in one collective blank stare directed at the Dane standing in front of the class. Danish is what comes out of her mouth the moment she steps into the classroom. Oh, how I admire her optimism. As the clock's hands near 6:30pm, our stamina wanes.

While sitting in class, a friend tells me of a man who moved to Denmark several years ago. Upon arrival, he went to a bar and proceeded to spend the better part of five days there, soaking up the language along with the beer. Given a few months, he was speaking Danish fluently. Several of my classmates and I debated whether this was argument enough for holding class at the bar...

It is almost time to leave class and there is now less Danish being spoken than there is English, German, French and Polish. But still I try - we try, and somehow a little Danish sticks. Even so, I wonder: if speaking the language is the key to understanding the culture, will I always be standing outside, looking in?

---

When I ride the bus or stroll down the streets of Aalborg, I generally exist in a world of my own. I am a walking mute, smiling and nodding, and hoping to pass through the grocery store without detection of my secret: Jeg taler ikke dansk og jeg forstår ikke dansk (I don't speak Danish and I don't understand Danish). Yes, I came to your country without learning your language (Do you really blame me?), and yes, I feel guilty. What's more, I only speak one language (well, I'll give myself one and a half for the limited Spanish language skills I possess). The only other students I've met here who speak one language exclusively are from, not surprisingly, America. The Germans, the French, the Vietnamese, the Brazilians, and even the Canadians, speak two languages. Some speak three or four. When groups of international students from the same country gather, they slip back into their native tongue and inadvertantly (or not) create their own little society. These are exclusive clubs - as in, those who don't speak the language are excluded. I stand politely as my friends converse, waiting for the scraps in English. Too often, meaning is lost in translation. The joke is never quite as funny when told in English...

Despite this, I love being surrounded by so many different languages. I relish the subtle differences in pronounciation and the way foreign and familiar sounds alike roll around in someone else's mouth. It is one of many things I already know I will miss when I return.

Last night, I started to incorporate dansk (Danish) words into a written conversation online. My sentence composition still needs work, I have the vocabulary of a three-year old (when I'm lucky : ) ), and I am certain I didn't correctly pronounce (speaking aloud as I typed) half of the words I was using - but it has to start somewhere!

Today, during the bus ride to school and back, I listened intently to the bits of conversation falling around me - straining to pick up just one word I could comprehend. The effort was rewarding as I recognized several words and a number! Given time, perhaps I will converse with my Danish friends in their language instead of making them use mine. I'll keep you posted... : )

And before I go, I have a few more photos. No afternoon class i dag (today) - so I decided to take a walk around the city center. My camera liked the blue skies - hope you do as well!

Blokhus and the weather

From a travel website: "Way back, Blokhus was an important base for the fishing fleet in the area – today it the centre of an international holiday paradise. Miles and miles of wide sand beaches (no rocks) , sand dunes and the clear blue ocean. Because the beaches are so wide and cover such a large area, you can drive in you car to the spot on the beach that suits you best. Access to the beach by car or by foot is free of charge. The area next to Blokhus and the beach offers a vast majority of beautiful nature with many possibilities for hiking in the woods or in the muse. Many places you will find marked paths where you can enjoy nature in peace and quiet whether you prefer to walk or go by bicycle (rental is available). Whatever the time of the year, the nature is breathtaking."

Blokhus is a 30 minute drive from Aalborg and is situated on the north-western coast of the Jutland Peninsula (again, the big chunk of the three pieces of Denmark). This was the destination last Sunday for about 30 int'l students including myself. Despite the rain and the wind, the beaches were as promised and the waves transfixing, although I think "paradise" is used loosely in the description above from the travel website... : P


On the topic of the weather, during the orientation presentation given to all international students, one of the PowerPoint presentation slides with the heading "Weather" simply read, "Wherever you are from, it's worse here."

Obviously they have never been to North Dakota in the wintertime.

Finally, it was pleasant again today - around 62 F. (Or rather, 17 C - it's taking some time to get used to the modern metric system used here, and in almost every other nation in the world...if anyone needs a free time activity, maybe you could take up lobbying the US gov't to convert). Point being, it's not always overcast - I think I just happen to take pictures on the cloudy days.

Hope all is well in the States! I'll write more soon...
Tessa

Lille Vildmose

Today, I traveled to Lille Vildmose (Vildmosen in Dansk), which is a large bog with Sphagnum moss up to 6 meters thick in some places. It is located about 25km out of Aalborg. One of my neighbors down the hall has his car here, so his girlfriend, two other int'l students and I made the trip.

Over the years the bog has been harvested for peat. There were "peat combines" (this is completely my own term, I have no idea what they were really called) combing the fragile land even today, although current operations are much less than at peak times, which included both WWI and WWII (due to a shortage of other fuels). It sounded as though ehxaustion of resources at designated harvest areas along with committments by the Danish government to the protection of natural areas such as the bog will soon lead to restoration and the end of peat mining in the area.

Wildlife in the park includes red deer, golden eagles, fox, wild boars and various other critters, as well as a wide range of insect species. Unfortunately, the park wasn't very lively today...but we did see some of the Danish countryside/coast.

And some more pictures

Those Danes know how to party...

Jomfru Ane Gade: A pedestrian-only street lined with bars and famous in Denmark for crowds that party hard into the early morning. (One bar opens at 6am.) Sorry - no pictures for now, but I promise I'll have some of it later.

This is where a few of my fellow international student neighbors and I ended up tonight. We happened to choose the bar that was apparently more popular with the older crowd. And the fact that it was a Wednesday did nothing to stop these Danes from having a good time - a really good time.

The music selection was incredible, to say the least -- Billy Ray Cirus, the Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Rhianna (yes, umbrella-ella-ella is apparently popular world-over), CCR, Alan Jackson, etc.

Good times. I think I like this country.

Other things to note:
the movie Dodgeball played in Germany
I need to learn more about futbol (soccer)
you don't tip here - it's included in the bill

Here are a few pics - of my apartment, the Akvavit distillery/brewery - famous Danish snaps, the waterfront, and the Danish flag, flying proudly in many front yards on the outskirts of town and in the countryside.

Hope all is well!

Velkommen to Danmark!

Hej - Hello from Aalborg,

I am finally somewhat situated (and by situated I mean I have internet access) in my apartment building, located on Ny Kastetvej (ny = new and vej = road/way). In the apartment there are approx. 20 international students, of whom I have thus far met five (2 from Spain, 1 from Turkey, and 2 from France - I think - the accent sounded French, but I didn't ask where they were from). The part of Aalborg (that's a soft, almost silent g at the end) the apartment is in is a cozy, little neighborhood, near a bus stop (I'll be taking the bus everyday to campus, which is 3-4 miles away) and off of a main road that goes into the city center.

Aalborg (in northern Jutland - the northern part of the big island if you're looking at a map) is smaller and very quaint compared to Copenhagen, where I spent two days at a youth hostel. Both are very pedestrain friendly and relatively safe from what I can tell. In fact, when I asked at the reception desk of the hostel in Copenhagen whether there are any areas of the city I shouldn't go, the response was, "Well, it's Copenhagen...if you don't provoke anyone you shouldn't have any troubles." Yeah...so, don't start any bar brawls? I wasn't exactly sure, but stuck to the during daylight/lots of people route.

First impressions of Copenhagen:
* lots of graffiti - so many buildings in the city were full of it
* bicycles - they are everywhere - on every street corner and propped against the sides of the buildings. Many of them are city bicycles and are for general use, but the rest I was surprised to find, were personally owned and were not locked. Also, most of them are older styles, often with baskets to carry groceries.
* beautiful people - seriously, so many of the people I encountered on the streets were well-dressed, well-built, thin and attractive. I felt at times, Iike I was walking around in a land of models...this way, needless to say, a bit intimidating.
* smoking is much more socially acceptable here - some buildings and businesses allow it, and certainly in public places
* likewise, drinking during the day or ambling along one of the pedestrain streets with a bottle of beer is not uncommon (of course, this is based on the limited experience I had in Copenhagen - and the sights I saw over approx. 5 hours of walking around on a day when there was a festival in the city center...)

Overall, Copenhagen felt cold and dark. This was in part due to the overcast weather, and also perhaps because it was my first real experience in another country with no idea of where I was going, little grasp of the language and no one on which to rely. Even taking these things into account, the old, drab brick buildings in 100 shades of gray, the demeanor of the people I encountered on the streets (rarely did anyone look me in the eye or smile - could have been because I looked like a tourist), and the garbage on the streets lent this general feeling to the place. Harsh judgment, yes -- I think I'd enjoy it more the second time around and with more time to explore...

Needless to say, I was happy to depart by train on Sunday for Aalborg. Traveling through the countryside of Denmark, I saw much what I expected - green, rolling, grassy meadows - lots of farmland (often divided in haphazard ways) - wind turbines - small patches of forested land. After four and half hours, I arrived at my home for the next 5 months and shortly thereafter Birgitte came to take me to her parents house. Ah - immense relief and happiness at one familiar face! We took the bus - exactly like those in Copenhagen - they are efficiently run, on time, clean and fairly inexpensive (8-19 dkk danish krone - which is approx. $1.50 - 3.75) per ride.

I stayed at Nels and Ida's (Birgitte's parents) house for the night - had dinner (w/American cake for desert - not very American, but tasted very good), wine, coffee, conversion, a bit of Danish television (we watched the National Geographic channel w/Danish subtitles - MTV, Discovery Channel, CNN, and E - True Hollywood story was on - are also carried) and rest. Such wonderful and kind hosts I had!

The next day I took a walk with my white tennis shoes, and yes, got a few odd looks. They are not common here. Sidenote: I'm surprised by the brands that are popular, such as Russell Athletic, Nike, and Puma. Later, went to register at the International Student Office. It was a bit unorganized and I would have felt so much more lost had it not been for Birgitte's help. Eventually, forms were filled out and I received a key for my apartment - for my temporary home : )

And here I sit. On the floor, next to the window, with my computer, listening to the noise from my neighbors' TV mingled with my Ben Harper. Orientation for internat'l students, beginning with breakfast at 8am is on Friday. For now, I've unpacked, secured internet access, bought toilet paper (very crucial), and groceries (this was quite the chore, although I ended up coming home with most of the items I intended to buy and few I did not - I ate some of the cheese today mom and it wasn't too bad).

It is a lovely evening in Denmark and I think I'll go for a walk.

Sorry for the long post - hope you've made your way through it - talk to you soon,
Tessa