We got us some castle weather.

"Darkness weep thy holiest tears"- Percy B. Shelley

Morbid? Perhaps. Creepily beautiful? Definitely. A correct representation of Copenhagen's weather? Absolutely.

Today at the office (just thought I'd throw that in there to sound like I'm mature enough to have an office job. It's scary that I almost do.) my supervisor was telling me that the cloud cover outside, that's been here for a few weeks, isn't many little clouds (oh, you foolish Californian, you never see individual clouds!) but rather one enormous cloud that spans across nearly all of Denmark. Therefore the chance of sun peaking threw is only about one in forty million. (Did you also know that 75% of all statistics are made up on the spot?) But this little tidbit of information put me in the poetical groove and I needed me some prose inspired by the divine. Shelley and his burning coal of godlike creativity smoldering deep from within was just what I needed! (If it's your first time reading this blog, I am a literature major, not a freak)

Bottom line is, he has some great poems about weather.

And as my good friend Caroline says, it's perfect castle weather! So to the castle we go!
Fredericksbrog Castle is about 45 minutes outside of Copenhagen and I tagged along with the other international students to get a free ride and admission into the castle of Christian the 4th.

Above is my friend Jahon and I in the main square. Note the pumpkins in the background! It's Halloween in Denmark too. The green roof was once a shining copper. Not too bad Christian! (BTW fun fact about kings names. They are either Christian or Frederick. They switch them each time they birth another male heir.)

Now when I say "tagged along" I mean dodged the sign in sheet people who are counting those in their class and pretended to be a student of the "Danish Culture Course". Although I doubt if they found out I wasn't enrolled they'd hardly be angry, Danes have a funny way of being thrilled when anyone is interested in their culture. However, because of these organized field trips I've been able to go to the Louisiana Museum, a canal tour and later the Opera, all paid for by the government! (take a hint America, if you want people to like you, force your culture down foreigners' throats. Maybe that wouldn't work out too well, actually)

But the church inside was really quite something.
As was the portrait of the small danish child with a rifle... Oh the Danes...

On further cultural news I recently returned from The Netherlands from visiting my bestie (shout out to Christine Homan woot!) and pretending to go site seeing at the same time.

To be honest the first night after a few dozen hugs and many "I can't believe you're here"s (and people at the train station looking fondly at us thinking we were an out and proud couple) we just settled down in her hygge apartment with some gluten-free noms and talked. Indeed, we talked so much the entire week that when I returned to the Cop-land I had lost my voice. But I had some darn good looking polished nails.

We did get out quite a bit though, and I got to see some great Dutch sights. (Remember it's the Netherlands, in which Holland is a provence- not the country- and they speak Dutch, got it?) I climbed to the top of Dom Tower, the highest church point in the Netherlands with a friend from my work back home. She quite conveniently was in Utrecht the same days and we talked about all things 'Leg'gy (back home I worked at a lingerie shop called "Legs" and developed an unhealthy appreciation for lace underthings, my friend Johanna has helped me cultivate it)

Above is Johanna and I at the top- looking a bit weary and nauseated from the climb (500 meters up)

And below the lovely Christine and Dom Tower in the back ground. 

Also in Utrecht, we visited the Botanical Gardens and felt very "zen'

Christine and I ventured out to Rotterdam, one of Europe's main ports for the day and saw some great museums, enjoyed a vino and cheese platter and generally felt like very civilized europeans. 

The picture above, of the two of us, might be one of my favorites of all time. It reminds me of when about a year ago, Christine would come from her room next to mine and sit on the edge of my bed as we would fantasize about going abroad together, what a foreign, removed concept it seemed then. It reminds me how I ran into her room screaming when I checked my e-mail at 1:00 am and saw that I had been accepted to the University of Copenhagen. It reminds me of when we would shake our heads at the (stupid) people at the foreign affair department who managed to royally screw up more of our paper work and we'd come home in near tears that this adventure would never happen. It reminds me of when a month before we left, we'd sunbathe on the front porch of our house predicting what it would be like, and how wrong and how right we were. It reminds me of when the night before I left, at our bon voyage party, she gave me the biggest hug and said, smiling "I'll see you in Europe." We made it, Christine! We're here!

After the love friendfest that happened in Rotterdam, we went to the one and only, Amsterdam.
It was loud, it was busy, tall buildings, cobblestone and mayonnaise with french fries were everywhere. As was the sweet scent of some local herb and neon titties. There was also a ferris wheel!

But we opted to take a bit of a walk outside of the main downtown and went to the Van Gogh Museum. After a polite security guard nearly karate chopped my camera from my hand, I was encouraged to take mental pictures.

Unfortunately for you, I take incredible mental pictures.

But here's one real photo I was able to take in front of the "I AMsterdam" building just outside the Van Gogh.

After the Van Gogh, we thought we'd get some culture with a Sex Museum, instead we got some 1800's porn and some questionably dressed mannequins. We also went to a lovely cafe (the owner must have been a Marley) to further experience some "culture". I find that mental photographs are also best for both of these locations.

Lastly, before I bid my friend farewell, we took a night canal tour, waving at the Anne Frank House and some pretty incredible Opera houses. We also enjoyed some Asian food (Wok to Walk!) on the tour and felt very well rounded. 

As we were walking back to my hostel in the dark, we found the Red Light District was just a block away (I only choose the finest of accommodations for myself, however, my window was less well-lit) so we took a little stroll. 

It was... strange. Part of me wanted to point and gawk because of the absurdity of it, but another part really pulled at my morality. It was like walking through a zoo. Except that these were humans. Over sexualized, made-up, silicone filled humans, but still, women none the less. I wanted to look away, but looking away wouldn't change the fact that these people exist out in the world. I began thinking that the girl in the cheetah bikini on my right knocking on the glass at a Persian fellow, might be hailing her second or third customer for the evening. She was probably a year younger than me. 

So feeling icky and fortunate at the same time, Christine and I tightened our scarves and finally said our good byes. "4 weeks until I get to see Copenhagen!" "So glad I'll be with family on Thanksgiving" (the normal mushy stuff) and I waved at her from my corner (not MY corner, I wasn't out for business) and went into my hostel above the waffle house. 

Overall great trip, and as with any trip, it was good to unload my pack into my apartment and take a nap. It was good to be home, and Copenhagen, in this part of my life, is my home. 

I get the unique ability to make it a part of both places for me. Meaning I get to spread the American traditions here, and learn some new ones.

Examples:

The professors at my internship FREAKED out when I came in drinking tea from a jam jar. This one I understand people never get. I was pretty against the hipster implications of it myself upon it's rising popularity, but with an airtight lid, the perfect amount of tea on the go and the convenient purse size, I got on the coffee in a jam jar band wagon. The 50-year-old egyptologists were not quite so open-minded. 

"You don't do this?" I joked when the director looked at me like I had folded papyrus into fourths to make it "easier for travel".

"NO!" he spat incredulously, "In Denmark, we use mugs!" Even Thomas, my faithful counterculture grad student found it "a bit odd" 

On Wednesday I went over to my friend Sam's for pumpkin carving and burrito night (how American are WE) and we taught 2 germans and 4 Australians how to gut a pumpkin, roast seeds and - get this- how to wrap a burrito. 

Quote of the night "Wait, why are you putting your rice IN the burrito. Rice goes on the side!" Nej, sweetie, nej. 

The next night Brittany came over to make caramel corn and my housemates huddled around us until I finally gave in and asked if they had ever tried it. "Why are you putting caramel ON the popped corn. Doesn't it get soggy? Wait, now it goes in the oven too??" 

While us Americans have some weird things, the Danes can definitely groove with the Halloween trend. Although they lack the enthusiasm I went to a great halloween party on Saturday. 

See if you can guess. I was bloody. My name nag says Mary. I am wearing white and have celery in my hair, I am a ______ _______.

Bloody Mary

One thing I have discovered that the Americans are loved for is their candy. After burritos the other night the Australians drooled over our conversations of Snickers and Kit kats (Oreos are by far the leading favorite) while they had to explain to us what a Bounty bar was. 

Alright lastly, this is long overdue, but I have to address this issue of Robbie Williams.

Have YOU ever heard of him?

If so, props, you can live in Europe.

If not, "WHAT, it's Robbie Willams, R-O-B-B-I-E Willams, come on, "Shame, You Know Me, Bodies...?" He's Robbie Williams!"

Ok number one, repeating his name really isn't helping. Number two, if he really was that big, sorry but shouldn't we have heard of him?

The first time I encountered this reaction my friend Brittany and I were at pub in Vienna talking to some German business men at the table across from ours. We both did the shrug to each other but the men wouldn't have it and one of them played three of Robbie's songs off his iPhone and then tried to sing them. Telling him we'd never heard of him didn't stop him either. "He's like Elton John, he's your go to man! He's Robbie Williams!" 

We didn't hang out with those guys much longer after that. 

So there you have it, we put rice in our burritos and caramel on our popped corn, and Europe listens to Robbie Williams. Other than that, I'd say we're pretty much the same. 

A Royale With Cheese

At international trivia night last evening the question was "What is a quarter pounder called in Europe?" John Travolta helped me out with that one.

Speaking of places Vincent Vega enjoys, I am going to Amsterdam tomorrow to visit a very dear friend who lives about thirty minutes outside of the city in a place called Utrecht where she is studying. There I am looking forward to the rituals of girl bonding including (but not limited to) painting our nails (we have yet to graduate from our fourth grade mentality) cook delicious food, doing tours of the city and generally enjoy one another's company. This will be the first time that I am visiting a place where I get to not plan, but simply be guided around the city. I am extremely looking forward to it.

One thing that we do plan on doing while I am there is the NewEurope walking tour of Amsterdam. If you are doing any traveling in the major cities of europe, you seriously have to go on these walking tours. My first was in Berlin. Don't be turned off by the 4 and a half hour time frame, for I don't think it's possible to do Berlin in any less time. The tours are completely free (tips encouraged at the end) and they are lead by young students or recent graduates who are trained to make the tour a little out of the ordinary, but all the more informative and exciting. When in Berlin, we not only saw the Berlin Wall, the courtyard where book burnings during Nazi regimes happened, the "Murdered Jews of Europe Memorial" but also while walking by a parking lot we were informed we were standing on Hitler's Bunker where he later committed suicide.

Murdered Jews of Europe Memorial

Berlin Wall

The next day my friend and I decided to pay for a tour through the same company of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. Although it was hard to take, the tour was tastefully lead, and very informative as well as moving. If interested in visiting a work camp while in Europe, I would recommend this tour- but only for the strong of heart. I sat out on a few exhibits because I started to feel woozy towards the end. 

The sign above reads "Work Will Set You Free"a cruel promise by the Nazi's. To a prisoner it was implied that if they worked hard enough they would be discharged, but to the Nazi officers, it was clear that they would be worked to death, and only then obtain freedom. 

On a lighter note, Sandeman's NewEurope Tours are awesome! I've included the link for your own enjoyment 

Sandeman's NewEurope Tours

In Berlin we did the walking tour, the Pub Crawl, the concentration camp tour. In London we did the free walking tour (only 2 hours) and I also did it in Copenhagen (3 hours-although, this one is still in it's developmental stages and needs some work). 

Long story short, I am also planning on doing one in Amsterdam.

In Copenhagen, all students have this week off of classes. But do they know why? Potato picking my friends. Students were given this week off to help their families harvest potatoes before the frost set in. I made myself a potato meal to celebrate this evening. 

Because classes have been cancelled, I have been enjoying the leisure of an underworked college student. I read a book yesterday. No joke! As cheesy as the title sounds "Enduring Love" by Ian McEwan, the book is not a romance novel and actually about a psychological disorder and a stalker. It was made into a movie staring Daniel Craig in 2004.

Got to say though, after the first chapter, it kinda goes downhill. Almost worth buying just for the first fifty pages thou, Ian McEwan (author of "Atonement") has some effortlessly beautiful prose, and at just 250 pages, it's well worth the read. 

Just started "Becoming English: The Making of Mr. Hai's Daughter" which is a nice breezy memoir for a class. Also finished "In Our Time" by (the AMERICAN woo woo!) Ernest Hemingway. I find I have quite a bit of national pride when someone/ something turns out to be American. There is far too few things to be proud of here, especially when it comes to welfare. They get paid to go to college. And we get... well... metaphorically "shat" on (to use the british form of the word) 

Speaking of Britain, I went to London! We saw Wicked, went to Buckingham Palace, the National Museum, Big Ben, Chinatown, Minstery of Sound (nightclub), Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral the London Bridge, the Tate Museum of Modern Art, and London's Chinatown

Above left: Big ben and the iconic double decker bus Brittany and I had quite the night with one evening. For those of you who have never rode a double decker bus, if you've ever seen the third Harry Potter film with "The Knight Bus" that should give you a pretty realistic idea. Above right is me eating Mochi in Chinatown. 

Below is me (Where's Waldo?) in front of Westminster Abbey 

If you've managed to locate me, you can also note the tank top and skirt. It was 85 F the entire time, in October. Needless to say, I throughly enjoyed London. 

I think packing for Amsterdam might be a little different. I finally finished my scarf and am starting on another one. I also shamelessly gave in and created a profile on "Ravelry". If you're a knitter and haven't heard of this site (I can't imagine what circumstance that would be, but regardless) it's by far the best way to find patterns. Furthermore, I threw humility to the wind and took pictures of my knitted items and uploaded them. (For shame!) But here is the one for the scarf. To compare, I included the original picture. 

Besides, knitting is cool, right Russell? 

I really don't even want to know the circumstances surrounding this picture. It gets me every time. 

Another fun thing by way of European Culture was that I bar-tended for an Oktoberfest party in full apparel. My name was also Heidi for the evening. It went grand except I had to explain to a few inebriated people that I did not understand drink orders in Danish and they had to speak English to me.

Anyways, off to pack to see my lovely friend in a lovely place! I may even order "A Royale with Cheese!"

In a Grandma Groove

"I'm going to Egypt!"

Not really.
But that's what I say as I leave for my internship twice a week. It got a laugh the first time, a chuckle the second, and now I think my roommates pretend not to hear me.

I think they're probably jealous that this is my job. 

On the left is a papyrus from the dream book, with Thomas, my supervisor behind it. Check out the cleanliness of the glass, no scratches, smudges, thumb prints or moisture to be detected. At first I thought it was weird how OCD they were about it but one day Thomas looks at me and says, "Well, these are only rehoused once every 50 years. So for the next 50 years people will be writing their research based on this, so uh.. ye know... make it perfect." So now I'm pretty obsessive when it comes to cleaning that glass. 

Went back some of my Soulful Shaq playlists ("Bringing you the booty shakin' baby makin' funk of the 60's and 70's" according to our program guide that finally got approved) for nostalgia sake and rediscovered this little gem. 

A favorite song to listen to while sanding glass: Jake Shimaburkuro: Grandma's Groove

Although I may not be going to Egypt I AM going to London on Friday! My friend and I booked a flight and decided to go pretty impromptu, but I'm pretty excited for the tea, the fuzzy hats and red telephone boxes I can take a picture coming out of. 

I made the most wonderful macaroons known to man yesterday. Naturally gluten free and intoxicatingly delicious. One of my housemates just defended her master's thesis in statistical anaylsis and got a 12 which is a perfect score. So most of these went into celebrating, but seriously, when they all tried them it was the one moment I felt like a normal baker- no weird bean sorhgum xanex crap that most of gluten free stuff is made. 

Here's the recipe: (I think that after a few of "Grandma's Macaroons" you just might be in the "Grandma Groove" ;))

GRANDMA'S FAVORITE COCONUT MACAROONS
2 (8 oz.) pkgs. flaked coconut 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk 2 tsp. vanilla Mix all ingredients together and drop onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cookies set before removing from cookie sheet.

I finished "The Boy With the Topknot" today which was very interesting, and a good read! 

I also watched "Grandma's Boy" today. While knitting. You can only ignore destiny for so long before you have to come to terms with it.

Conclusion: I'm destined to be the best grandmother ever. 

"Almost there, almost there, feels like we've been getting nowhere"

Oh hey there.

The fingerless gloves are done, and have been keeping my oversized hands exceptionally warm during bike rides. The scarf is still coming along. I just found Zoolander in our common room so I have the sneaking feeling that it will become "Reelllly ridiculously good-luking" when I sit down to finish it.

This week I finished the book "King Queen Knave" by Vladimir Nabokov. Good in its own respects but nothing outstanding. There are a few delicious quotes in there as only Nabokov could write,"“The silk lining was crimson, as crimson as lips and flayed animals.” 96 or “That particular tinkle half-glass, half- metal, peculiar to the process of human feeding” 102

I started a book for class called "The Boy With the Top Knot" about a Sikh man growing up in multicultural Britain, and rewriting his life to cope with his father's secret past. Really interesting and exceptionally well written so far.

Life is like riding a bicycle - in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.  ~Albert Einstein

Today I went to the Cycling World Championships which were being held in a suburb just north of Copenhagen called Rudersdal. It's about a 30 minute train ride from the center of the city. The sun was shining, it was 20 degrees (after the initial shock, you eventually get used to using Celesius) I was wearing a T SHIRT for crying out loud and it was pleasantly warm biking from my house.

I knew very little about the race and even less about cycling as a sport. I knew that for the past week, time trials had been held throughout the main city and some fast mother effers in funny helmets (kindly look to the left) were screwing up all of the roads in Copenhagen. Only this morning, over freshly baked rolls and coffee, did my housemates tell me that the finals were being held today, and the event marked the largest sporting event hosted by Denmark EVER. So even though most of my friends were too *ahem* sleepy to go venture out on a Sunday afternoon, I decided to go and maybe learn something.
I didn't really, but I had a good time. I stood next to the american Announcer so I had a better idea of what was going on. However I did learn how slowly my camera takes a picture when 50 cyclists are whizzing past at 50 mph.
I would be signaled that they were on their way by the claps and cheers from down the road. Then I'd see a police, car hear "woohoooooo!" *clap clap clap *whoosh* and then they'd be gone for another 30 minutes until they looped around the track again.

In almost as important news as the world championships being hosted in Denmark, I found my first gluten free bakery in Copenhagen! It's a place called Naturbageriet (Nature Bakery) that has a bunch of different cake, energy bar, cookie and bread options. Their white poppyseed bread, although a little dry, was pretty decent but their banana cake was divine :)

I enjoyed it as I sat in my new favorite coffee house called "The Living Room". With huge leather chairs, candle light and fire pit in every common room, it plays soul music, sells extremely over-priced coffee and gives a great atmosphere for relaxing for a pot of tea in between classes or after a difficult day. And there's something about the foot rests that I just can't get over...



Finally, I've had a lot of free time, and while finding new ways to fill it I've taken to walking in the national park right by my house. Listening to some music in the marsh and picking blackberries on my walk certainly de-stresses quite a bit.

Ignore the creepy music video, but the song is awesome, John Legend- ah your voice does a woman's soul good. Although the first 10 seconds looks exactly like the public transportation in Copenhagen, so that's something! Minus the hooded horsemen and awful maggots.

The song I can't get out of my head, "Getting Nowhere" by Magnetic Men, Featuring John Legend

"Almost there, almost there, feels like we've been getting nowhere"- what the cyclists in the race think every time they make it past another lap.

Hamlet: Prince of Danes. Black Diamond: Royalty of Libraries. Boat Tour: Was Cool

As far as I know, there was no Princess of the Danes when Hamlet ruled. Therefore, if the position's open... I wonder if they're taking applications?

On Sunday, I went to what is known as "Hamlet's castle". The place in which the real Hamlet resided and where Shakespeare sets his iconic play. It is known as the Kronborg Castle situated in the north part of the island Kobenhavn is on called Helsingor (about a 45 minutes train ride from the center of the city)

As my friend Caroline described, the weather was particularly "castley" meaning it was gloomy and ominous, with just enough mist to make a coat of armor rust. It really set the mood for medieval architecture, and the dungeons were particularly damp and dreary. 

They began to explain how the royalty was kept warm in the winter. They had one of two options. 1) higher servants to warm up the bed with their body heat before the king arrived. or 2) sleep with a constant supply of hot bricks in the bottom of the bed. Chances of catching on fire were relatively low- only one in five. 

It should also be noted that eating soup was difficult during the winter months because the bowl would freeze over before they had a chance to eat it. I feel slightly ashamed for complaining how cold it was only minutes before. Although I was more than bundled enough. As I was leaving for the day my roommate, Leylia comments "You look like you're going to Aspen!" Whatever. I was cozy for castley weather. 

One of my favorite quotes from Hamlet:

"Lord! We know what we are, but know not what we may be."
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 4.5

Oh, Shakespeare (where ever the twelve of you may be) you certainly have that right. How can we know what we will be in the future? (Even if we are lucky enough to know what we are now?) We can only live today like we want tomorrow to be. There's your fragment of wisdom for the day. 


You're welcome.


For further touristy things, on Thursday I took a boat tour along the canals in Kobenhavn.
The picture below is a photograph of the restaurant "Noma" which was ranked number one in the world two years in a row. A friend and I called to get reservations and the soonest opening is in February. We opted for some Turkish kebabs instead.

In the intercity canals, there was much calmer water.  

To the right of this picture is my friend Sam's apartment. I'm not jealous or anything.

I really can't get over Copenhagen's skies. Almost as good as the Northern Lights- not developing frostbite is a good trade off I think. Some nights, it particularly reminds me of Nietzsche's Quote:


And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.- Friedrich Nietzsche

The next evening, Friday, The Danish Royal Library hosted a party for all college students in Kobenhavn. It was one of those wonderful excuses to actually get dressed up to go out with friends. Although the music was somewhat questionable for a college crowd, it was great to see everyone dressed up and in a glamourous, glass building decorated for the occasion. Check out the difference between the Royal Library during the day and at night time.

While my travels are wonderful, some great reading, knitting and tea really hits the stop as well. Just finished the Maltese Falcon. Eh, it's murder mystery set in the 20's, I think I expected a little too much. Dashiell Hammett wrote the Thin Man where Nick has five drinks a scene, and always has a gun. Am I that far off to think that this is slightly unrealistic (or more than slightly dangerous)? Sam Spade, the detective in the book, still has too much swagger to be authentic. 

The fingerless gloves are complete. 

New scarf in the works (damn you alpaca, makin' me wheezy- the bad kind of wheezy not like the rapper Mr. Carter) and should be finished shortly. Got quite a bit of it done when watching Out of Africa -Danish writer Baroness Karen Blixen anyone?- with the roommates. They laughed at Meryl Streep's accent which sounded slightly German. Although since some people mistaken me for speaking Mandarin I'd say she did a fine job.

And a good Chai Tea (which I may have found), might be the missing link to life's elixir. 

Workin' Woman

Though I would start with a Copenhagen Sunset (not enhanced in anyway)

I came back from Vienna, Salzburg and Berlin.
They were amazing, and I would like to give them the time and attention they deserve. Therefore, I will not be mentioning them in this post, but will rather post pictures and stories about them at a later time.

There is some more important news I would like to get to.

Last week I was hired at the Department of Egyptology as a curator for the Carlsberg Papyri Collection. I will be prepping glass, anchoring the Papyrus in place, photocopying and archiving it.
I had my first day yesterday, got a full day of history about where the collection came from, why it is important to preserve it as well as "how we feel about this one historian" gossip.
The field of Egyptology is a relatively small one. Everyone one knows every guest lecturer, editor and curator because there are so few and they gossip about one another worse than a quilters circle. It's quite amusing.
It should also be noted that from what I've seen, it is not a requirement in Egyptology to take a course in fashion. Therefore, the comb overs are plentiful (the ringleader of said hair style is a portly English gentlemen by the name of Angus who also enjoys orange plaid shirts) and they all show up in matching sweater vests like a revenge of the nerds clan.
Thomas, who I'm working with, is another story. He is a grad student, and like most grad students gives the appearance of both being homeless and ambitious simultaneously. Most of the time, he squints as though he's just discovered sunlight after centuries of being in-tombed with the hieroglyphics. He always has a "kuppa kaffe" in his hand, and walks with a little slump, weighed down by his work load. He, like all danes, I've noticed, was shy at first but while we were working would interrupt the silence to say something, and pretty soon I couldn't get him to stop about the hieratic and demonic inscriptions.

Some interesting thing I learned from Thomas yesterday:
-Some of the later papyri had writing on both sides. The front side was old grecian text that was considered useless, but because papyri was so expensive, the back was used to write in egyptian. How one tells which is the "front" and the "back" of a papyrus is the way the reeds were lines up. If the writing was horizontal it was the front, because it was easier to write along the reeds than across them. It was the back if the reeds ran vertically down the page.
-The vast majority of writings is about the burial and ritual processions. Perhaps one of the most important text, "the Book of the Dead" has nearly 500 remaining copies symbolizing it's importance.
-Because death was important, and papyri limited many texts were written on the bandages of the mummies (yes, I have to deal with those too) although they tend to be *ahem* tarnished with "fluids" and prove difficult to read.

Overall, it seems a little mundane, but an interesting opportunity. Plus, it's not everyday that you get to deal with artifacts that are more than three thousand years old.

In some fun day to day news...

I got a warm winter jacket! It's lovely and HUGE with fleece lined pockets, it goes down to my knees and has a huge parka hood. I went in, directly told them I was from California, and they showed me to the warmest, waterproof coat they had. Then they gave me a 10% discount because I was an international student and "they knew we'd be needing them". While they said "oh, you won't need this for a while" I was like "right" and as soon as I got out of the store I put it on and wore it home and was super cozy and not overheated. I guess I am from California after all.

I found the cheapest baked good for myself. Banana corn flour pancakes. They really couldn't be easier.
I made up the recipe myself which is why I was all the more surprised when they worked out. I will add sugar next time, but they weren't all that bad without it, kind of like a banana crepe.

Casey's College GF Pancakes (makes 1 serving)
1 egg
1 mashed Banana
2 tablespoons of Corn flour
Some salt

mix that bad boy up, fry it up and top with some butter and jam or maple syrup (I was not so fortunate to have that lying around) and it was pretty great- plus really good for you. Might go for round two tonight.

I've also been knitting fingerless gloves for myself, and teaching my roommates Meriam, Ben and Asger how it knit. It was pretty darling having them each with a ball of yarn I had in stash and some of my knitting needles in hand with their faces all twisted in concentration while we watched Limitless (or I watched, they sat in front of). I have them on the road to making ear warmers. So far Ben has lost hope, but Meriam came out this morning to show me how much she had done, totally beaming with pride.

Just finished my first memoir for my class. It was called "Greetings from Bury Park" by Sarfraz Manzoor. A pretty light read but it was good. Definitely not deep at all and a bit of whiplash after finishing War and Peace and starting Atlas Shrugged, but good all the same.

Moving on to some theory later in the day, which I imagine will not only stimulate but actively fry my brain cells. So looking forward to that.





I have a confession to make. The Danes cooking has been rubbing off on me.
Saturday night we had a family dinner and my roommates insisted on showing me what a true Danish meal was. We went to the fish market (where fat man hold huge fish that might as well still have been wriggling yelling "Halftreds Kroner!" and housewives snatch it out of his hand. It was fantastic) and got some cod, and they fried up the breaded fish with homemade pickled tarter sauce, boiled new potatoes with parsley and white wine cream sauce, wedge salad with leeks and radishes and finally chocolate mouse and peaches for dessert (with Asger)

It was pretty precious how they helped me make my "corn flake with corn flour" breaded cod and gave me a little special dish to make sure I felt included.

I certainly did :)

Jeg spiser aldrig smagt leverpostej

It's been a while.

Although I have to privilege of being here a month before my school actually begins- the Danish Language course has slowly, but surely been killing me. Tomorrow is my final written exam and then Thursday is the oral portion. Goodie. I've been "lightweight" studying (to use a bay area term) and now taking a break to update. Here's what I have in Danish so far.

Jeg hedder Casey. Jeg 20 ar gammel. Jeg kommer fra en ille by i staten California i USA. Det hedder Pleasanton. Jeg bor pa Tietgen Kolliguim pa Amager Jeg studerer. Jeg gar pa universitetet. Hjemme i USA, studerer jeg litteratur, men her, i Danmark, studerer jeg engelsk. Jeg skal vaere her i et semester. Jeg elsker chokolade. Jeg kan ikke fordrage lakrids. Jeg spiser aldrig smagt leverpostej.

Aha! See, I am ready for the real Danish world- I can tell them I love chocolate, detest licorice, and have never tried lever postej.

The Glyptotek Museum:
Going back a bit- last Wednesday I went to the Glyptotek Museum. Founded by Carlsberg himself. Below is "The Winter Garden". Ah yes, how quaint.

Don't tell me you don't know Carlsberg!!! Not knowing him is almost as bad as not knowing who Hans Christian Anderson is here. Carlsberg had a monopoly on the brewing industry and made Copenhagen a profitable city. Just to show you how much the Danes love him, Tietgen Kolliguim was funded by his fortune and we have a fridge filled with Carlsberg beer in every hall.
I'm not joking.


The museum was originally opened to house his private collection but then built to hold masterpieces and statues on tour. It was awesome.

The best part (although I may be slightly biased) was the Ancient Egyptian Exhibit. I showed off my knowledge of hieroglyphics shamelessly and was actually able to decipher some of the tombs.

This one is a cartouche (a name plate) for Seth (or Sth- pronouced "Se-teck") God of chaos. The inscription reads from top to bottom, right to left: nn b3 R' Sth or Under the Sun of Ra, Seth.

The mummies were pretty boss as well.

and later than night...

The Metro Party:
Oh yes. That's correct. There was a party. On the metro. They set up speakers, and a DJ table on a commandeered train. People rode the train back and forth the length of the track (about 30 minutes from one end to the other) and the DJ switched at each length.

Pretty Radical. Except for the fact that there was no ventilation, an amount of people that far exceeded the safety limit and vaguely intoxicated gentlemen and ladies who had to lurch forward and backward at every stop. Good idea in theory though.

The Boots:
I decided to splurge and order Hunter rain boots (as Cosmo advised me) and they arrived last week for the rainy season in Denmark (try to guess when that is- whatever you guess, you'll always be right)
Unfortunately, when ordering, I got a little too excited that they had shoes in large sizes and purchased them nearly two sizes too big.
Sent them back for a different size but they are in aubergine (purple for those of you who are not snobs) but here's a picture of them on!

(Appreciate for a moment: #1 How far I am away from the computer when this picture was taken. # 2 How I am standing on a chair. #3 How I managed to get into this position in less than 3 seconds. #4 How I still managed to pop my knee. Not bad eh?)

The Roommates:
Are wonderful. They have been making me feel so at home. Including me in family dinners, going to amusement parks and helping me with small things around the city.

Side note- perhaps the funniest thing in the world is when people attempt to express themselves in a foreign language when under stress. Yesterday at Tivoli, an AWESOME amusement park in the heart of the city (no camera that day) Ben- in the lower right- hates roller coasters, but Tone and Astrid (lovingly) bullied him into going. Right as we were approaching the first dip- he turned to me and says "I sink... I sink... I am terrified, Casey" and then proceeded to yell the entire ride in incoherent american swear words. I have never laughed so hard in my life.

They, quite preciously, cannot understand the meaning of gluten, but are wholeheartedly trying.

Last Thursday, we all made the indian dish "butter chicken" with turkey because I couldn't ready the label in the supermarket.
Below is Tone, Astrid and Ben (Mariam is out of the photo) sitting down to eat.

The next night, Asger, another roommate, prepared a huge dinner for the nine of us consisting of steak, caramelized potatoes, beets and yams, strawberry vinaigrette salad and homemade maple and walnut ice cream for dessert to welcome me to the hall. 

Incase I haven't mentioned before- the Danes love their cooking. 

Every night they are in the kitchen making 3 to 4 course meals for themselves, taking their time and enjoying the recipes. 

Below is Asger slicing the meat

The Gays:

 Copenhagen, although once progressive in their gay rights activism, is actually a little behind the times. Although there is a prominent gay district and civil unions are legal, gay marriage is not yet legalized. 

They still know how to put on a good parade, especially on a sunny day.

"Don't be a drag, just be a queen"

A few Liza Minnelli's are dancing below. 

The Trip:

I am leaving on Saturday for my first "Euro-trip" A-WOOHOO!

I will be flying out of Copenhagen to Vienna, where I will stay for three nights. Then bus to Salzburg for two nights (Sound of Music tour anyone?) flying to Berlin on Thursday morning, staying there for three nights and then bussing back on Sunday before our classes start that week.

My partner is crime: a Miss Brittany Beesson.  Watch out Vienna, here we come!