Wanna take a Monday morning joy ride?

I can’t figure it out. On Mondays, there’s at least three times more traffic in Copenhagen than on any other day. I left at 8 this morning to get to the office early. Fortunately brought my Danish sentences to recite at red lights. I recited more than I drove! In most cities, if you leave early (i.e. to get to work at 8:30 instead of 9), your commute is shorter. Not here, oh no. So is there any fathomable, logical reason for this?

• Danes might prefer to drive on Mondays and take public transportation the rest of the week. Maybe there are discounts I don’t know about.
• Danes might muster up the courage to drive over the weekend, and get so discouraged on Monday as they sit, motionless, free newspapers shoved in their faces from left and right, that they can’t bear the thought of private transportation the rest of the week.
• Maybe there are other possibilities but I’ve got to get back to work. Any thoughts?

First theater experience in Copenhagen

One of my Danish clients is impressively informed about all sorts of events in Copenhagen. Apart from introducing me to the outlet shopping out at Langelinie, she also mentioned this performance and I thought I’d share. (I haven’t seen it yet but it got a good review in the Copenhagen Post, so we got tickets).

One of the best parts is that if you’re under 30, you can save 65% on the ticket price.

The info is here: American Mixture at Det Kongelige Teater. If you see it, let me know what you think.

Social networking woes

Today, for the first time ever, I took stock of all the social networking sites I belong to. It’s probably not as long as some, but it scared me anyway:

• Facebook - Lets you network with friends (esp. through common institutions), share photos, post comments on each other’s pages, list everything personal about yourself
• MySpace - I’m not a musician, but some great new bands put their music there, and lots of non-musicians use it just like Friendster
• Friendster - I haven’t used this one in a while but you add pictures, add profiles, write messages to your friends (that aren’t as visible as on Facebook), and the like
• LinkedIn - The professional one for uploading your experience, building job-related networks, and finding new jobs
• Twitter - Just joined this today after my colleague did. We can post what we’re doing at the very moment, and apparently you can see what all sorts of people worldwide are up to

I know I don’t spend as much time on this stuff as some. My best friend in London wrote her entire thesis on Facebook to justify the hours she spent on there. “I just facebooked you” became completely normal much faster than “Have you googled him yet.” We used that new Facebook verb a lot.

So I just wonder – am I getting anything out of this social networking? The blogging feels different. I’ve wanted to keep a journal all my life and this seems to help. But more importantly, I can share some stuff I think is useful – things I wish I’d found online. But social networking? What are the pros and cons of this – and which wins?

Grey’s Anatomy’s just about to come on so I won’t get too philosophical on this one, but here are some of the benefits of social network sites:

• Finding people you’ve wondered about for years, like your first boyfriend from 5th grade and his best friend who still tells you that you two were a perfect match
• Seeing your friend’s most bizarre photos
• Finding out there might actually be fewer than 6 degrees of separation
• Occasionally satisfying your curiosity about those people in high school you hoped would somehow normalize in college

And the negative sides of social networking sites:

• The obscene amount of time you spend on those sites…with not totally apparent results.

Grey’s Anatomy time!

Danes and utensils (or the Viking love of the knife)

Oh, the ways in which we change our beloved habits when we live abroad. We forget about it since it happens so gradually. You don’t just wake up one day and think “Christ, what’s happened to me? I bike more than I walk, and do it in stilettos. I’ve sold my car. I say “yeah” on the inhale, not the exhale” (for my non-DK readers, try it yourselves).

But I want to remember these baby steps towards being Scandinavian. Yesterday was an unmistakable one:

I ate my hamburger with knife and fork. I’d never done this before. Every time I pressed on the left side of the burger, the contents would squeeze out of the left — and there was no hand to hold them in place. It wasn’t an elegant experience. I was far from grace with my oversized pieces. But the fact is, my hands were clean and I felt so much a part of that canteen. It was almost like a newfound comraderie.

Maybe they noticed. Because later that night, the Danes from the ad agency next door joined us for dinner and office debauchery for the first time.

Viking Frappuccinos

I’ve just read that Starbucks is coming to Copenhagen. And as much as I love boutique shops and dread the Wal-Mart takeover…I’ve gotta say, I’m thrilled.

One of the tricky things about always being just off the boat is that it often takes quite some effort to find the familiar in a world of foreign stuff. But Starbucks takes care of that — elegantly, tastefully, and on every single corner. And although I really don’t like the plain Starbucks coffee, I fully understand why we pay a hefty sum for the cappuccino and frappuccino experience.

Looks like I’ll have to start cutting some financial corners to fit those frothy things (and the trip to the Copenhagen airport, where Starbucks will start its Scandinavian life) into my budget.

Old drunks

Time for a rant. Because every time I get on public transportation, I end up next to a 1) alcoholic, 2) deranged person, or 3) someone who just polished off an entire package of smoked salmon and topped it off with a few garlic cloves. But really, it’s the drunks that are starting to annoy me. And it’s not just on the busses (slightly shadier) but also on the S-trains (way nicer, generally).

The problem with having a drunk sit down right next to you is you just don’t know if he (or she, lately) will get paranoid and then swiftly turn belligerent if you move somewhere else. And it’s especially awkward when you’re by the window and they block you in.

So I just spent 30 minutes on the bus breathing deeply through my wooly, perfume-infused scarf to avoid the potent aroma of the smelly drunk bugger snoring next to me with his eyes wide open. Nasty stuff. I ended up a bit lightheaded and high from the hyperventilation-like experience. Was it worth it? I don’t know. I couldn’t tell what he might do with his oversized Tuborg if I made a sudden move.

Sushi 2500

I feel like I’ve finally arrived: I’ve got a favorite sushi take-out joint. Somehow, that’s come to define the ultimate comfort in a new location — like having a good girly magazine delivered through my mail slot once a month (I like Eurowoman. I understand about 50% – the photography – but that’s alright by me).

Anyway, Sushi 2500. It’s near Valby Station. It’s tiny but they’re nice and quick and the fish is awesome. A sushi place has to pass the seaweed salad test, and in my book this one is right up there with the best of them. (Disclaimer: I’ve never been to Japan and compare only to New York, DC, Boston, and London). I paid 35 DKK (about $7) for the seaweed salad and 65 DKK (about $12) for 3 nigiri/1 maki/2 “hosomaki). Americans are expecting me to say that this is a bit pricey, but no way, it’s dirt cheap by Danish standards. A decent sushi dinner for 2 generally goes for at least $80 (without sake).

For a tiny little place like this, they’ve got an impressive website: www.sushi2500.dk. But of course they do – they’re Danish.

Efficient Danish practice #16: GoMore.dk

I went to a great party last night. It might have been the best I’ve been to since coming to Copenhagen. The hostess was celebrating her 30th birthday/master’s degree/new job. That’s Efficient Danish practice #22, actually: combining all big events in one tremendous, catered party where your friends write you special song lyrics.

I sat next to a very cool guy from McKinsey who (of course!) also started his own company and it is (of course) based on supreme efficiency. Go More is a carpooling club. And whether you have a car and want to share the trip (and cost) to, say, Malmo or Århus or Berlin or wherever with others, or if you’re just a carless DK dweller who still wants to travel and meet some cool people, you sign up and join in on all these trips people are taking.

Pretty cool idea. It’s apparently huge in Germany as the Germans are super social with strangers and friends alike, and love to travel with all sorts of people. The Danes seem to be a bit more hesitant. I can see that. But what about us immigrants? Aren’t we the perfect audience for this? Most of us don’ have cars, most of us want to travel, and many of us are dying to make some good Danish friends and unravel the mystery of our new countrypeople.

Check it out. www.gomore.dk. There’s an English version.

Efficient Danish practice #748: empty parking spot counters

How do they do it? I don’t know. Weight sensors? Individual cameras? Little men who run around with a wireless device for reporting parking spot vacancy status?

On the weekends, I go to the biggest mall in Scandinavia. It’s called Field’s and I think it’s about the size of a completely average US mall, maybe a bit smaller. Anyway, I go there to take a great pilates class at FitnessDK. Yesterday, I also went to buy a completely uninspired Body Shop birthday present for a girl I’d never met. Yesterday, there were 748 free parking spots. Today: 1,684. How do I know? Because it tells me when I drive in! And tells me again and again as I drive through, with constant updates. Little neon signs tell you how many free spots there are in every section on each floor.

Damn brilliant. I never give a second thought to the massive percentage of my salary that’s hijacked by the Danish tax department because of stuff like this. 

Back in the saddle

The guy who got me into blogging in the first place, walked me through every step of WordPress page management, and saw me bounce in my swively office chair as my number of visitors  rose — he just took me off his blogroll. It’s sad, really. And quite common I’m sure. Just like writing in a journal. There must be a good 2% of the total world population that can write, or even feel compelled to write, every single day. And not every single one of them is living an Anne Frank life, but they still manage to publish some fascinating stuff. I’m in the other 98%.

I’ve started about 25 journals in my life, and haven’t finished a singled one. A new chapter begins – a new relationship, a new city, a new thought process, and the old journal slowly floats to the bottom of the underwear drawer. But that’s understandable — less drama, less need to sort out thoughts on paper. There’s something different about blogging though. I won’t bore you with the details of my theoretical media and communications masters at the LSE, but there were a lot of  thought-provoking nuggets in there about new media and self disclosure. At least a part of it is about contributing to the lives of others. So with that community/relationship-inspired thinking (oh how lofty), I hope I can continue this with some regularity and share some details that may have some meaning or interest to any anonymous readers.

 Batman, put me bag on your blogroll! I’m off the boat and back in the blog saddle.