A Quick Note to say a Few Things: As of this moment, I'm OFFICIALLY done with half of the semester (gracias a Dios) and my family is here for the first week of mighty spring break. Here they are on a reflective moment to Albertslund, or in their words, "the end of the world."



I probably won't be able to respond to emails for a while, so, no, I'm not ignoring you, of course. Emails get buried under more emails (sorry Ben), and I'm sure I will have lots of more interesting things to say after this month... Russia's a definite set and I got my sister's digicam for the rest of the stay here (as you can probably tell by the snazzy photos) and no Morocco for now, but hey, a tour of Italy should be still amazing (if not more!) with Annie. Ok, I should get some sleep, before Copenhagen swallows me whole. See ya in the otherside of the world

Best part of the Danish Language? You know those "Swedish" meatballs ("Swedish" with quotation marks because we all know those swedes hog all the scandinavian glory) they serve at Ikea? Well they actually have a name and its "frikadeller," and it sounds almost exactly like "freakadelic" with a cockney accent. So you say:

"Hey, what are you cookin?"

"Frikadeller."

"Right on!"

(the word arbejdsløshedsunderstøltelse is pretty good too)

I've been having these straaange dreams lately, the kind that mush and weave everything in your head together so at times I'm walking around and I can't seperate fact/fiction/musings/wishes when I hear a song or see a place... my brain just freezes. And trying to unpeel subconcious layers through Kierkegaard, late nights, and readings is puttin my head through a total headspin right now. But it could also be midterms, too.

But first some (very) sad news: my favorite shawarma shop here has closed for business. I knew the guy was waiting for word on his visa anyday now, but, dammit, I need delicious shawarma closure. I wish him the best of luck in San Diego, and any San Diegoans there should keep an eye out for City Falafel in August. Other things I miss: my speakers, Colita, the ol' CRV, and of course temperatures above 30. I'm also missing maduros but, really, when am I ever not?

But some good news! After this second week of cramming and all nighters, Mama, Papa, and Tatana will all be here and it will be SPRING BREAK. Now, Danes here take their vacations very seriously, and as such I will have a longer SB than I usually get for Christmas. I'll be with the family for most of the first week, hopefully squeeze a weekend in Amsterdam before spending a week in Russia and then flying off for a week in the Mediterranean (soon to be my favorite place) with the much-missed Annie, touring Morocco and the Isle of Capri. Yes, be jealous. You know you wanna.

And then, all of a sudden, it will be April. But of course April can never be as cool as March, and thank y'all for all the emails and messages for the b-day. It was quite a blast, a good and worthy followup of Birthdaypalooza; the entire dorm was throwing a huge party, Tour de Bloc, in where everybody drinks from block to block (they're like tons of them) sampling everybodys liquor, ending at the bar in Albertslund. Needless to say, it was a doozy, and I made it to 25 (sharpies and witnesses to prove it!)... saw tons of people and friends and woke up with mysterious bruises (always a good sign).

But, the flipside of this wholly unproductive weekend is four midterms and a paper all due before the end of the week. Rock it. Will be posting more visual stuff soon, the digital camera will be here just in time for Russia, and by that time I should actually have some cool stuff to show yall. Til then, vi ses.

Notebook Doodles


Or, at least, says so the Modernist (with a capital "M"), with all these Henrik Ibsens and Ingmar Bergmans and Kierkegaards hammering over your head every DIS class. Seriously, the Danes here love "modernism," it's as if it just happened yesterday and they can't wait to tell you all about it. At least my teachers do:





So I forgot to upload my other teachers, but Prof. Warmind is my nordic myth teacher (and also the coolest professor name I've ever heard), and actually IS a viking and wears the same sweater-vest every single day for lecture. Brian, my kierkegaard teacher, often talks about his head exploding from thought.





DIS is actually a whole lot like high school, with the same smallish group of students going to the same classes, going on the same trips, and all having their seperate places. It's a lot of fun, but it was really refreshing last night going to a bar not ravaged by american college students (but instead hipster danes! as we affectionately called them). It was an "open jam session" night, which included a woman chanting and yodeling in indian and doing crazy polyrhythms on an ancient drum (which was actually really amazing), a sex pistols cover band of fourteen year olds (they won't be able to... scream?sing?screech?... like that in about a year or so), and a very angry danish rap duo (which was actually really terrible). we decided it might be better to visit again, when it's not a tuesday night.





Photos to come soon! And I will have my dad's digital camera for spring break and afterwards, so just kinda expect for more photos then as developing here is so freaking expensive (as is everything here). Also, I haven't shaved since I've been here and am thinking of trying to develop as much of a full beard as I can for mighty Russia, what do you think? I just want to sit in an opera house in St. Petersburg stroking my beard and patting my vodka-filled flask. What could be better?

Advance Apology


So yes I said I would keep this kinda updated and yes I said I would keep this updated less with words than with pictures, but hey, when your internet at your dorm's slower than 56k you really can't do much other than be sittin' pretty. So instead I give you this photo I randomly stumbled upon and also a promise that I'll update again before the weekend's over, with all sorts of curios. And yes, Copenhagen has quite a nightlife. If you couldn't tell.