copenhagener

what makes a dane a dane?

the blond hair
the bikes
the smorrebrod (pronounced 'smoeurbud')
the super hard to speak language
all of the above...

today i'd just need to dye my hair blond
and i would be on my way

very excited to get a bike today
i was riding circles in our office courtyard
and i felt like a kid again
i'm still quite rusty at it

so today instead of taking 7 min
to walk home from work
it took 3 min to bike home

chinese have their dim sum
danes have their smorrebrod (open sandwich)
i had my frokost (lunch) smorrebrod today
the bread they use here is really interesting
and by interesting i mean
grainy and dense
this is definitely no white bread
it's filled with grains and seeds

they say it makes you full
and you won't go hungry so fast
very true...

one of my dane coworkers
smears pate (liver paste)
onto his bread (the dense kind)
squeezes mayo in a swirl
and cuts with sissors
green onions on top
and eats 4 slices for frokost

chinese have dimsum.
haha...

'work'

my team

my spot

'work' has been strange

because it doesn't feel like work

it feels like i'm in school

working on a school project

a group project

however there's a boss

or somewhat of a professor

who critiques your work when he has time

______________________________________________

you woke the morning up

running off the darkest night

the longest light i've seen

here goes a chance i know

cashing in on all my chips

let all my ships come fly

these days

a little bit longer than the last

and all of your ways

a little bit stronger than the past

and your light

found my bottle in the night

kept me in this fight

gave me second life

and i won't back down

i won't turn around and around

doesn't matter what comes crashing down

i'm still gonna stand my solid ground

you found me once and for all

i laid it down in the sinking ground

the hopeless undertow

singing out the gentle sound

rattling through my smoking screens

my broken dreams last night

hallelujah ripped through my veins

i heard the hammer drop

my blood in the rain

hallelujah came like a train

when all is lost

all is left to gain

mat kearney

won't back down

sufficient

another weekend passes...

it's been a very different one this weekend
from the ones months past

home is far away
and i'm glad my home away from home
is sufficient

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today the speaker at church asked
what do you miss most when away from home
in a foreign country

family
friends...

then came food
and everyone laughed

it was a far more emotional service
than i've ever experienced before
and i'm really thankful for the people there
i can't help but feel at home
in the house of the lord even far away from home

the songs were familiar
and the loving nature of people
is again brought to life
and refreshed my memory as i often forget

______________________________________________


i now have much more free time...
no commute to and from work
no driving here and there
no frequent appointments

and this free time on my own
causes my mind to drift
a lot of the times
i'll play music or a tv show to drown it out

______________________________________________


a simple message from a friend today
reminded me of a something i once did
which was of not much significance to me
but it was remembered by someone
and brought up a year later

out of office

more billede

my copenhagen coversation

i'm not used to the drinking champagne and getting a massage

the impromptu masseuse is my competition project teamate

been 5 days in copenhagen
all things beautiful

i've walked for 5 hours today
i should probably get a bike

the office was invited

at a furniture store showroom opening

my coworkers they're all young
the boss is probably turning 32 this year

and from different places
all across the map
we've got peru
germany...france...usa...
canada...china...belgium...
greece...portugal...denmark...
sweden...mexico...

all different variations of english

i don't get paid
and even when my coworker gets paid
she said
'it's enough to pay rent and food...
but i still have to borrow from my parents'

the office is relaxed
people get in at 10-12
i get in at 9:30 and it seems late for me

i wonder how jds still has things in the office
with so many interns in and out

i have to use my own computer
they installed the latest programs that i use into it

everybody's too cool
i'd say their style is grungy
they don't pull up their pants
is that in again??
sometimes you see things you don't wanna see....
PULL UP YOUR PANTS!!!??!

i'll be severly craving some real food
when i get out of here
the food has been such a disappointment....

there are few good and cheap places...
and people are willing to pay for what they get...
just like design stuff

i haven't had a danish or butter cookie yet
where are they?!?!?
it's not popular among the locals

one person asked if i ate maple syrup everyday
i would if i ate pancakes and waffles daily
they've got a health and environmental craze going on
plastic shopping bags at grocery store cost 50 cents canadian
and so i will need to bring my own bag
they should just use a biodegradable bag

2nd day copenhagen

and i'm off

to work
and it's not work
it's fun so far
felt like school almost

there was a 1 hour sketch
meaning everybody in the office was
to design the facade of a bank project
in berlin

after the hour was up
we all got together and presented
and discussed our ideas
some are very cool
some alrite...
mostly avant garde
trying to push limits

and i'm working on a competition project
which is very interesting

i'm learning some danish...
but it's so hard to pronounce
augh

thank you is tak
that's all i can pronounce for now
sorry is undskyld
sorry's rough

i still have yet to discover the city
can't wait for the weekend

our firm is going on exhibition soon
in a BIG HUGE TENT
that will fit us...
and we'll be the exhibit...
not the projects...
but the people...
we'll be watched while we work
how we work
what we do
what we talk about
slightly akward
but very interesting

i've yet to take any pictures...

the weather here is very strange
5 min sunny
5 min rain
5 min hail
10 min sunny
5 min rain...
and onwards...

hopefully it can get warmer soon...

i'm off to take my danish shower.
you have to be here to know what that's like.
haha...

low fat

after my blood test with the doctor
he says everything is okay
cholesterol liver blood pressure
i'm not sure what other things get analyzed
during a blood test...

except your fat level is too low
too low?!?
haha...i thought... that couldn't be true
he said low is better than high

i guess i'll have to eat more fat
bring on the fat


_____________________________________________

feeling slightly queasy for my fast approaching
upcoming departure

i avoid packing by doing work
i avoid work by packing
the tug of war continues.

i avoid both by daydreaming.
one more day before i fly...
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

getting things in order
tying up loose ends
saying goodbyes

i'll be gone for only 90 days
i'll come back speaking some danish
i read that to speak danish
you got to imagine a hot potato
in your mouth
i'll come back from my first independant
venture in my life
i'll come back with a new view on architecture
i'll come back with valuable experience
and
i'll come back with souveniers...
don't worry