January in Denmark

That's the scariest title I could think of. I decided to write monthly recaps of life in Denmark as I go, and have periodic special reports on a few preselected and TBD topics. So here we go:

The cheapest flight over passed through Helsinki, where as we landed I saw the imagery the Polar Express was based on, and once inside the airport learned what an extremely thorough security pat down feels like (a little gross). Danielle and I broke a sweat running through the airport to catch our connecting flight that should have already left, though in the first and only exemplary customer service I have found here, they held the flight to Copenhagen so the dozen or so of us could board.

We had just one afternoon in Copenhagen, but we were jetlagged and freezing so we walked around a bit, drank too much coffee just to stay warm, then had dinner so early that our lunch-shift waitress left halfway through our meal and we had to wait 15 minutes because we weren't technically allowed to put in entree orders yet. The food was good, but our bodies didn't really know what meal it was supposed to be, and then we went to bed at 7pm. We'll go back to do it right some day.

To continue two themes, we had a quick bite as early as the hotel would allow, then ran to the train station to get to the airport in time to run to a shuttle and then run to catch our flight. We made it and around 8am had landed in Sonderborg, my new home. My apartment is small but sufficient, though of all things the bedding made me wonder if I could survive here. The mattress is ok, but the pillow is just a loose bag of cottonballs, and the sheets are faded pastel patterns that look like they were stolen from a hospital. Anyway, we quickly checked off the requirements (ID card, bus pass, initial groceries) and took off for London, which was frigid but fascinating and will be a post in itself.

The goodbye was very hard for both of us, softened only a bit because we had already planned the next three times we would meet up and had sort of been saying goodbye for a few days already.

Here are just a few highlights and lowlights of life here so far:

* I like coffee a lot, and the coffee machine at work is an automatic espresso machine. Coffee is espresso and water (cafe americano). My favorite "dessert" after lunch is two shots of espresso and one small hot chocolate.

* Church- I found a good Bible believing church that has enough internationals to have a live translator in the back which feeds into sets of headphones at several seats. I've made a bunch of friends which is helping to overcome what has been a very lonely time for others in my shoes.

* Running has been a bit tough due to the cold and snow, but my longest run took me through a quiet stretch of forest with waves breaking on the rocky coast below, which was glorious.

* I work with a guy that helped rebuild a viking ship and lives in a 300 year old house with a thatched roof. He's helping me plan some cultural outings.

* Gripe #1- customer service that starts with "didn't you see the ___", as in "didn't you see the 'F' next to those bus times?" (which obviously meant only on Friday, duh) or "didn't you see the option to report the problem to the webmaster" (and no I won't help you with your plane ticket) or "didn't you see the information on cancelled buses under...", (and no we are not interested in reimbursing you for the taxi you had to take instead).

* Gripe #2- exactly 2.7% of Sonderborg residents shovel the snow on the sidewalks in front of their homes and businesses, and exactly 96.8% of drivers look at me like I'm picking my nose (while I'm not) and/or try to run me over when I run on the very edge of the road because only 2.7% of the sidewalks are shoveled.