Back from Denmark (which means back to school, unfortunately)

Hello Everyone,

It’s been a while since I’ve written, but I’ve had quite an eventful week, so don’t worry, this will be a long post to make up for that. And right now, the picture portion of this blog isn't working, so I'm going to have to upload them another time. Sorry, but the internet here is less than optimal. For now, you'll just have to read a lot of text, and hope that I can get the pictures working tomorrow.

Last week I had my interview with the organization that I will be working with. I’m not entirely sure what I’ll be doing because the organization not only provides links to legal aid (they are not lawyers themselves I guess) but also educates people about their rights and promotes cultural recognition in Berbère. To way oversimplify, Berbère is the term used in France for French citizens with ancestors of North African descent (especially countries formerly colonized by France like Mali, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia). These communities face a lot of problems with integration in France, because even when they are second or third generation French citizens, they are often not recognized as such or are assumed to be immigrants and not French. Again, I’m not an expert, and so the situation is much more complicated than that, and I am going to be learning a ton from my months working with these issues. I wish that I could say that the interview went well, but I left it feeling really nervous that perhaps I wasn’t what the organization wanted. However, Thomas (one of the directors of my program) has assured me that it is normal in France to not be warmly welcomed when being first met by an employer. In the U.S. it’s common for people to be overly nice, almost superficial when they meet you, but in France people are more upfront (more honest I guess) with their feelings, and thus don’t act overjoyed to see you when they don’t know you. After I slept on it and talked with Thomas I felt much better, and even though it is going to be challenging and probably uncomfortable at the outset, I am going to learn a lot and hopefully benefit immensely from working with French co-workers and in Parisian communities.

But the internship won’t start for another 3 weeks, so I have more time to mentally prepare myself. 2 weeks of class and then a week off to travel. I actually had my first European travel experience (all on my own) this weekend. We didn’t have class on Friday, so on Thursday night I got on a plane and headed for Copenhagen to visit Miles and the other Mac students studying there. That makes it sound easy, but I actually had a hectic time at the airport because my direct flight was cancelled and they forgot to contact me. They got me on a flight with a stopover in Frankfurt, Germany, which I felt really lucky about, except for the fact that by the time all the paperwork was finished, I had less than ½ hour to make it on the plane. The Charles DeGaulle airport is not like Minneapolis, where the security is right at the beginning of the airport and then you go find you terminal and gate. Instead you have to go through the whole airport and then do the whole security thing right before boarding. So I was standing in an incredibly long line waiting to have my bags cleared while I watched people boarding the plane. Needless to say I was really relieved when I made it on the plane just before takeoff.

I was supposed to meet Miles at the metro station, but didn’t see him right away. As I looked for him, I was overwhelmed by the amount of bikes in Copenhagen. There were hundred of bikes parked all over the station and tons of people whizzing by in the bike lane. I was also really thrown off by this beeping noise that would get faster and then slower. I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. When I finally found Miles (he was in the right spot, I wasn’t) he explained that they are at most crosswalks in Copenhagen to alert blind pedestrians when it is okay to cross the street. What a concept!

Friday, Miles had class but had enough time between to treat me to a very Danish lunch. We went to a smorborg (I don’t know how to spell that, but it means open faced sandwich) shop and bought a few to eat. It’s not a great place for vegetarians, because meat is in everything, but I was able to find one with egg and another with potato. They were really beautiful (I had to take a picture or two) and really messy to eat, especially since mine was covered in butter. I’m not sure how the Danes are so skinny because their food just seems so unhealthy. Especially since it is cheaper to buy a beer than it is a bottle of water or a soda in the 7/11 (hence the beer with the meal). Prices really were outrageous in Denmark, because they have such a high tax on everything. Luckily, Friday night we ate at Naomi’s dorm and on Saturday at Nate’s (the Northfield soccer player that goes to Mac) host family’s house.

While Miles was in class I wandered the city. It was a beautiful day and a really easy city to walk around (so small compared to Paris!). The National Museum is free and so I spent some time in their, going through an exhibit on Denmark through the ages. I learned a lot about Denmark and got to see the clothes and furniture of the different periods. They had one case full of peasant head pieces that looked just like the one that I had when I was little (the red one from Ansine, that had a matching one for my doll). I tried to take a picture, but with a flash it reflected and without it was too dark.

Naomi’s dorm was amazing. It was designed by some really famous architect and is apparently really hard to get into. Naomi was lucky because 1 or 2 spaces per section are reserved for international students. Otherwise, the waiting list is 200 or so people long. We made some Danish meal (like a skinny pancake with cheese and veggies rolled up inside) in her amazing kitchen. It was great to see Naomi, and to meet her friends (she had 2 visiting her for the weekend) and to introduce her to my friends who are also in Copenhagen, like Miles and Kate and Nate and Tim. Hopefully they will get to hang out again because they all seemed to get along.

Saturday Kate, Miles and I did some people watching. We decided that there are a lot of babies in Copenhagen; a lot of adults pushing strollers. And a surprising amount of guys pushing the strollers, by themselves, which is something that you don’t see as often in Minnesota. And of course, the Scandinavian good faith that allows people to park their babies outside while they go shopping. Such a different lifestyle in a big city, (or at least the capital of a country), where you don’t have to be afraid that someone might take your child if you leave them alone. Then we went to the gardens of the Rosenburg castle. It was a gorgeous day and there were swans and ducks swimming in the ponds. So strange to come upon castles just when out walking. We really don’t have anything like it in the U.S. It was Fashion Week in Copenhagen, but we never found the actual fashion show part of the event. We did come across some Danish rappers who had set up a public concert. It was funny to listen to because we didn’t understand it at all, and so were totally clueless as to what was being said when people would start cheering or laughing. Everyone speaks English in Copenhagen, but still, when they are speaking to one another, they speak in Danish and everything is written in Danish. It makes you very aware that you are a foreigner. I guess the same would be true in Paris, if I didn’t know French at all, a realization that made me appreciate my language skills (even as limited as they are).

Well, I’ve rambled on enough, but I did have a great time, and was very sad to leave Miles and everyone. It seems like it will be so long before I see them again. But I did have the nice thought when I arrived back in Charles DeGaulle that Paris no longer seems scarily unfamiliar. I felt like I was arriving home (in a manner of speaking), returning to where I feel comfortable. So I think that is a good sign that I’m settling into my life here and feeling an attachment to this place where I will end up spending 5 months of my life. Now it’s time to do some leisure reading (yes, that’s right, no homework this week!). Thank you all for writing to me. It’s so nice to hear that people are following what I’m doing. I feel so supported! Even you, Grandpa Ole, Grandma Bonnie, Grandma Elizabeth and Grampy Bill, when you don’t have a computer. Dad says that he sends my posts to you. I will try to post more often, so that you can have updates. Without homework this week, that may be a definite possibility.

Love to you all,

Liza