I’m back with another post! I can’t believe it’s October already. I’m starting to settle into more of a regular rhythm here, although I try to discover something new each day. I’ve taken a lot of walks down the long streets, trying to figure out how everything connects.

This past Friday I went with some friends to a “karma night” at a disco club, it was a lot of fun. A different type of place than we were expecting but still an enjoyable experience. There were a lot of yoga-type people there, and positive quotes were posted on the walls (in Danish). Plus it was a nice release to just let go and dance. :)

This weekend I didn’t do much, just went on several walks and cleaned the kitchen and my room. I thought it went pretty well. I’m considering buying a plant or something to bring some more life into this room. :)

This afternoon I decided to check out the Swim Centre at DGI-Byen, and it was really nice. Very stylish. The Danes are very open when it comes to nakedness in the locker rooms…you are not allowed to have clothes on when you take a shower. Everyone in the women’s locker room was naked — kids, grown women and small boys (who are too young to go alone into the men’s locker rooms). There are 5 pools. I swam in Pool 4, which is elliptical. You swim in circles around this smaller children’s play pool in the center. Very interesting. I’d never seen anything like it. It’s 100 meters (~ 328 ft) in circumference, and 1.8 meters (~5.9 ft) deep. I didn’t visit the other 4 pools today, but when I go back I will take a look at them!

My absentee ballot came in the mail the other day. So I will be casting my vote for president and sending it back ASAP!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted last. This post will be a general update. There are new pictures up on Flickr as well.

Discovering Copenhagen #2 – A walk around Nørrebro
Last Wednesday Barbara and I went on a walk around Nørrebro, which is a multi-ethnic area of the city; a lot of immigrants have settled here. This is also the “rougher” part of Copenhagen. Riots have occured here in the past, and we walked by the site where famous riots have occured in the past (including a site where a youth hangout spot had been torn down due to clashes over its ownership). We also visited the historic cemetery where many famous Danes have been buried. Nørrebro is very interesting to say the least and has a lot of multi-ethnic restaurants and shops. Plus, Barbara was a great tour guide!! I took lots of pictures, and they are up on Flickr.

Discovering Copenhagen #3 – Central Station, the Bus System and Rådhuspladsen
Another discovery from the past week included a visit to the Central Station (which is near or part of Nørreport Station) and riding on the S-Train and having my first Danish hot dog at the Central Station (delicious!). I went with Kathrine, one of my classmates who is also from the US!

On Saturday we’d originally planned to go to the zoo, but it was rainy and yucky in the morning, so I decided not to go and to do some shopping instead. I decided to try out the bus system in the process. The bright yellow busses are very well organized and they run on the dot. I also like how you can buy a 10-ride ticket and it works on all of the public transportation options — the Metro, the bus and the S-Train. I ended up at the central city square, Rådhuspladsen, while waiting to catch another bus, so I did some quick exploring of the shops around that area. I will return on a later date to see more! Riding the bus is also a good way to see how the different areas of the city are all connected, because to me Copenhagen still feels like several separate cities rather than one large one.

On Saturday afternoon I visited my friend Hana, a fellow classmate, in her dorm room for tea (she lives in the same dorm as I do, but in a different building)! I had a really nice time, and stayed for dinner as well. Then, Saturday night I went to a kitchen party; I had been invited by my friend Iveta, a fellow international student who also lives in this dorm. The party was fun and I met some nice people!

Discovering Copenhagen #4 -A walk around the park
On Sunday I went with Hana, on a walk around this gorgeous park near our dorm. It looks very much like the countryside! So Copenhagen has it all — big city, quiet, green pathways and of course the beach (which I have yet to visit). It was a very pleasant walk and I took pictures of course; they are on Flickr.

~~~

That is pretty much it for this entry. My week to clean the kitchen is coming up starting on the 28th. That should be interesting. I bought rubber gloves so it’ll be easier for me to do a good job without worrying about touching something icky. Ha!

On Monday (yesterday) our school hosted this interesting lecture about persuasive design. B.J. Fogg, a professor from Stanford University, gave a talk in the morning and a workshop in the afternoon. I attended both and found it quite neat. He talked about how websites, especially Facebook, uses certain techniques to persuade users to do certain things. Then in the workshops we looked at profile pictures and discussed how the lighting, angles, facial expressions and degree of cropping can affect the viewers’ perception. At the end of the workshop we broke into groups and put together a survey using our own profile pictures and apply some of the principles we’d discussed all day.

That’s it for now, more entries later!

On a whim, I decided to take advantage of the nice sunny weather and do some exploring this afternoon. The plan was to catch the Metro and get off at a random station and then walk around and see where I ended up! Well, the Metro was delayed for quite some time. Of course I couldn’t understand the announcements over the speakers, so I asked a man nearby to translate. Apparently there was a technical problem with one of the tracks. He also said there were people walking around on the tracks…I’m really hoping he meant repair people. :o

Anyway, after nearly 30 minutes of waiting, the system was up and running again. I decided to get off at Nørreport Station, which led to a part of the central city I’d never visited.

I walked around, enjoying the buildings and the newness of it all. Of course most of the stores were closed as it was after 14:00 (in Copenhagen, stores close early on weekend afternoons). I didn’t intend on doing any shopping however — I just wanted to explore!

This part of Copenhagen seemed so different from the suburb where I live…it’s hard to believe that it’s all part of the same city! Copenhagen is funny, it’s a big and modern city but feels small and old as well…that’s what I like about it!

Anyway, I don’t know how, but I stumbled upon this nice-looking botanical garden (I later learned that the gardens are part of Copenhagen University). I spent a great deal of time there, playing around with the camera. There were plenty of paths (too many to cover in a single trip), friendly ducks that roamed freely, benches at every corner, water and of course plants. There were also many greenhouses, but they were closed. Maybe next time!

After the botanical gardens, I walked around some more. At one point, my purse bumped against a bicycle (no one was on it) and accidentally tipped it over on its side…oops! This couple walking by chuckled. Thankfully it wasn’t damaged or dented. I set it back up and hoped no else one saw. Just reminds me that I need to be more watchful for bikes, both moving and stationary. There are just so many of them here.

Well, after walking for another 20 minutes or so, I decided to call it a day. On the way back to the Metro station, I stopped at this Thai place called Eastern Corner for dinner. I hadn’t tried the Thai food here until now. Took the food back to the dorm and it was delicious!! I will definitely be back.

So that was my day. Going to spend the rest of the evening finishing up the reading for class on Wednesday. I’ve uploaded a bunch of new photos from today, you can view them on Flickr!

I will do some more random exploring like this on later weekends.