Finally! I'm a Person!

Finally, after just under two months, I am officially a person in Denmark (but don't get that confused with a Danish person). After a long long battle, I finally got my CPR number which means that I can get a phone, a bank account, etc. Both of which have already been taken care of. I don't really want to get into detail of the process I went through to get it, but it seems to me that my delay is the result of a lot of people really not knowing or really caring all that much about the process. I still have a lot of things I need to take care of now, but it's nice to be able to start.

Berlin

Just finished my first day of sight-seeing in Berlin. Conor and I arrived here last night after spending a few days in Copenhagen and a few days in Amsterdam before that. Today we saw the Reichstag (which was rather disappointing: you wait half an hour to take an elevator to the roof and get a view of the city), the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial, Check Point Charlie, and the parking lot where Hitler's bunker was. Tonight we're going to the Blue Man Group and more sight-seeing tomorrow.

Travel Itinerary

On Wednesday, Conor and I will be leaving for our travels. I've provided our itinerary for all those who wish to keep constant tabs on us (Mom).

Amsterdam

Arrive July 2nd in the evening, stay 3 days and 3 nights and leave July 5th in the evening for the night train to Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Arrive early July 6th, stay for 3 days and 3 nights and leave early in the morning on July 9th

Berlin

Arrive in the afternoon on July 9th, stay for 5 days and 4 nights and leave the evening of July 13th for the night train to Munich

Munich

Arrive early July 14th, stay for 3 days and come home on July 17th

Graduation Weekend

This weekend Kyle and I were exposed to the Danish high school graduation tradition. All the students in the class rent this big truck (it looks like an old military truck), hang out of it screaming and yelling and wait for cars to honk and shout back. Apparently they are going around to each student's house, having a drink there, then moving on to the next. We were talking to a Danish friend of ours about it, and apparently this thing starts early in the morning and goes until night. We live on a pretty major road, so we heard A LOT of this during the weekend. 

Also, I finally saw my first detached house... hours after the last post. Granted we were way in the outskirts of Copenhagen and there were only a few. It's still nothing like North American cities.

We also found a bunch of Chinese shops around Kobenhavn H (the central train station). We bought a rice cooker and tofu. I think Kyle mostly likes it because he finally has people to practice his mandarin with. 

Biking in Copenhagen

One of my favourite things about living in Copenhagen is the biking. The city is super dense (I'm still waiting to see a detached home) and the area of the city seems much smaller than other cities, plus it is completely flat which makes biking seem like no effort at all. Bikes here are almost treated as another tier of automobiles. There are traffic lights for bikes, pretty much all roads have separate lanes for bikes, people will bike and talk on their phone/eat/smoke, and it gets a little nerve-racking biking next to someone after they've had a few too many beers. This is definitely something I'd like to bring back to Vancouver. 

The Cost of Living These Days

I had heard from a lot of people before I moved that Copenhagen is an expensive city, and boy they weren't kidding. Yesterday was laundry day and it cost 97kr ($20) to wash and spin dry some of my clothes for 5 minutes. Eating out has become a luxury; a meal that would cost $15 in Canada costs about $40 here. I guess that's what happens when the minimum wage is about $20 an hour. 

Two Weeks

Today marks 14 days that I've been here... and 14 days that I haven't done laundry. That's definitely on the agenda today. I spoke with the immigration office and nothing yet... hopefully I'll hear something back soon, but seeing as I'm doing some traveling with my friend Conor next week, it may have to wait until I return on the 17th. 

I'm getting excited for the trip, but so far, we haven't really planned too extensively. I know we're meeting in Amsterdam on the 2nd, staying there for 2(?) nights, heading to Copenhagen then hitting up Germany. 

Weather still dreary... nothing else new.