The Proud Danes

From what I can tell, the Danish people are very proud of their little awesome country. The flags come out on the table for birthdays, their pride was clear throughout the handball match, and they are eager and excited to share the traditions of their country. While, yes, everything I have heard and observed as made me agree that they have very much to be proud of- I have decided to try to pinpoint just a few key cultural aspects that lead to the huge sense of pride that the happy people of Denmark feel.

1. They are (mostly) really tall.
2. Their national flag claims to be the oldest in the world. That's pretty neat.
   
3. Denmark's Noma has been named the best restaurant in the world.
   
4. They now also have the best chef in the world: Rasmus Kofoed, he owns Geranuim in the center of Copenhagen.
5. And, on the topic of food, the pastries here are mind blowing.
6. They can speak Danish. Seriously though, it's a very, very difficult language and they should be proud.
   
7. Vikings.
   
8. Tivoli gardens (which, fun fact, inspired Walt Disney and Disneyland).
   
9. They are proud of their drinking? I'm assuming because it is legal to drink in public here. And hey, they should be!
10. Mmm Tuborg and Carlsberg. Good reasons to be proud.
11. The Little Mermaid.
12. Windmill and recycling system success among other environmental advancements.
    
13. Skype and Bluetooth, two incredibly important and influential technological advancements that no one but the Danish people seem to know were Danish inventions.
14. and Legos. Enough said.

Denmark's current top 10 hits (according to allcharts.org)

Numbers 2 and 10 should be pretty familiar to the American readers, but I had to check out others.

1. Out of it- Fallulah
This is the theme song to the Danish TV series 'Lykke' and a favorite of another Smithie studying abroad in Copenhagen right now...
2. Grenade- Bruno Mars
3. Det Burde Ikk VÆre SÅdan H - Xander
I love this sad and mildly electronic tune although I have no idea what is being said
4. Rolling in the Deep- Adele
Adele is always amazing, but I am a huge fan of this song. Good choice, Denmark.
5. Sjus- Kato featuring Ida Corr Camille J
6. Addiction- Medina
Good club song, also popular in the US.
7. NÅr Tiden GÅr BaglÆns- Clara Sofie & Rune Rk
Another good dance song
8. This is Not- Veto
The link goes to a live performance, pretty intense, very trance-y
9. Fest- Morten Breum & Nik & Jay
10. Hold it Against Me- Britney Spears
I think we have all heard this one by now... I still think it odd that Britney used so much dubstep.

So there you have it! I have to say, for being the happiest people in the world, the majority of those songs are pretty depressing. But overall, I like this country's choices.

Unprofessional Handball Final Report

UGHHHH.

The world final handball match- Denmark vs. France just ended and France won in over time. I'm going to give a totally unprofessional and knowledgeable recap of the highlights (??) of the game for those of you in the states who are dying to be filled in to my new favorite sport.

Coming to Denmark, I had absolutely no idea that handball was a professional sport or an important piece of culture to any countries. Oops. I figured it was like racket ball or squash. NOPE! ITS WAY MORE AWESOME. It seems to me that handball is a mix of basketball and soccer but with more player-to-player contact. The way the teams move up and down the space is like basketball, but the ball looks like a soccer ball and there is a goal as opposed to a net.

So, for those of you in the states who missed the big game, here are my incredibly important and highly critical observations of the second half:

1. The French goalie is very good at making his body into an X shape
2. The best part of the game is when they shoot because of how intense the players get as they leap into the air and throw the ball
3. The Danish goalie has huge hands
4. Handball players are extremely good looking. Mostly the Danish ones.
   
5. My host mother likes to play solitaire on her phone while the game is on, until it gets intense, and then she cannot sit down.
   
6. With five seconds left in the game, Denmark shoots and scores to tie it up and put them into overtime
7. One of the main French players with an annoying beard definitely had a hickey
8. The Danish goalie is incredible. And actually blocked a penalty shot. Amazing.
9. 
10. Why did they play a techno version of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song?
11. And France ended up winning by 2. Damn it.
    

I think I've decided to drop everything and play handball for the rest of my life. Or drop everything and follow the Danish men and woman's teams around. Gooo Denmark!

Some things don't change?

When I arrived in Denmark and saw my little adorable bedroom, I thought to myself- hey, this is small and cute, I'm not going to ever have it be messy! And, in my defense, it stayed pretty clean for almost TWO weeks. I suppose this is similar to the beginning of every year of college when one walks into their new room and tells themselves that- its a new year, this year it will be clean all the time!

Never. Happens.

This is what Sunday cleansing is for. Expect lots of blogging and updates on my disaster zone room.

Back 2 Berriez!

Don't worry, fellow berry lovers! I have not forgotten about my promise to fill your blog adventures with stories and fun facts about berries (and babes- more on that after tonight?). I have been keeping my eyes open here in Denmark for berrrrrry interesting things regarding my two favorite subjects. So here we go, back in action!

One of the sweetest (don't mind my excellent word choice) things about Copenhagen are the many bakeries that you find on every street. They smell excellent. They are beautiful. They will make you only want pastries for the rest of your life.

So, I have decided that my way to keep you all up to date on berry info from abroad, will be, to eat berries while abroad! Not so different I suppose. Although, hopefully I will not have to pick any of the berries I will be eating. Just pick out the beautiful and delicious pastries I will want to try...

this was taken at a pretty big bakery on our way home from Christiania
No, unfortunately I did not try any of these
Next time, expect a full report...

Making a change

Okay so, since I've been taking my class that does a lot with blogging, I've realized that it would be in the best interest of my blogging career (lol?) if I separated Babes and Berries from my journal-like writing about my time in Denmark. So, I'm going to have two blogs. Do not worry, this will not be complicated! I just want to keep my babes and berries voice separate from keeping you all updated with my travels and adventures.

both blogs will be able to be accessed from one another by links that will say: My Other Blog. Easy enough? So you can just click between. This way, I will still update everyone on what I'm up to, and I will still have a blog that I can write continue in the way it was going. Perhaps I was inspired over my strawberry rhubarb jam this morning. Ha. Get it? berries?

So, click on the link to the left that says G in DK to take you to my new blog about me being in Denmark to check that out. The actual URL is http://g-in-dk.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

Going abroad!

In only three short days I will be on a plane to Denmark! How weird is that? So far, I have one suitcase packed and a lengthy list of things to do and more things to pack. I have heard from my host family- the Schou's, and I actually had a chance to chat online with the 22 year old son, Mathias. Because the beginning of our chat was based upon him quizzing me about Denmark, I realized I needed to do some research before heading off to the brand new country. So, as I've been reading anything possible about Denmark, I have discovered one key important cultural piece to Danish culture: There are no free refills. Just kidding, I mean, that's true, but hopefully it will not be the central important piece to my travels abroad. My favorite piece of Danish history is the name of the first Viking king: Gorm The Old. Pretty intense.

Okay but in all seriousness, reading about Denmark has only made me so much more excited. They are supposed to be the happiest people in the world! Sounds good to me.