Smørrebrød, smiling, and a pita kebab

Alrighty, we're going to try to do another relatively quick update here, particularly for the sake of my hitting the hay a bit earlier- still trying to wrap my head around the 6hr time difference, and must be at the office by 8am tomorrow morning as Lars, Lars, and I head out to the National Centre for Visual Impairment in Kalundborg, where I'll be helping with their summer program later this month. Looking forward to it, but our departure time + threat of rain (which means I plan to walk rather than bike ride; call me crazy) means waking up bright and early. So, without further ado...


The internship: Going well, though I'll be interested to see if we find enough for me to do for the entire summer, honestly. Everyone at the office is great, which is a major bonus, recall that my commute takes me past Frederiksborg Castle every morning and afternoon/evening, and things are pretty relaxed (eg no dress code- woot!). Thus far, my days have involved familiarizing myself with the company, websites, and tools like RoboBraille, editing and providing suggestions for a new brochure in English, looking over the English version of the website, writing up some step-by-step instructions to use RoboBraille, etc, and trying smørrebrød for the first time- a very Danish open-faced sandwich sort of creation with a heavy bread base (they love this stuff) and meats or whathaveyou on top. The table was covered in various possible toppings, ranging from meats (pig, beef, or fish based, generally) to tomatoes and cucumbers to dressings. I awaited advising and observed others, as it's tricky to create your own- someone might tell you that you can mix and match whatever you'd like, but they don't really mean it. For instance, apparently fish goes with a different kind of bread, and mayonnaise versus another similar dressing are disastrous to mix up. Ah, and when in doubt, eat it with a knife and fork; it may be sandwich-like, but I've been informed that pretty much only plate-less construction workers eat it with their hands... ahem.

Thought for the day: I've heard that Americans smile too much, which is completely possible (though I believe we also recently won the reputation as funniest nationality, so at least we're consistent there). And no, I'm not the sort to smile mindlessly... but even so, I just have to say, Danes simply smile too little, and not just by American standards. Think about it, Denmark: you're amazingly developed and organized (and proud of it), you're statistically one of the happiest countries in the world, you apparently have the best work-life balance, and some of you are biking past a Baroque garden and 17th century castle on your daily commute. Going by those, you should all be cracking smiles far more than you do. Those Danish smiles are lovely when you allow them to show themselves- which I've caught you doing, at least in private. Besides, just think of all those facial muscles you work in the simple act of smiling, eh? You'd seem quite a bit more welcoming and less daunting if you put them to use more often. ...So I've kind of set aside my goal of testing my ability to blend in, for the sake of now trying to get a smile out of random Danes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.


Also: Discovered a kebab place down the street from the office - which street, by the by, is restricted to pedestrians, a few bicyclists, and plenty of street vending sorts, so I'll have to post a photo at some point.... In any case, the 20kr (about $4) pita kebab won me over, largely for the sake of diversity in both food and people. Another way in which I might be displaying my non-Danishness: my friend group tends to include a fair number of various nationalities, many of whom are not Caucasian... which, unfortunately, seems uncommon in this more homogeneous, reserved society. Planning to align myself with the kebab fellow. haha 


...well, for those who didn't already know it, verbosity is a weakness of mine. Goodbye for now