So begins the Denmark saga: arrival!

Here!! and now with my suitcase, which is a recent improvement- I went through Buffalo, JFK, Reykjavik*, and Copenhagen; my bag, on the other hand, hesitated at JFK and followed my path a few hours later. 


This ought to be a quick post, as I have a bit of grant writing to do. The basic rundown: arrived in CPH shortly after 6am local time (midnight EST), my supervisor for the summer, Lars, picked me up there and we drove to Hillerød, first stop was for breakfast at his house and meeting his family, then off to the office for a Danish phone and SIM card (which, unfortunately, is still in Danish), meeting a few of the folks in the office, and a quick tour and receiving of keys. 


The tour continued/expanded as we did a bit more driving around town, stopping at Frederiksborg Slot for a leisurely stroll- there's something. The planned brevity of this post deters me from going into detail here, but: northern Ren. castle built in the early 17th century, complete with chapel, hunting lodge, and impressive Baroque grounds and garden, all free and open to whomever wants to pass through- older women on their morning power walk/gossiping (some things are universal), joggers, tourists, locals biking through en route to the town center, dog owners, etc. Tables turn slightly if you were to go in to the castle (haven't done that yet), which now hosts a museum- the only feature of the whole plays that requires your hard-earned money, I believe.

Next up was meeting my host for the summer, a very sweet older woman with a relatively sizable room to rent out... so here I am. Deal also includes internet (thank goodness), a half-bathroom of my own, and a small kitchen of my own with the basic utensils and whatnot. Certainly survivable- especially upon finding that my suggested route to the office (Lars has procured me a bike- pink, and with a basket. woot... ha) is to cut through the aforementioned Baroque gardens and take a path around the edge of Frederiksborg Slot. Quite the commute, eh? Tested out this route on foot later in the afternoon to meet up with Lars' daughter, Karolina, for lunch, a mini tour, etc, back for an unintentional nap (fight the jet lag!), settling in, welcoming my suitcase and further settling in... which brings us fully up to date. More soon!


*I will have to go back to Iceland again someday, by the by- not because I was impressed with what I saw, but because I know I didn't see the best side of the country as we flew in. Bare, brown, total lack of vegetation, and Jared-Diamond-and-deforestation reminiscent, which doesn't help when vegetation already had to put up with the destructive forces of lava and volcanic ash. The fellow I was sitting next to was Icelandic (and stuck up conversation by asking me twice if I was Icelandic- but asking in Icelandic. My lack of comprehension answered his question.) and I had this terrible urge to ask him what would possess people to stay in such a seemingly barren land. ...but the question would be difficult to ask without coming off as rather ignorant and offensive, and, as previously noted, I know I missed out on all of the more touted qualities of the island.