The Local Life
Three years ago…
I said goodbye to the three best guys I have ever met. Exchange students from the Copenhagen Business School, which by fate (coincidentally??) studied in Salt Lake City, UT at the University of Utah as well and “coincidentally” (fate??) were my roommates. “When are you coming to Denmark to visit?” One of them asked as I poorly fought back tears at the SLC airport on their last morning in Utah. Not knowing the answer, I simply mumbled “I don’t know.” And bid them farewell thinking I would never see them again,
Three years later…
After multiple conversations of getting the details down to the ‘T’ to come visit and after an hour connection in Zurich, Switzerland; I landed in Copenhagen, Denmark to two of my favorite guys waiting for me at the arrival area. I never knew if the day would ever come if I would see them again but I made sure I would see them while I was in Europe. The trip started out like any other night at the apartment back in Salt Lake City making pizza and watching sports. My friend, Kasper, kindly made me an extra bed in his apartment for the night to be woken up by a traditional Danish breakfast of pastries and cheese spread. Something only eaten when guests were there (I was honored).
Copenhagen is split into different areas similar to London; I was currently staying in Fredericksburg. The morning consisted of a small tour of the city area through of the most beautiful parks that actually looked like autumn. (I will take any fall weather, fall colors, and fall everything I can get, Italy seems to lack that fall aspect.) A tour of Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and lunch at Halifax (also I’m not sure if you know how much I long for a burger) and Joe & The Juice (the same goes for a green smoothie). Another tour of the center of Copenhagen, where I changed sleeping location to Mikael’s apartment; which had to most incredible view of the church from his private rooftop terrace. I couldn’t even fathom how amazing it was. After a tour around the city a bit, dinner came around and a traditional Danish feast was in order: roast pork, beans, and potatoes.
The next day was another day of being a tourist where we walked around the city and I was shown everything that I had to see like The Little Mermaid, Nyhaven, the Fortress, and of course a bike tour of the entire city (I’m sure had a permanent bruise on my caboose for about a week). In Europe, especially the northern countries, biking is a major form of transportation so it was definitely an experience to ride around like a local trying to keep up with all the bikers and not get run over by a car or crash into another biker. I almost hit a person and got killed a few times but somehow I survived to tell the tale. Needless to say, my biking skills need to be worked on before the next time round. The night ended with dinner at a restaurant in Tivoli; one of the oldest amusement parks in the world, and of course a night on the town.
Dinner…what can I say?? Six pounds of beef, three saucers of gravy, and unlimited fries; three hungry guys. I think that pretty much sums it up. Well it was more like 2 ½ guys hungry; seeing as I am half the size of both my friends and their friends in regards to body size and hunger size. “Let me know if you want anything else: fries, salad, and beef”, “Beef?!?” I’m actually surprised they kept bringing us more beef because I am pretty sure we ate their entire stock. Naturally, being smaller than my counterparts I had to keep up with them but after the fourth serving, I was out. I let them finish my portions and could officially say we all were in a food coma after that.
Copenhagen has such a wonderful atmosphere that I honestly wouldn’t mind living there. Clearly, the food being one of the highlights of the country, I now associate all things Danish with unlimited slabs of beef. The thing that impressed me the most about any European country, not just Denmark, is the ability to switch between languages easily – from Danish to German to English without even thinking! This was one of the best weekends that I’ve had because I had no idea what I was in for. Especially staying with my friends who are locals and being able to see what they do made it even better because I ‘lived’ the local life to some extent. I don’t mind at all!
But ya…that’s my life.