Ben's Biking Adventures and Other Funtivities

I'm gonna take this time to recap some events of the past week through the lens of biking. I'll start by saying that I felt like a true Dane biking home from school yesterday. Apparently "PM showers" in Denmark means it starts to downpour right at 6 pm. I got soaked to the bone on my twelve minute ride home. The Danes have all been talking about this summer has been one of the nicest ones they remember, but apparently fall = rain/cloudy and it comes in September. Can't wait! Anywho, the day before, I was biking through the Town Hall Plaza and this middle-aged woman with a gold tooth was giving out free hugs! Naturally I took her up on it and it was quite the warm embrace we had. It was a real day brightener! Knowledge bomb: Denmark has been ranked in 2010, 2011, and 2012 as the happiest country in the world! Badaboom! Anywho, later that day, I witnessed quite the impressive biking feat. This guy was biking downhill, steering with his feet on the handlebars while cracking open a beer with his hands. What a feet! Nuh nuh nuh...Anywhom, on Wednesday a few of my friends and I decided to bike to Ny Havn, this beautiful area of restaurants and colorful houses that's right on the water, and drink a beer as we watched the sunset. It was so beautiful! After the sunset we went to this waffle house and I paid $7 for the best waffle I've ever had. I was having and absolute love affair with this waffle covered with powdered sugar and delicious jam. That will definitely not be the last waffle that I'll be having. Today, I met my visiting family for the first time! DIS offers students a visiting family if they do not live with a Danish Family to help them become more immersed into Danish culture. Turns out my family was quite wealthy and lives in the very nice part of Denmark right on Lake Furesø, which (knowledge bomb ensuing) is the deepest lake in Denmark at over 100 feet deep in some areas! Whammo! The mom said I should bring my swim trunks 'cause they have kayaks. However, we ended up going bike riding said. Unfortunately, they are a really tall family and I only brought crocs 'cause I thought I would be kayaking. Long story short, we went on a 12 mile bike ride around this lake in golf shorts and crocs on a too big road bike when a mountain bike would've been much more appropriate. They only had two mountain bikes and they had clip-on biking shoe pedals so crocs were inappropriate. Oh and the road bike I was using was older than me. It was a wonderful ride though and my bike made it! I look forward to more biking adventures in the future!

Pictures! A little random so get ready to jump around a bit...

Town Hall Plaza. There are lots of street performers here.

 Lovin' Mickey D's!

Tivoli Amusement Park. I haven't been yet but it's what Disney World was modeled after.

Ny Havn. A beautiful place to watch the sunsets.

More Ny Havn. Still pretty!

S'more Ny Havn.

Too much Ny Havn?

 What Copenhageners (and me) look like when they're biking in a downpour...

A pretty creek leading into Lake Furesø.

My visiting family's living room. I think that's a 70 inch tv...yowzahs!

Lake Furesø. They have a lot of sailing here and Mads (pronounce Mess, the 20 year old guy in my visiting family) used to sail here. The day got a lot nicer by the end of our bike ride!

The Danish Jewish History

Just a heads up, this will be a somewhat academic focused write-up…so put on your thinking caps! I’m taking a history of the Jewish life in Europe class which is quite tricky, as my Hebrew is a little rusty (meaning completely nonexistent). My Professor, Thorsten, is a towering man who stands about 6’ 7” with very broad shoulders but is a rather good looking and charming guy. Anywho, he took us to the Jewish Museum in Copenhagen, which is located beneath the Royal Library (the symbolism of this is beautiful. The Jewish history is buried beneath all the other Danish works but it's always there and ever present.). It is a stunningly beautiful area (pictures later). The Royal Library used to be a canal that was filled in centuries ago. You can still see giant metal ring-like structures that used to be used for docking boats built into the foundation of the adjacent building (now Parliament). Thorsten was telling us about the symbolism of the location of the museum, which was built only 10 years ago. Knowledge bomb: the museum was built by Daniel Libeskind, the same guy who built the memorial at Ground Zero. Baboom! Apparently he’s quite famous and has built famous memorials and things of that nature all around the world. Thorsten was actually the historian who aided him in the construction of the museum. Anywho, the museum’s Jewish name means “a good deed”. Why you might ask? The Danes are the only people who aided the Jews in the World War II era. While there were only 6,000 to 7,000 Jews in Denmark at the time, the Danes helped smuggle them into Sweden. Over 99% of Danish Jews survived the war. A major player in the survival of the Jewish people was Niels Bohr. Yes, that’s the same Bohr who created the still used model of the hydrogen atom. He was a Danish Jewish scientist who was very active in all three of those realms. There is a bust of him outside of KU. No that's not the University of Kansas. It's Kobenhavn University! Which (knowledge bomb ensuing...) was founded in 1497! Whammooo! That's a wee bit older than those colleges stateside. Anywhom, Denmark is known for being very nice (people have been much nicer to Americans than I would've thought so far), especially in times of strife. In fact, the pastors of the Christian Church offered to hide the Torah for the Jews while they were in Sweden so that they didn't get destroyed by the Germans. What a nice gesture! There were a few rough patches in their history, but this trip to the museum and sites along the way just provided more evidence for the fact that Denmark is a lovely place with welcoming people.

Pictures!

Niels Bohr. Man? Dane? Jew? Scientist? How bout all of the above! I hope to have a bust of me someday...

The Jewish synagogue in town. The architecture actually has some Egyptian influence.

A famous church (can't remember which one exactly...) is marked by the steeple way in the back and the cylindrical building is its observatory. Both are a part of KU. This is the church where the Torah was hidden during WWII.

Hørbro Plads. This is a beautiful plaza. Unfortunately it is the location of one of the few moments of anti-Semitism in Copenhagen. There were riots against Jews here in 1814.

The Royal Library! So pretty. So this used to be a canal and everything you see in this picture was water in the 18th century. The Jewish Museum of Copenhagen is located in the basement. The entrance is behind those bushes behind the fountain.

Just another shot. It was worth two pictures.

The entrance of the museum.

A poster about the museum. So you aren't allowed to take pictures inside the museum. But look at the left side of this picture. None of the walls were straight up and down. The floors were actually uneven and made of wood. This was supposed to simulate a ship rocking about as Copenhagen is a major port city. It was someone disorienting having all the walls at funky angles but it was very well done.

A pretty sunset. This picture was taken on my way back from field hockey practice. Don't worry, that's a story for another time ;)

Parades and Games and More!

I've seen a lot of Copenhagen culture these last few days! I shall start with the Gay Parade. There was a massive parade supporting gay rights in Copenhagen yesterday. I only caught the tail end of it but it can be summed up in three words: enthusiasm, loud, and debauchery. There was music playing, people marching, and all sorts of costumes being worn. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to photograph much of the events, but maybe that's for the best. There were tens of thousands of people parading around, most of which had been drinking in good ol’ Copenhagen fashion. They were making quite the statement and doing it in style. Afterwards, George (roomie) and Dave (Colgate amigo) decided to go swimming in the Harbour Pool that runs through Copenhagen. It’s essentially this staircase that was built into the water and then just stops, so you can jump off. It’s 15 feet tall! We couldn’t pass it up, despite the water being freezing. No regrets! Then, this guy wearing this ridiculous green bathing suit (can you even call it that? See pictures…) jumped off and tons of people were taking his picture. Naturally I did too. Right next to the jump, there were four kayak polo courts, which is water polo with elevated goals and everyone is in a kayak. The point is to throw the water polo ball into the goal, but there is a goalie who uses his paddle to knock down the ball, just like in quidditch! Knowledge bomb: It officially became a sport in Europe in 2005 and they host nationals every other year! Babooom! Germany is the powerhouse of the sport. I can’t wait for this sport to make it to America. We then stumbled upon some good old fashion bocce games. The next day, we witnessed my personal favorite of the Copenhagen sports. It’s called Bumper Soccer (or football here). It’s three on three on a mini soccer field and all the players have this giant gerbilesque bubbles on and just run into each other! It seemed like they were more focused on knocking each other over than scoring. It was so funny to watch.

PICTURES 

Gay Parade in downtown Copenhagen. There were lots of people.

Wings were a common theme in many of the costumes.

 It was a family event with lots of children. Many people posed when they saw you taking pictures of them.

Fun had by all ages!

Me jumping from the 15 foot staircase.

Me jumping one second earlier than previous picture.

 Dave and me jumping.

Roommate George killin it! 

Man in ridiculous bathing suit doing many poses before jumping. There was a rather legit video camera there, almost like they were shooting a commercial or something. 

Little girls trying to catch fish. Just like me at Mattapoisett as a youngin! 

Kayak polo! 

The whole field! Yes, they still call it a field even though it's in water. 

He shoots. He scores! 

Find out more at our website! 

Bocce game. They had uniforms and everything! 

Classic Bumper Football. I'm bummed the video wouldn't load because there are some great action collisions. This looked like so much fun! The guy on the right is part of the company and soccer teams can rent them for an hour for only 2500 DKK which is about 40 bucks per person, usually 12 use them at once. The company has made it to Canada, so it should be in the states soon!

The Biking Culture in Copenhagen

Contrary to popular belief, Copenhagen is the biking capital of the world! Well maybe I'm a little biased, but Copenhageners do compete with those Amsterdam folk in claiming this title. I honestly do think that they are beating out Amsterdam though. I knew Copenhagen was big on biking before arriving here, but I had no idea how big. Knowledge bomb...about 50% of people bike to work everyday...that's over a five hundred thousand people everyday! kapow! Aftershock...almost 800,000 miles are biked every day by Copenhageners! Whammo! I was told to get a bike by a friend before arriving, so I pre-ordered one and picked it up on the first day. What a ride! Literally. Anywho, there are so many cyclists, but it's incredibly organized. They have the road for cars, an elevated bike lane (usually two bikes wide), and an even more elevated sidewalk for pedestrians. The bike lanes actually have their own light system too. They are a little smaller and are right next to the car lights. The best part about the light system (that the US should totally adopt) is that the light shines red and yellow at the same time before going to green. This gives the bikers a chance to set their feet on their pedals and get going when it turns green. It's magical! One thing that certainly makes biking interesting is the use of hand signals, which involves biking with one hand. The hand signals here are slightly different too. Instead of an upward right-angled arm to turn right, you just use your other arm. And, the US right turn signal, is the signal for stopping here. This created a little confusion early on but I've since figured it out. Bikes in Copenhagen are kinda like people in New York City, they are everywhere, no matter where you turn. They have thousands of bike racks everywhere: outside dorms, apartments, stores, and parks. The bike diversity is incredible too. I have a cute little basket on my bike which conveniently holds a map so I can easily navigate at red lights. They have lots of big box-like things to store things in front of bikes. There are countless baby seats attached as well. My TA for a class I have said that lots of kids will attach giant sound systems to their bikes and bike around with them. I even saw a unicyclist today! Some people will ride a bike while holding another bike and toting it along with them. Anywho, America could learn a thing or two from Denmark. It's so much cheaper to bike. More environmentally friendly. And fun!!!

Now for pictures!

My roommate, George, super excited to park his bike for the first time! 

A "basket-style" bike.

A car-seat style that can hold two kids. Though I have seen adults squeezing into these.

A typical traffic light in Copenhagen. The smaller lights on the bottom are for bikes. The big three light one is for cars. The two light one is for pedestrians.

  

A typical car seat bike. Some of the car seats are actually on the handlebars so that the kids can enjoy being in the front!

Me with my bike! I'm eating a free hotdog that I waited about an hour in line for. Totally worth it.

 This is Long Bridge. I ride across it everyday to class. Notice the three different lanes for different modes of travel.

 Disney!! Is it sad that this is a landmark of mine (and many Americans)?

 Another traffic light. This yellow-red light combo comes right before green. The green-yellow-red sequence is the same as the States, so you can tell if it's going from yellow to red or green.

 Me stopped at a light. It's normal for about 75 people to pile up at a light. The lady in front of me is wearing a helmet, which is very uncommon. I would say over 95% of people don't wear helmets while biking. Most people only ride three-gear bikes, so people are moving terribly fast. I am not wearing a helmet here (sorry mom!). When in Rome!

A typical sign to see. There is a path for pedestrians and for cyclists.

Countless bikes lined up along and apartment.

My bike parking lot. That is my dorm in the background.

A pier/slide into the canal!