Christiania

Not much stuff worth noting has been going on lately. Don't worry, there are still plenty more cultural experiences to be had. However, lately I've been doing lots of school work in preparation for midterms. At least the school work is interesting though. Right now, I'm taking a break from writing a research paper about the 2006 Lebanon War. I already wrote a paper comparing business strategies and have to write another one about Danish culture. I'm going to discuss why Danes are so happy based on a 60 minutes video called "Those happy Danes." I also have an oral midterm for Danish, and midterms in my Russia Class, Holocaust and Genocide and I already had a quasi midterm for Doing Business in the EU. To prepare for my Danish oral, I'm having dinner with a friend and his Danish roommate.

Once I finish all this stuff, I go on my three week fall break. Then, I'll have lots to write about. As I mentioned I'm going to London, Brussels and Russia. I've also decided to go to Zurich and Milan for my other week. Tom's dad lives just outside of Zurich, so we'll chill there for a few days. I also have family and friends in Milan. So, it should be a fun week. I got kind of ripped off on flights because I'm leaving Milan on Easter weekend and Zurich has no budget airlines. I think it's because Switzerland still isn't in the EU, so the air treaties do not apply to them.

After spring break things will get really exciting. Spring in Denmark! Tivoli, the Copenhagen Coney Island equivalent, and Lego Land will open. Some other cool outdoor activities will start to be available, such as an authentic Danish village.

So my point is, I still have many cultural elements to experience.

One cultural experience I did have this past weekend was going to Christania. It is a self governing part of Copenhagen, with lots of anarchists. They still benefit from lots of elements of being in Denmark. On the other hand, they also break the law a lot and Danish police can't do much about it. Apparently it is illegal to walk up to someone and ask for drugs, so undercover cops can't do anything there. They have someone in a ski mask keeping watch outside of the neighborhood, so they are ready if there if a police raid. Despite my description of drug peddling and prominence of ski masks, it is a pretty cool safe place.

The neighborhood was really cool. There was cool grafitti and run down buildings. There were also little shops and stands. My friend said it might be what a third world country is like. I expected it to be a lot weirder, but it still had many elements of normal society. There was a bar, a few restaurants, etc. Upon leaving, there was a sign saying "now entering the EU." Unfortunately, they don't allow pictures there, so I don't have any.