What Copenhagen Has Done To Me

** Warning: Men May Be Bored By This Post **

See Pic Below. My hair looks like that. Yep...Get it out...Laugh...It's ok...But now, feel sorry for me because this is totally true. My curling iron died on me today & I am afraid of plugging in my hair straightener for the same reason. I didn't bring the right brushes to blow dry my hair. So as the weather gets windier, rainier, & just downright nasty for anyone's hair - my hair is expanding. I need a resolution to this... STAT.

Things I Don't Understand

There are many many many things I don't understand...but I am going to narrow it down to a short list...For today.


1. McDonald's.
I have to admit, that I have not been to a Mickey D's yet but I have been watching these commercials for one of their new burgers, and it's really comical. My fave part is that this commercial is for the "Chicago Star" Burger. (Mind you, in the commercial the actress is imitating Yoda from Star Wars so that alone had me wondering what the relevance to Chicago was).
According to the website, this burger has Chicken, Salsa, & Bacon (I think there is Sour Cream too but the web doesn't specify).


Now, Don't get me wrong, I don't expect all Danes to know everything about Americans, American culture, or local/regional foods...So if this were a Danish company, I would not fault them for marketing this burger as a "Chicago Star". But this is MC DONALD'S. Someone in the Denmark marketing team should be calling someone in the American offices & doing a little fact checking before putting this stuff out there. In this day & age, your American colleague should be just a phone call, email, or IM away...Seriously Mr. Ronald Mc Donald...You & your Hamburglar disappoint me so.


2. Noma
What is Noma you ask? Why it is THE BEST RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD. And I don't mean that in an "I really enjoy going there kind of way". It's literally voted the best restaurant in the world.
http://www.theworlds50best.com/
And this place is in Copenhagen!
How is this possible? In a country that is not known for its cuisine OR its customer service...But here it is. The WORLD'S best restaurant. I'd love to test this theory & try to answer the question as to why it's so good. However, the restaurant is always booked solid & will cost me more than my little wallet can handle. According to the website, they will start taking reservations for AUGUST after May 2nd. And from what I hear, the August reservations will be booked up within 10-20 minutes. How is anything that good? You know who wants to find out? THIS girl right here.


There should be no doubt in your mind that my 2 items of concern would be food related. Speaking of, I wonder what I am having for lunch...Hmm....

This is My Life

(Listening to Tracy Chapman - Cold Feet)

I don't hate it here. I really don't. But I am still not sleeping well at night...And I am constantly wondering if I can make it through a year here. This isn't a vacation...This is now my life. My dog isn't next to me. My friends aren't making plans with me for the weekend. My car is not waiting for me outside to take me wherever I want to go. It's just me. I'm not lonely yet & I have to admit that I am extremely grateful to be surrounded by people that I know & are willing to help me adjust as much as possible. I now have a Danish bank account, went to immigration, purchased a bus pass, & have completed 1 full day of work. I'm not writing this to be down on myself or pessimistic. Just letting the reality of the situation sink in. It's up to me to love it or hate it here but regardless, THIS is what it is. I'm here. Not there. And you're there. And not here. 
Wish you were here...

No Sleep Till Brooklyn

I can't sleep! It's most likely a combination of jetlag & nerves...But I cannot sleep. Consider it a miracle if I managed to sleep 2 hours total last night. When the alarm went off this morning, the only thing I could hear is the Beastie Boys, in my head, reminding me that there is No Sleep Till Brooklyn. But Brooklyn is a loonngg way from here....That's a very long time to go without sleep.

I'll take any suggestions I can get on how to get some sleep tonight. Today is my 1st day at work & I am afraid that they are going to meet cranky Teresa & she needs to stay hidden until at least the 3rd day.

Oh Mr Sandman, where are thou???

First Day Observations

As I wrote earlier, it was a long day & there is so much more to explore...But here's a little snapshot of my new home.

My Very First Grocery Purchase

I don't remember the exact amount, but it translated to about 30 US Dollars!

This lightpost is near my hotel.

Yea, I REALLY need to learn to ride one of these. Fashion Concern #1: The women wear long shirts w/ tights (no pants underneath) & ride their bicycles. Um...That's ALOT of cuca on display!

It looks scary but look again...He loves tetherball? Now that's hardcore.

On the canal tour

If you look at the steeple closely, you will see that it's intertwined dragon tails.

Prob my fave pic so far.

At the entrance to Christiania, the hippie commune.

Apparently, we stumbled into some sort of communist rally? None of us had the guts to ask though.

Greetings from København

The photographic portion of this blog will have to wait until I have a little more time & energy but have no fear folks...It's only day 1 & I have more pics than you can possibly imagine! ;-)

So I made it to Copenhagen! I spent almost 8 hours on a plane TRYING to get some sleep (total fail) & avoiding questions from the very nice chemist sitting next to me who was very interested in knowing all about my education. On the bright side. I watched Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows. Nevermind. That's not a brightside.

I arrived into Munich, where I spent all of 30 seconds in customs. Wearing a company hat was a great tip - def sped up the process when the agent realized who I worked for. That's right, sucka!! I felt important!

Tried to sleep at the Munich airport & then again on the plane ride to CPH. After an EXTREMELY foggy landing, I managed to get my bags & head to my temporary home without incident (And YES CPD met me @ the airport. Thank God for that!).

This is where it starts to get crazy. IT WAS HOT TODAY! I was sweating through my scarf & jacket. Ok, maybe it wasn't hot by Miami or even Charlotte standards but it most def was not cold enough to merit the winter clothes. Unfortunately, I did not know that this could be an option so I didn't have any clothes for this type of weather. Me?? Unprepared??? Shock waves rippled throughout the country. I promise. They did.

Right after check in, I headed over to the Netto (local grocery store) & purchased some items (more on that during the photo journey), dropped them off @ the hotel, & started walking. We walked to the office from the hotel, over to the canals where we took a canal tour, & met up w/ another friend/colleague. We then walked up some streets that I have no idea where I was at where we ran into another American Expat Colleague we knew who convinced us to head to an Irish pub for a cricket match. From there, we walked to Nyhavn (very popular place - look it up) & then walked to a restaurant where we met up w/ another colleague (from my project) for dinner. Needless to say, I AM POOPED!!!

Longest. Day. Ever.

PS - Yes, I miss you. I miss you alot. But if we're going on first impressions alone...IFFF I can get used to the walking, then I think I am gonna like this place.

The Time Has Come

The movers took all my things last week. I have to admit that I enjoyed sitting around playing Angry Birds (see previous post) while the movers packed for me. I never want to pack myself again.

It's hard to put into words how I feel...Which is weird for me since I always have words for how I feel. I'm surprisingly calm. I'm so calm, I'm even scaring myself. But I know that just below the surface, there is a volcano of emotions just waiting to errupt. My shaking hands give it away. But I don't want to let the release out yet. I don't want to be wailing on the plane crying harder than the baby going on his/her first flight. That just would not be cool or cute. Instead, I am trying to remind myself of WHY I wanted this opportunity so badly.

Let the Adventure Begin.