Free time in A Rain-Free Day

What will you do if you have free time in a great weather?

a. Go to the beach (Too far and didn't bring my sunblock lotion)
b. Bake cookies and invite friends to come over (Don't have enough kitchen utensils. Anybody wants to send me some kitchen stuffs?)
c. Get a free ice cream with free dark chocolate bits topping. (Not possible)
d. Go to the Freetown Christiania where it's the "Hippiest place in Denmark". (I better go here during the day instead of evening.)

So me and my rooomate, Aga, went to Christiania at the eastern side of Christianshavn. We followed a group of people assuming that they're going there. We walked for about 20 meters and we saw a building with grafitti all over it. I heard noise people skateboarding and heavy metal music. I said to Aga, "I think we're in the right place."

We weren't allowed to take pictures. My Danish course teacher said that it's because they don't you to take pictures of them selling illegal stuffs. Well, I wasn't expecting they will sell it in front of tourists (Christiania is one of tourist attractions in Copenhagen). And, yup, there I saw people selling marijuana. We went to the food places because Aga was hungry. But when we arrived, Aga didn't feel hungry anymore.

I heard that you can't live there without the approval of the Christiania's community.The place was really interesting. Some people go there to buy (and use) drugs or watch music concerts. Some people go there to see Christianian people because they are different. They have their own rules. They are there because they want to be free.

The entrance of Christiania.

"You are now entering the EU"

Vor Frelsers Kirke (Our Saviour's Church)
I can't get in because it was under construction. Too bad, I would love to see a pipe organ from 1698!As you can see from the picture, the church has a spiral tower. Reminds me of churches in Russia.

A couch boat! I want to be on that boat and watch television and be couch potato!

Me and Aga.
She's from Poland. She drove from Poland to Denmark. Wow! And she makes awesome crepes!!

We brought some delicious breads and sat on a bench next to the canal. Looking at boats, people and pigeons was really relaxing. Hmm...I love it!

Well, school starts tomorrow and my first class is at 8 am. Go go, Vania!

Flavors of København

Everytime I have a "food adventure", I always take pictures of the food so that I will remember the flavors of it. :p Here are some pictures taken from my "food adventure" since I arrived in Copenhagen. Velbekomme!

Oh yes! Soft ice-cream with dark chocolate sauce and pistachio toppings from Chocolate by Hand. When I came to this shop, I felt I was dipped in a pot of melting chocolate. The smell really makes you want to buy 4 dozens of their chocolate squares!
Just looking at this picture makes me drool already!*oops

I bought a 3-layer cake, which is common for Danes's birthday cake. I put strawberries, whipped cream and.....yes, the evil Nutella. My Danish friend told me that Danes decorate their cakes with small Danish decoration flags. The strawberries here are so tiny and cute!

A small thin-crust pizza. Toppings: ham, pesto, cheese and tomatoes. In every corner, you will find many small restaurants that sell pizza, pasta and kebabs for affordable prices (35 kr or $ 7 for a small pizza). There are several kebab places next to my dorm that keep calling me to come inside. Hoho...who wants to join me?

Yoga Peach Juice. Highly recommended. It is really good!!!

Falafel that I brought at Strøget. It reminded me of falafels in front of the U of O Bookstore. :)

Gelato. I had a mix of tutty-fruity and chocolate. Mmm...You can find many gelato parlours in Copenhagen. They are everywhere!

Jeg vil gerne have en flaske mineralvand. I will have a bottle of mineral water.
Couple days after I arrived in Copenhagen, I didn't really like the tap water. It taste different.
Today, I actually just bought lemon juice for my drinking water.

I have to admit that lately I have cravings for eating jasmine rice. So, I made chicken curry. Curry with warm rice. Yes, yes. Me happy lah! It's quite difficult to get Asian foods and spices. I could get soy sauce at most groceries stores but not Indomie or peanut sauce! ;p

Where I live right now, Nørrebro, has many little shops that sell food products from Germany, Turkey, Spain and even Thailand! In this area, many families are mostly from Middle-East countries. I will definitely have a blog post about Nørrebro!

More pictures!

Ice Cream Car
The driver will ring the bell and park in front of apartments. An ice-cream bar can cost 19 kr (around $4). Today, I just had a soft ice cream with chocolate and pistachio. Oh my...it was really good!Even though, I'm lactose intolerant but that doesn't stop me from having ice cream and cheese! :)

The S-train
Transportation in Denmark is really nice. There are bus, train and Metro. The Greater Copenhagen region is divided into 95 zones! A single ticket, where you can use any transportation in 1 hour, costs 20 kr (US $ 4).

Kristuskirken
There are 4 different churches meet in this building. One of them is the First International Baptist Church, the one that I go to.

Havneparken at Island Brygge
It's next to the Bryggens Kulturhus. Took this picture while me and my friends were waiting for the Crash Course BBQ last Tuesday.

Havneparken at Island Brygge.
Actually that day, I saw many people kayaking, canoeing and jet skiing there. Oh, I also saw some people swimming too! The water was cold..brrrr....

A Bike at Havneparken
A Danish friend told me that if you see a bike that has not been used in 7 days, you can take it. A used bike can cost from 600-1000 kr ($ 120-200). Bikes are expensive but many Danes prefer to bike since the transportation cost is quite high. Yup, Danes bike even when there's heavy rain and snow!

Havneparken at Island Brygge
It was my second day learning Danish. I was tired. Haha. Hvad skul det ver? Hvad hedder du? Hvordan kostner det?

Taler du Dansk? Do you speak Danish?

Jeg hedder Vania. Jeg kommer fra Indonesia. Jeg lesser business.

I've been learning Danish since last Monday. Two people told me that Danish is not a language. It's a throat disease. The pronunciation is different compare to what is written. My crash course will end on Friday so I won't be able to make a 5 minute speech. But, at least, I know how to introduce myself, how to buy groceries and tell the time.

During the crash course week, students can join the social evening activities. On Monday, we learned about Hygge. It means cozy. Yesterday, we had BBQ at Island Brygge.

My friends from my Danish class. Tiziana from Switzerland, Stefani from Germany, Jessica from China and Anja from Germany.

Danish sweets.

BBQ at the Island Brygge. We were divided into groups of 4. Each group got a disposable grill, 4 steaks, 4 sausages, garlic bread, tomatoes, potato salad and marshmallows. We even got instruction of how to do use the grill, how to cook the meat and how to melt marshmallows!

The CBS exchange students.

Our group had trouble with the grill. As you can see, half part of the grill wasn't ready. We looked at other groups and saw that most of them were doing fine. Haha. We almost decided to go to a restaurant. But, we made it. :)

Tomorrow, students are supposed to cook a dish from their own countries. I'm planning to make Nasi Goreng since it's really easy to make. Unfortunately, I don't have the cooking utensils to make it. What I have in my kitchen are 2 small pans, eating utensils and 2 plates. Hmm...

Celebrating Independence Day in Denmark

On the 17th of August 2008, I went to the Indonesian Embassy at Hellerup to celebrate the Indonesian Independence Day. At 10 am, the flag ceremony began. It reminded me back when I was at school in Indonesia, almost every week, me and other students must attend the flag ceremony.
Sing national anthem, school's hymn, school's pledge, etc. Oh gosh. Most of the time, me and my friends thought this was some kind of a torture from our teachers.

But, it felt different this time. Usually, I would join my friends to make some annoying noise during the ceremony. This time, I stood there in silent. Trying to capture its wonderful moment. Seeing the flag raised while we sang our national anthem, Indonesia Raya, I felt it was calling the people to become one and to remember the hard work from our founding fathers.

It was amazing. It took only 30 minutes. As usual, we lined up to shake hands with the Ambassador, Mr. Abdul Rahman Saleh and his wife. While people were busy taking pictures with the Ambassador (he was an Attorney General in Indonesia), I was busy in the line waiting for the real Indonesian food!Yum..yum...!!

Me, the adopted grand daughter (that was what Frieda kept telling her friends) and Frieda, my pastor's mother. She said that her biggest mistake is to marry a Dane (of course, it was a joke!).

The Ambassador and wife with the Flag "people". I don't know what's the word for it. Haha.

Lapis Legit. I should have taken 3 more pieces since this cake is really rare in Eugene!! (It's difficult to make)

All the Indonesians, Indo-Danes and Danes sat down together eating free Indo food!The Indo Embassy even served Nasi Tumpeng!

The Indo Ladies who lived in Denmark for more than 10 years!
A Indo lady who lived here for almost 30 years told me that no matter how long she has been here, her heart is still in Indonesia.

Thank you, Frieda for bringing me to Hellerup! It was really nice to meet the Indonesians there. Dirgahayu Indonesia!

Moved to Svanevej

Just bought an ethernet cable. It felt weird not having internet connection for 1 day.
Oh no, what did technology do to me?;p

Yesterday, I moved to the school dorm called Svanevej (don't ask me how to pronounce it).
It's a little bit far from the campus but at least it's close to the S station and bus stop.
Apparently, I'm sharing my room with another girl. Thought we're only sharing bathroom.
My roommate hasn't arrived yet so I have the room for myself. :)

Left side belongs to me!

A view from the entrance ;p

Tomorrow, I'll probably go to the Indonesian Embassy to celebrate our Independence Day. Hmm, I hope they have Indo food that I can buy. Maybe they have chicken satay with peanut sauce. Oh yumm!

Nationalmuseet: A Journey to the Beginning

The National Museum of Denmark
10, Ny Vestergade

Can you understand this? In the museum, they have a list of the alphabets during stone age.

The wind instrument from late Bronze Age.

A silver cauldron. Weight 9 kilos. Made around 100 BC.

In the People of the Earth exhibition, they have collections from my tribe, Batak! These scultures are from 1800!

They have gamelan too! And also the portrait of Sultan Hamengkubuwono.

I don't need to go to Egypt to see mummies!

I walked from the Stone Age to 21st Century. I spent almost 2 1/2 hours there. Learned a lot from this museum. I learned about people, Danish history, Roman empire, Vikings, Christianity and the Beatles (yes, they have Elvis too).

Next destination: Dansk Jødisk Museum (the Danish Jewish Museum)

København: The City

Amalienborg, the winter home of the Danish Royal family

Nyhavn "New Harbour"

The Little Mermaid

Strøget, the longest pedestrian shopping in Europe

The Zoo tower

A view of the canal near Christianborg Palace

The Black Diamond, the Royal Library

Yes, it's perfect.

Several of my friends had asked me to write a blog while I'm in Denmark.
So, here you go, my friends.

I'm so excited. This Friday, I'm going to move to my school's apartment, Svanevej.
Today, I went to the Nationalmuseet (National Museum of Denmark) and the Dansk Jødisk Museum (Danish Jewish Museum). I took the bus 2A using my 10-journey card.

Most museums in Denmark are free. My today's journey only cost kr 30 for the Dansk Jødisk admission. I brought crackers, cheese and grapes for my lunch. Yumm! Eating my lunch next to the Christiansborg Palace was a pleasant time. The weather was nice in the afternoon.

It's just perfect.

I will upload the pictures soon! :)