Cooling my heels in Copenhagen
The funny thing that has happened over the last year is that things that used to seem strange are becoming normal. It would now feel odd not to text a friend and say I'm five minutes late or not to take off my shoes when entering their house. I no longer marvel at coincidentally running into a familiar face or how quiet it can be. I reflexively bag my own groceries. I actually enjoy not drinking during the work week and biking to the bar in a dress on Friday and Saturday night. I walk around with open containers legally (all the time;)). I can sit and enjoy a coffee for two hours. I expect that stores are closed after 18.00 and on Sundays (and I don't flinch at the 24 hour clock). I leave my apartment for the airport one hour before my flight departs. I've ridden side saddle on the back wheel of a bike. I've been shocked in Paris when a man whistled at me. I've done pilates on a transformer in Danish. And like a good Copenhagener, I've even gone skinny dipping in the harbor in the middle of the city (disclaimer: early in the morning when no one was around yet).
There are some things that still take getting used to. This time of year I can't get used to the sun shining 18 hours per day and that every single bank holiday of the year, with the exception of Christmas, is in Q2. As you can imagine, though, I'm hardly complaining at the height of it.
What I did catch myself complaining about is that, seemingly, the entire city of Copenhagen is under construction. Bridges are half complete. Cranes dot the skyline. Beautiful squares are boarded up and plastered with pictures of what's to come. Temporary exhibit buildings have been set up so you can look at models of how the city will look once the construction is complete. It seems the whole city is emerging from the recession and preparing for the future with a freaking ton of construction.
In the likeness of my new city, I started to do the same thing - plan for the future. I promptly started having lots of conversations about my next career move and fixating about my next step. I just kept thinking about where I needed to move next.
Preparing for something to come rather than being grateful for the here and now is a fault I thought I left behind in New York. My college girlfriend Kira reminded me that I spent the last five years in New York thinking about the future and planning my next move - and that I was mostly all talk and rarely moving forward with construction.
A heavy dose of sunshine and a handful of holidays in close proximity came to the rescue. Over the last few weeks as summer has gotten into full swing I've been reminded how much I adore Copenhagen.
As a new friend's husband explained, everything in Copenhagen is designed for comfort and pleasure - especially outside over the summer. There are public picnic tables and lounge chairs liberally lining the harbor, there is outdoor seating aplenty so everyone can enjoy a beer in the sun. There are late night sunsets. There are music festivals and boat rentals and kayak polo matches, massive picnics, proximity to travel to other amazing places and best of all, there is Anders. An amazing Danish man just might be the main reason to cool my heels in Copenhagen. Talk about strange concepts becoming normal!
The building construction may be hiding some of Copenhagen's fascination until a future date but, for now, as they say in the Nordics, "I'm all in".
There are some things that still take getting used to. This time of year I can't get used to the sun shining 18 hours per day and that every single bank holiday of the year, with the exception of Christmas, is in Q2. As you can imagine, though, I'm hardly complaining at the height of it.
What I did catch myself complaining about is that, seemingly, the entire city of Copenhagen is under construction. Bridges are half complete. Cranes dot the skyline. Beautiful squares are boarded up and plastered with pictures of what's to come. Temporary exhibit buildings have been set up so you can look at models of how the city will look once the construction is complete. It seems the whole city is emerging from the recession and preparing for the future with a freaking ton of construction.
In the likeness of my new city, I started to do the same thing - plan for the future. I promptly started having lots of conversations about my next career move and fixating about my next step. I just kept thinking about where I needed to move next.
Preparing for something to come rather than being grateful for the here and now is a fault I thought I left behind in New York. My college girlfriend Kira reminded me that I spent the last five years in New York thinking about the future and planning my next move - and that I was mostly all talk and rarely moving forward with construction.
A heavy dose of sunshine and a handful of holidays in close proximity came to the rescue. Over the last few weeks as summer has gotten into full swing I've been reminded how much I adore Copenhagen.
As a new friend's husband explained, everything in Copenhagen is designed for comfort and pleasure - especially outside over the summer. There are public picnic tables and lounge chairs liberally lining the harbor, there is outdoor seating aplenty so everyone can enjoy a beer in the sun. There are late night sunsets. There are music festivals and boat rentals and kayak polo matches, massive picnics, proximity to travel to other amazing places and best of all, there is Anders. An amazing Danish man just might be the main reason to cool my heels in Copenhagen. Talk about strange concepts becoming normal!
The building construction may be hiding some of Copenhagen's fascination until a future date but, for now, as they say in the Nordics, "I'm all in".
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