Highlights of the past few weeks

Hello everyone!
   I've been putting off updating this for ages...   but things are starting to gear up again over here and I want to make sure I get everything down.

   The last few weeks I have sort of fallen into a routine. Copenhagen every morning, come home every night for dinner, occasionally go out on weekends. I go on walks, see interesting sights...   but you'll see all about that when my camera arives and I go back again and take pictures. There hasnt been a whole lot to report, but there have been a few highlights that I'd love to share.

   A few weekends ago on a sunday, I went to a soccer game. It was a field trip sponsored by DIS, actually part of my Danish Language/Culture class. I had heard a few things about it before I got there...   that it would be between FC København, the largest and most popular team in Denmark, and Brønby, their big local rival. I heard that things would be a little heated between the fans, that fights were common...  but absolutely nothing prepaired me for what the game would actually be like. Traveling to the game was simple and easy. I had directions, fans from both teams helped my find the stadium. When I made it there I was patted down outside for...   something. I wrote it off as an unnecesary security measure. Soon, I made myway inside...    
   And was immediately hit by the most powerful crowd energy I have ever felt. The field was huge..  seating thousands and thousands of screaming fans. To my left, the FCK fans were chanting in union, hundreds of voices guided by a battery of drums. Half of the field was waving white scarves around it circles. Flags with bizzare iconography were waved. It was awe inspiring. On the other side, thousands of fans in yellow yelled back. And the tension never let up. I honestly never understood the appeal of soccer, it seemed like a slow game..  but TV does not do it justice. The fans and the energy they generate for their side were literally such a huge part of the game that I felt they were equal to any one player on the field. In one case...  they literally took part. This is when I found out why I was patted down. When FCK was pushing towards the Brømby goal for the third or fourth time, around 15-20 fans in the front row lit a volley of road flares and threw them onto the field, literally forcing FCK back. Emergency staff were dispatched to the field to put out the fires. And it didn't stop there. Things were thrown, seats were burned. They even started a bonfire in one of the enterence halls. Over 40 fans were arrested for beating stadium security staff. It was chaos...  but it was also one of the most entertaining sports events of my life. FCK won 2 to nothing, but its the experience, more than the side I was seated on winning, that will stick with me.

   The following Monday, I had another fantastic day. First of all, I joined a choir. I never really thought I would be any good at it at all, but a friend that I made over here dragged me to a practice and I actually turned out pretty good! There are only 5 of us in all, and I'm half of the bass section. We sing gospal, jazz, and this one really depressing Danish folk song about making the most of your life. We made recordings, and I'll try to find a way of posting them up soon.

   I've also been exploring the Copenhagen night life a little bit. I've been going out with friends to cozy bars and obscure pubs. There are a few clubs in Copenhagen, but their mostly for wierd forgien buisinessmen and I'm not really a club person anyway. But its very common to find bars throughout town where you can hang out with a group of friends, have a casual drink or two, and socialize in the wee hours of the morning. Everywhere has a foozball table. I mean everywhere...  its the other national sport of this place and the drunken bonding ritual of choice among the Danes. Speaking of which, I have made a few Danish friends, who I've spent a little bit of time with. This last weekend, I went up north to visit them for a party they were throwing at their Folkehøjskole, or folk high school. Basically, its a place where you go right before or right after college to have independent studies in things you find interesting. There are no grades, no standards of success, its all about how much you want to put into your own education (as its expensive to go). People do it as a sort of resume builder over here. Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and I met some really cool people.

   Finally, I'd like to say a little bit about yesterday, as its fresh in my mind and a few interesting things happened... 

   I woke up very early for another field study for my Danish class. I took the train down to the city, and took the metro (subway) to the southeastern canal seporated district of Christianshavn. With my class, we made our way north and payed a visit to a little place called Christiania, one of the strangest places in Copenhagen.
   Christiania, as we learned from our tour guide, is probably one of the only successful surviving communes in the world. In the late 60s, mass numbers of squaters (mostly hippies) occupied and abandoned millitary base on the outskirts of Copenhagen. With the dismissive permission of the Danish government (who was just happy to get them out of the main city) they set up a consensus democracy seporate from Copenhagen society, declared their effective independence, and started managing themselves. They jointly occupied the entire area (which is technically still owned by the state), as a community decided who could join and live in their bizzare village, and began to construct homes and establish their own economy. They based their new hippy society on a simple legal system banning violance, firearms, and hard drugs with the threat of explusion, while freely encouraging hash dealership, with the entire community banding together to protect their members from the law. They built homes for themselves with the help of German journeyman carpenders, who routinely visited Christiania and created a series of buildings that are now protected today by various archetectual societies. Over time, it grew into a cultural center in Copenhagen, a sort of bohemian refuge for artists of all kinds, and almost every wall in Christiania is covered by a mural (of varing quality).
   Of course the authorities hate it now. They pay almost no taxes but leech off the system (which in socialized, strapped for cash Denmark is a huge problem). And normal citizens have no idea what to make of it. The police have given up trying to stop the drug trade there, but It keeps hard drugs off the streets (it is Christiania policy to mob-strip discovered hard drug dealers of the clothes and then call the police to arrest the dealers for public indecency). It also keeps marijuana cordoned off into one, self regulating district intead of dispursing it throught the city. The everyday person both embraces it as "something cool" and a part of Copenhagen culture, while at the same time looking down on it as a blatent crime against society.
   I heard all of this in the (somewhat pro biased) tour, and afterwords explored the area. The houses there are beautiful but strange, with intentionally ramshackle looking walls jutting out at irregular angles. The area itself is one huge park, carefully tended by the residents. Childrens playgrounds are everywhere. Its a little dirty in places, but all in all just like nothing I've ever seen before. I fully intend on visiting again and learning more about this odd but fascinating part of Copenhagen.
   That about wraps it up for what I've been up to over here. Later today I'm taking a tour of Copenhagen's canals by boat, and then I'm studying hard for a test tomorrow. I'll be here in Denmark until sunday, when I leave for a week (not two as I thought) in Kosovo. I hope to update you all again soon, and I definitely will before I leave.
   I hope your all doing really good over there in the States, and I hope to hear from you all soon.