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Sleepless'er in Santiago

Santiago - jetlag city. Both Dorthe and I have got it really bad - not surprising since we've only been here two days, and it is an eight hour time difference from NZ. Still, waking up at 2am and going "I'm AWAKE" is a touch annoying, so I thought I'd try and pass the time by scribbling something here. Yesterday was spent just cruising around Santiago, looking around some of the little neighbourhoods, before having dinner with Andrea Caiozzi (who we know from Berkeley) and her fiancee (yup, she's engaged to a nice Chilean man who works at the Santiago zoo with her) - it was nice to see her again, and will spend a bit more time with her over the next few days.

Random cultural observation of the day: Kissing in the streets and parks. It seems to be quite the norm here to sneak off into the park for a little kiss. Ok, maybe that should be a full-on face-suck. After NZ, where NOBODY is even seen holding hands in public, Dorthe and I have found it quite funny. Walking back past one of the big parks tonight, there were probably a dozen benches in a row in one place, and every-one of them had a couple on it, snogging away without a care who saw them...

December 7th Illums Bolighus

Interior of Illums Bolighus. Illum is one of the two big department stores here in Copenhagen, and sits right in the middle of town. It is a pretty classy place, with lots of very nice clothes and interestingly designed danish kitchenware. The interior is this large atrium that spans about seven or eight floors, and at the moment is all decorated for xmas. I especially like the lighting in the ceiling.

Interior of Illums Bolighus. Illum is one of the two big department stores here in Copenhagen, and sits right in the middle of town. It is a pretty classy place, with lots of very nice clothes and interestingly designed danish kitchenware. The interior is this large atrium that spans about seven or eight floors, and at the moment is all decorated for xmas. I especially like the lighting in the ceiling.

Interior of Illums Bolighus. Illum is one of the two big department stores here in Copenhagen, and sits right in the middle of town. It is a pretty classy place, with lots of very nice clothes and interestingly designed danish kitchenware. The interior is this large atrium that spans about seven or eight floors, and at the moment is all decorated for xmas. I especially like the lighting in the ceiling.

Interior of Illums Bolighus. Illum is one of the two big department stores here in Copenhagen, and sits right in the middle of town. It is a pretty classy place, with lots of very nice clothes and interestingly designed danish kitchenware. The interior is this large atrium that spans about seven or eight floors, and at the moment is all decorated for xmas. I especially like the lighting in the ceiling.

December 7th Illums Bolighus

Interior of Illums Bolighus. Illum is one of the two big department stores here in Copenhagen, and sits right in the middle of town. It is a pretty classy place, with lots of very nice clothes and interestingly designed danish kitchenware. The interior is this large atrium that spans about seven or eight floors, and at the moment is all decorated for xmas. I especially like the lighting in the ceiling.

December 7th Illums BolighusInterior of Illums Bolighus. Illum is one of the two big department stores here in Copenhagen, and sits right in the middle of town. It is a pretty classy place, with lots of very nice clothes and interestingly designed danish kitchenware. The interior is this large atrium that spans about seven or eight floors, and at the moment is all decorated for xmas. I especially like the lighting in the ceiling.Uploaded by teamtrev on 7

December 7th Illums Bolighus

Interior of Illums Bolighus. Illum is one of the two big department stores here in Copenhagen, and sits right in the middle of town. It is a pretty classy place, with lots of very nice clothes and interestingly designed danish kitchenware. The interior is this large atrium that spans about seven or eight floors, and at the moment is all decorated for xmas. I especially like the lighting in the ceiling.

December 7th Illums BolighusInterior of Illums Bolighus. Illum is one of the two big department stores here in Copenhagen, and sits right in the middle of town. It is a pretty classy place, with lots of very nice clothes and interestingly designed danish kitchenware. The interior is this large atrium that spans about seven or eight floors, and at the moment is all decorated for xmas. I especially like the lighting in the ceiling. December 7th Illums BolighusInterior of Illums Bolighus. Illum is one of the two big department stores here in Copenhagen, and sits right in the middle of town. It is a pretty classy place, with lots of very nice clothes and interestingly designed danish kitchenware. The interior is this large atrium that spans about seven or eight floors, and at the moment is all decorated for xmas. I especially like the lighting in the ceiling.December 7th Illums BolighusInterior of Illums Bolighus. Illum is one of the two big department stores here in Copenhagen, and sits right in the middle of town. It is a pretty classy place, with lots of very nice clothes and interestingly designed danish kitchenware. The interior is this large atrium that spans about seven or eight floors, and at the moment is all decorated for xmas. I especially like the lighting in the ceiling.

December 5th Tree II

Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!

Our little xmas tree.Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!

Our little xmas tree.Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!

Our little xmas tree.Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!

December 5th Tree

Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!

Our little xmas tree.Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!

Our little xmas tree.Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!

Our little xmas tree.Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!

December 7th Illums Bolighus

Interior of Illums Bolighus. Illum is one of the two big department stores here in Copenhagen, and sits right in the middle of town. It is a pretty classy place, with lots of very nice clothes and interestingly designed danish kitchenware. The interior is this large atrium that spans about seven or eight floors, and at the moment is all decorated for xmas. I especially like the lighting in the ceiling.

So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to

wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.

December 5th

Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!

So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king. So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard king.

December 5th

Our little chrismas tree. A candle wreath from Dorthe's mum, with two more advent presents sitting around it, waiting for us. Hmmmm, today is the second sunday in Advent. Time to open them!

So, from here on I try to make this thing work. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see what happens really. I am the lizard kind.

Nice watch, BUDDIE!

A photo of the watch on my wrist you see. That what you were after Matt?

Nice watch, BUDDIE!
A photo of the watch on my wrist you see. That what you were after Matt?
Nice watch, BUDDIE!
A photo of the watch on my wrist you see. That what you were after Matt?

Nice watch, BUDDIE!
A photo of the watch on my wrist you see. That what you were after Matt?

Nice watch, BUDDIE!
A photo of the watch on my wrist you see. That what you were after Matt?

Linköping Domkyrka

Altar of Linköping Domkyrka (Catherdral)

The name of the cathedral is:
Linköping

Red currents with cream:
Rød grød med fløde
The place is Jylland:
Århus

Santa in danish:
Julemænden

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Boat moored in the moat surrounding Vadstena castle. I love the red of the roof tops and the boat.

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December 3rd Advent Scratchie

Our present from Dorthe's mum for the first Sunday in Advent - an advent scratchie!! First prize, DKK 1,000,000 (which at the moment is worth about US $150,000, but increasing all the time!!!). So far we have two out of the three we have scratched are julemand (santa). We just need another seven more to win DKK 10,000. Cross your fingers.  

Congratulations to the user of the computer known affectionately as "t-31-51.athome.tue.nl" at "Technische Universiteit Eindhoven" in the Netherlands. You were my 500th visitor to the site. Yah!! Loes, was that you? Congratulations. Your prize is a lifetime supply of... ahhhh... blog posts?

Come on baby light the fire!

When you go to a foreign country, there are certain stereotypes that you typically have in mind with regards to what you're going to do there. In France, it might be croissants, a jambon beurre, baguettes and the Eiffel Tower. In England it might be Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and a few pints in an english pub. In San Francisco, it might be the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, and riding the cable cars. But of all the things that I expected to do in Denmark, I can honestly say that Firewalking was not one of them.

Yes, that's right, Firewalking. Walking on hot coals in barefeet. I still don't even know exactly how or why this happened, but it certaintly did, I even have a burn mark to prove it!

One of the cool things about Denmark is that there are quite a lot of freebies - people giving away free stuff to advertise their business - especially good for us poor broke student types! This can be anything from warm croissants in a bag advertising a bank outside your door in the morning, to hot chicks wearing rather tight clothes walking up and down Strøget (the main pedestrian mall in town) handing out free Kit-kats! And this firewalking, it seems, was one of these free promotional sort of things. The guy running it has a business that he describes as "being in the business of making people happy for no good reason": basically, its team building and the use of humour etc in the corporate workplace. To advertise this, he basically gave a free session as a way to advertise the company to random people, who might then tell their boss about it as a good idea. Dorthe's mother got an email about it and asked us if we wanted to come along, so it was the three of us that ventured out to a warehouse on Christiansholm on Monday night to try not to burn ourselves to a crisp.

There were probably about about four hundred or so people there, the place was absolutely packed. The whole thing was in Danish, so Dorthe had to take on the role of translator. But the basic idea was just to get everyone into the mindset for doing something which is completely irrational. First they built up your expectations of what was to come, by taking you out and showing you the fire, and telling you exactly how hot it was etc etc. Then they did a bit of visualisation of actually doing it, and dealing with the nerves etc, before we went back inside and did a whole lot of silly exercises (eg laughing like Mr Bean) basically just to release the tension, which worked really well and made everyone forget about it. There were also a lot of exercises and things to make people come together as a group, and support each other for doing the actual walk, which was certaintly an important aspect of it. Then after doing this sort of thing for two hours or so, he just said "We firewalk in five minutes. Please take off your shoes and socks". There was a whole sequence of stuff that you then go through with music to put you in a positive mindset, and then you go out, line up and do it. The two hours of team building beforehand then really came through, because everyone there was really excited and positive about it, and so when you walked there were lots of people yelling and shouting and encouraging you, which certaintly helps.

Dorthe's mother went first, and just rocked on down it, no problems at all - I think she was the most nervous of us three, but she just rocked on up and did it. Then Dorthe went next and it was the same again - no wurries. But after that, they decided that they needed to add more coals, so I had to stop and wait for them to put more on. Fortunately, the guy who was telling you when to start walking stood right in front of me while they did it, blocking my view of the fresh, hot coals, which probably would have psyched me out otherwise! And then he stepped back and just said "go!" and you're off, without really even thinking that you're about to step onto something that is 450 degrees C! And once you're on it, the only way out is to get to the end, there's no stopping, no jumping off, otherwise that's how you burn yourself. You take about four steps before you realise what's going on and start to feel the heat - initially it just feels soft and crunchy as the charcoal compresses under your feet, but then the heat starts to come through. Initially you can't feel the heat, then one step it feels nice and cosy warm, and then the next step you start to feel a bit of pain and things start to feel like they are burning - that was about three steps or so from the end for me - it was ridiculous, I certaintly didn't feel like I was going to burst into flame spontaneously, but it was certaintly uncomfortable by the end of it: I wouldn't have wanted to walk much further! I was so focused on storming down the patch of grass that I tripped over the bucket of water at the end of it, which perhaps wasn't so graceful, but oh well. Graceful doesn't count at the end of the day: not spending two months in hospital with burnt feet is what counts!! As for the damange, well, I think I had one or two coals stick to the arch of my foot, as I have a little burn mark there (say 5mm wide by 15mm long), but apart from that nothing too major. Afterwards I was pretty stoked, as was everyone there - lots of spontaneous hugs from random strangers - it was pretty exhilarating to get to the end and realise that you've done something so utterly stupid and got away with it!!

I remember having seen a few documentaries on telly when I was a kid about people firewalking, and how exactly it works. But the strange thing about those documentaries were that they were always in some small pacific island. And the documentaries about Denmark were all weinerbrød (danishes) and Hans Christian Andersen. Even now, I'm still wondering if I've got my wires twisted somehow and I've ended up back in the south pacific....

Økologisk-land

One of the Torup "moon-dome" houses, with the community's windmill in the background. The black colour of the house is from the waterproof building paper (or something akin to it) that it is covered in.

It seems that one of the first and most common words I learnt here in Denmark is økologisk - literally ecological, but a more appropriate translation would be organic (ie as in organic farming, but not organic chemistry, which is anything but organic). The penetration of organic products into danish society is far more pervasive than I have seen anywhere else in the world, and goes hand-in-hand with strong support for other sustainable policies, such as an epic recycling program, superb public transportation, and endless bike lanes! Some people even take it to the point of developing completely self-contained ecological villages: Tom and Barbara Good, from "The Good Life", have taken over the entire neighbourhood, you could say! After Kulturnatten on Friday night, Dorthe and I spent the rest of the weekend at her parents summer house in Torup, one of the interesting highlights of which was visiting the nearby ecological village.

Torup is a small town in northen Sjælland (the biggest island in Denmark, and the one that has Copenhagen on it) and it seems to be mainly comprised of summer houses (bachs, in kiwi parlance). The houses there range from shoe boxes with outdoor toilets, to summer mansions, and of course everything in between. Summer houses are very common in Denmark it seems, and basically the entire north coast of Sjælland is covered with these houses to a depth of one to two kilometres: it really is quite impressive when you look at how many there are on a map. Being so close to copenhagen, its very popular just to head up there for the weekend to relax (along with everyone else :-)

The Larsen's summer house at Torup.

We left from Copenhagen on saturday morning - Dorthe took the train up there, and I was on my bike - its only about 70km to get up there from here, and so I went for a bit of a cruise through the danish countryside on my roadbike for about two and a half hours. It was a nice ride, especially once you get out of the city and into the countryside properly. And the really cool thing was that there were bike lanes almost all the way as well, which made for fun riding. The danish countryside reminds me a lot of the canterbury plains - heavily developed, with open vistas, lots of trees here and there, and of course, the rural patchwork of so many different fields. One thing that I did notice that was different through was the absence of animals, which does make it feel quite empty - basically all the animals in denmark are housed inside, only the økologisk piggies have to tough out the danish winter. The other main difference from canterbury is the preponderance of windmills for power generation everywhere - it really is quite a spectacular sight seeing a line of four or five of the big 2.3 MW windmills (which are about 100 m tall) towering over the surrounding fields.

I made it there ok, although I have to say I was rather frozen after nearly three hours of riding in 8 degree C temperatures! After a good solid danish lunch (ryebread, cheese, and danishes, of course) we decided that we would go mushroom picking in the nearby forest - this one of Dorthe's favour hobbies at this time of year. I am unable to tell a toxic mushroom from an edible but tasteless mushroom from a very rare and expensive one but fortunately Dorthe can. I wasn't really much use really, but it didn't matter as it seems that it is a very bad year for mushrooms, as we didn't actually get ANY at all... D'oh! Instead, we had a competition that I invented - first person to make themselves sick from eating too many blackberries wins! (there were lots of blackberry bushes fully loaded where we were). Dorthe wasn't too keen on that, so I just took part on my own. Even though I was the only one "playing", I still managed to loose, because we moved to another part of the forest that didn't have any blackberries at all. Oh well, in retrospect it probably wasn't such a bad thing!

The beach near Liseleje, on the north coast of Sjælland.

Our mushroom expedition was somewhat fruitless fungi-less (ha,ha!), but it did't matter too much in the end. Next day we explored around town a bit further on two classic old Raleigh three speed bikes - a bit of a change from the modern aluminium and carbon fibre road bike, I can tell you! First we went up to the beach, through the myriad summer houses and then along the coast for a while. Very nice area, if a little cold at this time of year.

Dysager house. The large conservatories facing south open into the living area making as much use of the sunlight as possible.

Next we went back to the ecological village at Torup for a look around. There are about 120 people living there, and has been there for about 15 years now. The village was an interesting mix of design styles, ranging from the seemingly standard brick house to unique futuristic domes. Some of the houses didn't look all that dissimilar from your normal house, until you looked a bit more closely and found that they were covered with solar panels and solar water heating systems. Most of the houses were designed to take maximum advantage of the very limited sun that you get at 56 N, with big glass windows and conservatories facing the south. Also very common was the use of natural and/or CO₂-neutral building materials (obviously), with the use of thatched or earthen roofs also being quite prominent. The village (its a cooperative) also own quite a bit of land around it too, and earns an income from both organic farming, and from the organic restaurant and shop on site too. They are also an exporter of power - they have their own windmill out the back. Much of the work there has also been done by hand, by which I mean little or no use of power-tools, which I thought was a little keen!

Detail of the main window in one of the dome houses.

It was an interesting place to visit. I especially found it interesting to see some of these ideas that, as a bit of a closet greenie myself, I have been reading about, being born out in practice. I think one of the things that struck me though was that in the end it wasn't really all that different from normal. Some of the houses looked a bit strange, but they weren't bizarre. The houses were all modern, comfortable places inside. The kids still ran around in the garden and left their toys everywhere. The impression I got was that the changes that had been made to make the village sustainable weren't as radical as some would have us believe. Rather, things were done with careful planning and an eye towards efficiency and sustanability. If anything, I think the place demonstrates that you can achieve sustainablility without having to completely uproot everything that we know and take for granted.

"Thors hammer". This house again has the conservatory in the front, but the roof is interesting: its basically dirt with grass growing on it, which acts as organic insulation. Also note the solar panels on the roof.

The return trip to Copenhagen was pretty uneventful, we just took the train back together. I did, however, pick up one of the local free newspapers while we were waiting for the train and found a picture of Mt Cook and Lake Pukaki in it, with a half page article on travelling in NZ. It then took me (and my walking danish dictionary, Dorthe) the rest of the two hour train trip back to Copenhagen to read it, but I did it (with a little help, of course!). The first article I have ever read in Danish. I was very proud of myself!

As an interesting sidenote, I was reading the Copenhagen Post (a free english language newspaper) the other day and happened across an article that said that the danish are one of the the worlds largest consumer of organic products, and in particular, the largest of organic milk - one in every four litres of milk sold in Denmark is organic, as opposed to one in every 16th in Sweden and one in every 50th in the UK. This is also reflected in price - organic milk is the only thing that I have found here that is cheaper than the US: One litre of normal milk here is 5.85DKK (US$1.01 at todays awful exchange rates, NZ$1.44) vs 6.85DKK (US$1.17, NZ$1.69) for the organic version. Compare this to the US where standard milk costs around $1.20 per litre and organic milk at least $1.85 per litre (NZ$2.65) and usually a lot more. That is quite a significant difference, especially when you take into account how much more expensive land is here. Økologisk-land indeed!!!

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