Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Where Nothing is Pronounced Quite as It Seems...

Once in Copenhagen central station, I lurked outside a McDonalds to steal their wifi, and I emailed Bryan to ask about the station dilemma.

I decided to take a lap around the station to see if he was waiting on me while I waited for an email reply.  Just as I was rounding out the last turn, I happen to spot a guy that kinda looked like they guy in the picture that I was looking for (follow me?).  So I took a chance and said "Bryan?" as he was passing.  He turned.

Bingo.

He had just left his Danish language class (as Bryan is actually French), and luckily he HAD meant central station.  It was a short metro ride and not to long of a walk to his apartment where he and his girlfriend Majbrit, who is Danish, live together with their cat Batman.

I'm going to take a small pause here.  Because I mentioned to a friend in America that I was in Copenhagen, and he said "What's a Copenhagen?" I'm going to clear up a few things for anyone that might not be in the know.

Denmark is in Scandinavia. It is north of Germany, south of Norway, and southwest of Sweden (if this does not help, I want you to stop reading, take a ten minute break, watch some Jersey Shore, ice your forehead, and continue only when you've fully recovered).  When someone is from Denmark, they are a Dane, or they are Danish.  Danish is also the name of the language they speak, which is similar to Norwegian and Swedish.  The Danes are part of the EU, but use Danish Kronor instead of Euros.  (Why Norway and Sweden need their own Kronors and they all three can't share a common Kronor, I'll never know)

This is a lot of information. I know.

Moving on.

Bryan and Majbrit's apartment was adorable.  It could have been featured in a Crate & Barrel advertisement.  It was on the top floor if its building and so it had the occasional slanted wall/windows.  Cute plants everywhere etc.  I sat and chatted with Bryan while he cooked dinner.  I had not yet met Majbrit, as she was still at work.  I did, however, meet the third roommate.

Batman.

I asked Bryan if he went by Bruce Wayne during the day. 

Crickets.

Okay maybe it wasn't that funny.

Batman was awesome though.  Kind of psychotic, but in a hilarious way. Chasing things that aren't there.  Parkouring off of the sofa.  Pulling clothes out of my backpack.  Adorable. 

Majbrit came home after we had eaten, and the three of us just sat and talked for awhile.  I had expected Majbrit's English to be good, like most of the Scandinavians I had talked to.  But honestly I was surprised by Bryan's superb English.  France is not known for its bilingual citizens. 

Turns out the two of them had met in Saudi Arabia of all places.  And while Majbrit spoke some French, and Bryan was learning Danish, the two of them spoke in English to each other.  This brings up a funny point.  When neither of them knows what to call something in English, instead of looking it up, they kind of make up a word for it.

For instance, when Bryan was explaining that since the walk-in shower didn't have a door, you could use the (I believe he said rubber thing) to clean up the water.  So I said, "Oh the squeegee?" Aha, now it had a name.  I must admit, squeegee is a pretty awesome word (now that I think about it, that might just be what my family calls it...)

Later they Majbrit asked me what we called the thing she was holding.  I said seive or colander, depending on the usage.

You can see how staying with this couple would be a lot of fun.

We called it a night after it started getting late.  They got out the airmattress, and I gave my phone number to both of them, as they would be working most of the next day.  I already had many destinations picked out for my full day in Copenhagen, as well as a general route that would enable me to see most of them, since my stay was to be cut short.

Godnat Copenhagen
Tegs

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