Without planned activities this weekend from DIS, I was able to decide how to spend my time. Saturday, my friend Emily Manz, a fellow Woodstockian, and I decided to venture out to Christianhavn. We had heard about it from orientation leaders and wanted to check it out for ourselves. Also- I was craving a restaurant meal that I didn't have to prepare! Christianhavn is a fascinating area. During the sixties, the area which was former military barracks, was settled by hippies and became a self-governing community where the people do not pay rent or taxes. The community is known for selling marijuana, but the police have been entering Christiana many times recently and raiding the area. One of the restaurants within the community had a sign outside it reading something like, "One of the safest places in the country. Over 15oo police raids over the past year"! I asked my professor this morning how a place like this has been allowed to continue. He told me that it is one of those institutions that exist merely because of tradition. There is much public discourse over Christianhavn and whether or not the community should be allowed to remain in its current state or if its independence should be revoked and the citizens pay taxes.
When we were walking around the area, one of the things that stood out is that there is graffiti everywhere- on signs and all over buildings and structures. The graffiti is so interesting and beautiful in some places. There are also many various artistic expressions such as a hand carved out of a dead tree trunk. We lo
oked around in a shop that had various hand-crafted items and everything was so creative and beautiful. After walking around this part of Christiana for a bit, we left through the arch that reads "You are now entering the EU," in search of a place to eat. On the way, we asked a woman walking on the street if she would kindly take our picture. She unexpectedly asked us if we wanted to come with her to the market, she pointed nearby and said "Come, come. Its so close. Come to the market withe me." We were wondering what she was actually talking about, and I was picturing a food market of some kind. She led us into a small courtyard where a man stood by a door with stairs leading down into some room. Without knowing at all what to expect, we followed her and found ourselves at a Danish yard sale/flea market. A number of men and women w
ere behind tables with various clothing and knicknacks spread on each one. There were tables of Danish desserts and coffee which we were told to help ourselves to. After finding a few treasures and chatting with a man who had just gotten back from visiting his children in New York for the holidays, we left in search of a meal. We found a great cafe that had a menu in English and had some delicious food that included chai milkshakes! Sooo good. Figuring out the bill took quite a while, especially when we didn't realize that the tax was already included in the price of the food. One good thing about eating out in Denmark is that you don't tip waitstaff! We have been told that the waitstaff already receive enough pay so people do not tip.The other part of Denmark that I got to see this weekend was some of the suburbs outside the city. Emily lives in the suburbs with a host family, but since I live in the city, this was my first experience in Denmark outside of Copenhagen. DIS sponsored an activities fair last week with various organizations
sending representatives to try to recruit DIS students to join them. One of the clubs was a hiking club, so I went on a hike with them on Sunday to Vestvolden. For most of the trip, we were actually just walking alongside a path, so it wasn't exactly what I call hiking, but apparently this isn't the normal hiking trip with the club anyway. One of the reasons for the trip was to see some history. This structure held weapons during WWI to fight the Germans if they came, but they didn't. After 7 miles of walking, exhaustion set in and I had to fight to stay awake on the train on the way home!
