More than a Pastry :: Personal Narrative Essays

Danish is More than a Pastry Okay...this is one of the saddest things. I just spent 45 minutes typing this email and then the stupid mail system broke down and it was lost when I sent it! Aaaghh...the horror... The email was about my crazy, crazy day yesterday. What an adventure! But what happened, exactly? Well, I'll start from the very beginning! Here goes: I woke up to a beautiful day. Took my time preparing breakfast and enjoyed my good cup (well, cups) of coffee, as well as a bowl of oatmeal with sugar and raisins sprinkled on top, soaked 3/4s with milk. Delicious! I checked my email and started psyching myself up for the bike ride into Copenhagen. When 10:30 rolled around, I got my stuff together and headed out. I began my long, arduous journey from Roskilde to Copenhagen officially at 10:45. Rested from last night's good sleep, I could push myself and make it there in about an hour and a half. I was in no hurry though...my first obligation for the afternoon was meeting Carolina concerning our IPO (initial public offering) project due next week. And my first class wasn't until 3:30. So I had plenty of time! I was spinning pretty well...staying in second gear mostly. Yeah, that is NOT a typo...second gear. It must be noted that this bike HAS only 3 gears. It's my host-mom's bike...3 gears, purple frame, and you pedal backwards to brake. Oh, and when it's dark out I use what you call a "dynamo". I push it down until it touches the front wheel's rim, start pedaling, and it creates electricity so the light turns on! So smart! (I just consulted with my host-brother, Michael, and have decided to name my bike "Lille Lilla" which is "Little Purple" in Danish. That's a nice name) Right, back to the story...so Lilla and I are heading steadily east and I'm thinking "Gosh! This is amazing! I'm in Denmark...biking.....into school!" How cool is that? I'm in Europe and it's gorgeous here!" Sometimes I just get this overwhelming happy feeling; it's almost unreal I'm here. I'm about halfway to Copenhagen and I cross an intersection. When I cross, a car honks. Now, it's rare that cars honk in Denmark. You know, the Danes ARE very civilized people...and it's not necessarily honking at me, of course.