Frostbite

Why it's dangerous to walk on the footpaths here in winter

I'm guessing the doctors probably wouldn't classify it as frostbite, but after my experience of riding a bike today (the weather app on my phone said the windchill was -17'C!), frostbite is something I wouldn't wish on anyone! Last night when riding out to my Irish Pub Christmas dinner, I wore my ski gloves, thinking that's the way to keep warm. I was sorely mistaken. So thinking that my ski gloves simply do not stop wind like my other ones, I wore my other gloves today. Boy, big mistake. They were even worse. After a 15 minute ride I could not feel any of my fingers. It was a struggle trying to get my hand into my pocket in order to pull out my phone (with a map on it), not to mention a struggle trying to work the lock on my bike and then trying to grip the zipper on my jacket to take it off when I reached my destination. It took a good 15 minutes of indoor heat before I could feel my fingers again, and 2 hours later I still had pains in the extermities. Wow! Talk about an incentive to find better gloves!

On the bright side, here are some more pretty photos of this icy weather...

I've received the all clear!

Almost 5 months since the accident.
Almost 3 months since surgery.
Around 6 weeks since I've started physio.

And the good news is: my scaphoid is healing well and both the physio and doctor have given me the all-clear to go snowboarding this winter! Not something I was expecting, and not something I will be doing immediately, but good to hear the news!

Winter Wonderland

Just a few random photos from the last couple of weeks...

NOW I am integrating

Finally, I have joined the elite echelon of Danish society. I own a bike. But not just any bike, a dorky bike with a brand name that I had never heard of before, relatively simply, yet unnervingly expensive (for what it is). Two weeks after receiving the all-clear from my physio, I managed to select the most snowed in day since I have been here to get myself a bicycle. This also meant I had my first experience of riding on ice, through snow and slush, and having the pleasure (very unlike back home) of cars giving way to me!

For a country where it seems there are more bikes than people, it is crazy to think that bikes cost an obscene amount of money here. If you want a new bike, you will probably not find one under DKR 2,000. And that's for something simple (not a racer, not a mountain bike, and probably only a single gear - though in a country without hills that's not as bad as it sounds). If you want something fancy you'll pay upwards of DKR 4,000, and like any other country, you can really spend as much as you want. But the crazy thing is the cost of second hand bikes - from a shop, you'll unlikely find one for under DKR 600 or DKR 700. Not much less for a private sale. And to think that the sort of bike that I had to give away in Canberra before I left (because there was no chance of anyone paying money for it) would cost probably around DKR 800 here - that's crazy!

Anyway, I went for the cheapo option since my apartment building doesn't have underground bike parking - so a bit of rust, gears that are literally frozen in place and a slightly torn seat will just add to the character.

I am a number

A few weeks ago I finally joined the Danish brigade - I got my CPR number. A CPR number in Denmark is akin to an official identification proving that you exist, if you don't have one, you really struggle doing just about anything in this country, and I mean anything! I guess it is probably similar to a social security number in the US, but I have a feeling it is so much more important here. So I now identify myself with a 10 digit number which tells the world my birth-date and my sex. Most importantly, along with the CPR number comes an ID card which entitles you to free healthcare in Denmark (and throughout Europe), and something which I hope to make use of, free Danish lessons.

On a totally separate note, one thing so many of us expats notice here is that unlike English which is spoken in so many countries, with so many accents and variations, and there are always so many foreigners in English speaking countries speaking broken English, Danish is very strict. If you don't get the pronunciation 100% right, people seem to have no clue what it is you're on about. A perfect example of this was when I went to the bakery yesterday. I wanted to purchase some berliner kage (kage = cake). Berliners are pretty much the same as jelly donuts, but since donuts are foreign here, berliners they are. So I'm in my local bakery and I ask the lady if they have any berliner (I ask all this in English since they speak English so well). She looked at me and asked me what it is that I wanted. I said "berliner, berliner kage". Again, she just looked at me funny and implied she hadn't a clue what I wanted. She got a second person over and she repeated the word, then I repeated the word, and then the second person said, "ahhh, berliner!". Then told the first lady in Danish that I wanted berliner. However, you have to use your imagination a bit here because it's hard to convey in text - I swear that when they finally knew what I was talking about, the word they said sounded EXACTLY the same as not just what I had said, but what they had kept on repeating when they were trying to understand me! This is but one of a million examples of such an experience here...

New York, New York!

Ahh, New York. I now understand why they call it the city that never sleeps, though it does definitely have a bit of a lie down on Thanksgiving Day!

I arrived in NYC on Thanksgiving Eve and was totally buggared. So after an early night I woke up before dawn to go the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with a friend and her fiance`. Now I hadn't seen this friend for around 12 years when she was an exchange student in Canberra, so talk about catching up with a long lost friend. It was fantastic to catch up and relive old times (and we did so multiple times over the following 10 days) The parade itself was lots of fun - definitely something amazing for kids, but also quite nice for adults. If only from the point of view of seeing so many thousands of people out enjoying themselves (sans alcohol and drugs). We joined the throngs of people on Central Park West and watched the spectacular floats sail by, intermixed with some pretty funky marching bands (which to me really typifies America), lots of baton twirling, and a random sprinkling of celebrities.

Next To Normal

No, this blog entry isn't describing myself, nor is describing my experience of America (though the title really isn't that far off) - it's the name of a pretty awesome Broadway musical I saw last night. After finishing the week at work I wasn't sure what to do, but figured that while I've got so much theatre [in English] around me, I may as well make use of it. So off again I went to Tkts to get a ticket for a shot. At a Thanksgiving Day dinner the previous week someone recommended Next To Normal (which I hasn't heard of before). Since there were tickets available I decided to go for it (though it was a toss up over Cirque du Soleil or Mamma Mia). This show was primarily a musical with bits of dialogue scattered throughout. A relatively small cast (especially compraed to American Idiot) of only 6 plus a great on-stage band. My only gripe with the show, was that every now and then the music drowned out the singing - though thankfully this wasn't too significant and didn't happen much. Overall, I don't think I could have chosen a better show to see - it had everything: great music, excellent singing, fantastic acting, a really hard hitting storyline which although relatively emotional, was filled with some awesome comedicc moments. My overall rating: fantastic!

American Idiot

Last night I went with a couple of colleauges to see the Broadway musical American Idiot. We decided after work to go to the half price ticket booth in Times Square and just see something - I had heard something about American Idiot (can't remember what really) and knew that it was based on the Green Day album and full of Green Day music. So, off we went. I think this is one thing I could get used to in New York actually - popping down to the theatre, once a week perhaps, to catch a musical or a play...

It was a great musical with an on-stage band playing all the music. The singing and the music was fantastic, if not a bit loud and crazy at times (with perhaps the strobes being just a tad too bright!). The acting and dancing was pretty good too, perhaps not choreographed perfectly, but then again, perhaps being a punk rock style musical it's not supposed to be.

Chicken & waffles

While strolling through Harlem on the weekend, I decided to stop at a small take-away/diner for some lunch. I was hungry. But couldn’t decide what I felt like, so decided to pick something random. The place I walked into offered Chicken, fish and waffles. I figured it would be a standard take-away joint that also sold desserts, perfect. Much to my surprise though, there were no desserts, waffles formed part of the main dish! Although I got myself a standard chicken and chips (though I did try the ‘jerked’ chicken, having no idea what it meant – and I’m still not quite sure what it means), the guy at the counter next to me had what seemed to be the standard dish there: deep fried chicken together with large thick waffles. The waffles then got saturated with butter and maple syrup and formed part of the main meal eaten with the chicken! Wow! Not even I could stomach that!

On the subject of weird things in New York, I still can’t get over the role of doormen here. While I think I have been convinced somewhat of their usefulness (added security, someone to sign for parcels when you’re not in, etc), I’m really not sure I get the utility (efficiency?) of the doormen in the building I’m staying. Mainly because more often than not there are 2 on duty. In the evenings, one of them seems to be permanently assigned to operate the elevator as if the people who live here are incapable of pressing numbered buttons themselves! And this is a relatively small apartment building – 25 floors or so and about 5 apartments per floor. Talk about a waste of money!

MoMA

I went to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) – modern art is definitely the more interesting form of art for me. Partly because I do actually like some of it and find it quite impressive, but partly also because I find it interesting how crap some things can be that people pay lots of money for. Whilst the MoMA doesn’t have a urinal as an art installation like the Tate Modern in London, it didn’t disappoint and I managed to spend almost 3 hours there. In short, whilst I really like some of the Matise, Chagall and Dali, there is some utter rubbish there, namely most of Jackson Pollock’s work (there was one painting there that I thought was OK) and quite a lot of the Van Gogh. All in all, interesting to see some of the famous works, even if some of it is rubbish. What I did enjoy were some of the art installations rather than paintings – there were some cool works which were artistic, colourful and quite obviously required lots of talent in their creation. All in all, a worthwhile outing.

It's going to be a white Channukah

View of the courtyard from my kitchen window

Although the skies started looking rather ominous, I didn’t really believe the girl in the canteen when she said it was going to snow later. I did expect snow later in the week after seeing the Friday forecast as having a minimum of -7’C and a maximum of -5’C. But sure enough, that evening, snow flurries started falling. And sure enough, when I woke up this morning the city was covered in a light blanket of white powder – at least that’s how it looked. I quickly discovered after walking to the shops and back that the powder was rather icy and it probably wouldn’t be too long before I slipped and fell on my ass (or worse still, on an outstretched arm!). However, it was still very pretty seeing all the cars, trees, rooftops and parks covered in white.

I'm not naked, yet I'm the odd one out!

In my short time in Denmark I had heard from a few people stories about the Danes' openness when it comes to nudity, but it wasn't until recently that it hit me in the face.

After discovering a public swimming pool around the corner from my apartment, and realising it would be a long time before I would be able to swim outdoors, I figured it was better than nothing (plus it might be good physical therapy for my hand). So off I went. However, I wasn't quite prepared when I walked into the men's change room. The way the Danes behave made me realise how prudish we (Australians and other similar countries) are. It's not like a change room I'm used to where people just get changed - everyone (and I mean everyone) walks around totally stark naked! The showers are all open (think of a scene from a prison movie) and people don't think twice about walking around totally nude. You are encouraged to have a proper shower before you put your swimmers on, and then people do the same after going for a swim.

So boy do I feel the odd one out walking around with swimmers on...


On a side note...
An interesting channel on TV here, channel 11 on my TV is some kind of kid's channel, but they have a novel idea: when kids are supposed to be sleeping, they simply show someone sleeping on TV. Yup, hours and hours of watching someone toss and turn, snore a bit, etc.

Being a tourist in Copenhagen

Frederiksborg Slot - the royal castle at Hillerod

In my attempt to partly treat my trip as a holiday I am making sure that I spend some of my time on weekends being a tourist. Most of my 'touring' so far has been in Copenhagen, but I did make use of the "free S-trains on the first Sunday of every month" to go check out a beautiful castle at Hillerod, North-West of Copenhagen.

Unfortunately, many of the sights I want to get photos of I haven't been able to due to the continuously crappy weather here. So eventually I'll get some photos up of Copenhagen more generally - the lakes (or moats essentially) that surround the inner city, the housing, the wind turbines all over the ocean, etc. Most of the time is has been totally overcast and much of the time there is a constant drizzle. Very rarely is there heavy rain. But I at least now understand how some people in this world don't understand the concept of a drought!

Stupid Bed Sizes!

When I moved into my apartment here I found I had what I thought to be a 'standard Danish king size bed' - AKA, 2 single beds pushed together to form a large bed. In standard Danish fashion, there were also 2 "top mattresses" (kind of like mattress protectors in the rest of the world), and then single size doonas too (which seem to be all the rage in northern Europe). I had a large bottom sheet though.

Unfortunately, when you have the above combination on timber floors, with bed legs made out of wood, not only is it bloody uncomfortable lying across 2 single beds, but it doesn't take long for the beds to slowly push apart in the night while you're in the middle.

A Handy Update

I've had enough of this broken hand saga. There is no novelty in it, no fun at all. As of today I have started serious physiotherapy, aka torture. It turns out that most of the pains I am experiencing are as a result of not moving the joints for so long, rather than the fracture (general pain versus sharp pain at the scaphoid) and therefore I need to push things to the limit. Well, it's bloody tiring!

Using my arm muscles I can bend my wrist forward around 30', and backwards around 40'. Add a few degrees if I push using the other hand. It's very frustrating when your body doesn't do the simple movements it has known its whole life and you experience pain when you try to do such basic things. On the other hand, when I look at my left hand it still looks rather awkward (I try to capture it in a photo but it just doesn't come out). Unlike my right hand which is effectively 'flat' on the top-side between the wrist and my knuckles, my left hand is concave. The effect of this is when I do bend the wrist, the curve is entirely at the wrist and then flat between the wrist and the knuckles (as opposed to the right hand where the curve stretches a lot further towards the knuckles). It looks rather weird actually and makes me wonder whether my hand will ever return to normal. The physio assures me though that normal rehab time is 6-8 weeks. Can't wait.

On an unrelated note, winter is finally kicking in here. With temperatures around freezing point and some crazy strong winds, it's time to start wearing my beannie on my walk to work! Also, I have done a bit of touring in Copenhagen and surrounds and will put some photos up soon...

Ah - a quality medical system

Fine, although I haven't quite yet been indoctrinated into the Danish public health system (I am currently awaiting my CPR number - which serves as a national ID number which just about everything in this country relies upon), I have seen the edges of it and I've had a taste of the private health system here. And boy is it good! There is definitely something to be said for good ol' socialist ideals!

2 shopping mistakes in as few weeks...

Although everyone here speaks English, nearly all signage is 100% in Danish. Supermarkets are no exception.

My first mistake was the first time I went to the supermarket. Looking for milk I purchased kærnemælk. Since all the cartons had the word mælk on them, I just had to decide which prefix I wanted. Since there was a high proportion of kærnemælk cartons and they also came in various percentages (fat content I assumed) I went home with one of them.

I discovered when pouring it on my cereal the next morning that it was indeed buttermilk. Argh!

Today I made yet another mistake. What I thought was fabric softener (pink, creamy looking, big bottle, smelling like fabric softener) ended up just being washing detergent. So now my clothes have all been washed twice, smell very strongly like flowers, and feel a little soapy!

Yay! I have somewhere to live :-)

After getting stressed and frustrated about not finding a place to live here, I finally caught a break. Actually, on Sunday evening I got offered a place I had looked at the previous week which I quite liked - turns out their first choice fell through. The place was relatively nice, and in quite a nice area (actually in the city of Frederiksberg), but slightly further away from the office (which is just to the north of the CBD). The plan was to part pay the deposit in cash upon my return (since I didn't yet have a local bank account to transfer cash from, and none of my colleagues had their tokens for accessing their Internet banking). However, in the mean time, I got an email about another place which looked very interesting. It was DKK 500/month cheaper and closer to work. (Actually, I also found out about a third option which sounded pretty good - but gave up on it in the end because it was a studio apartment, and I decided I wanted more than a single room).

So my plan was to return from the work retreat Wednesday afternoon, quickly check out this new apartment, and unless I really really liked it, go pay the deposit for the one in Frederiksberg...

Legoland - check

Yup, Legoland was the location for our work retreat. A whole one week into my new job and we head off on a 3 hour bus trip to a mystery location. All we knew is we didn't need our passports. And I guess when you look at a map and see where you can go in a 3 hour drive (considering West is the only option), Legoland made sense.

It was a 3 day retreat aimed at team building, getting to know each other, and a big emphasis seemed to be on getting all the teams to explain to everyone what they're all about and what they do. For me, it was perfect as it provided a fantastic introduction to everyone in the office, all the different teams, what we're all about, where we're heading, and what people actually do. Interestingly, even those who had been in the office for a while said it was very useful. About half of the retreat was dedicated to work stuff, and the other half to team building exercises and having fun. This included things such as a pumpkin carving competition (we one, though naturally I had very little input into that!), the African Choir that I've already written about, as well as learning to sing and drum along with another African band.

South African Surprise in the middle of Denmark

I arrived for my new job in Denmark just in time for a 3 day retreat! The retreat is an annual even in the office for the whole of the branch which I work for (roughly 50 people) and is partly a team building exercise, partly fun, and partly work. The retreat location has been kept secret from us - primarily so the fun part can be a surprise. But more on that (and the fact that I now have permanent accommodation in Copenhagen) in the next post (when I have some more photos too).

In the mean time, during dinner tonight, our treat was a mini-concert by a Danish vocal group called Papaya. The group is basically a collection of people who like African, and in particular South African music and sing a lot of it. They do tours in South Africa (both to sing and to learn) and also do concerts in other countries around Europe. For a group of very pale looking Nords, they were pretty impressive black singers!

Rather than posting my crappy mobile phone footage of them singing the South African National Anthem, I figured a YouTube video would be better...

A really crap or really good hot chocolate?

This afternoon I decided to find a local cafe`, and sit down with a hot chocolate and my book. I ordered a 'mixed' hot chocolate (since that one had dark and light chocolate), sat down, and started drinking the frothy mixture. I was a bit puzzled as to why there were 2 swizzle sticks in the drink, but figured the person behind the counter had just mistakenly put 2 in instead of one. I can't say I was overly impressed with the drink - it was indeed hot, but barely had any flavour to it. It was just like hot milk. I thought this was going to be my first disappointing culinary experience in Copenhagen... However, I was quickly proven wrong. Upon withdrawing one of the swizzle sticks from the drink, I noticed a blob of solid chocolate attached to the end. Ahhh - so that's how it works! Obviously I have had too many crappy hot chocolates made with powder and I'm just not used to the real thing.

After melting and stirring the dark and milk chocolate in (with only 3/4 of the milk left), I had a fantastic, super chocolatey hot drink. Yumm!

An office with a view

After spending the past 2 years working in offices with little to no view, my office here is a refreshing change. For the past 2 years I have either been underground, stuck in windowless rooms, or been in sight of a window which has provided a clear view of nothing more than concrete. I am told that in Denmark there is a law that every working must be within a certain distance of a window (can't remember what that distance is), but it's a great idea. My desk is on the third floor with views over Copenhagen Harbour - I don't think one could ask for any more!

Or so I thought...

Ergonomics is a bit thing in the office, and here things are taken to the extreme. Not only is the height of desks in the office adjustable, but it can go so high that many people switch from sitting to standing at their desk as the day progresses. Additionally, unlike the clunky manual systems, all our desks are plugged into the power grid so adjustments occur at the press of a button!

København - Initial Impressions

No initial photos, just some initial impressions...

I arrived in Copenhagen just over 24 hours ago. Tomorrow is my first day at the office, although I have already met one of my colleagues (who found this apartment for me and also lives downstairs). I'm looking forward to trying something new, and reckon most of my stress at the moment is focused around actually trying to find some more permanent accommodation. Hopefully with a bit of house hunting this week, I'll find something.

Arriving in Autumn here is nice enough. The weather is almost perfect (to classify as perfect I would probably add around 10'C to the temperature). It's cool and brisk outside - definitely long pants and jumper weather (and for anyone who isn't me, probably jacket and possibly beanie as well) - but the sky is clear and it's beautiful in the sun.

So far I am quite impressed with this city although there definitely are a number of areas where it falls behind the modern world...

Sprechen Sie Englisch?

Well it turns out that if you move around a German airport using a German passport, everyone talks to you in German and acts very surprised and confused when you ask them whether they speak English!

One of the great things about being in Europe though, or at least, being out of Australia, is the existence of customer service. After QANTAS giving me the shits at Perth Airport due to having one policy used by the telephone sales people, and a different policy being used by the check-in staff, I ended up with my luggage not being able to be checked all the way through to Copenhagen. And yes, it was all a single ticket purchased from QANTAS. But since I was flying SAS from Frankfurt to Copenhagen, lets just say, my luggage wasn't going to get checked through all the way. So after collecting my luggage in the rabbit warren that is Frankfurt Airport, I made my way over to check in for my SAS flight and found an extremely obliging lady at the check-in counter, who was more than happy for me to bend the rules and take a second piece of luggage as carry-on. I clearly had more than the allowable dimensions and weight - but thanks to good customer service, it wasn't a problem.

You don't mess with the Kevin

As a result of my extreme dislike of being wronged, and naturally my overwhelming desire to be a good corporate citizen, I have decided to provide a public review of my experience with the car dealer. The main aim here, of course, is to ensure no other good (or bad) residents of the ACT experience the same issues as I did. Feel free to click on the Google link in the review stating that you found it helpful.

Yup, I've been screwed

I now at least have some evidence that something useful was done in surgery a couple of weekends ago. The 2 screws in my hand actually look a bit larger than I was expecting, but oh well, as long as they do the job.

The good news is, my orthopaedic surgeon has cleared me to fly to Copenhagen at the end of the week and start work. Thankfully Denmark is a nice western country with all the trappings of a quality medical system, otherwise I would potentially be in Perth for a lot longer. So I leave Perth now on Friday afternoon and get to Copenhagen on Saturday morning, all ready for work on Monday. I have an apartment to stay in for my first 10 days there - a very trusting neighbour of a colleague-to-be is renting their place out to me while they're away for a couple of weeks. Once there, I figure it shouldn't be too hard to find something more permanent.

So after spending, what feels like many many hours, filling out medical forms, spending time on the phone to QANTAS and various other places, I am finally heading off. Although it's a little frustrating that my adventure starts with only one working hand, I can't wait to begin it!

Mini-Herbert Screws

Unfortunately, 2 mini-Herbert screws is not as fun as it may sound....

CT scan of my left hand

These screws are actually pretty neat little pieces of hardware. They have 2 different threads on them - the thread at one end has a larger pitch than at the other end. So when the screw is fully contained within a solid (or two solids in the case of a broken bone), as the screw is tightened, you get a tensile force within the screw and consequently a compressive force longitudinally through whatever the screw is in.

In my case, the substance is my left scaphoid. And in my case, I think I'll end up paying slightly more than what Bunnings may charge for these things!

How to NOT transition between jobs

Hypothysis

• That if I want to 'try something new' in terms of a job and location, the hard part is getting the job. The rest should be simple.

Inputs & Raw Materials

• 1 x job offer that sounds like a fantastic opportunity
• Appropriate leave from existing job
• 1 x shed with just enough space for all my personal belongings
• Plan to spend 2 weeks with my family interstate prior to flying overseas
• 1 x snowboarding holiday in New Zealand