Weekends

I've only been here a little over a month, but I already have a typical weekend.  

Friday

Friday night found a group of us sitting on a classmate's boat chatting and having a few drinks.  Frank is a sailor and, rather than rent an apartment in town, he opted to buy a small boat and live in the harbor for the year.  I won't envy him when winter sets in.  We had burgers at the marina's restaurant.  They only had one burger option - it came with bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and some kind of special sauce.  The thing I found odd was that they didn't ask me how I wanted it done.  When I asked the waiter about this, he said they all come out medium.  His version of medium was pretty close to my version of well done.  My new phone was having navigation issues, so I waited until someone else was leaving so I could follow them back to school.  Biking from the harbor to campus took about 40 minutes.  I think I've spent more time on a bike in this last month than I have in the last 15 years.

Saturday

Saturday morning I made my way to the Forum, a convention center in city center.  For this weekend only it was hosting a sample sale.  Several designers had clothes & shoes at a serious discount.  

Even on sale, clothes are still pretty pricy unless I'm shopping at H&M.  Typical shirt ran about $40 and shoes started around $100.  Some of the stalls were selling used clothes & shoes, which seems to be a popular thing here in Denmark.  I stopped at a flea market last weekend and at least 60% of the booths were just used clothes & shoes.  It just wasn't the same without Mom.

I had taken the metro two stops East to the Forum because I was afraid I would buy more than would fit on my bike.  So when I stepped out of the metro after shopping with only one bag, I stopped into the Fotex, my favorite supermarket.  Stores are open in Copenhagen M-F 9-4 or, if you're lucky, 9-5 or 6.  They're open Saturday from roughly 10-2 or 4.  They're also open the last Sunday of the month and, as we approach the holidays, more and more Sundays in the month.  I was hosting brunch the next day, so I knew I needed to get my supplies on Saturday.

Sunday morning I cleaned & rearranged furniture so I could host our weekly brunch for the MBA students on the graduate floor of the building.  I made french toast, though I couldn't find maple syrup to save my life.  Turns out agave syrup works in a pinch.  Tetyana, from Russia, contributed cheeses - mozzarella and feta.  Gomathi, from India, made curry and home-made roti.  Clara, from Portugal brought a fruit salad she had made the day before.  Kris, from the UK, made bacon in his flat.  Iryna, from Canada, contributed the coffee, and Hrafn from Iceland brought the OJ.  Frank (of Frank's boat fame), from the Netherlands, was invited since he had been nice enough to host us on his boat.  He brought himself.

After brunch, a few of us biked to the football pitch (soccer field) where there has been a weekly pick-up game between current MBA students and a handful of alumni.  Iryna doesn't have a bike yet so she caught a ride on the back of Frank's.  She's heard a rumor there's a police auction where you can buy a bike for as little as $35.  She's going to check that out on Tuesday.

The football pitch is in the shadow of a stadium where the pros play.  I went in the hopes that someone would explain the rules to me, but it turns out they don't really play with rules, so those of us not playing served as the cheering section.

When the football match ended, most of us went back home to read for Monday's Management Accounting class.