oh my oh my oh my

jeg ved ikke engang, hvad jeg skal sige

Denmark has been in my mind for so long; the weather, the supposedly widespread happiness, the bicycles! And the promise of a different way of doing things. And then I came; and I am here; and I might be here for a while, yes.

And where to start?

for now, there's not much I can say — at least in a structured way. The weather hasn't been so bad (lots of sun, and I've swam in the sea nearly every day so far); things are generally more expensive, yes, but I did not notice that in the supermarket: buying vegetables (and organic!) was actually cheaper than in Portugal. I have a house, already (listen, I came here as a student, okay?) — it is very cosy, albeit far from the city. Every day I pedal nine kilometers to and fro, and this is really not an issue, because everything is cyclable; we will see when the weather gets rougher.

The first few days I spent in Åarhus, at a good friends' place. It is a nice city — I think it is Denmark's second biggest — although it was generally a bit cloudy, and maybe even colder than the southernmost Sønderborg I live in. But it is a very interesting city, with apparently many things happening at once.

People are nice — lots of smiling around — and it feels dreamlike to be riding a bicycle on the road and be treated as a first-class citizen (let alone not be honked at for, well, being on the road). I distinctly remember biking around during the day on one of the major roads — and there was not a single car in sight. And — the silence! It's incredible.

Libraries seem to play a major role in the community, and they're very child-friendly. In fact, in Aarhus' library there is a big gong one can make ring whenever a child is born at the hospital (I suppose this is how to boost birth rates, but the gong is just the icing on the cake for what the Danes are concerned). And even if the libraries are closed to the public, one can still come in before-or-after-hours — that's the case in my small village, and so in the university. Of course, there's a high level of trust among everyone, it seems.

The modern architecture is interesting; Åarhus in particular had some buildings that were joyous to behold. There's a lot of wood everywhere, too. But I'm not an expert in this regard, and so I'll just leave a couple of pictures.

And — yes. That's it for now. There's still a lot of things to work on and figure out, and I'll eventually get back at this, but,

but,

for now I am here — and it has been very pleasant so far.

Golden Hour
Kacey Musgraves

Mil Coisas Invisíveis
Tim Bernardes

Woodland
Gillian Welch, David Rawlings