I dag er det min fodeselsdag!

Translated: Today is my birthday! And one would reply: ti lykke (congratulations).

So for my blog today, I thought I'd have a photo journal of what my day was like.
It started out, with a nice breakfast at home with the family and some lovely gifts. Craig made the school lunches even! Then Maya, Molly and I rode our bikes to C.I.S. (their school) and I rode on to Danish school at the Sprog Centre.

Today's lesson plan included honing in on phrases such as "Jeg hedder Mary Jo. Jeg kommer fra Portland, Oregon i USA. Jeg bor i Hellerup og bor sammen med min man'd og to barne. Jeg taler selvfolgelig engelsk og lidt spansk. Mine enteresser er yoga og laer dansk. Jeg er 47 ar.

You get the idea. Reading Danish is so much easier than speaking it. About a third of the letters are deleted altogether when speaking and the trick is knowing which ones to leave out. Unfortunately, my keyboard does not type their extra vowels, so the above words have ommitted some crucial vowels. My apologies to those Danes in the audience. Our homework for next class is to memorize 4 sentences and create a dialogue about ourselves which we will say aloud to the class. We have had 3 classes. That's what immersion is all about.

From Danish, I rode my bike from Hellerup to downtown, stopping along the way to snap some pictures. It was a spectacular day, with sunshine and no wind. Since it was about 34 degrees F at 8 am and 40 at Noon, I wore gloves and ear covers with my helmut. Slick, leafy roads are too dangerous these days to go without a helmut. So much for designer hair...

I had a laser appt. for my feet. I'm trying laser to work off the scarring and inflammation I've had for years. So far, so good. On the way, stopped at a kebab shop in the University district that sells the cheapest durum falafels (like a burrito but falafel inside). 25 DKK is like $4.50. The cheapest lunch in town. The University District is obviously by the University and has very hip places to eat, wild second hand stores, bars and coffee shops.

After, I cycled back to Hellerup to pick up the girls (about 30 minutes) and then we all cycled home. Put in my thrice-weekly strength training while the girls did homework and then took Maya to her first basketball practice of the season. Molly and I then went to the Lynby Mall to get a back pack since hers has fallen apart, while Craig made dinner. By 7:20 we were all home, had a salmon, rice and green bean dinner with baked pears and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Now, sitting on the couch, writing this while the girls read their books. As you can see, nothing was outstanding about the day, except for the fact that I was living in COPENHAGEN. Damn. Sometimes I forget about that fact. Often, I think that nothing has changed: I still have to shop for food for the family, clean the toilets, vacuum the house, process homework and bills, discipline the kids, orchestrate the social calendar, blah, blah, blah. I'm still the same American housewife that I was in the states. I just have a new title- "husmoder" or hjemme gaerne. House mother. We have to keep some sense of regularity to our lives. It's not like we're on vacation for 2 years. We can't be tourists every day. Much of our experience here is to be like the Danes - which means the same boring stuff that they do, but in their way. Do I make any sense?

We still keep a lot of Americanisms, we can't help that. We can't change who we are. And we are learning that many Danes appreciate that about foreigners. Foreigners bring a complexity and diversity to the social landscape that makes it more interesting. Often I think I should just "blend in" and not draw attention to alien self. However there are a growing number of Danes who want foreigners to bring liveliness and richness to these mundane and lifeless people. Steeped in tradition, the Danes can also be repetitive, predictable and boring.

Thank goodness we have a multi cultural social network within the international school. There are about 50 countries represented. I just had tea with a Scottish family whose daughter is in class with Molly. They've lived in Dubai and Australia and now here. We're all moving around and passing on interesting stories and the children are reaping amazing experiences.

Will post off for now. The wine is getting to my head. I'm full and I'll hit the sack soon. Love and best wishes to you all. Email me at: thecohen4dk@gmail.com

Love and Light,
mary jo