dot dk

Today was a regular day, just like any other day. A perfectly normal day. Except that Lisbeth gave me a present as soon as I woke up (a really sharp dress shirt). And except that the guys at work teased me all day (I held the title as the oldest guy in the office for quite some time.) And that Lisbeth gave me another gift when I got home (two books that I’ve been wanting.)

But other than that, it was a perfectly normal day. Except for the stream of emails and Facebook messages from friends and family, wishing me well. And except for the fact that I was born exactly forty one years ago, at exactly one minute before midnight. (And, as my mother sometimes reminds me, after twenty four hours of labor.)

This has been an amazing winter. There’s been snow on the ground for two months now. Weeks have gone by very little time spent above freezing. And every time it seems like the snow might be melting, another batch comes down. Two years ago I wrote an entry called This winter’s limp handshake. We’re certainly getting a firm handshake this winter.

This is not typical. Denmark had much milder winters than Americans tend to think. It is, after all, at the same latitude as Southern Alaska. But this January was Denmark’s coldest in twenty three years. Several I’ve talked to say they don’t remember a winter like this.  Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not sure how it happened, but somehow a year has passed since Ellen came along. It went by quickly, and it seems like she’s been with us all along.

She’s not walking yet. She’s pretty confident standing though, and this weekend Frits coaxed her into taking a step or two. It won’t be long, but so far she doesn’t really seem to think it’s an option anyway.

The way that she’s changed the most though, is her comprehension. She catches on to things that she wouldn’t have figured out before. She’s not solving equations or anything, but you can show her something and she’ll try it herself. Read the rest of this entry »

I really like the fact that we named her Ellen, but most of the time it seems a bit too grown-up. But that’s ok — that’s what nick-names are for. But for some reason (probably because she changes so fast)  no single nickname seems to stick. So here’s a list, in no particular order.

• • Little girl
  • The Frog
  • Tater-tot
  • Destructo-bot
  • Cabbage head
  • Potato-person

In some ways this is my first winter in Denmark. We had a pretty good snow when I first got here, but since then the winters were more rainy than snowy. We’ve made up for that this winter — there’s been plenty of snow, and it’s been crisp and cold for long stretches at a time.

But maybe it just seems more like a real winter to me because I’m spending so much more time outside. I spent the first two winters commuting by train, as the Microsoft offices are about 22 kilometers north of Copenhagen, so I wasn’t exposed to the elements much. And although I rode my bike last winter, the office was about five minutes from the apartment. now I bike 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) each way. Read the rest of this entry »

There may be, somewhere in the world, a father that thinks his daughter is cuter than mine.

But he is clearly insane. Unlike me. Who is not.

Ellen is ten and a half months old now, and ever since she was born I’ve been telling Lisbeth, “I think this is it — maximum cuteness” and “She just can’t get cuter. It’s just not possible” and “I don’t think I can take much more of this.”

But then she goes right on getting cuter. So much so that when I look at pictures of her from three or six months ago I think, “Well sure, she was sort of cute, I guess… but look at her now!”

But, like house prices, Ellen’s cuteness cannot go up and up indefinitely. No. It must peak at some point, and then go down. It just must. It defies the laws of the universe, this.

Not that I’m complaining, especially since she has a personality to match her cuteness. In fact, there may be, somewhere in the world, a father that thinks his daughter is more charming than mine… poor fool.

Overall, Christmas in Denmark isn’t that different from Christmas in the US. There are differences, but they’re fairly subtle. Except for the tree. That’s not subtle. But in terms of Christmas being a special time, in which family gets together and eats entirely too much — that’s the same.

Naturally the food is different. I’ve gotten so used to the food that I don’t think about it very much anymore, but the Danes have a lot of of specific foods that they only enjoy on special occasions, so there were two dishes I hadn’t had before. The first was brunede kartofler, which translates to roasted potatoes, but are in fact caramelized potatoes. I’m of the opinion that you can’t improve on the potato, be it mashed or merely boiled, so I wasn’t particular impressed by the description, but they’re very good. Read the rest of this entry »

Up until now, no matter where I’ve been living, I’ve managed to get home to New Mexico for Christmas. But on this, my fortieth Christmas, I’m not going home. We’ll spend next year in New Mexico, but this year we’re spending Christmas with Lisbeth’s family.

It’s quite strange not to go home. It’s nice not to have to worry about airports and jetlag, but I miss my family, I miss the food, and going to my grandparent’s ranch.

But it’s not all bad. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a surreal two weeks. Security around Bella Center was incredibly tight. Tall barriers were constructed around the center, engulfing entire streets. There were generally five to ten police officers at every gate, 24 hours a day, and many more than that on days when protesters were expected. On Friday, when Obama came in, guards with assault rifles were added. It was like living next to a military base.

I took these pictures from our terrace on Wednesday morning (I had a headache and it was bitter cold, so the blur in these pictures is my unsteady hands). Protesters were expected to make another attempt to push past security and get into Bella Center. But, as seemed the case the entire time, police were two steps ahead, and were clearly not going to let things chaotic, even if it meant arresting 600 people at a time. Read the rest of this entry »

Haven’t been on it, don’t know anything about it, but it’s in Copenhagen right now and it just nice lookin’.