dot dk

Ellen has been walking for a while now, but it happened so slowly that it’s hard to say when she really changed from an infant to a toddler. She’s been upright for months now, but before she was always holding the wall or a table, or a pant leg for stability.

Then she started taking a step or two to get from a wall to a table or a pant leg. And then she did that often enough that, very slowly, it mattered less and less how far the wall was from the table, and eventually, whether there was a destination at all.

But at this point she’s definitely a walker. She only crawls if she’s already sitting down and there’s only a short distance to traverse. That’s not to say that she walks confidently, or without mishaps. Door jambs are treacherous. She’s keen to their trickery, but they vary in high and width, and so they’re still a threat.

This stage of life is pretty tough in terms of falls. But walking is her default method of locomotion, and she’s constantly working at improving it.

Most of these were taken two weeks ago when we visited Kaspar, Hanne, and Storm in Århus. Storm, who is two months younger than Ellen, isn’t quit walking yet, but it’s probably a good thing. He’s like the Energizer bunny, and doesn’t seem to have any respect for things like hesitation or caution. He’ll be all over the place when he figures out how, and I’m sure Hanne and Kaspar will miss the days of crawling

I have a friend with whom I disagree on virtually all matters political. We worked together at Microsoft during most of the Bush W. years, and had a number of interesting debates about Islam, Iraq, etc. It’s been over four years since I’ve seem him, but we keep in touch, and disapprove of each other politically more than ever.

Recently he posted this on his blog, the gist of which is that the new heath-care measure (“Obamacare”) is unconstitutional because it forces citizens to buy a product. Here is my retort:

You’re right – it’s a sad shame. But conservatives have to take blame here. Conservatives opposed this legislation with such hysterical vitriol that a number of unsavory deals had to be made and corners had to be cut. And now you’re complaining about those deals, which is like organizing a massive strike and then complaining that the busses aren’t running.

Read the rest of this entry »

I have a lot of fun making fun of Danes. I do. It’s fun. It’s fun for me, and it’s fun for them. I’m sure it’s fun for them…  Well, they certainly have fun teasing me back. I’m subjected to steady stream of American jokes at work, that’s for sure.

One thing that’s fun to mock is the Danish obsession with the sun. When you grow up in New Mexico, sunlight is not exactly a scarce resource, but here — especially at this time of year – you’ll see people walking own the street and suddenly stop, close their eyes, and just savor the light on their faces. I’ve frequently made fun on that account.

But, having been here for a few winters now, I’m beginning to understand. I don’t mind the winters (and this one was really very nice as far as winters go) but when the spring comes, and the days get longer… suddenly it’s is possible to conduct a tiny part of your non-working day in the light — it’s a revelation. Suddenly it seems like the dark was weighting down on you all winter and you didn’t even realize it.

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 »