Do you know anything about Denmark??

Greetings once again. I had some time... So I went to Denmark.

So let me start by asking, Why don't we know anything about Denmark? ...If you do know something about Denmark, pardon my ignorance. It seems a small, happy country, that tries to be neutral like Switzerland, and has good industry, and makes the most of it's long summer days. Here are my impressions of the capital, Copenhagen.

Copenhagen is a large city, rather expensive with a very bike-friendly and pedestrian-friendly downtown. It's fun to wander around until sunset at 10:30pm, but I'm sure it's much different when it rains, or in winter when it's getting dark at 2pm.

One of the first things I saw after arriving in Denmark was "The Little Mermaid" statue, one of the most unimpressive, must-see sights of Europe I hear. People think it must be amazing or enormous to be so popular. Still, the cool part was that I sat down next to the mermaid at dusk and read the famous story by Hans Christian Anderson "The Little Mermaid." Yes, you can start singing now... "I wanna be where the people are... I wanna see, wanna see'em dancing..." Hans Christian Anderson is a permanent fixture here in Copenhagen with his own street and his grave near downtown. But then, the world does benefit from his book of fairy tales: "The Philosopher's Stone" and "The Ugly Duckling" are two more you may have heard of...

I went on a walking tour, put on by NewEuropeTours. They have young individuals in many European cities that give free tours each day on a tips basis. It was especially fun to find three other people to hang out with a bit that afternoon, so we had a bottle of wine on a small boat tour. Copenhagen is also famous for Carlsberg Beer and LEGO! Between the two, all men should have a good reason to thank the Danes. On the longest pedestrian street in the world (not that long actually, but Copenhagen seems to love records), called Stroget Street, I saw some break dancers and a guy making enormous bubbles with a big rope. Kids were making some too. I mean, kids other than myself.

I rode a city bike through Christiania, where the hippies were playing Backgammon and selling marijuana everywhere, smoking it too. I was unimpressed when I rode in, but fairly enthusiastic about it when I rode out ;) I guess the weirdos congregate somewhere in every city.

Danish kinda sounds like English spoken backward. Y'know, like you hiccup right in the middle of a word. Still, it would be nice to know how to speak it. "Skull" is the word for "Cheers!"

I heard that the metro system here is one of the nicest, so I subjected it to a critical evaluation. (If you've seen my Pontiac Sunfire, you'll know I settle for no transportation less than the best.) Besides slightly nicer cars and perhaps newer stations, I think the main difference is that it has elevators in many places, making the metro accessible to bicycles and strollers! It also gives stops a vaulted ceiling with a skylight at the top. That being said, there are many more families and stroller-borne kids downtown in the nation's capital than a person would expect, and I love seeing parents out and active with their young kids. (kudos, Rachel)

People-watching was fun, especially since the Danes seem a stereotypically beautiful people, meaning Blonde and fit. I wonder if Danes just love to jog or if there is an idealized image implied in society. Beautiful copper statues are all over the city, some of animals but many of naked women and men. It makes me wonder if people try to have a "perfect body" more when they are walking by naked statues every day...

There are a few things I can cross off my "to-do list" now: 1) On my way to Denmark, our train pulled onto the lower deck of a large ferry, and we got off to cross from Germany to Denmark, about 45 minutes. 2) I strolled around Malmo, Sweden. It's funny how you can cross a small line - in this case, a straight in the Baltic Sea - and the language, currency, and culture are different. Malmo is the size of Wichita, and even more kid friendly with lots of parks and playgrounds, and gave me a lovely walk. 3) Now have swam in the Baltic Sea! Today Charlotte told me the British refer to something frigid as "Baltic" and now I know why.

Tuesday morning I was trying to invite someone from the Hostel to join me on the tour, and instead arranged to meet a couple Australian girls that evening near Tivoli, the lights of which they wanted to see at sunset. After I met up with Sarah and Tamara, we found out through chatting that we are all Christians! As Sarah said, it was encouraging to all three of us. May our lives honor God, even while we travel Europe.

So, now you know something about Denmark! (Although you already know, Mr Downs. We'll share thoughts sometime) If you want to know more, look up the Dane WWII spy Tommy Sneum.

Thanx for Reading! Next update from the UK!

Seth Pro

Guten Tag!

Guten Tag, friends!

Here I am living life at the country abode (sorta) of my friend Nele Grasshoff and her family in Appen, Germany (Hamburg.) If you're interested I'll send some thoughts your way from time to time. I hope the European email causes as much appreciation of life as the experiences do for me. Isn't it ironic the way an email looks the same no matter what country it came from?

My first German experience was the neuapostoliche church, directly from the airport. Though I hadn't been to choir practice, I did attempt to sing with Nele and her mother Marin, very quietly so as not to pronounce a German word completely incorrectly. It would be like singing "a-moo-zing grac-ee... how swite the sand..." Ah, the acappella sound in an echoey hall is a beautiful thing! Since then I've done a lot of singing in German! I practiced with the chamber choir, which will be doing a concert of classical music with ochestra in a couple months. This is also through the New Apostolic Church and Nele's father directs the choir with a strong bass voice. Later the family's circle of friends got together to practice a traditional Hambur song to be sung at the 25th wedding anniversary of another couple. The musical circle of friends got together to practice a traditional Hamburg song by Hans Albers, but they changed the words to personalize it to the couple, and I think it was amusing for everyone.

The next day, Berndt, who had the 25th wedding anniversary, took us on a speedboat up the river Elbe. We had a lovely cruise, passing enormous barges following the tide on their way upriver to the ocean. I saw sheep and thatched roofs on the German countryside. Lovely. We even had some entertainment to eat lunch with: a large man was driving a remote control speedboat zipping around the dock. Inevitably it wiped out and started no more. We chuckled and joked about it as he deliberated. Finally the large man jumped in and swam the 20 meters to retrieve his beloved.

I'm surprised how much English they Germans here understand compared to how much they actually use. Most apologize for their terrible English, but I can have a conversation with them. I guess it infiltrates music and movies, products, news, advertisements, and business names. But actually using it becomes either a hobby, or a skill learned traveling.

We've seen many sights of Hamburg, but there's a lot to see. All around the Harbor are some beautiful areas to walk since things are exceedingly green here, and we even took a canoe all afternoon around the harbor and along houses only divided by the small channel of water. Nele says Hamburg has more bridges than Venice! We visited a Spice museum in Hafencity, which is the most modern part of town, and farthest out into the river. The contrast btwn these 21st century buildings and the huge 100-yr old architecture has been deliberately accentuated by strange angles, leaning walls and wave-shaped roofs. From the harbor we could see the Spire of St Nicolai, a cathedral from the mid 1800s that has clearly been burnt. From up close, an open square with parts of stone wall marks the bombed structure in July 1943. Only the spire is still able to stand, and we took a lift to the top at 75 meters.

The Reeperbahn is where the all-night action is, so Jana, Nele and I went out to dance and see all the people and places until night was nearly gone. It's an interesting part of the culture here, and I was happy to have someone who knew the ropes show me around.

The "countryside" where Nele lives begins only 20 km from Hamburg proper. It's like KS countryside with everything compressed to half-size: fields, cows, tractors, houses, quite charming. Since most of the structures are brick, Nele's house has an old brick barn connected to the house, and now not in use. It's 30 degrees Celcius here, calm, drizzly and smells good, though daylight lasts from 4:30 to 10:30! My sympathies to most of you for the 45 degrees Celcius temperatures of KS.

The New Apostolic Church in Germany is quiet and structured, although I learned that the pastorship is volunteer and they "speak from the heart" rather than prepare sermons. I think this propogates more reliance on the Holy spirit, but less delving into the bible. Nele has convinced her congregation to do a "reading the bible in 90 days" program. The new Apostolic Church has few young people and no contemporary worship music. I'm not sure which comes first, the chicken or the egg. Nele translated most of the sermon for me, and probably several old ladies pursed their lips and watched us the whole time. I love the experiences one cannot get as a tourist!

Today we went to the Neuengamme concentration camp southeast of Hamburg, which has extensive exhibits in the few remaining buildings. It opens my eyes in a new way to World War II History, and though it was rather depressing to Nele, I think we had an interesting discussion about life, politics, sociology, and where God is in the midst of atrocites... A society of independent individuals can appear so single-minded from the outside, yet be so complicated from the inside, and accomplish so much for either good or evil. That's one small conclusion, though putting the conversation into an organized series of logic in this email is nigh impossible. I'm so glad that space is preserved, though. If only we could remember everything God has shown us in our lives.

I attached a couple pictures, one of Nele's house, and one of us on the speedboat on the Elbe River. Proof! I really am here!

Thanx for reading and experiencing life in your own way. I pray that our experiences enrich our lives and others in the future. Until next time...

Seth Pro