01 August, 2006

the denmark I love


As I am a smoker who can't smoke indoors, I am 'confined' every evening to 6-7 minutes on the sidewalk in front of the place where I live. However, this provides for me a beautiful moment to stop and think about the day, a break before I sleep, instead of filling my head with trivial activities until I'm in my bed. More often than not I come back in with a new song idea in my head or sometimes a new post for this blog. Tonight, though, I came in with a light heart because of the rain.

Yes, its raining in Denmark in sharp contrast to the heat wave that has swept over most of Europe the last month. For a couple of days, my country has turned back into the country I love with fresh, cool air, a bare minimum of insect activity (particularly flying ones) and quiet streets providing solitude for the ones with crowded minds and hearts.

On another such lonely, chilly night a couple of weeks ago, I put on my winter coat to go buy milk and all of a sudden I missed tucking the coat around me to keep the wind from sneaking in and the way keys, wallet, cigs and my mobile each had a pocket designated according to factors such as accessibility, size and fit of pocket (to prevent rattling and bulging), priority and frequency of use. How wonderful it is to live in a country that provides so many excuses to wear such a coat!

Denmark is a comfortable, user-friendly safe haven, where one can simply relax and enjoy the above-average asphalt under the tires of one's eco-friendly bicycle without necessarily breaking sweat for not wasting resources on gas or public transportation.

5 kommentarer:

annesue said...

oh well it didn´t last long then your non smoking period...hehehe
i can only agree denmark is a lovely place in many ways, and it is so easy to forget

_ivan said...

[sheepy grin] No, I quit smoking in May and gave up 3 days later. Its waaay too tough when working at a café, where smoking's a natural ingredient of all the customers' and employees' day. Everyone smokes there and then its hard to quit. However, I'm quitting the 28th of August as that's the date when I'm starting Uni. I figure a new place with new people won't hamper my efforts and I'll have to quit sooner or later.

'The grass is always greener,' they say, and I guess its true. We wish for warm weather in winter and when summer finally comes in seven-fold, we ask for a day of rain and cold.

I'm only sorry that the reputation of our neat country has been marred by the crisis of the Muhammed-drawings in Jyllands Posten. I am also sorry that Dansk Folkeparti [red. Danish People Party: nationalistic, racist party] has so many votes when the vast but silent majority are so far from racist opinions! It saddens me that I am also the victim of the radical minority opinion coupled with the deepening tendency towards generalization across cultural borders.

Yes, I am proud to be a Dane, but I do welcome refugees as well as all others from other cultures.

annesue said...

hahaha, new study new habits, good luck, your first challenge will be "rus turen" where it will be VERY natural to smoke...go get them with your strong will
yeah once it was an advatage for me to have american and danish passport cause then i could go to most countries no problem...now the danish passport is just as good as the american, too bad.

iradioheaven79 said...

You're preaching to the choir, buddy. Stop glossing over Denmark because you're making me homesick!
While you are enjoying rain, I am enjoying warning sirens. Anyways, congrats on uni and remember that whenever you long for a cigarette, there are always hookahs instead.

_ivan said...

Bah, cigarettes won't be the end of me - if I don't want'em, I don't want'em! ;)

But the cease-fire's in effect between Israel and Lebanon as of this morning, I've gleaned from the headlines. War will never cease to amaze me in a negative sense.