Everywhere is a shade of green, broken only by wildflowers, cliff and earth, perhaps it is especially wo as this is the rainseason. That also means that the mountains we're driving in are often shrouded in clouds, with intermittent showers,although they appear more frequent the lower we get.

We've been on two longer treks so far on this trip, one leading up to Tiger's Nest and one over two days walking in a valley somewhere in he Bumthang area within two hours of Jakar. The nature is gorgeous, but coming from Denmark it can be quite overwhelming, the nature is everywhere, just driving in a bus can reveal the most gorgeous sights, it's a lot like Norway in that sense, except that the view is always there, I guess that driving in the mountains has an advantage.

But exactly because driving in Bhutan is so basic, it would hardly even be called a road in Denmark, it's narrow, with no markings, going intermittenly from asphalt to dirt, with cows and other animals lounging about and workers expanding or improving the road with no warning, it shows so much of Bhutan in such an easy way. It's the main (and only) road east to west, and it runs through all the villages, towns and cities it passes; it's not a new road, it's the old road through the country. In South America, you could see how close you were to a city on how much garbage was in the side of he street, the more, the closer. Here, it's how many children are running around, how dense the foilage is and how good the road is.

I'm very proud of these photographs, so if you don't mind, I'd like you to hit the gallery link above, and savour the pictures in full view over on that site, rather than here in a low quality slideshow :).

And so, without further ado:

First, I took a few pictures of my scouts mascot on a wireframe motorcycle from Zambia:

Second, I made a video of myself bicycling to school, adjusting the speed and adding music to suit me feeling at that point during the ride:

Go to full screen and click on HD to enable a higher definition playback

Third, I put some leafs in a deep plate with water and put it in the freezer:

Fourth and finally, I bought some silicone molds for christmas men and made a small standing army of winter:

To Thora, thank you for a fun and refreshing week :)

Monday (Gallery):
The first day we were to go to a place that we felt like was ours or where we felt at home, and take a picture of it. Do something physical to it and take a second picture; finally we were to take a picture with ourselves in it. Oh, it had to be in black and white.

Tuesday (Gallery):
For the second day we had to bring something meaningful to us into school, where we were unsurprisingly told to take a picture with that item in it, telling a story that we want to tell about our item. I chose the watch my father gave me for my 18th birthday, I wear it almost everywhere and it means something special to me.

Wednesday (Gallery):
For the last day of assignment, we were each given an orange and were told to go take a picture of it, EXACTLY like we wanted...

What I see as a cause for much turmoil and trouble in many developing nations that Bhutan managed to avoid, is a rush for rapid development with the western world as a goal. The way I see it, the fourth king wanted to develop the country more naturally, with a goal that was for the good of the people (GNH) instead or being for the good of the commercial sector, Bhutan doesn't have any vast natural resources anyway; in fact, Bhutan has had many of the same premises as Nepal and chose a different route.

Bhutan is covered in fields, mostly rice paddies, where the mountains will allow it and the citied are residential, shops and offices, Bhutan doesn't really have an industrial sector, instead products of that sector is generally imported. While most Western countries have industrial sectors, they are shrinking in relation to the service sector, as it appears, As a result of the direction set out by the king, Bhutan is trying to skip the destructive industrial sector and going straight to a service economy. Clever, if successful.

The fifth king, educated in England, has ruled since 2008 when his father abdicated for personal reasons and already, he has become immensely popular, being nicknamed "The People's King", he often travels the county meeting and talking to common people of all backgrounds. When the county was shook by an earthquake two years ago, the king spent one month in the damaged area helpig with and overseeing the repairs and listening to and responding the needs of affected.

While the country was once split into many small warring kingdoms, they have been united by a single family, a line of kings that have so far proven far more than equal to the tasl and have remained widely popular with the population, ensuring peace in this small mountain kingdom. While a peaceful history more often than not leads to a contented nation, this nation has very visibly overcome past differences; it is not a steadfast rule, Denmark has been at war with Sweden a total of 12 times, with 34 armed conflicts in total (meaning 22 smaller scale battles, not fully fledged wars).

The way I see it, part of what makes Bhutan the place it is, home of GNH, is the long span of peace that has suddenly arrived and the, so far, good and benign kings that have ruled in the interest and cause of the people.

As mentioned previously, the Bhutanese are the friendliest and most forthcoming people I've ever meet, something I until coming here said of Malthesians. Farmers work diligently, plowing by ox, picking potatoes and rice by hand and cutting wheat by scythe, pausing only to look at the tourists. The towns are all filled with shops (all selling the same items, there's hardly any differentiation), lodging and restaurants, with the occasional bar; this is not a drinking country and tobacco is outlawed. There are no shady characters, or neighbourhoods I wouldn't walk in, and it's not that I've stayed to the main streets. Children run in the street playing games, people around talking on street corners and everywhere monks partake in everyday life.

Driving along the main road in Bhutan gets you through a lot of villages and towns. They are all basically the same, wooden houses, usually not heavily decorated (that's mainly religious buildings or houses of powerful people), but vert much of the same time, of course, most or these villages house farmers.

Unlike in the West, the elderly are seen with admiration, their words weighing heavily. Upon retiring in Bhutan, it's not uncommon for the elderly to assume monk like lifes of prayer and meditation (at least for the men).
We went on a two day hike with visits to two cities with holy places, elderly men were in charge and on several occasions we were visited by the man in the picture attached to this post, a village elder who walked around to where he was needee.
As religion plays a big role in Bhutan, so do the monks. In the countryside where families are often numerous, it's very common that at least one son becomes a monk.

For hard labour, constructing roads and buildings mostly (Bhutan is growing at a very rapid pace), the Bhutanese use Indian workers at a daily rate of ~€1,5. Despite being a developing country, the Bhutanese prefer tilling the fields by ox and tending the farms passed down through generations, family is very important and an ever present in life. Indian immigrant workers are present throughout the country, improving the county's infrastructure. There are two airports under construction and the main highway that I've been travelling along is being improved, expanded or both. On this particular day that I'm writing, we're spending 9 hours driving 250 km, the road changing between asphalt and dirt, following the curvature of the mountain, rising and falling dramatically.

But are the Bhutanese happy because of what Bhutan is, or is Bhutan so successful with gross national happiness (GNH) because of the people? Were the people always this content?
I'm merely an observer, but it seems that people take pride and joy in their work, they live in a very social world, not only together with their family, but always working in groups and living close together; they have a real sense of community. With little influence from Western culture, they still haven't been enthralled by our desires and empty wishes. As Maslow would put it, their basic desires have been met. They are well fed, their social connections are rock solid and they need not fear for their home and income; I've seen so starving, homeless, malnourished or poorly clothed people (in fact, everyone wears nice clothing, if not the fancy national dress). I haven't seen the entire country and occasioanlly you will see a small cluster of shanty houses, but they are far outside the cities, usually belonging to farmers.

Even for a people as homogenic as the Bhutanese, it's very hard to generalise and see the reasons as an observer who's in the country for a mere three weeks.

But I envy them, even though I try, I focus a lot on things and money. It's not that they don't matter here, on Bhutanese was impressed with my camera and some of them drive big cars (though only close to Thimpu). But these generic shops, I exchanged a good deal of money when I arrived, but after 9 days I've used ~$10 aside from hotels, food and transportation (which is included in the price of my tour with the Danish Scout Association); what did I buy? Postcards, a snack, some water, donations at holy sites and other such frivolties. Even for the locals, there's not much to buy, it's a prople driven by need, not greed.

It does appear to me though that this is a different kind of Buddhism. Instead or worshipping just the teachings of Buddha, there are several gods, deities, demons and assorted mythical figures; just like Christianity adopted many local customs (such as Christmas), Buddhism has in Bhutan adopted many features of Bonism (the religion in Bhutab prior to Buddhism) under the guidance of Guru Rinpoche, the father of Buddhism in Bhutan. It makes it seem a lot like Christianity, individual guardians you can pray too for whatever you want, rain for the farmer and such, it's a very tangible religion, with relics for everyone, commoners too. Religion permeates everything, not just praying in temples, but chortenz all around the country, driving or walking left around holy buildings (sometimes a road will split in two around a holy building, so that no one has to drive right around). I'm not a fan of religion back home, but in Bhutan, it seems to take a much different approach, it's the praying, faith and suppory of the Christian church with peaceful approach of Buddhism. Can I really consider Buddhism peaceful in a country that struggled with civil strife for 200 years? Yes I think so, the battles were fought between rival kings, not in the name of religion.

When looking at the success of Bhutan, I find it very difficult not to look to their religion for part of the answer; the people here seem very calm and at peace, religion does not seem to be abused. True enough, some of the larger temples are quite extravegant, beautifully carved exteriors and interiors with beautiul statues but this is nothing like Catholic churches and cathedrals, while that is claiming that something is drier than water, these are still places of worship and unlike Abrahamic faiths, the gods here take physical form.

By adopting Bonism, Buddhism is very much in tune with the Bhutanese and their beliefs in spirits, it makes for a harmonious co-existance.

So how does it influence Bhutan? As I'm merely an observer I haven't looked into correlation or causation, but Bhutan is a happy and content place. Last year I visited Kenya, a country most people are familiar, a developing country an East Africa. There, you'll find malnourished people, beggars, thiefs, people in torn clothing, absurdly rich people in Nairobi, general corruption and a government so corrupt it almost has you in awe.

Bhutan on the other hand, seems devoid of these problems. Everyone looks well fed no matter their job, the only beggars are monks or retired people who spend their time meditating, most people wear the national clothes, the rest wear good clothing (nothing torn or worn down), you don't see disparities in wealth, even in Thimpu (the capital), I've seen no signs of corruption at all and the government? The king decreed that there should be a vote for democracy, the people came out, had the choice (a democratic election for democracy) and voted no (they preferred their immensely popular king). So in an undemocratic move, he instituted democracy anyway. Corruption...

But a country's soul is the people and they are the ones I interact with. I was just on Malta, a wonderful country with friendly and smiling people. The Bhutanese, take it to a whole new level. These people are smiling and waving, asking questions out of interest and curiosity, always forthcoming and with good intentions. As a photographer, I can tell you that most people say no or shy away from a camera if you ask whether or not you can take a person's picture. Not so here, not only will the Bhutanese smile and pose, they'll often ask their friends or children to step into the frame.
These people are a dream, not only do they look happy and well contented with their lives, they feel and act happy and well contented.

But is it just the national clothes and the GDH metric that ensures happiness? Hardly. Food is bountiful, the nature is beautiful and little work here is cause for stress, everything happens at a peaceful pace.

I'll look into it...

Early bird catches the worm, right? Irrespective, one of Malta's most famed sights is the blue grotto, and guess which happy photographer wanted to beat the crowds? We set off early, my mother now firmly in control with driving on the wrong side of the road, we made good time. Of course, that term is looser on Malta than pretty much anywhere else. Few things are far away, the island is approx. 10 km wide and... 30 km long? Something like that.

There's a small fishing village dedicated to launching tours to the Blue Grotto, and at around 8.50, we were by far the first people on the spot, in fact we had to wait around. Breakfast, in the same village, was a BLT on toastbread. Something Malta has in common with certain parts of Sicily (former trip), is that the small towns and villages have no shops or places to eat. We had hoped to dine on the way, but hopes and dreams are so easily squashed.

The boat trip was spectacular, it isn't just the Blue Grotto, but a whole series of caves, each with different features and characteristics. Some were famed for the intense blue colour of the water, some for their orange corral, one for its magnificent purple line where the water met the rock, and the scarriest of all, famed for all the overhanging cliffs that looked like it was made of loose gravel and rocks, ready to collapse with no notice.The Blue Grotto itself though, is by far the most spectacular. It's most readily described as being shaped like a rainbow of rock, leaving the mainland and hitting the water in a bow, with clear blue water running under it... An arc really. Sailing underneath it, the massive scale and the unlikelihood of such a formation takes your breath away (not your finger of the shutter release though).

Going round the cliff the find these caves, locals were casting lines and greeting us. My experience with Maltesians so far has beens stellar. Everyone is very nice and forthcoming (except for the portier last night) and speak brilliant English (it's a former British colony after all). More often than not, people don't like tourists (or generally anyone) taking pictures of them, but here on Malta, things work a bit differently, these outward people don't seem to mind, or at least don't react. It makes for a very inviting place.

Close to the Blue Grotto, Hagar Qim and Mnajdra can be found. They are the oldest freestanding stone momument in the world, raised somewhere between 5000 and 6000 years ago. Who raised them? Why did they raise them? Where did those people go? There are no answers to any of those questions. And how did they all those years ago, maneuvre stones weighing up to 20 tons into places so accurate, that they can be used to measure solstice and equinox (for more on worshipping the sun, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o, starts at 3:57). While they are cruder than the temples I saw on Sicily and the Inka villages in Peru (like Macchu Picchu), they are also much much older, and were built on a tiny island by a small civilization, long before the Romans on Sicily, the Inkas in Peru and the Egyptians in... Egypt. They're beautiful and very impressive. A point of criticism? While you don't have to, you're guided into a small cinema for a video presentation/tour of the ruins (it's without speech), it really does sort of spoil it when you're there. Not only does the video show all the most interesting parts in detail, but they of course filmed it on a day with the perfect weather conditions. It was a beautiful and wellmade video though.

Going on from there, we drove along the coast, first to Birzebbuga and then on to Marsaxlokk (you try and say it), a little fishing village with some 3000 inhabitants according to Lonely Planet.

Alright, let's get it out of the way. Travel guides try to sell places to you, they want you to get your hopes and dreams up. I know this, as will most people who've tried to travel by a guidebook that wasn't written in an objective style. The people who wrote the two guidebooks I've brought along are very much in love with the island.

Marsaxlokk is a beautiful place with nice traditional boats. But the groups of older men with weatheredfaces fixing their fishing nets etc. were nowhere to be found (speaking of these overly romantic descriptions in general, as you can see, I actually found a young man fixing his net). Instead we found Ir-Rizzu, and ate the most delicious squid and fish I've ever been near. That swordfish was so delicious, it might have been the one Monty Python was looking for http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uvt83YWWWY. Really though, it was a very nice little restaurant, visited by Maltesians instead of tourists that served up the best seafood I remember ever having eaten.

Malta is apparently the poorest area on the island, both financially and sight wise, in half a day, we had exhausted the interesting places our guidebooks had to offer (all churches we came across were closed though), so we set to returning slowly to Sliema (where our hotel is), following the coastline. Lo and behold, the spirit of our Sicily GPS is back! The GPS I used on Sicily had no notion of speedlimit on roads or how they are ranked. So it just as happily chose bumpy gravelroads over asphalt roads. We got sent on something of a sideway through beautiful rural areas, toppling walls, a broken down beetle and a blue ocean on our right. At times, Malta really feels and looks like Sicily, which is a good thing, Sicily is one of my favourite places in Europe.
We had had a long day yesterday, we had gotten up early and it was a hot day (and by hot, I mean HOT!), so we drove the long way (who am I kidding, there's no such thing as a long way on Malta) back to hotel for a rest.

Valletta is Europe's smallest capital at 600x1000 metres. While everything is closed on Sundays, not so on Saturdays, or so I thought. We'll be coming back to Valletta, I don't want to miss St. John's co-Cathedral or the Grand Master's palace, both supposedly quite amazing. I did, however, get to eat dinner in the cool shade of the Grand Master's palace, at a terrific Italian restaurant (Malta's proximity to Italy and especially Sicily has had a very strong influence on everything, even under the reign of other nations). I'm quite a picky person, surprising my mother when I ordered squid for lunch earlier today, dinner was spaghetti with langostini, mussels and squid, quite a stretch for me. Ever wonder why you might not like something while other people do? Tastebuds will react negatively to anything it sees as a danger, the tastes we don't like are often seen as bitter, and true enough, many natural poisons are bitter. So how did I stop being picky? I closed my eyes and bit down on whatever came along. I'm now a fan of mussels and squid, although I still don't like langostini, shrimp and similars with my fingers, feels too messy.

Something these southern countries seem to never lack, even in the heavily touristed area where I loved in Spain (Costa del Sol), is character and a certain charm. I had had long glances at some of the old busses driving around the island, from the 60's by the look of them. Most were newer, but there were a few gems driving around, all of them beautiful, looking new. So my heart leapt and screamed for joy, when line 64 bound for Sliema rolled in, and was one of those beautiful gems; it just felt real and genuine; reminded me of the public busses in Ascunsion (Paraguy), intimitely known as the Kamikaze busses (the drivers don't stop to pick up passengers, the only slow down, lessso for gringos). It's a bit like the old double decker busses in London, coming as a visitor, it's part of an experience, something different and otherworldly. If I wanted to try an old but not old enough to be cool bus, I would have stayed at home, and driven around in the bland busses we have in Denmark. Leaving home, it's the new experiences, the new tastes,the new sights and the emotions that are normally hidden inside that we want to draw out. If a bus can do that, so much the better!

Before I end this day, I do have something rather uncomfortable I want to get out. Sliema is a dump. It's where the fancy hotels are, where the ritz and glamour is, and it's a terrible dump. It's filled with language exchange students, teenagers and people in their early twenties, who've come to Malta to get wasted and do that whole jig. It feels too much like Fuengirola, except with a nicer backdrop (Sliema is seperated from Valletta by a long natural inlet. Think of a horseshoe, with a spike driven through the top. You have Valletta on the spike, Sliema on the left and the three cities (names) on the right.But it's not just that, it's the family vacationers and tourist busses. Of course, I should just stay away, and yes, Malta still has the reputation of what Mallorca used to be like and what many of the Greek islands are still like, but I still think it's quite a shame. The rest of the island is so unspoiled, even though I've only been here for one day, getting thrown into that ruckus with loud obnoxious people aged 16-26(ish) and families with screaming children in sveltering heat... I'll have that ice cream now.

If I've come across as cross, I'm not, I absolutely love Malta. It's a beautiful and friendly place, I've had a wonderful day, and I look forward to more of them. While everything is closed tomorrow (Sunday), that just means a greater opportunity to enjoy the landscape and the physical sights, rather than visit places with entrances. You have to make the most of what you have. Which is why I'm not coming back to Sliema ;).

Ever notice how there's a lot of strife in Northern Africa? Well, not all refugees go to neighbouring countries. On our way to Marsaxlokk, we came past a fairly large, fenced, refugee camp, with people I assume come mainly from Libya, but also other countries experiencing unrest, or at least, the shelters seemed anything but permanent, even for a refugee camp. Malta is the southern most EU country north of Libya, making it a natural destination. Mostly, I was surprised, it wasn't that I didn't expect those camps to be there, I just hadn't thought about it.

Remember how the plane was late? 1,5 hours in Munich turned into a frenzied run towards gate G04, while people everywhere did nothing but get in the way. We made the connecting flight and were soon on our way to Malta. Malta, which is an old British colony, suddenly reminded as to what it meant being a former British colony. Left hand driving.

I didn't catch much of Malta on this first day (we touched down circa 22.10, and it was dark), but driving through the fancier ocean faced Sliema, reminded me of Fuengirola (Spain), not a positive comparison. I was hard pressed though, driving with my mother is always an adventure. Taking to driving left handed could be done cautiously, however, she takes caution with a side of John Wayne; asking the same timid questions (which is the inner lane in this system?), while barreling down the main street at quite a respectable pace, while at times firmly ignoring the GPS or not really listening to my directions.

So once the day was nearly over, we checked into our hotel, Hotel Windsor, with a grumpy middle aged male receptionist, who seemed like he had better things to do and was thoroughly bothered when I called down for help with the not so functional toilet. All in all, things work better than in Italy.

In 2008 I moved away from home (albeit after half a years travel), to the other end of Denmark, to Aarhus.

Growing up, home was the house of my parents, but why? I imagine it was because I saw it as a refuge. I was bullied hard in school, but when I was home, I was safe. And it meant I bonded strongly with the house. When my parents divorced, I had to move out, and it was tough, I loved that house.

Since then, calling anything home has been hard, very hard indeed. I lived a few years with my mother in Denmark, before I moved to Spain; and that house was nice, but it was never a shelter, I always felt exposed. Same at boarding school (1 year), I never found peace, moving from room to room, sharing rooms with people, that I didn't always get on with. My fathers house was constantly filled with people, my step siblings and their friends (one of whom I loathed, who was always there), not to mention that I never really lived there.

So my mother moved to Spain, and I joined her. The house was nice, very cold, but it was a good place to live. But I lived far away from my school, 50 km or so. It effectively isolated me, more than my inherent lack of social skills have always done. And as for living as a geek - for what else is there when you're so isolated - the internet connection was as good as non existant, it was slower than a slug in salt, and didn't work when it rained (whenever it rained, it rained heavily) or the wind was blowing hard, or when it just plain felt like it.

But there was always a strong difference between living in the house of my parent(s). It would be somewhere that I could relax, or just do everything on a back burner. Living on my own, coming home, is a chore. And as a result, I nearly spend more time in school, there I only have to read. Spending little time at home, means my room is messy, since I'm never home long enough to properly clean, but do so only once in a while.

But now that I'm grown up (according to some people), do I need a shelter? Shouldn't I stand up to whatever happens? Yes, and I do.
But I need somewhere to lie down and just relax, somewhere to feel... Well maybe indifferent to the world around me, just for a short while. But I never feel like I get that opportunity, my "home" is primarily a bed, and the place where I keep all my junk.

So what's home? Well to me, an ideal home, is somewhere that I can breathe deeply, before I have to back to the ruthless world outside. Not necessarily instant gratification, just somewhere to relax, and forget about the worries that are always pressing. But when I get home, I still think about all the homework I still have, about all the things I haven't done, and all the things I should do. I need some peace and tranquility, but does that mean I don't have a home?

I would argue that home is wherever any person feels safe and at ease, where worries don't press. For a lot of the people I study with, that means going home to their parents. But I also know people, who feel that way when they are bicycling, sailing or any other activity that puts whatever fears or worries they have, to rest. Does that mean it's their home? Well, why does home have to be a place? Wherever these emotions occur, it would at least make me, feel at home, and it could be why we grow attached to certain places. Why some people keep returning to the same place, when there's so much world about us.

A physically restricted home? Why? A house is a place to sleep, and a place to put all our junk. If you were happier outside your house, than at your house. Would you really spend all your time at house? I'm constantly reminded of the moral of Woody Allen's latest movie, Whatever Works. It's exactly that. A home is whatever works for you, if you can get away from all the evils by rock climbing in heavy rain, then good for you, that's more than most will achieve, more than I've had for a long time.

Is there a place where I feel at home? No. I've yet to find it again, and I don't think I'll be happy till I do.
I love travelling like nothing else, but no matter where I find myself, it seems that I'm never quite there.

Where do you feel at home?

1. Why is there poverty and suffering in the world?

It's easy to blame other people, nations and the past. But it doesn't absolve us from not helping now. But why? Nature.
We build corporations that take advantage of lesser developed areas, by using the cheap labour.

Warlords, governments and groups of people fight over control of areas or entire countries, displacing the population as well as killing them. For what? Power.
The heads of government usually installed in the developing world is corrupt, inefficient or doesn't give a damn, preferably all 3.

2. What is the relationship between science and religion?

Same as the one between right and wrong, light and dark or even good and evil. Science is right, it's the light and it's good for humanity; Religion is wrong, it's dark and it brings evil, in the way of suffering and death. I don't mind religious people per se, but looking at the history of the world, religion is the prime cause of death.

3. Why are so many people depressed?

Expectations for life that aren't fulfilled, friends that abandon us, feelings of loneliness, guilt and suffering for our next ones.
We are all led to believe that we will be rich and famous, but so few of us are, the rest of us will at some point or another feel useless.

4. What are we all so afraid of?

Living, dying. What doesn't scare us? Death is something we don't think about, we live as though we will never die. But most people are at the same time, very risk avert; so why live?

5. When is war justifiable?

When it's a defensive war, when you are defending yourself from an aggressor. There is no excuse for attacking, not even a pre-emptive strike.

6. How would God want us to respond to aggression and terrorism?

There is no God, and lately terrorism hos often been in his name.
But the God taught in the different holy scriptures, would never condone such tactics, but what has he been doing since... Forever? Not necessarily terrorism, but violence. All the wars etc. that have been fought in his name. His hands are stained in blood.

7. How does one obtain true peace?

There's not such thing, people will always bicker and fight. During the Spanish Civil War, one of the reason the fascists won, was the in-fighting between the different socialist groups. They even fought each other in arms, instead of fighting the fascists.

8. What does it mean to live in the present moment?

Using every day to do something different, it doesn't require you to go to Iran to experience something different, just try to shake your every day up a bit.

9. What is our greatest distraction?

The same as what gives growth to our society, greed, having more than other people.

10. Is current religion serving its purpose?

Killing innocent people? Yes.
"God would tell me, 'George (W. Bush) go and end the tyranny in Iraq,' and I did."

11. What happens to you after you die?

Nothing, life ceases.

12. Describe heaven and how to get there.

Heaven is here, during our life, when things work out, and relaxing is not an effort.

13. What is the meaning of life?

"M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations."

14. Describe God.

Non-existant

15. What is the greatest quality humans possess?

Compassion, a few people ruin it for the rest of us, but we don't all have to be like them. The rest of us can successfully be compassionate people, that care for the people and the world around us.

16. What is it that prevents people from living to their full potential?

Themselves, act on your impulses once in a while, go crazy.

17. Non-verbally, by motion or gesture only, act out what you believe to be the current condition of the world.

Bit tricky that one...

18. What is your one wish for the world?

No religion, that way, big differences will be settled.

19. What is wisdom and how do we gain it?

Through life experiences, true knowledge can't be taught, it must be experienced.

20. Are we all one?

No, we are all individuals, capable of our own choices and decisions, no fate.

So why are men the luckier sex? That has nothing to do with the millennia of the man being the stronger sex, the dominant gender, right up until the second women's rights movement started 60's and 70's, when the balance started tipping (at least in Northern Europe), to the current situation, where men can feel discriminated (I know, I have, not directly though).

Women are more thoughtful, they care more for other people, can show their feelings and don't behave ridiculously things without questioning their nature (do I really need an example of a "guy thing"?). There's a reason women live longer, they don't drive like maniacs, they take care of themselves, in the sense that they don't live exclusively on fast food, beer and breath through cigarettes.

So why are men luckier? Well, we (I'm male, honestly) get to worship them. It's men who get to end up with women, living alongside them to old age (if we look past issues such as homosexuality, divorce and cheerless marriages).

What have girls got to look forward to? Someone to change the fuses and open those tight jars, oh yeah. Interesting conversations? Anything but binge drinking? I don't think so... Sorry.
It's not exactly a secret that I don't drink, but I really don't think I fit the male stereotype.

So without further ado, what I believe are my best self-portraits since last time:

February 28th:

One of my darker portraits, conceived without the candles and just my lit up face, I preferred it like this however, it gave the picture a certain balance.

March 2nd:

B is for balloons, during March, I did a letter of the alphabet (in order) each day. It meant that March so far has been my best self portrait month, as I had to put in more work every day, and I got results like this one (my favourite self portrait of this project so far).

March 7th:

Suspending gravity, I just had a lot of fun taking his picture.

March 8th:

Left the camera outside the bathroom, commenced showering, and when I had set my hair with shampoo, opened the door for a quick snap, and this atmospheric result came out.

March 9th:

I is for Irresistible; anything else?

March 12th:

I have to do at least SOME picture in the nude, and when they turn out great... Why not. I have a female audience after all ;)

March 15th:

Not all days were born equal, including this one.

March 19th:

Visiting my uncle in Horsens, he gave (or lent) me my grandfathers old camera, so I held it in one hand, and my uncles Canon EOS 5D Mark II in my other hand (yes I held a 5D Mark II in one outstretched arm/hand).

March 26th:

But there ain't no cure, so let this fever rock.

March 27th:

Ever tried thinking of something with X? Xerox... (No xylophone was nearby).

March 28th:

I broke of from the alphabet system for a day, taking another picture in this terrible, but wonderful, kitchen.

March 29th:

To fully understand this picture, listen to Yellow by Coldplay.

April 5th:

Alhambra Palace, overlooking Granada (Spain).

April 9th:

The name's Bond... James Bond.

April 13th:

Go ahead... Make my day.

April 20th:

The colours, the sharpness, the blured background... It's just right.

April 23rd:

I went to Trondheim, and met Ingrid again (not since 2006).

April 25th:

Photo excursion to a public swimming pool, just wrong.

April 29th:

Latest picture, best Mussolini effect I've done so far.

---

So... Status. I really should write something real, and I will. I have plenty of good ideas, but all good things come... Eventually ;).

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

January 12th:

Plain old fun, I took 6 separate pictures with a moustache drawn on my mirror, and put them together.

January 15th:

Sometimes the study life takes its toll.

January 20th:

And sometimes you get to have fun (in Spain).

January 27th:

I purposefully drained all colour from this picture, making it seem lifeless, and then drew a smiley.

January 28th:

Not much to say, I feel the picture works, and the shadow compliments it all.

February 4th:

While skiing, I managed to catch some great light in a lift.

February 9th:

Blinded by religion, the 3 symbols on the duct tape are the David Star, the Christian Cross and the Islamic Half Moon.

February 11th:

Everything works so well, although I'm unsure about the ink on my hand.

February 14th:

Meditating in a suit? Come on.

February 18th:

1984 is my favourite book, and of the 3 slogans, this one worked the best.

February 23rd:

My first diptych, eat a piece of dark chocolate or Gilbert?

Today, the whole world has woken up to new life, a new world and a time filled with unexpected (but hopefully) pleasant surprises, as a man we hope is capable, has taken the helm of the most powerful nation on planet Earth.
The American people have given Obama the ultimate vote of confidence, and I hope that he can steer the US onto a better course than his predecessor, and maybe regain some respect for his nation, which has been utterly disgraced over the last 8 years.

From my economy lessons I have learned that all past decisions and costs are known as sunk costs. That means that they are irrelevant, and knowing what’s irrelevant and what isn’t, is hugely important to make the right decisions for the future.
When Obama makes decisions about Iraq, any reasoning about the invasion, and the casualties are irrelevant, what matters are the future and future costs, and what the return is on staying in Iraq. I personally believe that we should have stayed (Denmark), and so should all other nations, until the task was done. It can be compared to tearing down a shoddy house, and then abandoning the project, instead of taking the time to building a new house. The old building might have been terrible, but it provided some shelter and some stability. What has happened now is that everything goes with the wind; there is no control, no system, just havoc.
With the current focus on rebuilding the economy, my fear is that the environment will be given less attention, as it has never thus far, been given the attention it deserves, but less certainly isn’t better; the environment and education is what matters most, with health coming in shortly after. But in America those 3 sectors are famously neglected (education in America is so expensive, as the government doesn’t do much about it), but here’s the new angle, Obama has promised to do something about all 3.

I fear that the glamour around Obama will fade quickly, he made a lot of election promises and he won’t be able to keep them; a lot was said, but how much will be done?
I believe change will come, but it will come slower than we feared, and it won’t be as significant as we hoped for. Obama didn’t get as large a victory as he had hoped (which would be carrying 30 states), meaning that he has to bargain with the republicans, as the democrats alone can’t do whatever they please, despite having a majority in the senate (apparently it takes 60% to close a discussion, instead the republicans can just keep it open for eternity).

But the expectations the world have are extreme, save the environment, stop war, create peace (no war, doesn’t mean peace) and do something about the pandas while he is at it.
I suspect his presidency will be about highlighting the difference from the Bush administration, and his legacy will be his skin colour, and not his politics, of course I also hope that I will be proven wrong, that he will rise to the occasion and show the world that the US still knows how to save the day, the world and the environment.

I'm not gonna go out and shout at the top of my lungs, that I've had a terrible life. I've never been abused, maltreated, misused or neglected. But that isn't what the quote aims at either, it's a balance in between the good and the bad.
I don't have the right balance, far from it, but I'm aiming to get there.

My childhood wasn't easy, I was bullied for many years (picked on and beaten), and when someone finally noticed and I got sent to a different school, people had heard of me, and instead I was just ignored.
My year at boarding school was really good, people didn't know me, and didn't judge me before they knew me.

My parents ended up in a fiery divorce, from which I suffered a great deal, acting a lot as the messenger and taking the blame; and those years, I would rather forget. But this isn't a pity post, I've had amazing experiences in my life.

I spent 5 months backpacking in South America, I've travelled in 37 countries, lived abroad, met the most amazing people, spent a big part of my life scouting and most of all...  I've more of that to look forward to, all the travelling I will be doing, all the people I have yet to meet and the experiences ahead of me.

I've recently moved to Ã…rhus, I'm now studying at the Business School og Aarhus, I live in a fantastic dormitory with fantastic people, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Argues that George W. Bush might be remembered well as a president, as he made tough calls that had to be made; similar to the situtation Truman was in; and justifies this statement by saying that at Trumans lowest point, he had a 22% approval rating, far below anything George W. Bush has been made to suffer.

I understand that this article underlines might, but the notion is just ridicoulus, Truman might have had a low approval rating in the states, but those in the know supported him, and unlike Bush he wasn't universally hated.
Truman initiated the  Marshall Plan, allowing a rapid regrowth of Western Europe, if that doesn't make a good president, I wouldn't know what does. He greatly helped rebuild Western Germany along with Britain, France and all the other devastated countries.

George W. Bush has done nought in that aspect, he has taken some of the most inhospitable countries in the world (Iraq and Afghanistan), and at least with Iraq turned it into a far worse place. There are more deaths, more suicidebombs, more persecution, more of all the bad stuff, it's like he went to a country that was at rockbottom and drilled even deeper... Well done, indeed. I do support the war in Afghanistan, I believe it's a necessary job, and that long term stability there is necessary, there is a cost, but it's worth a lot.
If we pride ourselves on being the free world, then we cannot turn a blind eye to the oppressed.

I am indeed critical of George W Bush, and this isn't just some hindsight fix, I supported both Al Gore and John Kerry; I believe that George W Bush will be looked back upon with disgrace (except maybe by some Americans), and that we need to move on from here, and hope that Sarah Palin never gets elected.

So far some of mine have been good, while others have been more generic, but I'm absolutely happy with the project so far, and I'm looking forward to continuing with this for a year, or maybe even more beyond that.
Once in a while I will update my blog, once I have accumulated enough good new shots. So here is the first batch:

January 3rd, 4th and 9th

January 5th, January 8th,

January 9th

I know it isn't in chronological order, but it fitted better this way.

So what do you think? Voice your opinion in a comment please :)

We will undoubtedly repeat the success, although I'm a bit booked in the next couple of weeks, going both to Spain (visiting my mother) and France (skiing). But we have already agreed that we will watch Million Dollar Baby.

Mine can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/twaize/sets/72157612073169406/
The little flash banner on the side, has been updated to show the pictures.

The goal isn't just to take a picture, but to make it interesting, and to help you develop your skills.
So far it's the 3rd of January, and I haven't made it far yet, but I really like the picture from today.

So, which one do you like better?

I like the B/W the most, although I like the blue tshirt a lot, giving the colour version the final edge.

Having celebrated Christmas and my birthday at my uncles place, eating duck and other traditional Christmas food; I was given a candle holder and a photography book which I very much appreciate, although my uncles praise for my own book superseded it.

On the way back, DSB didn't disappoint me. The train was 2 hours delayed, however fortunate for me, the train scheduled for departure 1 hour and 30 minutes earlier, was delayed as well, and I only had to wait for 30 minutes or so, unfortunately time had slipped through my fingers at my uncles place, so by the time I was home in my bed, it was half past 1.

But what I want to tell you is about Simon.
While waiting for the train, I came to talk to Simon, a person from Copenhagen (like myself), who had moved to Ã…rhus (like me) and was studying journalism (unlike me). Unfortunately he was going to break off his study and move back to Copenhagen, he had moved to Ã…rhus after he got divorced from his wife, as he wanted to live close to his children, unfortunately it didn't work out.
But it was such a nice experience to talk with him, not only is it rare to just fall in conversation with strangers in Denmark, but when you do... They are usually as exciting, as dueling with a snail, there just isn’t much excitement there, although it is possible (pistols at dawn?).

He had such interesting stories to tell about where he’d been and what he’d done; he asked intelligent and interesting questions, really listened to what I said, and asked good questions about it. But most of all, he was just interested, he seemed to care about everyone around, he was modest, and in every way I can think, he was a good person, in fact, he seemed to be one of the best people I have met, not just nice, but deep inside him, rested a good core.
I didn’t know him for that long, but he has left me with a lasting impression, a lasting impression of a good person.

There are certain traditions in my life, and one of them is watching the Crazy Christmas Cabaret every year, together with my very good and old friend Christian Løber. First year we did it was back in 1997, when the show was “Tarzan, King of the Swingers”.

The show has sexual undertones, especially in the title, and takes famous stories, twists them, mixes them, and turns them satirical.

Last year the show was titled, Fogg’s Off, a reference to Phileas Fogg, who travelled around the world in 80 days, and it was by far, one of the best performances they have ever done.

This year it was Hamlet’s Private Dick (as in detective), a story about Sherlock Holmes, trying to solve a mystery, revolving around Holmes’s arch enemy’s second in command (some Austrian mastermind), disguised as a Brazilian footballer. I know it doesn’t sound that great, and to be frank, it wasn’t. Although the second act was hilarious, the first act was slow, and none of it, reached the heights of shows.

The only true highlight was that Dr. Van Helsingør from Elsinore (a recurring character every year, wildly popular), had a much bigger role than usual, and featured a lot on stage. Another “recurring” character is the fat lady. I put recurring in “”, as it is the same actor performing the same role, in the same type of clothes, and with the same personality, but it’s a different character every year.

Those two roles are simply hilarious, as always; the fat lady always has songs, extremely overdone dresses and is the character, who has the most contact with the audience. The fourth wall isn’t just broken in this show, it was never there.

Amongst the better things, was the fat lady dressed as Amy Winehouse, singing Rehab, as the character she plays in the show, has an alcohol problem. The plot revolves around the mysterious death of her husband (which is why Sherlock Holmes is brought in), and she tells a story of how they ordered gravestones for each other, prior to his death. He chose one for her which said “Cold as usual”, and she went for one which said “Stiff at last”.

The sexual undertones are there throughout the show, but it never gets vulgar like “Ørkenens Sønner” (Sons of the Desert), it’s more in a good spirit; I would say that they do it with grace, but I don’t see how you can get good sexual jokes with grace.

The mind behind the show, is Vivian McKee, who writes and directs the show, as well as having a lot of roles in the show itself. Her roles are normally diverse, and her acting is terrific. She always starts the show with asking who have seen the show before (usually a big majority), making fun of the ones who haven’t and joking about her legs (they’re nice, especially considering her age).

The show; it wasn’t bad, it just started slowly, the literary jokes were further in between, the story wasn’t as interesting (to be fair, last year, was fantastic), but I’m forgetting the most important thing. I wrote that it’s a tradition, that I go to watch this show together with Christian; at first it was his mother, father and brother as well, but the family moved to Belgium, so for two years I saw it with my own family, I also might have missed a year, but now I meet up with Christian every year (this was the second time), and we have fun. This time, I arrived on the day of our tickets, we watched the show, and I stayed at his place for the night, catching up on times past, watched a movie and just enjoyed myself.

Christian is 4 months younger than me, and I have known him ever since he was born, we grew up together (he features on so many of my childhood pictures), and then, unfortunately, he moved to Aalborg, a city in the other end of Denmark, although I did visit him there a few times, but when he moved to Belgium, it was harder, and during those 3 years he spent there, I only visited him 3 times or so. But now we are both back in Denmark, although he lives in Copenhagen, and I live in Århus. But I don’t doubt, that I will see him every time I go back to Copenhagen; the point is that, to me, the most important thing about the show, is seeing Christian again.

Quite possibly one of the happiest, come-to-life pictures I have ever seen, it is as cheerful as Hoppíppola.

I wouldn't call it happy, but it's beautiful, serene and secretive.

Incredible action shot, although as a photographer, I'd be afraid to get hit.

Another great action shot, it's just the speed being shown.

Well, I just love ice cream

I'm not big on photoshop, although when it is obvious like here, it's quite all right.

When I someday reach this age, I hope to be as happy, as these people look

I've went diving on several occasions, but I've never been able to bring a camera, but this certainly is a pretty picture

Just beautiful, nothing else is needed here

1. Complete ignore, as if I don't exist
2. Look and ignore
3. Look and laugh
4. Look and and then look in a completely different direction, this isn't your teachers attention you're avoiding
5. Pick up your cellphone until you're past me and put it down
6. Lie to make yourself feel better by saying "not RIGHT now" or "not today"
7. Shout abuse
8. Claim you've already given someone else
9. Excuse that you haven't got any small change (we accept all types and size of money)
10. Excuse that you've only got your credit card (just leave it with me)

So why do I it? I don't get paid, I get shouted at (very rarely though), I get ignored and I haven't got AIDS. I also don't feel greatly with Western people who have it, yes I apologise for people who were raped, nurses who had an accident with a used needle, doctors performing operations etc.
It's a disease you get, when you do what you're supposed to do, when you have unprotected sex, when you think a morning after pill, is a good type of prevention. I understand that's it's important to develop medicine for it. If that's achieved, the high mortality rate in Africa might be stopped, and we can work on stabilising that part of the world, and in the end... Economic prosperity, I mean that continent is so far down and out, what can one do but look on in despair?

I did it purely for my own gain, it makes me feel better, I like having done something for other people, and that's not the way it's meant to be, it's supposed to be a selfless act, but I'm afraid it isn't.

Instead, listen to this song:
[See post to listen to audio]

Does this look like the ideal family to you? Well it might, but it sure doesn't to me. The queen tries hard, but her paintings are terrible, her dresses are horrible, her hats are a common joke, her handicraft (no matter what or which material) is horrible as well, she just doesn't realise it, as none would speak against the queen, who would want to offend royalty?

But that's the problem, they are just regular people, fucked up by a system that still reveres them; the royal family used to have privileges, but since the 5th of June 1849, all of that has disappeared (or slowly waned away); and they just can't handle it, a lot of celebrities struggle with it, but that didn't start until they got famous, and they can hide away; a member of the royal family is in the spotlight from birth, and there is no hiding.

These people aren't descendants from god, chosen by god or anything like that, they aren't better people, they are all the same fallible creatures as the rest of us, and I for one wouldn't want that; I would like my normal life, so I'm not envious, but that doesn't mean that they should waste their birthright, the Queens father and grandfather were immensely popular.
Her grandfather would ride unprotected through the streets of Copenhagen his entire life, even during the German occupation, and became a symbol of the Danish resistance to the occupation. He was also the last king to contain and air of superiority that belonged to the family.
Her father, the sailor king, chose the navy instead of the army, and achieved great popularity as a king of the people, amongst other things, due to his naval career and lifestyle (he rose to the rank of rear admiral), he was tattooed, something that brought it more into mainstream.
Although not a result of his rule, Denmark saw the biggest boom in the economy ever during his reign (in the 60's), Denmark became a welfare state, something was done about equality of the sexes; summed up, during his time as king, Denmark opened up to change and became the country it is today, a modern welfare nation.

So what can be expected of our heir apparant?
I don't know, he tries to appear normal, attending rock concerts and travelling to the Olympics, and he certainly speaks like a commoner (not very nice). On the other hand, his campaign to be accepted into the IOC, is nothing short of embarrassing. This incredibly corrupt and elitist place of gathering, shouldn't be anything of interest to a "contemporary" king; he would never ride through the streets, but what tagging along with his wife? She always seems to know what she is doing, going to Africa to raise awareness for landmines, being the protector of a many organisations etc., and he doesn't do much, apart from the Olympics he is rarely in the common media, so what?

Biographies have been written of course, and I greatly expect him to step forward once he is king, but when will that be? He is 40 years old, and his 68 year old mother is showing no sign of slowing down, unless she is killed by lung cancer (she smokes like a 19th century factory), she could last for a while, as her mother died at the age of 90. If she snuffs it in 10 or 20 years, he will be accordingly 50 or 60, not only a high age to take the throne, but he will be old(ish); will he really be able to leave his mark?

Only time will tell, and now this rant is long enough...

But that's not what I'm here for, I have a rant. I have a rant about Danes, being Danish and the values connected to that. I am so sick and tired, of Danish people thinking they are better than other people, of how the Danish social system is superior, how our politics are free and that we are the freest people in the world.

Danish people are rude and remote, a Danish person will only hold the door for me in 1 out of 25 times, today I nearly had a door slammed in my face twice; Danes accept racism if it's put up as a joke, or told by a proxy; Danes won't talk about their emotions (not easily anyway), they complain about their low self esteem, and then refuse to talk about it; not drinking is considered very rude (alcohol that is), a problem I often encounter; Danes are very difficult to approach, you try picking up a conversation with a random person, even within the same environment (like my school), they will try to turn off, hardly reply; it's very important to be introduced into a circle, which makes the first few weeks in a new city (I moved to Ã…rhus to study), rather difficult, since most people don't know anyone, so the barriers shields and walls are down for a short time, and then back up.

I love Denmark, it's my country, but I hate Danes.
Denmark is supposedly the happiest place in the world, well there's a reason... Danes love to bitch, whine and complain, we are happy, because we live in a nation with unprecedented whining, bitching and complaining. It's such a snug little country, the famous social net, getting paid to study, stable politics, solid economy, instead of unemployment we have a shortage of workers, so the unemployment rate is as low as it can be within a western society, the only problem is that welfare and unemployment money, is the highest in the world, meaning a certain part of the population, has almost nothing to gain by getting a job. So what do we complain about? EVERYTHING! We will complain about the smallest insignificant things; the escalating crime (it isn't escalating, attention is simply being brought to it), the differences in the political parties (there aren't any, at least not in the major parties), how people want more for free from the government, but pay less in tax (mathematically impossible), our involvement in Afghanistan (NATO and UN sanctioned mission); our third vote for the Euro, I know they are politicians, and I do support it, but the people have spoken... Twice! They are always trying to seize the right moment for the vote, but the right way to do it isn't to keep trying until you get it, but accept the voice of the people, it isn't a democracy, it's a dictatorship for spoiled brats, if they don't get what they want, the stamp the ground, and kick up dust until they get it!

I love Denmark, it's my country, but I hate Danes.
What's the biggest attraction is "Vild med Dans" (a Danish version of Strictly Come Dancing), and I feel very sorry for the sad people, who have nothing better to do, with their vapid pointless lifes, than watch that show; I'm pretty sure those people also have a subscription to Ekstra Bladet (junk newspaper (aka. tabloid newspaper)), Se & Hør, Billed-Bladet and eat about as healthily as Howard Taft. Most people watch TV, and I even do occasionally (the news, takfor i aften (a Danish 30 minute comedy show) and sometimes the simpsons), but there's a line to be drawn somewhere, it isn't just "Vild med Dans"; it's the amount of crap being broadcast, like "Unge Mødre" (young mothers, a show about teenagers having children), X-Factor and the amount of reality shows that's being forced upon us, and should a Dane turn to a real scripted show, they get 2900 Happiness, a TV show with the worst acting in history, and most TV is the same; but at least we are free from the curse of makeover shows, in previous times, it was impossible to turn on the TV, without encountering a makeover show.

So what alternative do I suggest? I don't know, it must be up to people to control their own lifes, which is why they can watch 2 hours and 40 minutes of TV per day... I know, I'm a student, and I don't even have time to watch that much, but I would never want to; if it wasn't for the amount of study books I have to read, I would read in my spare time, instead I have begun learning to play guitar; once I get my camera back, I will go around Ã…rhus and look for good pictures, and I have started doing fitness twice a week, and plan to run twice a week as well.
So what am I judging Danes for?

Am I better than them? Certainly not, I have many flaws, some big and some small, other people have other flaws. That however, does not excuse them from my point of view, I just acknowledge that I'm not better or worse, we are all people, we are all the same, and we have the same inherent flaws. So what do I want Danes to do? Get off their fat arse (we are getting fatter and fatter) and do something, move about, entertain themselves, do something as a family or with friends. The youth is known for their apathy worldwide, but in Denmark, very few people actually give a damn. It's despair mostly, we feel like Denmark has been lost, and there isn't much we can do about it; and we blame everyone we can; the immigrants and refugees get by far the most flak, and looking at statistics it isn't "unfair" to do so, the problem is that the vast majority are thoroughly nice people, it's a minority that makes it a problem for everyone, however their criminal minority is bigger in percentage, than the one from the genetically Danish population; but if I came from a war-torn country, or any country culturally vastly different, I'd not only get scared, I would try and fight it, stick with my own kind, same as would happen, if a lot of Danish people got stuck in Afghanistan, or as the British did throughout the world, during their age of global conquest. Crime may never be excused, but that's exactly the problem, the criminal immigrants and refugees make up a miniority, the same thing could be said about the Danes, the crimerate among us is a minority, but a lot of hatred fuels political parties like Dansk Folkeparti, the third biggest party in Denmark, is a racist party.

I love Denmark, it's my country, but I hate Danes.
Why do we Danes feel that our society is superior? We are always bragging about our "social net", yes it's very nice; but we forget about each other. We feel that through our taxes, we take care of each other, and beyond that, we don't need to think about each other; and it's true to a certain degree, taxes are absurd in Denmark, and everyone is well taken care off, there is no need to worry about a health insurance, unemployment or getting old. But as I mentioned before, Danes are rude and distant; the quote "light up, forget you're Scandinavian" comes to mind. We need to start caring again, we need to look to other people, and we need to begin Christmas in early November (although that's a global problem).
As I said about politics, it's all about bickering over nothing, and looking at each other with hostility, snappy retorts and thinking that we always have precedence; we need to start agreeing.
We have this feeling that we are superior, but we keep failing the statistics, Finland uses 70% of the funds (per student) we do on education, but they are far ahead of us; our health system is very costly, but in other countries they spend far less, for a longer life, and higher physical quality of life (Japan especially, but even in Spain they live longer); in fact we come in 32nd, wordwide, with countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jordan, South Korea (which has a minimal government health system), Israel, Malta etc.
If we want to to feel superior, we should be superior, and not nr. 14 on the Human Development Index, as well as nr. 14 on the Worldwide Press Freedom index.

I love Denmark, it's my country, but I hate Danes.
I'm glad to have been born and raised in Denmark, it just doesn't hold enough for me. I want to go above and beyond, but that doesn't mean, that Danes shouldn't be able to behave nicely. Every time I come home to Denmark (either from travelling, or from when I was living in Spain), I'm always appalled by the behaviour of my fellow Danes, but at no time was it worse, than when I worked in Fakta. Yes it's a minimum wage job, but it's also a minimum appreciation job, although people didn't shout quite as much at me, as they did when I worked in a 7-Eleven.
Since working those jobs, I always say "thank you" and "have a nice day" when I'm done, even in a supermarket (leaves most people staring), because I know what it means to people, when people said it to me, I felt a lot better.

Please...

I had a really good time, and thoroughly hope that another party will be held.

I had great difficulty finding somewhere to live, so great that when I arrived here, I had to live in a hotel, for the first two weeks. I had cut a deal with my aunt, that if after two weeks I hadn't found anywhere to live (and I searched high and low), I could come live with her for a week or two, although that did mean long travel times to and from school, she lives at best, 2 hours and 30 minutes from the school, and standard travel time would be longer (the right connection of buses and trains, only leave every two hours). But in the 11^th hour, I got a call from the Dorm Organisation of Ã…rhus, I had found a place to live, it's the cheapest in all of Ã…rhus, because it's on the outskirts of Ã…rhus, the dorm is fairly run down... And it's in the middle of a ghetto.

Yet I've come to love it, it really does feel like a home. It's dirty, the bathroom was the most disgusting thing I've seen, but after a week, I complained, and now it looks brand new. Even my room is beginning to feel like somewhere I might belong, but it really is the other residents that make it shine. Since the queue is very short, it's mainly occupied by exchange students, or foreign students just doing their entire study here. At the moment, there are two Danes (Charlotte and I), 1 Romanian (Dana), 1 Bulgarian (not sure), 1 Lithuanian (Milda), 3 Estonians (Riivo and 2x not sure), 1 Hungarian (Andras) and two Immigrants (one whose family fled from Afghanistan (Mirwais), and one I don't know where is from, other than the middle east (Arif)).

We began in school on the 25^th of August, beginning with an introduction week, a voluntary period, where we are supposed to get mixed together, not everyone attended, but by far most did; it was a lot of fun, and our introduction instructors (Paul, Søren, Anette and Jette) did a great job, it was a mixture of social activities, and information about our new school and the study we were beginning (ha.jur, that's business and law). The first night (Monday) we all had a grand dinner together, Tuesday there was a concert (with a band called Tennis, with everyone dressed up as tennis players from the 80's) and such, and the same on Thursday, where a hypnotizer had been booked, I must say that I found him untalented, I can make such a bold claim, as I got up on the stage, and his attempt to hypnotize me, failed. Others fell under his effect, but it didn't seem all that convincing, none of his “patients” really fell under his spell, they were merely sleeping, and afterwards some even said that they just played along, for the sake of entertainment.
Later that evening, there was another concert, with a band whose name, I' afraid I've forgotten. But they were far better than Tennis; Tennis played pop songs, and songs I've never heard before (or after), whereas the other band took familiar songs, and rocked them up, instead of trying to be a serious band like Tennis, they knew they were just friends having a good time, and were all dressed up as a different rock icon, and responded to what the crowed wanted, including 4 AC/DC covers (those can't be rocked up though) and a brilliant cover of Smoke on the Water.

Later in September, there was the introduction trip (rus-tur), which is as everything to do with Danish youth, just an excuse for drinking even more. It was great fun, especially for me, as I seem to be able to remember more than just the daytime. There isn't much to tell from this trip, nothing worthwhile anyway.

The most important thing here is the studies, and I feel different about them, and my teachers. Introduktion til Erhvervsret, is without a doubt my favourite subject, my teacher (Villy Sørensen), is a very skilled teacher and brings an already interesting subject, to new heights. It is also my only subject that has to do with law during the first semester, all other subjects are business related, as the plan is to get us going on business, and then build the law on top of that, I get the idea, I would just have loved more law early on.

So far my best friend from school is Anders (Tvede Pleth), he is a native to Ã…rhus, and we just seem to get along really well. I should also mention that I'm the only person from Copenhagen, and one of only two people from Zealand (and the other one is a farmer), it doesn't make a difference, distances in Denmark are very short, but I am alone, in feeling that people here talk funny (which they do). Anders is 23 years old, certainly not a young age for beginning at university, but the age distribution is very varied, the oldest person in my class is 28 (!), and the youngest 19, the majority of students are indeed around my own age (20), but there are quite a few, who are a good deal older, once again, it doesn't make a difference, it just surprised me quite a bit to begin with.
I'm a paying member of the student union (everyone is a member, some just choose to pay), it gives a few advantages (400 free prints per semester, free entrance to the school bar, the monthly magazine free etc.), but it also allowed me to sign up to the fitness club, for 350 DKK (per semester), the student union has a fully featured fitness club with instructors and several weekly teams, that I frequent. I very much enjoy it, and I'm gradually getting in a better shape, I do circuit training (cardio training) and boxercise.

Unbeknownst to certain people (my father doesn't know... yet), I am now a vegetarian, except for the fact that I eat fish, there can be no virtue without vice. I chose so, as I want to eat healthier, I know that can be done without shunning meat, but setting those sorts of limits, makes it easier for me to eat healthily, and honestly... Have you ever seen an overweight vegetarian?
I still eat as mentioned fish, but as a normal vegetarian (and not a vegan), I also eat eggs and drink milk, although I don't like the taste of milk any more, and will just be using it for cooking. Eggs though are something I enjoy, and in keeping in spirit with being a vegetarian, I will solely use eggs from hen that were treated well, free-range eggs, ecological eggs etc.; besides without eggs, I wouldn't be able to make eggie in a basket, and where would that leave me?

I'm not “saved” by being a vegetarian, when I'm out eating with family or friends, I will eat meat if it's appropriate (like a steak house), and as a guest, I will eat what is served, as good manners demand. Backpacking around South America, I met several vegetarians, who would scream and whine, if the food wasn't prepared exactly the way they wanted it, and truthfully, not only was it annoying, but vegetarianism is almost unknown in South America. Even in a European country like Spain, the term “ecological food” is virtually unknown.
It's not that I don't like meat, or find animal treatment cruel (I actually do), I'm a vegetarian, to help my own body, to get healthier, and to have a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

Charlotte is the other Dane who lives in the same dorm as me, she lives in the room next to mine, and she studies anthropology. Unlike me she is a vegetarian (who doesn't eat fish), and lactose intolerant (I once met someone who was a vegan, and had gluten allergy), which basically makes her a vegan who eats eggs. She has become a very good friend, and I appreciate all that she has done for me. On the 5^th of October, we went out to collect money (beg for money) for Red Cross, and as a warmup, I made breakfast, scramble eggs with vegetables (mushrooms and red pepper), with pancakes for dessert; not only was the breakfast a success, but the collecting itself, was the most fun I've had in a long time... Discounting my South America trip.

Ã…rhus is a peculiar city, it brands itself as the city of smiles (they always smile when it rains), and as the worlds smallest big city, which has to do with the city having 300.000 inhabitants, but feels like a big city, with the bustling city centre where everything can be purchased, but at the same time, it feels nice and cosy, like a provincial town. I really do like Ã…rhus, it is just that. The worlds smallest big city, it's very nice and cosy, not pretty (at least, compared to inner Copenhagen), but very friendly. The only thing I can't stand about living here, is that almost everybody smokes, in Copenhagen (where I'm from, for those of you who haven't caught it yet), smoking isn't as common, at least not among young people, as it is in Ã…rhus, not smoking is the exception, and I find that both appalling and sad, but each to his own, I will just hold my breath, and rejoice in the fact, that my clothes still smell good.

Moving to Århus was a good decision, I very much like it here, people are friendly, it almost never rains (except for my first week here, when it was always pouring down), everything is cheap compared to Copenhagen, and for the first time living on my own, I'm at least far away home, which does help make the real world scenario more realistic. The only thing the city really needs is a decent cinema, in line with Kinopalæet (Lyngby) or Imperial (Inner Copenhagen); and to be flattened out a bit, those bikerides, 20 minutes uphill going home from school, after 1 hour and 15 minutes of exercise; simply kill me.

I also have a plan to visit my aunt a good deal, I spent a weekend at her house in the middle of September, and right now (17^th of October), I'm sitting in a train, on my way down to visit her again. I love to visit, and I love being able to go somewhere familiar. Mette (my aunt) is the closest family I have in Ã…rhus, with my father living in Copenhagen, my mother in the south of Spain and my grandfather dead; however, no matter the distance, I will always love to visit Mette, and my childhood memories of her pancakes, are amongst my very best childhood memories.

But I would like to extend a thank you to a lot of people, for helping me move to Ã…rhus, and for helping me here in Ã…rhus, you have all helped me achieve something wonderful, my own little place.

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

-- Oscar Wilde

It's very early to have a certain view on the trip in retrospect, I'm still bewildered from being back, but it's a trip that has changed my life, and my view upon life, but then, all great changes in your life do exactly that.
Certain people on the trip have made a bigger impact than others, of the most important I can mention: Mike Gasson, Jimmy, Dave, Sarah, Carl, Miguel, Anne Dorte, Stephen, James, Johno, Karin, Flavio, Julian, Magte, Tono, Antonio, Heather, Lisa, Moni, Bob and the star of the show... Gilbert.

I have also had a lot of help from the homefront: Hanne (mother), Jesper (father), Anne Sophie (sister), Bo (stepfather) and Anette (friend). Especially without the help of these individuals, the trip never would have been or it would have failed while I was underway.

With a disregard to all that I have just written, I would like to extend a thank you, to everyone on this list:

Family, friends and everyone who has been reading the blog!

Uruguay: Those 5 Danes

Colonia Del Sacramento: The Brit and the Aussie

Puerto Madryn: Sarah and Kyle

Rio Gallegos: Timo, Jonah and Fred

Ushuaia: Andreas, Uri, Layden and the 4 Israeli girls

Punta Arenas: Carl, Tamar, Adina, Keenan, Irish couple, Jack, Roman, Mike and the two Aussie's in their 50's.

Puerto Natales: Bill, Kat, Bo, the guy from Punta Arenas, Monty (the cat), Britney, Jenny, German girl, Vicky and Sophia

Torres Del Paine: Urs, John, John, Susan, Katy, Rafael, Natasha, Albert, Nick, Whitney and the two Irish guys.

Calafate: Edward

Chalten: Mike

Futaleufú: Eyal, Rachel, Dave and Eddie

El Bolsón: Lucia

Bariloche: Patrick, Reut, the Israeli twins and Jimmy

Bariloche -> Valdivia: Lindsay

Pucón: Everyone at hostel Etnico, everyone who went up the volcano with me (in particular Yong)

Santiago: The staff at La Chimba hostel and Mike (of El Chalten fame)

Rapa Nui (Easter Island): Miguel, Chen, Kieran, Melissa, Larry, Jimmy (From Bariloche),John, Emma, Brian, John (Montana), Alejandra

Buenos Aires: Eddie (of Futaleufú fame), Anne Dorte, Jon, Karen, Elena, Jane, Becky, Eric, Madoka, James, Steve, Stefan, Darren, Deborah, Chris

Puerto Iguazu: Two German girls, Canadian girl and the two Danish girls

Ciudad Del Este: Dan and Rommi

Santa Cruz -> La Paz: Lorgio

La Paz: Patrick (from Bariloche) and Danny

La Paz -> Cuzco: Florian

Cuzco: Steve and James (from Buenos Aires), Karin, Anna, Heather, Ley, the 3 Norwegian girls, Ingrid, Johno, Maria, Charlotte, Mike Gasson (from El Chalten and Santiago) and the Kiwi girl.

Inca Trail: Flavio, Julian, the porters and the cook, Rob and Dee Ann

La Paz: Nadja, Yasmin, Heather, Uval, Maud, Jonathan, Ivan and Macro

Potosi: Cameron, Monica, Allan, William, Anaïs, Angela and Aaron

Uyuni: Angela (from Potosi), Declan and Judy

Sucre: Andrew, Tamsyn and Trevor

La Paz: Jimmy

Pampas: Jimmuy, Laia and Tono

Jungle: Jimmy, Antonio and Jesus

La Paz: Jimmy, Heather, Roly and Anita

Copacabana: Jimmy

Habana: Lisa, Amasa and Lily

Santiago de Cuba: Lisa (from above)

Comandancia La Plata: Moni

VIlla Santa Domingo -> Camaguey: Shane and Steve

Cuba: All the family's I stayed with, ate with and talked with; you showed me the best side of Cuba.

Washington, D.C.: Hiro, Carlos, Rachel & Eyal (from Futaleufu and Bariloche), Bill Colburn, Jackie, Rick and Rav Shmuel.

New York: Tony, Anne Sophie (my sister), Peter & and his son Tony as well as

Chicago: Bob, Amanda and the people on the Wicker park tour

Boston: Amelia

I'm just gonna leave you with a feeling of my trip, I know with this massive list of people above, it doesn't feel right, and I'm not saying it gives a sense of my entire trip, but you will also notice that few people are mentioned more than once (it won't work if you are reading this in an email, you have to go to the website):

[See post to listen to audio]

So before I leave you... Beyond the sky and the earth, thank you.

21st: I had a wait from 5 in the morning (Dublin time) to 16.50 before my plane would leave for Malaga, so I simply sat around in a comfy leather chair, and read in my book Kite Runner, and sat still daydreaming when I got tired of reading, but the wait was indeed excruciatingly slow, but time didn't stop, the plane came, I boarded and read the in-air shopping magazine for 3 hours, until I landed in Malaga, and this is where it got fun.
I waited at the luggageline until it stopped going round, and then I knew my luggage had been lost, but I trudged on, complained everywhere, until I was told that I could find my luggage in Terminal 2. So I went outside, had a heart hello with my mother and stepfather, went over to get my rucksack, and I was officially home, now I just need to go back to Denmark, before I feel I can call my journey complete.

Postscript:

Apparently I forgot to turn subscription on for my time in America, so here are those posts:

From The D, To The C!
New York Solo
New York Duo
Windswept In Chicago
Boston

I landed around 11.30, my bag came out very fast, and in no time I was on the metro on my way to my hostel. The hostel is fairly central, and very nice, with a great selection of cheap places to eat around. However I had plenty of time left, it was still early-ish (14 or so), by the time I left. So I decided to go to Cambridge to see Harvard and MIT. The universities aren't exactly pretty, Harvard is better looking than MIT, but still awfully bland, a sort of failed federal architectural style. There wasn't the air of education around the places either, however I do know that I am dealing with two of the best universities in the world, I am just relaying my experience.

I was back at the hostel around 17.15, and killed the time until it was 19 o'clock, and a group of people assembled in the lobby, I had signed up for a free comedy show (Celtics played the LA Lakers in the finals of the NBA, so the comedy club must have known that they had to do something drastic), and went along with 9 other people to "The Comedy Connection" for an evening of laughter (or so I thought); the first 3 comedians weren't funny, the jokes were poor; but the final 3 comedians, were brilliant, and I laughed till I cried, and so did most people present.

After the show all of us headed back to the hostel, and I fell in conversation with Amelia from Austin (Texas), and we ended up watching Fawlty Towers together, until late in the night. She had to get up early, as she had to go to an introductory course, she would soon start studying here in Boston, and it was late anyway, so I just went to bed and slept.

18th:

I got up very late, but as always, eventually got around. I spent the entire day walking along the Freedom Trail, entering all the museums (free one's anyway), and lingering at many of the beautiful sights. I didn't do a lot of different things, but I learned a lot about Boston history; Boston Common, State House, Park St Church, Granary Burying Ground, King's Chapel, Old South Meeting House (Boston Tea Party), Boston Massacre, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, Hill Burying Ground are just among the things I saw on my trip around the city. Near the North Square I had a most amazing sandwich, not just the best sandwich, but an amazing Cuban sandwich at that.

In the evening I stayed in at the hostel, watched a movie and didn't do much; for dinner I had a sandwich from the nextdoor place, very tasty indeed.

19th:

I started by eating breakfast at the hostel (this was the only day I had been up early enough to eat breakfast), and then walked to Fenway Park, home of the red sox, and waited 40 minutes for the next tour to start. The tour was really good, and I suddenly got a crash course in baseball, and now know slightly more. The tour took quite a long time, so afterwards I signed up for a sneak preview of Wanted, and walked around Copley (a part of Boston) and tried to get to the observation deck of the Prudential Tower (tallest building in Boston), but couldn't as it had been rented for a private arrangement.

When i came back to the hostel, it was time to go to the cinema, so at the cinema I bought some popcorn, and watched a movie, which is one of my favourite movies ever, that movie really rocked my world, it had everything. A lot of people will undoubtedly draw comparisons to The Matrix, but disregard that, this movie is completely separate, and if anything, the only comparison is the blue collared guy hating his life; and The Matrix didn't exactly pioneer that idea.

Not much else happened, I went back to the hostel and ate some dinner, did nothing for a couple of hours and went to bed.

20th:

Last day, oh what to do? At 11 o'clock I checked up, stored my rucksack in a locker; and went out to see the view from the skydeck, the Prudential Tower isn't the tallest building in Boston anymore, but has the highest observation deck, and having the tallest building in the view is amazing, it is like a giant mirror. The ticket to the top of the Prudential Tower was 10 dollars, whereas both Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center charge 20 dollars, a nice change. The tour also included a free audiotour (but unfortunately it was quite boring), but the view was fantastic, better than the Chicago view and more stunning than the New York view.

After the tower I went to the Boston Apple Store, the largest Apple store in the world, and it really is enormous, 3 times the size of the flagstore on 5th avenue, 3 big levels. Both the most of the rest of the day, not much was accomplished; the Lonely Planet didn't have many suggestions, other than those I didn't have time for, so I sat around at the hostel, read in my book, and did random stuff to pass the time.

Eventually it was time, and when I was about to leave an English girl was headed to the airport as well, so we went there together, I never learned her name, but she was from Brighton Beach. Check-in was easy, and even though I bought my tickets separately, they checked me in all the way. After not much of a wait, I boarded the plane and left the States.

13th:

Time to do something, but first I had to move hostel, the first hostel I stayed in was wonderful, but they didn't have any free beds for the 13th when I booked, so for this one night I had to go somewhere else. I got my rucksack stores at the hostel, and took a train some 30 minutes north. Once there I checked in, and went back out to see the city. I down south of Chicago to see the Museum of Science and Industry. There are no metro lines nearby (Chicago both has a Metro and a Metra system, just to keep it confusing), so I took a train to 51st street and walked about 2 miles (3 km) east, first through a neighbourhood with boarded windows, dead parks (dead vegetation) and split by a motorway. I got to a big park, walked through it, and stepped out in a completely different world.

On the other side was the University of Chicago, along with a big campus made out of old classical buildings for the rest of the walk, where I sat down and had a sandwich in a Greek restaurant, and then went on to the museum. The museum is quite nice, but has a few incredibly outdated exhibits (such as the one on Internet, and those involving technology), but the exhibit featuring the actual U-505, a Nazi submarine captured in 1944, was amazing. There is a tour inside the submarine, but when I arrived, the last tickets had already been sold out, to my immense grief. I had though instead paid 5 dollars to try a navy flight simulator, the box you sat inside, moved according to how you flew, so I completely disregarded the mission I was supposed to carry out, and just did barrelrolls, loops and messed about, but hanging upside down, being tossed from side to side etc. is incredible fun.

After the museum, the metro station was of course far away, so instead of going back to the one I came from, I decided to go to one further away, so that I could see parts of Chicago I hadn't seen before, instead of going through what I had already seen. Unfortunately for me it started to rain; so I sat down in a busstop and waited it out. Eventually it stopped and I proceeded to the metro station, where a peculiar sight met me. A huge white guy, trained to the point where his arms might just burst from the size of his muscles, sat down on a chair and pulled out his pink iPod mini...

Back at the hostel, I bought some food to make for dinner, and stayed there the rest of the evening, mostly talking to an Irish guy.

14th:
It was a clear blue day, so I hoped the view from the Sears tower would be superb. So I bought a discount ticket from the hostel reception (4 USD off) and went there, with my prepaid ticket, I got to zoom past all the queue's, waiting lines for the information movie and skip the queue to the elevator, and since it was a Saturday, the place was packed with people, so I probably saved over an hour. Once I got up, I was met by a crowd of Amish like people, everyone dressed in those 16th-17th century American farmer clothes, looking down on us (because the rest of them weren't as pure as them in their faith, or in my case, had no faith at all); only one thing bothers me. If they are so pure and righteous because they live by the old ways as they believe good intended, what are they doing in an architectural marvel, that not only used to be the worlds highest building, but still is the western hemisphere's highest building and the worlds tallest man-made structure (due to the antenna's), looking over a beautiful city from the 103rd floor... Doesn't that go against their beliefs?

The view was gorgeous none the less, unlike Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center, the viewpoint is encased in glass, there is no open air view, as the winds are ferocious certain times of the year at street level in Chicago (known as The Windy City), so imagine at 1500 feet up (some 450 meters). As I had hoped it was also a very clear day, so supposedly we could see up to 50 miles away (80 km), that is what they told us at least. Down on the ground floor again, I walked along the waterway of the Loop (the centre of Chicago), until I came to Michigan avenue, one of the worlds biggest retail streets known as the "Magnificent Mile", where I fell to the pleasure of entertainment and watched Kung Fu Panda, a funny and amusing movie, although I do think Jack Black was rather miss-cast.

After the movie I walked to the Navy Pier, and what a disgusting place that is; I'm sure it used to be charming, but it is just a long line of junk food and screaming kids, I didn't walk far before I turned around and walked back to the hostel along the shore. Once I got back to the hostel it was already fairly late, so I decided to check my emails and then cook dinner, but while I was checking my emails I fell in conversation with the person next to me, an American named Bob. And before I knew it, it was 2 in the morning, I hadn't eaten yet and I was just too tired to anything but go to bed. But I had great fun talking to Bob, and I believe it was both ways.

15th:

Cultural time, after waking up just in time to catch breakfast (as per usual), I headed towards the Chicago Institute of Art, supposedly one of the finest of its kinds. Entrance was modestly priced for the states (12 here, as opposed to 20 or more most places), and the museum good. There was a truly amazing photographic exhibition alongside other things, and the permanent collection. Unfortunately much of the museum was closed off due to renovations, including the American art from 1900 to 1950, which I had really been looking forward to see. For some reason I was very exhausted, I had had plenty of sleep (7 hours) and a hearty breakfast, so I really didn't understand. However I soldiered on, and very much enjoyed the section with sculptures and different objects from the ancient Greece, Italy and Egypt.

The amount of museum closed was enormous, it wasn't half, but somewhere around 30%, including the parts that I wanted to see most, but such is life.
When I left the museum, I was feeling rather peckish (bananas, cornflakes and toasted bread won't last forever), so I went to a place called the bakery corner, bought a scramble-egg, bacon, ham and cheese sandwich (sounds like it was designed for me), which I brought back to the hostel and happily devoured while I watched The Golden Compass. At the beginning of my trip, I had listened through the 3 books in the series on my iPod. The biggest problem with audiobooks is that you have to pay full attention, you can't have it running in the background; lucky for me, there were plenty of busrides for me, so I have a clear memory of the books. Now the movie takes a great book, cuts away 60-70% of it, changes the order in which occurrences take place, dumbs down the story, flattens the characters and cuts of the last couple of chapters, giving it an indecisive end. That it still manages to be a good and entertaining movie, just tells something about the quality of the book...

While I had been waiting for my sandwich to be made, a woman with her boyfriend and I assume brother, had left the place. She had been rolling a baby stroller, but what I discovered was that there was no baby in it, she was rolling around her dog, and I almost cringed in pain, at seeing just how pathetic people get. That dog is more suited for walking, than she will ever be; in fact dogs that never walk fall ill far more easily than humans who never move. People generally have to wear shoes to walk around outdoors, whereas dogs are extremely comfortable with their paws, it just shows a sign that dogs are far more suited for the outdoor world; it's like those women who carry around their dogs in their handbags, why?

I cooked dinner and met some really cool Irish guys (all Irish guys seem to be), followed by yet another cinema visit, where I watched The Incredible Hulk, quite a good movie, with great acting, and I just can't help to think about how happy Liv Tyler must be that she doesn't look like her father. When the movie was done I went back to my hostel and went to sleep.

16th:

At 10.30 a lot of people assembled (10 or so) at the information desk, where an intern from the hostel, Amanda, picked us up and took us for a tour around Wicker Park, a really beautiful part of Chicago where High Fidelity was recorded, so after seeing all the beautiful buildings, learning about the history etc. we saw some of the places from High Fidelity and went for lunch, where I had salmon Benedict, what an amazing idea for lunch!

When I got back from Wicker Park (when the other went back, I stayed around with 2 Irish guys), I took a short break and then went to the Shedd Aquarium, since the previous day, that museum along with two others had been free, and I felt very fortunate that I didn't have to pay for that gargantuan disappointment. However afterwards I went to the Addler Planetarium, which was a museum about the moonlanding, very good and interesting (and another free place). But most importantly, it offered the greatest view over Chicago's skyline. When I was done with all this, it was quite late, so I went back to the hostel for an early night, I had to get up early next morning for my flight to Boston.

17th:

ALERT! ALERT!
I woke up 45 minutes late, rushed out of the hotel and had to buy a kitkat chunky so that I would have change for the metro. I made it to the airport, and barely made the check-in in time, but made it. I went through the normal procedure of entering an airport (including removing your shoes) and boarded the plane, off to the Irish capital (Boston).

After much trouble, going the wrong places and annoying people who might know where I should go (JFK is a navigational nightmare), I found the right arrival location, and after 5 small minutes the passengers started arriving. It took quite a while, but eventually Anne Sophie (my sister) walked out and a happy scene broke out. That put behind us, we sat down and each ate half of our Cuban sandwich and set off back to the hostel.

The ride is quite far, JFK is in the outer region of Queens and Harlem is quite far norh on Manhattan, it took nearly two hours to get back, where we checked in (I hadn't checked in earlier, as I didn't have enough money on me), dumped our stuff and caught the first train back into town. The first time you see Times Square is always the best, even though you have seen it plenty of times in movies and pictures, it is remarkable, even when having grown up in a western country with all the goods of capitalism, it is stunning... Piccadilly Circus can't prepare you for it.

Before going back to sleep, we visited some of the biggest stores there. The M&M worldstore where 22 different colours can be bought alongside any imaginable souvenir. The Virgin mega-megastore and numerous other places. Dinner was easily sorted; I ate a pizza slice, and my sister (henceforth known as AS) wasn't hungry. Not only is a Cuban sandwich very heavy, her flight was the first direct flight from Malaga to New York, so it was a celebratory flight with lots and lots of food (and champagne).

6th of June:

AS insisted on an early morning, "I don't want to waste time" she says... And then she walks at a pace that reminds me of a 112 year old crippled person hooked up to a life support system trying to run a marathon... THAT slow. But we took a metro back to Times Square, and I did something I hadn't succumbed to so far on my trip, something so low it had never even entered my mind... We bought tickets to a doubledecker city tour, ought a combo package, and took a downtown tour, with a hilarious guide, who was very articulate on took us on an amazing tour through the districts. Everything from Nolita and Little Italy (where Bobby Milk or by his better known name Robert De Niro grew up) to The Fashion District (where AS was bouncing in her seat) and the UN building. Along the way we also saw a scene from a movie being shot, where Sandra Bullock was out acting (or the closest she can come) alongside some other actor, known to Americans, but not outside.

After the tour we (AS) went shopping and I trudged along, into shops with all kinds of clothing (and some without), until I saw a cinema, where the two of us dropped in to see Zohan, a thoroughly enjoyable movie, although really overgeared and unrealistic, although that is the point.

We then took the Train to the South Ferry hoping to see the Statue of Liberty, but the last one sails at 16, and that time had long since passed, so we started walking back up north towards Manhattan and stopped at a bakery, where I had a genuine cinnamon roll (kanel snegl), which was very high quality, and wouldn't be a bad find in Denmark. We then continued on and I got to show Wall Street and ground zero to AS.

It had by this time gotten really late, and we decided to go a place recommended to me on Cuba, a place called "Frank's" on second avenue between 5th and 6th street, however the queue was horribly long (friday night). So instead we walked to the place I had eaten dinner the night I went to the Bell X1 concert, where I had a fabulous pizza cabonara (tomato sauce, cheese, bacon and egg) and AS enjoyed a simple salad (she wasn't hungry apparently).

On the way there we came past a video game store, selling just about everything from the first video game console ever, to the latest stuff. A giant collection of NES, SNES, PSX, PS2 and Dreamcast games (of old consoles), Commodores, different gameboys with games, Atari's etc.
It was a wonderful place, I would really wish there was something like that in Denmark.

7th of June:

First thing we wanted to do was go see MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), so we first dropped by fifth avenue (it's very close) and looked in some of the different stores, including a giant really cool looking Apple store, with as many people working there, as there were customers. It was followed by a visit to an Abercrombie & Fitch store, where at the front entrance there was a topless (male) model you could have pictures taken with, and every where inside the shop were other fully clothed models that kept saying "welcome".

AS went to see MoMA (I saw the reception) while I walked around the surrounding area looking at upscale New York, as well as same not so nice parts, had a quick stroll into Central Park, and then in no time the 2 hours were up (we had agreed to meet up again after 2 hours). AS is an art buff, but even she was a bit disappointed with MoMA, apparently she had hoped to see more Roy Lichtenstein.

Following up, we headed to the South Ferry again to try and go to the Statue of Liberty, only to discover that the combo bus-tour/boat ticket we had bought didn't cover this boat, but another one that we wouldn't be able to reach in time. So we decided to go and do the uptown tour to Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Harlem and generally anything north of 49th street. Getting off the subway walking the last part, we saw a police officer with a small bird on his shoulder, and I was about to ask if I could take a picture of it, when he himself suddenly discovered it and tried to get rid of it, using his hat to knock it off. All he succeded in was getting the bird into the hat, causing come confusion until finally it flew away.

We boarded the uptown bus tour, andit was just as good as the downtown tour; the guide was very kind and informative, and somehow had a passion for what he was doing. We saw the worlds largest cathedral, got sprayed from a firepost (someone had taken the cap off, and sprayed the bus), the building where John Lennon got shot and Yoko Ono lives today and the many hills of Manhattan.

Done with the tour, the same old question arose "now what?". So we grabbed a metro to Brooklyn Heights, grabbed a bit of lunch and an ice cream, saw the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, walked around in DUMBO, saw the tube to London, walked to the nearby parks and sat down watching some picture taking of a happy newly married couple. On the way back we saw the Jehovah's Witnesses Watchtower and walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge, which in this late day light was far more beautiful then when I had walked across it. Needless to say, I took a lot of pictures once again.

Back at our hostel, neither of us felt hungry for dinner, so both of us went to bed without.

8th of June:

This morning we went straight to South Ferry first thing, bought our tickets and joining the fast moving queue, and in not time we were sailing out towards the Statue of Liberty... It is quite small, far smaller than you imagined, although more or less everybody is disappointed with the size of The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen. It is beautiful none the less, and truly is a sight to behold, not just because of the skill in making it, but also what it stands for, and what is has stood for for so long, for all the immigrants coming to America. However we decided not to land on the island or Ellis Island, there isn't much to see and we didn't feel like it, so we just took a circuit and came back to Manhattan.

Ate breakfast/lunch and took the train up to Central park, trailing around there for quite a while before coming upon the Puerto Rico national day celebration, the second biggest parade in New York (surpassed by the Gay Pride parade). Never in my entire life have I seen so many people dressed up as "hood gangsters" or in tshirts proclaiming love towards Puerto Rico, and blocking up all of Fifth Avenue for an entire day (one of the biggest streets in New York) is by far overdoing it, nice for the Puerto Ricans, but a hassle for everyone else.

Having rounded round that, we took a train to the Museum of Natural History (the one from A Night At The Museum with Ben Stiller), and started out by watching a movie called "Cosmic Collisions" in IMAX format voiced by Robert Redford, it was informative but mostly just darn beautiful, showing huge collisions between Earth and a smaller planet (creating the moon), the Milky Way and the Androma galaxy crashing together and so on, and so forth.

Outside the cinema, AS and I walked around the museum till it closed at 17.45 (two hours later), and saw a life size model of a blue whale (needless to say it is FREAKING huge), endangered animals that have been stuffed and confiscated (such as a stuffed animal), a collection of giant worms, spiders and other huge disgusting animals and a lifesize model of a jellybox fish (worlds most poisonous being) amongst tons and tons of animals. I then huried up to the fourth floor to the dinosaur skeletons, their collection is enormous (I know the real ones aren't on display) and so were the dinosaurs, animals that big always intrigue me (likewise for the blue whale). Coming from a country where the most dangerous animal is a chicken (salmonella), seeing animals larger then a fox (or deer in protected areas) is very unusual, so jumping from cute fuzzy creatures to a giant carnivore like a T-rex or an even bigger Broncosaurus is mindnumbing. The museum also has a very good conservation department, outlining the effects of environmental destruction and what gone be done to help the planet, it houses a big exhibition on how the planet was created, from the beginning of the sun, to the formation of earth's rocks, the mountains, seas and current state of government; what interested me the most was the part of an extremely old ice core drilled up on Greenland.

When we left the Museum of Natural History we left for a slow trip to Piola the mastery pizzeria, where this time AS was up for a full pizza. I had the same Pizza Carbonara and AS had a pizza with rucola salad, mozzarella and tomatoes. Having eaten our most wondrous dinner (AS most of the time gaping at the TV behind me, an idea common in South America, the buzz draws you) we went for one of those "must" experiences in NY, a trip to the top of the Empire State Building. And although it is most common to do in daylight, we went up there in the dark, and had a gorgeous view. Suddenly there was thunder and lightning, without a tripod it is near impossible to capture, but what it meant was rain, and that we had to go inside until the bad weather had passed, and so we did. It was quite a while before we were let out again, but still the views were stunning, New York is always lit and it looks gorgeously so.

By the time we got out it was quite late (had to wait inside for 30 minutes, and sitting down wasn't allowed), but our plan had always been to go back to our hostel in Harlem and get a good nights sleep.
The pizzeria is Italian owned and most of the people who work there (waiters, chefs, all of them) are in fact Italian, so the European Championship in Football was a big deal, and they handed out scorecards so people  could keep track and everything. Being a pizzeria AS thought, that it was the European Championship in Pizza, and was keen to know how it worked. Looking around the room she saw football shirts for nearly all countries in the cup (Sweden missing) and must have assumed that they were for the chefs...
On the way back on the train, 3 people were sleeping (strangers to each other) leaning up against each other, two of them woke up, and the woman in the middle found a strangers head on her shoulder, and tried for quite some time to wake him up, as she was uncomfortable with it. In the end another man present grabbed his arm, and shook him awake.

9th of June:

At first we went to the Rockefeller Center and went to "The Top Of The Rock", as their observation deck is called, and the daylight view is stunning, but in a different way from the night view. But having the Empire State Building in the dayview, was very nice, and I was glad that we had done it in this way.

Afterwards we went to the New York Academy of Medicine, said to held a part of the first batch of penecilin made, George Washington's dentures and a pair of leper clappers (used by lepers to alarm a village of their arrival), but upon arriving we were told that why the place did indeed posses those, they are not on display, and can only be seen by appointment, if doing relevant research.

So we went down to Fifth Avenue and the SE (South East) corner of Central Park, where while AS did some Abercrombie & Fitch shopping (don't know if she entered other shops), I sat in Apple's flagship store and watched Steve Jobs unveiling the iPhone 3G live. I also entered a huge toystore next to it, where they had a wealth of collectors items and other cool items related to Harry Potter, Narnia, Lord of the Rings and other similarly themed movies (fantasy movies generally).

When AS came back we went to 14th street, where the great regal cinema is, we each bought a ticket, I a ticket to Iron Man at 7:10 and AS a ticket for What Happens in Vegas at 7:40. All of this was more than 2 hours away, so we sat down for some lunch, and afterwards I read in my book and wrote postcards while AS went shopping in Forever 21 (at the table next to me was a man who farted VERY loudly quite frequently, for a long long time). About 30 minutes before my movie was set to begin AS returned, we walked to a pharmacy for some movie sweets (outrageous price inside the cinema) and on the way back (she would go do some more shopping) I came past a teddy bear 'Domo Kun", which I bought without a moments hesitation. I met another person doing the same, who was seeing the same movie as me at the same time, so we talked all the way to the cinema, and during the commercials. The movie itself is a masterpiece of a superhero movie, it is wonderful, I really like all these movies I am watching.

When I went outside I only roamed for about 5 minutes before AS's movie was done and she came out, she had also really enjoyed her movie. None of us were hungry, so we want back to the hostel without dinner and slept.

10th of June:

AS was determined to do some shopping, we took a train to Macy's department store, but believe it or not, they didn't have what she wanted, so we walked to Times Square where AS did some shopping and I bought a pair of Levi's jeans (505). We also went into the giant Virgin store there and browsed a bit about. We ended up walking a very long way to a Ralph Lauren store, where AS wanted to buy a polo shirt for our mother.

We then wanted to go to the Bodies exhibition, took a train there, ate lunch and decided not to see the Exhibition, it might have been a lot, but fairly priced is not one of them. So instead we walked to Brooklyn, ate a wonderful ice cream, looked into the London tube and found a park, where we spent 2 hours doing nothing much, just lying down on the grass relaxing. About 10 meters from us, was a guy doing some sort of crazy Yoga (or something), moving into what I thought would be impossible postures.

For dinner we took the metro to Second Avenue and walked up to between 5th and 6th street, where we found Frank's, a place that had been recommended to me in Cuba by an American, and I dare say, that was one astonishingly good ravioli, there wasn't a lot of it (rather the opposite), but it tasted oh so yummy.
It was rather late when we were done, and none of us had packed, this was the last full day in NYC, so we headed home.

11th of June:

What happens when you are for once, not in a hurry to get out the door and seize the day? We stayed for quite some time at the hostel, but eventually checked out and left our bags there, and then headed for the glorious Central Park. We walked around for a very long time (even with a map, getting lost is a given), but eventually came upon our goal in the park, Strawberry Fields Memorial to John Lennon. It is a part of the park, but at the very memorial itself is a mosaic in the ground, a round circle with the word "IMAGINE" in the middle. Like the previous day in the park, we stayed for a while, relaxing on the grass, and watching Japanese people photograph every square-inch of the area.

One thing I had regretted not doing, was trying a Grimaldi's pizza, supposedly the best pizza in New York, both by word of mouth, and by the number of awards they have won. We took a train, and this time, there was no queue (last time we had tired, it had been horribly long) and we got seated straight away. The pizza was excellent, although not the best pizza I have ever had (oh sweet Puerto Natales), the place was fantastic though, "I'm gonna make you a pizza you can't refuse" poster, the Italian red/white tablecloths, the coal fired pizza oven, everything was just so authentic.

Afterwards we took a train to Union Square, where AS bought me a pair of Converse as a thank you for paying for her ticket to NY, and then we went back to the hostel, relaxed for half an hour or so, grabbed our bags and headed to the airport. First AS checked in in terminal 1, and then followed me to terminal 6, an entire terminal exclusive to JetBlue, quite stylish. But whereas AS's check-in had been extremely fast, mine took ages. It came through though of course, and we said goodbye to each other, although we would see each other again in 10 days.

I arrived at Madison Square Garden, got off the bus, grabbed my bag and got lost. On my trip I have been many places, Buenos Aires has 13 million people and is insane; but nothing is as confusing as New York, their subway was set up to harass first time tourists, I wrestled my way around it and found the right place, bought a ticket (2 USD whether you go 1 stop or spend 12 hours just going around) and set off for 96th street. My hostel wasn't hard to locate, I had just forgotten how damn heavy my rucksack was to walk lengths with.

After I had checked in I got sent to my room... On the sixth floor...
I toughened up and dragged myself all the way, got familiar with the place, my room had a private terrace with a view, but on the other side was a much bigger one, the common room was outdoors, with a fair view.

I took the metro (subway, but henceforth referred to as the metro) back into town, 34th street, found some food and found myself on Times Square, the image that is the very essence of Times Square. In reality it is tourists stumbling over each other, and people yelling out their services, musicals, city tours, comedy shows etc.
Especially the comedy show I would like to mention, they kept asking me if I liked to laugh, so I finally stopped and talked with one of the guys. I only asked one question "where is the stand-up comedian from?" and got "The United States" back. It is (for me) a commonly known fact that American stand-up comedians (except for Robin Williams) are utterly useless, and nowhere near funny.

So in the evening when people were coming back from town, and a few had been to the show, and this is their general feedback: "We had to pay 20 USD to get in, and once inside we were told that we had to buy at least two drinks, adding another minimum 20 USD on top. And then the comedian was rubbish, he didn't even make us giggle".

For dinner I ate at one of NY's many famous pizza restaurants, where everyone from Nicolas Cage to Bill Cosby had been, which was fairly good (have had better) and went back to sleep.

4th of June:

On the 4th of June 2008, Bell X1 would play the last concert in their worldtour following their latest album release, and having known this since late April, I had long since purchased my ticket, I went to pick it up from Will Call, but after going a long way out of my way, and waiting around for them to open at 12, I was told that I couldn't buy it before the doors opened at 20. So I went back and took the train to Brooklyn Heights, and walked around for hours, absolutely worshipping the place, Brooklyn Heights is by my standards one of the most livable places in the world, it is quiet, gorgeous but still near somewhere where everything (EVERYTHING) can be gotten. And to the west end of it is the Brooklyn Heights Promenade offering a breathtaking view over Manhattan and in the distance, the statue of Liberty.

I walked to a place nearby called DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) a small sliver of land between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge. There I found the best ice cream since Jauja in Argentina (El Bolson and Bariloche), and a huge tube... The tube functioned as a webcam to Tower Bridge in London. You looked down the tube, and looked out in London. And the same effect went the other way, so that you could see the people on the other side, with just a few seconds delay. And being nothing but a giant baby, I immediately started dancing in the worst Travolta disco moves (as well as some suggestive moves), and it was immediately returned from London, with dance moves just as horrible, and before long about 5 people on each side were dancing horribly with a delay of 4-5 seconds... It had been a long time since I had last laughed that hard (in fact, it wasn't longer ago than when I left Jimmy).

After quite a while, I walked on and explored more of Brooklyn and found some wonderful parks, before I decided to walk back to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge and saw the headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses in the process. The bridge is meant to be walked and bicycled across as well as driven across, and the views over the East River are fantastic just like the view over the Manhattan skyline, Brooklyn and the wonderful bridge itself, it is one of those rare moments where you almost take more pictures then you thought possible, there is always something new, new colours, new angles, everything.

I landed on Manhattan and walked to Ground Zero, much unlike what I had imagined. The entire thing is boarded up, except for a small fence you can see through (from a distance), and although I knew they were planning a new tower to build there, I had no idea that they had already begun, it is still a whole in the ground (they have 7 towers to build, and only the first (and lowest) is complete, and it won't be till 2012). There is an overpass to the other side of the road, with a glass window, but that has an even bigger safety distance.

I continued to Wall Street, saw the Stock Exchange (which is now closed to tourists due to security concerns) and the general area, where up to $44.000.000.000 changes hands every day. It was by this time getting late, so I headed back to my hostel to recharge, and then went out to attend my Bell X1 show.

I took the train, had some good dinner, and then went to stand in line, picked up my tickets and entered the floor. It took quite a long time to fill up the room, so I signed an environmental petition, bought a Bell X1 tshirt, and talked for a long time with an Oxfam volunteer named Bob. Eventually the first warm-up band went on (two in total), 3 women. The first played piano, the second played cello and the third kept going between an electrical guitar, acoustic guitar, tambourine and one of those shaky things you rub a stick against. After that came a long break followed by the second warm-up band, a woman with a wonderful voice accompanied by her guitar and a man on a piano. Eventually Bell X1 came on, and played quite a lot of songs, all of them amazing, this band is fantastic, and the lead singer is like a child up on the stage. Running and jumping all around, pouring all his emotions into what he is doing (like singing), and he would also sometimes grab an extra set of drumsticks from the drummer, and start playing on a set of drums. In the end they all got very emotional, and started thanking everyone who had been touring with them (their last concert) and announced that they were going out to get wasted (they're Irish).

I met a guy called Peter Jensen (Danish parents, but he was born and raised on Long Island) and his son Tony (I think). We started talking due to the girl in front of me. If I at any given time looked behind me, I would see 20 people trying not to laugh, and I had looked at myself in a mirror, I would see myself trying not to laugh. During the two warm-up groups, nobody was dancing, just standing still. And during Bell X1 some people were moving a bit, but nothing special. This girl was all over the floor, while the rest of us were fairly cramped, she had two or three square metres of space, as none wanted to go near her. She was jumped, running and moving all over her space, shouting, whooing, flailing her arms lake a madman, when she wasn't clapping out of tact with the music (to say that she was moving with the music, would be an outright lie). At one point she kept jumping into me, and smashing her hair in my face when she decided to do horizontal headbanging (no, really). So I asked her to behave, and try not to ram into other people, she of course was gravely offended (as anyone with an IQ between a doorknob and a morning slipper usually is) and said that it was perfectly alright to dance. I told her that as long as she wasn't a nuisance to other people it was alright. Somehow that managed her to shut up, and exchange places with one of her friends, and then she continued flailing.

There isn't much else to say, the concert ended after midnight, so I simply went to the metro to catch my ride back to the hostel for some peaceful sleep.

5th of June:

I had met some really nice people in my hostel, especially Tony from Australia. He was a very nice fellow who had been staying in the States for 3,5 months and was now headed back on this day. I packed up my rucksack as well, but unlike him I didn't go to the airport, I went to Harlem. Harlem is today a very nice place, the former mayor of New York (Guilliani or something) started a massive project to clean up Harlem some 10 years ago and it has really paid off. I stayed on 146th street and Bradhurst, a very nice place with a Swedish speaking receptionist.

After having checked in I went out for a huge walking tour of Harlem. Harlem isn't pretty, but it is full of history, from Malcolm X to Martin Luther King, everything in between and a lot of things away to either side, such as the famous Apollo Theatre. Harlem is also a very believing area, with many churches, and my first ever encounter with one of those Christian sects that live by old ways, the men and women dressed as American settlers were several hundred years ago.

When I came back to my hostel I bought two Cuban sandwiches (without pickles before you ask) and boarded a train with the intention of going to JFK airport.