Move on up toward your destination

I leave for Sweden in 9 hours. 45 minutes ago, I realized that there are only 2 pairs of clean underwear in my drawer and I have been wearing the same jeans for the past 3 days. While waiting for my laundry so that I can start packing, I'm writing a speedy, yet newsy entry.

Music:

I am addicted to motown/soul music. I don't know when or why this happened, but I actually cannot stop listening to the "curtis mayfield" and "marvin gaye" stations on last.fm. A day without Sam & Dave's "Soul Man" is truly a day without sun. OMG "My Girl" just came on - life is good.

Midterms:

Not awful. A lot of stuff needed to get done in 6 days (3 papers, 2 outlines, 2 exams, 1 oral exam), but I think they went well.

Yom Kippur:

I had an easier fast than usual, probably because I didn't understand people when they bitched about the lack of food/water (Danish: it's all Greek to me!). I had planned to crash at Chabad after Kol Nidre, so I arrived at 3PM, when Ruchel told me to. Um, the place was locked and empty. I rang the bell and nobody answered. Knocked on the door, nobody answered. After 10 minutes, I called Mom. Never in a million years did I think I would be trying to break into a freaking Chabad center. Finally a little girl came by.

"At m'daberet ivrit?" "Kayn! Kayn!" "Bayt chabad?" "Kayn, b'vakasha!"

And she let me in. Thank you, Temple Emunah Hebrew School.

I helped Ruchel the Rebbetzin and her 67 children chop vegetables - it reminded me of Shabbat at the Bayit at Wes, except Ruchel is less of a tyrant than D.Bar.

At dinner, Seth, Gil and I listened to an old man from Jutland pontificate on the history of Danish Jewry. It was really interesting, but Gil bristled when the man told him, "vous n'e^tes pas francais. Vous e^tes Juif." Interesting clash between old and new world Judaism - but maybe the man had a point? I don't know.

Kol Nidre was pretty good. The Great Synagogue is a wonderful location for it because of its majestic size and white and gold interior. I missed the cantorial stylings of David "Srebby" Srebnick at Emunah, but I found a Siddur like the ones we use at home, so that was nice. The inscription was from Tovah Feldshuh, an actress I greatly respect, so that was cool, too.

After services, I walked back to Chabad with Gil and we hung out with Yitzy the Rabbi and 3 Yeshiva boys, just shooting the shit about politics and religion and travel. I stunned Gil by perfectly translating a couple of articles in Le Monde (my French is better than I thought!) and learned about - ready for this? - action movies for ultra-Orthodox jews. I'll try to find some titles from Yitzy and let you know how they are. The Yesiva boys were cool, 2 were British and had cute little Paul McCartney accents when speaking, but when davening, they sounded like little old men from Ze Old Country.

Anecdote: the stairwell in Chabad echoes. You know how American kids test echoes by yelling out stupid things? One of the Yeshiva boys tried it out by going "Koooooooool Niiidreeeee."

Services were spent with my new friends who recognized me from Rosh Hashanah. Sharon from Stockholm and I bonded majorly. And I saw the cute little old grandma with the sweet grandchildren, who greeted me with a, "hello, American girl who misses her family!" She then invited me to her house for the breakfast.

At the Chabad breakfast (bagels and lox! And eggsalad and tuna salad!), the man from Uruguay introduced me ("Ah! Mrs. Boston!") to his son, who is considering spending a semester studying communications at BU. The father was pounding back the whiskey shots, as was the Rabbi and every man over 30. Gut yontif, indeed.

Jonathan's Birthday:

Jonathan turned 11 on Thursday, so Friday was his birthday party with his class from school and today was the family party. The kids were SO CUTE. The party was loosely structured - entertainment ranged from watching the popcorn in the popper, playing "CounterStrike" and watching "Jackass," jumping on the trampoline, freezedance (to Rihanna's "please don't stop the music," obvi) and charades. It was funny to watch the kids: boys on 1 couch, girls on another, things like that. And Jonathan has a cute little girlfriend. Her name is Alberte. Aww...

Culture Night:

After the party, I headed into the city with Gabi, Liza, Madeline and DeDe for KulturNatten, the night when all of the museums, monuments, cafes, etc. are open late with special events. We explored the ruins under Christiansborg with a flashlight, which wasA really neat. Then we wandered around the Stroget, City Hall and Radhusplasen. So many people were in the streets! Young, old, drunk, sober... I have never seen Copenhagen this crowded before! The cobblestones at Amager Torv were sticky from all the beer spilled - it felt like a frat house floor.

Hilarious moments:

"My ex-boyfriend always wore an orange sweatshirt."

"did you date Kenny from South Park?"

On the Metro, we met the Super Mario Brothers and Hunter S. Thompson.

(After getting toasted, sugared almonds)

"You can eat the nuts."

A drunk man dancing to "Get Down (You're the One for Me)" by the Backstreet Boys.

"Are people from the Czech Republic called Czech... Republicans?"

And, oh yes, the Lederhosen boys.

Many other amazing things happened, and several facebook albums shall be made, but I need to get ready for bed soon. Plus I didn't even mention...

The Canal Tour of Copenhagen

and

Jonathan's Birthday Party 2.0

(or, how I ate my weight in carbohydrates - twice).

Hopefully I won't forget after the trip to Sweden and Estonia. I just hope my clothes are dry enough to pack by now...

I'm writin' 'bout the book I read

With the 45-minute commute every day, my reading time has increased dramatically. Here is a quick review of what I have read/am reading:

Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth
Goodbye, Columbus is a collection of fictional novellas and short stories about the postwar American Jewish diaspora, mostly in the New York/New Jersey area (of course.) "The Conversion of the Jews" is one of my favorite short stories, but I never finished the whole book, and the short story format lends itself well to the continuous interruptions of reading on busses and trains. I love Roth's no-frills, no-nonsense, no-bullshit style, it is a welcome change from some of the flashy writers I read this summer (Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Robbins and Elizabeth Gilbert). I think "Defender of the Faith" was my favorite. It is the story of a Jewish sergeant in the US Army who receives requests for special treatment from Jewish privates. The motives of the privates are ambiguous, and it is ultimately questions how the Jewish people are going to survive. Goodbye, Columbus is a very interesting, insightful read, but I wonder to what extent someone who has had little to no contact with the American Jewish community would appreciate the intricacies and complexities of the stories.

Favorite Quote:
"I'm not a planner, Brenda. I'm a liver."
"I'm a pancreas."

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Not light reading. Picoult has written an extremely compelling and original story that continues to haunt me. It is the story of a family whose daughter Kate is diagnosed with leukemia. In order to save her, they genetically design a child, Anna, to become a perfectly-matched donor. After numerous surgeries on both girls, Kate's kidneys begin to fail, and Anna is required to give one of her own to her sister. This is the last straw: Anna files a lawsuit for medical emancipation from her family. The subsequent struggles explore medical practice, ethics, justice, the role of parent and child, honesty, lost love and how a family can burn itself out. The end is devastating. I really loved the book, but felt Picoult heaped the symbolism on where it really wasn't necessary. Also, each chapter is told from a different character's perspective, but she doesn't change her style enough to give each character a believably distinct voice. Overall, a genuinely significant work. Believe the hype.

Favorite quote:

Doubt thou the stars are fire,

Doubt thou the sun doth move,

doubt truth to be a liar,

but never doubt I love.

(from Hamlet)

The Complete Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway is a baller. No other words. This is an ongoing project - homeboy wrote a LOT.

Favorite quote:

psh...

Currently reading...

Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill

I love Boston.

Reporters Lehr and O'Neill were following insider's theories about James "Whitey" Bulger's informant status for the FBI a decade before this was proven to be true. As a result, this book is argumentative, fiercely research and wholly brilliant. Much better than The Departed - and I really liked that movie!

Comment:

Sarah Palin kind of reminds me of Billy Bulger. Both are scrappy, hard-line conservatives. Both value showmanship - although, in a significant variation, Bulger successfully kept his family (including, to an extent, his mobster brother) out of the public eye - and maintaining their connection to your Average Joe. Palin is definitely a throwback to the showbiz politics (on the right and the left) of the mid-20th century. Think of the Democrat political machine Tammany Hall in New York. Palin comes from that tradition, she is nothing new. Except for one twist: now its a girl who is shaking you by the collar. Just a thought...

Over break, I'm hoping to finish Black Mass and also read The Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Friere. I'll let you know how all that goes.

This week is heavy on the midterms and atoning, so I won't be updating much/at all. Then I'm off to Sweden, Estonia, France and Russia. Hopefully, I'll have time to write and reflect between trips.

**EDIT**

Music I'm currently enjoying:

Move On Up  by Curtis Mayfield

If I Could Build My Whole World Around You by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

Me and Mrs. Jones by Billy Paul

It's Alright by Dar Williams (Fountains of Wayne cover off the new album)

Vietnam by Bear Hands

After the Fall by X-Patriate (Alan J. Lipman)

Boston by The Dresden Dolls

Pierre by The Dresden Dolls (this one is for you, mom! Remember Ms. Wilson's class?)

...and pretty much the entire new Amanda Palmer album - especially "The Point of it All" and "Leeds United." Thanks to producer Ben Folds (!!!), it is a lot pop-ier than her stuff with the Dolls, but she hasn't lost any of her intensity. Also, check out the videos on youtube. Gnarly.

I dig rock n roll music

Last night, John, Walter and I hit up the "Klub Geyser Festival" at Islands Brygge Kulturhus. Doors opened at "klokken otte i aften" (8 PM, for you non-Danes), so we got there about 10 minutes early. No one else was there except for some older people (they had to be 60+), but we had already paid the cover, so we decided to stay.

The opening act was super dubious. It was a 30something bearded gentleman with an acoustic guitar who sang "a welcome song" with the following lyrics:
Hello sun, let's have some fun
Hello moon, its much too soon
Fool, you are so cool
Fool, its not so cruel

(And my favorite couplet:)
We can make love in a flower bed
Or, if you like, do something else instead.

It reminded me of Coco's song from Flight of the Conchords, except, you know, sincere.

Turns out, the crowd became hipster-ified fairly quickly, which was quite a relief. Still, the atmosphere was more laid-back than clubs in the States. It was set up cabaret style, with small tables and cheap beer and big comfy chairs and candlelight. Hygge.

Nuance, the first band, was a kind of country-bluesy, featuring a female lead singer, sassy fedora-wearing bassist and banjo player. Naturally, I liked them. They sang in English, but all of the inter-song banter was Danish. Very disorienting.

The next artist was Cecille Trier and Le Fiasko. Very dark, with haunting harmonies and intense, atmospheric instrumental sections, and her vocal delivery was in the Amanda Palmer-Aimee Mann-Kate Bush vein. They did a nice cover of "Anthem" by Leonard Cohen, but I like almost all Leonard Cohen covers more than the originals. Brilliant songwriter, miserable singer.

The third group, Født Uden Filter, performed entirely in Danish, so I'm not quite sure what happened. Then again, I don't think I would've understood in English, either. It was a girl singer with two backup singer and an acoustic guitarist doing 'funny' songs. They danced and were silly and had props like giant cardboard teardrops. At one point, the backup singers put on sparkly golden cardboard bikinis and sang "get your hands off of me! get your hands off of me!" Whoosh - right over my head.

Il Tempo Gigante is a Danish band with a name in Italian, whose lyrics are in English. Got it? I can't put my finger on who they reminded me of - Calexico? Califone? All I know is their instrumentals were super clever and I loved the use of unusual instruments, like the saw. Good sleepytime music. Really cool stuff.

The last band I absolutely adored and you should check them out here . They are called the Elephants, and their music is sunny indie surf-pop. Los Campesinos! meets the Beach Boys, really fun. I danced out of the venue.

For a 60kr fee, we saw 6 bands and the music continued until 1AM! Sweet deal, huh? We all had a great evening.

Thursday, never looking back

Cute story:

Jacob my host dad decided that tonight I would make "American food" for supper, so we went to the grocery store to get some dinner fixin's and dragged Jonathan along. J looked really cute today in his skinny jeans, silicone bracelets and hoodrat trucker cap. We had fun at the supermarket which, for some reason that I cannot understand, sells bicycles, cell phones and other random crap in addition to groceries.

On the way back from the store, we were listening to the radio. A song caught some recessive part of my memory and I started humming along, "all along the eastern shore... nahnahnahnahnahnahnahhh" What was this electropop trash? Why do I know this random 80s song?

Because it was "Electric Feel" by MGMT.
On the radio.
In Denmark.
OMGOMGOMG.

For those terribly out of the loop, MGMT is an up-and-coming band whose members graduated from Wesleyan a couple of years ago. All of us cardinals are terribly proud of them.

The next song is also a favorite of mine, "Friday I'm in Love" by the Cure. (I always associate it with passing my driver's test, haha) I was singing along quietly in the front seat, when I heard an echo from the back.

It was Jonathan.

He was using the song to practice the names of the days of the week in English! I corrected his chronology ("Thursday... Friday... Saturday, not Wednesday!"). And he taught me the song in Danish:

I don't care if Mandag's blue
Tirsdag's gray and Onsdag too
Torsdag I don't care about you
Its Fredag - I'm in love!

Keen on Disco

Today's discovery:

TRASHY DANISH TECHNO!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buXJlBd3Mf8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7sl2ap9zZo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj_qcOr3X4E&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwfADa_I1w4&feature=related
(Jonathan loves this one)

and for good measure, here is a techno remix of the danish national anthem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4B7IaK15N8