the L.S.S. club

Read the comic strip before the blog post.

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Comic Square 1: 

This is often how an introduction works if you meet someone through the International/Expat Community, because there are a lot of us who have moved to Denmark for love. 

Comic Square 2: 

78 percent of woman work in Denmark,  so when asked, "what do you do?" and you don't have a job or children - they (probably) think to themselves ,"honey, get a job ." If only it were that easy. And anyways, being an accompanying spouse can be made a full-time time. 

Comic Square 3: 

L.S.S woman are able to be the 'perfect' housewife. 

Comic Square 4: 

It will be interesting to have a comparison when we move for Sean's next post doc. 

Comic Conclusion: 

My life in a nutshell. 

If you liked this comic and want to read more, here you go: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php 

Øst for Paradis - Our First Movie Experience

Sean and I had our first experience at the movie theatre Øst for Paradis a few weeks ago when the Aarhus Film Festival came to town. Are schedules happened to busy that week so we managed only one film, unfortunately. The movie experience at this independent theatre was definitely a great experience to be had. 

We watched a Czech Republic documentary called *Citizien K/Obcan K - it dealt with identity and censorship - this topic interested Sean because of his work and me as I recently read George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.

It is a cozy old building. The theatre is on two levels and both floors have a cafe. You can order fresh baked pastries, hot coffee and cold beer (Sean really liked this), and there are copious amounts of liquorice candy varieties to be had. Unlike other theatres where (a) you arrive early to fight for a good seat or (b) you don't mind to be late knowing you won't miss much as you've got a buffer - the trailers. You won't get that here. There were no trailers, instead a Toastmaster introduces the film. In the theatre you get entrance to the screening a few minutes before as you select your seat(s) when you purchase the ticket.

This is a much better set up then what I've experienced before. How wonderful to be able to come a head of time to meet your date or a friend and have a visit before you enter the film or stay afterwards to discuss what you watched - you can always learn more about the film from having a discussion, especially when it the film is subtitled and you are bound to miss elements.  

*About the film: Michal Dvorák, Czech Republic 2012. Documentary, 72 min.

In an era obsessed with identification, the art group Ztohoven undertook an experiment to see how much could be achieved with your own and with a borrowed identity. The group’s members ordered official ID cards using fake identities, using passport photos created by morphing their faces together. Using their new identities, they showed how difficult it is for the system to tell us apart.

Ghosts really are invisible in Denmark

Since we left Victoria, even since we left Iceland, in fact, there have now been a total of three national holidays in Canada: Labour Day in September, Thanksgiving in October, and Remembrance Day a week ago. Of course, Thanksgiving in particular is a very North American holiday; so, we never expected to experience it in Denmark.

But what really took us off guard was Hallowe'en. Sure, it is known -- and even celebrated -- in Denmark, but you have to look really hard. The photo to our left was taken from our balcony on Thanksgiving night, about 5pm. I'll be well impressed by anyone who can spot the two pumpkins outside somebody's front door. The amazing thing, however, is that it is easier to notice Hallowe'en in this photograph than anywhere else in Århus.

It's quite a contrast to the Hallowe'en that I spent in Toronto, where on my daft evening run I was lucky not to be hit by errant, unsupervised firecrackers!

The Danes do celebrate some holidays, however. Towards the end of September, we had our first research group, Wednesday morning "coffee meeting." We never had these during my studies at UVic, so I didn't know really what to expect. But what I most definitely did not anticipate was that this was, in fact, our first Christmas Party planning meeting! We have to start early if we're going to adequately prepare for both the December and the February Christmas parties.

The end of October did not pass unnoticed here, 'though. November 1st is a very important day. 9pm on November 1st is a very important time. It's "JD": julebryg dag, the day when all the Christmas beers are officially released (at 21h00) and all the bars are fantastically packed.

I'm not convinced that the Christmas beers are really all that good, or even all that Christmassy, but it does demarcate an important turning point towards the Christmas season, a season that, here, supposedly lasts a solid four months.

I guess, perhaps, this is why they don't celebrate Hallowe'en. Who wants to detract from the real festivities that are only just about to begin? Why dress up like ghouls and rot your teeth out when you can instead build the suspense of Jul for as many months as it is going to eventually last?