Arthur and the Football Game

My posting has been few and far between while I have been in Denmark (note how my last Amsterdam posts occurred just yesterday). Internet in Amsterdam is somewhat hard to find in extended periods of time. I am currently sitting at the Use It tourist information for students (you MUST use them if you come to Denmark!), praying that nobody shows up and that the receptionist wont notice if I run over. After I leave, I'll catch up a bit, but here's my first day in Denmark:

For timing sake, I arrived in Copenhagen on June 17 in the morning (remember, the passports on the overnight train). I found a hostel and spent the day exploring the city on foot. Nooks, crannies, back alleys, pretty harbor views, cobblestone squares... this city was made for the photographer and the walker. With my feet worn out from a day of walking, I wandered back to the hotel, only to run into a Norwegian named Arthur. Arthur and I, it seems, share far too many similarities. Arthur is 22; I am 21. Arthur is traveling by rail for a month; I am traveling for two. Arthur and I both are relying on the Let's Go! guidebook to help us tour around. We're both in our third year of school (Arthur is studying to be a lawyer). We both have a sister who is about 3.5 years younger. His bunk is just above mine!! Mom and Dad, is there something you've been hiding from me?! This being his first day out on the road, and us both being solo travelers, I invite him out for dinner. It's a lovely night and we head to an outdoor Italian restaurant. At the table, we get to know each other better. Arthur tells me all about the influence of American television in Norway (Rikki Lake was on for two months, and everybody knows Leno and Jerry Springer), and I tell him about the Scandinavian influence on Minnesota. Then, as things tend to here, the conversation turns to football (or soccer, just to keep our terminology straight). It seems that team USA is playing Italy this evening, and Arthur invites me to join him at a pub to watch the game. He seems somewhat unimpressed that I know nothing of the American league, nor do I have any knowledge of the team members, but I think I earn points due to my understanding of "off sides." After dinner, we go in search of a pub and I experience my first brush with European football and beer. Arthur guides me through the game, and corrects my cheering blunders (I managed to root for the Italians more than the Americans; such is my heritage, I guess) as we watch the Americans tie it up 1-1. But, ugh, our players play DIRTY! Two red cards (eviction from the game) go to Americans, although the Italians appear to take falls, hits and trips VERY dramatically. Surrounded by Danes, Italians and Norwegians, and sipping away at a Carlsburg, I feel somehow strangely in place, like I'm somehow integrating a little bit more, despite my faulty Danish (lucky for me, Arthur explains that Norwegian and Danish are different dialects of the same language, so he does most of the talking). A taste of football without the screaming, drunken Englishmen. And, amazingly, I really enjoy it! Arthur may have turned me into a true football fan!

For those who are interested, Arthur also has a blog on Blogspot (see! we are the same person!). You can link to it here. It's in Norwegian, so I have no idea what he has written, but you might be able to decipher it. Arthur, have fun!!

(On a tangent, I am leaving Copenhagen this evening. I haven't yet decided where, but it will definitely be on an overnight train. I'll update when I figure it out.)