It Rained Like Damn On Wednesday

So a few more days have gone by, and it's time for an update involving beautiful women and imposing castles, both in great abundance and without regard for the consequences. Suffice it to say I came prepared. We went buck-wild on Wednesday, traversing much of the Danish countryside and visiting palaces, wherein photographs were taken that clearly exhibit my control over various members of the opposite sex (it's a known fact that all of my cameras have the important buttons on the right, since that's my pimp hand). Just kidding; we had a grand old time with it. Lots of rain, though. Not sure how I'm going to deal with the cold reality that Denmark is, in fact, the rainiest country in the entire solar system. Danes fully expect each day to be rainy, and if the sun's out, they fully expect it to go away again. By good fortune, however, I am actually exercising my right to enjoy both my laptop AND good weather at the same time; I'm writing to you from the school's entrance plaza, in the shade of some serious trees. Please believe this sunny day ain't no joke. I can hear flowers growing or something hippie like that.








Before we start all that, though, I would like to give huge props to everyone who showed up tonight for that insanely delicious dinner that we all threw for one another, especially my group, whose collaborative efforts produced some of the most delicious fried chicken I've ever consumed. Ignore the grease burns and the lingering concern that it's going to make your asses bigger. The only effect it's going to have is that whenever you see Corn Flakes, you're going to want to get at them with some cutlets as soon as is physically possible, and that's fine by me. Particular congratulations are also extended to the French, whose crepes served as a fantastic finish. Just the right amount of sugar in the dough. Truly masterful, to say the least. Also to Pusha and Gabi, who were kind enough to provide some delightfully-aged wine for the evening's proceedings (that was you guys, ya?). We all need to do this again; I'll have measuring cups next time. The photos will be posted next time I update, which should be around Sunday, or maybe even tomorrow if I can get them all edited (there are a lot; beautiful people are so easy to photograph, after all).








I know I'm a bit slow with these, and I apologize in advance for the next slow one, as well. Between class from nine in the morning until some six or seven hours later (that's including bike ride time; oh, and I discovered today that class was actually starting at 8:45 every day, and that while I had been consistently "on time," I had, in fact, been doing it wrong), the need to write to various loved ones and the desire to have an hour or two with my guitar, I find that my days go by really, really, really quickly, almost to the point where, in order to fit it all in, I sometimes forego an hour of sleep. In the end, though, I like this newfound sense of urgency; it was nowhere to be found in Florida. There, I would have been up at 10 and felt like going back to bed. Here, I wake up at half-past seven, or eight, unGodly times by anyone's judgment, and I'm out of bed faster than a Senate page who just realized what this could mean if he's caught. I like having stuff to do. Keeps me focused. Maybe I should go ahead and pick up knitting, too.







Today was actually the last day of introductory classes; we start the Real Games on Monday. I did a few very useful things today: got a bank account sorted out, so I don't totally starve (though at 45, Kr. a day for lunch, and no other expenses incurred as of yet aside from a few ice creams, I think I'm doing alright) - oh and speaking of which, let me say right now that there is nothing more thrilling than not paying for gas. All of you need to renounce your petrol-driven existences, come to Europe, and just bike everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Nevermind the whole "steel thighs" and "lungs that can propel a sailboat" bit; just the thrill of knowing that Exxon-Mobil's bloated leaders might someday be without a job, on the street taking wangs for blow, should be reason enough for you to get them plane tickets. Hell, a plane ticket to a European country only costs as much as two tanks of gas nowadays anyway. Anyhow, got the bank sorted out, filled out my stipend forms, as well, to facilitate that whole "not starving" bit a smidge more, and then went back to school, which was closed, and found myself sitting here, with the breeze in my ears and the sun on my back. Life is so, so good right now. I love this place.







I've extended my open hand to a multitude of folks at this point, and have earned myself a couple of nicknames as a result; someone yells "Obama" and I know what's going on; someone calls out "American guy" and I turn my head and flash the grin. Yes, I have brought, or at least STARTED to bring, these benighted children into the light, wherein they might learn of the glory that is Barack Obama's vision for our country, and our world. Alas, lots of them simply shake their heads and ask what it is that I find so appealing about the future President of the United States.








"Don't you worry he's just another Bush?"
"No."
"You don't think he's lying?"
"Not for an instant."
"How do you know?"
"It isn't a question of knowing. It is a question of believing."







I feel that I need to set some time aside from regular old bloggin' to explain to you guys [with whom I attend class] why I'm so very excited about Barack Obama and his plans for America's future, because I know it must be getting a bit old by now (and it's only been five days).

For the last eight years, America (which I consider to be my home, even though it's not my homeland) has been suffering to a degree that would make any Dane, any European, shake their head in sadness and dismay. Since George W. Bush stole the office of President in 2000, our people have witnessed the most heinous and inexcusable crimes committed by any President in American history. We have watched the Twin Towers crumble to the ground because of his negligence. We have seen the rich grow fat on their tax cuts while the poor struggle without any real hope for salvation, because the rich put him into the Oval Office. We woke up one morning to find that New Orleans had been forsaken, and we stayed glued to our televisions in the following days as it became apparent that our President, the leader of our country, was going to take his sweet time saving one of our nation's most treasured cities. We have seen our rights to dissent and free speech undermined by disgraceful violations of our own Constitution, that sacred text by which our country's entire purpose is defined. We have endured a war, waged against our own will, in a country that he wants to exploit, and we have endured its horrifying toll, both here and there.

What's even more shameful is the realization that there are things we haven't seen: we haven't seen the secret prisons where our enemies are tortured for every last piece of information in our name; we aren't allowed into the not-so-secret prison where anyone considered our enemy is held indefinitely, with or without trial; we don't see the trials conducted by military personnel, where the validity of any and all evidence is never questioned; we don't see a penny of the blood money sitting in the coffers of various corrupt people who have sworn before the entire world that they would fight evil and uphold the law; we weren't allowed to see the flag-draped coffins coming home; we avert our gaze from the graves of Iraqi children, men and women, nearly a hundred-thousand of them at this point. We haven't seen our economy healed by the ravages of Bush's disastrous economic blunders. We haven't seen gas prices drop, or health insurance costs lowered. We haven't seen anything but failure these last eight years.

In the face of all of their crimes against their own people and humanity, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have never once apologized for a single action, and they will retire from the White House without having answered for any of their sins. But if there's a Hell, they will, in all likelihood, find themselves waist-deep in it.

Barack Obama represents a chance for us to make things right and heal many of the deep wounds that the Bush Administration will leave in its bloody wake. Many Americans are jaded by nearly a decade of what has amounted to little more than corruption and destruction of both our infrastructure and our position in the world. Believe me: very few Americans are proud of what we, as a nation, have allowed to transpire, but many of us are proud of what Barack Obama stands for and what he wants to do to help our country. Yes, I "Hope" for "Change That We Can Believe In." To me, these are not empty words born of empty promises. How could they be? How jaded must someone in my country be that they can no longer place any faith at all in a good man? How utterly irredeemable are We, the People, that we might no longer be willing to trust a man who promises to lead us honorably? It is in our darkest hour that we must be willing to believe that there is still goodness to be found in the soul of our country, though naysayers cry "Lies!" and find themselves unable to reject their own stubborn fears.

There hasn't been an election this important since John F. Kennedy's, perhaps since Abraham Lincoln was elected close to two centuries ago. There certainly hasn't been one this crucial to my country's future and well-being since I was born in 1986. For many young Americans like myself, this is the first time that we have found ourselves truly devoted to a candidate and his cause, and the first time we have felt that our opinions mattered and that our voices were being heard. I have argued vehemently, sometimes angrily, with people my own age that Barack Obama is the beginning of our country's bright future. I have found myself shaking the hands of people twice, even three times my age, who possess the clarity and sense to understand that there is nothing to fear from a man who says that he wants to help his country in the best ways possible. I have found myself shaking my head at the ignorance and complacence of some of my best friends who still can't bring themselves to care about their own country's future. But most importantly, I have found myself smiling with joy and excited anticipation. I cannot understand how anyone couldn't smile when they hear Obama talk of bringing America out of the darkness, but it seems that many Americans have lived in it for so long that they find themselves turning away, in anguish, from the light. I feel sorry for them.

So that's my piece. I hope that helps you guys understand where I'm coming from when I say that there's nothing more important on Earth right now than making sure that this man makes it to the White House.







So, back to Denmark, and the castle-crashing. Best believe that was some gangster work. We hit up Kronborg, with its view of the Hellbound Swedes' paltry coast; we walked the gardens of Fredensborg, pimping and leaning in the rain and eating more ice cream (or at least I did; the others seem not to realize that it is customary, during the Danish summer, to have "at least two ice creams each day"). And we would have dropped foot soldiers on Frederiksborg were it not for the atrocious rain which landed us in the Kobenhavn Cafe, sipping various beverages and watching EXTREMELY racy advertisements (tell me, where else but Europe can you sell a vacuum cleaner by superimposing its hose over a naked negro gentleman?) before returning home.







Side note: it doesn't rain like a madman in this country. It rains like a strung-out meth addict who can't quite summon up the strength to give it a serious going-over. At least right now. Maybe later on it will rain like a crackhead who's all out of options.