We're on a beer run...

What do you do when the taxes on alcohol make buying it prohibitive... drive to Germany of course! Sonderborg is 15 minutes away from the German border, so a road trip to the border is a common occurrence for Danes. So common as a matter of fact, that there are stores run by Danes in Germany for just this purpose. Kinda like sex shops and fireworks at the Illinois border... and Danish residents get a discount by showing their residence permit. All prices are listed in Danish kroner and you pay with Danish kroner. Each person in the car can import 50 liters of beer, so we all piled in Fabians Peugeot and went to Flensborg, Germany.

Does anyone know CPR?

No not that kind of CPR, det attesteres hermed, er titdelt folgende personnummer i det centrale personregister:

All citizens in Denmark are registered in the National Civil Register and have a CPR number (civil registry number)

When you register at the national registration office, you get a 10 digit CPR number. The first 6 digits are your date of birth (day, month, year) and the last 4 are the numbers that uniquely identify all people living in Denmark. The last digit identifies your gender – women have an even number, men an uneven.

I also chose my doctor at the time I applied for my civil registry number. My doctor while living here in the nationalized health care nation of Denmark is Johana Linsen. All doctor visits, surgeries, and perscriptions are covered by the government. Dental work is not, and is very expensive.

I'd tell you my CPR number, but then I'd have to kill you...

I'm from Holland. Isn't that vierd?

Today was the first Tuesday of classes, with a four hour block of Danish Law in the afternoon. The Prof is a Danish lawyer with a specialty in foreign corporate disputes, which are very interesting considering many countries in the EU have very different policies regarding trademarks and such. The professor singled me out a few times as the only native English speaker to help describe law terms in a better way, which was kinda vierd. Speaking of vierd, I met a chap from Holland while playing pool this afternoon, and boy did Mike Meyers nail the stereotype in "Austin Powers: Goldmember." Not only did he say "vierd," but he laughed and acted exactly like in the movie. It'll be nice to ask him questions about Amsterdam before I go for a weekend excursion to the land of Windmills.

International Everything

The good news is that 8:00 classes don't exist in Denmark. The bad news is that they have 8:15 classes. I start every week with Monday, 8:15 International Finance. The professor spent the first 30 minutes of class explaining why he uses an American text book and how he prefers the American style of writing textbooks. "American texts are much less booooring" (insert thick Danish.) I finish Mondays with a course entitled "Economics of International Integration," which is basically an European Union History/Law course. This course is going to be awesome, because in the US, we are taught absoutly nothing about the EU, so I am looking forward to learning more about trade and policy in this huge organization. Today's Lesson:

Year	History of European Union membership	No.
1957	Belgium France West Germany Italy Luxembourg Netherlands	6
1973	Denmark Ireland United Kingdom	9
1981	Greece	10
1986	Portugal Spain	12
1995	Austria Finland Sweden	15
2004	Cyprus Czech Republic Estonia Hungary Latvia Lithuania Malta Poland Slovakia Slovenia	25
2007	Bulgaria Romania	27

My Room

My simple room.

Ask the readers:
I desperately need some posters or something...

Post suggestions in the comments.

Jogging in the Flensborg Fjord

In preparation for the Broloppet Marathon in Juni (June), I decided to take in some of the scenery and go for a Søndag (Sunday) jog. About two minutes from Handelskollegiet (where I live), is the Flensborg Fjord! Even on a cloudy day, the trails around the Fjord are beautiful, and there are parks along the way. Everything here is green, and the temperature is 9 degrees (48 Fahrenheit)... perfect for marathon training. I think everyone trying to get in shape should come here, as it is a pleasure to go out running when the scenery is so beautiful!

Nightlife

Last night was the annual winter welcome back party. Imagine a grade school sock-hop with a DJ in the school gym, only add beer and gorgeous women. Again, I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures, but it was much more fun than I remember a sock-hop to be. It was fun to talk to some of the full time Danish students, but it is hard enough to try and talk with someone when the music is loud, let alone their thick accents.
At about 2:00, the school kicked us out, so the party continued into downtown Sonderborg. When we walked into the "Buddy Holly" pub, everyone was up on tables dancing to Greece Lightning (did I mention they love that music over here?) After that excitment, we walked across the street to "Penny Lane," another pub, and they were all dancing to the Packer Hey song... they love the strangest music here.