Breaking news. Stephanie... likes Copenhagen.

*hides/ducks/covers*

What happened? Seriously. When did I stop blocking out all the hate and start opening up to tepid approval and teeny nuggets of home-like happiness?

Upon reflection, there were no big events that took my breath away, or special moments that caused me to suddenly change my mind.

I think it was just a build up of the way that everyday life is accomodated here. And illusion or not, I'm enjoying the fact that I like where I'm living. It's been a long time since I felt sincerely connected to a place. I know it has a lot of factors... most of the time it's been about the people who I have around me. 

Maybe it's....

1. Biking in general.

I bleeping love city biking and I don't care what anyone says--biking is the shit. I have spent far too much time in vehicles for my liking and I'm perfectly happy to bike when it's pouring rain or snowing or the Danish sky of doom is sending icy knives into my frozen fingers. I would infinitely prefer biking in gale force winds to driving, any day. And I love that other people feel the same.

2. All the little biking events that happen in specific.

e.g., once they handed out free breakfast pastries and espresso on the above corner. This particular time, some students were doing free bike repairs and air pumping. It's just one of those warm+fuzzy things, like wearing an icelandic wool sweater.

3. I like that there are these ridiculously podunk financially unfeasible 3-wheeled car like contraptions rolling about at all hours attempting to provide service where there is none.

 

Like in front of my school for example. I mean, this guy can't seriously earn a living, even with his overcharge of like 700%. But he's there. He's there, and he's trying (sort of).

I hate expensive coffee and am in no way trying to say that it is enjoyable to shell out $6-7 for a stinking cup of press coffee. No. I am definitely NOT down with that. Just like the coffee trucks.

4. Public ownership of the street.

I love that in a matter of minutes, a street can turn into a public patio. The other week, Rust and Soupanatural, two businesses on Guldbergsgade, decided to take advantage of a community 'loppemarked' (flea market, or community garage sale like-event) and make a music event out of it.

A stage was set up, the pølser guy moved in, the green grocer stayed open and served nasty Danish beer, and voila. Instant street life. The Jan Gehl in me is screaming in ecstasy, even if I abhore drunken hollerin. (which is exactly what the people were doing by about 10 pm).

Part of me wants to shout obscenities and launch water balloons on Friday night when the town's a pumpin'. Another part of me is like 'hey, at least there are people on the street and I'm not in some deserted suburb worrying about the fact that I could get popped off by a stray gang bullet.'

Yeah. Exactly.

Well. I don't want to go on and on about this. But I see it as a good thing that I can like a place and at the same time not be completely blinded to its faults. I feel a bit more like I belong here, and I don't know if that's a mix of various good things, or just that I stopped reading the comment pages of the CPH post. Who can tell, really. In the end it doesn't matter. I like where I am.