It's the most wonderful time of the year - apparently.

After the stress of pending cancellations and delay, I have done  much sleeping recently.  My flight on Tuesday night only delayed by about 3/4 hours which was nice.  In my Twyford bed by 4am (5am my body time).  In the morning I got up and headed to London to see Vikki, who actually met me off my train at Paddington, without meaning to, we had timed it to perfection.  We went to the National Gallery and then had lunch in a cafe.  £6.50 for a bacon and brie toasted sandwich, fat slice of lemon cake and cup of tea, quite a lovely change from Danish prices.  We went to Brick Lane where I tried on a fetching turban and then got the Central line from Bethnal Green to North Acton (very enjoyable to sit and watch all the uncomfortable commuters.)  Dinner and wine with Vikki and Joe and then my first proper sleep in a while which was nice.  Morning of Chris Moyles on the radio and Starman in my heart and then back to Twyford.

A couple of hours later I met Ali at the station and we went to Reading but the Oakford was full and pompous, had a drink in the Purple Turtle but it was weird in there as well so finally settled in to Queen and Metallica on the jukebox at the Allied Arms.

Christmas Eve, I did some stuff I don't remember and then had a lovely evening at the Waggon and Horses with my good pals Tanya and Phoebe. Woke at 11am on Christmas Day to no presents, no tree, and it was perfect.  Massive lunch with the family and watched Inception in the evening.  On the 27th, Mother Evans and myself went to Bristol to see my Grandmother and Aunt, we had Toad in the Hole and gave presents which was nice.  The last 2 days were just going to the sales (big waste of time), haircut and small errands.  Then I woke at 4.40am on the 30th to go to Gatwick Airport (thanks for the lift Mummy!) and just slept when I got back to Copenhagen.

Cancelled, cancelled cancelled. London Gatwick CLOSED.

This has come to be my worst nightmare.  In 48 hours I should be in the air on my way back to the homeland.  BUT flights are getting cancelled all over the place (my friend Lorelei is staying two extra days in Copenhagen, that she could have spent in Paris) and even if you get to your destination, some cannot get home (this girl I know flew into Stansted instead of Gatwick yesterday morning and got home to Kent this evening - that's a journey of over 30 hours due to bus and train cancellations and the motorway blockages).

Well enough of the travel news, what will be will be.  I am practising positive thinking techniques but am still having nagging thoughts about Christmas in Copenhagen.  It's not really the Christmas part that worries me (as I'm not to big on Christmas, plus I wouldn't be alone, there are people around) but I have been in Denmark for four whole months now and have been looking forward to this brief jaunt which shall include nothing but pure enjoyment for a while now.

So I worked hard on my essay Friday and Saturday and today I had a lovely duck lunch with Lorelei and got hit on at midday on a snowy, busy street.  I really want to get the majority of my 5000 word essay done before England-time so that is my plan for the next two days, hopefully with some fun intertwined with the few people remaining in DK.

Right now I am sat cross-legged on my rug, sorting through all the bits and pieces I have accumulated over the last four months, drinking tea, the room lit by tea lights, its a little bit beautiful.

Although the temp is not going to get above -6.C here before I leave, according to the BBC no more snow is scheduled here or in the Gatwick or Reading areas before Tuesday.  So please everyone, cross your fingers for my return (as that will do as much good as praying - ie. none.) I really make myself chuckle.

Backgammon Champion

So my life has continued to consist of doing work and avoiding doing any sort of work in equal amounts.  The weather has continued to be extremely cold (gonna be -10, feels like -20, this weekend i think), snowy (snowed for about 10 hours today) and generally not as bad as it sounds.  I've got all the gear I need (bought some new lined boots on Monday, which I discovered are really good in the snow today), and can quite enjoy walking around with snow being blasted in my face.  It's really not the tragedy people make it out to be, it's just nature, the world etc.

Events of note include beating Charlie AND Alex at backgammon in Christiania on Friday afternoon, passing my oral exam for Scandinavian Political Systems with a 7 (equivalent of a B i am told) on Monday, walking around in the freezing cold with my friend Lorelei, and discussing the Bronte sisters and Good Charlotte with Matt last night.

Been planning my grand return to England as well, think I'm going to be crazy-busy, but I can't wait to see everyone!

Wow, Another Whole Week???

I have been crap at blogging. Amen.

A Whole Week????

Wow time really does fly when you lock yourself in your apartment away from the snow and (feels like) -20.C temperatures to try and read 1200 pages of political academic literature about the presence of women in Nordic politics but then procrastinate to high hell.

Last week was a mash-up of studying, not studying, eating and sleeping.  On Tuesday I had a pretty interesting class focusing on regionalism in relation to the Middle East, would serve as a great essay writing starting point if I were writing an essay on the Middle East. Haha.  After that I went to the South campus and handed in my application for the pre-semester Danish Language Course at the Department of Scandinavian Studies.

Wednesday I read for my oral exam and went for my penultimate session this year with my tuttee.  It was so good, I cannot describe how much I like the school and tutoring.  Thursday was something like a high of -4.C and a low of -17.C (plus the -10.C winds) so I think I actually stayed home all day long.  And Friday.  And Saturday. Then I got cabin-fever to the extreme and went for a mammoth walk through Copenhagen.  I walked through a snow-covered graveyard in my canvas shoes, down a backstreet where I'm pretty sure I walked right into the middle of some CPH gang activities, paused on Dronning Louises Bro (Queen Louise's Bridge) to watch the pink sun set over the pure white, frozen Peblinge So while the wind blasted my face.  Refreshing.  The snow on the frozen lake had little footprints all over it.  I then walked back to Frederiksberg and (metaphorically) locked myself in my room with my book.

All week it had been sleeting on and off everyday.  On Saturday night I went to sleep with snow, and woke on Sunday with snow.  It continued snowing all day long, the flakes getting bigger and slower as the day went on.  I met Max and Lorelai for lunch and then ice skated the central streets on Copenhagen instead of walking.  These Serbian (?) men with violins were playing some of my most melodically beautiful music I had ever heard outside FootLocker. We went to Abercrombie and Fitch and I wanted to kill myself and everyone in there.  Horrible consumerist, 'lets all own the same things', pretentious schmucks.  Not going there again.  There was a technically good-looking boy stood in the doorway with his shirt open.  Vom.  I then went over to Nyhavn, right out to the sea and watched the snow.  Then I met Matt and we went to Palads Cinema to see Harry Potter 7.  Was okay, I think my expectations were a bit too high.  Totally want a Deathly Hallows necklace for Christmas though and to call my child Xenophilius.

So far this week I have studied and I had a class this morning, but it was pretty boring, nearly fell asleep.  I only went because it is my only class that is still in session and my week needs some sort of structure.

In other news, it is exactly 2 weeks and 11 minutes until I leave Denmark for my 9 day Christmas extravaganza, taking in the wonderful surroundings of London, Twyford and Bristol.  Started making plans already. PSYCHED.