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Monday, December 7th, 2009
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North Beach, San Francisco
South of Market District, San Francisco
Central Tokyo by night
Cairo, Egypt
Old architecture on Newbury Street, Boston, Massachussets
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
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I'm way too cluttered with thoughts right now...I'm ruminating about everything and it's driving me nuts!
I've got way too many desires and wishes and bjfæasdfjæskdf....I need to pull myself together and just focus on one thing at a time.
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Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
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Thursday, November 26th, 2009
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Why do people always over complicate the idea of traveling? It doesn't have to be expensive or a "far out dream" - it's called backpacking. You work your ass off for 6 months, and boom, you're off to Argentina, Thailand, Morrocco or India, and you can be traveling for months, often saving up money by being there as opposed to the insane daily expenses we pay for in our home countries.
Enjoying a night of beer and cigarettes with a bunch of other young travellers from all over the world who you're meeting for the first time (but feel like they could be your best friends), whilst staying at a shitty hostel in some exotic country, exploring ancient temples and riding rickashaws through chaotic traffic is far more exhilerating and ... See Moreenriching than a cheesy week off in Hawaii, staying at the Sheraton, eating at The Hard Rock Café every night all whilst watching Filipino-Americans try to Hulla and pose @ being Polynesian to the delight of tourists from Ohio. The ridiculous prices I pay for in Denmark on a daily basis (a microscopic smoothie here costing nearly 10 bucks) could cover three meals and accomodation daily in a beach paradise like Malaysia. This is why I travel, and you can to!
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Thursday, November 12th, 2009
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I would like to share my photos from my trip to Ecuador with my father. It was my first time to South America and I loved every minute of the trip. Not only was it a great bonding time with my father, it also was a country I never would've considered visiting had it not been for my father's spontaneous proposal, and a lot of my misconceptions about South America were erased on this trip. I felt very safe there and I was stunned by the 500 year old colonian architecture throughout the country. There was such a blend of European and Latin elements; Often it felt like I was in an old Spanish town yet definitely not. We visited Cuenca, a little provincial city, and the capital Quito, which was mind-blowingly beautiful.
Flying over El Savador
Panama City
Somewhere over Ecuador
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Sunday, November 8th, 2009
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I miss my latin babe...
But guess what!? He's coming in less than a month to Copenhagen for 10 days, and then he and I both fly back to California together (for christmas) and I'll be there for 3 weeks. So I have time to be with my boy :)
I can't wait to see his devilish, naughty eyes and hear his sexy voice again. I miss mi Alan.
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Sunday, November 1st, 2009
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I'm so homesick it's insane. Pictures I took from last summer; I tried to capture the essence of Southern California:
My best friend Andres, who is Swedish, came to visit me for 3 weeks in California
Renatta, my best friend's sister, looking extremely California
Right around the corner from where my Dad lives
Bliss
Andres, estatic for his first taste of Americana
My older brother, mom, Andres and I all at Sushi
It was a sultry, summer day in San Diego
Down the street from my mom's house at our local beach in La Jolla
Chez ma mére
Ocean Beach, San Diego
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Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
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I can't put into words how much I love to travel. When I'm exploring a new country, meeting its diverse peoples, tasting a new cuisine - I'm in bliss.
My first time on a plane was at 6 weeks old. My father met my mother on an airplane for God sakes. My dad is Danish, my mother American. I started off as binational from the day of my birth. I was born in the city of Århus, in Jutland (the great peninusla "mailand" of Denmark) where my father grew up and my mother was born in Gouchland County, Virginia.
Throughout my youth I was always exposed to foreigners and new cultures. My mother was employed by the now defunct Transworld Airlines, and we thus received endless amounts of free tickets (or at least incredibly discounted) to go anywhere we desired. I remember weekend retreats to Europe. "Hey, who wants to go to Germany for the weekend?" my father would ask on a Thursday afternoon after my brother and I would come home from school. And of course we said yes. We would go to Germany, Portugal, England, Denmark, France, and Italy many times in the years of my childhood. Summers would be spent in Denmark but we'd also rent a car and just drive around aimlessly in Europe.
It wasn't just Europe though. My father was also an international businessman, so I was fortuante enough to be able to join him on business trips to Japan, where we'd be treated like VIP to amazing dinners and sightseeing tours funded by Mithsubishi. I saw the sakura, or Cherry Blossoms during spring in Kyoto. I ate Sukiyaki in Tokyo, as well as enjoyed my first cocktail at the Park Hyatt Bar, the same one featured in Lost in Translation.
I was extremely lucky to have had a father who was so spontaneous. My mother loved to travel too, but it was really my father who instilled these nomadic, horizonless values within all of us. I lived in London for a few months at 7 years old, and I remember learning how to read for the first time on the Tube. While commuting back and forth with my mom, she'd teach me how to read with British "learning" books for children. I remember complaining about the stench of smoke in a Frankfurt bar whilst eating a hot dog.
We'd vacation in Mexico, sail through the Carribean islands, take numerous, and I mean numerous road trips every year. I saw the Grand Tetons in Wyoming, I visited Yellowstone national park, I saw the plains in South Dakota, explored the Olympic National Park in Washington, as well as skiied in Park City, Utah, as well as Whistler, British Columbia.
Having this insanely worldly childhood from the start, it encouraged me to do things out of the ordinary...always. First it was going to a boarding school in Rhode Island. I lived there for 2 years, experiencing the culture of New England. I remember when there was a meter of snow in Newport, Rhode Island, and just walking around the little alleyways of the town to go get pizza at our favorite Italian restaurant at 15. I mean...what other young California kid did what I did? I remember learning how to sail in Narragansset Bay, I remember shopping on Newbury Street with my teenage friends in Boston.
Then came Denmark. My father thought it would be a good idea for me to truly experience his culture for a year. This was all decided in one day - that I was going to go to Denmark. IN ONE FUCKING DAY! And the best part about it was that this decision was made in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, while sitting on the beach over Margaritas with my parents! My family was, and still is, so fucking spontaneous. And that is the way I love to live.
Denmark was amazing for me, coming here at 16 was so liberating and enriching. I was bartending at a gay bar at 16, dancing on podiums of clubs, dating an Icelandic guy. I fucking lived in a small Icelandic town in the summer of 2005, working in a factory. I experienced Iceland. I clubbed there, I wept there, I ate at KFC there. I mean...when I truly look at my life, I realize how lucky and blessed I am for all that I've experienced at just 22.
And then came my second boyfriend, Anders, who inspired me to travel the Far East. And we went to Thailand, Nepal, and India together. I worked my ass off and saved up for the most eyeopening, 6 week backpacking trip of my life. And then the next summer, I saved my money up again working like a slave and then it was off to China and the Philippines with Zach. I know the Philippines - when I meet Filipinos, they are always shocked and impressed that I've been to the remote region of Palawan. I slept at a beachside bungalow there and befriended a Filipino family. I sang karaoke on Nanjing Road in Shanghai. I got drunk in the Patpong district of Bangkok.
When I was a teen, my mom thought it was crucial that I visit the South all the time to visit my extended family. I remember playing in the cornfields next to my grandma's house outside Richmond. Eating BBQ at all Black "soul food kitchens" in South Carolina. I remember the humid air of Savannah, Georgia, and the beautiful pre-Civil War architecture there, as well as the archaic beauty of America's first real town, St. Augustine. I remember hanging out in Greenwhich Village with my brother, checking out cool indie music stores.
The point of this entry is not to brag, but to acknowledge how blessed I am to have had the life I have. The fact that when I'm working in my retail store, that I can connect and socialize with people of so many different backgrounds and cultures is fantastic. I can relate to so many people from the most far out corners of the globe, because I've been to their cultures or if not, I take great interest in them. I want to see it all
It's strange because I find myself homesick for places I've never actually lived in. I miss walking the canals of Amsterdam on a winter day, or exploring the seedy, glitzy alleyways of SoHo in London, and the bright neon lights of Tokyo. I miss cosy cafés in Vancouver and Cracker Barrel restaurants in Georgia. I miss autumn in New York, I miss the chaos of the bazaars in India.
I am a man of the world. I want to travel forever. I want to experience everything. I've lived a fucking great life, a life of someone triple my age - and I'm only here on this soil once, I might as well make all that I can of it, especially with all of the wonderful opportunities God has blessed me with. And I will do something positive for this world one day, to connect the world more, to bring us all together - to realize that we share the same Earth, and borders don't mean a damn thing when it's all said and done.
PS - I will be a fucking employee of Lonely Planet one day.
PSS - List of countries that I need to visit:
-Ghana
-Morocco
-Bhutan
-Cambodia
-Vietnam
-Argentina
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Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
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Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
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Why am I so weak these days? I find myself being so nostaligic about everything lately. Perhaps it's because I truly feel like life is moving on now...I'm definitely no longer a kid anymore but I still feel like it. Going off to boarding school at 14 made me grow up fast in many ways, but having lived away from my parents since that age has made me also...in a way...deprived. How, I'm not so sure, but I just feel like I'm missing my family more than ever before. I want to be near my brother - I want a closer relationship with him, I want to be able to have a cosy evening next to my mom, meet my dad for dinners. It's crazy that I'm wanting to feel young and like a kid again. Why? I feel so pathetic. Last night I took a walk to the local Blockbuster in a hunt for Home Alone and The Santa Clause movies. It might sound cheezy, but it makes me feel young again, safe somehow. I miss Alan, I miss my friends. I miss a lot.
On the flipside, I don't want to sound like I'm some big, uber complainer, so I want to state somethings I'm thankful for:
-All the great friends I have
-This gorgeous fall, cold weather that's swept in lately (as well as the lovely autumn foilage)
-The fact I have somebody like Alan in my life
-All of my family has their health in order
-I feel loved by many people
-I live in a fantastic apartment
-I finally have a job that gives tons of hours, unlike so many people right now
-I've had a life full of amazing experiences and opportunities
-I'm in an education
-I live in a country that provides free education and healthcare, as well as a safe enviornment
So that's that. I feel better now.
I need to get around to taking photos of the city before all the leaves fall off. The highs are in the 40s and the lows in the 30s; it's like winter already came!
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I'm sorry
For all the words I didn't say
It's too late
Cause now you're gone so far away
I feel like I'm lost
With nothing left but shattered dreams
I'm so lonely
I'm holding on to memories
But then I feel your love surrounding me
And it takes away the pain inside of me
I believe
I believe we'll be together
Another day
Another time and place
Somewhere, someway
We'll meet another day
Another day
Belongs to you and me
Somewhere, someway
Another day
Oh darling
We may be so far apart
But I know that
You'll allways stay inside my heart
Forever
Cause you're the only love I known
Together
I'll never have to be alone
Your spirit gives me hope to carry on
Now I understand that even though you're gone
Life goes on
Life goes on without you baby
Another day
Another time and place
Somewhere, someway
We'll meet another day
Another day
Belongs to you and me
somewhere, someway
Another day
Another time and place
Somewhere, someway
We'll meet another day
Another day
Belongs to you and me
Somewhere, someway
Another day
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Monday, October 12th, 2009
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Friday, October 2nd, 2009
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"I spend 2-4 hours every day applying for jobs online. Then I may go to a One-Stop Career Center to make copies and fax applications. The only offer I've had so far is an interview to be a parking lot security guard. I have over 40 years experience as an administrative assistant, and work part-time event security. I'll be on my first unemployment extension in November, and hope that something will break after the first of the year."
- Quoted from a post regarding unemployment in California that I read, I feel so sorry for this person.
I really hate this global economy right now.
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Thursday, October 1st, 2009
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It's depressing how 500 dollars in Denmark isn't worth shit. It's the equivalent of 2 nice pairs of shoes or eating at a nice restaurant maybe 3 times.
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Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
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Noe Valley neighborhood
View from Cow Hollow
Stockton St, Chinatown
Alley, Chinatown
I have such a neon fetish...North Beach at night
Ok, we all confess - we wish could move there.
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Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
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I just love San Francisco.
Smoked a J after school in Christiania with Zach and Michael, the weather is perfect. The highs were in the mid-50s (about 12-15 degrees C), windy, but sunny and crisp. All the trees are beginning to change colors and I'm able to wear warmers clothes now. I don't know, today just felt like a true fall day.
I studied at the bookstore on Købmagade that's part of Barresso (our version of Starbucks). I don't know why I like that place so much, I think it reminds me of Borders or something like that. In Denmark it's not very common to find a café within a bookstore as you'd always find in the US, so perhaps that's why I find it so cosy. Plus, there's a great view when I'm studying, I can watch everybody walking down the pedestrian street and sip my white tea at the same time.
Hopefully Alan moves up to San Francisco smoothly. It's funny how many people I know seem to be moving up to the Bay Area. My brother and his girlfriend, Leah, recently moved into their flat in Rockridge (it's a nice part of Oakland, right on College Avenue) and they love it. My Dad who assumed Oakland = ghetto was skeptical at first but visited them and loved the area, calling the neighborhood very "European".
If I were to move to SF, I think I'd like to live in the Mission District (as long it wouldn't be in the dodgey zones). Maybe that, or the Castro (although it's probably too expensive) because it has such a community vibe. It'd be great to find an area that has a good community vibe, safe, near downtown, and relatively inexpensive. But seeing as SF is the 2nd most expensive city in the US, that'll be quite difficult.
Hmmm....what else. Zach has become a bit of a stoner lately and he's fallen for Micahel. It's wierd because we all go to the same school now and I'm just worried that Michael, being 4 years younger than us and a lot more prone to incessant transitions, will give up on Zach and move on and Zach, who's extremely emotionally vulnerable will be devested. He invests his happiness too much in guys, but never himself. If only he could learn to love himself for who he is.
Andres moved down to Nykøbing for his medical trial period, he loves being able to get a lot more practical work in. I think he's definitely in bliss working at the hopsital, being in his element. Being down in Lolland must suck serious ass though, it's got to be the most bland and depressing area of the country.
Mom and her boyfriend visited me last week from the US, her new man seems very nice, refined, and overall a good catch. She seems to be very happy, and I'm glad he's got money (I mean let's get real here, it aint' all just about love at her point in time, but also practicality).
Grabbed some lunch with David today and ate at Oscar where I got a subpar meal.
Overall, things are doing well but I miss Alan a lot. I feel like there's something incomplete in me lately, I feel restless - perhaps it's because he's not near me?
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Sunday, September 27th, 2009
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Is this how it feels to be all alone? Why is it when I'm alone in my apartment and it's late at night I get so scared about life and a little bit depressed?
I know I have great friends and Alan (although perhaps we're not officially together at this point seeing as he's in California and I won't see him for another 2.5 months) and a supportive family...but when it's the night and I'm by myself I just feel like I fall into some weird, dark abyss. I need people around me all of the time it seems. It's only once in awhile that I feel the need to be completely by myself.
Nevermind it's too hard to forumate my thoughts right now.
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Friday, September 18th, 2009
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Just when I thought my faith in this world was restored, I step into the bathroom at Foxtail only to hear Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez recovering from their latest purge, "Oh my did we eat that much!?" Out comes Miley with a bloody nose, looking slightly bewildered and embarassed.
Then suddenly a haggard Mischa Barton stumbles through the door, looking at the two girls with remorse. She grabs a tissue and walks up to Miley, dabbing the area under her nose. "Oh sweety, relish in what you have now...trust my word - in 2 years you'll either be on a reality show filmed in Nicaragua or you'll be doing TV movies for the Hallmark channel up in Toronto". Miley and Selena both accept a very awkward hug, and Mischa dissapears into a stall.
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Thursday, September 17th, 2009
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School has been pretty easy to be honest, but I don't want to get too hot-headed in that we've only gone through 3 weeks so far. The only thing I can say is, my school is pathetically disorganized and takes no reponsibility for the huge mistakes they've made (for example, crowding 50 students into a classroom that is made for 20, so some people don't have desks for their books and laptops; loosing everybody's student cards; the SU office oddly being closed despite that it should be open everyday 8-12...yet it's never open; the rudeness and incompetence of the administration staff, "det er ikke mit problem"). Everyday there is a mistake from the administration - you have to beg them to answer your questions or provide you with help, and even when you're being nice they give you attitude. At Niels Brock, it's a sink or swim mentality, Darwin's evolution theory thrives. Luckily, I like my class a lot, but I need out...I need to be in a different University. I just can't take it anymore. This is my 3rd attempt and it's simply not the insitution I want to remain in. I don't feel like many of the teachers are truly qualified (my marketing teacher the first semester back in Jan 2008 had only experience in telemarketing). Before I sound like I'm a huge complainer I want to emphasize however that I'm very lucky to be in something here in Denmark, given the ridiculous bureaucracy and discrimination students with international High School degrees face.
The good thing is that I receive free University education and what not, as well as government financial help called SU (900 dollars a month to study - OK, sounds like a lot, but not when there's 10 dollars for 50KR, in other words, right now a Happy Meal at McDonald's, 62KR, costs approx. 12 bucks, so you can see how expensive it is to live here). So I'm very grateful that I somehow got into this school...but I really do want to transfer somewhere to the Bay Area.
I'm just scared that, if I get myself to pumped up on transfering to the SF Uni, and I don't get in, I will feel devestated. So I'm trying just to live in the present and be content with the status quo. But I want to be at that school, and I want be closer to my family.
One thing that amuses me while reading the city-data.com forums (I typically read the forum for San Francisco) is how everybody bitches and complains about the cost of living in California, for example to rent a room or apartment in SF or even San Diego. When I do the calculations given the exchange rate between the Euro and the Dollar, I can't help but think to myself "you have no idea, people". It's just so much more expensive in Northern Europe. In the States, you can easily eat out everyday if you wanted or at least get takeaway. In Denmark, the only "cheap" food you can obtain is shwarma and pizza for the most part. Takeaway Thai will run up to about 25-30 dollars usually. A café late at a city cafe is usually around 40KR (or cheapest 35) which means a microscopic sized café latte is 8 dollars.
On the flipside, we make very high salaries, and the average wage a student would get working at a bar, restaurant, or store would be 20-25 dollars an hour. Then you get taxed 37 or 38%, leaving you with maybe 13 US Dollars an hour after tax which is far better than one would get in the US. And with that tax you get free healthcare and education etc., there's nobody in this country who doesn't benefit from the high taxes somehow.
But it just get so damn frustrating for me as I'm used to quick and inexpensive food in the US (and no, it's only all burgers and fries, you can get a sushi set for 5 bucks as well as Thai) and here it just seems impossible to live as a student. It's so pricey here, and I'm an indulgent kind of person. In the US I'm always meeting friends for dinner or drinks or coffee, and that's something of a rare treat for people here. In San Diego I could go out and party for 20dollars. People in California complain about really strong drinks costing 10 dollars at the chic establishments. Those here would definitely cost 25 dollars with the amount of booze they freely pour into it in the US. Here, a drink will contain an average of 2ml of booze!
Moving on, I just love my neighborhood. I love living in Vesterbro. The best part about this neighborhood is that there's a lot of funky restaurants and bars, lot's of dives, and sex shops as well as prostitutes freely roaming around. It's, in my opinion, the most ecclectic and diverse and least commercialized area of the city. There's nothing bland about it, unlike Østerbro and what not. I live right off Vesterbrogade, the main throughfare, so I'm close to everything I need. And I've discovered a ton of Indian/Thai runned grocers where I can get everything WAY cheaper, and they sell so many more international projects not just, "ØKOLOGISKE CORNFLAKES" and rotten fruit. OK, I'm not being completely fair. It depends on the supermarket in Denmark. Netto, Fakta (which I happen to live above, once again!), Spar, and a few other ones are TERRIBLE. I mean GOD AWFUL. No selection, frequently understocked, sticky floors from spilled alcohol as there's always a bottle machine that exchanges recycables for cash, rude staff, and lots of flies. Then you have Føtex, Superbrugsen, Irma, and Superbest which are great and have high quality products and produce, but cost an arm and a leg to shop there. I was in Superbest yesterday which in my opinion is the nicest chain in the country, but a Melon there cost 30KR, which is 6 dollars. For. A. Fucking. Melon.
It's not that the quality at restaurants here is bad, in fact the vegetables, cooking, ingredeients etc. are all really healthy, but I don't feel like I get what I pay for. If I order mozerella sticks for example at Jensen's Bøfhus (sort of like a TGIF's) , if that appetizer shall cost 35KR which is 7 dollars) I expect more than 3 measly sticks. I want at least 8 - it's called value for your money. And I think it's a huge trend here to have extremely petite portions...perhaps large portions wouldn't sell.
Mom is flying in tomorrow to visit me for my birthday (which is tomorrow) and will be staying for a few weeks, even though that means I will be limited to the couch. But it will be really nice to see her and having cosy walks and dinners with her. I'm kind of depressed that I'm turning 22...it just seems...so unreal. 8 years left until I'm 30! I need to really pack everything in before 25, all the best experiences.
I think it's easy to see that I have strong feelings about food and grocery stores. I LOVE to eat out, especially at Asian restaurants. I grew up in my family going ou to Sushi two or three times a week. As a teenager, my friends and I would go grab delicious burritos together for lunch at a cantina and it'd never be more than 7 dollars. I've got a very high standard of supermarkets being from the US I think, and a lot of people don't really understand it, but it means a lot to me.
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Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
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I don't get the rage about Megan Fox...she looks and acts like she's from some desert town in Eastern California who honestly doesn't have that much depth. It's like her only talent consists of bashing other celebrities and making controversial declarations, all whilst wearing a wet, white bikini and getting her nipples hard for the FHM camera.
Next thing we know 1 year after Transformers 2 and no other jobs, bb stars alongside Leelee Sobieski (ilu<3 gurl) in a slasher flick and has an epiphany that she too can be a *~business woman~*, creating a line of rhinestone-encrusted thongs endorsed by Harley Davidson @ your nearest TARGET.
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