G'day,

Just thought I'd let you know that I've arrived in Denmark (or as us locals like to call it, Danmark, clever huh?).

I've been living here for about a fortnight now and so far I've had a few little adventures. But rest assured, nothing much has changed.

For example, last Sunday I went to church. Jørgen suggested I try an English-speaking one in Copenhagen because I was falling asleep at the Danish services.

So on Sunday morning I woke up and it was still dark. But I wasn't fooled, you see, there's no difference here between 5pm, midnight, or 9am. It's all just dark. So I check the clock--7:10! But I have to be in Copenhagen at 9am! So I quickly shave, rug up, jump on my bike and ride through the snow to the station (which I guess is about 4km away). As I ride through town I'm surprised to find people still catching taxis home from their Saturday night activities. For a quiet suburb on the outskirts of Copenhagen this place is pretty happenning!

At the station there are no trains. There must be some kind of night-ride service running instead so I check the timetable. Nope, trains start at 6:06 on Sundays. So what is the time? You're joking! 4:58AM! The snow is getting heavier so I quickly ride home to catch 1/2hr sleep and some breakfast before I head back to the station.

I arrive at the church and it's looking very closed. Maybe I'm too early. Well, this is my chance to get a picture of the Little Mermaid without crowds of tourists around it (the Little Mermaid happens to be just around the corner).

A very cold looking mermaid. Sorry about the picture quality, I guess there's a reason that professional photographers don't use the cheapest disposable camera they can find. Also, that is snow falling but the flash makes it look bigger.

At the church service there are only three other people, no sermon and no songs. Apparently the main service is at 10:30am and a "Sung Eucharist" is just a service with songs. Who'd have thought.

Apart from that little episode, other highlights so far include:

1) £3 shower at Heathrow airport. Best shower ever! Ever!

2) The lady at the Internet cafe telling me my Danish was perfect after I struggled to string five words together. I didn't tell her I'd been practising all morning.

3) Learning to ride a bike on the right-hand side of the road.

4) Narrowly escaping the Politi for not riding with a light on my bike.

5) Discovering I live next door to two beautiful single Danish girls.

6) Lunch.... but that's a story for next time (once I have photos!).

The place where I live is really nice. I took a few photos when it first started to snow. Now the snow is a few feet deep and very tasty.

Rather than bore you to tears with more stories I thought I'd send some pictures. If your email can't hack it then please let me know, I won't be offended, promise!

My street when it first began to snow.

A freezing day on the main road.

Would you believe I was just going for a bike ride and I came around the corner and I saw these cottages and a man leading a horse down the road. It was like I had stepped back in time. It went to take a photo but had I stuck my camera in the wrong pocket and I couldn't find it in time so you'll just have to imagine it.

I'm renting a room from a Danish family, Jørgen and Anette. The house is only a couple of minutes ride from uni which is in Lyngby, which is about 15 minutes by train from Copenhagen.

My address is:

Brian Birtles (no I haven't changed my name... yet)
Granparken 87
DK-2800 Lyngby
Denmark! (okay so the exclamation mark is optional).

That's it for now. I'll write when I have some more photos, which will depend on how quickly I learn to stop putting my finger over the lens. :)

Hej-hej!

Brian.