Copenhagen - I have arrived!

Some of the thoughts here might be a little too direct, but they are just passing thoughts, so please don’t take them as my permanent impressions. As one generally relates good traveling with, just take the best on with you and leave the rest.

It has been a full four days since I landed here in Copenhagen after traveling 16 hours half way across the globe from Singapore. Stopped over at Bangkok airport for a couple of hours on the way, and that was an interesting time. Interesting because there was this multitude of people at the airport, with such different backgrounds, priorities, worries and thoughts. Some were running to catch the next flight, some were busy photographing everything new, some were just lounging, some were buying from the score of duty-free & Thailand souvenir shops and there were others like me who were trying to decide what to do.

Well I did manage to do what others did and what everyone does, but in the process also noted the eccentricities of people and how they could be really warm and courteous, if you were the same to them. And then walked into the lounge for the flight to Copenhagen, only to find scores of Danish people. And this was really interesting because it was a preview to me of the things to come. The one thing that you can attribute to Danish people is that they don’t come across as a bunch of common people. They are different, eccentric, romantic and plain silly sometimes. But they are very polite and definitely smile more than people in Singapore do.

Will skip the details about the flight, since there wasn’t anything interesting except that it was really long and there was little sweet girl opposite to me, who woke up precisely 4 times through her sleep through the flight. And she would wake up with a smile all the time. Now isn’t that amazing, something so simple we can just so easily skip to do in everyday life. I don’t even remember the last time I woke up thinking happy, forget smiling.

Landing in Copenhagen felt normal. Though I tried to tell myself that this was something like a dream come true. Landing into Europe for my exchange definitely was more difficult than just getting extra baggage through the airport. Got through the boring immigration thinking my buddy would be waiting for me. But when I got out she wasn’t there L Figured after I called her that I had told her the Singapore time of my flight arrival. The sweet person that she is, she came down to the airport in half an hour to pick me up.

I walked out of the airport and there was this cool (chilly actually) breeze that greeted me and I will not forget that moment and the walk out of the airport. Took a bus from the airport to the hotel I have been put up in by the school. It was a lovely ride. Just to see all those houses next to each other, with a flower bed outside each of them and the outlay of neo-classical European architecture in the centuries old buildings, it was sheer pleasure and satisfaction to my wonderstruck mind. Had always wanted to see these quiet streets and the laid-back but holistic approach to life that is so entrenched here.

Got into the hotel, had a quick change and my buddy took me out to show me around the place. The main town square and the shopping street (Stroget) were near to the hotel, and I just couldn’t stop being fascinated by the place. The weather was lovely, with a cool breeze and the sun shining bright. Realized that this place was really going to have me enchanted for some time to come. Also passed through Tivoli, one of the oldest, if not the oldest, amusement parks in the world. Went upto the harbour street and then got back to the hotel on the beautiful Sunday afternoon wishing I could just keep walking and seeing around the place. The place, the weather, the people, the life. ... they all just seemed converged into a seamless expanse of a wonderful experience.

This is just the first couple of hours of my arrival here. Have so much more to tell, but will keep it to so much for now. I do hope you liked reading it.

Life is Beautiful. So is Copenhagen

Satish