Others had trees and moss-like growth all over their heads and noses.

Living in the land of the troll and next to the library that house the Scandinavian collection of children and youth literature . .

I was due to meet some of the shy folks.
 

Far to the North where the winter storms whip the weather-beaten coasts,

you will find a long and narrow country.

Here you see dark forests with moonlitlakes,

deep fjords surrounded by mighty snowcapped mountains,

and long rivers and cold streams cascading down the mountain sides.



Nowadays this country is covered by snow and ice only six months a year.

A long, long time ago, however, there existed a massive glacier

that brooded over the entire country for thousands of years.

Trolls by Brian & Wendy Froud

The trolls had very distinct features. 

They had long crooked noses,

Only four fingers and toes on each limb, 

and most of them had long bushy tails.

Some trolls were giants, and others were small.

There were stories of two-headed as well as three-headed trolls,

and even a few had only one eye in the middle of their wrinkled foreheads.

Father Troll has had enough,
he wraps himself up in a blanket,
goes to sleep and waits for spring to arrive.
Illustrated by Rolf Lidberg.

In this sixteenth century drawing,
trolls are aligned with supernatural power over the environment.
By Olaus Magnus.
Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus (History of the Northern Peoples)
Printed in Rome 1555.

Others had trees and rough moss-like growth all over their heads and noses.

"Nej,sicken liten puttefnasker!"
Illustrated by John Bauer

And then I also met the one troll that is all too familiar,

the internet troll who sows discord on the net 

by starting arguments or upsetting people, 

posting irritating or harassing messages.

Wild swimming

Open water swimmers swim in outdoor bodies of water such as open oceans, and lakes.

And then there are the winter-swimmers or ice-swimmers. The International Ice Swimming Association requires that the water is colder than 5 °C for ice swimming competitions

This jolly lady is from Berlin.

The activity has grown in popularity in recent years with the publication of bestselling books on "wild swimming" by authors such as Kate Rew and Daniel Start. 

Katrine Scott who share an office with me, swim at least once a week in the Copenhagen harbour. On one of those days, she arrives at the office with wet hair underneath her cycle-helmet and a wet towel over her backpack. And in a very happy mood! 

Click on the link and scroll down the watch a short video on winter  swimming.


http://denmark.dk/en/green-living/copenhagen/swimming-in-copenhagen-harbour/

Cousin BR

Cousin BR is a toy store chain with Danish roots. Cousin BR was created by Edith and Borge Rasmussen , who bought a kiosk in 1950 in Roskilde (city where Harald Bluetooth was buried in 987) , selling paper - and party items.

In 1963 they decided to turn the old paper business into a specialist shop for toys. The name of the business was BR-Toys.

Today it has become a Scandinavian chain with 92 stores in Denmark , 62 in Sweden , 16 in Norway , one of the Faroe Islands , 16 in Finland and 11 in Germany , including Flensburg.

25% discount!

The mascot of Cousin BR or Fætter BR is a rather cool looking soldier figure which always wears the uniform of the Danish Royal Guards.

This Cousin BE Lego mini-figure is going to my grandson, Jonathan in South Africa!

Oscar - À la vie, à la mort

I was leaving the Aarhus University library, 

when this book on the new arrival display caught my eye.

 

I halted to an abrupt stop.

Oscar - a name that's in the international news, because of achievements and mis-achievements and the conséquences thereof.

À la vie, à la mort; to life, to death. 

A dark-haired boy without ancles and feet.

And a lion comfortingly touching the boy.

May the Lion comfort a boy who is younger than my own.

Merman and his seven sons. Underwater.

As I walked over the canal-bridge by Højbro Square, Copenhagen, I saw people beneath the water, obscure, distant and just visible. the figures pleaded for me to do something, stretching out their arms towards me. I was numb with shock. 

Then I realized that it was sculptures: Suste Bonnén's Agnete og Havmanden or Agnete and the Merman (1992). 

According to a Danish folk tale, Agnete was a young peasant girl who met a merman as she was walking by the shore. He offered her his hand. Agnete fell in love with him and went to the bottom of the sea with him. After eight years, however, as she was sitting by the crib of her youngest and seventh son, Agnete heard the sound of church-bells from the village where she grew up in, and she longed to be home.Her merman allowed her to go to church, on the one condition that she would come back to him after mass. But of course, once on land again, she found that she missed her community too much, and she decided not to return to her underwater family.

My sussie Gweni . . .

Culture Shock (cont)

I had the most amazing surprise this morning:
As I opened the Bible, I read about culture shock!


Numbers 14 And all the congregation cried out with a loud voice, and they wept that night; they grumbled and deplored their situation. They felt alienated and vulnerable in this foreign land. They decided they would return to the familiarity of their former home.

Joshua and Caleb tried to encourage them: “This land is filled with many good things. Don’t be anxious about the people in that land. We have the Lord with us, so don’t be afraid!”

The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “How long will these people continue to distrust me or fail to believe in my power, spite of the many miracles I have done among them.”

Phase two of Culture Shock: Complaining about the foreign country.

http://www.thebricktestament.com/

I don't speak Danish. I do suffer from culture shock.

I am Emmie and I suffer from culture shock.



Culture shock is often joked about, but is in fact a serious phenomenon and a long-winded process, and thus definitely a force to be reckoned with when moving abroad. Depending on personality and circumstances, some people might find it easier to adjust to another culture than others. In its milder forms, it can even go by virtually unnoticed. Its effects can be severe, and in some cases they are even are responsible for expat assignments being terminated prematurely. It might be possible to prepare yourself for this phenomenon, but it sneaked up at me. Unexpectedly.

Whereas every expat will experience some form of culture shock, not everyone goes through all the well-known stages. Culture shock is a rather nerve-wrecking phenomenon, a sense of anxiety, nervousness and alienation caused by being exposed to an alien environment and culture. Positive and negative feelings often take turns and make expats feel like they are on an emotional roller-coaster ride. Those who receive the least support on a professional and personal basis are usually, but not all-ways, hit the hardest.

During the first phase, The WOW Phase, I still experienced my time abroad the way a tourist would: I explored the Copenhagen area with enthusiasm. The enthusiasm about going abroad was still prevalent at this point: At last I lived in Europe where my ancestors came from! However, after a few weeks I was in for a rude awakening.

The second phase is plainly called: The Rejection Phase.
. . . when I moved to the fourth studio in three weeks,
. . . when the Danske Bank system aborted my application week after week,
. . . when my allocated GP ignored me with the compassion of a Gestapo official, 
. . . when I spent Christmas, New Year, my birthday and another few celebrations alone,
. . . when I lost my key on a sub-zero Friday afternoon,
. . . when my internet and mobile phone connections were more off-line that on-line, 
. . . when I received Danish voice-mails,
. . . when I moved once more,
I began to recognize how significantly Denmark differs from South Africa. 

I missed the open friendliness and hospitality of the South Africans, and their humour. I missed to be greeted and smiled at – just randomly, just because you exists in somebody’s environment.

"I don't understand Danish"

I thought that, in Europe, I could get by with English, but here it really doesn't help me. 



Even at work, where the lecturers teach in English, they communicate in Danish. Seminars, meetings, e-mails, notices, circulars, papers and newsletters are all in Danish, and only Danish.

I don’t understand them. I feel so helpless around them. It is really frustrating.

"I don't understand Danish"

And with rejection comes alienation. Loneliness, homesickness and isolation are unpleasant and extremely uncomfortable. Facebook, Skype, WhatsUp, and the internet are like blessed support – when my electronics are on-line.

I might have entered The Recovery Phase: I am regaining a sense of appreciation. And am learning to understand the different way of life. I am slowly learning to deal with everyday challenges. I’m learning how to address matters that are important to me, but not to the locals.

I still struggle sometimes, but I’m starting to see the beauty of living in Copenhagen: a city that is constantly awarded for achievements and successes.

Some days I am even in The Adaptation Phase. I begin to understand the similarities and differences between South Africa and the new culture I am confronted with. I begin to accept and appreciate those very differences and the aspects which are unique to the culture of Denmark. I am gaining a new sense of confidence, tolerance and flexibility. Sometimes, I even begin to feel at home in Denmark.

G is for Gaston Lagaffe

As Gaston Lagaffe appears today on Google's front-page

Gaston is a comic strip created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Spirou. The series focuses on the every-day life of Gaston Lagaffe (whose surname means "the blunder"), 

a lazy and accident-prone office junior. 

Gaston is very popular in large parts of Europe.

Gaston has also appeared on a wide variety of merchandise. The editor of Spirou et Fantasio, the primary series of Spirou magazine, first introduced the character Gaston on February 28, 1957. The initial purpose was to fill up empty spaces in the magazine and offer a (comically artificial) glimpse of life behind-the-scenes at the paper.

One of the many Gaston Lagaffe figurines

Gaston’s appearance changed over the past 57 years. From his first appearance (left) to what he looked like yesterday (he has not arrived at the office; he is usually somewhat late on a Friday), but he will probably wear the same sweater, denim and sneakers. 

9977.95 km of non-violence from Cape Town to Lund

Non-Violence is a bronze sculpture by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd of an oversized Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver with a knotted barrel and the muzzle pointing upwards. 

I located sketches and prototypes of the firearm where Reuterswärd has written that the grieving after John Lennon and Bob Crane were murdered inspired him to design this artwork, in the Museum of Sketches in Lund, Sweden.

There are currently 16 sculptures all around the world.

They are placed in:

Bager Place Malmö  Sweden (original)
United Nations Headquarters New York  USA (original)
European Commission Kirchberg  Luxembourg (original)
Beijing  China
Federal Chancellery Berlin  Germany
Sergelgatan Stockholm  Sweden
Kungsportsavenyen Gothenburg  Sweden
Anna Lindh park Borås  Sweden
Mémorial de Caen Caen  France
Olympic Museum Lausanne  Switzerland
Victoria & Alfred Waterfront Cape Town  South Africa
The Museum of Sketches Lund  Sweden
Roslagsbanan station Täby, Stockholm  Sweden
Fittja metro station Stockholm  Sweden
Åkeshov metro station Stockholm  Sweden

Switzerland

South Africa

Lund, Sweden

Since 1993, the Non-Violence sculpture is the symbol of The Non-Violence Project, a non-profit organisation, promoting social change with violence prevention education programs.

The South African Collins Manufacturing Enterprises is licensed to manufacture the pin for sale at the Museum of Sketches in Lund.