So Far, So Good

Hej! Greetings from Copenhagen (pronounced Kobenhown). I've been here for three days now and am starting to feel settled in. I'm living on the outskirts of Copenhagen in a town called Gammel Holte. The office is about 1.5 miles from home so I'm taking the bus for the first time since middle school. This bus is much nicer.

I'm living with a Korean family here called the Ryu's (ayuken!). Yunseong, the father, works for B&K and deals with acoustic solutions such as material testing and beamforming. His wife, who's name escapes me, and his son, Ji Hun, are both great. Ji Hun is 14 and is my guitar apprentice. He also serves as translator sometimes.

I arrived on Sunday morning and slept part of the day. Around 4pm I went out for a walk with the Ryu's so that I could see Dr. Per Bruel's (one of the founders of Bruel and Kjaer) house and also stop by the house of Søren Gregerson, who will be working with me these next several weeks. On the way we actually ran into Dr. Bruel! This cat is 94 and still rockin. He walks around the neighborhood with his "walking sticks" (they looked more like ski poles to me). Here are are some pics from the walk.


Misty, grey, serene, surreal


Dr. Per Bruel and myself


Dr. Per Bruel, Yunseong Ryu, and myself

I wish I had taken some pictures at Søren's house. It is 250 years old and as cozy as.....well, as a 250 year old furnace-warmed danish house. Søren proudly described his hip new furnace which burns compacted wood pellets and has digitally controlled temperature. We took off our coats and scarves and sat down to hot tea, coffee, and some thin sandwich cookies that I can't really describe but were amazing. We talked there for a while and then headed home.

I'm thinking maybe this weekend I will go visit Kronborg Castle in Helsingør. This is the Danish castle famous for being the setting of Shakespeare's Hamlet. A few miles down the road and across the Øresund from Helsingør is Helsingborg, Sweeden. I'll probably try to see both towns on Saturday.