End Of March

March was an extremely busy month for me, as my time is running out here in Denmark, I find myself cramming in many things I want to do before I leave for Canada.  The last two weeks were a great time, because I was all over Denmark having a great time with my host family, and my friends from school.

Two weekends ago, my family took me on a weekend trip to the top of Denmark.  We visited many places, but the main focus was the town of Skagen.  It is located at the very top of Denmark, and it is famous for its beautiful landscape, and the tourist hot spot of the two seas located on both sides of Denmark, meeting and crashing into each other.

It was unlike anything I have never seen before.  Two seas meeting and crashing into each other at the very tip of Denmark is a very neat thing to see and experience.

This trip was filled with things that I would have never of thought to have seen in Denmark.  Another cool thing was a massive sand hill, in a random spot in northern Jutland.  It is not only a sand hill, but it was a moving sand!  The wind is so strong off the west sea, that it blows the sand slowly and it actually “moves”.  It is estimated to move 10-20 meters every year.  The moving sand hill causes concern for many families who have houses a few kilometers away.  It will never reach the families house in their lifetime but it will be a challenge to sell the house with a big “moving” sand hill in the distance.

To see a full album of all the pictures click HERE

This past Wednesday I was lucky enough to have a class trip down to Copenhagen to about the economy and different things about Danish politics.  Luckily, we had a lot of free time.  More free time then actual school activities, so the trip wasn’t too boring for me.  We took the train down to CPH with another class in the school and all together there was about 50 students and two teachers.  We stayed at a five star hostel where we were six to a room, and stayed for two nights. It was my first time on a overnight class trip and I didn’t know what to expect.  I knew that Danish schools don’t watch over you like hawks, unlike Canadian schools usually do when you are on a trip.  We ended up having no curfew and many of my classmates took that to their advantage. We were all very tired the next morning, to say the least.  We visited the Danish parliament buildings and the national bank, to name a few.  It was a great 3 days and I really enjoyed my time with my class.

When my class left for home on Friday, I was able to stay in Copenhagen because on Sunday, I had tickets to Bob Dylan.  I was going with a friend from USA (New Jersey) and I was going to stay at her house until the show.  We went to her school party on Friday night, and had a lazy day Saturday. 

When Sunday came along, we were super excited and went into Copenhagen early, hoping to look in some shops and have a nice early dinner before the show started.  I would have guessed the venue was at maximum capacity at 5000 people (even though tickets were still on sale at show time).  Also there was about 500 seats at the back and at the sides, and the rest was general admission (standing room).  When we heard it was mostly standing room, we promised to our selves that we would get there about an hour before doors opened (6:30) to get a good spot, thinking that people would start lining at around the same time as us.  At around 3:30, it started to rain and the shops were already closed so we decided to catch the Metro to the forum to see the venue, and maybe get a bite to eat before starting the line.  When we get there, it turns out that about 50 people are already in line so we decided to sit down, and stick out the two and a half hour wait until the doors opened.

When waiting in line, we met a traveler from Tennessee, named Daniel.  He was carrying his guitar, hoping to play some Dylan songs for some extra cash.  We mentioned to him that he should write on his sign “Will play Dylan songs for a ticket or money to buy a ticket” and thats what he did.  Time flew buy when he was playing great old Dylan songs, and many people in the line enjoyed it.  By the time doors opened, he didn’t have a ticket but he managed to collect about 150 kr ($30) and a can of Tuborg.  Unfortunately it was not nearly enough for a ticket to the show.  

A few months prior, I thought I misplaced my ticket to the show, so I called up the ticket company to send me another ticket, and asked them to cancel my first one.  That is what they did, and I was very grateful. Then about a week before the show, I found my original (and now cancelled) ticket in my room somewhere.  To play it on the safe side, I brought both tickets down to the show.  I mentioned to Daniel that I have a cancelled ticket that when you scan it, it won’t allow entry, but we were hoping on the odd chance that they would rip the stub rather then scan.  He was grateful and gave it a try.  They scanned the ticket, and of course it didn’t work, but he didn’t give up and talked to the head person scanning ticket.  He elaborated a tiny bit, and the ticket people caved and let him into the show.  We were so happy our newly enquired friend was able to join us for the show.  Waiting in line for two and a half hours payed off because we some how ended up front row, right in front of Bob.

The show was so amazing, and it was a completely different experience to my previous Dylan show.  When I hear his announcer say “Columbia Recording artist, Bob Dylan” I get chills down my spine.  It was amazing being so close, because you could see the emotion and the energy that he and his band show.  His bassist is amazing, and the drummer is unbelievable. As usual, it took Dylan a few songs to get his voice, but after that there was no stopping him.  He played a strong set, and came back for the encore with All Along The Watchtower, Spirit On The Water, and a totally unheard of version of Blowing In The Wind.  At the end of the show, he introduced his band, said “Thank you friends” and walked off.  Being so close, I could see that he really enjoyed the show, and when walking out it look like everyone who saw the show had a coat hanger stuck in their mouth they were smiling so much.  Bob Dylan only comes to Denmark every so often, so the Danes really appreciate the show and don’t take it for granted, as I’m sure some people in North America do when he comes and plays shows 2-3 times a year.

This is a video of the show I found on youtube. I was right in front of Bob, the guy who filmed the video was a little bit back. One of the highlights of my night because it was my first time seeing him live when playing guitar.

It was an amazing experience, one of the highlights of my exchange, and a night I will never forget.

Vi Ses,
Dillon
dillonrahkola@hotmail.com