Rice

It's been just over a week since we arrived in Denmark, and we hadn't had any rice at home (we've eaten at a neighborhood Chinese restaurant once), and we've all been craving for it - the kids love pasta, but even they were getting tired of it!

So I went to the local supermarket and found what looked like short-grain rice - the kind we normally eat as Japanese. "Grotris"?? It was not on my Danish-English Dictionary app on my phone, but I trusted my judgement.

Now the big challenge is, can I cook rice in an IKEA pot?? Did a little research on the internet, and followed. If the rice didn't come out well, there was no backup plan so I was a bit nervous. But thankfully it came out great. Ah, so good to have rice again!

We didn't do much today, but the kids must have been so tired - they took a FOUR HOUR long nap this afternoon. It was such as long nap that Mio was even confused when she woke up and thought it was morning again (it must be confusing as she hasn't seen much "darkness" since we got here as it doesn't get dark until very late and it gets bright early in the morning).

Wonder what we are going to do tomorrow...

To the beach...

We only brought a few toys for the kids to play with, and pushing our suitcases around the apartment has been one of their primary entertainments at home. We have a nice hardwood floor, and the suitcases have great casters, so they glide like a dream and it actually looks pretty fun - I think every morning, they start their days with this play.

The weather here has been exeptional the last couple of days (too nice to be pushing suitcases around the house!), and I heard that it's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I decided to take them to the "supposedly" nearby Amager Beach - by myself, with my bike (and the trailer). I was told that it's only a 20 minute bike ride to the beach. So I packed our lunch and hit the road. Shortly after, Yuto starts screaming his lungs out, and he would wiggle himself out of the straps that the straps were now strangling him. I must have stopped like 15 times to fix him and trying to calm him down (in vain). It was a really stressful trip there, but I finally made it to the beach, in about an hour.

The beach was so beautiful. Water crystal clear, and very cold. Mio was brave enough to get her entire body wet. But she was freezing when she came out. The Danes seem to be totally enjoying this weather, soaking up the sun as they only get to enjoy the summer for a very short time. I only saw a few parasols which made me anxious for sun damage on their fair skin (I'm all about sun protection!), but they didn't seem to mind.

I ate a lot of sand today, sharing a sandwich with the kids. This was the first beach experience for Yuto, and I think he enjoyed it. It's going to take me at least a few days to build up the energy to take them to the beach again, but I would do it again.

What we are eating

One of the funs of traveling for me is of course food! I love trying new things and I think of myself as a pretty adventurous eater. Unfortunately, we haven't really dined out here yet because we are not quite centrally located (not very close to the good restaurants), and Jonathan's been so busy he just wanted to eat in. So we've been going a lot to the nearby supermarket called "Kvickly" (no, it's not "Quickly", the Danes will correct you if you pronounced it that way!), and cook at home. Browsing the local supermarkets is also a pretty fun thing to do. A little bit stressful when you have to do it every day when you can't read the package...

Anyway, here is what we had for dinner. The veggies are so fresh, and just a simple salad like this tasted really good. The green peas are in season, and you see them everywhere in the city. In fact I saw a few people just snacking on them (raw), so I had to get it. Very fresh and very good. The fish of the day (haha), was plaice, a kind of a fluke, and it's the most commonly eaten fish in Denmark. I pan-fried it, but I later found out that you usually bake it in the oven, so next time I will try that.

We are staying at a furnished apartment that also came equipped with some cooking utensils. Cooking with only one pan and two pots, three really dull IKEA knives (and no rice cooker!) is pretty challenging...

Elephant Parade

Copenhagen is hosting a event called"Elephant Parade" this summer. 102 baby elephants cast in fiberglass can be found all over the city - just like we had the cows (right?) in NYC a few years ago. It is certainly fun for Mio to spot a new elephant wherever we go. I am not going to keep track of which of the 10 elephants we saw, but I wonder how many we will get to during our stay here...

Copenhagen, here we come!

I'm not usually good with keeping a blog, but I thought I would give it a try again, as we have the wonderful opportunity to stay in Copenhagen for six weeks. Jonathan has been invited to teach at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS), and that is why we are here!

We arrived safely on June 22nd, and we will be here until August 13th.

The city is so exciting, and I will try to document as much as I can. Of course with two kids, it's not easy as traveling by myself, but I will try my best. :)

This is a photo of the airport. It is true that the Danes are design obsessed people. Everywhere you go, it's all about design. I love it! I really wish I had brought my SLR camera...