Ok I know I haven't (sadly) been all around the world (yet), but I have recently purchased a bike!!! So everyday (ok this has been my first full day of riding in KΓΈbenhavn) I have that 'Brand New Key' by Melanie song stuck in my head so I'm always softly singing "I rode my bicycle past your window last night..." etc etc. It's so good I love that song. About my bike - it's amazingly old :) Sort of this awesome rust color painted over the rust, no handbrakes, just have to backpedal, sweet wire basket I can put my goods in...strange seat, loud little bell I used today when I just passed someone on the way home from class :) I feel sooooooooooo Danish!!
So, about biking - apparently I haven't done this in awhile? I got it last night from this Danish man (min nabo Daniel basically found it online for me, bid on it, and then took me there to pick it up whilst I brought the cash) and thought, oh yeah, let's bike ride so I can find my classes on the Amager campus! Maybe 40 minutes or so of riding, I'm in love with it, today 9 am get to the bike to go into the city and well, my butt is so sore, AMAZINGLY sore. I'm so out of bike-riding shape, it's just been far too long!! At first it was fun being jolting around on random cobblestones, but for maybe the next few days (hopefully just a few days!) I will be standing up during that portion.
I am also a very nervous city biker. I've never really done anything bigger than cross the highway on the way to Jeannette's....seriously. Now I'm suddenly on roundabouts and crossing many lanes and using bike lanes, hand signals, my sweet bell....It was sort of really nerve-racking at first but maybe tomorrow after two more separate trips into the city (Ahh I need to strap a pillow onto my seat but it could rain!) maybe I'll get the hang of it more. I currently am not sure how I will even get back tomorrow after class without following someone. On my first 'by-myself' journey in the city today after running errands I found myself...just following people again haha. It's so much easier, then I don't have to worry about doing something wrong, surely the Dane's know what they are doing. Hopefully soon I'll have a really good feel for the city/at all the direction of things, especially since it is absolutely GORGEOUS to bike around.
Seriously though, when I was saying bye to my neighbor who I followed in, the first thing I did was ALMOST run into a pole. And for a bit I was getting nervous and I'd just walk with my bike instead of bike-lane turning left turns. I mean a car could hit me right? But apparently not- THOUGH, not to worry anyone, but as I am proudly biking along, knowing what I'm doing for once, some insane taxi pulls a U-y and yeah...scary, thought I would die, but here I am typing! At least it was not my fault :)
Anything else good to say about biking? I like biking through puddles...Eh. I think I've covered it, just need to buy some bicycle lights tomorrow :) Should only be 20 kr ($3.80) Yay! I apparently was quite lucky with the price of this bike as well, 600 kr, but it came with this ancient and awesome complicated lock, which locks apparently cost around 200 kr? Says one of my flatmates. I do not want to verify with a Dane in case they make me feel like I got ripped off. Generally people pay 600 lowest for a nice working bike (did I mention the new tires), and will easily pay 800, and these are all for used crappy ones. When I was looking at the pretty classic city style bikes (nothing fancy here, no carbon no crazy good names that I know of), even the cheapest ones are in the thousands. Everything is just more here!! However, I will be selling this bike before I leave, hopefully for 600 kr!!! I mean it came with a basket too!!
Also, I was SOOO tempted to buy a metro pass today, the monthly that I usually get but expired the day I got the bike...it's 320 kr a month, so just 60 bucks for constant access to buses, trains and metros in the main two zones I use, and while it's such a cheap deal I think, I just want to not buy it and just bike everywhere, save that money!!! So tempted though...my kroner was just staring at me in my wallet...but no!
Another very awesome thing that happened today - not bike related - As I was sitting studying earlier in the city there was a fish tank sort of in the middle of the room, and this small child beating the fish from the outside with his apple. Of course, being an insane kid as I think all kids must be, he only smashed the part that he had bitten out of, just one bite out of the apple. Against the glass. Over and over. And the fish would just sort of shake in the water, and then swim a bit, shake some more, and particles of apple were smushed on the glass...I probably watched this for 10 minutes. As did his parents. Hehehehe...it amused me greatly.
Now back to studying! Actually I'm going to make food...I bought an eggplant recently (they are just beautiful I think), and...some asparagus....what do I do with that? Build my muscles for biking! Aww wait I bet I need to eat meat for that...noo...
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