HOLY EFFING SHIT, WE WON THE EUROVISION SONGCONTEST.

Some of you might not know what that is, but it’s like… the annual Champions League of tacky music. It was created in the mid-fifties to bring a broken up and war-torn Europe back together after World War II, to give us something to bond over — Music. Each year, more countries are added to the competition, and now there are so many that we need semi-finals to decide who should be in the finale (where there are “just” 26 countries participating). Unfortunately, it has become very political, with neighboring countries voting for each other, etc. At least, you sometimes get the sense that there is more than just one motive when it comes to handing out points… that part is a little disheartening, and a relatively new phenomenon, which kind of takes away from the innocence of the concept and the mentality it was originally founded on.

ANYWAY.

I was beginning to think that winning was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, which would mean that I had already had my “once”, since I was alive and kicking back in 2000, when we last won. Last night, thirteen years later, we won again, and Denmark has officially gone berserk. Like, beserk. Everyone is extatic, almost dancing in the streets. We knew our chances were good (notice how I say “we”, like I have had any part in this), because we had a really great song for once, but you can never be sure, ever. And because I am a careful optimist, I kept a healthy skepticism, because hybris likes to kick you in the rear when you get too confident. That is why the Danish speaker/commentator annoyed the hell out of me. 5 minutes into the show he made it sound like we had already won, and I just refuse to believe that it is good karma to be so ahead of the game and overly assure of yourself. This time, Karma had other plans/better things to do than pay attention to our douche of a speaker, but next time, next time I bet you we won’t be so lucky.

I was so proud last night. So proud and so happy. It’s such a stupid thing to feel pride about, but I guess I feel proud for several reasons. First, I am proud that we had such a good entry, because we really did. Emmelie de Forest, our performer/representative is just 20 years old, and she has been consistently great throughout the whole thing. She is sympathetic, humble, and she was modestly dressed (unlike some of the other, erhm, performers). The song had a universal message (the lyrics were pretty banal, but I have yet to hear a song in this competition that has profound lyrics), something we could all relate to, and the production and arrangement was brilliant for this show. It had easily recognizable instruments (a flute and drums), and you got a sense of the chorus straight away. It was just an all-around great song. The second reason why I am proud is that it was written by a completely unknown song-writing team. One of them, a young male, is working as a sound technician on one of our larger TV-stations. Another one, a young woman, finished 5th (or something to that degree) on our version of the X-Factor. The third one has written songs for this show before, but apparently not as successfully. It just proves that we need new blood, and that there is a new generation ready to take over this competition.

I watched it in the summerhouse with my grandmother, and there is no one I would rather have shared this experience with. We’re not proud to say it, but we watch it every year, even when we know we have no chance of winning, and every year we tell each other, “There is no hell we are going to waste three hours of our lives on this BS next year”, but we do. Every year. Because you know most other people are watching it, and it’s like a nationalist thing. You feel extra connected to everyone else, and everyone wants the same thing. Everyone feels a little extra united, I guess. And now we also feel pride.

If you want to, you can watch our entry here.

The weather status in Denmark right now is that it is sunny while also being as cold as a tongue stuck on a frozen metal pole. We’re a spit away from April, the second month of Spring, and supposedly there is no Spring in sight. There are big chunks of ice and snow lying on the sidewalks, and some places it’s so slippery that walking with a crutch is actually a bigger disadvantage than walking without one. God, I hope I can ditch the crutch soon. On the other hand, I am so thankful to only be feeling 10% of the pain I felt before.

Yesterday, I went for an hour-long walk around the neighborhood.

Isn’t the sunshine just so pretty? MORE OF THAT, PLEASE.

There are so many apartment-buildings like this in Copenhagen, and I think that has to be my favorite part about living here. There is so much eye-candy all over the city, and sometimes it’s just feels overwhelming. I have always felt so proud when showing Andrew around, and it’s like my appreciation and love for this city increases the older I get. When I move to New York one day, I will try my best to put money aside so Denmark can be a kind of sanctuary for us (and our little half-Danish/half-American babies, of course), a place for us to spend our summers. It’s hard not to feel peaceful here.

Other Danes may disagree, but I feel like brunch is a relatively new phenomenon in Denmark… like, within the last ten years or so? Or maybe it’s just because it has only recently (like within the last ten years or so) been introduced to me. EITHER WAY, I know it is an age-old phenomenon in the rest of the world, and probably also in Denmark, and most likely it has just been introduced to me late (let me take a moment to side-eye everyone in my life), but, new or old, IT IS WONDERFUL.

My absolute FAVORITE brunch-place in Copenhagen is Café 22; a little café located right by one of the city’s five lakes. The atmosphere is wonderful, the view is gorgeous, and the brunch is SPECTACULAR. A little tip: On weekends, they have a brunch BUFFET for roughly the same price*. That means pancakes, bacon, fruit, bread, cake, scrambled eggs, and cocktail sausages (and a whole bunch of other things) UNLIMITED, Guys. God, I love that place. As does the car-tire around my waist. Everything I own that isn’t stretch = not a big fan.

So, that is my first tip to exploring Copenhagen.

*= It may seem pricey to foreigners, but everything is more expensive here. Like previously mentioned, café coffee in Denmark is the most expensive in the world. I say go enjoy your brunch, because this is pretty much the standard price.

Firstly, the piece I wrote for Kendra’s “Defining Me”-series has been published today! The concept of that series is really nice, but that may just be my quarter-life crisis talking. I strongly urge you to check out Kendra’s site, Like a Bird, for more interesting concepts, entries, and, if this entry doesn’t do it for you, adorable baby pictures. She is an awesome woman and one fine mama.

Yesterday, the youngest of the Danish royal brood was baptized, an event which was of course televised. Something like that includes everything I am a sucker for, like babies, names, name speculations, pretty dresses, etc. In the last thirteen years, we have had eight royal baptisms, and I recall sitting glued to the television screen with all of them, holding my breath whenever they were about to announce the name. Why does everything always sound more pathetic when said out loud?

There are certain customs when it comes to royal baby-naming. It is costume that the child is given four names, for example, and that several family members are honored in the process. Because our two princes have chosen to find love outside of the Danish borders, the names have become increasingly international.

Anyway. News run slow in Denmark, and therefore this whole shebang is a much bigger deal to all of us than it should be. Everyone has an opinion on the name and what they think would be appropriate/inappropriate/adorable/hideous, etc. Imagine having 5,5 million people speculate about your child’s name. I would feel pretty important.

While watching the fancy guests arrive at the church (on TV, of course, and yes, this was also shown), my grandmother and I composed a list of possible first names for the little Danish princess.

At one point I went to the bathroom to pee, and that is where I had this psychic vision (the kind you can only have when you are on the can) that the first name would for sure start with an ‘A’. This revelation could be described as nothing less than divine.

And my toilet-psychic devine sense was right! Athena Margueritte Francois Marie. Now, one might think that the common folk’s name speculation ends there, but no. Now we speculate about WHY this particular name was chosen, and what it all symbolizes. Are there any political messages behind the name? (Our royal family are apolitical). Is it Danish enough? Etc, etc, etc. To me, Athena was the only real shocker. Margueritte is a tribute to our Queen, Margrethe (nickname Daisy, which in Danish means “margueritte”), Francois is a tribute to Princess Marie’s mother, and Marie is honoring Princess Marie herself.

More adorable pictures of royal babies, as that is the theme this post is going with:

All of this talk about babies… You know, my brain is saying one thing, but my ovaries are screaming GIMME SOME OF DEM BABIES. Is there some kind of fix for this? Because this is pretty much a constant for me at the moment. I think it’s because my uterus has realized that it is two weeks from now it is no longer in its baby-making prime.