Extreme Security

I took my first trip to the American Embassy in Copenhagen to renew my passport, in preparation for a renewal of my residency here in Denmark, and I was just so excited to be on "US soil" that I didn't even think about all of the security precautions that come with "officially" entering the US, even if it's in a foreign land.

For example, there is no such thing as simply walking in. You have to report your name and purpose for being there to two men who are standing guard outside. After they thoroughly examine your passport you are then allowed to stand in line to be allowed to enter. Before you can enter, you need to turn off your cell phone, and keep it in your hand. Then you hand over your bag so they can examine it first, while you stand outside.

Finally, you are let in but now the secondary bag examination begins. You are asked to turn in your phone, locate your keys and take them out. I had a USB stick in my wallet and they asked me to locate that and also take that out. I also had a bottle of water in my bag, so they asked me to remove that and take a drink of it. After it was determined the liquid was safe, they put the bottle of water and any papers I was carrying in a container to be scanned, while my bag, keys, and shoes were in a separate container.

Finally, you walk through a security scanning machine (like at the airport), and once you reach the other side you can have your bag, keys, water bottle, and papers back - but not your phone or USB stick. You are given a number so you can pick it up on your way out. Once inside, there is a security guard behind a glass counter that directs you to where you need to go.

After it was all said and done, I amazingly got in and out in under 30 minutes after the Embassy opened at 9am and made it to my 9:50am class in time, but it was pretty incredible considering all of the above. However, I would gladly do it all over again if it meant the one safe place for US citizens in Denmark, was fully protected.

Marathon Man

Yesterday Tobias completed his very first Half Marathon in 1 hour and 50 minutes and was in great shape and in good spirits the entire day. The running route was in a beautiful neighborhood in the city called "The Lakes" in Østerbro, which reminded me a lot of where I lived in Chicago, near Lake Michigan.

In true Danish style, the entire family showed up to give their support on the sidelines. It ended up being a beautifully warm sunny day in the Hagen, after a cloudy cold start to the morning which gave everyone a bit of energy and set the tone for the day.

We had specific instructions to meet the runners (both Tobias and his cousin Mathias ran) with water at the 7.5 and 15 km marks which were the approximate spots they had stopped for water breaks during their training. The family decided to make the best of these little breaks ourselves and enjoyed coffee and homemade nougat horns (made by Tobias) and gradually made our way to the finish line where we greeted the runners with sandwiches, sodas, and cake for årets første skov tur! (The first picnic of the year). Det var rigtig hyggeligt!

Dejlig Dessert Klub

My wonderful husband and his bow-tie wearing friend (butterfly på dansk!) have started a lovely little dessert club and I get to be the lucky recipient of the delicious outcomes. Last time they made Sportskage which has nothing to do with sports, actually. It is an amazing concoction of cream, sugar, profiteroles, hazelnut, and marzipan and has about 7,000 calories in the entire cake...or kage. But oh so good.

This time they are making Flødeboller which are a very popular Danish treat and literally translates to cream balls, but in reality they have no cream in them at all. They are more marshmallow based I would say as they consist of sugar, glucose,

egg whites, marzipan (of course!) and are covered in chocolate. You can find these treats pretty much in any convenience store or confectionery shop in Denmark and are often brought to parties

or gatherings.

The next item on the menu is yet to be determined, but I am sure it will be another successful and sweet result. I have no idea what got into these fantastisk fellows to make them want to start a lækkert little dessert klub, but they can keep on meeting and mixing and bringing home the sugar!

The Power of Networking

Yesterday I went to an event hosted by various organizations through Copenhagen Business School (CBS) called Matchmingler and I have never been more grateful for the education I am receiving which gives me the opportunity to meet so many cool people. CBS has a strong focus on innovation and entrepreneurship and that was essentially the theme of this event. People could come with their own business idea with the chance to bounce it off others, or look for potential business partners.

I went with two Danish classmates and colleagues with our idea to create a consulting service for foreign professionals in Denmark. We wanted to practice our elevator speech, get reactions and insight from others on the idea, and potentially find future business partners to help us get the idea off the ground. We were successful in the fact that the reaction was overwhelmingly positive, but not quite able to help those in need as quickly as we would like. Between the three of us we talked to at least 5 people that need our services now as they are well educated, bright and aspiring students willing to work hard, but unable to find a job in Denmark. I have a hunch the language barrier might be the issue, so hopefully we can work with companies to break down that barrier and bridge the gap.

In addition to bouncing our idea off others, we heard many great ideas from fellow participants and advice from three pretty incredible speakers. The first being Anne Skare Nielsen who calls herself a Chief Futurist, the second Nicolai Moltke-Leth who has a special forces military background and has pushed his physical abilities to the limit, followed by Alex Farcet, the co-founder of Startupbootcamp. An opportunity for future entrepreneurs to bring their business idea to life. That set the stage for a day and evening of open communication and engaging conversation. Something that was good for both mind and soul.