Every morning I wake up grab some clothes and breakfast and then am out the door by 7:00am. I arrive at Vanlose trainstation either after a bicycle ride or metro ride. Currently the sun is just rising, I am sure that soon it will still be dark on my morning commute, but for now it is beautiful to watch the sky change colors and to see the clouds reflect the early morning sun rays.
The train is enjoyable. I try and catch the express train and I love watching the landscape fly by. One stop, Ballerup, that is a turning point in the commute and just after we pass this station the countyside begins. I go from seeing the Danish residential homes and city to open fields filled with sheep and horses. As the train flies by I also catch glimpses of lakes and ponds, and I find my self appreciating their simple beauty.
As the train slows and I arrive in Malov, I take my bike for another one mile ride out to Novo. I make my way through the small town that is Malov, and then up one long "hill". It isn't much of one but on my city bike (with three gears) I notice even the slightest change in elevation.
Work has been great. The people that I work with are all so helpful. They have been teaching me the ways around the lab along and more about the science behind the experimental proceedure. They have also been so kind in helping me with setting up my bank, and helping me get questions answered about the transportation system here. I am glad they are willing to talk on the phone for me as it can be easier to have the problem sorted out in Danish.
The company I work for in itself is also remarkable. Every Monday and Wednesday baskets of fruit come to the office, an assortment of apples, bananas, pears, oranges, plums, and peaches. Each employee is rationed a piece of fruit for everyday of the week. Also along the lines of food, the kantine (lunchroom) here is awesome! You pay $4 and stack a plate with the meal of the day. They have one hot meal and then salad, veggies, leftovers, and bread and cheese. It is so nice not to have to pack a lunch and it really has become my main meal of the day.
I also love how much time the company spends on developing good relations among coworkers. Last week there was a whole day set aside to talk about how things in the department were going. And after all the business talk there was a team building activity. Can you guess what it was? Come on, just one guess. Here is one hint, we had to go walking in the woods.
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| The group walking to the woods |
No it did not involve any trust activites or low ropes course games. Did you guess mushroom hunting? Well if you did you would be a hundred percent correct. After lunch, the whole function (made up of four departments) went on a walk through the woods with two mushroom experts. One might say that they were even fungi's :). It was so nice to be able to get out and explore a bit of the countryside.
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| Our Mushroom Guides |
We not only found mushrooms but also snakes. Though I have been informed that the most dangerous thing that I will probably come in contact with here in Denmark is mosquitoes.
Here are some of the mushroom that we found while on the hunt. Though I must admit that I cannot recall any of their names (as most of them were described in their Danish name).
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| They did refer to this one as the Princess Mushroom |
Here are some of the mushrooms that we collected on our walk. After the guides went through the different mushrooms that we collected. Some of them had specific smells, like licorice and garlic.
We found one last snake on our walk back to the cars and bicycles.
