Last Days in Copenhagen

Sunday, Jan. 2, 2005

Time continues to pass here. My departure for South America is coming soon, and I am starting to look forward to it. I have seen almost everyone and done almost everything here now.

I spent the afternoon today with Jens, Robert, and their friend Klaus who Arne and I met there about a year ago. We had a long, leisurely meal and visited. Klaus has no family and is retired. He likes to travel like I do--extended trips without expenses being too high. We talked about Brazil, since I am returning there on Wednesday and he has been there before. We also talked about his recent trip to Belgium. Arne and I hd been to Brussels during Christmas a few years ago, so that gave us something else in common.

Jens cooked a great meal as always. I like the fact that his meals consist of delicious food without being overwhealming in amounts. Most Danes serve multi-course meals for guests that result in everyone becoming very stuffed. Jen's meals are more American in style--a main course with a side dish or two followed by dessert. Today, we had roast calf with a mixture of mashed potatoes and celery root. For dessert, we had caramelized figs with creme fraiche. Later, we snacked on Turkish Delight candies.

Grethe's brother and sister-in-law loaned us a DVD to watch. It's an early film in the career of Reese Witherspoon called "Freeway." I had never heard of it. It is a low-budget film. Except for some very poor acting by Brookes Shields, it was a good film. Witherspoon plays a tough teenager whose violent streak can be easily provoked. Her character as a strong young woman will please most feminists, I think.

Monday, Jan. 3

When we had Arne's service this summer, the General Director for WHO Europe announced that the remodeled reception hall at the office here would be named Arne Blucher Hall. Friends sent me photos after the dedication. They also told me that the director wasn't pleased with the original sign and was having it changed so it would show up better.

I had planned to go to see the hall on this trip, and Arne's sister and brother-in-law asked if we could go together this morning. I called first to make sure the offices were open and to let them know we were coming since security is now very tight there.

The new hall looks nice. And the sign dedicating it to Arne is very prominant and nice. It is a stainless steel plaque that says, "Arne Blucher Hall" in big black letters and says, "Dedicated to Arne Blucher for 40 years of devoted and exemplary service to the Organization, 1961-2001," under that in smaller letters.

I did not get to see the people I would have liked to have seen while there. Security now requires that a person be escorted from place to place. Also, most of the people Arne worked with were out of the office on errands throughout the complex. Evy and Arvind were waiting for me in the parking lot, so I just had to ask Christine to tell them I had come by to say hello to them. Bodil, who was at the switchboard was kind enough to give me the original wall plaque that had been up dedicating the hall to Arne--the one that had been removed to make way for the better one.

I ran into problems everywhere I went this afternoon. I needed to buy a book with a gift certificate, and the store was closed for inventory. I stopped at the library, but they had not received any recent newspapers or magazines. I had forgotten to take some bottles with me that needed returning, so I didn't have them when I went to shop at the store. Some days just don't work out well. So I just returned to the apartment and read. I have finished two more books now: Avoidance by Michael Lowenthal and The World of Normal Boys by K.M. Soehnlein. Both were well written but had aspects of the story that bothered me in terms of being believable or likable.

Kurt and Finn came for dinner. Grethe had been wanting to have them here since she met them this summer. Kurt has a special effect on women. They all just LOVE him. And Grethe reacted the same way. She had a great time having both him and Finn here and visiting with them. Because it was a work night, they came early and left early. Grethe had prepared a special dinner without it seeming to take much effort on her part. We had a starter plate with cheese, proscuitto, and smoked deer meet. Hot Italian bread was served with that along with a garlic-olive oil dipping sauce. For the main course, Grethe had stuffed pork tenderloin with parsley cooked into it. She served that with new potatoes, brown sauce, and a salad of tomatoes, red onions, and feta cheese. Afterwards, we had Grethe's homemade marzipan broed (marzipan and nougat layered together and dipped in chocolate) and my homemade Danish butter cookies with coffee and tea.

We had a nice evening discussing Grethe's upcoming travels to the U.S., Kurt's and Finn's trip to Hawaii this spring, my plans to be a volunteer in India, old friends, common acquaintances, etc. It was such a nice evening. I am going to miss my Danish friends when I leave here. I have never been away more than 5 months at a time since meeting Arne 20 years ago. It will be at least a year before I am back next time.

Travel Update

I will fly to London tomorrow, Wednesday. I will pick up my new around-the-world ticket from the SAS office there if all goes as planned. (Of course, I have learned to NEVER trust that people will do things right. That is why I have planned a 12-hour layover in London to give them time to fix things if they haven't done their part.) I should be in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Thursday morning. Right now, I am thinking that I may go directly to the bus station and catch a bus to Iguazu. It would mean another 14 hours of travel, but I would like to get closer to Argentina which is the main focal point of my travels this time. Anyway, when I post again, it will be from somewhere in Brazil or Argentina. I'll let you know then what has happened since now.