walked out of my dorm into a day more beautiful than i deserved, mixed with equal parts blue and sunshine and a dash of wind. last nite got me all in a funk when my experiment was a washout. my enthusiasm spiraled down the drain as i watched and left me feeling sluggish, selfpitying, and out of place. girls concerned. finally they left and i trooped downstairs to be comforted by ben, who magically appeared online.
vowing to do better today, i left my unconscious roommate and ventured into the city on foot. tracing the route the bus usually takes, i wound over to str�get and from there to nyhavn, the canal area where jamie and i had our wonderful outdoor sm�rbr�d in wicker chairs with plaid blankets tucked up to our chins. inviting restaurants and my hunger collided but i was reluctant to go someplace with a tablecloth by myself (there are unwritten rules about such things.)
turned a corner and ended up in a very cute cafe that served me a sandwich i promptly made open-faced and ate european style, with a knife and fork. we've been informed that certain things mark us as tourists: traveling in packs jabbering engelsk, ordering and taking kaffe to go, and eating with our hands. god forbid we be so identified.

continued wandering, through the main shopping district and beyond it. i casually glanced up at a streetsign and saw i was where i'd casually intended to end up eventually: at the danish film institute. thrilled, i hopped in. a small screen like the ones they have in airports cycled thru the theater's showings that afternoon. i debated seeing boogie nights which i didn't like so much when i saw it the first time (about five years ago). after confirming with the perplexed lady at the desk that if i could prove i was a film student i'd get a free membership, i went out into the park, found a sunny bench, and read the copenhagen post and started singer's the slave for my jews in europe class.
did reenter the theater i loved already only to browse their book video poster collection and glance more than once at their cafe, Sult ('hungry').

found my way with no problem back to city center, and stopping to pat myself on the back i noticed a used clothing store. hopped in and bought a lovely purple something -- yes it's solid colored but it has gold buttons on it and it's not a shirt! exactly. bussed half the way home until irritation with the noise pushed me off and onto my feet again. something very satisfying about returning at sunset, having spoken maybe three sentences since before noon, thoroughly enchanted with this city i'd navigated myself around.