Some days the bear gets you

While I was searching some totally unrelated information, I came across the explanation of a joke from The Big Lebowski. Some might remember this sentence from the movie:

"Some days you get the bar, some days the bar gets you."

This actually comes from:

"Some days you get the bear, some days the bear gets you."

pronounced with a strong, exaggerated western accent.
Try to figure that out in the french version [ours -> bear / bar -> bar] ...

Venice

Wenjie had been asking me for months to bring her to Venice, we then decided it would be the perfect destination for our birthdays.

Wenjie and I being mostly fond of good food the Lonely planet was a very useful companion. First to avoid the tourists traps (such as "tourists menus"), and second to help us find good restaurant at a reasonable price, which can be a real brain-teaser considering the amount of restaurants. Cicheti and carpaccio or gnocchi followed by fresh fish along with a good red wine, our taste buds were delighted.

Despite the fact that we went there at the end of September there were still a lot of tourists on the main path. But as soon as we started exploring the side streets we often found ourselves alone in peace. Going through the the narrow streets, over the bridges or resting on a small place we had a really great time. In the 3 entire days that we spent in Venice we walked a lot all around the city, blessed by the fantastic weather. The only day the sky was gray, we left for Verona a few kilometers away where the sun was shining so Wenjie could climb up Juliette's balcony.

When speaking english becomes a handicap

English is very convenient when you go abroad because it's a language most people know, no worries then, you should always be able to find someone to help you wherever you are. Being able to speak good English can become a handicap though when you want to learn another language. It doesn't matter how hard you try people will still talk to you in English, just because it's easier. Even in my football team people talk to me in English. It's getting much harder to put yourself in a situation where you HAVE TO speak English and it surely slows down the learning process.

School kills creativity

I always had a mixed feeling about the current school system, and by talking with people around me, it became obvious that I wasn't the only one. I couldn't explain what's wrong really, and then the other day I watched this great presentation by Ken Robinson, I loved his vision of school, I don't how to achieve that but it's worth investigating. But have a look by yourself ( plus the guy is hilarious ):

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity

And then the other day, I couldn't believe my eyes when I red this article about UDC willing to go back to a more traditional school system. Needless to say that once again they go the totally opposite direction. Complete non-sense. I can't believe these fools are part of our government( and worse, some people are still voting for them!). We really need a wake-up call.

Back on the field

I finally found a football team (not that I search so much), as I decided to take a break in my danish studies I found time to play again. I will be playing for Sundby BK, it's just 5 minutes away from my place. It's actually a good opportunity for me to practice my danish (as I don't really use it anywhere else) and make some new friends. I was a bit nervous before going there, just like before an exam. But it turned out that everyone is very open minded and friendly, and it feels so good to kick that ball again. I realized football is not that easy when it's explain in a foreign language though...

Sommer bio

During the summer, in Denmark, the TV channel Zulu organize free open air cinemas in parks. Last weekend, as Julien was here, we took the occasion to go watch one of these movies : Arn. Two camping chairs, a few beers, a tasty pizza and we were set to enjoy the movie. Bad point though, that movie was in Swedish with Danish subtitles, fortunately, the story was quite common and we had no problem to follow it.
More info about sommerbio : http://zulu.tv2.dk/sommerbio
Other pictures of Julien's visit here : http://picasaweb.google.com/bastien.vaucher/AellenSVisit

Time to move on

Already 5 months that we are living in this nice apartment, but that also means that we will soon have to leave. It's now time for us to look for a new place to settle in Copenhagen. If you have any tip, don't hesitate, they're well appreciated.