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As long as it’s taken between this and the last blog is as long as I’ve been waiting to sit calmly, happily, alone, at a cafe to write it. I have a new practice, it’s writing my blog at a beautiful cafe, preferably at the water (French Cafe) or at Bopa Plads (Pixie or Bopa cafe). These places are beautiful and perfect. Just now Dzl took me for brunch to Pixie cafe, I had the most fantastic brunch - passionfruit sauce on walnut pancakes, tzitiki on falafel, scrambled eggs, yogurt with muesli, and a chai latte, all at 3 in the afternoon. Perfection. Then Dzl headed off to do his things and I came to the French cafe, where I’ve found the right spot, a table beside the open air wall, facing the lakes with rows of people enjoying their coffees in front of me and me having table and, by the kindness of the owner, my own power outlet so I can type this up. Thanks to Mavis Teaches Typing, I can also, for the most part, enjoy the view without staring at my screen. It’s good.

The only catch is what I can’t seem to catch, which is a wireless signal. This means I have no idea what I wrote last in this blog. I do know however, that I haven’t discussed my wedding reception or the events since so let’s start there. We had our wedding reception on July 9, scarcely enough time to breathe after Roskilde Festival and illutron’s work there, and then compounded by my work’s summer party, which was up to me to organize and of course, was held on the boat. It all worked out quite well, five days of madness, but with endless support and help from my two fabulous friends, Nina and Helle. They were there at the work party, and we managed to round up a bunch of people to help with the wedding reception (thank you everyone!). And apologies to those who weren't there, it was a smallish party, not many people but lots of love, and we didn't want to complicate it by having 100+ guests...

Dzl and I had been shopping for weeks beforehand, trying to find outfits, and not being able to find any in Copenhagen. Finally, by pure chance, I took a Bollywood class, met the instructor, was led to a Bollywood fashion show and was able to order two outfits. Dzl on the other hand, could not find men’s clothes anywhere. Okay I realize at this point, and probably earlier, it would help if I explained that this wedding reception was to be a Bollywood theme, ‘a saffron coloured dream’ as we wrote on the invitations. I went to an Indian fashion show years ago in Vancouver, must have been about 8 years ago, and I saw the most beautiful dresses, given that, and living in Surrey with all the tasty Indian food and wonderful clothes and fantastic weddings and dancing, I was inspired. Dzl could not understand me; what on earth was I meaning by an Indian wedding, what was so fabulous about it? We rented Bride and Prejudice (I suggest you rent it, RIGHT NOW) and within two hours, he was not only in complete synchronistic enthusiasm with me but was also demanding that everything be shades of Saffron and orange and that he should have a black kurta pajama. To make a long, long shopping and researching story short, I finally found all the little hidden gems in Copenhagen that I thought didn’t exist. Some in Glostrup where I work, some in the most obvious places, Nørrebro and Vesterbro and some through the lovely people I met at the Bollywood fashion show. A few more weeks and we were beautiful and ready to go.

The wedding itself was perfect. I could not have asked for more.. I can’t believe how much effort every guest put into it, how beautiful everyone looked from the very young (7 months) to the older (late 60’s) everyone was dressed in a most spectacular way, saris, kurta pajama, sparkles, sequins, shoes, henna, elaborate jewellery it was all there! Besides the beautiful outfits, Anders, Nina, Helle, Dzl and I slaved away in a kitchen (soon joined by Zenia and Heidi) to make an elaborate 6 curry with side dishes buffet. We crafted a Mandap (traditional Indian wedding tent) from what we had available on the deck and decorated it with fabric Dzl found for very reasonable prices. It was incredible, we even had a bucket of Mango lassi for everyone to enjoy. My one failure was not getting the cold beer out in time for people who were insanely thirsty due to it being the hottest day in Denmark in something like 30 years.

To top off the decorations, beautiful outfits, fantastic food and great atmosphere, we had a DJ playing bhangra and bollywood music, and we (the wedding party) composed of myself, Dzl, Nina, Swedish Anders, Danish Anders, Christian and Mona, had made a special flash-mob bollywood dance routine that we sprung on the crowd. It was so much fun. Dzl and I were walking the 7 circles of marriage, wherein each circle should represent a good value like health and wealth and whatnot. To make this more fun, we asked people to shout out good values for us as we walked around. Once we finished the 7 circles, we thanked everyone for being there, and started the music, and all the dancers jumped out and began our routine, which was finished...with a bang! Video coming soon, you’ll understand.

It was such a great night, I remember going to sleep to the sounds of people jumping in the harbour and bhangra beats leading energetic dancers into the morning. Bollywood Photos

Some of my favourite moments of the night were seeing Swedish Anders in his all white suit painting Danish Anders a dark brown color (since Danish Anders was to be a Parsee, elephant rider complete with broom-elephant); watching people in the automated photobooth be complete and utter dorks; listen to the DJ play “Swedish jive music from youtube, on a boat, at an Indian wedding” (in quotations because this was his facebook status update at the time) and watching people go crazy and dancing like their lives depended on it; and doing the fabulous bollywood dance not once, but twice, with endless joy, and perfect timing (the first time) to finish with the bang I told you about.

This was our third costume party of the month, so I am very proud to say illutron had endless enthusiasm and continued to participate in two more costume parties before mid-August. Near the end of July, Mads had his birthday party, again onboard the ship. Helle, Dzl and I decided for once, to get ready at home and arrive to the ship looking fantastic, it was a sailor theme and I think I can say we did well. Of course, we arrived, and two minutes later, the submarine arrived which meant moving a lot of boats and floats out the way to moor the sub. There were about 20 guests, then me and Helle in heels and pencil skirts, and Dzl in his all-white sailor suit. Somehow we to pull it off, which was so much fun, mooring a submarine in a sexy sailor outfit, how perfect. Also a great night - we had bought Mads Lady Gaga concert tickets and made him the cigarette sunglasses from her telephone video, which was a horrible, sickening task, as we had to light and put out two packs of cigarettes and both us and the house and the car and the boat stank horribly afterwards. All of which was not nearly as bad as us lighting the sunglasses for the optimal photo shoot and Mads nearly burning out his eyeballs because of the horrific smoke. Great prop though we’ll never light it again! Sailor Photos

Finally, after much work, many parties, and trying to ‘enjoy’ a few days of summer in between (using any excuse or ray of sunshine to leap into the harbour) we arrived at August 6,7,8 which was my and Christian’s baby - KulturSYDhavn. KulturSYDhavn (Culture South Harbor which sounds much better in Danish) is our first annual event, in collaboration with Kulturhavn (You guessed it, Culture Harbor) which has been running for 10 years, but further upstream in the harbour. Our goal was simple, to “Bring Sydhavn to life!”. The place where the barge exists is industrial, a wasteland of empty buildings and a quay that looks like a construction yard, surrounded by brand new and very expensive apartments, and past those, some of the poorest and oldest places in Denmark where some don’t even have toilets in their apartments. This is Sydhavn. We wanted to bring it all together, the old, the new, the rich, the poor, the workers, the tourists, the residents. We wanted to create a playground for them of experiences where they would go home and tell their loved ones and their friends “you wouldn’t believe what I experienced today”... and that we did. With a new crew on illutron, weary from Roskilde festival but determined, we created the most incredible playground. We set up Sound9, the dangerous playground where visitors can stick their fingers in light sockets to make music, where they can dip hair dryers in the bathtub to get sound effects and where they can balance on wooden boards to try and make sounds. On the ship we had hydrophones, where you could throw stones in the water and hear the effect as it sounds underwater. There was also an underwater camera, crystal clear, so you could see the world below. We had an interactive tug-of-war, one end at Sydhavn, and one end at Islands Brygge, a 20minute sail away, we had the UC3 Nautilus submarine open for tours, the diode boxes running and multitude of other installations. And we had a LOT of visitors, which was great. It was a successful event and I’m so proud that we put on an amazing show! Read more here: illutron kultursydhavn

So where does that leave us, exhausted for sure. Amusingly enough, my company taxes were due the following week (sweet tax department had been lovely and moved the deadline back 10 days, otherwise I would have gone mad!). Lots of regular administrative things, all the while trying to keep up in planning for Australia and Singapore, closing in on us fast! We arrived at Friday the 13, night of the truly beautiful Copenhagen Burlesque. My dear friend Maria, who has recently moved to Miami was the initiator of this, and many other social events in Copenhagen, but she recognized the need for a great night of fun clothes, good music, and enjoyment of dressing up, fancy drinks, beautiful venues, and nostalgia for days none of our generation knew, but always wanted a taste of. Dzl and I were invited to be hosts and we had so much fun. The night was held at The New Theatre in Copenhagen, a majestic building home to musicals and plays during regular days, but our home for that night. It was beautiful, huge spaces, theatre dressing rooms (I even had my own mirror with light bulbs on it!) and a great, literal cavern that served as a bar and dining area. The costumes were incredible. I will let the photos speak for themselves. Never have I seen so many people put so much effort into costumes, period authenticity, and accessories. To say the least, wow. At our wedding, people had a specific theme and were given suggestions on where to shop, and they went all out, but that was 50 people, this was 300. And each of them was exquisitely clad in corsets, velvet, period pieces, steampunk, high heels, fake lashes, and every imaginable outfit that fit the theme. It was great.

The past two weeks have been us winding down. No more barge, no more parties, no more fake eyelashes and glue in my eyes. You might think it’s a bit sad, but it’s a relief, it has been an incredible summer and I’ve loved every minute but wow was a break ever needed. Dzl and I spent the past weekend sleeping. 11 hours Friday, 9 hours Saturday, 9 hours Sunday. It was needed. We even went swimming on Sunday - at a swimming pool! Something we haven’t had time for in ages. Now it’s the final stretch, 7 days and I’ll be double checking that I have my passport before we leave for Singapore, then Australia.

I found this incredible software, TripIt. (Visit their website, you’ll never look back). I forward my travel confirmation emails to it, and it makes a beautiful itinerary of all the travel plans and let me tell you, for a month away, travelling on 8 flights with 3 car rentals and countless hotels for four people, there are a LOT of confirmations and details. My mom and I have been talking daily, or nightly in her case. We found a happy time at 9 in the morning my time, it’s midnight her time and both of us are just starting work and can spend some time sorting out details and catching up, via Skype, we’re just typing, but it’s nice to talk to her nearly every day. I am so excited to see my parents again and I’m really happy for my sister, she met such a good, good man and I’m so happy they are getting married. I think it will be a beautiful wedding, though I have NO clue what on earth to get her. Obviously I want it to be something geeky but somehow I don’t think she’d appreciate that. Maybe a pony will suffice.

In amongst all this, we’ve been tying up loose ends. Dzl has been catching up in his freelance work and starting at the university as a teacher. I’ve been applying for a marriage visa - which has the most hilarious questions on it, “How long ago was it that you last communicated with or saw your spouse?” Our answer (as we each had to fill one out) “about one second ago, as we’re writing this form together”. The application is a terribly veiled attempt to keep out the ‘wrong’ kind of foreigners, with a series of questions that make your stomach churn. Of course, it’s all in the name of protecting the innocent, no forced marriages or marriages to get people into the country, and fair enough for that. It’s a beautiful country here, with nice people who are sweet and well behaved but ultimately, it is a tiny town with a short man complex. Denmark is trying so hard to be so much bigger than it is that it is not appreciating the small things going on within it, rather it fights them. I’ve been treated well, very well, but I am also a highly paid highly educated white Canadian. No complaints from me; just sadness for what some people must be going through and how hard it must be if you are just trying to survive and keep your family safe. She says...as she applies for a Visa to stay here. I like the place. I like the cafe, biking, easy going culture. I like living on an island, being surrounded by water. I hate the prices, it’s so expensive and I’ve finally accepted the prices and that is even worse. But i have found things to comfort me, Nagoya, all you can eat fantastic sushi; a dim sum place near Istegade, the Pakistani and Indian stores and restaurants, I test drove a Tesla electric car the other day and was SO pleased to meet another car enthusiast in this land of car-haters. So there are comforts reminiscent of home, but of course, no place is the same and it would be a shame if it was; though I’ll never stop hoping and fighting for a racism-free, everybody is accepted and treated well country, I think Canada is probably the closest that I have experienced to that, so I’m glad to have grown up with a well educated open mind about the fantastic different cultures on this earth.

I think, I hope, by this time next week, all of our ‘loose ends’ will be taken care of, papers, bills taken care of, accounting done, websites updated, projects finished, applications made, and finally, we will go on vacation. It has been SUCH a busy year and we have both determined that when we return home we’re going to focus more on health (mental and physical), GeekPhysical, and building our life together. illutron, dear to both of our hearts will actually be a hobby rather than a full time endeavour. Our work will be work, and will not cause us undue stress. Hopefully with all the loose end tying we’ve been doing, we won’t have too many worries when we get home. Lots to do to get to a place of relaxation!

And now, I have an hour and a half before my next appointment, cocktails with a girlfriend at The Office bar. Tasty cocktails made by an all-Irish staff. Or at least, everyone there seems to have gone to school in Ireland because they have Irish accents and know their beers and drinks.  Until then, some shopping and walking.
Updates coming next from Singapore! Hope your summer has also been fabulous!


As an update, it's now the night before we leave (took me forever to sit down again to publish this!) we've had a great week, are totally organized and days after writing "I want less racism!" there was a super happy multicultural festival in the heart of Copenhagen, food, dance, song, I was super pleased, thank you Copenhagen! We're packed, we're ready, vacation here we come!

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