More painting

Since returning from Leuven, Bobby and I have been busy with more painting! We started with the guest room, or Mom's room. It used to look like this.


But now it looks like this! I really love the green color, which we choose to match the quilt Mom brought on her last visit.














Complete with new curtains, the room is warm, welcoming, and soothing with it's new paint.














We also repainted the music room. We originally painted this room back in January with a light blue color. However, I wasn't happy with the color. The room, which is quite large and has a lot of windows, looked too washed-out with the light blue. The music room is next to our dining room, which is a lovely bold blue, and it just didn't fit with the dining room. So we repainted!


With the gray color, the room looks much better next to the dining room.
















I really love the cool gray. It reminds me of foggy winter days in Santa Barbara. You can almost taste the salt in the air (then again, maybe it's just the salty licorice we eat all the time...).












We decided to keep the nook the light blue color. We'll see how we feel about it over the next few weeks.














Do you see that patch of brown? That is what Bobby calls 'art'. He thinks this room should be our music and art room, so he decided to create the first art work for the room. We'll see how long it lasts once he leaves for London next week!

Weekend trip to Leuven, Belgium

Two weekends ago, Bobby and I got to explore the Belgian town of Leuven. Bobby had been at the university there for a week of research, so I flew out on Friday afternoon to see him and explore a new town with him. Leuven is a university town and has been since 1425, when the university was established!
We stayed at a really lovely hotel, which was a converted stable. Our room is the arched doorway on the left. The hotel was right across the road from the university.
This is what the hotel used to look like when it was still a working stable. Sadly, Leuven is the town where those 12 year old school children died on the bus crash in Switzerland while on a ski holiday. The hotel was just a block away from their school, and all around town there were reminders of the city's grief over the tragic accident.
Castle Arenberg, which is a part of the university, was right across the road from our hotel. Here's a random factoid: the first manned gas-filled balloon flight in history took off from the front lawn of the castle on 21 November 21 1783.
The city was filled with beautiful buildings. Here you see the university's Library (I think the balloon sculpture is in commemoration of the above mentioned flight, but I can't be sure because I can't read Dutch). This building was actually a gift from American to Leuven to celebrate the end of World War 1. The German burned the original library during the war.
In the background you can see the spires of City Hall.
And here is City Hall by night. The building dates from the mid-1400s and is quite Gothic-bedazzled!
In the middle of the city is the UNESCO World Heritage site Grand Béguinage. This area, which dates to the early 1200s, was a community for unmarried (or widowed), semi-religious women who wanted to dedicate themselves to the Catholic church but not take a vow of poverty. The majority of the buildings are owned by the university. Many students and international staff now occupy the buildings. Can you imagine having a dorm built in the 1200s?!?
An old water pump inside the Grand Béguinage.
Aside from beautiful Gothic and Flemish buildings, Leuven also hosts some lovely art. This painting, The Last Supper, was located inside St. Peter's Cathedral. The painting, dating from 1464, was painted by Dieric Bouts, and it a wonderful example of early Netherlandish art.
We didn't only see old art, though. This huge work was in the square right outside of the university library. We rather like it.
One thing I always look forward to when traveling is exploring new foods. We've eaten some fantastic meals over the years and I'm always excited to try new things. Unfortunately, the food in Leuven was disappointing. Not only was the food bad, it was really expensive. We ate at one Greek place, where we had a meal that would be bad by take-out standards, and it cost over 60 euros! Thankfully the hotel's provided breakfast was decent, but every other meal we had was just not good. We even had bad ice cream (seriously, how can you mess up ice cream?!?). Oh well, at least the waffles were palatable.
And, of course, the chocolate was good. Bobby assures me that the beer was good as well, but I can't comment on that myself.

Weekend trip to Århus

Two weekends ago, Bobby and I got to visit our friends Leah and Flemming in the Danish city Århus. Leah and I went to USC together. She plays clarinet and is currently playing with the Århus Symphony. Her husband Flemming (they just got married a few days ago, congrats Leah and Flemming!!) is a French horn player in the symphony. We've seen them many times in Copenhagen, so it was finally our turn to visit them in Århus. Århus is the second largest city in Copenhagen (Odense is third, and Aalborg is 4th), with just over 300,000 people living there. We took a lovely 2 hour bus ride through the Sjælland (the name of island on which Copenhagen sits) countryside and a 75 minute ferry ride to Jutland (the name of the peninsula which connects to continental Europe) and landed in Århus.


While Leah attended a rehearsal and Flemming practiced, Bobby and I visited the new ARoS Museum, which has a large collection of modern art. The rainbow panorama at the top of the building offered a spectacular, multi-hued view of the city.






When you're inside the panorama and looking inwards, you look through clear glass.










But when you turn around and face outwards, your view of the city changes in color. It was a really beautiful affect.










Aside from the panorama, the museum had a fantastic collection of art. In the basement is this large sculpture of a boy. I like to call this photo 'Bob's Big Boy'.














We were lucky enough to see Leah perform with the symphony. She player Mozart's Requiem, which was accompanied by a very large, yet surprisingly good, volunteer choir. The 200 plus singers filled the hall with a beautiful sound. It was a really fun concert to attend and it was great seeing Leah in action!




We also got to see Flemming perform, though the setting was quite... different. Flemming had a gig at the local university playing for an 18th century masquerade ball! Though the orchestra didn't have to dress in period pieces, most of the guests did!









I never knew I could feel so out place by not wearing a wig...



















On Sunday, we took a nice stroll through different parts of Århus. In this area, near to where Leah and Flemming live, there were many old little brick houses, each painted a different color. It was very quaint.
















We also got to see a few hints that spring is, indeed, on its way. Our weather was a bit spotty over the weekend, but at least the temperatures were above freezing and it didn't rain on us. For Denmark, that's nearly a miracle!









On the last stretch of our walk, along the harbor, we came upon this bizarre sight. This is a tree where children come to give up there old pacifiers. It must be a right of passage for growing Danish children, and Bobby and I have seen the same thing in Copenhagen.









The tree looks a bit odd from a distance, but I think it's actually quite charming up close. Many of the bags of pacifiers had little notes, written by children, thanking the pacifiers for their help, but stating that the child no longer has need of it. All in all, we had a lovely time in Århus visiting our lovely friends Leah and Flemming. We can't wait to see them again!

Grieving

My family suffered a loss this weekend. My beloved Great Uncle Ron passed away quite unexpectedly on Saturday. Uncle Ron was my favorite uncle: always smiling and friendly, he taught me how to play Mario and Duck Hunt and would turn a blind eye to my cheating in Duck Hunt (I would stand at the screen and get a nice direct hit on the ducks). He was a quiet man and I never once saw him angry. A veteren of the Korean War, he would tell hilarious stories about his time serving in the Navy. Uncle Ron was married to my Great Aunt Gwen, who is one of four daughters to my still-living Great Grandmother (G.G., as I grew up calling her) Hazel Armstrong (she'll turn 100 in the fall!). Let me tell you something about Armstrong women: as the name implies, we're a bunch of firecrackers. Hard-headed, loud, and vocal about our opinions, we probably aren't the easier people to live with, let alone be married to! Bobby reminds me a lot of Uncle Ron; the qualities required in a man to successfully marry an Armstrong woman are shared amongst those who are our life partners. These men, including Uncle Ron, are good, solid men who don't always voice their opinions but are heard when they do. These men deserve a medal.

As I have been grieving for the loss of Uncle Ron, I've come to realize that I am also grieving the reality of life in a different country/continent, where you are far away from your family. I grew up with a large and very close family from both of my parents: my paternal grandmother was one of twelve children and the ENTIRE family (many of whom have remained in the Los Angeles area for generations) continues to gather for Christmas parties every year. I was on a first-name basis with a large number of 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th cousins. As I mentioned above, my maternal grandmother is one of four daughters to a very strong woman, G.G. On this side of my family, I was also on a first-name basis with many 2nd, 3rd, and 4th cousins. I saw various members of this large, extended family at least once a week as a child. Friday nights were always spent at Uncle Ron and Aunt Gwen's home; many weekends were spent staying with either G.G. or my paternal grandparents; and we took multiple holidays with my different grandparents. I am so incredibly thankful to have grown up so close to both sides of my family.

Now, however, I live far, far away. I won't be able to attend Uncle Ron's funeral on Wednesday. I won't be around to celebrate my Dad's 70th birthday in April. In the fall, I won't be able to attend G.G.'s 100th birthday. We miss Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthdays, and anniversary celebrations because of the thousands of miles that separate us from our family. Bobby and I have chosen to live in Europe for a number of reasons, one of which is that we believe we will be able to provide a better life for our own children by living here. One thing that we won't be able to provide for them, though, is the incredible family structure that was such an important and daily part of my own upbringing. I am grieving this loss, in addition to the loss of Uncle Ron. I miss the random family dinners my Mom organized with various members of the Thornton/Armstrong clan. I miss seeing my Townsend/Taylor cousins at Easter, 4th of July, and Christmas. I miss seeing my Mom and Dad and brother on a weekly basis.

Our last blog post celebrated our three years of living abroad. But this blog posts mourns the sacrifice of family that Bobby and I have made, and that we have forced our family to make, in order to make our dream of living abroad a reality. So thank you for letting us leave, Mom and Dad, and for understanding our reasons, and please know that it's not without a great deal of sadness on our part. And thank you Uncle Ron for being such a great Uncle and for sharing a part of your life with me. I already miss you.

An anniversary and a new toy

March 1st marked the 3 year anniversary of Bobby and I living abroad. We've had some amazing experiences over the last three years: we've lived in 5 different apartments in two different countries; we've become 'home' owners; Bobby has gone from post-doctorate to assistant professor; we've conversed in (very basic) French and (slightly more complex) Danish; we've traveled to Scotland, England, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy; we picked up and quickly fell in love with tandem bicycle riding; and have had many culinary adventures. Cheers to the last three years and hurrah to the next three!

We have finally purchased a decent TV for our lovely apartment. We purchased this 46" flat screen and 'walked' it home on our tandem. It was a bit awkward walking it the 1 kilometer home, but we made it in one piece and feel it was worth the effort. Our old TV wasn't digital and therefore only received about 10 channels. Our new one gets over 30 channels, including 4 different Discovery and National Geographic channels. This will make my time alone in Copenhagen when Bobby is in London that much easier.

Next weekend we are off to Århus for a weekend with friends. We can't wait to visit a new place in Denmark and see our friends!

Saving money and eating in

Two Christmases ago, Bobby and I received a financial advice book from my Dad. The book helped spark our interest (or obsession?) in saving money through budgeting and planning. Our strategy helped us save enough money for the down payment of our apartment, payoff our credit card, and payoff all of our student loan-related bank debts. We are so enthusiastic about saving money that last week, after noticing that the oven we purchased was now on sale, we went back to the store and we able to get the difference back in cash! One of the biggest ways Bobby and I save money is by eating almost every meal in. We always bring our lunches to work and only eat out one once or twice a month (and that is usually a cheap dinner of Turkish shawarma or Chinese food).

Not eating out can be difficult, though. Bobby and I love food the way most people love their children. And we are especially fond of ethnic food. My father has asked us on a number of occasions "Don't you ever eat American food?". In order to help us keep to our strict budget without depriving ourselves of our beloved foods, I have tried to bring some of our favorite ethnic dishes into the kitchen. Mexican food is the most common international addition to our diet (I know, Mexican is hardly 'international' to most Southern Californians, but when living in Europe, it's almost as foreign as free re-fills on soda), followed by French, Indian, Thai, and Chinese. I've also tried making Ethiopian (it didn't go so well: the injera bread is ridiculously difficult to perfect, and many of the spices needed weren't available in Copenhagen) and Lebanese (the deconstructed lamb ravioli was good, but we've had better eating out). This weekend started out with some Japanese soba noodles.

What we really, really miss from our days eating out in Los Angeles, however, is Korean food. A few weeks ago, I made bo ssam, a type of Korean pork roast. It was easy and delicious (and the 2 kilo/4.5 pound roast kept us fed for 6 days), and it gave me the courage to try something a bit more difficult: soondobu jjigae (tofu soup). I first started with the stock: onion, garlic, seaweed (I couldn't find kelp), dried anchovies, shiitake mushrooms, and chili flakes. Aren't those little anchovy heads cute?

To the stock I added some seafood (shrimp, octopus, squid, and mussels) and tofu.








The final product, which is served with a raw egg (which becomes poached in the hot soup) and a side of rice, was quite good.












We also had some Kalbi-style steak, which Bobby grilled on our cast-iron grill pan (isn't that a beautiful pan?). The meat was delicious! The soup wasn't as good as the soondobu we get at the BCD Tofu House in LA's Korea Town, but it will help satiate our craving until we go back to LA.

And what meal is complete without some dessert? These cardamom and ginger shorties have a ridiculous amount of butter, but we are going to starting biking again this week (now that the weather is above freezing), so we tell ourselves it's all ok!

Snow and cold-weather biking

Unlike the last two winters we've experienced in Denmark (which have been two of the coldest, snowiest winters on record), this has been a fairly mild winter. It's only snowed a few times this season, and only the first January snow stuck. However, we woke up this morning to this beautiful sight! You may of heard about the cold snap that has hit most of Europe: over 180 people have died from the cold, and places as far south as Barcelona have had snow this past week! Here in Denmark, the temperatures have been pretty cool, between -5 to -7 Celsius (the high teens to mid-20s in Fahrenheit), but the sun has been out and it hadn't snowed until this morning.

The bright sunlight allowed me to get a slightly better picture of our paint color in the readying/music room. Here in the nook, you can see the light blue color. Unfortunately, we won't be actually using this room until the spring. This room is extremely cold, even though all of the windows are double-paned. In fact, the room is so cold that there was ice on the inside of the windows the day I took this photo! There are two heaters in the room, but it's pretty expensive to run the heat in so many rooms.

The cold weather has also affected our biking. We do not yet have a key to the basement bike room, so our bikes has to stay outside. Last Monday, when the weather was about -7 Celsius/-20 Fahrenheit, we suited up in the morning make our regular 7 mile ride to work (suiting up means thick socks, heavy-duty long johns, a sweater, high quality water- and wind-proof jackets and pants, scarfs, thick hats, and thick mittens... it's a bit bulky). We tried to turn the lights on on the bike, but the cold had killed them, or at least prevented them from turning on. We then mounted the bike, only to realize that the seats, which has sat outside soaking the most recent snow, were literally frozen solid. We then noticed that our gears were frozen and we were stuck in just one very low gear! We somehow managed to make the ride (our gears started working after mile 3), but between the gears and frozen seats, it was a painful and extremely cold ride. Needless to say, we've been taking the bus ever since!

On a last note, Bobby discovered a large scratch in the lining of our new oven! We took this photo to the store, and they agreed to replace it. So we now have yet another new oven! It is the same model as the the original one we purchased.