As an introvert, I often struggle what to do with my evening while traveling- much more so while traveling alone. The best answer I have come up with is to spend the evening relaxing. Accept that there may not be something that you want to do, but instead do an activity that recharges you for tomorrow. Spend some time catching up with the internet. Read a book. Drink some wine by the river. But don’t force yourself to engage in activities that you don’t want to. Being relaxed and prepared is one of the best ways of getting the most out of your next day.

Writing in a blog is a good way to unwind, and also a good way to unpack what you have learned and gained from the day. This site is maintained mostly for personal use. It’s nice to be able to reflect with relative clarity the things that you did in a place that made your trip worthwhile (or not).

My hostel, CPH Downtown Hostel, is perfectly fine. It’s aimed more towards a younger crowd (which I can say now that I’m 30), and every night seems to have some musical act going on, which always ends up being some kind of thumping drum and bass you can here coming through the walls, which is why bringing a pair of decent earplugs can make all the difference between an intolerable stay and a tolerable one.

My roommates here are of all sorts. There is a guy who I have only ever seen hanging out in his bunk. There are a quartet of Ukrainians, who seem friendly enough, but are pre-gaming at 10pm. I just met a fellow from India who is doing military training in Hamburg, and stopped in Copenhagen for vacation while he had some time off.

Copenhagen is a lovely city that people visit from far and wide, and deservedly so. As a major Scandinavian city, it has a very distinct culture relative to the rest of Europe. The city is mostly clean, well-off, with a strong culture of social respect and responsibility. People really seem to be looking out for each-other’s best interests. The trade-off, then, is that their political system is very good at looking after the interests of its citizens, but not necessarily those of its residents.

Much like my own country, it has its own problems with immigration. A recent example is of a family: a mother living here illegally, a child who came with, and a child who was born here. One family was completely split up after she was found to be living here illegally. The mother was deported, the legal child was given to foster care, and the illegal child was given to an orphanage.

The birth-rate in Denmark and many northern European countries is low. Unsustainably low. Without immigration, the country will gradually shrink until it is no more. During the Syrian Refugee crisis, Germany opened its borders to refugees. Denmark threatened to leave the E.U., as the open border policy threatened to bring social problems like homelessness to its streets.

In my (albeit limited) understanding of Denmark, racism is not nearly as big of a concern as classism. Everything here is so pristine and posh that to share the streets with anything but the upper-middle-class would be to admit its own imperfections.

It looks after those who are citizens. Citizen prostitutes have support from public services, and have the privilege of medical aide, as well as the police, should they need it. Illegal immigrants from northern Africa may have been smuggled here on condition that they become prostitutes, but cannot ask for help from the state.

Copenhagen also takes care of its own in other ways. Mændenes Hjem is a public service institution that has a storied history of helping the down-trodden. At present, they provide a safe place for heroin users, giving them clean sodium bicarbonate, rather than dangerous alternatives like powdered glass for injection. In the U.S., we may consider this to be encouraging the drug abuse lifestyle, whereas in Denmark, pragmatism rules. There have been significant decreases in heroin-related deaths.

Mændenes Hjem has become an international model for how to deal with drug abuse. Instead of ostracizing those with problems, support them as they recover. This has been copied all over Europe, as well as in Canada and the U.S.A., with some success.

Most of this information was gained from Sandeman’s Alternative City Tour, which was very informative. Other than myself, the tourists included a french couple, an Indian woman studying in the Hague, and a Mexican man who has been traveling for three years. As usual, I enjoyed my Sandeman’s tour (despite that my hostel’s employees did not like them), and got additional food and drink recommendations. I also got to watch my tour guide get in a fight with a Christianian after he pet one of their dogs.

In the evening, I walked to Reffen, which is a kind of modern yuppie Utopia. It is a collection of food vendors and artists built into shipping containers. The area offers live music, and a skate park. I enjoyed some phenomenal Peruvian inspired ceviche, which included breaded and fried octopus and some kind of aioli. In the words of that Swedish kid back in 2016, it was “heaven”.

After trying some other snacks and beers in Reffen, I returned to my apartment with a fifty-minute walk. I stopped at a 7-eleven for some wine, and relaxed in the canals sipping (chugging) straight from the bottle.

I have also just learned that one of my new roommates, from the southeast U.S., is in Copenhagen for a Magic the Gathering tournament. I guess it takes all kinds.