Swinging.

HI! Gabi and I just got back from swing dancing. And, I must say, it was quite the experience. So, I had the address and the walking directions and headed out right after dinner. I took Pia's bike and headed for the train. Half way there, my chain falls off. Then, I take a wrong turn. I finally make it to the train station and go to the bathroom to wash the chain-grease off my hands. Then I hear a train- either coming or going. I rush out of the bathroom, to see my train leaving. It wouldn't come again for 20 more minutes... and I was supposed to meet Gabi in 5. I quickly improvise and take a bus that I know to stop near Town Hall Square, where we're meeting. It was the 250S train... Which I'd never taken. After a quick bit of forgetfulness in not showing the driver my pass... him smirking as I walk down to my seat (later remembering to go show him my pass...) the bus heads off. Its a double decker bus. I have no idea what the 's' stands for, but I think it just might stand for "Super Quick!" I'm pretty sure it beat the train there. And if not, it gave the train a run for its money. So, I make a quick call to Gabi to tell her I'm running late, and then, 15 minutes later, call her to tell her I'm there. We head off... in what I *think* to be the right direction. I was pretty sure I'd passed it on my Other Copenhagen Tour during orientation week, but wasn't sure I remembered how to get there...

Well... we ended up in a little bit sketchy bit of town. Not exactly on the right road, but it got us where we needed. Its an old working class section that has gone through a bit of urban-renewal as of late. We're walking down the street, not knowing where we're going or even what road we're on. We find a street sign, and it definitely isn't the right street. So we wander around a bit more, in what we know to be not one of the best sections of town (its no where near the worst either...) We eventually find a sign for our road... Which was the one we'd been walking on. Confused, we looked around and kept walking. We eventually find the building... Well the backside of it. It looks exceedingly creepy. Its basically an empty house with graffiti on it... But we hear swing music coming from the inside. We peeked through the window, and saw the door was on the other side. We walk down the road, and its a little gated place with a number of little cafes and things situated around a courtyard. This side is NOT creepy. There's some nice people sitting at an outdoor cafe, and a balboa class going on in one of the other buildings. We walk in, and look like confused Americans. But its all right. The people tell us to come in and ask if we know how to swing. I do, Gabi does not. They tell us to just ask people to dance, and are very welcoming.

We hang up our jackets and take a seat next to the bar. A lady comes up to us and introduces her self and says she doesn't recognize us, and usually she knows everyone who comes. We talk to her for a bit, and later find out she owns the place... She was really nice and also reccomended we ask people to teach us. There was a lesson going on (that we missed...) and waited a few minutes for the dance to start. Most of the people there were older... Not like old... Just older than I'm used to with the college swing dance scene. A couple people ask where we're from, she's from San Francisco... And I say Seattle just because its the only place they're likely to have heard of. And, whenever I say Seattle, they're like, "WHOA! Seattle has GREAT dancers!" and I get kind of scared that they have high expectations for me... But its all good :)

Anyway, we both kind of hide on the couches for a bit... Sometimes people come to find out why there are 2 Americans sitting on the couch, but most of the time we just sit there awkwardly. We meet the DJ, who teaches us a little bit of the Balboa basic (this particular swing club is more for Balboa/Charelston... with faster swing music.) He tells us about all the Copenhagen events and is very nice to us, but then gets back to DJing. Then, this guy named John who is from Stockholm but works in Copenhagen every other week came and asked Gabi to dance. She goes, admitting that she doesn't know how to... he helps her out, then comes and gets me and the three of us went outside and he goes over some east coast/ lindy basics with us... And the charelston too. Mostly for Gabi's benefit, I think. Anyway, he's super nice. The two of us then danced for a couple songs... With him doing some tricky things (which means I did okay!) but he repremanded me for not doing the triple steps right in my turns... and for trying to lead. Which is something I've had problems with since I started...

After that, people started to leave, including lots of guys. There were already many more guys than girls. The crowd was already smaller than usual due to there were lots of swing parties over the weekend and most people were swing'd out... Not finding anyone to dance with, Gabi and I left and got ice cream from a nice ice cream vendor that wanted to talk to us but knew very little english. He was nice and seemed genuinely interested, which is odd. Then, we wandered around for a little bit and made plans for dinner and dessert night :) I'm excited.

It was a good night. I got home at, like, 11, but it was good. I think I'll keep trying to go to a lot of the swing events- its a really good way to meet people. And, I think if I get better it will be a whole lot less awkward. This time, it was kind of uncomfortable and I'm really glad I had a friend there with me. But I think it will get less and less awkward. And... the swing community seems pretty small and tight knit, which would be great for getting to know people and stepping out of my iPod box that I've kind of started to get trapped in. On Sundays theres a dance at the Student House... on Thursdays they have a bar they rent... somewhere. And theres usually something on fridays. If I'm around, I think I'll just swing-club hop. The people seem nice, and helpful and like that we're getting out and doing things. And... swing dancing is fun, something I look forward to doing. I think Gabi had fun too- she said she'd go back, and I hope she meant it since I don't really want to walk back to that place alone... Its in a decent bit of town, very gentrified, but to get there you have to walk through the (former?) red-light district. Which isn't as bad as it sounds, actually. Its very well lit and I didn't feel unsafe at all. There were lots of people around and live bands in all the bars, and people just seemed happy. But still, basic urban safety precautions say not to go alone.

So, thats my night. Hope yours is good too! <3