Bodil

So Bodil, my friend’s old host mom, picked me up this morning in a CAR!  As much as I am loving public transportation, it was nice not to have to wait around in the cold for the train or bus to come!  We drove up Osterbrogale, a street along the eastern coast of Denmark, took a walk in the forest where we stopped at an outdoor café for a cup of hot chocolate and then went to her house for lunch and some Danish dessert!  Bodil and Hens also gave me bags of things to borrow during my time in Copenhagen.  I now have a blender (I live off of smoothies- breakfast, snack, dinner, dessert…), two lamps (I no longer need to carry my one lamp around the apartment in order to have light), blankets, towels, Tupperware, candles, warm socks, a few jackets and a map of the city.  Oh, and she is in the process of finding me a toaster.  Words cannot even express how thankful I am for Bodil!  She also told me that I am going to be “ill” on Friday February 10 because I am going to learn how to ski during their family trip to Norway!   She is a pretty incredible woman!  One word to describe her would definitely be free-spirited.  I will never forget the first story I heard about Bodil.  There is a part of Copenhagen called Christiania/ Free Town, which is an area of former military barracks that was taken over by the homeless many years ago.  Christiania residents created their own hippie-ish community that the city of Copenhagen just let be but there was a time when Copenhagen wanted to “normalize” Christiania.  Bodil completely disagreed with the city and believed that Christiania should remain its own unique commune.  The symbol of Copenhagen is a statue of the Little Mermaid that sits on the beach at the edge of the sea.  Since Copenhagen wanted to “normalize” Christiania, Bodil thought that they should then also “normalize” the Little Mermaid.  I mean, what person walks around town with fins instead of feet!?  Bodil went out one summer afternoon when every tour bus in town had stopped to visit the statue and put a pair of legs on the Little Mermaid.  She said she could hear a million cameras clicking because no one could believe what she was doing.  Bodil wanted to prove a point that there is no such thing as “normal” and we should all be able to live as we please.  I have come to realize how important the Little Mermaid is to the city and I can’t imagine seeing someone add legs to her!  That’s Bodil!