A study of standardized testing results from nearly 7 million students over from 2005 until 2007 confirms two things: girls are just as good at math as boys, and standardized tests have some value.  Hopefully the most immediate consequence of this will be a better gender balance in my lectures.

The last weekend of June I took a break from the heat in Munich and took a trip to Scandanavia.  My first destination was Malmö in the south of Sweden, and the country’s third largest city.  I didn’t get to spend a lot of time there, but it was nice just to go.  My last name is Sutherland, in my case coming from the Swedish Söderlund or south land.  Part of my family originates in the south of Sweden.

Malmö was a very green city with a beautiful town hall and a moated fortress-castle.  The city was also full of morbid statues.

Town Hall in Malmö

"Tragos"

Copenhagen however is where I spent the majority of my time.  The north is expennnnsive so most of my time was spent sightseeing garden’s and different parts of the city.

Copenhagen Canal

Garden in Copenhagen

One of the more unique parts of Copenhagen is Christiania, a squatter commune of alternate-livers, unfortunately preferring not to be photographed.  The Freetown Christiania is located in an old army barracks near the harbor.  The city is full of some 850 permanant residents, a whole lot of wannabes, and even more tourists.  Many of the residents are artisans, selling their crafts or performing music.  There were several venues for art and music within the city, mostly along the main drag ‘Pusher Street’.  This street gets its name from the previously open sale of Cannabis product, despite its illegality.  Since 2004 police occaisionally patrol the area, and during the patrols it is no longer sold openly.  As a whole, this anomaly is unlike any other community in a major western city.

There were two things in Copenhagen I did pay for.  First was the Rosenborg Slot.  Originally built as a summer home for Christian IV, today it houses the Danish Crown Jewels and has a walking tour of the rooms.  Christian IV was the superhuman harddrinking warrior king of Denmark from 1596 to 1648 and has a lot of interesting anecdotes.  In one of his battles, he caught flak from an explosion in his head.  After the battle, it was removed, and he had it made into earrings for a mistress.

The Rosenborg Castle

The Throne Room

Christian the IV’s Coronation Crown

Finally I spent money on the view of the city from its town hall.  This was a pretty long hike but the inside of the building was gorgeous.

View from the Rådhus

The way to and from Copenhagen I took the night train.  This was some 14 hours of uncomfortableness in both directions but the time went pretty quick.  On the way there I shared my cabin with a German with some real unusual questions.  We ended up talking for a lot of the trip.  One example: what we use for building materials in the states.  The way back my wagon had to be replaced in Hamburg because the speakers weren’t working… that was miserable.  I got back to Munich at about 9:30 in the morning, ready for a full day at work.