Europe!

Well, the ride to COP has been pretty intense – but now, around twelve hours out, I figure it’s time to update.

Since the Bag Auction, I’ve had exams (which now seem far in the past), and have taken my first trip to Europe!

Louis, Manda and I at Auckland International Airport, just before heading through the departure gates.

The first real stop for Louis, Manda and I was Germany, and we stayed with friends of my family in Nürnberg. Alex was a fantastic tourguide, and he and his family made us very welcome in the old city. Highlights included visiting the Christkindlesmarkt – a traditional Christmas market held from late November through December!

Me, Alex and Manda at the Christkindlesmarkt!

We also visited Germany’s national museum, situated in a former monastery.

Myself, Manda, an old fountain bloke and Louis at the national museum.

Alex and I in the old city, in the midst of the markets.

Due to complications with my train tickets, I came up to Copenhagen a day later than the rest of the crew, meeting with them on the 4th of December. The overnight trip was pretty awesome, and the morning part of the journey gave me a great chance to see some of the Danish countryside. Lots of green, green grass, and the odd wind turbine! And very flat.

Arriving here, I’ve found our apartment to be nice and cosy, with just over half the delegation – Mahara, Kirk, Chelsea, Brittany, Louis, Manda, Jenny and myself – all together. The internet connection isn’t the best, but with our late arrivals home it’s not too much of a problem. Denmark, however, is very pricey, perhaps more than we anticipated; eating is a luxury!

Last night we met with Geoff Key from Greenpeace – he gave us the lowdown on what to expect for the next couple of weeks at COP. It was brilliant: we met by the Town Hall and decided to migrate to a cafe (all twelve of us plus him) because it was cold, and spent almost an hour there without buying anything or being kicked out! We then got together with Rick and Abby from the UNICEF Children’s Delegation to the Children’s Climate Conference for dinner. Their conference had just finished, and they had a fantastic closing ceremony at the Copenhagen Town Hall at the end of the week. We ate at a local pizza place near the main train station, and the food – though expensive – was pretty good.

Yesterday and today we attended COY – the Conference Of the Youth; organised by a team of young people from around the world, including our Jenny. It was a fantastic opportunity to get to know some of the other delegates, and I met people from places as diverse as Egypt, Nepal, Vanuatu, Finland, the Solomons, Canada, Lebanon and Columbia. A huge number have hailed from North America, and Australia has a sizeable delegation too. COY was held between the local YMCA and Copenhagen University, amazing venues with an awful lot of history. The workshops were excellent – I attended ones on the UNFCCC, policy overviews and LULUCF (Google may prove useful at this point!) – all very informative and a great chance to get to know climate policy details better. The food, too, was good – apparently there is such a thing as a free lunch after all, and considering the exchange rate we were very fortunate to have it!

COY attendees posing for a group photo outside the plenary hall this afternoon.

This afternoon after COY, half the delegation went to register at the Bella Center (yes, I know, American spelling…) and Jasmine and I explored a bit of Copenhagen, the destination being the Little Mermaid statue on the waterfront. It got dark very quickly (around 4.30pm), and it wasn’t at all warm (I’d hazard a guess at anywhere between 0-2 ̊ c), but we had an awesome time. Alongside that statue was another, portraying the way the developing world has been subject to the greed of the developed world – called ‘Survival of the Fattest’. If you want to take a better look at that project (there are more installations in other locations in the city), take a look here.

Me with the Little Mermaid - at around four in the afternoon.

Currently sitting in the apartment, and Kirk’s cooked up what smells like a brilliant curry. Looking forward to eating, even if the meat for it cost around NZ$40!

I’m excited for tomorrow – the start, I’m sure, of something amazing.

Over and out,

Dobric.

“We must build a movement to engage people across borders.”
Mathias, Friends of the Earth Denmark - taken from my notes from our Open Space talks yesterday

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