The Dorm Room, July 8

Sunday night I stayed in Frederikshanv at busy hostel filled with scads of teenage girls with too much hairspray, old guys traveling in a pack of mopeds, and a couple of families monopolizing the common area. The one computer, at the check-in desk was occupied by a couple little girls tasked with whacking the moles. I could not think of a more perfect recipe for boredom!

My my bed was in a dorm room at the other end of the complex down the hall, so after I elbowed my way through a gaggle of 15 year-old girls and dodged the greying men in their underwear, I found myself unlocking the door to a massive dorm room with space for 50 people. My first thoughts as I entered the room went something like this: "Is that a man or a woman in their underwear changing on the bed next to the door? It must be a man, women tend to wander off to somewhere more private to change."

No sooner had those thoughts passed through my mind and into oblivion, did I hear the person say, "un suk, un suk." Being the linguistic genius that I am, I interpreted that as "one second, one second." Apparently I was wrong in my assumption. I did my best to back out of the room quickly, but succeeded only in bashing into the door and wall, tripping over the step, and struggling to close the door with the loose hinges that fell out of alignment when opened. My retreat was less expeditious. By the time I made in into the hall again with the door close, she muttered something that sounded like she was dressed and it was okay to come back into the dorm room.

Without pausing or looking at the speaker who had chosen the most inappropriate place to be prudish, I crossed the room to the furthest possible bed and began the process of setting up camp for the night. It was only nine o'clock, but my dorm room compatriot was already wrapped up in her bed and was making sounds like maybe she wanted to sleep. I did my best to be quiet, but ramming my large pack into my locker took less finesse and more brute force. I wasn't too tired nor ready for bed, but with my options limited, I set off to find some eats.

After a little wander through the town and a kylling-burger, I was back at the hostel by 11. Again I made an effort to be quiet as I came in and out after brushing my teeth, but, again, the door made skulking around less of a possibility. Finally in bed and rather annoyed I was sharing this huge room fit for 100 people with a person who took the bed right next to the door, I set off to sleep content with myself for my thoughtfulness. Two minutes after I was in bed, she was up and off to the bathroom.