Field Trip to School

Today I got to go visit my Danish brother Sebastian’s school and it was probably the coolest experience I’ve had so far in Denmark. The Ruderdal Lilleskol located outside Copenhagen in a town called Holte is very different from any schooling experience I’ve ever heard of in America. Both Danish tradition and the mission statement of Ruderdal hope to foster independence, creativity, and a unique learning experience for their students. 9 teachers and 55 students make up this small schooling community. With a little kitchen where the kids at any point can go make themselves a sandwich or a cup of tea, intimate classroom settings, and familial type relationships between the teachers and students make Ruderdal a really cool learning environment. My friend Ezra joined me to spend the afternoon with Sebastian’s class talking with them about everything from American incarceration, to our drinking age, and the upcoming election. I have never met a group of 14 year olds so inquisitive and eager to learn about a country. Some students were very knowledgeable about different aspects of American life such as the NBA or the presidential candidates. But even the things they were unsure of they certainly weren’t afraid to ask about. We fielded questions such as, “Why does it matter that Mitt Romney is a Mormon?” “Do Americans really argue over abortion?” “What is it like when people go on dates in America?” “Do people really wait until they’re 21 to drink?”

Some of these questions really stumped us. First of all, considering our Danish is a little sub par and these students haven’t been studying English for very long, the teachers were kind enough to translate a few key points. But really the most difficult part of the whole experience was attempting to defend a culture that is so foreign to these young people. Growing up in a secular, welfare state-system, and extremely tolerant country, our young Danish friends were shocked to hear that our friend Mitt would dare to assert that citizens aren’t entitled to food, housing, and healthcare. (all things Danes enjoy free of charge)

Let me just say discussing the election in Denmark is a breeze for this liberal gal as practically no one in this country supports the conservative stance in America. Even the conservative parties in Denmark parallel Moderate Americans at best (conservative Danes would most certainly be considered liberal by American standards). With religion on the bottom tier of priorities, and an average tax of 50% of your total income, most Danes have zero sympathy for the American republican party…and that’s putting it nicely.

It was so cool to meet these young Danes, hear the questions they had about America, and leave with all of them shaking our hands and thanking us for coming to their school, despite the fact that we tried repeatedly to explain the reasoning behind the electoral college to no avail….c’est la vie?

Despite some extremely negative connotations the Danes have with American politics, in general most Danes are very interested and positive towards meeting Americans and American culture. It is very common for Danes to visit the United States and their lack off sympathy towards our religious values and capitalist tendencies stems far more from a disjunction of fundamental beliefs far more than any feelings of distaste or superiority to America. We had a lovely afternoon with extremely interesting conversations, no ill will from anyone, truly. Our cultures are just so different it is impossible to discuss without getting looks of total confusion from our Danish counterparts.

Words cannot describe how cool this experience was. Ezra and I left the school a little speechless as to the tact and interest of these youngsters. But also quite flattered they thought two American sociology students were cool enough to spend an afternoon with.

As always, the day ended with food. Coffee and dinner with my Danish mommy (who I’ve actually started calling Mommy, no lie). Being able to really sit down and compare fundamental cultural differences with her has been the coolest experience. I’m always left questioning my cultural norms and contrasting ways in which each of our respective countries has perhaps done something better than the other. I’m definitely going to take home some Danish customs although I think letting my children nap outside on the street will not be one of them J

Tea in the kitchen!

we enjoyed playing teacher

Just watchin our friend Mitt's most recent commentary on the poor...

dance dance dance

gang's all here

cawfee tawlk with mom

　

All of the Lights, All of the Lights

In preparation for the coming months of darkness, Ben was kind enough to show us the third floor of a famous Danish department store that is just full of lights!! Due to the Danish weather and lack of sunlight in the winter months, (the month of December gets 45 hours of sunlight total) the Danes love their light fixtures. I probably should have included this face in my post about being Danish, consider it an addition. But thanks to this discovery when it’s December and we only get an hour of sunlight a day we can take field trips to the department store and trot amongst the lights a pretend the sun is shining!

Here’s some pictures from the excursion!!

is it a snowflake? a bon bon? a stallagtite? stallagmite?

who cares its art?!

what excellent closet lighting--and it's only a couple thousand dollars!!

 is somethin funny, Jenny?

 

so many lamps...

most hipster picture I've ever taken...

Upcoming events: This Wednesday I’m going to my Danish brother’s high school to talk to his English class! Super excited about that! Then Lindsay is coming to visit me this weekend!! So some touristy things are probably on the menu!

You Might Danish if...

(note: I didn't take a single of these photos)

1. You look like this:

 

Or this....

 

Danish people are gorgeous. Mostly (but not exclusively) tall, blonde, and perfect in every way. And even the short brunette one’s are perfect looking. I don’t know if it’s the crisp air but there is some Nordic predisposition to gorgeousness and the Danish have it in spades. It is shocking to me to see some of them just walking down the street going to work at a café when they are so lovely to behold. I wonder if Tyra Banks has traveled here? She would go ham…

2. You dress/wear your hair like this:

Danish style is very plain but extremely trendy. Lots of black and solid colors. But most important beyond the clothes is…THE TOP KNOT.

It is way populr here and almost all girls are rockin’ the top knot. My true American comes out as I am just incapable of make my top knots presentable ever. There might be no hope for me...*sigh.

　

3. You travel everywhere by bicycle.

The Danes (especially in Copenhagen) are very green and love to bike! They of course bike in their chic black ensembles and do not usually wear helmets, quite possibly because it is so hard to wear a helmet with a top knot and still look attractive so obviously the helmet has to go.

Have kids? NO WORRIES, they can ride in “front car” type contraption like this:

 

Something as silly as parenthood isn't going to prevent a Dane from getting on that bike! And neither is the weather, the Danish bike in all weather short of the apocalypse. Rain? Snow? Sleet? All is no match for the machine that is the bicycle.

 

4. Your children are as beautiful as you are.

Danish children are adorable, well behaved, and have styles on par with that of their parents. I’m so surprised there aren’t more kidnappings here solely based on the cuteness factor of these little tykes. Not to mention the totally normal child rearing practice discussed earlier (refer to previous post "Welp Denmark is Different") of letting your child chill, or nap, outside and on the street.

5. You push your gorgeous children around in a bassinette.

These are so popular it’s not even funny. And they are nice and spacious so if you borrow (or kidnap) another child they will fit in the bassinette too!!



6. You find it socially unacceptable to talk to people you don‘t know.

Whether you’re at the grocery store, the Tivoli (an amusement park), the pharmacy, what have you, you do not talk to people in line just to exchange pleasantries. If you don’t know someone you don’t talk to them. The Danes find it weird.

BUT

7. You find it totally socially acceptable to stand right up against someone on public transportation.

You would never talk to this person but it’s entirely possible their armpit will be in your face on the metro.

8. You bake your own bread.

 

All my hallmates bake their own bread. It's cheaper and healthier and makes the entire floor smell delicious.

9. You refer to any sort of string-like accessory as a "strap".

Be it a belt, headband, garter, purse handle, shoe lace, draw string, tie, string like collar, chain, necklace, hair tie, sandal back, resistance bands, ribbon, or clothing-fastening type lace--it's a strap.

10. (and last but not least) You're obsessed with 90s American Television.

Friends, Fresh Prince, Beverly Hills 90210, Days of Our Lives, Sex and the City--all fan favs and still popular over here. I have Danish friends that quote Friends episodes as if they were yesterday's newest episode of True Blood. Anyone who said the 90s died needs to come to Copenhagen.


Well I would say I fulfill more than have of these pre-requisites to Dane-dom. Think I could get partial recognition as a Dane? I was mistaken for a Dane once at a candied almond stand--perhaps I'm becoming more Euro/cosmopolitan as I live here. One can only hope!! I hope you enjoyed my quirky interpretation of the Danish. The bottom line is of course that I am ridiculously jealous of the Danish people and getting mistaken for being Danish (even if it was just once at the nut-stand) has been the highlight of my month!

　

SWEDEN

 

This past weekend I took a trip with the entire Sociology dept to Sweden!! We spent time in Malmo and Goteborg and some areas in between! Some highlights of the trip include:

-Traveling in a double-decker Malmo Redhawks Bus and being mistaken on many occasions for the Swedish hockey team. I’m sure many Swedes were exceedingly disappointed to see our bus pull up and then watch 50 American college students emerge.

-Watching two extremely depressing, but sociologically poignant, films with a middle eastern connection and then our professor responded, “And the moral of the story is love cannot exist in a world of multiculturalism.” He was kidding…but still…

-Boat Tour and the International Museum of World Cultures (so fascinating) in Goteborg!

-Dinner and drinks with the dept. in downtown Goteborg!

- Hiking and Kayaking in the woods of Sweden on the last day and a delicious lunch of meatballs after getting off the water and out of the woods! So fun!!

That was the three days really concise but most of the time was spent traveling. Swedish people are GORGEOUS, not that Danish people are anything harsh to look at, but the tall blonde Swedes are really intimidating. And they are so friendly! Everyone we encountered was interested to talk to us and we had a great time getting to know some of the locals. Unfortunately I didn’t see much “traditional” Sweden, windmills and all that, but the country was beautiful and the scenery was breathtaking and I’m hoping to go back as Malmo is only a 20 minute ferry ride from Copenhagen!

 

 

 Some in action wind energy as we crossed the bridge over to Sweden!

 

 A slightly more traditional windmill

Downtown Malmo

Piece at the Museum of World Cultures (full photo album on my facebook)

Exhibit at the Museum on being a bystander during conflict, quite interesting.

 

Friends! (from left: Ben, Adam, Me, Kris, Jenny)

get all the sociologists together with some free food and drinks...who knows where the night will go.

Downtown Goteborg

 

In the country where we hiked and kayaked and ate delicious meatballs!!

 

Highlights in the next few weeks: This Wednesday I'm visiting the Danish Embassy for my US-EU relations class, friend from home Lindsay coming to visit for the weekend and then I head to Munich, Prague and Berlin during my week off from school for fall break! Can't wait! Stay tuned!

The Most Hipster Afternoon I've Ever Had

A friend took me to a John Cage memorial production of his 4’33 symphony for his 100th birthday (or anniversary of his birth as he is dead). John Cage was an American composer who had a huge influence on music and the philosophy of music in Denmark. As per usual I, the American, had never heard of him and my Danish counterparts were extrememly disappointed. (oops). The 4'33 symphony is four minutes and thirty three seconds of nothing at all because no instruments can be played and instead one listens to what is going on around them and the hustle and bustle of the city becomes the symphony. So I spent a collective 5 or 6 minutes in silence on a bridge in the middle of Copenhagen in memory of a clearly eccentric American compose whom I've never head of....I have to say it was pretty cool. The “concert” was on a bridge and then inside one of the bridge towers were all these really cool sound exhibits. And then, in the Danish tradition, there was food and beer. Lots of fun! I need more hipster friends…

Some "kitten grafiti" pretty popular in Denmark, you just knit around things in public places.

"Hear the Art"

View from the top of the bridge tower, yay CPH!

 

A Simple Saturday

Today we went to a street festival on the pedestrian street, Stroget! We got some delicious candied almonds from a little nut stand and walked around. There were lots of little artisan stands and food and music playing, it was really fun! Then we met up with some friends at a café and walked around some more it was a perfect day! It is a little sad that these nice sunny days will be coming to an end here soon, but all the more reason to enjoy it while it lasts!

I have also started biking which is amazing!! A ten minute bike ride versus at 35 min walk/metro trip to school is a pretty easy choice. My bike (his name is Carl) is great! Hopefully I can go back to the bike shop on Monday and get a basket, they didn’t have any left when I picked my bike up on Thursday. The bike lanes are so well developed her in Copenhagen, I’ve heard New York City officials are looking to the Copenhagen model for bike lanes in the states. This doesn’t surprise me at all as the bike lanes here are extremely safe and efficient with their own turn lanes and traffic lights, it’s awesome! And biking is a great way to both get to know and see a lot of the city, I’ve really enjoyed it and am looking forward to having more of the city at my disposal now that I have a quick mode of transportation!

Next week is core course week so I will be spending all my time with the Sociology majors and we are taking a 3 day trip to Sweden! (I think to counter-balance the sociological overload they’re giving us a trip to make the week sound more fun.) But we will be traveling around site seeing the first two days and on the third doing a hiking, kayaking, picnic day in Swedish nature, it should be really fun and I’ll be sure to bring the camera!

50th Anniversary Stroget Festival!

candied almonds...yum.

coolest hair ties I've ever seen

little wire tree sculptures (one of the artisan stands)

Everybody's on the stroget!

oink oink

caffen-it (the verb construction or act of being at a cafe)

Please meet, Carl! My beautiful bike, it's love.