I’ve only been here for 5 days…yet it feels like it’s been weeks. To be honest, I feel as if I’ve started to slowly shift from the status of tourist to student. I might be getting ahead of myself, but I find that I look at maps less frequently, no longer get startled when a line of bikes speeds past me, and can count kroner (Danish currency) without getting flustered. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still very obvious that I’m an American, but at the very least, I find myself starting to refer to København as home.
So let’s get the touristy things out of the way- of course, I had to snap photos of the incredible architecture, the picturesque Nyhavn, and take a few selfies with my friends.
Aside from seeing the sights of København, I’ve also begun to experience the subtle differences in the societal norms of Denmark. A few things I’ve learned:
- Denmark is very much a trusting society- when taking the metro (subway), there’s no gate that you have to pass where you insert your ticket. Instead, everyone can easily enter the train, and metro police sporadically ask to see people’s tickets/passes. If they ask you and you don’t have a ticket, you’re fined. I’ve also noticed that many stores don’t have alarms and people often leave their babies outside of the grocery store while they do their shopping. Coming from the U.S., these practices seem unheard of and risky, but here, it’s just normal.
- Denmark is also a society based on equality- at the opening DIS ceremony, it was said that there are no words in the Danish language for sir or madam- there’s just no need to have language that implies a hierarchy. It was also mentioned that the the Danish royal family tries to live a normal life among Danes and can be seen biking and grocery shopping. (Fun fact- the Danish monarchy is older than the English monarchy, so if the Queen of England and Queen of Denmark are getting together, the Queen of England has to bow first). I’ve also noticed that all teachers, professors, even doctors are to be addressed by their first name- again to prevent the implication of any sort of social hierarchy.
- Danes seem to be less friendly- when I say this, I don’t mean to say Danes are unfriendly, but they certainly (for the most part) don’t go out of their way to converse with someone they don’t know. On my first day here, my social and residential adviser (SRA) warned that Danes are generally standoffish at first, are very blunt, and like their personal space. “Don’t be offended if they move away from you on the metro” However, from my experiences thus far, I’ve just taken this to mean that Danes are less outspoken and less overfriendly than Americans. They’re certainly more than willing to help if asked, they just won’t strike up a conversation with a stranger they just met on the metro.
- Bikes- J-walking is kind of a no-no here. Not to say people don’t do it, but it’s not viewed kindly and also harder to do. This is because there’s a vast amount of people use bikes as their form of transportation. The first few times I tried to cross the street, I forgot that there was a biking lane, and stepped off of the sidewalk only to jump back up due to the line of bikers coming at me. Biking is the quickest way to get around the city, and as such, I feel that I have to get one to truly feel Danish. I’m picking mine up tomorrow.
My time here thus far has been great- full of sightseeing, meeting new people, and taking in Danish culture. However, as much as I’ve enjoyed my time here as a tourist, I’m excited for the time to come when I feel like an honorary Dane.
Indtl næste gang!
A Taste of Danish 