Hello, so as many of you all may have already guessed, Denmark and Danish culture contrast from that of American culture and my African-American culture in many ways. I am going to take this time to express some of these differences that I have noticed so far.
To begin, there is a great emphasis on family, equality, and environmentalism in Denmark that is very different from what I am used to from home. My host-family which consist of a host-mother (Kirsten mum, 47 years), a father (Jens dad, 50), a host-sister (Nikoline girl, 16 years), and a host-brother (Asbjørn (boy, 13)। years), spend almost all of their free time together at home with one another doing things like playing soccer, watching selected television shows on Sunday (I thought this was really cool), or sitting around the dinner table talking about various subjects, which mainly include daily encounters or just how their day went in general. As I soon became a part of their family, which the welcomed me with welcome arms and always went beyond to make me feel comfortable, I quickly became a part of this family tradition. I was amazed at how welcoming they actually were and how much the family trusted me and my beliefs. Just yesterday was the second time that Jens took one of his children and I to get some ice cream and this was something that my own father has never done for me. With this said, they are extremely family orientated like most Danish families and I am very appreciative that they have made it obvious that they want to include me into their family dynamic.
As my family is very nice and welcoming, most Danes are this way as well. I find it very easy to approach a Dane and to ask them for directions because I am often a lost tourist stumbling about the city of Copenhagen because while English is spoken in Denmark, most of the street signs and things of that nature are in Danish!!!! I am comfortable here because I feel safe because they are so friendly and welcoming. However, something that shocked me was the fact that being friendly is a social norm, it is very uncommon to hear a Danish person say sorry, thank you, or excuse me and I found that a bit contradicting. I am used to using these phrases frequently and I am not sure if I am supposed to assimilate to this social norm or if it is rude to remain loyal to those that I am accustomed to from home???
Lastly, the food here is VERY different. To begin with, everything is written in Danish, and while I have taken a four hour survival Danish course I don't know what anything is!!!!! With this said, I find myself trying a lot of new things that I would not try at home. I am proud of myself and I actually feel accomplished as a result of this because this is something that I would never do at home. I have had lamb, spaghetti noodles with some sort of homemade Fettuccine alfredo sauce and small pieces of bacon (it was great!), and some really strange lunch meats. lol. Food is an essential aspect of Danish culture and dinner time is extremely imperative to the structure of the families here. My host family wishes for me to be home for dinner by 6:30 pm and to actually sit at the dinner table and converse about my day, interesting topics, differences and similarities in Danish and American culture, politics and sports. I have never done this and it is something that is novel to me in many ways. However, I really like this experience and I am striving to cherish this opportunity of experiencing the Danish culture. Until next time....
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