"In Denmark"

Danes are proud. "In Denmark..." is probably the most common phrase begun with every sentence.


"In Denmark, we display hearts everywhere in honor of our Queen."



"In Denmark, we grow produce organically and drink water straight from the tap."



"In Denmark, we sometimes cut our own Christmas trees."



"In Denmark, it is cold and as a result so are the people."



"In Denmark, the average person has blue eyes and blonde hair."



"In Denmark, we have buildings older than America. This is the oldest building in Denmark." ...and this is a literal quote.



"In Denmark, 5% of the population are church-goers. We rely on logic, reasoning, and science and neglect emotion and diversity to make sense of the world."



In Denmark, the average Danish Christmas dinner takes a marathon to burn off. And during Christmas dinner and opening presents, we sit in a structural circle and are each given individual time to speak and open gifts, respectively."



"In Denmark, we light our Christmas tree with candles and only light them up for two days: on the 24th eve & 25th. We also hold hands walking around the tree singing Christmas songs on the 24th eve, and we only sing them in Danish even if there are English counterparts for guests to participate. It is, afterall, tradition."



"In Denmark, I had one person who could understand and see that Danes constantly promote Danish things."



"In Denmark, I learned Danish humor from Jeppe's brother, but I also learned that I am not Danish, will never be Danish, and have a long time before I stop questioning Danish customs, traditions, manners or lack of."


Denmark is indeed a great society and at the end of the day, of course I embrace the culture and its people because I appreciate its antagonistic qualities from my own. However, the most I can say is that it is a small country and appears to suffer from the small country inferiority complex.

Christmas in a Jiffy

I've been completely out of touch with my blog over the holidays! Just got back from a week in Copenhagen. As some of you know, I lived in the city for 3 months before and was hoping for a different, perhaps better experience. In ways I was satisfied and in others the question is questionable. The city itself had better spirit and I guess it explains that there are two seasons in which Danes are 'sociable' - the summer and Christmas. Tis true, though to American or Filipino standards they are by far far from it. Apparently it is because I don't get the humour, because meaning is lost in translation, because I am biased or what have you. The countryside and its mindset is another story. Nevertheless there is a mouthful of rave as well as criticism I find with the culture and so continues one of my most problematic dilemmas with a country I both admire and despise. Twas my first Christmas away from home and indeed it was an interesting one. For the sake of some of my Danish readership and in honor of obvious cross-cultural complexities, I will leave it at that. I am, however, quite bullheaded about the topic so if it ever comes up, more than a paragraph of words should surely arise. Just ask. Will be posting pictures soon from the trip, most of which will portray the more transparent backdrop of my experience.