1. I want to go back in time and grow up as a young Danish child, one piece snowsuit (cutest and most practical thing ever!) and all
2. Forest kindergartens are ridiculous...and amazing!
3. Handball should be the new national sport of the USA- it has everything Americans could want- two 30 minute halves for our short attention spans, a lot of goals (25-30 per team, per game seems pretty standard), its fair share of aggression, and few stops in play. (sidenote: Denmark just came in second in the world championships!! It was SO exciting, but disappointing we didn't win. Still, second in the world is pretty darn good for a country of 5.5 million people, which is just under the population of the state of Maryland, for comparison)
4. Scarves are the best, and most necessary, accessory to any outfit. The bigger, the better is a rule that often works for this item of clothing.
5. Hygge. enough said
6. It is very difficult to play soccer on an old, frozen turf field. I am playing for a team here (DIS has a partnership with ØKF, a Danish club), and we are playing outside. Unfortuantely, we play on a pretty old turf field, slightly above mini-golf grade, with a sand base- so, when it rains, the water goes into the base and freezes. This means that cleats do not get any traction, and planting/cutting feels like trying to change directions on a frozen pond. But, it was fun none the less...I definitely have missed competitive soccer.
7. You appreciate the sun much more when you rarely see it.
8. Danish is HARD. You probably pronounce as many letters as are silent, and there is no telling how a word might be pronounced. This could just be me being new at the language, but it is VERY difficult to speak. There is an r sound that comes from deep in the throat- it is kind of like throwing up when you (try to) say it, in terms of the mouth/facial movements. But really. Haha.
9. Not every single Dane is tall and blonde (many are, however)
10. I am grateful for the phrase "excuse me". There is no equivalent for this phrase in Danish; there is "undskyld", which means "i'm sorry", but it isn't used in the same way- when people need to get by others on the train/bus, it is normal for Danes to make a noise, jiggle their bag, or just sort of push through.
10. I am grateful for the phrase "excuse me". There is no equivalent for this phrase in Danish; there is "undskyld", which means "i'm sorry", but it isn't used in the same way- when people need to get by others on the train/bus, it is normal for Danes to make a noise, jiggle their bag, or just sort of push through.
That's it for now, more updates to come!
6. FWIW, there's special soccer cleats used for the artificial surfaces/sand courts like the ones trained on during the Danish winter.
ReplyDeleteThey have much smaller knobs than regular grass soccer cleats, but more of them.
In Danish they are called "grusbanestøvler", like these http://www.mmsport.dk/group_new.php?id=522,1101