Living Danish

so many bikes!

I've now been in Denmark for over a month- so crazy! Life for me here is definitely a little slower-paced than life at Bucknell (although Danes are definitely in a hurry at times- just look at the bike lanes!); it seems like a different lifetime back when my days and nights were filled past the brim with classes, meetings with professors, various other meetings, giving tours, running club soccer, coaching soccer, intramural games, squeezing in meals, friends, and homework when I had the chance. At Bucknell, I think that sometimes we forget to breathe, and to actually experience life, instead of just making it from one thing to the next.

my train station

Things are different over in Denmark. While I still feel like I'm pretty busy, it's in a different way. I spend about 2 hours commuting into Copenhagen for classes, which is a lot more than the 5-12 minute walk I faced at Bucknell. But, I've grown to love the bus and train ride; it's a great chance to see so many different kinds of people (more about that later), and, it's given me time for one of my passions that is pushed aside while at Bucknell- reading. For fun. My nook has been amazing; it's a device I was whole-heartedly against in the beginning, but it is a traveler's/commuter's best friend.

Aside from the commute, I fill my days with the occasional run with Milo (it's still really cold...), talking and skyping with people from home, trying to figure out what to do with my summer/life (still a work in progress), more reading, watching Danish television and trying to understand the occasional word or two, watching Friends and other American shows, exploring Copenhagen, homework every now and then, and above all, hygge and hanging out with my host family. So, I definitely still feel like my days are full; but it is in a much more fulfilling way. It will be interesting going back into the Bucknell culture in fall. I can't say I'm too excited.

so hyggelich! CDC class,

hot drinks after a cold field study!

There are so many aspects of Danish life that I want to bring home to America. Hygge definitely tops the list; the silly no candle rules at Bucknell will put a slight damper in the plan, but I will work around that. In Denmark, much more so than America, I think people leave work at work, and at home, they are more focused on spending quality time together. This is another concept that I want to bring back home; however, it is very counter-cultural, both at college and in the "real world", so it will be interesting to try to do, if it even is possible at a place like Bucknell. Related to that is the idea of quality time, and the importance of spending time together. It seems like it is the norm, rather than the exception, to have long family dinners together most nights, and dinner parties with friends and family can last for hours without even leaving the table.

Denmark is also very flat, and I don't just mean geographically. The overall structure of society is flat, unlike the hierarchical nature of pretty much everything in American society, from schools and institutions to the corporate world, and everything in between. In Denmark, you call teachers by their first names in school at all levels, and the boss of a company is above the employees in position title only. It's a cool concept, the way they live out democracy and equality, from children to adults, in all areas of life (albeit, there are issues in terms of this equality translating across all races, but that would be another post in itself).

beautiful Nyhavn

I still have almost 3 months left here, but at this point, I don't know if it's a "still" or an "only". Time has been flying by, and if I think about the semester in terms of travels and trips, it seems even shorter. I have just over a week until long study tour to London, and then just a few weeks until travel break, and then just a few weeks until finals- or so it seems, even if the math doesn't add up. It's scary how fast time can fly; I feel like I am just beginning to get a taste of Danish life. But, at the same time, there are people at home that I am really looking forward to seeing again, and I have Nicaragua to look forward to as well. Needless to say, these next three months, I'm sure, will be full of more experience of Danish life and culture, and I am excited to really grow to appreciate this small country for all it is, and to be able to bring it home with me.

Time to study for that Danish test, for a few minutes at least...Hej hej!