Could I Be?

I've been blessed with the opportunity to travel to several countries around the world. Despite my best efforts, I have been repeated reminded that I am an outsider. The language barriers I faced in Mexico and Italy, despite the fact that I studied both of those languages in school. The red carpet treatment that I received in Romania simply because I was an American. The immediate recognition by the Brits that I was an American since I was inadvertently wearing jeans and "trainers" (sneakers). The quiet chant of "white people" by Jamaican kindergartners when they streamed out of school at recess. So while I planned to be respectful of Danish culture, I knew I would stick out like a sore thumb. As I was packing, I debated if I should take my Carolina trucker hat or my camouflage Carolina hat. "Do they even know what camouflage is?" my wife asked me. The answer: yes, they know it and they wear it.

What was a big surprise to me was how comfortable I felt amongst the Danish people. I guess I had this image of the stereotypical Scandinavian: tall, blond, flawless skin. And while those people were there--and surprisingly over-represented in service workers at the Copenhagen airport--there were a lot of people that looked like me: brown hair, fair skin, rosy cheeks. These were my people. My heritage may be 100% English, but a student of British history may know that a strong Danish influence came with the Jute invasions of the 4th and 5th centuries.

I've previously mentioned how English-friendly Denmark is and how I encountered the smallest language barrier that I have ever experienced in a foreign country (I can't explain how hard it is to decipher some of the accents in Britain.) But my favorite language moments were when I approached a sales counter and the clerk began speaking to me in Danish. Could I pass?

Very Danish. Dressy casual. The bike = #1 Danish accessary.

More Danes. Drinking an American Coca-Cola. (Side note: I was not a fan of the Danish version of Coke. Not enough carbonation.)

Dane? Oh no, that's me.

Me and the Little Mermaid. How much more Danish can I get? Umbrella = #2 Danish accessory.

More Danes

Professional Dane

The decision = trucker hat. Notice the lack of blue parka for me and Lindsay--hard-core Danish.

Leading my people

Danish kids. Please note the camouflage pants. Yes, they're camo man-pris.

More Danes. My female colleagues noted that this appeared to be the official teen girl wardrobe: black tights worn under shorts or a skirt. I believe that this is simply recognition that this country is too cold for warm weather attire.

Danish man in tunnel.

Danish man in tunnel?

Okay, I may be comfortable around these folks. But I'm only visiting in the summer.

Toes in the Sand

6-21-12

One of my goals for the trip was to make it to the beach. I accomplished that goal during our visit to Sweden. We captured a gorgeous sunset and visited one of the most interesting places of the trip.

After we got as many beach shots as we could, we ventured out to the end of this pier. As I've previously noted, everything closes up pretty early and this appeared no different. But one of the employees opened the door and told us we could have a look around. We walked into a restaurant and then out the back door, which opened up into a large quantity of changing rooms surrounding two "pools" in the water. After we wandered around for awhile, the employee came out and told us he could explain what we were seeing. His name was Simon, and he was working at the facility for the summer. The business was basically a swim club, and it was divided into separate sides for men and women. The members show up, strip down, and basically hang around naked. Not much swimming actually goes on, since the water stays pretty chilly year round. Instead, most of the customers hang out in the wet and dry saunas. (Yes, I actually got to see a sauna in Sweden!) To my complete surprise, the swim club stays open year round--they even break up the ice for people to take quick dips in the winter. When it is cold enough for the ocean to ice over, I think it's way too cold to be in the water...or near the water...or even outside...or next to a window.

Changing room

The most interesting part of our visit to the swim club was the conversation with Simon. It was really interesting to hear a Swedish perspective after spending a week in Copenhagen. Living in such an insulated location as North Carolina, I have a hard time imaging the cross-cultural interactions between the two nations. While I realize that European nations are smaller and closer together than those on this side of the Atlantic, it still surprises me how quickly you can be in a completely different country. And of course, as I have learned from the Texas-Mexico border, there is a lot more interaction across the borders than you would think.

I do find the efforts to create the Oresund mega-region to be truly innovative. These two places with distinct cultures, histories, languages, and politics are trying to merge their interests in order to become more globally significant. The irony of the situation is that the two regions were once under the same crown--the Scania region of Sweden where Malmo lies was part of the Danish kingdom until the 17th century. I did enjoy finding the differences between the Swedish and Danish cultures. Sweden was much more ethnically diverse. At the restaurant, none of the workers were ethnically Swedish--our waitress was of Turkish descent and the cook was Asian. One of our cab drivers was Middle Eastern. The people in Sweden were more stylish, more "put-together." Yet, Copenhagen felt significantly more cosmopolitan and better-maintained than Malmo. And my favorite difference: the food portions in Sweden were bigger. We also learned that we came one day before one of the biggest celebrations of the year: the Swedish Midsummer. Apparently, everything shuts down--every business, every restaurant. In fact, the restaurant we ate dinner at was one of the few that would be open, and every reservation had been booked for weeks.

When we learned at our orientation in April that we might get a chance to visit Sweden, we were all excited. Even though we only spent one evening in Malmo and pretty much everything was closed while we were there, it really was one of the highlights of the trip.

I guess this is my "Little Mermaid" pose.