Things I am learning about Danish everyday life

Well, I have been holding off to do this blog. It is a blog of my observations. What I mean is, when I travel, one of my favorite things is observing different cultures. And, I felt compelled to wait so that I can get a "good understanding" of what I was writing about. That being said, I do still feel "ignorant", as I do continue to learn about these different cultures. But, I am trying to be objective... this list will, no doubt grow.

Free Health Care
So, I went to the doctor for the first time yesterday. Once I got my CPR (which is equivalent to my SSN) and was made legal, I am now able to take advantage of free health care. So, I called to make an appointment and found that no appointment was necessary. But, my "assigned" doctors hours were from 10-11:30am, nice hours, huh? I had to wait about 20 minutes, which in the States, is actually not a long time.

Fashion
So, I am loving the fashion here... for the most part. I mean, it is H&M-inspired, is the best way to really put it. However, there are some intense 80's influences, which is fine... in small amounts, not all at one time. I have seen a literal Madonna video walking down the street. And, not Hard Candy Madonna-era, think Material Girl Madonna-era. Kinda interesting. Here are some things that are very popular with women's fashion: leggings, Chuck Norris high tops, scarfs, cute dresses- 80's inspired, ballet shoes (gold & silver), light makeup (except for the Goth-types), lots of tats, jellies, capris.

Taxes
Well, that "free" health care has to get paid for somehow, right? Oh and did I mention, you get free schooling here...all the way through college. And, in college you can even get a stipend for living. A lot of people here have Master's degrees, well... because they can. The Danes are taxed 43%-65% of their salaries. Which, by most standards, is pretty high. If you wanted to get a car, which would be imported, expect to pay 180% of the cost of the car. Anything imported is highly taxed. For example, a 75ml bottle of Bacardi set me back $35! Are you kidding me?! So, the key to the food is to buy Danish products. They are very proud of them, which is cool. Just look for something with the Danish flag on it.

Relationships
The views on relationships are very progressive & liberal here. It is actually, very refreshing, in most cases. The coolest thing is that everything really does revolve around the family. Family is the most important thing and family/friend time is what people here really live for. On any given day, you see families at the park, going for walks, grabbing a bite to eat. You don't work past 5pm (most people) because it takes away from family time.
It is VERY common to have babies young. A lot of people forgo getting married and just start their family. The women would get a 1 year (in Sweden, it is 2 years) leave and the husband 6 months (in Sweden it is 1year). So, it is very common to have couples with more than 1 kid, who aren't married and do not intend to marry. Marriage isn't really a big deal to them. We have one friend whose parents have been together over 30 years and they JUST got married!

The Gym
The gym here is interesting. I mean, it is a nice gym... very gray & red. It kind of reminds me of the Dodgeball gym... the one from Ben Stiller's camp. But, not quite as shiny and without the use of the cup. A lot of people wear flip flops & jeans to work out...which, is different than the US. The Danes are very big into getting their exercise and do make sure that they hit the gym on top of walking/biking everywhere. It is also very common to see a mother, with her baby in the stroller next to her, working out. They provide several pregnancy classes & post-pregnancy classes.
Oh and for spinning, the provide the spinning shoes for you. Gross! I have my own... no thank you to sharing other people's feet sweat. And, the particular gym we go to have a boxing ring. I finally got my nerve to go to a class and they stopped them for the summer, because everyone goes on Holiday for about 6 weeks.

Alcohol
Ok, this might be one of the most shocking ones for me. You can drink any where, any time, any place. Yesterday, I was coming home from the market, 10am... there were two construction workers taking a break, on the street, beer in hand. But, it is nice... yesterday the weather was amazing, so we went to the park & had a bottle of wine. It is just weird to go to a concert (John Mayer) and people walking up with 6 packs of beer to drink before they head into the concert. It is very casual. And, the drinking age is 18, but they don't really check.

Food
So, of course I HAVE to talk about food. There is really so much to say, so I will try and keep it as concise as possible. So, as I mentioned before, the best fruits & vegetables are those from Denmark. They do have an organic mark, called okologisk. However, even on their "conventional" items a lot less pesticides are used. Things that they grow here: Strawberries (the BEST I have ever had in my life), tomatoes, peppers (although, not hot), herbs, POTATOES (especially small, new), lettuces, onion, berries, apples.
As for protein... they eat a lot of chicken. However, the do not allow pesticides and such in their meats. And, the taste proves it. I know it is weird, but the chicken tastes so much better, no sulfurous after taste. They also do eat a lot of pork with pork farming as one of their industries. I did, yesterday, find this little gourmet store around the corner. It serves Danish wild boar meat, the only place in Denmark to do so. So, I bought some Danish, wild boar bacon. This place is really cool and I am thinking of staging there. They process & butcher all their own products. Everything in the store is organic & the cater.
Of course, there is fish or fisk. Since we are in the nordic region of the country and basically surrounded by water, fish is a staple. From pickled herring, which some prepartions aren't too bad. To squeezable fish paste you eat on crackers (I did try it, but no thank you!), fish is everywhere. Of course, salmon is huge & shrimp.
Bakeries are on every corner. We go to the organic bakery about 2-3 times a week. It is kind of ironic, as I ride my bike to the gym, I pass no less than 5 bakeries. And, in the morning, you can smell it... hmmm.
Finally, they do eat a lot of butter, eggs, milk. Of course, a lot of coffee & wine. Usually, dinner or a meal is finished with a cigarette. Every public place is smoke free. However, right outside the door is not, so you do smell it a lot more.

The People & Language
The people are generally a very beautiful people. They are very tall. And, yes, a lot of blonde hair and blue eyed beauties. But, there is also some diversity here, which is always good.. in my book. An interesting pheonomenon, is there is quite a few Thai women who marry Danish men. The men fancy the Thai women, but I don't yet know the history on that. So, it is very common to see that combination.
The nice thing is that most people do speak English. Danish is an odd language and has some weird pronunciations. If I read something and pronounce it the way that I would with English, they don't understand it because their pronunciation is very different. So, when they talk to you in Danish, just answer in English. That being said, I am slowly picking up the language and hope to start a class (which, is free!) soon!

Well, there will be more observations. And, keep in mind, that is what they are...just observations. I don't claim to know this culture yet, but being submersed has definitely made me open my eyes to new things. It is a constant sensory stimulus with new sights, sounds and experiences every day. Most days, it is a good thing... but, there are days (esp. when it rains) when I long for more convience of the US.
However, I am learning with that convience, comes a price... and, it is appearing to be a price on our waistlines, health and earth. I hope that I bring back with me the learnings of how non-wasteful they are here. I love how don't HAVE to use a car everywhere I go.. in fact, I don't at all. That being said, in Austin, it really ISN'T bike friendly so that we can ride our bikes everywhere..yet. We are getting better with public transporation, but we aren't there yet. It is refreshing to see a society who practices what they preach and not because it is the trendy thing to do. I still have a lot to learn on that subject, but what I am learning is eye opening. They do have a direct interest in learning about the environment, because it is currently affecting them. There are no air conditioners here and with temperature continuing to rise over the past 10 years, due to global warming, it is a major concern.
Anywhoo.. no 4th of July here... So, I wish you all a HAPPY 4th of July! I wish I could be there with my friends and family and pues con unos fiestas y cervezas! I miss you all terribly and I can't wait to see you at the end of July!

Stockholm, Sweden

So, jump back a few weekends ago... and yes, we went to Stockholm. We headed out to Stockholm Saturday via train. We had a bit of a bus layover so we got to explore Malmo, a small city in Sweden. Very cute city.. and that is where I did it... Yes, folks, I ate at Burger King! But, let me explain! We were in a rush back to the train station and needed something fast.. Mike decided that he would eat his turkey sandwich that had been sitting in the food bacterial danger zone far too long for my liking (yes, I know, I am a dork). He went for the sandwich, I went for a grilled chicken sandwich with a diet coke (that set us back $10!). Ok, not important... anyways, we arrived at the hotel in Stockholm only to change and head back out. You see, I had made reservations at Marcus Sammuelson's restaurant, Aquavit. There is also one in NY, but I have not been to that one... and he is from Sweden, so why not eat there?! The food was phenomenal!

So, I must describe the highlights...
- Our drinks ..made from house-infused aquavit. Mike had a raspberry pepper drink that was just so different, it was sensational. Mine was good, but just traditional pink cosmo. This is an aquavit that was being infused by our table-- Mango Jalapeno

- Apps- I had caviar with creme fraiche. I am normally not a caviar person, but we are in Sweden and at Aquavit. So, I had to order it form their raw bar. It didn't disappoint with a delicate salty flavor and paired well with the creme fraiche & onions. Mike ordered a smoked salmon and avocado club, which was just awesome!

- Dinner- So, Mike wins this hands down! I will quickly tell you... mine was a seared Salmon (I know, cliche) with lemon compote. Good but.. Mike, he ordered a Veal Chop. It was the BEST veal chop I have ever put in my mouth. It was so tender, seared on the outside and literally.. fork tender. It was ridiculous. We cleaned every last scrap of that chop.

- Dessert was pretty uneventful. Not worth writing about.

After Aquavit, we went to the Ice Bar. This bar is cool (pun intended) that is kept at 5 degrees. The bar, the seats, the glasses, the tables are ALL made of ice. Pretty cool, what is not cool are these large jackets and gloves you have to wear. I felt like Missy Elliot in her video. But, whatever... it did keep us warm!

The rest of the time we did a lot of sight seeing. We got to see an old ship at the Vasa Museam that had sunk for 333 years and they brought it back up and restored it. We walked through various parts of Sweden and made sure that we hit the motherland H&M!

I do need to mention my one meal, courstesy of Anthony Bourdain's show- No Reservations. In Sweden, he gets this concoction wrapped in a wrap, of sorts. It is filled with two hot dogs, shrimp mayo, mashed potatoes, relish, lettuce, tomato and onion. Swedish street food... uh, I ate it. It was interesting and lets just put it this way, I am not running back to Sweden to get another. Here I am before I took the plunge, I wasn't so happy afterwards!

Mid Summer's Night- Burning of the Witches

So, last night, we went out to the coast to observe a most interesting "holiday" here in Denmark. It is called Mid-Summer Nights. It is the time of the year that is longest day of sunlight... so, just to let you know, the sun isn't down here until about 10:30pm and rises at about 4-4:30am. So, this is the time of the year that the sun is out the longest. It was out until about 11pm (ish). Bierger and his family were kind enough to have us over for a traditional Danish meal and wine. We all headed out to the beach, which was just a few kilometers away. Here is a witch, pre-burn, mind you it is about 10:30pm (and you can see Sweden off in the distance!).

This is for the summer, the winter tells a completely different story with about 4-6 hrs of sunlight. Dating back to the days of the witch hunt, they would burn the witches that they found on this day. They would burn them at the beach and out on the water. While the witches were burning (and, their souls going to some mountain in Germany), they would sing and make a lot of noise so as to scare off their souls. This tradition has turned into burning bonfires on the beach, have drinks & celebrating with friends and family.

It is said that Sweden & Finland also celebrate this holiday much differently. They start drinking, very heavily and basically don't stop all weekend. It has gotten quite dangerous, with many deaths to due alcohol poisoning and fights. So, I am kind of glad that we can just hang on the beach and chill.
Well, kids...more to come! ;)

Like Learning to Ride a Bike, Again.

So, things are definintely new for me. I mean, I am now a resident of Denmark. Well, not a resident, yet... I am in the process of getting my "number", so I can become a resident. The good thing is that since I will be a resident, I will be able to participate in the free health care that this country offers. Along with that, if I work, I too will be taxed 50% of my earnings. And, if we want a car, it will be taxed at 180% of its value. Not bad, huh?! Well, we so far have not gotten cars and are relying on public transportation. Which brings me to my next point of my "new car", also known as my bike. I have named her Mathilde (Danish spelling) because, it is such a cute name! I love that name!

Oh the stories of my bike... and I have only been here about a week and a half. Well, it is cute little bike... light blue with a silver basket. So far, I have run into 2 parked cars, run into a man on a bike with his kid and, oh... today, I had one hell of a time learning to balance my groceries (& a few things from H&M) on my bike along with myself. If I wasn't me, I would have been laughing. But, it how everyone gets around here, so I have to learn. I have just learned that trying to learn to ride a bike in the city is NOTHING like riding my road bike, nothing at all. That being said, the city is VERY good to bikers. We get our own roads and the right of way, even to pedestrians. That is encouraging, because I would hate to take out one of them... I guess I shouldn't talk too soon, I still have a lot of time left here. ;)

As for our apartment, I really like it. It is really cute and it looks like Ikea threw up all over it. But, that is not such a bad thing, I like Ikea. We have a LOT of really large windows, which over look a cute cobblestone street (which, by the way, doesn't feel good when you are riding your bike).

Here is our dining Room-- Cute, minus the Burnt Orange chairs, I would prefer they be Maroon!
And, here is our living room:

Oh and the bottom floor, there is a French wine bar called Figaro. We know Julien, the owner, by name and they have phenomenal foie gras and wine! Back to the apt, the kitchen is quite quaint with the regular amenitites. However, our fridge is pretty tiny.... which is fine because I am pretty much grocery shopping every day for our meals. Today, I found this amazing little butcher shop downtown. Lets just say another thing I have to learn is the kg=pound conversions, but that is another story....

So, as far as food goes around here... we eat a LOT of salmon. Whether gravlax, bake, roasted... lots of salmon. Also, strawberries are huge here. It is strawberry season in Denmark and let me just tell you, they are the best strawberries I have ever had. They are very little and grown here. They are so freaking sweet with so much flavor. I have eaten them everyday. We also eat a lot of the little potatoes, dill, creme fraiche, yogurt, cheese, etc.

The Danes LOVE their ice cream. They call this one American-sized. I have NEVER seen an ice cream cone this big in America. I need to learn the Danish way of eating it because I made a mess and only got to eat about 10% of it and lost my flodeboller!

Here are the Danish version of the dirty water hot dogs, but they are actually good here with may renditions, including a bacon-wrapped one! I just got the traditional toppings to include curry mayo, dried onion and pickles. It was gooood!

The beach, Hornbeck... what a great time. We went there the weekend I got in (2 weekends ago), it was a great way to help get over jet lag. It was just perfect with a slight breeze at about 70-75 degrees. The water was cold, though! But, in the distance, you could see Sweden. And, lets just say.. I.. uh, kinda forgot what a European beach was all about. Haha...

Another national past time here is picnicing and hanging out at the park! We went to a movie in the park with our good friends Alisha & Jannik! They were showing American Gangsters, of all things... Mike is lounging as we chilled and watched the movie in the park, beer in hand...

Here we are at the park by our apt, Faelledparken. This is at the Free Trade Music Festival that we attended!

More to come, kids... I have to go run over someone as I grab something for dinner... if you are in Osterboro in Kobenhavn, I urge you to stay off the streets!