I have now been in Copenhagen for about 2 ½ days now and I have never felt so comfortable in a new place so fast. The Danes have been so welcoming (in there own, uniquely Danish way, but I’ll get to that later). I have been so astounded by everything around me. I have never even been to Europe so this is all so new. I’ve already done so much and eaten so much good food (like the hotdog from a street cart pictured here that I was told was a MUST and it definitely was).
I am extremely lucky that I am taking Cross-Cultural Psychology while I am here because I’ve already learned so much about the Danish culture and the underlying cultural beliefs and history that shapes their behavior. The more I learn about the Danish culture the more I love it. I feel like my personality fits in with the Danes so well and I feel right at home. Something interesting I didn’t know about the Danes before I came is that they have a general lack of words specifically for politeness. They have “thank you” of course, but they don’t have words for “please” or “excuse me.” In fact, Danes will run right into you, step on your foot, and not say anything. No one will say “bless you” if you sneeze. No one will come up and start small talk conversation with you. You see, the Danes value quiet and privacy. They think that saying all these extra things is the rude way and not saying anything to you, who has not asked for conversation, as the polite way of moving about each other. This has taken a bit of getting used to, but even only after a couple of days it has begun to be fun to walk through a huge crowd not saying anything to anyone no matter how hard you bump them (though we have been urged to use the Danish word for sorry if we feel we must say something).
I have luckily not experience much culture shock and I attribute this to my almost immediate connection with this culture. I am so beyond thankful I stumbled upon Copenhagen as a study abroad option. I can’t wait to see what else is in store!
https://juneincopenhagen.tumblr.com/