I thought it would be fun to write about random stuff that I think is cool in Denmark. So without further ado, here we go :)
I continue to be impressed by everybody's ability to use English over here. A couple of classmates in my Structural Design class told me it was their first time writing a technical paper and doing a presentation in english. Both of them did very well too, especially considering it's not their first language. I took 4 years of German and wouldn't have been able to write any kind of paper in German, let alone one about Mohr's Circle. In general I've met people with a wide range of english speaking ability. Some really good, some just okay. Overall its been good though. Everyone can have a conversation (something I could never have done in German), and its usually pretty easy to understand them.
I do feel like somewhat of an English guru here. It's pretty cool. One example, I'm helping a friend of mine with his English (he's helping me with Danish). I get asked frequently what a word in English is, and a professor even asked me what a word was in English. That was kind of cool.
I'm also frequently asked what my opinions are on American events (current and past). It makes me feel like a terrible citizen because I don't keep up with the news much back in the States, so the people asking me my views on news worthy events usually know more about it than I do. One particular instance that I remember was one of my kitchenmates asked me what I thought about the Tea Party (the political group). I know nothing about the Tea Party, except that Sarah Palin is associated with it somehow. It annoys me, and I've been making more of an effort to keep up with current events (which is something I have wanted to do for a while). I like being up to date on whats going on in the world, its nice.
Dogs are very popular here. Its cool because they have breeds here that you don't see often back in the states. The thing that amazes me the most is that a lot of times the dogs aren't on leashes if they're not in the city. They just walk by the owners, or maybe a little ways away. But they are all very well trained and well behaved. You can walk by them and they won't make any sort of move towards you (some do, but they seem almost cautious to do it). Most of if not all of the dogs I have seen have been very friendly and easy to give attention to. (It makes me miss my dog, even though he doesn't behave anything like the dogs here :p)
The Yankees are everywhere. It's one of the more aggravating things about Denmark. Baseball hats are fairly common, and almost everyone wears Yankee hates. I've seen some Red Sox hats (by far the second most common) and a few people wearing Giants stuff (I may have seen others, but those are the ones that stand out). But, Everyone. Wears. Yankee hats. I hate it. I've explained to a few people about the evils of the Yankees, but I find that its one of the few teams they know, and that's why their "fans". That's kind of what I figured. I haven't seen any Minnesota Twins hats. So disappointing.
That being said, baseball isn't very popular here. People definitely know about it, but I haven't met many who follow the MLB or play the sport. As you would probably expect Soccer is very popular here. So is Handball (which is pretty cool) and Rugby (haven't had a chance to watch a match yet, but I intend to). Basketball and the NBA seem to be pretty popular. No where near as popular as soccer, but its probably the most followed American sport. There aren't many hockey fans (it's not very popular in Denmark). The NFL isn't too popular, either. I've met a few foreigners who like it, but not very many. I've been told that its getting more popular each year though, and I think it could be fairly popular over here in the near future. I guess we'll see. This year twice the amount of people watched the Superbowl as last year. It was up from 60,000 last year to 120,000 this year. I think the fact that it started at 12:30 and didn't get done till 4:30 has something to do with that (yes, I watched the whole thing, and had class at 8am the next day).
Also the cars here are much different then what you find in the states. There are no pickup trucks, and very few SUVs. Vans are fairly common, but mostly for companies. Most of the cars look something like this
 | |||
| I guess parking enforcement is a pain in Denmark as well |
More cool staircases :p
 |
| This was a footbridge in the middle of a little square. I couldn't figure out its purpose, I think it was just over some dirt or something. |
That's all I have for now! Hope it was an enjoyable read. I'm hoping to do this a couple of more times through my stay in Denmark, if you think its a horrible list let me know ;).
Till next time :)
Matthew
No comments:
Post a Comment