Bona Fide Culture Shock

I realize that I recently wrote a post on how I was not experiencing culture shock, but for the first time today I had a literally jaw-dropping moment of it.

It actually came from reading a few blogs here.  I’ve recently mentioned that people here tend to use baby carriages more often than strollers, and while I think this is adorable (and practical) there’s something I missed.  Apparently, mothers here will leave these carriages outside (winter and summer) while they go in to say, have a coffee with some friends, or do a little shopping.  To me, a dumbfounded American, leaving a baby unsupervised, outside, in the cold, with other people roaming around is against every motherly instinct (of which I have many), but here, it’s just a way of life. It’s not only permissible here, but promoted!

While reading up on happy Danes, one really good point was how trusting, and trustworthy Danes are.  I’ve noticed this time and time again in my own personal Dane, and until now, I never thought of it being a national phenomenon.  When I first came to visit here and went to the neighborhood Netto with Andreas, he was inclined to lay down our hand-basket full of groceries (and sometimes my purse!) in an empty aisle and go off on a hunt for ham salad.  I would nervously hover around the basket, bouncing between him and our groceries until we were ready to leave.  Now, I’ve become a bit more used to it, and can generally submit to leaving our unattended groceries around, but…a baby?

Maybe it will come with time.  Maybe by the time I have a baby, I’ll be grateful for the chance to leave it outside to nap in the “fresh air” while I go get coffee with the friends that I will hopefully have made by the time I have a baby.  Maybe.

Culture Shock

Let me begin this post by saying that I am not, in any real way, experiencing culture shock.  However, a friend of mine is studying abroad in Paris this semester (after studying abroad in Madagascar) and I was reading her blog post on culture shock.  Except…she’s not experiencing culture shock either…let me explain.

After being in Madagascar, and experiencing culture shock basically every minute of every day, she came back to the states for about a month and experienced a wicked bout of reverse culture shock after which she has traveled to Paris and feels like she’s experiencing..well…nothing.

She said at one point that she was speaking with a French person about the differences between French and American culture and couldn’t really think of many.

I know I’m in Denmark, not France, and I’ve never experienced anything particularly exotic, but I still beg to differ.  I notice a few dozen little differences every day, and while it’s not culture shock it’s sort of like…culture…tingling.

I’ve noticed that people don’t eat “lunch” here.  They eat “middagsmad” or “eftermiddagsmad” which means “noon food” or “afternoon food.”  And while this may seem like the same thing, it’s generally a lot lighter than our lunches.

I’ve noticed that people use prams a lot more than strollers.  (Might I insert here that it’s getting very difficult not to rave about how wonderful everything is here instead of merely remarking on a few small daily differences I’ve noticed.)

People here ride their bikes and walk places, and normal people take the busses, not just people who have lost their licenses to too many DUIs.

One word: Roundabouts.  (by the way, I love that “roundabout” is, in fact, one word.)

These are just little things that don’t really seem to make a difference, but to me, it just adds to the atmosphere, and I really feel like I’m in Denmark, not America.  In time, I think that the novelty will wear off and they will just be everyday life, but I hope I can put myself in a mindset to consciously remember how much I like this place, as life becomes more “everyday.”