“The culture around the world are very different and very much the alike at the same time. The way people live around the world depends on the norms internalized by their societies. There are endless questions that can be asked to compare or contrast culture from culture and from nation to nation but the fact that there are so many similarities amidst mankind should inspire cultural relativism and spread the attitude of multiculturalism”.
This has been my observation for the last 7 months. On the day 21st August 2010, my new journey to a whole new different continent begun. Europe that I always saw and known the place through pictures, videos and on television, now I am going to feel it and live in it on my own. I know I am heading towards a whole new lifetime experiences and learning’s. Denmark is going to be my home for next one year.
Since I moved to Denmark I lost 3 months of my age (from 40 degrees to 10 degrees). I am in Denmark to do my Masters in Erasmus Mundus Global Journalism. We are a class of 46 people which include 32 nationalities. 32 nationalities says it all - this is going to be a journey of 32 new cultures and 32 new learning’s. Sunrises here at 4.30am and sets at 10pm, but during winters Sunrises at 9am and sets at 3pm.
Denmark is small and I mean really small compared to India where I lived 26 years of my life. But as a matter of fact, though it’s small but it has a lot to offer. People here are so warm and cold. When I say cold, I really mean it. They are very soft spoken and live their lives according to their own pace, there are no deadline rushes, no urgencies, no traffic jams, no long queue and no misguidance. I never heard people saying “Hurry up, we are running out of time”, and I think this is because of their very good time management. When Danes say, “the meeting is at 5.42pm”, they literally mean it. Punctuality is their everyday rhyme.
It’s a very calm living experience. Literally. You don’t see too many people on the road; vehicles don’t honk until and unless there is any life threatening signals because people follow traffic rules and the lane rules very dedicatedly. I have never been to a place which is so well organized and full of respect for people around them. People thank the driver while getting of the bus, seriously, they yell thank you, even if they are getting off from the back door. No, I avoided buses for the initial two months in order to see more, feel more and soak in the cold weather which I never experienced before.
No, youngsters don’t touch the feet of their elders to greet/or as a token of respect, instead they say “Skål” (which means ‘cheers’) with a glass of wine to greet them. At the age of 18, children move out of a secure life offered by their parents and start living on their own and this is very proudly encouraged by their parents. I stroll down the main street atleast twice a day and stop by the same fruit market and vegetable market- I get to know people because all stores are small and very personal. I dint even think I would like those time until now. Danes in the shop call me “the girl from India” every time I drop by and they ask me how do you cook Biryani. Yes, Biryani is what they relate me to. I even shared the recipe and gave them notes on how to cook with the limited Asian ingredients which are available in Denmark. These little instances of everyday personal interaction warm my heart and make me realize that the world we live in has made us become indifferent to each other to an extent we don’t even realize.
Things happen here, I can’t even describe the feeling of seeing the first snow in my life. Temperature falls down from 10 degrees to -7 in November and the sun rises at 9am and sets at 3pm. The whole country is covered with a thick white blanket. Being an Indian it was tough initially but slowly I learnt to live a normal life even when it is snowing heavily outside. But when you peep out of your window you see Danes jogging in shorts—uuuuh it’s so cold and snowing how can they do it, but I guess they are born with thick skin which can survive the cold but not the heat. I learnt to walk on the slippery road and do my daily chores. I would have dreamt of this opportunity and there I was.
Universities here have Friday Bars- yes, bars in the campus which start from 2pm every Friday and students head directly to the bar after the lecture. This was a major cultural shock for me for the first time, but now I have accepted this as part of the North European culture. Students drink beers with their professors and there is no bar on it. Entertainment here means getting drunk- that’s how youngsters live their life. Disco’s open from 8pm to 5am, and that’s the only time you see people on the streets talking (talking aloudJ) otherwise it’s very hard to hear people when they are sober as they are too soft spoken that’s why I said before, “Danes are cold”.
