More on the Proposed "28-Law"

My last post touched on the Danish People's Party proposal to change the "24-year" law to 28 years. 

Here's some thoughts from other sources about this proposal:

Expat In Denmark: "Danish Anti-Peoples' Party Madness in 'Agurketid'"

The Copenhagen Post: "Broad Political Backing for the 28-Year Rule"

Danish News, 27 July

Several news articles caught my eye this morning:

1. The new iPhone 4 is expected to be released in Denmark on Friday, 30 July.  This is over a month later than the US and UK release dates.  Why Denmark got such short-shafted treatment, who knows, but a lot of Mac-philes here are certainly happy. Then again, they probably already ordered it from German stores, which have also had the phone since 24 June.  The article says that attempts to replicate the infamous antennae problems here in DK have shown no antennae problems.  My guess is that the country's average sea level of 31 meters has something to do with that.

What will that pretty little thing cost?  4,699DKK for 16G or 5,499DKK for the 32G.  According to xe.com, that's $820 and $959.

Of course I had been hoping to have a job by now, so that I could finally get an iPhone, but that is not how it's worked out.  I am finally open to getting another brand of mobile.  $820 is just ridiculous.  And I am a hard-core Mac fan.

2. Nearly half of all Danes are on vacation this week.  I still do not fully understand what the vacation system is (see above: lack of job), but everyone seemingly takes their 5 weeks' worth in the month of July, with some spillage into June or August. This has stupefied me, as July usually brings the best weather of the year to this country.  "Hey! Let's go to southern France/Italy/Greece/Turkey and fry in the sun, instead of enjoying the breezy 75-80˚F back home!" 

3. In 2002, the Danish government passed a law that is referred to as the "24-year rule". Basically, if someone wants to 'import' a spouse (like my lovely husband did!), that person must have lived in Denmark for 24 years.  This age limit was made in order to limit the number of foreigners moving here at a younger age, er, scratch that, it was made to prevent the number of forced marriages in this country (which are, of course, made up of people from non-Western countries).  The rule has worked so well that the Danish People's Party (don't get me started on them!) has proposed raising the age limit to 28.

4. Well the Danish People's Party must be celebrating, because immigrants from non-Western countries have had a steep fall in birth rates in the last few years. The article states:

Twenty years ago women from ethnic minorities had twice as many children as their Danish sisters, but by 2009 their birth rate had fallen to just 1.6 children per woman, below the 1.9 rate for Danes.

Reasons given are the 24-year rule and improved integration, which means that the women are going for education first, family later.  I love this article, because it throws the stereotype of non-Western women having scads of kids (and glomming off the social system) on its head (hear that, Danish People's Party??), and women getting an education is never a bad thing. 

There it is, your wrap up from Denmark on Tuesday, 27 July 2010.

Biking

Four years ago is when I made my first visit to Denmark.  T met me at the airport, and we stayed in Copenhagen for a couple of days.  Just an hour after arriving, from my hotel room's window, I looked at the city below.  One of the most memorable images was that of a VERY pregnant woman, just biking along on the bike path of the street with the other able-bodied cyclists.  I was astounded.  Actually it was as if I saw her big belly button first, and then the rest of her maternal body on the bike. "Why isn't she in bed, feet propped up, eating bon-bons and watching Days of Our Lives?!?!" I wondered.  "Doesn't she know she shouldn't do ANY physical activity in such a state!!!"

My city of Odense has been called the most cyclist-friendly city in the country.  I am quite glad for this, because it means that about 95% of the way from my apartment to the university has bike paths.  These provide a great deal of security for the cyclist.  The paths are wide enough for two bicycles (which was also good for the people who needed to pass this slow cyclist!).  The usual laws of the road apply: slow people on the right, overtakers on the left.  If there's a slow person on the left, then one rings her bell, and the slow person moves over to the right (hopefully, if she isn't tuned out on an iPod!).

Helmets are not required, although I seemingly notice more and more of them.  Using a mobile, whether calling or texting, is not illegal for cyclists.  But it is for motorists.  If you're driving, there is also no turn on red, and when one does make a right turn, it is VERY important to check the passenger's side mirror, and/or look behind to the right, to make sure to turn when there are no cyclists coming.  This is also tricky, because one must also make sure that there are no pedestrians crossing as well!

Parents actually drive their kids on bikes!!!  A baby 'bike' seat is attached to the back of the bicycle.  For toddlers, a parent can attach a 'doggie house' (a nylon and plastic-covered type of trailer where the kids can sit down) to the back of his bicycle.  I don't even want to know how much muscle that takes to power.

Another major impression for me was going to uni for the first time, on my second trip here.  A huge courtyard extends out from the main entrance.  It was nearly covered with bicycles.  I could just imagine if every bicycle was a car, how much parking space would have been needed instead.  Simply incredible to think about such things.

Before I moved here, I had not ridden a bike for 7 years!  Granted, riding a bike again was pretty shaky at first, but having to bike to uni 4 or 5 days a week quickly gave me my 'cycling legs' back again.  Then the moment came when I did not have to bike the 4 miles out to uni anymore.  whoohoo!  This resulted in nearly 1.5 years of biking only one time, and that was just for a couple of miles.  I do love living in the city, where everything is within walking distance!

Now I am getting back into biking, mostly due to home renovation shopping trips to Ikea.  I really like biking!  This is most likely supported by the lack of rain or strong winds, I admit.  It feels great to have the wind in my hair, know that I'm not using any fossil fuels, save ~$8 from not taking the bus, and get in a great workout while running errands.  (A couple of big hills do exist!)

Today I biked over 8 miles while running said errands.  The last part of the trip was to somewhere I had not yet been, and the bike path was located apart from the road.  Biking on a paved path through a very otherwise natural setting was so calming and relaxing.  I am glad that this city has so many bike paths, and I can use my body's own energy to power the bicycle to get me to the destination.

Online Privacy

Today's post has nothing to do with organics or Denmark, but with the future of our reputations in the online world.  This article is very long, but even more thought provoking.  What happens to us in a world without forgetting? 

Dying to be Beautiful

Yesterday the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics announced the release of a new informational film, "The Story of Cosmetics: The Ugly Truth of Toxins In, Toxins Out".

I thought that Annie Leonard, who talks to us in the film, spoke a little too much like she was trying to explain things to a 2-year-old.  Then again, I have been immersed in researching green products for over a year, and none of what she says is new to me at all.

It may be to the general public. After all, everyone seemed shocked at Dove's Evolution of Beauty film in 2006. Having worked in a room with graphic designers for a few years, I definitely was familiar with how their graphics skills could transform an image.  They should be called Magicians!  Or Fairy God Mothers!

Another problem I have with the film is it seemingly dumps too much BAD onto the consumer, and does not give too much GOOD in return.  This is a dangerously slippery slope, because many can now think, "Babies are being born pre-polluted; what could I possibly do to reverse this? Screw it, we're all going to hell in a hand basket, and I wanna use my carcinogenic products to live in the moment and look damn fine doing it!"

Yeah, yeah, write to your Congress person.  Sign the Environmental Working Group's petition.  Even if you do take the time to try to read the fine print of the ingredients labels, like I do, mistakes still can be made.  I was so furious when I noticed last year that my bottle of Palmer's Organic Olive Oil lotion was loaded with parabens and other toxins!  Now, I just use real organic olive oil as a body lotion (and make-up remover).  Some new shower products here in Denmark have a "0%" or "Zero" name because they do not contain parabens or coloring agents; however, they do contain fragrance, which may as well be substituted with the word "carcinogen".


Hopefully this film will galvanize enough people to take action and change the laws. I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but how has the 3-month-old BP oil spill galvanized enough people to take action and change the laws?  Or even their driving habits or cars? 

I hope I'm wrong.  I hope consumers will make choices at the checkout and rally their representatives, and more companies will turn green - 100% - not halfheartedly.  As for these types of films, how about one that gives us a testimonial of folks who have stopped using the bad chemicals and changed their lives for the better?  Or make a clear list of products that are the safest?  Give consumers the tools to make better choices, and sound like you're treating them with equal status while doing it.

"Leaving on a Jet Plane"

All day yesterday, I felt as if I was forgetting something, but could not figure out what it was.

Today, as I glanced at the calendar, it hit me: yesterday was the third year 'anniversary' of my last day at my old job.

20 July 2007 was also the last day I lived in Athens, Ohio.  By that time, my husband and I had been married for almost 5 months.  It was about 6 weeks after he returned to DK after visiting for a month.  I would have 10 more days in Ohio until flying PIT-EWR-CPH and arriving in my new life.  I couldn't wait to join my husband, but it was a lot of hard work to make this move, and difficult to say 'bye' to the treasured friends. Friday, 20 July 2007, was extremely busy and harried and filled with great memories.

My dear dear friend drove 90 miles to help me pack the night before, and continued doing so as I went off to work that morning.  She is the sweetest friend (or else really wanted to see me leave, hahaha).  And despite having had and participated in yard sales, donation store drop-offs, and give-a-ways, I was still left with a sizable amount of possessions.  The pile was definitely NOT going to fit nicely into 2 50-lb. suitcases and a carry-on suitcase and backpack (the allowable free baggage at the time), like I had hoped.  I e-mailed my dad and suggested he might want to bring my mom's SUV instead of his car to pick me up.  (I had sold my beloved car a couple of weeks earlier.)

The day at work was mostly uneventful.  Almost all of the sales reps were away at a seminar (THANK GOD!), and my replacement took the day off for a family event way out in the boonies with no mobile reception that had been scheduled since before she took the job. I still had to pack up the proverbial cardboard box that had once been filled with reams of glossy paper that we used for marketing materials.  I packed the many photos, thank-you cards, and other mementos of the previous 6 years, like a 1940s imaged Coca-Cola mug-turned-pen holder that my sister had given to me into that box.

The 5th and 20th of the month were pay dates, and I had saved up a lot of vacation time to make that day's one whopper of a final check. My good friend met me at the Blue Gator for lunch.  I remember our server gave me some suggestions of what books I should read while flying to Copenhagen.  She probably did not imagine that every square inch of my luggage had already been carefully analyzed while planning which possessions to take with me.  Instead, my friend and I happily smiled and nodded as we noshed and listened.

I went to the bank and deposited the check.  Seeing that big number felt good, as it had been incredibly difficult to avoid taking vacation days near the end of my time in Athens.  After all, my future university had demanded that I needed some intro to marketing courses, and I was taking two via Phoenix in my final weeks in Athens (which also cost a pretty penny!).  This was on top of wrapping up all of the other loose ends that come with moving.  My husband had visited for a month in May, and it was hard to not take more time off with him.  We sacrificed, so we could have more of a cushion later.

At some point in the late afternoon, the Street Team leader had suddenly found some sort of crisis for the event that was happening the following day.  With the sales reps who were also contacts for this event and my replacement being out of the office, and me hours away from freedom, she did not make much headway with solving the issue.  After all, my replacement had trained for at least 6 weeks, and it was made extremely clear by all that Friday, 20 July 2007 was my last day, and the amount of input that I would have about decisions by then would have fallen to zero, zip, zilch, nada.

At 4:30, I suddenly remembered that I had some photos waiting for me at the CVS just down the street.  I popped into the front office to tell the office manager where I was going, in case my dad arrived early.  As was always the case, the wait at CVS took FOR-EV-ER.  I thought of how this makes me not want to believe in karma, because I had always been a very fast cashier.  When I finally got out of there, I hurried back to the office.  As I walked down the sidewalk that lined the 2-lane one-way brick street, I heard singing from the other side: "She's leaving, on a jet plane....don't know when you'll be back again".  My old boss from my part-time restaurant hostess job had spotted me and gave me this cheerful sendoff.  He always knew how to make me smile.

Sure enough, my dad had arrived at the office.  It was almost 5:00.  A final round of hugs to the darling coworkers was in order.  My dad drove to my rental, and filled up the SUV with more things I was giving away: a 1-year old LG window air conditioner, microwave, TV, a bicycle, and some small appliances that I knew the future inhabitants of the Little Denmark student rental could use.  We drove around and dropped these things off at their future homes.  We came back and packed the SUV completely full with my remaining possessions.  Photo albums take up so much space!

My good friend's friend came by to pick up the Ikea couch and other small pieces of furniture.  My housemate had complained a lot about his previous renter leaving behind a lot of his things, so I did my best to make sure I didn't leave anything behind.  In retrospect, maybe he would have liked the a/c and microwave left behind.

With a small group of friends gathered, we opened a bottle of Ga-Jol licorice and had a farewell shot.  Or two.  We cheered friendship with each other, no matter where in the world we might be.  My dad and I left, but I had one more stop in Athens to make.  It was at the new apartment of the mutual friend of my husband and me, the guy who set us up on our blind date.  Unfortunately he was at work at the time, but I shared a few moments on the porch swing with his wife and young baby girl.  It was hard to imagine that so much had changed in their lives already: wasn't it just the other day that T and I were at their wedding reception?  How time flies.

My dad and I stopped at Applebee's in Marietta for dinner, after I quickly returned some unused wedding reception items at Crafts 2000.  More money in my pocket!  As we sat at our table, I noticed how totally exhausted I felt - had been running on fumes for the last several weeks, and just a few hours of sleep over the last few days.  I remember I ordered a chicken dish and was surprised when I discovered the chicken still had the bones in it.  Oh, it tasted good.  I think we forget how good chicken can taste, because we are so used to eating it boneless.

Finally we arrived back home, but the day was not done yet.  We had to unload everything from the SUV, because the following morning we were leaving early to pick up his mom and uncle, and my mom (who was away helping out her sister with her blueberry farm harvest), to go to his brother's wedding in Columbus.  I think it was after midnight when everything was unpacked, and we had to leave the house by 6:30 the next morning.

My uncle's wedding was one of the most holistic and spiritual weddings I've ever been to.  It was in his backyard, and incorporated some lovely elements, such as chimes, the release of butterflies, and the like.  It was great to meet my new cousins and aunt.  One couldn't have asked for better weather. The warmth of the sun kissed my shoulders, left bare by the dress I wore at T's and my reception.  At once, I felt relieved and re-energized.  I would need that energy over the next 10 days - my final days back home until I didn't know when ("Don't know when I'll be back again").  My sister's new baby was just over 2 months old, too.

On my last day in Athens, my dear dear friend gave me a lovely present.  Actually, two.  One was a sterling silver necklace with "K" as the pendant, and the other a sterling silver charm bracelet, with one charm. It read on one side, "7-20-07" and on the other, "Love, H".  Whenever I am in need of feeling closer to all the good things in my previous life in Athens, I wear that bracelet.  In fact, I think I'll wear it today.

I ♥ Queues and The Customer is King. NOT.

Another for the Cultural Difference file.

Yesterday was a busy shopping day for my man and me.  You loyal readers have already learned that the weeks here run Monday-Sunday; therefore, the stores' sales of the week begin on Mondays.  This is except for those weeks where stores are allowed to be open on Sundays; usually the first Sunday of the month (and even then, some stores, like Super Brugsen, have very limited special offers on Sundays, but start the sale prices of everything else in their ads on Mondays).  This is set to change in 2012, though.


Another huge difference between US and DK grocery stores is that many of the grocery stores here have an entire section that is devoted to "special products on offer" that the store does not carry permanently.  Many of the awesome deals can be had in these bins; therefore, that is also why it is important to check out alllllll the stores' fliers and make a detailed shopping plan of attack of what to buy where.

As you probably have already guessed, the lack of having permanent shelving for these products means that once the product is sold out for the week, it's sold out.  Ain't no more bein' delivered later on in the week.  As a result, it is very important to shop for the special deals on Monday.

But not too early on Monday mornings, because the shipments are still being unpacked and shelved several hours after the store's opening.  This has always confounded me, because my retail experience hearkens back to the days where there was a specific crew that worked during the pre-opening hours. This crew ensured that all of the products were shelved and ticketed correctly.  Here, you might shop too early for the particular product you were looking for, because it might not yet have been put on the shelf. The worst part of being a shopper early on Monday mornings is that the workers actually act as if you are in their way!  Oh, puh-lease! Bite me, I'm patronizing your store!

Once I asked my marketing professor about this phenomenon.  Surely he was surprised at anyone noticing such a thing, but responded that here, the most important thing has to do with workers' working hours/conditions, and NOT the customer! 

I worked for a few years at a department store's service desk.  Oh boy, was there ever hell to pay if we were sold out of a product early on in the week.  Usually we would always get another shipment of said product later on in the week.  If not, we issued rainchecks to the consumer, who could buy the product later at the sale price. This said, we reserved no sympathy for the poor saps who still expected to find the huge package of Extra Quilted Pamper Yourself TP at a price of college-bachelor-TP late Saturday evening, and threw a bitch fit when they discovered it was sold out.

Another cultural difference I have noted about Shopping in DK is that people LOVE to stand in lines, waiting, waiting, waiting....  More often than not, the nimrods who designed the check-out stands made it so that a huge pillar or some other obstructing object blocks the cashier's view to see how many people are standing in line.  Even if the cashier could see how long the line was growing, I am still not certain that a call for more help would be made.

So, people queue up, and up, and up.  In 9.5 of 10 times, I have experienced that no one will ask the cashier to please have someone else open up another register.  When it does happen, the person asking is usually 1. a 16-25 year old Danish male; 2. a Danish woman who is very tall and/or has some other kind of commanding presence; 3. a foreigner.  Numbers 1 and 3 always act hurried and impatient. Otherwise, it seems as if people are completely and blissfully happy to spend large amounts of their time waiting in line.

This observation is even more reinforced when the relief cashier does open another line, but few people who have been in line the longest move over to it.  ?!?!?  They continue standing where they are, continuing to wait.  Of course the customer who asked for another open register moves over to it, but after that, it is not at all a free-for-all rush to a shorter wait time.  This confounds me even more than the workers acting like you are in their way.

Well yesterday I finally put myself into the #3 category. At least 15 people were in line in front of me, so I went up to the cashier and said, "Kan du lige åbne en kasse mere?"  (Can do Lee Oh-ba-nah AIN ~as in pain~ Cass-ah meer?)  Fortunately, she ran the bell, and a relief cashier came.  Despite all of those people in front of me, I was second in line at the other one (and I didn't even make a mad dash over!). 

What the deal is with being OK with waiting in lines for so long is beyond me.  I have better things to get to, and will walk fast to get there.

Mad Men, Coming Soon

After scanning the headlines of today's news, I was held by only one story: tennis player Robin Soederling's grand run of defending his native Swedish Open title was halted in the final by Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.  After losing the first set 5-7, Soederling came back to win the second; however being broken twice in a row in the third led to his defeat.  Although I really dislike Soederling for beating Nadal, I do feel a little sorry for the guy now.  He had a fantastic run in his homeland, but could not keep it going to win the title again.

Other than that, a whole political mess seems a'brewin'.  Really, when isn't it?  But all this talk of mid-term elections bringing trouble for the Dems is quite overwhelming.

So that leaves me to look forward to some escapism, starting this Sunday, 25 July.  Mad Men returns to AMC for its 4th season.  Yes!  Although season 3 was a bit droll with Don being such a huge tool, and the blogosphere folks not really understanding Betty's predicament in the context of 1963, it ended on an exciting note that promised a lot more of why we fell in love with the show to come.

Your US-DK Cultural Difference Tidbit for Today: Calendars

We're having an unusual spate of warm, sunny weather here in DK.  The blue sky has been visible, which is such a treat to my eyes.  The almost always-present puffy clouds, on the other hand, can feel suffocating at times (just as the foothills of the Appalachian mountains made me feel in southeastern Ohio).


Last night, as the daylight extended late into the evening hours, I thought about the differences of typical calendars published in the US and DK. 


In the US, a week consists of Sunday - Saturday.  Some fancy calendars may also include what day of the year it is, and how many days remain.  Who uses that info, I don't know.

In DK, a week consists of Monday - Sunday.  (What these differences have to do with Christianity and the importance of worshiping on the "7th Day", or when and where and why these changes were made is beyond me.)  Something else VERY important is what week of the year it is.  Many timelines here are measured by the number of the week.  For example, a store's sale flier says, "Good for week 5".  A syllabus says, for example, "Week 35: Introduction...Week 42: Fall Holiday...Week 50: Last Classes".  No university student is fond of weeks 1-3 or usually 22-24, as those are the final exam weeks for fall and spring semesters.

So weekly calendars here consist of 8 columns, with the first containing which week of the year it is, the second being the date of Monday, and the last being the date of Sunday.  This week's calender looks like:

29  19 20 21 22 23 24 25

This design has tripped me up more times than I can remember.  It is so automatic for me to look at the last column for Saturday, that I have had to send out corrections for dinner parties that I mistakenly scheduled for a Sunday night. 

At first I did not pay much attention to the number of the week.  But living so far up north has changed that! Here is a link to a world map with Denmark in red, so you can see how far north it is.  For those who want more precise measurements, the CIA's World Factbook gives Denmark the geographic coordinates of 56 00 N, 10 00 E.

As there are 52 weeks in a year (actually there were 53 in 2009), and the shortest day (winter solstice) falls usually in the next-to-last week of the year, I greatly look forward to weeks 24 or 25, as they will contain the longest day of the year (summer solstice). Yippee! Sunshine!!!  Likewise, after late September or so, I greatly look forward to the winter solstice, as that will bring an end to the maddeningly shrinking amount of daylight that leaves us in a stupor.

Measuring time on a calendar by what week of the year it is also brings an impetus to actually do something. Knowing that it is already week 29 of the year kind of freaks me out.  How are 2010's goals coming along?  There's only 23 more weeks left to accomplish them!  It just doesn't feel the same, to know that today is the 199th day of the year, and 166 remain.  If only I could get used to finding Sunday at the end of the week.

Networking in DK and More Reason to Avoid Artificial Sweeteners

Two articles in today's Copenhagen Post interested me today.

The first reports findings of the Statens Serum Institute, which found that pregnant women who drank "fizzy drinks" had a 78% higher chance of giving birth prematurely.  This news really shocked me, because I LOVE fizzy drinks!  I could not live without my sparkling water.  I love sparkling water so much that I really want to buy the fizzy drink maker machine.  I love the bubbles dancing on my tongue.  They make it a bit more exciting to drink water, without it being plain boring, flat water.

Here, sparkling water is called danskvand, lit. "Danish water".  It comes in single serving, 1.5 liter or 2 liter plastic (yeesh!) bottles.  I have yet to see something like the short green Pelligrino or Perrier bottles at the stores (maybe they are at the very high end grocery stores? Or maybe it would be impossible to call Italian or French sparkling water "Danish water", and so they'd have to come up with a new word for danskvand?).  The flavor range includes lemon, cranberry, and blueberry.

Well the news was so upsetting to me (pregnant women are already supposed to give up so many things, but now this too?!), that I tracked down the source.  This is what SSI reported (translated into English by Google):

16 July 2010 - Artificial sweeteners give a risk of premature birth
Researchers at the Statens Serum Institute have found a link between artificial sweetener and premature birth. These findings suggest that the likelihood of premature birth is 78% greater for pregnant women who drink a liter of diet drinks or more everyday.  The study is based on data from 60,000 pregnant women in Denmark participating in Better health for mother and baby.

OK, what?!  We all know that pregnant women should avoid artificial sweeteners (actually, ALL of us should!), but how did the newspaper get "fizzy drinks" from "diet drinks"?  A bit more research led me to discover that British English calls soda "fizzy drinks".  OK, that makes more sense.  Still, I do believe the article in the Post is a bit misleading.  The SSI research applies to diet sodas specifically.



The other article of interest is about the Danish government setting up a "dating site" for expats and Danes.  I'm not sure what creeps me out more about this scenario: Big Brother wants to Hook You Up, or Big Brother Pimps Out His Natives to 'Ferners.  Maybe it's Allow Big Brother to Track Your Dating!  yeeeeeks!  


In any case, the article says that the Integration Ministry reports that 4 of 10 expat specialists are surprised at how asocial the Danes are, and that 6 of 10 say it's difficult to make Danish friends.  This Ministry's goal is to make foreign workers and students stay in the country for longer periods of time.

I visited the site, letsmeetin.dk, and discovered that it is for expat singles, couples and families who want to get to know their Danish neighbors better (another misleading take, Post!).  The site is part of expatindenmark.dk, of which I am already a "member".  This is what they want you to answer for your profile:

- first name
- country of origin
- if you're looking for a Dane or an Expat (or both)
- geographical location (Bornholm; Fyn; Mid-Jutland; Northern Jutland, Southern Jutland; Greater Copenhagen; Southern Zealand and Lolland; Western Zealand)
- married or single
- number of children, if any
- preferred language (Danish; English; Other)
- Interests and hobbies (Adventure Sports; Art; Astronomy; Card Games; Chess; Classical Music; Collecting; Computer Games; Conversation; Cooking; Crafts; Dancing; Eating Out; Family; Fishing; Horse Riding; IT; Jazz; Language; Live Concerts; Movies; Painting; Photography; Poetry; Pop/Rock Music; Running/Jogging; Science; Sports; Travel; TV Shows; Walking/Trekking)
- one may also add her Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter/MySpace (who still uses MySpace??)/Web links.

A great flaw exists in the Interests and Hobbies section: no Drinking category!  Also, another great Interest and Hobby of expats in Denmark is Bitching About Denmark, Danes, and Danish Weather, but it is understandable that this would not be an option.  What about Film, though?

Well, props to the Integration Ministry for giving this a go.  

I never imagined how hard it would be to make friends here.  In fact, the professed lack of small talk and chit chat in Denmark greatly appealed to me!  Nothing was more awful first thing in the morning at work (in the US) than having to listen to (and actually pretend to be Very Very Interested In) procreating co-workers' lengthy stories about how Johnny did in his T-ball game (everyone gets a trophy!), or what a chore it was to care for sick Susie (complete with gory details) the previous evening before we finally got down to business.  I hated the types of clocks in the rooms where we held meetings, because I could look at the second hand and count the number of unreturnable seconds of my life disappearing into the abyss. 

Fast-forward to my classes at the University of Southern Denmark, where everyone had already made their friends and were seemingly interested in not making any more.  It was as if no one cared about anything but themselves.  The amount of trash, from used tissues to empty beer cans, all over the place reinforced this idea to me.  No one even cared about the person who would have to clean up their dirty, filthy mess.

If it weren't for my professor in Marketing Organizations, I am not sure if I would have made any Danish friends.  On the first day of class, he made us team up with others because we would have to do group presentations later in the semester.  So I approached a classmate afterward, and she agreed to be my partner.  Later I discovered that she was not a "100% ethnic Dane", but had lived here since adolescence, when her family moved from another country.  Ha, no wonder she was so nice to me!  (Love you, F.!)


After numerous failed attempts at extending the olive branch to a "100% ethnic" Dane for friendship, I have pretty much given up on ever having a "100% ethnic" Danish friend.  Their loss!  So I really like where the Integration Ministry is headed with this concept.  Hopefully their efforts will help make expats not feel so lonely (which can give them a huge reason to get the hell outta this Fairy Tale Gone Wrong).  After all, Denmark is supposedly the happiest country on earth, and all of our friends and family back home wonder how it is possible that we also aren't always so happy while living here.  

I would like to mention that my husband's family and friends ~and their spouses~ have been nothing but nice to me.  I really appreciate their kindness.  But it's just like a married woman and money: sure, it's nice that she can use her husband's money, but having her own, hard-earned money brings an irreplaceable feeling of independence and security.  I am glad that we had to take Danish language courses, because I have made some great friendships with those classmates.  The best thing is, we all have one Interest and Hobby in common that ties us together.

Avoid Food Dyes Suspected to Cause Hyperactivity in Children

From the Danish Information Center for Environment & Health today, an article about the success of a Danish organization, the Consumer Council, of requiring labeling on packages of products that contain certain kinds of dyes. 

These dyes have been suspected to cause hyperactivity in children. They are

* tatrazin - E102
* quinoline yellow - E104
* sunset yellow - E110
* azorubin - E122
* panceau 4R - E124
* allura red AC - E129

While these E#s are not banned from products, if the product contains one or more, the packaging must be labeled,  "May have a negative effect on children's activity and ability to concentrate."  This does not apply to alcoholic drinks (which hopefully, children are not drinking!).  This law goes into effect starting 20 July 2010.

The benefit for the consumer is that instead of combing through the ingredients list, she will easily be able to see the warning on the package and know that it contains these dyes.  

A Multi-Faceted Post

Several items I'd like to share today:

1. Frappé coffee
On one of my summer travels to steaming hot Greece nearly a decade ago, I was served a frappé coffee and became hooked.  Now on the rare hot summer mornings in Denmark (made all the more hot by lack of a/c or even a fan, let alone a hotel pool or the Mediterranean Sea to jump into), a frappé can dial one back from hot and bothered to cool as a cucumber.

In a martini shaker, put ice cubes, instant coffee, some raw sugar, your choice of milk, and a little water.  Shake it baby, shake it, and pour into a tall glass.  Enjoy!


2. Lavender +/or Tea Tree Essential Oils + Boys = Boobies
Oh dear. This cannot be good!  Please if you have boys, keep them away from the lavender and tea tree oils!  Our youth already get too many phytoestrogens from other things in the environment and diet (especially soy, which is in seemingly Everything). This one is a quick, easy fix.  If you do use these oils for cleaning/fragrance/antibacterial purposes (which you should, instead of that manufactured crap from the Bath store or cleaning aisle at the Box store), make the switch to bergamont or lemon.  Much cheaper than dealing with the plastic surgeon and/or therapy down the road! 

3. A Complete Lack of Screens in Danish Windows
I have already established that the climate here in Denmark (especially on Fyn, which is buffered by Jutland on the west, and Zealand on the east) is mild.  People (OK, expats) joke that there are just two seasons, fall and spring.  This year must be the exception to the rule, as winter was most definitely here from December - March, and summer has given us some sizzling, sweltering, sweaty weeks of late.  By that, I mean daily highs of around 85˚F (29.4˚C).  Normally I freeze if the temp falls below 70˚, but there does come a point when it is just Too.Damn.Hot. 


So, windows are opened, and bugs fly in.  These types of windows are not your typical sliding windows.  No, to open these windows, the actual window itself is moved outside of its frame; therefore, ain't no room for a screen.  What in the hell kind of Efficient Danish Design is that?!  HM??

There's a big reason I like the city.  Lack of wildlife in proximity to my house.  But these flies, bees, moths, wasps, butterflies, and god-knows-what-else creep me the frick out.  Ick!

I've always known that these windows are old (conversations heard on the sidewalk below are heard more clearly than if those folks and I were talking via mobile), but last week something confirmed it for me.  I was looking online at new curtains, and the current standard curtain sizes will not properly fit these windows.  That's pretty old!

4. What Expats in Denmark Want to Stay Here Longer
Not sure if the link will work for those who are not members of the ExpatInDenmark group, so here are the results from their unscientific survey from their Web site, "What would make you stay in Denmark longer?"

- Top results were tied, with 23% responding "lower taxes" and 23% "a more inclusive culture". I admit it, I miss my friendly fat Americans.  Arriving at the Pittsburgh airport last month and being greeted with a mini-Statue of Liberty and smiles and offerings of help to make my way around the airport from many volunteers nearly sent me into a state of shock.  (This compares to the Copenhagen airport, where Efficient Danish Design greets us with escalators and a cattle herd-type of structure to form orderly lines to get the passport stamped, after which going through the sliding doors, the nauseating aroma of hot dogs and onions greets the passenger. Also, the signs for bathrooms are VERY easy to miss!)

- Second place goes to (my vote) "finding a job" at 17%.  Do those 23% tax whiners even know how lucky they are to have a job and be taxed highly?!?  Let me switch with you!  Seriously, I have been nearly 9 months unemployed.  My confidence is shattered, and I start to wonder if I have simply dreamed up the last 10 years of my professional and advanced-degree life.  Is not getting hired  because I'm American and come across as too aggressive in my CV?  Is it because I am married without children, and no one wants to pick up the maternity leave tab? (This one I can't believe when I'm applying to temp positions that are filling in for the maternity leave women.)  Is it because my Danish is not like a native's?  Everyone likes to soothe with excuses about the financial crisis.  OK yeah, but companies ARE hiring - that's why I'm applying to those advertised jobs.  My American work ethic does not sit well with this situation.

- Third toes to "more lenient visa and residency rules" at 8%.  (I think of my Belorussian friend, whose old aunt from Russia could not secure a visa to visit my friend here with my friend's mom.  So I guess that people who cannot get visas for their relatives to visit may have voted for this.  In other words, it might not all be about securing residency, just wanting to host old Auntie Olga.)

- 5% voted for "more sunshine and better weather".  All I have to say is there's a darn good reason that the very strong Christmas beers are released in the first week of November, when the sunrise is at 7:15 a.m. and the sunset at 4:15 p.m.  These times are similar to Ohio sunrise and sunset times, but on the shortest day of the year!  On winter solstice this year (21 Dec.), we are looking at a sunrise of 8:37 a.m. and sunset at 3:38 p.m.  Drinking one's self into oblivion is a phrase that comes to mind.  BTW, those terms of "sunrise" and "sunset" should be in quotes, because in reality, this means that at 8:37 a.m., some light shines through the gray cumulus clouds, and at 3:38 p.m.,  the sky is pitch black.  One PRAYS for snow, just so it reflects more light into our world.

Speaking of sunshine, it's out there now. Time to enjoy it!

Shopping at Matas

In many ways, Denmark is light years ahead of the States (social system and environmentalism being my two biggest examples).  But in other ways, it is almost as if I was put into a time machine and transported back to the days of my Grandmothers, or say, Betty Draper.  Shopping is the biggest example I have of this.

During the last several years I lived in Athens, I became very used to shopping at Wal-Mart for nearly all of my needs, from servicing the tires on my car to prescription medications to things for the home to food.  One-stop-shopping.  While there is one of the national chain Bilka stores in town, it is a good hike away by bike.  Even then, I would never be able to buy Everything I Needed, 1. because it isn't there, and 2. bring it back home by bike or on bus.  Oh, how I miss my car and its spacious trunk!

Here, there are two butcher shops on my street within a short distance.  One of them even has signage that it has horse meat.  I have never been to that shop.  One must also go to an optometry store just to buy saline for contact lenses.  (Still not sure why, but maybe saline is too dangerous to be dispensed by non-ophthalmologists.)  Even Bilka doesn't (can't?!) carry that.  Any pain killer more powerful than an aspirin must be had at the pharmacy.  Even aspirin is available only at the larger grocery stores - not all of them - and ALL bottles of aspirin are in small bottles.  Apparently it is also too dangerous here to buy a Valu-Size of OTC pain killers.  The list goes on and on.

This is where the national chain Matas comes into play.  It reminds me of Super-X, circa 1982, but without the pharmacy (because a prescription here can only be had at a pharmacy!).  You remember Super-X - they often occupied the storefront next to Kroger back in the day.  Matas has a very extensive selection of personal care products, from vitamins to makeup, hair and facial care (including facial hair!) to all your shower and bath needs.  Ace bandages, Band-Aids, thermometers.  You get the idea.

I really hate going into this store, but always am sure to check out their ads online, just so I don't miss a really great deal.  Without Wal-Mart here, one must scrutinize all of the stores' ads in order to not miss a really great deal.  This week, Matas had something I really needed: nail polish remover (200ml for 20DKK ~that's about $3.33 for a bottle just a little smaller than the smallest Cutex bottle).  Also, tampons were 2 boxes for 35, and Garnier had new facial care products.

The sale began on Monday at 9.30 a.m., and when I got there around 3 p.m., I was the only customer in the store staffed by two.   I did not see any of the sale signs on the items I wanted.  In fact, I did not see any more nail polish bottles on the shelf!  "Really?!" I thought to myself, "Can they actually be sold out already?!"  Being sold out of an item by late Monday afternoon would not be unheard of here.  So one of the two clerks asked if she could help me, and I said, "Yes, do you have any more of these, and are they on sale?"

She went to the back and returned with two huge boxes of the product.  By that time, I had grabbed a copy of the flier and confirmed with her that this was indeed the one on sale.  I also looked for my tampons.  Three sizes were available, but only one of each size was on the shelf!  Still, no price stickers.  "Really?!" I thought to myself, "Can they actually be sold out already?!" So I asked the clerk to check for more of my size in the back. 

She looked confused as to why I would need two boxes of tampons!  So I pointed to the notice in the flier that had "2 for 35", and she then seemed to get it.  When she returned from the back, she said that there were no more tampons.  "Really?!" I thought to myself, "Can their distribution system be this bad?!" Apparently so.  The clerk then tried to sell me on buying two, but one in another size.  "No thanks!" I said.  After all, size DOES make a difference, right?  Why else would they offer all those sizes!?!  "What kind of drugs is SHE on?!" I wondered.  Oh, probably the ones oozing from all the chemical products in the store.

On to the next item, Garnier Nordic Care skin products.  The moisturizer clearly stated on the front that it was "Paraben Free!"  Yes! This is good!!  But I was looking for toner and wipes.  They were both loaded with parabens.  No thanks, Garnier!

I have no idea what goes on in that store, but all my many years of retail work experience are rubbed the wrong way whenever I shop there.  Bossy, in-your-face clerks (they must work on commission), lack of signage, poor distribution and lack of products - let alone regularly-stocked SALE products on the first day of the sale!  Not one of my old retail managers would have stood for that, especially while the store was so dead (a.k.a. lack of customers; empty)!  Although it is not Matas' fault, and while Garnier should get some props for having some paraben-free products, their other paraben-filled products left me with another disappointed feeling.

Get it together, people.  Shopping for 3 regularly stocked sale items on the first day of the sale should not be so aggravating.  Just another nick on the US side of the scoreboard of USA vs. Denmark.  I must say, however, that I did appreciate the clerk not switching to English as soon as my American accent came tumbling out of my mouth.  That usually always happens there!