October 1, 2010: Busy News Day

I will spare any excuses for not writing lately.

Today's news brought a few interesting topics that I would like to share.

Conservatives to People's Party: We don't want your kind in these here parts!
The biggest is that the Danish Foreign Minister Lene Espersen, who is also the Conservative party leader, said that her party would quit the government if the nationalist Danish People's Party would get any ministerial posts.  Now Lene is not a stranger to the news.  She was raked over the coals a few months ago for failing to appear at certain events where foreign ministers of other countries were gathered.  After that, her husband received a lot of press for his taxes.  I did not really pay much attention to either of those story's details.

The current change of heart is due to vast differences of either party's stance on four main issues:  EU politics, tax politics, the size of the public sector, and reforms in areas such as pensions.  Of course, I would have hoped that another reason would include the People's Party stance on immigration, but that may be wishing too much as after all, it's the Conservative party we're talking about here.

The other day I walked to the train station.  On the side walls under the overpass are two huge plastic frames that protect the advertisements underneath.  Every so often a People's Party ad is installed there.  Without fail, someone always rips off the plastic cover, removes the ad underneath, and vandalizes the ad.  The other day, someone had ripped off the facial area of the People Party's leader, Pia Kjærsgaard.  Hm.

Well maybe now the People's Party knows how it feels to be unwanted and blocked out of places they want to be.

Danes are getting FAT fatty fat fat!!!
I take twisted pleasure in this, because we all know that Americans are known for their largess and repudiated for it.  Colin Farrel's character in In Bruges provides a great example of what Europeans think of the vastly obese American. Here's a link to the clip, which cannot be embedded here.

And we all know that everybody loves to hate America.  Well guess what, you haters?  You're following America's lead to becoming overweight and even obese.  ha, ha! In Denmark, 41 percent of men and 26 percent of women are overweight; 11 percent of men are obese, and 12 percent of women are obese.  The stats thrown around for the U.S. are two-thirds of Americans are overweight, and now the number of obese is overtaking the number of "simply" overweight.  Looks like Danish women are aspiring to American numbers.

All kidding aside, this is no joke.  Being overweight is not easy, and leads to a whole host of various problems.  Good thing one of the world's leading diabetes medicine companies, Novo Nordisk, is HQ'd here in DK.  Also I should add something else from the article: while Danes are getting fatter, the rate is not as fast as other industrialized countries.  An Oxford Uni researcher theorizes that the social safety net is also what has slowed the rate.  My two cents is that all of the biking helps too.

From NYC: Riding a Bicycle is Now Chic and Hip
Gone are the days of poor spandex-encased bicycle messengers being the only image that pops into New Yorker's minds when they think of cycling in the city.  Eco-conscious young women are making  environmental and style statements as they pedal around town, writes the New York Times.  Here's my favorite quote, from the owner of a bicycle shop:

“The idea now is to look like a pedestrian on wheels.”

I admit, when I first came to Copenhagen nearly four years ago, the number of cyclists was quite shocking to my car-driving eyes.  I'll never forget seeing out the corner of my eye a HUGE belly seemingly floating in the air.  I turned and looked and saw a VERY pregnant woman cycling on the bike path.  WOW!  The city of Odense has been named the friendliest city for bicyclists, as it has more than 500 km (310 mi) of bike paths.

This NYT article, I found, was quite humorous.  After all, every day all over Denmark cyclists of all ages, shapes and sizes (and modes of fashion) use their bikes to drop off the kids at day care or co-bike with their little one to school, go to work, go shopping, and return home.  Not the latest chic and hip novelty, like in the Big Apple.

"Come Again?"
The last eye-catching article of today reveals the results of a Uni of Copenhagen study that focused on mapping out the gazillion dialects of Denmark.  Us foreigners learning Danish hear it all the time when we complain about Danes switching over to English as soon as they hear our foreign accents, "Even Danes sometimes can't understand each other!"  To which I always wanted to reply, "Uh, but do they start speaking English to each other?  NO! They open their ears and try to understand!"  But I kept my mouth shut, because arguing is useless.

The little country of Denmark, where Hamlet found something rotten, is geographically a little smaller than my home state of Ohio.  I grew up in the central eastern part, where a typical Midwest accent is found and usually had, although some pick up "hillbilly", "hill jack", "redneck", or Ohio River accents.  When I moved to southern Ohio, I was struck by the difference in accent.  We were not that far from Kentucky, that was for sure. And good luck flying into Columbus, stopping at the nearby McDonald's drive-through and understanding the typical accent that greets you there.  But it all works out, and you are soon munching on fries.

Denmark has a population of 5.5 million; Ohio has 11.5 million.  The capital of Copenhagen is home to 1-2 million residents, depending on how you draw the borders and such.  So that leaves a lotta land for the remaining residents.  That, coupled with the number of islands that make up the country, it seems not surprising that a lot of regional accents have developed.

For further information, visit the study's website, which contains this fabulous section where you can "train your ears" to understand the different accents.  An even better part is this section, which discusses how you, too can understand Danish with a foreign accent! 

"Prost!"
I would be remiss to not mention that October = Octoberfest!  Yes, as much as the Danes love to trash talk the Germans (and with good historical reason, of course), they love their beer-laden tradition!  I am going to an Octoberfest celebration this evening, my very first one.  This does not mean that we have not had special Octoberfest beer, as many beer companies produce them, which can be found at the grocery store. But it does mean I will experience yet another cultural experience, and that is somewhat interesting, even if the overwhelming tobacco-free smell of pilsners and lagers reminds me of stupid drunk college kids.