Are Danes Truly the Happiest People in the World?

Hej! So I have been back in Copenhagen for a few days and have been getting back in the routine of having classes. I apologize about the length of my last post, but I had so much I wanted to say about my trip to Milan and had a hard time editing it down to a readable level.

I know you all have been super worried about my lack of Internet after 9:30PM every night (just kidding…), but have no fear, I now have access to the Internet when I want! I had a meeting with DIS Housing to see if there was anything they could do. I didn't really think anything could be done about the situation, but DIS has given me this handy little thing I plug into my USB port that gives me access to the internet. I am so happy! If you have no idea what I am talking about, please see the post entitled, “Impressions”, where I explain my Internet situation and why my host mom turns off the internet at exactly 9:30PM every night. 

So there are apparently four stages of culture shock, according to Wikipedia. The first is the Honeymoon phase, where one sees the differences between their home culture and the new one they are in as exciting and wonderful. I must now be in the second stage, negotiation, where I am finding some of the differences between the United States and Denmark to be frustrating. For example, today I had a field study for my Positive Psychology class. Denmark, as I have mentioned previously, is ranked in the top three countries consistently to be the happiest country in the world.  My class was instructed to go around Copenhagen and ask people why they thought Denmark is ranked as the happiest country in the world.

The group I was with and I decided to ask store workers their opinions. We were doing this around 10AM so most places did not have too many customers. We purposely only went up to workers who were not dealing with customers/ did not look busy. We probably spoke to about five or six different people. Most of the people we questioned answered our question, however, I had a problem with a few of the people we asked. Two separate women we asked were basically like, “I don’t want to answer that question. I am too busy.” How hard is it to answer a question that will probably take about ten seconds out of your life to answer? I feel like if someone approached an American with a question, the American would always answer it, even if they were busy. We specifically made a point to talk to people who were not preoccupied. It almost seems rude to me to not answer the question. However, this is just my opinion.  Danes are a lot more reserved than Americans and are a lot more blunt, which I suppose can be a good thing in some cases.

I also have found that Danes will not help you if you are lost- you must ask for help. You could be walking around clearly lost, looking at a map, but a Dane, for the most part, will only help you if and only if you ask for it. This sort of makes me feel worried because if I were truly in danger or needed help, would a Dane help me? If someone is in trouble, they can’t exactly always ask for help… I am definitely generalizing here and I am sure there are Danes that would definitely help someone in need, but it does make me wonder. I would hate to see another Kitty Genovese- - a New York woman brutally murdered in the 1960s where many people watched the murders from their apartment buildings who did not call for help, assuming that others had already called for an ambulance.

I do like how genuine Danes are. If they say let’s meet for a cup of coffee, they mean it. I can’t count the number of times Americans, myself included, have said, “oh, let’s go out/ meet up” and it never happens. Or how American will ask “How are you?”, but not really mean it. Do you really care how I am doing? Probably not. When you ask a Dane how they are doing, they will usually tell you how exactly they are doing. Just something to think about…

Tomorrow I have a test in my Human Sexuality class. Hope it turns out well! Next blog I will tell you about my adventures in Switzerland and Germany!

Vi ses (See you!)

~Jenna

P.S.- Oh and most of the Danes felt that Denmark was the happiest country because they did not set their expectations too high, like American do, and that they have the welfare state, which provides for their basic needs. Did you know that Danes are paid to go to school? No student loans for them! I shouldn't let two people not answering my question get to me so I am not. Though it is true what we have been learning in Positive Psychology, that we tend to focus on the negative events more than positive...

Impressions

Hey! I know I just put up a new post a couple of days ago, but I don't have to be anywhere for 4 hours and don't feel like doing homework so I am going to update my blog. This post will just be my impressions of the Danes.

Danish people aren't as formal as we are in the U.S. For example, they rarely, if ever, call anyone Mr. or Mrs. You call everyone by their first name, even old people. They actually would find it kind of rude or odd if you were to be formal with people.

Danes are very concerned about the environment. My host family likes me to have the door to my room and bathroom closed at all times. I don't know how that is supposed to conserve energy, other than keeping the warm air from getting out of the room, but other than that I don't really understand. Perhaps someone who is more environmentally savvy can help me to understand. Other than that, I just kind of find it to be annoying. I am used to having my door open, because at Eastern having the door to your room open means that you are not busy and are open to having people come in your room. They also only shower for short times, like 5 minutes. I try to keep my showers short. I think most only shower every other day, but I could be wrong. I have no idea when my host family showers because they use a different bathroom than me.

 Danes also have very little trash cans in their house/ around town. In an average American home, there would be a trash can in every bathroom, in the kitchen, and in every bedroom, or at least that is how it is at my house. My host family has one trash can in the kitchen. Others who have host families have said the same thing. Hm.... I guess it discourages throwing out more than you need to.

I think it is cool that you get money back for bottle that you recycle. Say, if I bought a water bottle at 7-11, after I am done drinking it, I can take it to Netto, the popular supermarket chain, put it into a machine, and get 1 or 2 kroner back for it (which is about 20 to 40 cents). You do not make money, however, because when one buys a drink, the price of recycling it is already included in the price. So in essence, you are getting back money that you have already spent.

My host family likes to turn off the internet at 9PM my time which is very annoying. The internet is in my host sister Eva's room and my host mom does not like to have it on while she is sleeping b/c something about radiation. Yeah, I don't get it, either. I think my host mother has some sort of fear of radiation because she hides our microwave behind a movable cabinet cover. They have talked about moving the internet down to the basement, where I am staying, but I don't want to get my hopes up. If my host family doesn't host anymore students, then why make them move the internet to a place that is not convenient for them? If they do host more DIS students then it might be wise to move it... I can deal with it being turned off, it is just an annoying because I can't really talk to people in the US since most people are at work/ in class until 4 (10PM my time).

I have a cold, which is also annoying. I don't usually get sick so it's been a while since I have been. I actually can't remember the last time I had a cough. Hopefully it goes away soon. Tonight I have to go to a workshop at 6PM my time for my Virtual Worlds and Social Media class. Something about learning how to use a blog. I have to make a blog special for that class. We'll see how that goes. Tomorrow at 8:30AM I am going to the Danish Parliament to talk to Peter Jensen, a politician, about Positive Psychology. Hope it's interesting!

Thanks for reading!