Denmark Journal Entry

Denmark, (supposedly) Day One

We are currently in the airport right now, but no, we’re not at Copenhagen airport. Due to delays, we are still stuck at Macedonia. Because we found a Danish friend of ours to pick us up at Copenhagen, this delay is going to get us into BIG TROUBLE. Danes, being part of the Scandinavian culture, are known for their strict etiquette. They try not to cause inconvenience or discomfort to others, as they value mutual respect. For example, in our friend’s eye, our tardiness is seen as a waste of her time. Danes also value humbleness and they loathe public display of one’s success. Though Denmark is a rich country, Danes do not like to brag about their wealth. Being loud and obnoxious is another pet peeve of the Danish. Anyway, we must be careful not to offend our friend again, or else her Danish instincts will tell her to give us a boring lecture about manners. Hopefully our plane will be taking off soon!  

Denmark, Day One

While walking through Denmark, we realized that most of the churches or palaces are built by bricks. Curious as though why, we asked our Danish friend, and she told us that during the Viking period, the country had little access to stones, so bricks became the construction material for architecture. She also told us that Dutch and Flemish designers were brought to Denmark to design castles in the Renaissance style. This style started spreading throughout the country. But in the 19th century, under Christian IV’s influence, the style quickly merged into the National Romantic Style. This style, however, did not last for a long time. In the 1960s, Danish architects finally “invented” their highly successful Functionalism. This had evolved into recent world-class masterpieces such as the Sydney Opera House and the Great Belt Bridge. Danish Architectures have such a great history that we could not really understand, but thanks to our friend, we got to learn some history.

Denmark, Day Two ~ Four

We are now at the streets of Denmark, just in time for Maundy Thursday! Maundy Thursday is the fifth day of the Holy Week, between Holy Wednesday and Good Friday. Easter is a BIG holiday in Denmark. Though Easter is a Christian holiday, a survey conducted in 2000 showed that about half of the population see it as an important family holiday, and only about 10% consider it as a “Christian message.” For many Danes, Easter is just a symbol of the end of winter and the start of spring. As we walked around, we saw many stores were decorated in green and yellow, with daffodils and branches with baby leaves, all symbols of springtime.

On Easter Sunday, our Danish friend invited us to join her family at Easter Lunch, a big feast consisting of eggs and spring food. We had a big meal of chicken, lamb, and veggies. Special Danish food was also served, such as little hot dishes, herrings, cheese, and sliced meat. The adults had special Easter beer, which was stronger and (according to our friend’s uncle) tastier than normal beer. We had a great time there, but sadly we had to catch a flight after the feast.