The Darkness

    Shortly after I found  work in Denmark, following  a long  wait back in the US for a work visa, I arrived at the country ,which I knew so little about but ,would be my present and future home. I came around summer time and like many other foreigners, I was not prepared for the dramatic change in the way the weather is. So on the morning of my very first day to work,my eyes open to the horror of full sunlight. In a panicky rush,I shower,get dressed and grabbed my belongings,because there was no way I was going to be late for my  first day of work. When I finally get a hold of my self and look at my clock to see how late I was to my new job, came shock number two. It was 6:30 am but the light outside felt like 10 am. That was my first experience with Danish weather, during summer time,when the sun rises at 4am and sets at 11pm. That part of Danish weather was a pleasant surprise to discover and during summer, you can leave the office at 4pm and still have close to 7 hours of light to go out,bask yourself in the sun,have a nice dinner at some outdoor cafe and enjoy the lovely weather Denmark has in the summer.

     The shock starts to truly set in around September,that is when almost from one day to another, the amount of sunlight diminishes,depriving your body of precious  vitamin K which was readily available during the summer months. So while before ,waking up at 6:30 to go to work,was quick and easy, your body cant handle waking up in near total darkness. Every morning becomes a ritual of dragging the time and trying to see how much you can snooze your alarm,before finally finding the energy to drag yourself into the shower and making your way to work. This sudden shift in sunlight,must have a large impact on your bodies defenses, because right around this time, the amount of sick co workers increases at the office,signalling the start of Fall. Sadly the weather gets worse as winter sets in, which brings you gloomy,cold,grey landscapes,with sunrises close to 9 in the morning and sunset around 4pm. So if you work in an office,during winter it is not abnormal to commute to work in darkness and make your way back home in darkness at well. These winters can be so grim that certain people suffer from winter depression,brought on by a lack of sunshine. Doctors can even prescribe a lamp that lets off UV rays,to help people cope with the lack of sun.

    If you were to guess,what county has the highest consumption rate of coffee per capita, you would naturally think its Columbia,Venezuela or some other some other South American country. But after living in a country with such harsh winters,it comes as no surprise that its Finland,a country further North of Denmark, who enjoys coffee by the liters. If Danish winters are bad then Finnish winters must be a nightmare and only through consuming copious amounts of coffee, could you ever make it through the day. I am going to miss summer and thank god for good,strong coffee.

10 years away from home.

Every time an anniversary comes around,whether it be personal or private, one cant help to look back in retrospection, to the day which you are observing. So it was back in September 25, 2005 that I was sitting at George H.W Bush airport,which was called Intercontinental at the time, sitting with my parents,waiting for my flight to come up. During that time, New Orleans was underwater and there was another Bush in office, so in terms of global popularity,especially in Europe it was not a very good time to be an American. But, as the cliche goes, I was young and given the opportunity to live in Europe, so the only opinion that mattered was mine and there was no way I was going to pass up such an opportunity. I was not of the age,that fear and hesitation would have prevented me from taking such a life changing decision,but perhaps because of my youth, I did not fully grasp how much it would change my life. What I figured would be a 1 to 2 year adventure in Europe,has now reached 10 years and I think its unlikely I will ever return. In that time I traveled to all over Europe, lived in 3 of its major cities and found love within a tiny Scandinavian country called Denmark.Never did I imagine living here,but I am happy that my life has taken me here.

    One thing that living outside your own country does to you,is to widen your perspective about people and life in general. When you live and experience,exclusively what your country has to offer, often leaves you with an idea of the world,that  does not match reality. So that is how I came to Europe, thinking that Europe was this wonderful,open,cultured place,where everyone dressed nicely,looked great and above all disliked Americans. Living there,however has opened my eyes to fact that, while some of the things I have stated ,have a ring of truth to it, the fact is. Europe as well as all of the world, has their fair share of dumb,racist,ignorant,badly dressed and out of shape people just like my country does. However,on the same note,in those 10 years, having visited 14 countries, not once, have I ever experienced anyone being purposely rude or belligerent by virtue of the fact that I was American.All of this seems obvious to me now, but it takes living,immersing and seeing a culture through your own eyes, to even have a taste of what life is,in another country. Occasionally I will meet other American expats, but sadly most other Americans will travel through Europe for such a brief and hurried time,that the only way they can experience it is visually. Although,once you have settled somewhere, no matter how exotic and different it is,life tends to slow and turn into the daily routine is. My home and location to life's routine is in the tiny capital of Denmark called Copenhagen.

    Denmark, is a tiny,quaint country,located in the north of Europe. It has a population of 5 million,which is .5 million less then my families home town of Houston Texas. The land which once housed the much feared Vikings, is now a quiet,peaceful country, which is part of what is known as Scandinavia. It is true you pay an arm and a leg in taxes, but once you understand where your tax money goes and the benefits it provides,you feel ok with paying such a high tax rate. Back in the states, Americans have this idea of a country that is founded on "Socialist" values,as something akin to the Soviet Union,at the height of the cold war. This idea could not be further from the truth, the reality is, Denmark is a wonderful,peaceful place to have a family. The relative quality in standard of living as well as the smaller divide between wealth and poverty. Means that,children do not starve out of lacking, an education up towards University level,is something any Dane can strive for if they have the drive and ability. It means 5 paid weeks vacation for anyone who works. It also means universal healthcare for all,paid maternity leave and care for the elderly/disabled. It is a place that has a general sense of community that I felt was absent in the US. The Danes themselves are overall friendly, helpful but a bit on the cold and distant side. It can be lonely and difficult at times to part of the society, but overall I like the place and its my home. That is to say,it isn't like Denmark does not have problems, but compared to every place I have ever lived in, they seem to have the best society possible. 

That in a nutshell is what this blog is about,to share my experiences to anyone interested about everything Danish and European in general. From an Americans perspective.