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Denmark Night 1
Well this weekend I was off on another adventure, this time to Denmark. Once again I took the train to Belfast City Center, then hopped on the two hour bus to the Dublin Airport. I was glad Sarah and I had done that the weekend before on our way to Amsterdam so I knew where everything generally was, which made it a bit less stressful.
I landed in Copenhagen around 9pm where I was met at the airport by a guy I barely knew but would be staying with for the next couple of days. His name is Timm and he was born and raised in Denmark. I met Timm my sophomore year in high school because he was studying for a year in America at my school. We only had one or two conversations over the year he was there, but we happened to be friends on social media. When I was thinking of studying abroad I messaged him, knowing that it was a long shot, asking if there was any chance I could stay with him for a weekend sometime and have him show me around Denmark. To my surprise he said yes and that brings us to this weekend.
At first it was a bit awkward I think since we really hadn't spoken to each other all that much, but once we started talking it wasn't so bad. He drove me back to his mom and step-dad's house (which was beautiful and very modern) so I could put my things down, and then he took me to the bar in town for a drink. He told me quite a bit about Danish culture that night and it was very interesting to me. Also, the nice thing about Denmark is that everyone knows English because they start learning it from around age 7. So even though they mostly only talk in Danish, if you speak to them in English they will be able to understand you, and in most cases, will be able to hold a conversation with you in English.
Timm was then telling me about an 80s themed family party that all of his family and family friends were currently at and suggested we stop by, so we did. Of course, I was originally going to bring the 80s windbreaker that I bought in Amsterdam the weekend before, but I decided last minute not to bring it to Denmark. Go figure, because it would've been perfect for the party. By the time we got there though, it was around 11pm and everyone had already had quite a bit to drink, but everyone was very friendly and I actually felt very welcome even though I knew no one there except Timm.
We only stayed for maybe 45 minutes because everyone started leaving, but it was still fun watching everyone dance and have a good time.
I'm not sure if it had to do with the fact that I knew someone in Denmark, or because I wasn't staying in a hostel, but I didn't feel the culture shock the way I did when I arrived in Amsterdam. Instead, I already was loving Denmark and was starting to see why the residents of Denmark are considered to be the happiest people in the world.
