A prime example: My mom and I were at the Tivoli amusement park In Copenhagen a- it is the oldest amusement park in the world - no plastic or florescent lights are allowed - it is hilarious and magical. There are business men wandering around in droves, having a drink, etc.... DANES - not tourists. Mom and I got on a Merry-go-rounds (they had legitimately scary rides but this was mom´s top pick) and we were gleefully holding onto the giraffe when a Danish security guide wandered by, yelling at us happily. We just laughed and he said some more Danish things, we laughed some more and he wandered off, laughing to himself. It is just SO EASY to pretend to me Danish....
Doesn´t always work though - We were at the King´s botanical gardens - nest to Rosenberg Castle and a gaggle of Danish schoolchildren were about, having some sort of treasure hunt. I was standing by a Hans Christian Andersen statue quite innocently when suddenly they descended. Our dialogue:
Ring leader child: kjøflkjd dølkjf fæs Hans Christian Andersen?
Me: blank stare
child: øølkdsføljk dslkjf
Me: Dansk? (which, to translate for the non-Danes among you, means "Danish?")
Mom and I also visited Kronborg Castle in Helsingør! It is the castle that Hamlet is based on - Elsinore = Helsingør in English. I am really truly enjoying learning about all this history that I am connected to somehow through my family. I had no idea that Denmark once ruled most of Sweden and Norway and Estonia. Back in Copenhagen we went to the National Museum and nerded out over some history - Neanderthal innovations to a 2004 pot-pushing cart donated from the experimental commune "Christiania" locate inside of Copenhagen. The museum actually attributed Scandinavian stoic-ness to the introduction of coffee and tea to the area. Apparently the Vikings would have been sweet lambs had they substituted the flask for a latte.
Ok I´m off for now!
leave comments if you want, I love hearing from you!
Always good to hear your updates!
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