If you came into this blog to try to find out my recipe of "How to be a Dane,' then you are in the wrong place. I think that is pointless. One thing is to learn about the Danish culture, respecting their traditions and landmarks, and another is be like them. I don't think anyone should be like anyone else. Be you! Embrace Copenhagenization as a process, not a product. I'm not going to outline what to do to be a Dane, what to wear, how to write, or what type of food to like. Today's leaf journal does the opposite. Put your mark in Denmark. Come here with the full expectation to be immersed, not converted. |
The other day I was talking to my host about the plants that he keeps in the house. When I first came to the apartment I was charmed to see that, while plants outside had given-in to the weather, inside there was someone willing to keep plants alive. My host is an odd man: aside from two guinea pigs, Farmville, and bear cans, he has a pretty varied array of plants in the living room for a man living on his own. He waters them and weeds them regularly. It is not something I ask him about, I just observe.
He was showing me pictures of the past students that have stayed in the same place I am now staying. Endless arrangement of furniture, countless U.S faces and many smiling memories that I know I will make too. However, it had me feeling like there was nothing to stand me out from the rest of the students before me. Just when I thought I had found a clever furniture arrangement, he told me that someone else had done it the same way. Just when I had found a way to cut around the back to reach the metro station, he told me that another student had done it too. Just when I suggested to add maybe a salad to the pork platter, he said that a past student had already suggested the same thing. Just when I thought I couldn't differentiate myself I showed up to the house with a plant, he said none of his students had ever brought a plant before...
I bought a fern at the supermarket and told my host that I wanted to make my room more homie. You can see its leaf in the picture. I told him I have always had plants in my room in college, and that having plants makes me feel more connected to the place I'm living in. He was so excited by this. He told me that none of his past students had made an effort to personalize their room. Let alone bring a plant (a living organism!) into the house. This plant bridges the gap of what I know and what I don't know. While I am trying hard to get used to life in Copenhagen, I don't want to feel like I have to sacrifice who I am. I'm not trying to subdue me, If anything, I am trying to enhance me using Copenhagen as a mean, not an end.
He was showing me pictures of the past students that have stayed in the same place I am now staying. Endless arrangement of furniture, countless U.S faces and many smiling memories that I know I will make too. However, it had me feeling like there was nothing to stand me out from the rest of the students before me. Just when I thought I had found a clever furniture arrangement, he told me that someone else had done it the same way. Just when I had found a way to cut around the back to reach the metro station, he told me that another student had done it too. Just when I suggested to add maybe a salad to the pork platter, he said that a past student had already suggested the same thing. Just when I thought I couldn't differentiate myself I showed up to the house with a plant, he said none of his students had ever brought a plant before...
I bought a fern at the supermarket and told my host that I wanted to make my room more homie. You can see its leaf in the picture. I told him I have always had plants in my room in college, and that having plants makes me feel more connected to the place I'm living in. He was so excited by this. He told me that none of his past students had made an effort to personalize their room. Let alone bring a plant (a living organism!) into the house. This plant bridges the gap of what I know and what I don't know. While I am trying hard to get used to life in Copenhagen, I don't want to feel like I have to sacrifice who I am. I'm not trying to subdue me, If anything, I am trying to enhance me using Copenhagen as a mean, not an end.