First off, I would like to introduce you to something very close to me…here is my bike (LEFT), which I’ve lovingly named “The B
ane of My Existence.” ;) As I have said before, the Danes especially like their bikes and since cars and gas are so expensive here, it is more efficient to have a bike. They have even mastered the fashionable wearing of rain suits so they do not get soaked (as I do) when on their bikes in the rain. I, on the other hand, have not ridden a bike in probably a decade and although they say you never forget how, they leave out that you forget how to master riding a bike. Basically, I have a love/hate relationship with my bike. It gets me places, but I constantly fall off 
it, because I do not know how to stop. I’m ok if there’s no one around me, but the minute a car or another bike comes near me, I get very wobbly and unstable. It's especially hard with my big backpack weighing me down. I cannot even tell you how many sympathetic (or pity) looks Iget from the people as I squeal when my bike tips over on me. Basically, the bike’s seat is too high for me, but my host family was so gracious to lend me one, so I’m not complaining. ;) The Danes also have these bells on their bikes that they forcibly ring every time you’re in their way. This ‘ring’ will haunt me forever as being the indication of my inferior bike riding skills. ::sigh:: (TOP RIGHT: The Jørgensen bike garage / BOTTOM LEFT: view of their backyard on another beautiful day, view from bike garage)
BUT anyways, the reason I bring
all this up is because two weekends ago, I went on (of all things!) a biking trip to Bornholm. As a DIS sponsored trip, we took an overnight (7 hours) ferry (where, yes, we all slept on the floor) to the little island of Bornholm, which is east of Denmark, north of Poland and smack in the middle of the Baltic Sea. So, to give you a visual, around 120 American students descended on this little island that is home to less than 1% of the Danish population and biked around
it for two days. It was glorious. We rode along the northern edge of the island and with the breathtaking blue water to my right and rolling countryside hills to my left, I flew down the hills and huffed and puffed up them. We were really fortunate to have perfect weather and e
verywhere we went, I could not get over all the water. Obviously, I’ve seen coastal waters before, but with the wind in my face and the smell of saltwater, it was 
different. I tried to close my eyes a couple of times to really soak it all in, but that quickly ended when I almost got hit by a bus. (TOP RIGHT: on the bus to the ferry with Jenna, Nutella in hand...nutrition for the ride :) / TOP LEFT: sleeping on the Bornholm ferry / BOTTOM LEFT: sunrise greeting us as we arrived at our hostel at 7AM after ferry ride... and then went right to the biking / MIDDLE RIGHT: view off hostel balcony / BOTTOM RIGHT: Bornholm bikers...that's not me, if you're wondering; I was taking the picture)
The rest of the weekend was spent at ancient castle ruins, waterfalls, enjoying freshly smoked herring (the Bornholm specialty), hiking down slippery rocks, or falling asleep on the little beaches that sprinkle the coast. Just splendid. (LEFT: some cliff we decided would be fun to walk down...yes, we almost died...it's a lot steeper than it looks / RIGHT: castle ruins that overlooked the sea...we fell asleep on that big patchy green area soaking up that sun)Now, I must explain something to you…there’s this cultural tradition in the Danish culture called Hygge. I'm not sure if tradition is the right word, because it's a natural daily thing. It is poorly tr
anslated as “cozy,” but to try to describe it, it is basically anytime when people gather, light ca
ndles, wrap themselves in blankets, drink some coffee or hot chocolate, dim the lights, sit close to keep each other warm, and talk for hours with the only purpose of enjoying each other’s company. Apparently, when the winter months near, Denmark has only a few hours of daylight, so this is something they do to counter the darkness. We talked a lot about this in our Danish language/culture class, so on our last night in Bornholm, we walked around, rating the “hygge-ness” of all the restaurants and selectively picked one to “hygge” in. I loved it. :) (LEFT: Tired but happy bikers off the cliff on the side of the ruins...see how it looks out and over the sea? I wish my words weren't impeding describing its vastness / RIGHT: Last night in Bornholm at some good quality hygge!)
Well, unfortunately, the weekend had to end, and then the first week of tests and papers came crashing down on me. All in all, I made it through, but not without getting my head around the complexity of the different international law lenses, or understanding how the EU’s integration of new member states has fostered a larger (or at least more legal) immigration across Europe. The migration often occurs from the poorer states to the richer ones (obviously), creating an unfortunate brain drain in many of those countries. I think I'm going to write my final paper on this dilemma, so I'll let you know when I solve all the EU's immigration problems. :) I also had to write a paper on Danish culture, after keeping a “cultural diary” everyday and interviewing my host father and sister. I really do appreciate being able to speak English with my family, because we have been able to talk about a lot of social and political issues that are quite relevant today and slightly more complex in content than rudimentary language might allow. (LEFT: Water, water everywhere...where I fell asleep with the seashells and waves...sorry that it doesn't really apply to this paragraph) Overall, I have found that the “welfare safety net” that Denmark’s government provides has penetrated nearly every facet of their lives. Having basic necessities paid for them (such as medical and education) enables the Danes to focus on things they find more important to foster, such as their family and friendships. It also motivates them to not work at the amount that other countries do since in a strictly economic sense, it is not beneficial for them to make more money since so much of it will be taken away in taxes. Taxes also becomes an issue when it comes to immigration, because it detracts educated immigrants from coming here to work. This often leaves the current immigrants stuck at the bottom rung of the socio-economic ladder. In what used to be such a homogenous society until 30 years ago, it is easy to pick out the new immigrants and if a small population of them commits crime, it is easy for them to be stereotyped against on a whole. It’s interesting to watch this seemingly advanced and comfortable society deal with integration problems that seem almost elementary in kind; at least to someone from a 'melting pot' homeland. Yet, this is only due to that they have never had to deal with it before the 70’s. The majority of immigrants are Muslim, so this clash is highly a cultural/religious one. Many Danes view the Muslim immigrants as highly clan-focused where the Danish culture puts their highest value on independence and equality and rarely attend to religious view. It’s one side of spectrum against another. The Danes have been very used to a relatively enclosed life for a long time, so this wave of immigrants, new culture and religion, and their limited involvement in the EU h avereally left them a little bewildered.
Ok, that was my academic talk of the day; I hope it wasn’t too dry. I will soon write again to talk about my trip to Sweden last weekend! I leave for our 3 week travel break in a week, so I hope to get it up before then, but if I don’t, I apologize. I hope this finds you all well and please keep sending me emails, for I love to read them. I miss and love you all!
Blessings,
Christine
