I may be a Scandinavian at heart

Arthur excited about his African mammals book

At the risk of sounding unpatriotic, I must admit… I may be a Scandinavian at heart. While I’ve always admired their social programs from a distance, after a third trip to Copenhagen…I think I might be sold.

First, it is one of the few places I’ve traveled in the world where I “blend”. After spending so much of my life in Africa sticking out like a sore thumb (or a “pink flamingo” as Elizabeth Gilbert describes in Eat, Pray, Love – I totally sympathize with that description), it is refreshing to travel unobtrusively. Small children feel no need to rush and point and scream “lekgoa” (white person) as if I’m some sort of alien species. On occasion, people in Denmark actually mistake me for a Dane and speak to me in their native tongue to which I have to sadly reply, “I speak English.”

Second, while Paul often bemoans the memories of living in Denmark with its bad weather, each of the times I’ve visited (granted… always in the summer) the days have been long (with sunlight well past 10 PM – which is a little disorienting but…) and the sun has been shining most of the time. Perhaps, “don’t come here, the weather stinks” is something they tell foreigners to keep them from immigrating! 

Beautiful weather on the canal in Copenhagen

Third, the food is definitely within my preferred palate: salmon, dill, prawns, remoulade, fish and chips, fricadella, cheese and jam on rolls for breakfast, those little fried onion things you put on sandwiches that I can never remember the name of…I’m in heaven. Nothing is too spicy. Everything is fresh. While I can’t spell or pronounce most of it, I’m pretty safe in ordering anything because it is all delicious. It was also strawberry season (and we never have that in Botswana!).

More delicious food - rack of lamb that Jeanet made

"Turning Torso", Malmo, Sweden

Fourth, I love the daily activity level of the culture. There are lanes and lights specifically for biking. At all hours of the day you can find people out walking, running, paddling, cycling. All ages seem to engage in physical activity (we saw groups of pensioners rowing in the nearby canals on a daily basis).  We biked to the zoo, kayaked in the canal, walked into the city to view an international sand sculpture competition, and took the metro and train to Sweden for the day to celebrate my birthday. We kept physically active without “working out” once (a much better way to stay fit than going to the gym!).

Fifth, while locals may complain about the high tax rates (and they are high), the social safety nets and benefits that exist are hard to beat. Paul’s son, Nikolaj, is able, for example, to be paid to stay home from work to care for his ailing mother. While the United States has the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which allows people to take time off from work to care for their sick loved ones or new born/adopted children (or themselves if they are sick – my dad used this to keep his job while he underwent several surgeries related to his bladder cancer in the fall), the Danes have us beat with their social programs by… A LOT! While FMLA “entitles ‘eligible’ employees of ‘covered’ employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons,” there are lots of caveats and fine print. Click here for a helpful summary sheet on FMLA (you may need to take advantage of these benefits at some point in time).

 Even self-employed Nikolaj can get compensation to care for his sick mother for as long as he needs to: no time limits (in the US – 12 weeks), no minimum company size (in the US - typically companies with over 50 employees only), and no uncompensated time off! I’m hard-pressed to believe that anyone out there doesn’t see this as a benefit worth supporting: the privilege to care for our loved ones in their greatest moments of need…who could argue against that?

Nikolaj and Paul at the international sand competition

Arthur with Trine heading into the petting zoo

Paul and piranhas at the aquarium

Arthur using Nikolaj's ears as handles at the zoo

Finally, while we probably can’t credit Copenhagen with Paul’s grandson Arthur (all that credit goes to Nikolaj and Trine!)…he is definitely worth making the long and tiring trip (via Dubai with a midnight to 5 AM layover!) to see! Sweet, curious, inquisitive, energetic, enthusiastic…all that an 18 month old should be! And while, over the course of our weeklong visit, I manged to learn the Danish words for “no” and “more” from Arthur (two well used words by kids this age!)…I sure hope he learns some English too so we can communicate. Or perhaps I should learn some more Danish…since I may be a Scandinavian at heart!

Putting his "food frock" to good use!

Excited!

Sweet!