Spring in Denmark is officially cancelled. Danish prime minister had a press conference yesterday, March 23rd, and said that quarantine measures inside the country are being prolonged until 13th of April at least. Borders are closed until the same date. Just as a reminder quarantine measures mean that: all educational institutions and public institutions are closed down. All stores but grocery stores and clothes stores are closed down. All restaurants, cafe bars and bodegas (Danish version of pubs) are closed down. All public gatherings with more than 10 people are prohibited - and every body should maintain social distance. As she funnily pointed out, "lets stand together by being apart". That means that spring is officially cancelled in Denmark, which is, trust me a very serious thing. When sun finally comes out, it is an event that you want to enjoy, because there was basically no sun from the beginning of September to last week. That is a bit difficult to bear. And now when it is finally here, almost nobody can enjoy it. And again I feel blessed because I can still go to work so I can legally - and without guilty conscience - enjoy it.
On March 24th a new and interesting development in the fight against corona virus happened. Denmark seized private hospitals in order to get access to their equipment so it can fight better against the virus. And did it legally too. As corona-crisis was ramping up, Denmark prepared a whole set of laws that enables it to temporarily seize property during an emergency situation and even to enter peoples homes without a legitimate warrant, which is currently in effect(they didn't go through with this one). I can't shake the feeling that this act was totally uncalled for. What is as clear as daylight, is that everyone in Denmark is 100% on board to fight the corona virus. At the moment I heard the news, I thought that private hospitals would help the state in the fight against the corona virus if they just asked for it. And my hunch was spot on. A spokesperson from one of the private hospitals said that they would enable access to all their equipment within a day if Denmark reached out for their help. And now Denmark potentially brought into danger, patients from the private hospitals because all scheduled treatments had to be delayed. I am sorry, but this is just a knee jerking reaction that was completely uncalled for.
Plus it seems that Europe could do much better in the fight against the corona virus. A renown virologist, Bruce Aylard said, that the way to go is to is to trace and isolate people that got infected and then trace, test and potentially isolate their close relations. Which is the thing that South Korea did without stopping the societies and performing a murder of their economy. Fortunately, on March 25th first news started coming that Denmark will go on that route. How soon, we will see.
To change the topic and the country a bit. Amid the corona crisis lock-down, on Sunday 22nd of March Zagreb was hit by an earthquake of the magnitude 5.5 degrees on the Richter scale. City center got a serious beating, though not as bad as the earthquake from 1880. Newer buildings were undamaged, fortunately. In the aftermath of the earthquake authorities found one fatality. Needles to say that the quarantine was breached during this time. Which is totally understandable. When you have a choice between a building landing on your head or potentially contracting a virus that may kill you, of course you will go for the virus. The threat from the virus is not imminent. The city continued to shake for the next couple of days, which is common after a big earthquake but fortunately the chances for another big earthquake are very low.
The way it started, who knows what else does the 2020 have in store for us - first contact maybe?
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Corona crisis week 2
Today I feel uncomfortable raiding in the train. I boarded a train in 7:33 and it is empty. There is just one more person in the part of the train for bikes, it's a bit creepy. Usually the trains between 7 and 8 are packed! Sometimes you are even forced to stand in the doorway because there is no room anywhere else. That used to be annoying but now I wish if it went back to that. Copenhagen is empty as well. When the train drops me of in Copenhagen a bit before 8 the streets are usually packed with cars and cyclist, buses and s-trains are full (light railway) but now the city looks abandoned. The only change is the children. Since the schools closed down on Monday there is a significantly higher number of children on the streets of Copenhagen. And that kind of defies the purpose of the quarantine and I am not the only one that noticed it. A number of people started warning other that they should have better control of their children.
I must say that I am not handling well this worldwide panic state. I read about the virus, I am aware of risks, I am aware of precautionary measures I should take, it is fine. But what really rubs me of in a bad way is that there is a constant pressure about it. You can't snoop around the Facebook or Internet without every search having something to do with the crisis. Wherever you look there is only COVID-19, like nothing else is going on in the world but COVID-19.
Considering that stock markets are in the free fall, that mass firings have slowly started, for now in hotels and airline companies I feel lucky that I can still go to work normally. From 10:00 on March 18th all cafe bars, restaurants, pubs and all stores but grocery stores must close down. How long will that last, I don't know... nobody does. My friend from Germany told me that their government informed them that they can expect that quarantine measure will be in effect until approximately mid of October, so I guess we can expect the same. I read the other day that in Hong Kong people are under strict house quarantines that lasts for two months and will most likely go for another month. And I guess, this uncertainty about almost everything is the thing that has everyone worried.
For how long will the world stand still? After it passes, how many people world wide will be left without their livelihood? Will it all be worth it to fight against the disease that is dangerous only to elderly people and people who are immune compromised? To avoid potential criticism, numbers say that no children died from COVID-19. Death rates for people aged 10-39 are 0.2%, age 40-49 are 0.4%, age 50-59 are 1.3%. For older people it becomes seriously dangerous. Was it possible to somehow protect part of the population that is at high risk without stopping the whole societies? I don't know, I am not smart enough, I am just curious and asking questions. It seems that the countries which wanted to implement only precautionary measures, without implementing quarantine rules are getting backlash from the public.
For how long will the world stand still? After it passes, how many people world wide will be left without their livelihood? Will it all be worth it to fight against the disease that is dangerous only to elderly people and people who are immune compromised? To avoid potential criticism, numbers say that no children died from COVID-19. Death rates for people aged 10-39 are 0.2%, age 40-49 are 0.4%, age 50-59 are 1.3%. For older people it becomes seriously dangerous. Was it possible to somehow protect part of the population that is at high risk without stopping the whole societies? I don't know, I am not smart enough, I am just curious and asking questions. It seems that the countries which wanted to implement only precautionary measures, without implementing quarantine rules are getting backlash from the public.
22.03.2020
Denmark - 1395 corona virus cases, 13 deaths, 1 recovery
Croatia - 254 corona virus cases, 1 death, 5 recoveries
Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries
Sunday, March 15, 2020
Now is the time to panic and freak out
In the last couple of weeks the whole world is united in a panic caused by the Coronavirus. First confirmed case of Coronavirus in Denmark was on 27th February. A man from Roskilde returned from his skiing trip in northern Italy. From that day on, every day, there has been reports about new cases. But life went on - more or less uninterrupted - until last Wednesday. On Wednesday, 11th of March, Denmark issued a warning for people who plan to travel outside of the country. But it was just a call for taking precausionary measures if people are traveling to countries with some reported cases of the virus. On the next day, 12th of March Denmark decided to shut down all public institutions and educational institutions from Monday the 16th of March - and has issued a recommendation to people to stay and work from home, if they can. At the same time there was a press release for people not to panic and to stay home if they can. Yesterday on March 14th Denmark decided to close all borders for at least a month, with the exception of heavy traffic. Also, all non essentials stores will be closed off from Monday 16th of March with the exceptions of supermarkets and drug stores.
Of course the panic started on Thursday 12th March. How will people not start to panic when the country is basically shuting down!? It is a clear sign of an extraordinary situation and that things from now on will not run as intended. That was the message that Danish government sent with the decision to close all public institutions. People will not wait until Monday to start panicking, they will start panicking immediately.
And it has been/still is quite a panic indeed. People started hoarding hand dezinfection gel, toilet paper, meat and vegetables. Despite the calls from supermarkets and the goverment that there is no need for hoarding, that the supply lines will be open and the stores will keep working and as long as people continue shopping as they usually do, nobody will be hungry and all assess will be clean. It didn't help. Videos of people fighting in the stores, empty shelves in the supermarkets, reports of thefts of face masks and hand disinfectants from hospitals... At the same time the financial sector, labour unions and employer organizations started preparing for the economy grinding to a halt. So yea, bussiness as usuall... not.
But that is only the beginning. There is still a lot of unknowns... How hard will the economy be hit, how long will it last, how many companies will go bust and how many people will lose their jobs? There is also the question: how does a nation of workaholics handle a lockdown? How will people identified by working handle not working? Yesterday I saw a serious article written by a couple therapist with tips for couples on how to handle the coronacrisis. Because, imagine, people will have to spend a lot of time together and with their children. The sad thing is that they don't know how to, because they are used to spending a bit of time together in between work and all the other obligations that they have while children are taken care of by the professionals. At least it seems so, if it is necessary for the couple therapist giving instructions on how to handle your partner and kids when you are all trapped under the same roof. The horror!
It is interesting times we live in and maybe coronacrisis will bring some longterm benefits with it. Maybe it will remind some of us how to just be with our loved ones, how to define ourselves with something that does not include work. Maybe it will also remind us how fragile our whole modern lifestyle is, if you consider that it is threatened by a simple virus that is a bit more dangerous than a flu.
Sunday, March 8, 2020
Insensitive caring
Sometimes Danes have a way of showing care that may come as a bit of. The first time I wittessed it was when I started language school. We had a meeting where the teachers explained to us how is the system working. I need to explain it a bit. So, language school is divided into 6 modules and on every module you get a certain amount of time in which you should pass the exam. After every exam you can choose do you want to continue, make a break and continue later or stop. If you signed up for the module your time is ticking. If you passed the module your time stops. When you start on the next one it starts to tick again. While you are attending a module there is not a thing in the world that can stop the time from ticking, no matter what. After the teacher explained that to us, she started giving examples.
Let's take a pregnant woman, she said. Let's say she started on a module and two days before the test she goes into labor. It would be better for her to hold the baby in until she passes the exam because if she passes we can stop the time. But if she decides to give birth and because of that she won't be able to continue on the module and attend the exam there is nothing we can do about it. Her time will keep ticking and it will expire.
I was shocked that the teacher would even use such an example. And if that isn't a good exception to the rules I don't know what is. After talking a bit more about how the time system works I did get the feeling that she really cares that we do well and succed but that one example never left my mind. But I kinda sidelined it for a good six months until last week when I read a story in one local newspaper.
In Denmark there is a dog law that puts a number of dog breeds, that are deemed dangerous, as illegal to own. If people already have them, nothing will happen to them if the dogs behave - their owners keep them in check - with the police keeping the right of taking the dog away for no apparent reason. In the news, police decided to take such a dog away from it's owner, even though the dogs was not causing any problems. So, the dog was from a breed on the list of illegal dog breeds and the owner was controling him well. The dog never attacked or bit any other dog or human. Usually in cases like these, police doesn't meddle but this time it did. They took the dog away, the dog was put down and the owner had an opportunity to see the dog for two hours before the dog was put down.
What happened was that the dog owner was so attached to his dog that he just couldn't handle it and after the dog was put down, he commited suicide.
What I find unsettling in this story is that usually in such cases the police doesn't meddle if the dogs are behaving well. This time the police decided to meddle and take the dog away, which is their legal right. On the other hand, the man was solitary and that he was keeping to himself, sometimes not talking to others for weeks and his only other companion was that dog and they took it anyway. I do no believe that nobody saw how much that dog ment to him. I do not belive that nobody saw that it would break him mentaly but they did it anyway.
In this case Denmark decided that certain dog breeds are bad for its citizens and in order to protect them they made them illegal to own. Even if one man commited suicide, greater good was still served. At least no one else will be harmed by that dog anymore. Despite all this I still wonder was anyone resposible for that man death?
Let's take a pregnant woman, she said. Let's say she started on a module and two days before the test she goes into labor. It would be better for her to hold the baby in until she passes the exam because if she passes we can stop the time. But if she decides to give birth and because of that she won't be able to continue on the module and attend the exam there is nothing we can do about it. Her time will keep ticking and it will expire.
I was shocked that the teacher would even use such an example. And if that isn't a good exception to the rules I don't know what is. After talking a bit more about how the time system works I did get the feeling that she really cares that we do well and succed but that one example never left my mind. But I kinda sidelined it for a good six months until last week when I read a story in one local newspaper.
In Denmark there is a dog law that puts a number of dog breeds, that are deemed dangerous, as illegal to own. If people already have them, nothing will happen to them if the dogs behave - their owners keep them in check - with the police keeping the right of taking the dog away for no apparent reason. In the news, police decided to take such a dog away from it's owner, even though the dogs was not causing any problems. So, the dog was from a breed on the list of illegal dog breeds and the owner was controling him well. The dog never attacked or bit any other dog or human. Usually in cases like these, police doesn't meddle but this time it did. They took the dog away, the dog was put down and the owner had an opportunity to see the dog for two hours before the dog was put down.
What happened was that the dog owner was so attached to his dog that he just couldn't handle it and after the dog was put down, he commited suicide.
What I find unsettling in this story is that usually in such cases the police doesn't meddle if the dogs are behaving well. This time the police decided to meddle and take the dog away, which is their legal right. On the other hand, the man was solitary and that he was keeping to himself, sometimes not talking to others for weeks and his only other companion was that dog and they took it anyway. I do no believe that nobody saw how much that dog ment to him. I do not belive that nobody saw that it would break him mentaly but they did it anyway.
In this case Denmark decided that certain dog breeds are bad for its citizens and in order to protect them they made them illegal to own. Even if one man commited suicide, greater good was still served. At least no one else will be harmed by that dog anymore. Despite all this I still wonder was anyone resposible for that man death?
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Do not insult me with expressing your opinion
The other day we had very interesting cultural misunderstanding. We went for a beer with our friends from the "Croatian getto" and as my girfriend recently started to work for the labour union a lot of the discussion revolved around that and at the point it became a bit heated. She is very passionate about her work and my friends and me are passionate about disucussion and sometimes we do like to play devils advocate as well. So, it was a perfect setup for hanging out with friends drinking beer and just talking, as Croatians do it by default.
At one point discussion became very heated as my friend was grilling my girlfriend and than he popped the question: "But if think that labor unions work is so important why don't you clean staircases for a living and volunteer for the labor unions?" That completely caught her off guard, she just opened her mouth and eyes wide open and stayed speechles at which point we all burst into laughter and in return we got a fuck you guys. But this didn't stop us from continuing and in the end my girlfriend even got a feedback on what should labour unions do to become more relevant and appealing to foreigners. Of course, it was just our personal opinion. We are by not experts on the topic by any criteria.
This what I described is the classical way Croatians socialize. We meet, we drink, we discuss hot and controversial topics, we solve "world problems" and we try to outsmart each other in a discussion. It is almost a sport on it's own and what is most important, none of us takes it personaly. It is just a discussion among friends. And the best discussions are when you are discussing with people who do not share your opinion because at these discussions you get a new understanding of the topic, or the person you are discussing with.
It seems it is not the same in Denmark. Personal opinions seem to have a bit of a dogmatic untouchable status. What happenes in a group of friends in Denmark when a discussion starts is the following. In case you would have a situation wher two people had opposing takes on a certain matter, the discussion would be droped at the point this realization is reached. Allegedly, everbody has the right to their opinions but people in Croatia do too. I would add that, it seems, in Denmark everbody has the right to have their opinions unquestioned.
Second eventuality is that they actually proceed with the discussion but that happenes only if everybody shares the same oppinion on the issue. But this is hardly a discussion. It is more a case of tapping each other on the back while saying "You are right." In Croatian this isn't a discussion, it is rather commenting then discussing.
Third eventality is that people who have an opposing opinions and are brave enough to start discussing would be shunned: "C'mon, why are you acting like that, you are ruining the evening for everybody. Let's do something fun instead."
The only way people can oppose their opinions on a certain matter is if they are in the group where everybody is totally ok with it, which isn't a cultural default.
When I learned about all this I was very surprised. Denmark indeed is a very liberal country. Croatia is in comparison a very closed and conservative country. Danes are easy on black humor, on talking very explicitly about sex. Their media is infamous for insulting other countries or religious groups with potentially inappropriate drawings. Whenever that happeness and the insulted party asks for an appology the media in question just replies that they have a right to the freedom of speech and the government backs them up. So how do you go from this approach to free speech to Danish citizens self-censoring themselfs when they realize that one of the people in the group has an oppinion that is contrary to their own? It is just one of many things in Denmark that looks at least a bit contradictory.
At one point discussion became very heated as my friend was grilling my girlfriend and than he popped the question: "But if think that labor unions work is so important why don't you clean staircases for a living and volunteer for the labor unions?" That completely caught her off guard, she just opened her mouth and eyes wide open and stayed speechles at which point we all burst into laughter and in return we got a fuck you guys. But this didn't stop us from continuing and in the end my girlfriend even got a feedback on what should labour unions do to become more relevant and appealing to foreigners. Of course, it was just our personal opinion. We are by not experts on the topic by any criteria.
This what I described is the classical way Croatians socialize. We meet, we drink, we discuss hot and controversial topics, we solve "world problems" and we try to outsmart each other in a discussion. It is almost a sport on it's own and what is most important, none of us takes it personaly. It is just a discussion among friends. And the best discussions are when you are discussing with people who do not share your opinion because at these discussions you get a new understanding of the topic, or the person you are discussing with.
It seems it is not the same in Denmark. Personal opinions seem to have a bit of a dogmatic untouchable status. What happenes in a group of friends in Denmark when a discussion starts is the following. In case you would have a situation wher two people had opposing takes on a certain matter, the discussion would be droped at the point this realization is reached. Allegedly, everbody has the right to their opinions but people in Croatia do too. I would add that, it seems, in Denmark everbody has the right to have their opinions unquestioned.
Second eventuality is that they actually proceed with the discussion but that happenes only if everybody shares the same oppinion on the issue. But this is hardly a discussion. It is more a case of tapping each other on the back while saying "You are right." In Croatian this isn't a discussion, it is rather commenting then discussing.
Third eventality is that people who have an opposing opinions and are brave enough to start discussing would be shunned: "C'mon, why are you acting like that, you are ruining the evening for everybody. Let's do something fun instead."
The only way people can oppose their opinions on a certain matter is if they are in the group where everybody is totally ok with it, which isn't a cultural default.
When I learned about all this I was very surprised. Denmark indeed is a very liberal country. Croatia is in comparison a very closed and conservative country. Danes are easy on black humor, on talking very explicitly about sex. Their media is infamous for insulting other countries or religious groups with potentially inappropriate drawings. Whenever that happeness and the insulted party asks for an appology the media in question just replies that they have a right to the freedom of speech and the government backs them up. So how do you go from this approach to free speech to Danish citizens self-censoring themselfs when they realize that one of the people in the group has an oppinion that is contrary to their own? It is just one of many things in Denmark that looks at least a bit contradictory.
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