Feed meeee, for I am starving!

About a month ago we were going to Herning for a weekend and our schedule was packed as it usually is. Herning is my girlfriends home town where she grew up and lived until couple of years ago so she wants to cram as many events as she possibly can in those two and a half days that we have. Plus she wanted to take me to Randers Regnskov.


So, we went to the "Danish Amazon" first and then to her friends place. And it was great, all of it! Randers Regnskov was a very unique experience and the conversation with her friend is always interesting. He is very insightful and sharp. We were sleeping at her moms place and we arrived there late, around 23:30. Even though it was a great day, I went to bed starving. The last time I had something to eat was around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. It was the first thing we did when we arrived to Randers Regnskov.


Why was I starving later? I was starving because the arrangements we made with her friend and her mom did not explicitly include eating. So no one offered and I didn't ask so I went hungry.


But why didn't I ask for food you might wonder? Well, one part of the reason is personal, I am a bit shy and I do not want to be an inconvenience to others. Other part is cultural. I come from a culture that is all about hospitality towards your guests. When you visit someone in Croatia after a minute or two of small-talk you will be shown to the room where socializing will take place and after another minute or two you will be asked what will you have for a drink? Even if the deal did not include food, there would be snacks and the host could ask you if you want to eat something real.


During the whole visit you will be catered all the time. The hosts will be serving drinks, snacks and food and they will be taking away used up plates and glasses. Guests in Croatia are treated as kings. Last summer when we visited my parents, at the beginning my girlfriend had a bit of a hard time with that custom because she is used to help out with stuff like that, especially with the dishes after the meal is over. So hospitality customs in Croatian and Danish cultures are very far away from each other.


When you are visiting Danes it can vary a lot based on what the arrangement is. So, on the day when I went starving, the arrangement was that we are going for a VISIT at her friends place. It was meant to be just talking. We came, we started talking, it was very cozy and engaging but we were not offer anything at any point, 0. Except for going hungry I was starting to get dehydrated as well. For me it was the first time at his place, so I didn't want to impose. My mouth started going seriously dry when finally my girlfriend popped the question: "Can I get something to drink?" It was a life saver!


In the evening it was the same at her mom's place. We came late, we agreed on the sleep-over. We did talk a bit, but not too long and we went to bed... and I was starving.


It is completely different when you arrange dinner plans. Then you will get a complete service, very nice meal and drinks, served table and the only thing that will be expected from you will be to help out with putting the table away after it is done and to help out with the dishes. You will definitely not go hungry. On the contrary, when dinner plans are put forward in advance, Danes are very hospitable. In most cases they will go out of their way and not only prepare food and drinks but they will go that extra mile to make a cozy atmosphere. Which is actually the moment where they will surpass an average Croatian host. Hospitality in Croatia is all about a nice food and drinks, good company and making the guests feel welcome but hygge is definitely not a big thing.


So, to conclude. When it comes to hospitality Danes are a bit split. If you arrange it in advance for a specific activity, prepare yourself to be amazed but otherwise brace yourself for a potential intermittent fasting. Which in it self isn't too bad if it lasts up to 8 hours but it is definitely not hygge.

A walk through Danish past: Frilandsmuseet

Our summer holidays during the weekends continue. A month ago we went to Frilandsmuseet that is located at the outskirts of Copenhagen. 

Frilandsmuseet is all about Danish agricultural history and countryside life between 1650 and 1950. It is, what you call, an Open air museum. You are walking through open plains and small forest areas as you are moving from one exhibition to the other. Older buildings are located closer to the entrance and the further you go the closer you get to the modern age. We were lucky that the route we took at the end led us to the buildings from the 20th century, after the Second World War, so we indeed had the feeling of walking through time.

The buildings in Frilandsmuseet are from all over Denmark and that includes: Southern Sweden (it used to be Danish territory), Bornholm and Faeroe Islands. As you are walking around the exhibitions you can see next to the every building where was it located, in what time period and who used it and for what.

Most of the building where residential buildings, but one can also see various types of farm buildings, production buildings and one windmill. We even saw a set of a bit bigger stones assembled in a circle and they were used for the village council meetings.

As I had the opportunity to see something similar before in Croatia, a lot of exhibits didn't surprise me at first but when I gave it a second thought, they did. Even though there is 1700 km between Denmark and Croatia and living conditions differ, the solutions people reached are strikingly similar between the two cultures and that was a surprise in itself. 

As my archeology friend explained. Some inventions were so practical that after they appeared, they spread around like wildfire, stayed for a long time and they were not changing much. That is why you can see a lot of similar living solutions in cultures that are so far away from each other.

 

Closet beds

But there were a couple of things that I haven't seen in other places. First thing that stood out, and it was present in all the houses up until 19 century were beds.

Beds weren't placed in rooms that would then have the function as bedrooms but they were built into something we would call today, a built in closet.

So, we were walking through the house and watching different rooms and then suddenly on the wall you see a small closet doors and behind them wasn't a built in closet but a tiny bed. Tiny, for modern day humans but if we take into consideration how tall humans were couple of hundreds years ago, tiny beds were all they needed. Bed doors could be closed from the inside, so you could have closed yourself into the bed. At first I was surprised but as I started thinking about the living conditions in Denmark it started to make sense. 

Denmark is cold, even today. In the warmest part of the year you need to wear at least a thin shirt with sleeves. There is a couple of days a year that are warm enough so one could walk outside without clothes. And days in the summer are very long, with sunset coming as early as 4:30. With these two things combined, maybe they made closet beds in order to preserve the heat and darkness? Since I moved to Denmark, when the days become long, with the beginning of May, it takes me at least two weeks to stop waking up too early, with the sunset, so I can see the benefit of sleeping in the closet in Denmark, especially during the summer months.

 

Sea weed rooftops

Second unique thing that we saw in Frilandsmuseet were roofs made out of sea weed. Which also surprised me at first but after giving it a bit of thought, it didn't. If you walk around any Danish coast, you will see that a lot of beaches is covered with sea weed. It is just washed ashore smelling bad. With resources being scarce, back in the day and people having to go by with what little was available, sea weed roofs start to make sense. If there is a lot just lying there on the beach and it will keep the house dry, why not. But I recon it was a fire hazard at the same time.

 

 

 

 

Faereo Islands houses

As the whole buildings, I found the Faereo Island houses as unique. They were built on the slopes, half-way dug into the ground. When you would be walking around the house, you would see only one long wall with a grass rooftop, two shorter walls were visible only half way, the other half was just disappearing into the ground. If you would walk behind the house, you would be standing above it and in theory you could walk on the natural grass roof. Very special indeed and most likely an adaptation to the sloppy terrain of the Faeroe Islands (I have never been there, so it is possible that I am wrong).

 

 

Hay beehives

We also had an opportunity to see at least in part how people were making honey between 17th and 19 century. Next to one of the houses beehive was displayed. It was shaped as a cone, made out of wood and hay.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

If you are interested in seeing and learning how people used to live in this part of the world in the past Frilandsmuseet is indeed a place to see and it will feel like a walk through the past. In addition you will get a healthy workout since the area is big and you will need to walk far. There is also an opportunity to ride in a real horse carriage if one fancies that.

The whole experience made me thinking how wasteful we have become, how far away we have moved from living in sync with the environment around us and how incompetent we have become for a life outside of the modern society.

I am not trying to romanticize now. I am fully aware that it was a harsh, short life with not much creature comfort. And I acknowledge that our quality of life today has radically improved in all aspects. With that being said it still used to be a life where people where living from what was around them and using it to the best of their abilities. People didn't have much and what little they had was valuable. Not like today, when things are so cheap that we change out our clothes, phones and cars like they are perishable goods and with that lifestyle causing the unprecedented trash pollution of the planet.

In the same time we live so far out of sync with nature and environment around us that most of us have become completely incompetent to live "off the land". Ask yourselves the following, if modern civilization collapsed for one reason or another, would you be capable to grow, hunt or pick your food? Would you be capable of preserving your food for the winter? Would you be capable of building and maintaining your house? Would you be capable of making your own clothes and shoes? I think that most of you, including me, would answer these questions with a no.

Well those people were capable of doing all these things and they were capable of withstanding much harsher living conditions, than we can even start imagine. Now ask yourself-  what does that tell about us?

Cultural differences part I: time and cycling

After living in Denmark for a year and a half and experiencing a lot of the Danish culture it is time to make a brief summary of the biggest cultural differences between Danes and Croatians. What are the main points in which Danes and Croatians differ the most? There is a number differences, some small ones and some big ones but I will start by saying that it is clear, beyond any reasonable doubt that both groups have both good traits and traits that are lacking and most importantly they are both human beings with the same wants, needs, desires and human flaws. The difference that differentiates them most is how they have made their societies tick. Let's go through two moments that are standing out the most.

Take on time

Danes are all about punctuality when it comes to appointments of any sort. Danes are not late, for anything ever. There is no difference between going to work, doctor, cafe with a friend or a party. If they are invited, let's say at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, they will be there at 5 o'clock no questions asked and they will go out of their way to make it on time. If an appointment can't be reached in the agreed time it is a cause for a lot of stress and it is considered disrespectful to the host (in case it is a party or a dinner date).

Croatians have a bit more relaxed take on time in general, but they are also making a distinction between appointments that are considered serious and appointments where one can be a bit more relaxed. Work, doctors appointment and similar type of other appointments is taken seriously and one is never late for those but when Croatians are meeting friends or going out being up to 15 minutes late is acceptable. Thing that best explains Croatian take on time is actually on universities. Being late for a lecture for up to 15 minutes is acceptable in most cases and it is called an academic quarter. So, when you are meeting a Croatian and he is late, don't get angry, he is just invoking his right to an academic quarter

Cycling

This is one of the cultural moments where these two societies stand starkly apart. In Denmark cycling is a way of life, in Croatia it is hobby for enthusiasts. Being a passionate cyclist in Croatia is not easy, sometimes. Bike lanes are few and most often bad. Sometimes the only way to go is to break the law because it is impossible to follow it. Plus, Croatians have a lot of excuses why not to use a bike. Some of the reasons are: it is either too hot, too cold, it is raining, one doesn't want to be sweaty on work etc.

In Denmark, where weather is much worse, people are cycling all the time be it rain, snow, hot or cold. And almost everyone cycles, young and old, parents, politicians and businessmen. Every apartment building has bicycle parking space, bike lanes are everywhere and weather is always good enough for cycling. No weather is too bad for cycling, one can only be improperly dressed.