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My first homework assignment. Its just a journal entry about the differences between the US and Denmark for my psychclass. If its not your cup of tea, feel free to skip. Otherwise, enjoy the mysteries of cross cultural psychology.

Two weeks I ago I left the Midwestern United States for the first time and traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark for a four month study abroad program with DIS. At the time, I had numerous expectations on what I differences I would find in American and Danish culture. Many of my beliefs were dispelled upon my arrival, others turned out to be true, and I have been constantly fascinated and surprised by unexpected cultural differences that I have encountered throughout my stay. I have spent a great deal of time trying to understand why these different ways of living exist, and I have recently decided that these differences are the result of numerous, opposing factors. To demonstrate this, I will examine three aspects of Danish culture that surprised me most during my initial impressions of Denmark, and explore some possible reasons for them to exist.

The first cultural difference that I noticed was a tendency for the Danish to place greater emphasis on avoiding waste and limiting consumption than most Americans. I discovered this first in conversation with my host family. When I was given a tour of the house, they spent a long time talking about utility conservation. They talked extensively about which doors should remain closed to conserve heat, how the larger rooms had light switches near all of the doors, so that I could cross the room with the light on and be able to turn it off behind me, and how their bathrooms used low pressure fixtures to conserve water. I drew two conclusions from this conversation that supported conservation being a high priority to this family. One, they spent a long time telling me how to use the house in a manner which would save utilities the most, which showed that it was important to them that I made an effort to conserve as well. The fact that they spent so long telling me about the efficiency of the household fixtures suggests that they took pride in how well they conserved utilities.

Now, I was aware that this was only one family, and that individuals do not always represent a culture. However, there were things that I encountered that strongly suggested that this was a belief that could be generalized to Danish culture as a whole. Boasting about how efficient their house is seems to suggest that they expect others to find conservation generally favorable, and as Danes are their most common visitors, makes it very likely that it is a part of Danish culture. This conclusion of mine has also been reinforced with observations of the way people behave in Copenhagen. Biking, for example, is a very common way of travel in Denmark, publicly favored to the point of including bike paths on most major streets. Since biking uses no fuel, I consider it to be a sign of desire to conserve fuel, either for environmental or economical reasons. Windmills, a renewable fuel source, are everywhere. Food is more expensive and “meal deals,” an American concept that buying large portions of food should be encouraged, is not part of the Danish restaurant business (although buying unprepared food in bulk to save on shipping is). This all strongly suggests that conservation of resources is a larger part of Danish culture than it is American.

If it is part of Danish culture, then why is this not also true in America? While there are a number of possibilities, I have concluded that the Danish conserve much more than Americans because of a history of ecological and social factors. Quite simply, resources have always been scarcer in Europe then in America. The United States, historically, has always been a place with room to expand. Since its founding, it moved westward towards the pacific, which was then followed by an economic boom during the industrial revolution, which was then followed by geopolitical dominance during the 20^th century. These events allowed either the continuous exploitation of American resources by settlers (lack of ecological restraints) or the economic exploitation of other lands (lack of social restraints). Denmark, other than during the Viking period (Jespersen, 1), always lacked areas to tap for natural resources, and has always had neighboring European nations to compete with. Combine these factors with a strong, new sense of ecological responsibility coming from all of Europe, it is no surprise that the Danish view consumption less favorably then Americans do.

Another major difference that struck me during my stay here is how thin and, bluntly put, attractive everyone in Denmark is compared to in the United States. Soon after I arrived, I began to notice a complete lack of people suffering from, or even bordering on, visually observable obesity. At first I thought that this trend existed only because I was comparing relatively young people at the airport and in Copenhagen to the variety of rural, suburban, and city environments and age groups that I have encountered throughout the American Midwest. However, as time went on and I began to observe Danes in my host family’s small farming town and those on the train heading to and from Copenhagen, I began to realize that thinness was much more common in Denmark than it is in the United States, or at least the Midwest. This trend seems to extend to all regions and all age groups prior to middle and old age, where obesity levels seem to begin to coincide with what seems, to the naked eye, to be normal American levels. Danes also seem to put much more effort into their appearance as well. Personally, I found myself visually attracted to far more Danish woman then I usually am in a similar size crowd of American woman. And while I am ill equipped to critique Danish men, it seemed to me that they put far more effort into their appearance than American males. Both to double check my observation and to investigate possible reasons for this difference, I asked one of my host brother’s friends why everyone in Denmark seems so much more presentable. After laughing, he replied that fashion is both a personal statement and status symbol in Denmark, like a car would be for an American.

I have reached several conclusions for why Danes are so thin and well groomed based on these and previously mentioned observations. First, Danes are thin for two reasons. Looking good is the main way for a Dane to assert their status. Since wealth is very evenly distributed in Denmark (Jespersen 54) compared to in the US, economic success plays a much smaller role in establishing status. The Danish dress nicer as a way of boosting status. Being thin is considered attractive by western standards of beauty, so it makes sense that the Danish would have more incentive to stay thin. In addition, Danish economics makes obesity much less common. Food in Denmark is more expensive, and high fuel costs make walking and biking a necessity. These two healthy behaviors, eating right and exercise, are the two main ways of combating obesity, and it makes sense that their presence throughout Danish society would make Danes thinner overall. A forced healthy lifestyle along with a stronger desire to be appealing to others seem to be the reasons the Danes come across as thinner and better looking than most Americans.

The last and most significant set of differences that I have noticed between Danish and American culture are the rules of social contact and interpersonal relationships. I did not notice this difference during any one event, but gradually discovered it as I tried to interact with Danes. My host brother recently had a birthday party, and it took several rounds of introductions to convince any of his guests to talk to me. This was surprising, as these Danes were all slightly inebriated and had all been to America. At first I thought it was me, but I then noticed his main group of friends not making any effort to interact with any of the other guests at the party. In most situations, it seems that that Danish place more emphasis on relationships (or the lack thereof) when interacting with others. While most Americans are comfortable with and expect some degree of small talk, Danes are reluctant to start conversations, and are only comfortable talking with people with whom they share a relationship, or at least some common ground. I have asked several Danes about this, and I have received answers ranging from “well were just not very good at it” to “small talk is superficial, it’s only worth it to talk to people you’ll see again.”

The best theory I have to explain this mentality is that Danes place more value on relationships than Americans do. They have lived for hundreds of years in autonomous farming villages (Jespersen 41), and have always viewed family and community as a major source of success. The Danish welfare state might suggest that the Danes value contribution or adherence to a larger community. This insider-outsider mentality might extend to friendships as well, making it more difficult to break into a Dane’s social circle then most Americans are used to. While I lack hard evidence of this, there are several common behaviors that I have noticed in Danish culture that would support Danes seeing those they interact with as either total outsiders or close friends. The Danes love sarcasm, a form of humor that only works if the listener knows the speaker’s intentions. For this to be popular suggests that the Danes spend most of their time joking with people who know and understand them, suggesting close relationships. I have also experienced and heard from fellow DIS students that Danes seem more helpful, when asked for assistance, than Americans. While there could be many reasons for this, it shows a desire to help those who have managed to break the ice and engage them in conversation, which could suggest a culture that looks after its own. These experiences all suggested to me that the Danish care more about communities and relationships than the average American does.

All of these experiences are only the beginning though. I have only been here two weeks, not nearly enough time to make sound assessments of an entire culture. Material conservation, appearance, and value of relationships are only three aspects of Danish culture, and are only a small sliver of the Danish way of life. However, thinking about these three things has helped me raise questions and explore what makes Denmark function the way it does. Perhaps even more importantly, they have helped me raise a critical lens towards the country I previously called home and critique my own way of life.