The Doldrums...

In taking this trip, we knew we would have good times and bad times living in another society. The last few weeks have been one of those periods of down, a sort of doldrums. The shine of the new place has worn off a bit, and the reality of missing home is a little stronger. We are all missing home a bit, though we are all happy for this experience. So to mark the doldrums, I want to mark some cultural challenges:

• The language is a real challenge.  For Bev and me it is not so much of a problem.  We can exist with a little Danish pretty easily.  And Bev's group works in English, as it has a cast of researchers from many countries of the world.  The kids have it less easy, and are feeling the isolation a bit.  School is toughest for Hank, as he has few English speakers in his grade.  Soccer is toughest for Katie as the other girls on her team do not really know how to bridge the gap.  Katie is intimidated by the language aspect of the team, so it is hard.
• This place is expensive.  Ice cream is $5 per cone.  Going out to dinner is right out - the cheap places are $20 per plate, and the drinks take you to $100 before you know what happened.  Groceries are expensive too.  Danish food prices are 42% above the European average (and the highest in the EU)!  It is in large part due to the taxes they have here.  For your Danish citizen it is acceptable, because the services provided by the state are considerable (free college, a per child allowance (~$4k per kid per year), free medical care, good infrastructure, etc.), but for a visitor, it just hurts.
• Smoking, not football, is the Danish national sport.
• There is a distressing lack of daylight, and it gets less every day.  7 am = dark.  We all have SAD I think.
• The Danes are clearly descended from Vikings.  1) They are intensely competitive, to the point that it has driven Hank's football coach crazy that the team has yet to win a game (duh - they are playing their first year with kids a year older).  He wants to WIN.  It is the same with Katie's coach, who has resorted to recruiting ringers so they can win the league championship.  Football for the fun of it is right out.  2) The playground behavior, especially among boys, is hardly an example of peace in our times.  Give them all swords and sheilds and you'd have a battle royal.  3) There is, I sense, a feeling that the kingdom of Denmark will rise again.  This is behind the refusal of the Euro (see Britain, Great) and the constant reminders that Denmark used to be a vast strong kingdom.  Heck, they even have colonies still (Faroe Islands and Greenland) that want independence but are not granted it.

So there are some challenges.  They in no way reduce the good experiences we are having, but it feels good to put them on paper.  And like any trip where the wind dies, it eventually blows again, and these doldrums will end.