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Advicenators discussion: Denmark.
Igotamonopoly wrote Monday January 1 2007, 10:30 pm:
Do you really live in Denmark?
My mom grew up there. :)
Alin75 wrote Tuesday January 2 2007, 2:29 pm:
Oh hey... my first forum message :)
Yes I grew up here in Denmark as well. Moved when I was 5 years old and lived here most of the time since.
Is your mom Danish or did she just live here?
Igotamonopoly wrote Thursday January 4 2007, 10:41 pm:
She just lived there.
She was only there for a few years. I am eternally envious because I've never been out of the country.
Gr.
Are you Danish?
Alin75 wrote Friday January 5 2007, 10:38 am:
Im Romanian originally, though I have Danish citizenship.
Scandinavia in general is worth a visit when/ if you end up leaving US. That is, if you arent too bothered by the fact that it rains a lot.
Ive always wanted to visit California actually. Used to live on the east coast in D.C. and that was horribly humid. Scarred me for life lol. Apart from the earthquakes, i hear great stuff about CA. Must be nice to live down there.
Igotamonopoly wrote Friday January 5 2007, 3:21 pm:
Ehh.
I've never been to DC.
CA has a few problems, though. For example, EVERYONE here in LA is either a singer, or a dancer, or an actor, or a model. A lot of people are really fake.
We do things differently than the rest of the US. Our street signs aren't usualy up to code. Here, they tend to do things the cheap way, whether it follows the code or not. It's quite frustrating.
And as my choir director once said, "We are so stupid here in America." She was talking about how many Americans only know one or two languages, and across the world, people know how to speak multiple languages.
And then there's George W. Bush. Need I say more?
But, it is nice to go outside in the middle of December in shorts and flip-flops and not be too cold.
I actually want to visit Scandanavia soon. My mom's best friend was born in Sweden, and then my mom lived in Denmark, so I'm curious to see where they grew up.
We have Solvang, which is a little Danish town here in CA. Well, the people aren't Danish, but it's close, according to my mom. That's fun. :)
Alin75 wrote Saturday January 6 2007, 7:17 pm:
The whole thing with the actor/dancer/model/etc is like they portray it on tv. Always thought that was just a joke lol.
I actually think I saw a program on that Danish town a couple of years back. They had a show with this one Dane motorbiking around the world. Anyhow, if memory serves, he commented that it felt like a mixture of Danish, German and something else. He liked it though, particularly the food he had there I remember.
What a nice idea though, to take the concept of a Danish town and move it somewhere where the weather doesnt suck. Hehe smart people.
One thought on the langauge thing your teacher spoke of. Learning multiple languages is often a neccessity when your native tongue isnt a major language. But, if you were to take an American, a Brit and a French person, I would say they had an equal chance of knowing a foreign language. Just a guess though.
However, I do agree with you 100% on the Bush comment...
Igotamonopoly wrote Sunday January 7 2007, 6:01 pm:
Yeah.
Only like a year of Bush's ruining our country left!
Cux wrote Monday July 23 2007, 9:23 pm:
At that point- it was actually 2 years.
But you actually live in Denmark?
Alin75 wrote Tuesday July 24 2007, 11:36 am:
Yeps... in all its cloudy, rainy glory.
Cux wrote Tuesday July 24 2007, 2:12 pm:
I met some people from Denmark 2 years ago in Tennessee. It was at a Global competition [Destination Imagination].
Alin75 wrote Tuesday July 24 2007, 2:53 pm:
I recall you mentioning that competition on the forums actually.
How did you find them? Usually Danes come across as polite but a bit distant.
(Im of Romanian origin, so I dont suffer from that setback :D)
Cux wrote Tuesday July 24 2007, 3:05 pm:
Well actually- we were walking out of the Convention Center in Knoxville [city where the competition is held]- and we just kind of passed them.. they were so innocent!
There's this huge thing that goes on at this competition, its pin-trading. I know.. that sounds REALLY dumb.. but its really awesome. Anyway- it was the first time a Danish team had been- so they didn't know about the pins..
So my mom and I gave each of them a pin of ours. They were so happy. It was the least we could do =].
Mackenzie wrote Wednesday March 5 2008, 12:56 pm:
So which languages do you speak, Alin?
Alin75 wrote Wednesday March 5 2008, 2:09 pm:
English, Romanian and Danish (I also once could speak French but I doubt I could manage more than a few words today). English is my first language though since I went to international schools all my life. The others I speak well (particularly Romanian), but I have virtually no experience with writing.
How about you?
Cux wrote Sunday March 9 2008, 5:25 pm:
I know you're not asking me.. but I obviously speak English and I'm about to finish my 3rd year of studying Spanish.. I plan to continue at least two more years.. One day I want to be fluent. =]
Alin75 wrote Monday March 10 2008, 12:05 pm:
Actually I wanted to learn Spanish many moons ago. I even bought a CD rom course (Romanian is a latin language so I figured I could do it on my own at home). Then I thought I'd better focus on keeping up my French instead . In the end I did neither lol.
Hmm damn thing about languages. You really do forget once you stop using them...
Mackenzie wrote Friday March 14 2008, 11:50 am:
This Forum is always good for laughs!!!
It's nice to see your enthusiasm about the Spanish language, Jack. I took Spanish for about one year, about five years ago in high school. I didn't mind it; nor do I remember any part of it. I suppose I could say it was fun, but I'll admit that I wouldn't have taken a foreign language class if I didn't have to. Spanish would have been useful though, since I was about three hours from Mexico at that time. I have another foreign language course coming at me within this year. It would be the first time I tackle Spanish since high school. I had the option of taking French, but I didn't find it to be as useful to me. I find Spanish to sound much sexier, anyhow! :D
And Alin, three languages is quite impressive. Good for you! Which do you find yourself putting to use more often? Does your family know English? Do a great many people in Denmark know English?
And Alin, I don’t recall you ever having a picture of yourself posted on your column, so tell me, what do the folks in Denmark look like? Are they mainly blonde hair with blue eyes? Or is it something of an Indian or Spanish descent? Do people often flock to Denmark, as they do America… so there’s some of everyone there?
I have many questions about Denmark! I am very curious.
Alin75 wrote Friday March 14 2008, 4:37 pm:
Ok here goes :)
Language wise I definately use English the most. Pretty much everyone speaks English in Denmark, and most of them are really quite good at it. I dont think there is another country on earth where they speak English better as a second language. And thats not boasting or anything, I really think its true. Of course, since I went to international schools, I have many old friends who also prefer to use English.
My parents do know English and actually live in the States. In D.C. to be precise. They even got American citizenship some years back. I used to visit quite a bit but its been two years since I last flew over there. When we talk we tend to switch languages midsentence between English and Romanian.
Danes are lighter than most other Europeans. You do get a lot of blonde hair and blue eyes, and the paler skin that comes with it. They are descendants of the Vikings so they tend to have that tall, light sort of look. However its not as pronounced as if you go further north.
People do flock here... by the thousands. Denmark has whats called a "welfare society" which is the result of the high taxes. That means that they provide all kinds of social benefits and that makes it very attractive for refugees and other immigrants.
They have big problems with this down here, particularly in Copenhagen, since the integration was not handled right. The main immigrant nationalities/groups are Arabs, Turks and Pakistanis. You also get some Eastern Europeans but nowhere near as many as the groups I just mentioned. In a few areas of Copenhagen you would swear you are in downtown Isanbul :D
As for me, I am Romanian, so I look nothing like your typical Dane. We are a latin people, descendants from the Dacians and Romans (and other random bits lol). Anyways we tend to be shorter and darker haired, not unlike Italians actually. Luckily though, I was blessed with some height :D
There, I think that covered it all... with a little Romanian history as a bonus :)
I am curious, what are your origins? You look like you would fit in quite well in Southern Europe actually.
Igotamonopoly wrote Wednesday March 19 2008, 12:43 am:
Oh, then my mom must have fit in well. Granted, she was there 40 years ago, but surely she spoke English.
I'm Eastern European. I want to visit that area of the world so much!
Alin75 wrote Wednesday March 19 2008, 8:05 am:
Actually I am not quite sure how well people spoke English here 40 years ago. It would be interesting if you asked your mom. These days the only times you might run into someone who is not so good at English is if that person is middle aged or older.
If I am not mistaken the focus on English in public schools is more recent. Dont quote me on this but I think they learned more German back then.
As for being Eastern European... congrats. All the best people are from Easter Europe :D At least thats what I keep telling my friends...
Which country specifically?
Matt wrote Monday March 24 2008, 11:23 pm:
I'm not surprised they learned more German back then. Europe was coming up on the annual Germany invasion that occurred every twenty years, so learning the language of your future invaders was actually a pretty good idea.
Alin75 wrote Wednesday March 26 2008, 10:50 am:
lol... the annual German invasion :D
Mackenzie wrote Sunday April 13 2008, 11:01 pm:
Gosh, I am such a terrible friend!! Look at this, one month to the day later, I get back to this! And I'm not even "getting back" to this right away. I am much too tired! I just got off of work. I'm even skipping dessert whilst everyone else here endulges! Ice cream sandwiches. Truly the best! ALIN! Do you guys have those???
Mackenzie wrote Sunday April 13 2008, 11:02 pm:
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
YUM!
Alin75 wrote Monday April 14 2008, 8:32 am:
Uhmmmm.... ice cream....
Welcome back!
We dont have that exact kind to the best of my knowledge, but the concept does exist. I must admit I havent had one in years... but I do love 'em. You cant go wrong with ice cream imo...
What do you work with btw?
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