My time with John and Ingrid

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Tonight is my last night with John and Ingrid. Tomorrow I will be taking the train to Svenborg and then the bus to Ubølle to visit and ecovillage north of this town.

As for my time here, John and Ingrid have been just perfect hosts. They have fed me frikadela and rye bread up to my ears! I've never eaten so much in all my life. John took me to visit Ribe and the island of Rømø. He laughed when I was in Ribe because I went to the same bakery, ordered the same pastry and walked down the same street as Grandpa did when he was here. John was nice enough to show me his massive butterfly collection which I found very interesting. We spent lots of time with Trina and Peter and they were also equally friendly with me.

On a side note, we found some old photos and Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, Uncle Peter and Auntie Arlean during their stay in Denmark that I photocopied and sent home by mail. It should get back in about 2 weeks.

From the ecovillage in Ubølle I will be going to Roskilde and then north to Skibby to visit another ecovillage. Hopefully, now this is hopefully, I will find one that I like which will let me stay for a few months and learn Danish and do some different work for them in return. I did plan on rushing to Norway but Denmark is a very nice little country so I don't see a need to rush myself. Besides paying 11 dollars for a beer, I could see myself staying here for a little while. If not, I can always go back to Quebec for some more fun. Wait and see I suppose.

OH! And I was amazed at how much tourism there is in Denmark. Near the beaches you often hear more German than Danish. The Danes really don't like the Germans. As a matter of fact, the Danes are going through sort of a strange period at the moment. Lots of second generation immigrants in Denmark are unemployed and the Danish Government is having a tough time finding employment for these people so most are living in poverty (almost 60% are unemployed). Poverty leads to criminality so you're seeing very high rates of crime within second generation immigrants. Denmark has a conservative government at the moment and has a new law that in the event that a second generation immigrant commits a very serious offence (violent murder, terrorism etc.) they will be sent to their parents native country of origin. But since these people were born in Denmark some of them cannot speak this native language. Immagine a Pakistani person landing in Islamabad and only speaking Danish...it sounds like the plot of some kind of TV series....

Anyway, I'm very interested in the politics of Denmark so this is why I bring this up. I was really worried before I came here that I would only be able to stay for 3 months but there was no one to even check me on my way into the country. I simply took the train from Germany to Denmark and, frankly, no one even knows I'm here. I can just imagine how easy it is for people in Romania to come up to Sweden or something with almost zero border control. Buy and train pass and the Western lifestyle is only 5 train stations away.

I should also mention that Western Europeans (I refer to Germans and Danes in particular although I imagine it is the same throughout Wester Europe) are much more paranoid than people in Canada. They lock everything. Cars, homes, windows etc. They even lock the doors between their bedroom and their main entrance! I asked people why and they all say the same thing. People can drive from Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and simply come into your house and take everything. If you resist, they simply stab you.

My vision of Europe was something similar to The Sound of Music but the more I stay here the more I realise that the European Union has really changed things for this place (according to Germans and Danes, but I can understand why). It has created lots of economic opportunities but at the same time it has really made people paranoid. They no longer have an innocent culture and an innocent people who are immune from the effects of more hostile or agressive cultures. A bit bitter sweet I guess.

Another thing I notice here is the graffiti. It's everywhere. Bus stations, train stations. You name it, someone has painted it.

On the flip side, Denmark overall is a very nice country. And the girls. Wow. I don't know what happened in Canada but someone poisoned the genetic cake. The girls are blonde with blue eyes and wear funky clothes and talk about politics and economics. I know I promised my Mom I wouldn't get married but in the words of Napolean Bonaparte, 'If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.'

Anyways, keep the messages coming!

Skål,
Nicholas

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