Culture sparks and shocks

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So, I’ve been very unable to write these blogs due to my computer breaking, travels, and school. However, I haven’t stopped taking notes of my experience so I hope the length will make up for my time frame management.
In school, I’ve been taking a photojournalism course. My assignment has been to find a person and make a three picture story- person at work, relationship, and establishing shot. Overall, im pretty poor at photography but have chosen a really interesting subject- Jimmy Bosse, co-owner of Bosse’s Bakery. He makes bread every morning from 1-8 am. As a result, I have taken pictures at 1, 3, and 4 in the morning (which is definitely worth it when I am offered fresh bread and pastries before I leave). Spending so much time photographing one person is really interesting. It’s a struggle between capturing a mood or some story you’ve created in your mind and reality. My goal was to demonstrate the life of a baker as some artistic expression manifested in food production. I wanted to illustrate the playfulness of the bakers despite the morning hours. In short, I had an idealistic view of how a baker baked. Though Jimmy is a really friendly man, he’s a bit camera shy. His eyes are always downcast unless he looks right at me. The men working, camera-at-the-ready or not, are polite and make an occasional joke but, in general, work side by side in silence. They go to bed early at night so they can be up all morning. The atmosphere is somber, even lonely. I have a picture, which due to technical difficulties will have to be posted later, where Jimmy is whistling while making a pastry, wedding band on, white outfit, white room, simple. I guess the main thing I’ve taken out of the course is how expectations really shape one’s view of society. I went to the National Museum in Poznan, Poland yesterday and Louisiana in Copenhagen, Denmark about a month ago. My thinking has changed dramatically when I look at the pictures or photographs. Of course, I still impose my own views and moral dilemmas and ideals on the images, but I’m aware of it. I’m provoked to find out more about the time, the era, the artist. Like with Jimmy, I had to delve deeper and spend my 4-6 am just observing without the lens to understand what is real. In Louisiana, I enjoyed the exhibit because of my newfound appreciate for art and, specifically, the different expressions of people. In Poznan, I read the captions and tried to imagine what the artist is thinking. It’s not perfect, but it’s an improvement in viewing things as they are.
On a different note, in Copenhagen, there have been an excessive amount of demonstrations. There was a house that students took over in the 70s. There was a movement of rebellion, and the students wanted to live in an alternative society with their own rules. The government allowed them to stay there, and everything was fine for awhile. The house was open to all students, people could crash there on weekends or enjoy the parties that were frequent on Fridays, Saturdays, and random days. The government decided that all buildings needed fire doors and requested the Studenthouse to corporate. They refused because they were so against anything the government required. The government fought back by auctioning the house off about 4 years ago. It ended up in the hands of a fundamentalist Christian group who wanted to oust the students in an attempt to “rid” society of them. The majority of Denmark was angered by this. The students had refused to leave and, recently, the police decided it was necessary to get them out. The students protested and, while almost all protests in Denmark are peaceful, this one turned violent. Cars were set on fire. It wasn’t safe for me to walk the streets or be near a demonstration- the police were not selective about taking people into custody and the demonstrators were threatening to harm. A nation that is so cooperative is now split in sides. Everyone has an opinion. I’ve talked to both my host sister, Emilie, and my host mom, Birgitte, about the issue. They disagree, and from what I gather, most all younger people agree and have a separate opinion than the adults. Birgitte doesn’t support the cause any longer due to the violence. Emilie believes the violence is unfortunate, but the cause is just. It’s a lot like America’s response to Iraq. America felt like something needed to be done, but did not, in my opinion, make enough attempts to be peaceful. It was some inevitable race to war. As Emilie and I were discussing these issues we talked about what it means to be in another country, the stereotypes it brings with it, how you are confronted with so many issues on a daily basis, and about how you really find out a lot about yourself- opinions, ideas, etc. when your away for an extended period of time. It was the first time she’d opened up to me about anything really, and I appreciated her honesty. I talked to her about how much I appreciated a “homey” setting and needed that to feel comforted. We addressed other issues as well. I told her that I felt attacked so much when I said I was an American to a younger person, and she told me that actually, most young people didn’t like Americans due to the war. In contrast, most older people do like Americans because they still remember and appreciate World War II. I didn’t understand the impact the war still had on Europe, since it seems long forgotten in America. I wish America still carried the same connotations.
There were other things I’ve discovered as well while here. Many Europeans are very energy conscious. But I believe resource allocation has a lot to do with it rather than environmental protection- if you don’t have a lot, give what you can; if you don’t need to worry about it- don’t. My family in Wiesbaden always recycles while it seems my Danish family rarely recycles or turns off lights when they leave a room, etc. The latter is fairly well off and just may not consider recycling as much as a priority compared to an average family that views themselves in a category with a greater proportion of society and acts accordingly. Of course, this is my interpretation of my surroundings based on only a handful of families. Regardless, whether Americans feel they need it or not-especially with low energy costs in comparison to Europe- a better recycling plan is necessary.
I learned something else about my US community while here. We participate in a significantly greater amount of community service. Danes give to the community with money, allocating money through taxes so as to distribute wealth a little more evenly. Americans give back, too, however. Throughout middle school, high school, and college, I have participated in numerous community service activities. And not just me, hundreds of students do, and there are many organizations for adults like Kiwanis and Lions Club that allow everyone to contribute what they can to a cause they deem worthy. In a way, it’s nice that we really have a say in choosing where our money goes. Overall, despite that it only involves money, I really like how the Danes try not to leave any one behind. It may not build community, but it does build nationality. I think a good compromise would be to have the taxes and have people go out into the community to provide necessary services. I am saying that, however, having no money taken directly from what I’ve worked for.
The socialism is very interesting in terms of how ideal it is and reality. The health care system seems so perfect- everyone having adequate coverage and the people really working together to decide what is and is not necessary. In Poland and Denmark, however, I had the opportunity of watching a patient-doctor interaction and being in one, respectively. In both countries, there was not a sense of care and compassion in the relationship. The empathy was withdrawn, which is the very argument against the American system. It is as if they have stripped the doctor of motivation. Even something as simple as a gentle touch or listening more than five minutes and asking questions was neglected. In Poland, the child with an illness was only even talked to once- when the doctor asked her to show the students her deformed fingers. Other than that, the doctor talked to the girls mom (the girl is 12). Maybe my friend and I were treated differently as outsiders in Denmark, but my host family said five minutes was common. The doctors that teach me, however, said that it should be a fifteen minute minimum and acknowledged a shortage of good doctors. So maybe the system is better, and I just happened to find a rotten egg. It’s interesting to think about, especially in terms of where I would want to work in the future, even if only for a short time.
Lastly, I have though about culture shock a lot and my experiences with it. While I have definitely been through periods of transition, I have not felt any extreme breakdown due to my surroundings. My frustrations have definitely been present, as evident by some journal entries, but I think shock is just too intense a word for my minor inconveniences. Maybe culture spark would be better- annoying but brief. I think I’ve been more taken aback by DIS Northerners than the Danes. They had no idea that people even still had any resentment towards Bill Clinton or that Dixie shirts are often worn in several Southern states or what grits were (not a band). I just assumed that all that separated us were miles, but that’s what I get for assuming. Likewise, there are things I haven’t realized, other than my lack of geographical knowledge, like how extremist liberals can be just as ignorant as extremist conservatives. Double culture sparks, as least they’re enlightening.

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