Den #5: Nature

Finally I can conclude this 5-piece introduction of Denmark. I have some other type of posts pending, but I needed to get rid of this first. To get it out of my system.

The most of Denmark consists of fields. There are no mountains. That explains those rapid weather changes. Denmark wants to increase and develop their wind power plant technology further. No nuclear plants. They are so green, environmentally conscious. Then again, what about legos? Plastic stuff that never decomposes. And, as far as I'm aware of anything, plastic still needs oil as its ingredient. I like their idea of being energy independent though.

Let's continue with Finns. When we arrived at Billund airport, there were two guides awaiting. One of them was male. A quick look at him saying "Hei!" convinced me once again: this dude is gay. My wife has warned me about not judging anyone by the first impression, so I stayed silent. The guide of our hotel was an older lady. Fuzzy old woman. She had interesting things to say, but it was a bit boring. When we got to the hotel, we had a welcoming event. The male guide took care of talking. And he was brilliant. He sounded just like a Finnish Lasse Norres, one-time manager of a legendary Finnish group called Dingo (he's done nothing ever since, but is concidered as a celeb still). Back to guide. When the occasion was over, my wife whispered to me: "This man sure is one of those..." Yup, even she noticed it, LOL! Nevertheless, he was such a good tourist guide that I wished he had been ours. I liked the way he pronounced "Billund" - it sounded more like "Pillunt" than "Biillynd" to me. Maybe it was a correct pronounciation still, who knows.

Back to Danish. And tolerance. The Danes are world famous for their tolerant attitude against sexual items. Also they are free to make fun of other religions but their own. But the free will seemingly doesn't reach immigrants. It was a news to me to hear that Denmark accepts least immigrants in Nordic countries. That is, even less than Finland. Maybe they are afraid of foreigners after what they have said and done. Or maybe they want to keep those busty women all for themselves. If you live in Eldorado, there simply can't be room for everyone..? Besides, the Danish men seem to have the same kind of hair loss going on as the Swedes do. And the Finns are not exactly foreign to that phenomenon either. So perhaps their self-esteem has lowered not to be able to compete with dark, handsome hairy rivals?

The guide told us that the legendary Danish fairy tale writer and teller Hans Christian Andersen was never married, but had a love of his life somewhere. Yeah right. Of course he could have been a "if I can't have you, I don't want nobody, babeh" type of a guy, but I doubt that. He could have been a "girl at each harbor" type of a charmer since he travelled a lot, which seems more likely. Then again, he could have been gay, making up stories about his distant lover. After all, he was a master in that field. Or worse, he could have done things Michael Jackson was accused of having done with children. An old man telling bedtime stories to small kids isn't actually popular these days. Please remember my ever-present TIC attitude, Danes, and be worthy of your tolerant image.

Personally, I found the Danish very polite and friendly. Not that helpful but still never rude. They smiled at us in a friendly way when they passed us in the streets, as if they knew us somewhere. An old couple even said hello to us while walking with the nordic poles. It must be partly because of our Nordic looks, partly because we had a lovely girl with us. I can't expect it happen to everyone although it could.

The Danish were even more into their own language than the Swedish. Maybe it was due to the whereabouts of the Vejle, but they preferred German over Swedish. English wasn't that great there either. I must admit that I'd never make it if I had to have a conversation in Danish. Even our guides talked English with the local people.

Now I have finally visited every Nordic country, Scandinavia if you will. The trip to Norway's Lapland hardly counts as a true visit but still. I'd like to fly to Oslo some day, although Norwegians are not famous for their love of Finns. At least as far as sport is concerned. I'd like to find out whether that is true in the grass level. It's kind of pleasant to notice that I'd like to re-visit every Nordic capital. Except for Finland's, which is so lame.