Denmark vs. The US and Virginia

Well, as I like to do every time we have an AFS'er coming to visit, I do a little research into their homeland and how it differs from our homeland.  AFS USA helpfully gives host families access to an online resource called Culturegrams each year, and it is a wealth of information about every country on Earth.  Yet another benefit of hosting!

When I logged on and chose Denmark, C'grams immediately gave me a bulleted list of important facts, which include:

• Denmark has one of the highest per capita expenditures on education in the world
• Denmark provides 52 weeks (that's one year) of paid time off for new parents
• 80 percent of Danish paper is recycled, as Denmark is a world leader in environmentalism

So cool!!

Ok, so here are the basics... This is Denmark's flag:

Since the Olympics are on right now, here's what the Danes wore in the Opening Ceremonies:

Here is what Denmark looks like:

See how close Denmark and Sweden are to each other?  You can actually drive from one to the other using the Oresund Bridge and Drogden Tunnel.  BUCKET LIST ITEM!

Denmark is 16,639 square miles.  In contrast, the state of Virginia is 42,774 square miles, almost 3 times larger.  The population of Denmark is nearly 5.6 million people.  The population of Virginia is 8.3 million.  So in Virginia, we have one and a half times the population in nearly triple the space.

Looking at the US, it is nearly 3.8 million square miles and has a population of over 321 million.  So maybe a bit larger than Denmark :-)  Denmark consists of over 400 islands and borders both the North and Baltic Seas.  It is known for its mild and temperate climate, and its winters are milder than the rest of Scandinavia.

The capital city of Denmark is Copenhagen. The population of the city itself is approximately 591,000 but throw in the surrounding areas, and the population blooms up to 1.2 million.  That means approximately 21 percent of the population lives in the area surrounding Copenhagen.  The capital of the US is Washington DC.  It has a city population of approximately 672,000 people, and apparently Wikipedia didn't feel like figuring out how many people live in the DC suburbs, although one website puts it at over 6 million, or roughly one percent of the US population.

The official language of Denmark is Danish.  Eighty percent of Danes belong to the Church of Denmark, which is an Evangelical Lutheran Church (and no, I have no idea what that means, but I once had a friend in college who was a Lutheran and told me it was "Catholic without the guilt", so I'm speculating that's what it is).  According to Culturegrams, weekly church attendance is rare, but Danes participate in weddings, baptisms, and funerals, except that apparently Easter is a big deal over there.

The US does not have an official language, although most people speak English.  The US does not have an official state church, although the majority of Americans are Christians of some stripe.  About 39 percent of Americans attend church regularly.

Danish families typically have only one or two children (Astrid's family are rule breakers--they have 3!), and gay marriage is recognized, with gay and lesbian couples being allowed to adopt as long as they have registered their partnership.  According to Culturegrams, nearly half of the children born in Denmark are born out of wedlock!

In the US, families often have more than 2 children, and as we Americans know, marriage equality is a fairly new phenomenon.  The number of non-traditional families is on the rise, so there are far more same-sex couples, single parent families, and other types of families than there were even 50 years ago.  More than a third of American children are born out of wedlock.

Culturegrams insists Danes say "Dav" (pronounced Dow) as a greeting when they meet up with someone and "Hej" (pronounced "Hi") when you part company.  In the US, we don't really have a formal greeting, everything and anything goes, from "Hey" to "How's it going?" to "Hi."  I think I most often use "Hey!" but I'll have to pay closer attention.  Goodbyes come in the forms of "See ya" or "bye" or "later" or any of a bunch of other options.  Past students who have stayed with us have expressed frustration at the surface politeness of "How are you?" when it's clear the person doesn't actually care how you are and is just saying it as a form of greeting. 

C'grams also suggests that dinner is the most important family meal of the day for Danes, a time they gather together to talk about their day and what's been happening.  There is a move to bring back family dinner in the US, as many families are very busy with commuting, children's activities, meetings, and the like, and people often eat on the run.  In our family, we try to have family dinner, technology-free, but I don't think we are the norm in that regard.

Denmark is a monarchy, and at over 1,000 years, is one of the oldest in the world.  Presently, Queen Margrethe is the reigning monarch, and her son, Prince Frederik will succeed her.

 The Queen is 76 years old.  She is married to Prince Henrik.  They have two children, Frederik and Joachim (pictured with their spouses Mary [who is Australian] and Marie [who is French but was raised in Switzerland]).

The US is a democratic federal republic, governed by a president who is elected every 4 years and who can serve no more than 2 terms.  Our current president is Barack Obama, who is the first African-American president in our history.  He is married to Michelle and has two daughters, Sasha and Malia.

We will elect a new president in November, as President Obama is finishing his second term.


So there is a little primer on some of the interesting factoids about both our countries.This is just the surface 'stuff' you can read in books, I am looking forward to learning some of the real cultural differences and similarities in the next few months!