On Danish Nightlife

On Being Danish: A Numbered Set of Lessons Learned Through Nightlife

1. Denmark is not like the US. There should be no looks of surprise on ay of your faces when I tell you that Denmark is very different from the United States. The culture here is vastly different, and therefore so is the nightlife.
2. Danes can be very anti-social. Danish people are known for being reserved and laid-back. They enjoy spending time with their personal social circles, which can sometimes be difficult to penetrate. In public places, such as bars and clubs, they are likely to socialize among the group that they arrived in, and only with those people. This means slightly less creeping than in similar American locales, but when it does happen, is can be much creepier. However, it should be noted that on the whole, Danes are friendly when you do interact with them. They will be straight forward and tell you their intentions. It is actually quite refreshing, and the people that you do meet are usually interesting, to say the least.
3. The ideal way to enjoy a bar is at a table. With lots of candles. This returns to the Danish idea of hygge, of coziness. If you are sharing drinks with your closest friends, you want to be comfy. You want a table so everyone can talk and Skal and just have a good time. Candles add to the mood, and warm up the room to add to your comfort.
4. Popular taste in music is questionable. Every so often, you might be out and here a song that makes you wonder just who is playing DJ wherever you are. In Denmark, I seem to have this feeling all the time. While sitting in a bar called the Happy Pig, waiting for the live musician to start playing, my ears were graced with "Mamma Mia" by ABBA. As a huge ABBA fan, I was excited but puzzled to hear this. I went upstairs to the club housed in the same building, and the first song I heard was "MMMbop" by Hanson. A few songs later came a song by Aqua. And while I do have fond recollections of this music from my childhood, I was shocked to hear it, even in this "disco." Later in the evening I went to LA Bar, a local favorite of business students. It tends to be a bit fratty, with a large amount of guys crowding the room. As we got past the bouncer and coat check and finally entered, I was shocked to hear "Dancing Queen" by ABBA, and to see a ton of guys dancing. In America this would never happen, for many reasons. But in Denmark, anything goes.
5. Cities develop in the same way. Copenhagen has a Meatpacking District. It is making the transition towards nightlife hotspot, much like its New York counterpart, but it is still functioning. Even though the area smells like meat, I easily had one of my best nights here so far hopping from place to place.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Rather, a glimpse at some of my evening activities with some weighing in on what Danish nightlife culture is really about.

Life in Plastic, It's Fantastic

When I first made the decision to study abroad in Copenhagen, it did not occur to me that things would actually happen here. And yet, Copenhagen is the home of environmental conferences, enormous cultural events, and other sorts of activities that lend to my countless adventures. Most recently, Copenhagen was host to the 121st IOC session, and the XIII Olympic Congress, where host city for the 2016 summer Olympics was announced. The four contenders were Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro, and people from all of these locales made their way to Copenhagen to voice their support. Oprah and the Obamas were among the big names in town - I did not see them, though I certainly grumbled about how they disrupted public transportation and made me rather late to class, despite leaving early.

The true highlight of the entire Olympic event was the announcement ceremony, where popular music acts performed, and the host city was officially announced. I arrived at Rådhuspladsen in time to hear a live performance by the Danish band Aqua, of "Barbie Girl" fame. They are indeed reunited, back and ready to perform with more crazy costumes and hilarious songs laden with pop culture references.

When Aqua performed, it was actually a dream come true. Well, a dream of my 10-year-old self. And lived out in a way I never imagined. But still. I saw Aqua perform "Barbie Girl" live, in Copenhagen. For free.

I was still hanging out when the time came for the announcement of the host city. Chicago was the first to be eliminated. As cool as it would have been to see Chicago win, not to mention the United States, announced as a winner while standing in a sea of foreigners, I was not heartbroken. The other host cities had good bid presentations, and it seemed like the economic push that comes hand in hand with hosting something as big as the Olympics could be put to good use in other countries as well. Tokyo was next to be taken out, leaving Madrid and Rio de Janeiro as the final contestants. With great ceremony, the winners were announced:

Winning the bid is actually quite an accomplishment for Brazil. South America has never hosted an Olympics. Though there were people who doubt the city's ability to be ready for the games in 2016, but it is already slated to host the 2014 World Cup, so everything has to be in place (not to mention the Rio hosted the Pan American Games in 2007). Plus there are perks - almost all of the events will be held within city limits. Past Olympic games have involved locations far outside of city limits. During the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, events were held as far away as Tallinn in Estonia. But regardless, this is an excellent opportunity for Brazil, and it was very exciting to be in Copenhagen for the energy and excitement of the Olympic announcements.