Foreigner is a Four Letter Word

This past Saturday my fantastisk project group mates from CBS and I conducted a Focus Group for Foreign Professionals in Denmark which gave me an opportunity to see a lot of old friends and Danish language classmates. It allowed us to catch up on each others lives since we saw each other last which ranged anywhere from 9 months to a couple of weeks and also discuss the very important topic of integrating into Danish society.

It occurred to me while I was taking Danish lessons that the textbooks were written for us. People who had left their home countries where they were fairly successful and had a fruitful career, to come to Denmark and be forced to start all over or maybe even 'holde en pause' from their careers. Some people took it better than others, but what we could all agree on was the fact that we were all a little bit lost until we found each other in Danish class.

As it happens, our semester project at CBS requires us to find an existing problem and create a real world solution, so we have decided to tackle a topic that is personally close to my heart and one that I experienced first hand and saw a huge gaping opportunity for improvement in. The fact that I was able to see old friends again was an added bonus to the overall process. We all helped one another find our feet through that difficult time. The least I could do, is use this wonderful opportunity to help future foreigners.

For any foreigner in Denmark interested in helping us define these services, please answer our short survey.

Christmas beer is here!

Every first Friday in November the country goes crazy for the release of Tuborg's Jul øl, otherwise known as Christmas beer and J-Day.

I heard about this tradition on one of my business trips to Denmark in 2007 and had a taste of the first brew on the night it was released last year while visiting my inlaws in Møn, but I have never experienced the event itself, while out and about in the city of Copenhagen.

All I can say is, now I understand the hype. First of all, beer trucks decorated with snow drive around the city with the brew, playing the Tuborg Christmas song, while friendly elves deliver beer and cheer at the neighborhood bodega. At some bodegas the beer is free for one hour and at others you might even get a little peep show. Yes, you read that correct.

Before the friendly elves arrived at our local watering hole, a topless Tuborg delivery girl made some little boys very happy with their first Christmas present of the year! God Jul!

Thank you for today

One of the fun things about getting your Masters in English in a land where English isn't the first language, is the fact that cultural traditions and local sayings end up getting mixed in with the daily dialog.

One of those quaint little traditions is how the Danes say "Tak for i dag" after they have spent an entire day with you, or even a few hours which is the case when you take classes at Copen- hagen Business School. "Tak for i dag" (pronounced "tahk for ee day") is literally translated to "Thank you for today" and at the end of each class my professors close their session with those four words and it makes me smile every time.

Another fun experience is doing project work (a common method used in Danish university systems) with native Danes and finding yourself stuck mid conversation on a word that just doesn't translate. Luckily for us, humor always translates so we often find ourselves laughing over words that just sound funny when put in an English context. Words like "width wind" which is tail wind, or wind that is going your way while on a bike or in a plane, etc.

Another part of the experience that goes with taking classes in English when you live in another country is getting used to words being pronounced wrong. Sometimes it takes a few seconds to figure out what they are trying to say, but you catch on quickly. The only thing that you can do is hope that the bad pronunciation doesn't rub off on you or your fellow classmates.

Chances are high it won't as most of these people have been speaking English since they were in the 3rd grade, and have little to no accent. Something that may take a lifetime for me to accomplish with the Danish language.