ah, england. so many things i liked about you. and things i noticed that i wonder if i would have noticed had we not been living in denmark...
like that the restaurants were full of people...
that the service was so very friendly...
that the playgrounds were full of children and parents....
that the world is so much louder when i can understand the words that are being said...
everyone, really, truly was so friendly (i say with my rose-colored glasses on). is england known for being friendly or is it saying something about denmark (or that you don't wear rose-colored glasses in a place where you're living)? not that denmark is not friendly, because it is, but it is so much more reserved. it certainly doesn't flaunt the friendliness that exists (and it does exist in nearly every dane i've encountered). it doesn't offer it up without being asked. england is so much more like america (the midwest at least) in that it just hands out things like smiles and kind words and useful information, whether the person on the receiving end was expecting it or not. and we weren't. we had forgotten to expect it. that such things could feel so abundant.
but the weather, of course, was not so very different across the sea.
clouds in the middle of leicester...
oh, but birthday cakes (thanks not to us, but to our amazing friends who stayed up late to get it iced)...
and milkshakes...
and then a day full of sun... on a street, in a country, that likes uniformity in its houses....
to the park with a little waterway where william could follow a stick down the stream for at least half an hour...
and henry could swing and go down the slide twenty times in a row and watch the ice cream man handing out ice cream cones in hopes that the vendor might hand him one too, not really understanding principles of economics and that handing out things like smiles and kind words and useful information does not extend to free ice cream cones too...
and saying goodbye to our friends from illinois who we met in wisconsin who came to england via new zealand and will soon say goodbye to it for a much more generous southwestern (united states) sun, so we could see london.
clickety clack along the track...
undergrounds...
trafalgar square...
sleepiness on the square...
lions on the square...
hands down henry's favorite part of london... the giant excavators, as seen from the top of a double-decker bus. in his words, "wow!"
"they're changing guard at buckingham palace...
... christopher robin went down with alice..."
westminster abbey...
you don't need to see my pictures of all this famous stuff. you'll get better views googling it, but if you'd like, continue on...
big ben...
palace of westminster...
the london eye... "it should have been taken down in 2005" the bus guide kept saying.
and to our neighborhood for the night... but really the next morning as we walked back to st. pancras station to catch our train to the airport...
and if you are ever flying away from london, i will say that london-gatwick's security is the most sane and (here's that word again) friendly security you might go through, at least if you are invited to go through the sane and friendly by-invitation-only security line, like we inexplicably were.
back at home, both boys are greeted with little easter presents in the mail and william is greeted with some straggling birthday presents, including a star wars watch...
i think a good ending for him to a wonderful trip.
8 comments:
Ah, relativism! My sister (who lives in Sweden) went to visit her son (who lives in England) and she writes me -- England is so much more honest and out there and friendly! And I recoiled -- say what? Is it the same England I know? People are nice, of course, everywhere, but England felt to me (especially when I was there with my then 3-year old) to be especially rulish!
It's all a question of perspective, no? You go to southern Europe and the family rules and people want to hug your kid and everyone is loud. Then you travel north and the reserve sets in.
I'm super curious how you'll react to all this in a year. And then of course in two years...
I have some quite amazing stories about how nice the Brits can be. Truly amazing.
Martha!
Nina,
I have to completely agree with your sister! Rulish-- that's interesting. In what sense? They were never waiting for the little man to turn green before crossing the street. In Denmark that would never fly. Cars drive fast there too. Again, not something you see too much of in Denmark.
Hi Martha! So it's not just me!
To me much of the friendliness in USA seems quite superficial,all the "how are you and have a nice day" you are constantly met with in stores etc feels awkward- do you really really want to know how I am.. no i don't think so.
/Erik
Hi Erik,
I do think the "How are you?" is a bit of a translation thing. You have "Hvordan går det?" and that is essentially exactly what we are saying when we say "How are you?" Just like it felt strange to me when, in England, they said something like, "You all right?" as a greeting. It's all the same I think. Denmark is not much different in that regard.
I think I'm used to a culture with more outward expressions of probably every emotion, so it felt familiar to me. And it stands out to me and feels almost a bit awkward when it's not there. And probably for you, it's the exact opposite. It's probably tiring to have to be constantly bombarded with greetings and inquiries if/when you're in the U.S. or other even more boisterous countries.
But I am very sincere when I say that, in my experience, Danes are friendly and whenever I have reached out for help I've only found people more than willing and quite happy to help. And even more willing and happy to sit down for a cup of coffee without feeling like they have a million other things to do. In general I get much more of a sense of relaxation and willingness to slow down and enjoy life here.
Okay, I'll continue: England, to me, is more prim. Stoic. Ordered. Duty bound. (At the same time that they do an awful lot to color the landscape in what has to be a rather dreary climate. Such beautiful flowers! they're better at it than anyone anywhere! But when they retire, so many (SO MANY) move to the south: France, Spain, Greece -- out they go chasing the sun, as if they can never get enough of it back home.)
Again, it's easy to generalize (German trains always run on time. Spanish people spend half their day in cafes and restaurants. Polish food is heavy.) but ultimately, it's the individual encounter that'll make or break your day and I will totally agree that individual encounters in England are wonderful -- friendly, kind, helpful. And I hear you say that about Danes as well. There you have it -- niceness transcends cultural inclinations toward openness or reserve. ANd that's a good thing.
Regard the danish "Hvordan går det" personally I would never ever use that phrase to some stranger,only to a friend or someone I had known for some time.
But nevermind , it' s as you say a culture thing ,americans are more emotional and outspoken ,though I must admit I have a hard time understanding, seeing the brittish described as = americans, to me the brits are generally much more reserved and uniform compared to americans.
Slightly OT..don't know if you watch danish tv, but I can recommend this documentary , Pind og Holdt i USA
http://www.dr.dk/tv/se/pind-og-holdt-i-usa/pind-og-holdt-i-usa-1-6
/Erik
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