The happiest nation on earth

I’ve just boarded my first flight in a little while from Amsterdam airport, waving Serena off at the gate. It’s now moments later and I’m laughing at the incident that happened at the security checkpoint. I left some scissors in my carry-on luggage. Not only did the security personnel smile politely and ask me if they could scan my bag again, but after it beeped a second time, but then with a hesitant smile she regretfully informed me that oh dear, but something wasn’t quite right in there. I swear she spoke to me like a doctor would to a child, when describing in the nicest way possible that something is wrong. She then politely asked if it weren’t too much trouble if she could check my bag, and then told me what she was doing every step of the way…to which I must have looked rather ridiculous because I was standing there dumbfounded. When she found the scissors she simply smiled, tilted her head and said “hmm, might be better to leave these out next time, hey?” and then replaced them and wished me a pleasant flight, and sorry for the holdup.

She let me onto the plane with scissors in my hand luggage.

If this was America I would have been burnt at the stake for even attempting such a thing.

Unbelievable.

That wasn’t even the best thing about my flight though. The best thing was, Nicolai was waiting for me at the gate, and after so many countless flights I’ve taken in the last 6 months, it was the best feeling in the world to walk out and have somebody with open arms smiling, ready to take me home. The first thing I saw when I stepped out in Denmark was;

“Welcome to the happiest nation on earth”

The Danes boast about being the happiest people in the world, and the country is apparently very healthy, happy and tranquil. Despite the recent giraffe killing and dolphin massacre, that is. Nonetheless, Nicolai was at the airport to pick me up, and I was absolutely thrilled to be there. He whizzed me through the streets, getting lost in the process of course, and it was amazing how quickly we slipped back into old patterns…I suppose old habits die hard, because Nicolai hadn’t changed a bit in the last two months, and all his quirky phrases and mannerisms came back to greet me. I’m staying at Heidi’s for the next couple of nights, and when we rolled up, Andreas was also there to greet me. A wonderful Danish reunion was had, and my heart was bursting with love and appreciation for all these Danes that I met at college, who have now been so generous as to welcome me into their homes and their country.

Signature Little Mermaid statue

Royal Residence

Trying to get a cheeky shot with the guards

Heidi and Andreas took me around, and our days passed with tours of Copenhagen, experiencing life like a Dane. There’s a couple of things to note firstly about Denmark, but the primary take away message is that they’re all a little backwards up here. Maybe it’s a Scandinavian thing. Take this for example, they’re part of the EU, but they don’t have the Euro. Their money has HOLES in it. Actual holes in the currency. The traffic lights go from green > orange > red AND ALSO red > orange > green. Nicolai has been my personal chauffeur and has been driving me around constantly, but he almost causes road accidents on his own, without the help of confusing traffic lights. And the Danes speak weird. They have different letters in their alphabet, and I can’t read as much Danish as I could Dutch. It’s frustrating. And, unlike German, they don’t close their word sounds….so instead of ‘Copenhagen’ they pronounce it like; “Koben-hau”. Odd. And also, whenever Nicolai or Heidi are on the phone, they always END their conversation with something that sounds a lot like “hey”. They end with the beginning.

Andreas and Heidi

Despite these new adjustments, time here so far is awesome. I am loving catching up with all the Great Danes from school, and living the ‘student’ life here is cool. It’s super comfy at Heidi’s, life is simplistic, the atmosphere is chill and hey, Denmark is the happiest nation on earth.

Andreas being happy

Danish Viking