identity
anytime you live in a different culture its natural to compare and see the good and the bad in the differences you identify immediately and those that dawn on you gradually. you don't have to take courses in anthropology to notice most things.
me and endre talk alot about how things are here and how things are and were when we grew up. things like family, school, working, socializing, the whole spectrum(like i said we got alot of time on our hands). trust me with this dude, he is making me laugh steady between his stories, his hate for russians and his vlade divac accent. its really interesting hearing his perspective though; coming from a country and an age group that lived behind the iron curtain in a communist country and has seen the transition to a western style culture and economy... without perhaps the opportunity and benefits entrenched yet. it's a combination of hope, impatience and frustration. he says he has like five different degress, diplomas and certifications that really just aren't transferable or accepted outside of hungary and that within the country, there lacks the jobs and opportunity to use such education and if there is, it is for very little money. he said coming here and seeing minumum wage type jobs that would pay $300/month back in hungary, here, pay 10-15 times that.
denmark is a different place for sure. they have a giant middle class. to the point where you just think everyone is middle class, and i really mean that. you never see poor people or beggars or people without jobs for that matter. you also don't see alot of very wealthy, to the point where it is flaunted. everyone drives the same type cars, lives in very similar houses, similar schools ect.... there just doesn't seem to be alot of social competition or segregation.
its quite impressive actually, its really as though they have taken all the worry out of the population and they just concentrate on living, if that makes any kind of hollow sense. everyone makes a good salary, everyone gets free education, free health care, retirement plans, an excellent social assistance framework. for instance: the work week is 36 hrs, maternity leave is 1 year paid across the board and if you want to return to work earlier than that you can bank the remaining time left and use it when you want, then a bunch of extra time on top of that if you feel you need it. if you don't have a job, they send you checks till you find one and they are proactive helping you. they get at least 6 weeks holiday every year, of which the employers have to let you take it in the summer time if you want. people don't have to make rainy day savings, in fact saving money isn't really a big thing with them from what i understand. they make enough whereas if they want to put away money for a vacation or something, they can do so in a month or two. for the most part, they aren't saddled with massive payments, leases and mortgages. many of these things help to promote healthy nuclear families, a happy work force and a more stress free existence than most other places in the world.
the flip side of this coin is that if you are really ambitious and strive to be exceedingly wealthy or successful... there a many constraints that indicate maybe this isn't the place for you. to support this social structure requires high taxes and above 40% is standard, even for the lower income brackets. denmark has been around for a long time(thousands of years of civilization)is relatively small in both population and landmass. hence, opportunity for major development and niche business are less likely. most things that can be done, have been done. i would assume there is alot of red tape as well that goes along with a large bureaucracy.... even just going by the amount of forms and documents involved in me getting things like my healthcard, my visa and my bank account.... everything is intertwined yet needs a seperate form. i mean most of this is just things i've noticed and probably not totally accurate but you get the danish picture through my eyes.... in this instance anyways.
back home we talk about the diminishment and lack of a solid middle class but here it is definitely alive and kicking(ass). its just not something that you notice all that quickly initially because normalness and average do not jump out at you like excess or need.
another thing i noticed the other day that i forgot was that the town i played ball for in ireland, Longford, was initially established by danish viking raiders as a Long Phoirt, from the Irish long meaning ship and phoirt meaning port or dock. i guess where they parked their boats when they went to rape and pillage my celtic ancestors. the middle class had to eat! its interesting the historical correlation of where i was to where i am.
...and this is what happens when muslims read their cartoons
me and endre talk alot about how things are here and how things are and were when we grew up. things like family, school, working, socializing, the whole spectrum(like i said we got alot of time on our hands). trust me with this dude, he is making me laugh steady between his stories, his hate for russians and his vlade divac accent. its really interesting hearing his perspective though; coming from a country and an age group that lived behind the iron curtain in a communist country and has seen the transition to a western style culture and economy... without perhaps the opportunity and benefits entrenched yet. it's a combination of hope, impatience and frustration. he says he has like five different degress, diplomas and certifications that really just aren't transferable or accepted outside of hungary and that within the country, there lacks the jobs and opportunity to use such education and if there is, it is for very little money. he said coming here and seeing minumum wage type jobs that would pay $300/month back in hungary, here, pay 10-15 times that.
denmark is a different place for sure. they have a giant middle class. to the point where you just think everyone is middle class, and i really mean that. you never see poor people or beggars or people without jobs for that matter. you also don't see alot of very wealthy, to the point where it is flaunted. everyone drives the same type cars, lives in very similar houses, similar schools ect.... there just doesn't seem to be alot of social competition or segregation.
its quite impressive actually, its really as though they have taken all the worry out of the population and they just concentrate on living, if that makes any kind of hollow sense. everyone makes a good salary, everyone gets free education, free health care, retirement plans, an excellent social assistance framework. for instance: the work week is 36 hrs, maternity leave is 1 year paid across the board and if you want to return to work earlier than that you can bank the remaining time left and use it when you want, then a bunch of extra time on top of that if you feel you need it. if you don't have a job, they send you checks till you find one and they are proactive helping you. they get at least 6 weeks holiday every year, of which the employers have to let you take it in the summer time if you want. people don't have to make rainy day savings, in fact saving money isn't really a big thing with them from what i understand. they make enough whereas if they want to put away money for a vacation or something, they can do so in a month or two. for the most part, they aren't saddled with massive payments, leases and mortgages. many of these things help to promote healthy nuclear families, a happy work force and a more stress free existence than most other places in the world.
the flip side of this coin is that if you are really ambitious and strive to be exceedingly wealthy or successful... there a many constraints that indicate maybe this isn't the place for you. to support this social structure requires high taxes and above 40% is standard, even for the lower income brackets. denmark has been around for a long time(thousands of years of civilization)is relatively small in both population and landmass. hence, opportunity for major development and niche business are less likely. most things that can be done, have been done. i would assume there is alot of red tape as well that goes along with a large bureaucracy.... even just going by the amount of forms and documents involved in me getting things like my healthcard, my visa and my bank account.... everything is intertwined yet needs a seperate form. i mean most of this is just things i've noticed and probably not totally accurate but you get the danish picture through my eyes.... in this instance anyways.
back home we talk about the diminishment and lack of a solid middle class but here it is definitely alive and kicking(ass). its just not something that you notice all that quickly initially because normalness and average do not jump out at you like excess or need.
another thing i noticed the other day that i forgot was that the town i played ball for in ireland, Longford, was initially established by danish viking raiders as a Long Phoirt, from the Irish long meaning ship and phoirt meaning port or dock. i guess where they parked their boats when they went to rape and pillage my celtic ancestors. the middle class had to eat! its interesting the historical correlation of where i was to where i am.
...and this is what happens when muslims read their cartoons
posted by miceail | 8:55 PM
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