Swedes, Danes and Germans

Source: http://tinyurl.com/nju5uye

Finally, my summer school and stop overs hustle bustle have almost come to an end. Although now I'm still 'stranded' in Stockholm Arlanda, at least I have free internet connection and free time to blog #hurrah. 

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So yeah...these past 16 days, I've been traveled to three European countries. Do you want to know what is the most interesting part of traveling? Is it gaining new experience? Or embracing cultures? Or maybe the privilege of shopping for fridge magnets from the countries you've visited #grin? Errr...I would say no for these three things. For me, 'sensing native characters' is the most interesting message from traveling wisdom.

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According to my current experience, I would say Danes are amiable, helping hand and warm. Seriously, when I was in Copenhagen, I really thought I was in Yogyakarta. I felt myself like at home. Copenhagen is Denmark's capital city and I have this idea in my mind that people living in the capital city are mostly arrogant and ignorant. But Danes living in Copenhagen are completely demolished my wrong 'accusation' about metropolis people. During my four-day visit to Copenhagen and Torkilstrup, it happened a lot when I was lost or couldn't find my way to places I wanted to go. When it happened, I just randomly asked someone and ALL OF THEM (all Danes I've asked) answered my questions pleasantly...with smile...with a perfectly understandable English. Imagine you're a solo traveler, lost and confused in a strange country and someone opens his/her arms to help you**. How awesome is that?! FYI, one of the plus points of Scandinavian people is they speak English f.l.u.e.n.t.l.y.

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So, Danes are super nice. What about Swedes and Germans? Well, Swedes are nice too, but they are on a different level of nice to be compared to Danes #middlelevel. Swedes are more serious, in some ways. They are quite easy to get along with, but not as easy as Danes. Well, you know what I mean. And..what about Germans? Errr...they are not easy to get approach to. Worst of all, they don't really speak English #boomer. I've been ignored by Germans quite a few times during my 'lost in Berlin episode'. They just don't speak English and that fact is so annoying.  

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**Example 1: I missed the bus from the station to my guesthouse in Torkilstrup (bus no. 236). And the next bus came in two hours, btw. It was 19.30, rainy, windy and super cold. I asked other bus driver who was in the middle of waiting for his passengers and he told me that I could call the city bus operator to send me "Telebus 275" which happens to be in service by the passenger order/call. Since I didn't have Denmark/Europe phone number, that driver helped me to call "Telebus 275". Telebus 275 came within 15 minutes and the driver told me not to pay anything. It was a free ride. #terharu

**Example 2: I again! missed the bus due to my carelessness in writing the bus schedule (The transportation schedules during the weekends are different from the weekdays. Weekend's transportation schedules are more rare). Since Torkilstrup is a small village, the bus only operates every 56 minutes during the weekdays and every two hours during the weekends. At that time, I was completely forgot it was Saturday. So yeah..I missed the bus and went back to the guesthouse when I then bumped into Bianca (the guesthouse owner). She then...offered me a ride by her car to the train station. #terharulagi