A quiet life with a twist?

I’ve arrived!!! To a Fairbanks covered in snow, confined in exhaust fumes and a cold snap, which put the temperatures at about – 30 C this week. Already on the plane from Seattle to Fairbanks I started to feel the familiar sense of the Fairbanks peoples. An older couple next to me were drinking Alaskan winter beers and discussing whether their car would be able to start in the cold. The guy in front of me was wearing carhart pants, carhart jacket and boots so big he had trouble fitting them under the seat. All the men I could see had beards except for the ones in full military uniform.

James picked me up at the airport. It feels good to be together again. We drove through the dark, snow-covered town, passed Fred Meyer – the American sized supermarket, the university, the liquor store and at last turned down our own driveway. All the old cars in the yard are hidden under the snow and all I could see was the beautiful winter lights that James had put up everywhere in the house.

It feels different to be back this time. I don’t have the deadline of having to leave fairly soon hanging over my head and so I see everything from a new perspective. I’m actually living here now. It’s not just a quick adventure, but something more extensive. I’m not exactly famous for my perseverance but rather for my innate ability to create change when things are not what I want them to be. I’m not one to settle for fine. Alaska is over the top change. It’s by far the biggest change I’ve pulled of so far. I hope it will keep my restlessness at bay and give me the chance to settle down and take a breather, which I so desperately need. I think it will. The everyday life up here is filled with unexpected changes and surprising turns that I am not in any way familiar with from Denmark and so I am preparing for a quiet life with amazing twists.

It's time to pack

I'm sitting here staring at my open suitcase. How are you suppose to pack for two years? Bring your favorite clothes, necessities can be bought on demand. Bring some Danish things that you are going to miss. Yes, these are the thoughts I've had already. Last time I left Denmark I brought liquorice and rye flower - both things are still in James' kitchen cabinet. When no one else is eating rye bread and when the first excitement of making people eat liquorice has passed, I don't actually crave any of it. This time I'm bringing Marabou chocolate and rice for risengrød, but I wonder if it's gonna grow old in my cabinet next to the rye flower and liquorice. Alcohol is a huge success though. I brought a Gammel Dansk two years ago and toasted in Gammel Dansk all summer all over the state. My parents brought another bottle for me and James last summer and guess what?? Someone actually went into our house and stole it. They didn't take anything else, just the Danish liquor. This time I'm taking it to the next level and plan to bring the biggest bottle of Fisk I've ever seen. It's liquid liquorice with a touch of menthol. Come to think of it I guess this counts as liquorice, so it seems I'm sticking to tradition.

But really, in this globalized era there's not really anything I won't be able to purchase even in Alaska. So my suitcase is slowly filling up with cultural artifacts and personal memories.

Cultural Confusion Evolution

The other day I posted a Top 10 of Danish ideas about Alaska and a Top 10 of Alaskan ideas about Denmark. I’ve had a lot of funny conversations and awkward misunderstandings with Alaskans that led to the revelations I put in the two top 10 lists. But this is what it’s all about when you live in and with a culture different from your own. There are so many things that we take for granted when we are among people from the same culture as ourselves. My anthropological self would like to turn this into a very long and nuanced analysis of what culture is, but I’ll keep it simple in order to make my point clear. Culture is the customs, traditions, attitudes and behaviors of a particular social group and when you find yourself surrounded by unfamiliar customs and traditions with people who’s attitudes and behavior differ from your own, you have a challenge on your hands.

There are all the obvious things like different language, different fashion trends, different food. It is absolutely impossible to find healthy bread in Alaska. It’s all white and filled with sugar even when it says WHOLE GRAINS on the ingredients list that just means it wasn’t bleached to death. And what’s with all the cheddar? But then they have a huge selection of vegetarian products and all restaurants have vegetarian options. In Denmark the vegetarian option is chicken or shrimp. The culture confusion is present and you can only accept it and let the enthusiasm about all that is new and refreshing guide you.

Then there are the less obvious things. I wasn’t really confronted with these until I returned to Alaska last January and stayed for 8 months straight and I’m sure I’ve only seen the top of the cultural confusion mountain. Alaskans don’t sit down and have dinner together at home. Now, I know all the Alaskans will object to this, but it’s true. They might throw a barbecue or go out to a restaurant but the simple “set the table, turn off the TV, sit down together and eat” – tradition doesn’t exist. So how do they catch up, get to know each other and develop deeper relationships? In Denmark we do this over a good meal with good wine and long conversations. Alaskans also go out to party but stay sober. I say “but”, because in Denmark to party sober is an oxymoron. It took me two years to realize, because I -the Dane- didn’t party sober, but when I finally did I realized that so did a lot of others and they still give everything they have on the dance floor.

To live in a culture different from the one you’ve grown up in and have learned to navigate is both rewarding and challenging. And I’ve only just begun. I got my visa today and with 18 days to go, I’m headed for two years of cultural confusion and evolution.

If you have any examples of cultural confusion you would like to share feel free!

Top 10 Danish / Alaskan ideas

Alaskan ideas about Denmark

- Danes have the best porn in the world

- Danes are communists

- Danes are socialists

- Danes pay everything they earn to the state

- That Amsterdam is in Denmark 

- That Danes have free marijuana

- Danes have gender equality

- Danish men are not real men

- Danish women are always naked on the beach

- Danish women are very beautiful

Danish ideas about Alaska

- Alaskans are all like Sarah Palin

- There is snow year-round 

- It is always -40 below

- People live in igloos

- There are bears EVERYWHERE

- It's exactly like "Into the Wild"

- the dude from "Into the Wild" is from Alaska

- Alaska is in Canada

- Alaska in on the North Pole

- You can see Russia from Wasilla