New students judge the Danes in prejudice test

There are certain qualities that incoming students associate with people from here up north. To most, a typical Dane is tall, blonde, blue-eyed, well-dressed, Viking-like, friendly, eco-conscious, and in love with drinking and biking.

This can be seen from a light-hearted prejudice test carried out by the University Post at the orientation meeting Thursday for new exchange students.

We asked participants to fill out a small slip of paper during the meeting. The task was to first brainstorm for thirty seconds, then write one or two words on what their pre-conceived notion about what Danish people are like. (Danes are… ). Students were asked to focus on their idea of Danes before they had gotten a chance to get to know any of them properly.

Socialist

About a hundred replies were turned in. The answers were brimming with wackiness, depending on the Danish vibe that came through the strongest. Some of them were directly contradictory, for instance calling Danes both ‘friendly’ and ‘reserved’ in one sentence.

The most frequent prejudices are listed in the fact box to the right. Those that the University Post find to be slightly out of the mainstream are listed below:

Honest, cold, windproof – Umberto, Italy
Loyal- Simon, Australia
Punctual, strict – Max, USA
Crazy – Rommero, Australia
Liberal, tolerant – Manuel, Germany
Just trying to stay warm – Scott, USA
Quiet, proud – Anon., Germany
Humorous, polite, formal, reserved – Konstantina, Greece
Cool, fun, socialist – Rhett, Australia

Good furniture designers

OK, take a deep breath…

Well-dressed, party animals, sophisticated – Jeff, USA
Really good furniture designers – Asile, Singapore
Sexy – Hannah English, Australia
Silent, boring – Diana, Colombia
Vikings, bicycle freaks – Julian, Italy
Stylish – Aura, Finland
Positive, energetic – Karita, Finland
Well-traveled, posh, wealthy – Reuben, USA
Beautiful, eco-friendly – Oxana, Russia
Attractive, happy – J, USA

Heavy drinking

And moreover they are:

Introverted – Nikola, Kleinoa (?)
Good looking! – Anon., Finland
Open-minded – Anaïs, Switzerland
Shy – Nathalie, Germany
Beautiful, tall, slender – Skylar, Canada
Very healthy – Georgia, Australia
Serious – Nadia Silva, Spain
Well-educated, smart – Tim, Germany
Heavy-drinking, progressive, hip, modest – Nick, USA
Adventurous, modern – Stephanie, Australia

Made of Lego

Finally also:

Nationalistic – Zach, Australia
Rich, good at English, helpful – Martyn, Netherlands
Straightforward – Karla, USA
Sporty – Laura, Finland
Relaxed – Veera, Finland
Made of LEGO – Grzegorz, Poland
Efficient – Alessandro, Italy
Accepting, follow the rules, service-minded – Erjo, Amsterdam
Satisfied, affluent, to-the-point, fashionable – Ariela, USA
Composed – Ros Pfaff, Canada
Easygoing – Chanel, USA

Read the results of a test on an earlier group of newcomers: 41 reasons why Danes are so strange

And another test: 119 great stupid questions.

Uni-avis@adm.ku.dk

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