Julian from southern France is in Denmark to study political science for a semester this fall. <\/p>\n
After arriving in Copenhagen, Julian has been puzzled by some of the more practical aspects of Danish life \u2013 like the fact that Danish people always wait for the green light in intersections before daring to cross the street, and that after eating in the cafeteria, people clean up after themselves when they are done eating.<\/p>\n
\u00bbIt\u2019s not at all like that in the south of France,\u00ab Julian says.<\/p>\n
He goes on to ponder the Danish recycling system. The notion of getting money in return for recycling plastic bottles is foreign and fascinating to him and perhaps even one of the reasons why there are less homeless people on the street in Copenhagen: <\/p>\n
\u00bbIt\u2019s a very, very good idea. Even the poor people can have money when they pick up the bottles. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s related, but there are not a lot of homeless people here. It\u2019s quite different from France\u00ab. <\/p>\n
Julian seems quite enamored with Copenhagen, but there have been difficulties in getting used to the Danish way of life. <\/p>\n
After consulting with his boyfriend in fast-paced and excited French, the two agree that getting used to the Danish currency (with holes in the coins!) instead of euros was a challenge.<\/p>\n
Also supermarkets and shopping. <\/p>\n
\u00bbThe first two days, I didn\u2019t eat,\u00ab he says. With the exception of potato-chips, as those were the only type of edible thing he could recognize when he first encountered a Danish supermarket. <\/p>\n
It turns out Julian has a very special talent indeed: <\/p>\n
\u00bbI\u2019m the runner-up EU champion of tuna fishing,\u00ab he reveals after much laughter. <\/p>\n
Julian grew up in the south of France, where his father taught him as a child how to fish, eventually leading him to enter competitions in this field. Hesitant to reveal when exactly he was rewarded the title, he says that it\u2019s a few years back.<\/p>\n
\u00bbIt\u2019s not something that I\u2019m very proud of,\u00ab he laughs, adding that he will not be defending his title this year. <\/p>\n
uni-avis@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n