Friday 13 June 2014

VICTORIA: I LIVE IN DENMARK!

Another in our series of features about CC readers all around the world... we talk to Victoria who lives near Copenhagen in Denmark!


Victoria says:
I live about twenty minutes outside the Danish capital, Denmark, so it is kind of countryside-ish. Our house is made of yellow brick and dates from 1980, and I live with my mum, dad and older brother. In Denmark we have snowy winters and warm summers, which is great! My school is quite laid back - we don't wear a uniform and don't get detention unless we've done something really bad like smashing a window. It's an international school, so there are children from many different countries; students from the UK think our school is paradise, while others find it challenging. My favourite subject is history, but I also go to a drama school close to where I live and dream of being an actress one day.

Danish food is not too different from food in the UK, but we don't like cakes and sweets quite as much. We do have a traditional dessert which people often bring to school when it's their birthday - it's called Flodebolde and is very creamy and sweet. Smorrebrod is a typical Danish lunch (smor = butter, brod = bread). Everyone likes a sandwich, but the Danish LOVE them! Smorrebrod is rye bread with a topping of butter, cheese or sausage. In the Uk you have a cake called 'Danish pastry' but here we call it Weinerbrod, which means Austrian bread! I really love the cinnamon or chocolate versions.

We have many traditions and festivals and our way of celebrating Christmas is very different too. We celebrate on the 24th so we open presents and eat a huge dinner on Christmas Eve. The 25th is much quieter! Denmark is a small country, about 5.5 million people, and I think that's good. Denmark was one of the first countries to legalise gay marriage, which I am proud about as I feel this is fair. We also help refugees from troubled countries and once a year, some of these families are invited to meet the Danish queen and the politicians to talk about their issues and experiences. I can understand why the EU has named Denmark as the happiest country on earth.

Perhaps you've guessed, but I am not Danish - my dad is Polish but has lived in Denmark since he was a child and my mum comes from the Soviet Union, with family from Russia and Ukraine. As you can imagine, I worry a great deal about the unrest in Ukraine at the moment. I've visited Poland many times but it is rarer for me to go to Russia. Even so, I got upset recently when the Russian entry for the Eurovision song contest were booed and one of my teachers makes harsh comments about Russia to me which I do find upsetting. My biggest fear is a third world war - I would love the world to learn how to get along together. If I don't become an actress,  I would like to do something that works towards world peace, as this is something I think about a lot lately.

Cathy says:
Victoria's description of life in Denmark makes it really come alive - and I love that we get a real insight into Victoria's life too! COMMENT BELOW if you've ever visited Denmark, or email me HERE if you'd like to write about YOUR country for DREAMCATCHER!

4 comments:

  1. Denmark sound really cool! Especially beause of the schools and cakes. Speaking of cakes, I'd like to give a very big Happy Birthday to Cathy! Hope you are super blessed and have a wonderful day! ;o)

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  2. I have a friend in Denmark (my Brohawk - we both have mohawks so that's what we call each other) so I know a bit about it already. I remember when he wished me a happy Christmas and I was like "Wait, it's still the 24th in Denmark, right?" and he replied "Yeah, you celebrate Christmas tomorrow but we celebrate today". That was interesting. I'm pretty sure he goes to a non-uniform school too. I'm impressed by how fluent he is in English. He speaks Danish and English. I can only clarify that his English is perfect as I don't speak Danish but how impressive is that for a 16 year old? I'm 18 and I can barely remember any of my standard grade French! I think it's funny how the Danes call Danish pastries Austrian bread. I can't help but wonder what they're called in Austria. Denmark does sound like a great place to live, they're far more open minded than most of the UK. I can't believe it's 2014 and we've only just started legalising marriage equality. It should have never been banned in the first place. It's probably thanks to liberal countries like Denmark that our government even considered legalising marriage equality. I'd love to live in Denmark. If I spoke the language, of course. Oh, and you said the Danish capital is Denmark in the first sentence. It's Copenhagen actually. Denmark is not the capital of itself. Just a minor mistake.
    Blue. :-)

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  3. Wow sounds really cool! The food looks lovely too! By the way I am so loving Dreamcatcher right now! I think it is the coolest cathy cassidy thing since CCTV. I like the agony aunt bits and I like the posts about CC fans from around the world because it's nice to see different lifestyles of people from different countries x I'm a big cathy Cassidy fan and I'm reading Scarlett that I bought the other day, I've read it before and I love it!! I want to be a writer when I am older so Cathy is a big inspiration and I hope I'm as amazing as her when I grow up.

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  4. Your feature is pretty cool! And I also love your thoughts about peace in the world... I think that if more poeple though like you, it would make a big difference!

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