ExplorationNavigating Cultures: From Copenhagen to Summer at Two Twelve
By Maggie Miller, Summer 2019 Intern
If someone were to ask me about the most interesting things I observed while living abroad in Denmark, I think my answers would surprise them. My answers would not have anything to do with food, or the language, but rather, I would say the transportation system and the culture surrounding work. These concepts might sound strange; what could be so fascinating about commutes and work days? But, my mind opened up a lot during my time in Copenhagen and these two activities made me really think about things we perceive as normal. I also began to consider things we observe but do not think twice about, and even might take for granted.
If Copenhagen can be identified by one thing it is biking. Biking is a Scandinavian expectation, so I learned in my four months living in Copenhagen; biking is not just biking in Copenhagen, it defines the Dane’s entire culture. Danish people bike to work, the movies, at night, during the day, in the rain, when it’s negative temperatures outside, you name it, people are biking. By the time I was packing up to leave, I knew I was going to miss my bike, and this was coming from a person who had hated biking prior to my trip. After experiencing it though, I grew to love it. It was fascinating to adopt because as much as everyone says, “oh yeah, in Denmark everyone bikes,” I didn’t understand what that meant until I saw it and joined in.
During one of my first nights in Copenhagen, my host family asked how I planned to get to school in the morning. They lived in Fredriksberg, a suburb just outside the city: kind of like Long Island City to Manhattan. I explained to them that I would bike to the metro in the morning. They told me that was a great idea, as they were not sure I was ready to bike all the way into the city. They also mentioned that in Copenhagen, the priority was bikers. As I walked away from the table I was confused what they meant. Everywhere I had been, the priority was either cars or walkers, bikers were an afterthought. The next morning, backpack on, I grabbed my red bike and jogged it across the street. Observing the bike path I began to realize what my host parents were referring to.
In Denmark, there are separate, protected bike paths on either side of the road, going the same direction as the cars. The bike path is raised, located interior to the parked cars, and separate from vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The bike paths also have their own stoplight and traffic lights while cars have an additional wait time so drivers do not make a turn when bikers are crossing the street. It was incredible to take in and it really made biking enjoyable. It’s not like you don’t have to pay attention to the cars, there were still many cars along the road, but biking is encouraged because it is safer and regulated.
Over the course of my four months in Copenhagen, I realized it was easier to get places in Denmark with a bike and that Copenhagen encouraged biking through not only safety measures but also by taxing car owners. The whole phenomenon was so different than what I am accustomed to in New York City, and I found it more interesting than I expected.
The other unconventional thing I observed abroad was the culture surrounding a work day. Growing up, my knowledge of work came from my parents. Both of them would leave in the morning and be gone all day, coming home exhausted, sometimes later than dinner time, because they had to “get the work done,” I thought that was normal. The standard American work day is around 9am to 6pm, my current work day. When I lived in Denmark, this schedule was not at all the reality.
One of my classes abroad was a business seminar, in which we learned aspects of introductory business and compared the U.S. economic system to the Danish model. As part of the class we took a trip to a nearby office. When we walked in, the place was bustling, but not with people coming from meetings or going from the bathroom to their desk. It was instead the movement of people with all of their bags packed and leaving the office. I looked at my watch, it was 3pm. I checked my phone again to confirm; I did not understand, the work day was not over, it was just the afternoon. Sure enough, my teacher noticed my confusion and my alarmed stare, and it seemed the rest of the class was doing the same. He simply laughed and asked us why we all looked confused. A boy in my class asked what we were all thinking: why are all of these people leaving? My teacher answered nonchalantly that was the end of the work day.
In Denmark the work day ends at around 3pm or 4pm. People come in at 9am, work till mid-afternoon, then go home to their families. I stood in shock at how interesting this was, who knew that not everyone around the world was working long eight hour plus days. Sure enough, when I got home from my class that day my host dad was in the kitchen preparing dinner. I realized that he beat me home from school everyday because his work day was over before I even got to the metro after class. The practice of the shorter work day and priority of family was so simple, yet one of the most interesting cultural observations I made during my time in Copenhagen. It only left me with the question, why don’t we do it in the United States?
There were a number of other interesting Danish things I experienced abroad that transformed my view of social norms as well. Danes, although the practice is slowly deteriorating, believe babies should experience fresh air, so when they visit coffee shops they leave the baby carriages outside with the baby inside while they go and enjoy a meal. Danes also get paid to go to university as a way to motivate students to attend college. One of the more surprising things in Denmark is that the metro is an honor system. In New York, you buy a metrocard and that is the only way you can swipe in to get onto any public transportation. In Denmark, it works a bit differently. The metro is actually an honor system where anyone can get on; there are no turnstiles or gates before you enter, only occasional ticket checkers who ride the metro. They will get on the train and ask for your ticket pass and if you don’t have it you have to pay a ticket worth $175 U.S. dollars. Believe it or not, people adhere to the system. Everyone has a pass and they kindly take it out of their bag when ticket checkers come around.
Growing up in the United States, Denmark showed me a number of novel cultural norms that differ from what I had considered a normal way of life. It is interesting to think that customs and the idea of normal varies depending on where people are from and what they are used to. Practices differ all over the world, in various countries, cities, suburbs and towns. I think that’s really why it is important for people to travel, not just to be more experienced but to diminish the whole premise that there is a normal. The idea of normality brings expectations, assumptions and stereotypes. By observing these differences while I lived in Denmark, what I considered normal grew as I no longer only considered the social norms from my time living in New York and Ohio but also incorporated the new culture I was living in. Now, I had this entire other culture to consider. Traveling and navigating the differences and nuances of a place has invited me to grow beyond my normal and open up to a whole lot more.
As my summer interning at Two Twelve is coming to a close, I realized these cultural phenomenons connect in many ways to my observations of Two Twelve. As much as Two Twelve is a formal place of business and operates as such, the atmosphere is cooperative and family-oriented. Staff meetings are filled with personal anecdotes and stories about travel and places, and we are encouraged to bounce ideas off of one another. Upon learning more about Two Twelve’s work, I have also learned that there are things in life that everyone takes for granted but are actual experiences that designers take time to consider. Designing signage and wayfinding systems is not something that immediately comes to mind when I am walking around trying to find my way. Similar to how much more I appreciated biking in Copenhagen after understanding the nuances that were considered in creating that culture, I have now begun to notice where and how signs are placed in spaces.
There are parallels between the Danish biking and work culture and Two Twelve’s work in activating spaces and paths that people use daily but don’t think twice about. This speaks to how people tend to operate automatically; they wake up in the morning, choose a mode of transportation, go to work and return home, and repeat that routine everyday without taking a moment to observe what is around them. People tend not to notice how they are able to get to their destination. Both my time spent in Copenhagen and at Two Twelve has made me want to ask questions about things that I typically might not even acknowledge, and I hope to inspire others to do the same. I am now more appreciative and mindful of the world I transverse and am grateful for the clues that help me find my way, knowing that someone took the time to design them. These experiences have opened my eyes to understanding new facets of normal and to being more aware of the effort that has gone and goes into the world around me.
