The first of may in Denmark is their labor day all the school kids and workers have off. On my way home from classes I noticed that the bus was unusually packed with people, then as we got closer to my neighborhood people were swarming the sidewalks all walking in one direction. I figured they must all be going to the MayDay celebration that I had heard about called 1. Maj...
Because all my friends were either leaving for the weekend or had afternoon classes I decided to check out what this was all about by myself. I grabbed a snack and a few somersby ciders... I noticed people carrying crates of beer to this festival so I didn't want to look out of place! I walked a few blocks from my house to the park where I always stretch after my runs and read and lay out during the sunny days and it was completely transformed! I have never seen such a celebration for labor day before there were approximately 100,000 people gathered in the park to enjoy different music (about 5 different stages all in different areas of the park), food, and of course a lot of beer. After waking around for a while checking out all the interesting people and music, I realized that this sort of thing was something you come to with a bunch of friends and hang out, not really go by yourself.
So, I went to a quieter less crowded park that is on the way to the main park sat myself down and read my book. While I was reading a few people passed and said something in Danish to me... I looked up and said "what?" (which is one of my responses I use when I need people to know that I don't speak Danish, it always works right away) then they said in English, "Why are you by yourself reading on first of may?" I responded, " I would rather be by myself here than in the festival by myself." They quickly invited me to come along with them. Hesitantly I accepted thinking that, hey I really have not hung out with too many Danish kids my age so why not?
We walked back to the festival and went to the hip hop stage where they had a blanket set up and a few friends, they were a little bit younger than me and asked so many questions about American kids, things like; "What is prom like?" "Is high school like the movies? do they have cliques?" "Did you have a sweet sixteen?" It was hilarious for me to listen to these questions because the media puts such an emphasis on these events that's all they thought American kids did. It was a fun experience and I think they enjoyed talking to their "American friend" It was definitely interesting to compare the two cultures and it was so strange for me to see this many people, all drinking, with not a lot of police officers around. Since the drinking age is 16 in Denmark literally EVERYONE was drinking, and they just were not strict on the drinking age like they are in the US.
My 1.Maj was a fun, sun filled afternoon and ended up being more a cultural experience than I though! Well, only two more weeks to enjoy the beautiful weather and atmosphere that spring has brought...
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