2. Contents
Thesis Statement 1
Food 2
Food Continued 3
Art 4
Religion 5
Clothing 6
Clothing Continued 7
Home 8
Home Continued 9
Other Aspects of My Culture 10
10 Elements of American Culture 11
Conclusion 12
3. Thesis Statement
I am Danish, Californian, my family’s culture (our own blend of the two).
Depending upon where I am at a particular moment, any one of these comes
through, more Californian when I’m here, more Danish when I’m in Denmark
but always me wherever I am.
My ancestors were Native American, Swedish, English, Croatian, Italian,
Scottish, Irish and Welsh. I don’t consider myself influenced by these cultures
because I was not raised with the concentrated beliefs and values of them
other than what little that has passed through the generations of our
ancestors to me.
4. Food
• I eat a mix of Danish and American foods. Because I live in California, I eat
a diet that incorporates a lot of fruits and vegetables.
• I always eat with my family. We usually sit at the dining table for any meal.
Because of where we live, (20 miles from the Peninsula) we sometimes
don’t have time to go home between school and activities so we eat in the
car, at the beach or a park.
• My mom shops for food, cooks and serves most of our meals. The food is
usually served in pretty bowls or platters. We all serve ourselves.
• I have to help with setting and clearing the table. My dad does most of the
dishes.
• My parents don’t believe in using too much sugar, so I always have water
or milk with my meals.
• It is important to my parents that I have good table manners. I have to sit
properly, chew with my mouth closed, and ask to be excused before I leave
the table.
5. Food Continued
Danish Californian
When I travel to Denmark I notice the difference in food. In In California I still eat a lot of Danish style food, but I also eat
Denmark there is not a big selection of fruits as in California. American food.
This is because most of the fruits are imported. It is also
because it is harder to grow fruit there throughout the year
because of the climate. In Denmark the main foods include There are a lot of restaurants with food from different
fish, pork, potatoes, bread and dairy. Some of the main
industries in Denmark are farming and fishing. Denmark is countries. I think that this is because in America people from
surrounded by water which, over time, lead to a big fishing all over the world came with their values and tastes in food.
industry. It is the ocean, not the land, that had this influence We enjoy Italian pizza, Vietnamese noodle soup, Chinese stir
over culture fry, Mexican everything, Bagels and Smoothies.
When I am in Denmark over the Summers l eat a lot of fruit,
pastries and ice cream. The ice cream cones in Denmark are
fresh and homemade. They make an amazing cone all over In California there is a large supply of food because the
the country called “GammeldagsIsvaffel” (Gammeldags, old winters aren’t very harsh and because the land is fertile.
days) it has three kinds of ice cream, guf (marshmallow
cream) and strawberry sauce. We eat a lot of local food, Artichokes from Castroville, fish
In Denmark people only go out to restaurants if they are from the bay and fruit from Watsonville.
celebrating a special occasion, such as a birthday or
anniversary. When I buy food at a cafe in Denmark I sit at a
table outdoors, or I picnic, or walk and eat. It is a Danish My life in California is really busy lately so I eat a lot in the car,
culture to cook meals at home and sit around the dinning but when my family has time, we love to sit around the dining
table and eat with your family. table and eat the meal that my mom cooks.
Some of the meals that I eat in Denmark are called:
My favorite dish is called; Hakkebøf med bløde løg, it is pretty
Frikadeller, nye kartoffler, Frugtsalad, Lagkage med chokolade,
smørrebrød. much a hamburger with cooked onions.
In Denmark it is very important that you eat with your family.
When I go to Denmark I sit outside, in my grandmother’s
garden, or inside at the dining table, and eat dinner with my
family. It is very peaceful to sit outside in the warm summer
evening with the birds chirping and us eating good food.
6. Art
Danish Californian
When I go to Denmark I see art everywhere; from I like to paint with water colors and my favorite thing
the streets to the Queen’s castle. (I got to tour her to paint is people.
castle with my family a couple of summers ago). I like to make scrap books, knit (using the European
I always go to a town in Denmark that has a fantastic method), sew and crochet. I design clothes for dolls.
Viking museum and an outdoor theater where they I am in many local plays with PacRep; Willy Wonka,
put on a Viking play every Summer. Someone found 101 Dalmatians, Aristocats, and Beauty and the
a lurs, old Viking horn, very near my grandmother’s Beast.
(Mormor’s) house. I love to dance ballet and I’ve performed in the
One year I saw a show that The Royal Danish Ballet Nutcracker every year since 2005.
put on at an outdoor theater. They preformed for I live in a Californian ranch style house that uses
free and showcased every thing from old classic advanced technology, but the house is mostly
ballet to modern ballet. It was amazing! decorated with Scandinavian furniture, but there is
When I go to Copenhagen I see street performers do also art/artifacts from around the world.
all sorts of performing arts; everything from music to
juggling.
There are many fairy tales in Denmark. I like Hans
Christian Andersen’s stories.
7. Religion
Danish Californian
The main religion in Denmark is Christian, Lutheran. The religions in America vary. There are religions
There are Lutheran churches in all most every town. from many different countries; Catholic, Buddhist,
The church is supported by the government trough Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu etc. I do not
taxes. I visit a Lutheran church, near my practicing a religion, but my mom is Lutheran, my
grandmother’s house, every time I go to Denmark. dad calls himself a secular humanist. I would say that
My parents got married in this church and my the religious culture in my family leans toward
grandfather is buried there. Christianity without all the religion.
We celebrate many holidays. Christmas, Easter,
Many of the national holidays are Christian based. I Fourth of July, Birthdays, Thanksgiving, Halloween,
have experienced them with my family. We celebrate Valentines, and St. Patrick’s Day.
Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day. On There is a brass Ganesh at our dining room, a Buddha
Christmas Eve we dance around the tree singing statue and African animist masks in the bathing
carols. We also have a big feast with rice pudding at room, a Nepalese Kali shield in the bathroom, a
the end. There are almond pieces in the pudding, but Philippian Santa carving and a Nataraja statue in the
whoever gets the one whole almond wins a marzipan living room, and a Coastal Salish painting of
pig. Marzipan pigs symbolize luck and prosperity for Grandfather Raven, Orca, and Salmon in the kitchen.
the coming year. They all look great and are interesting.
8. Clothing
• I dress like most American girls my age. I wear Jeans, T-shirts, sweatshirts
and sneakers or sandals. This is also the fashion in Denmark. They are
influenced by the movies and TV shows that came from America. So I fit in
over there with my fashion.
• I like to wear colorful clothes and accessories.
• I like to wear jewelry. A friend has made most of the jewelry that I have. I
have also made some too.
9. Clothing Continued
Danish Californian
I noticed that in Denmark most of the people wear In California People wear a lot of sweat pants, jeans,
the same clothing as Americans. Jeans, T-shirts T-shirts and ball caps. There is also a surf style that is
etcetera but not always in the same way. here that I don’t see in Denmark. Ugh Boots
(Australian) are a great example of a fashion from
I think that the clothing in Denmark is more colorful somewhere adopted by people in the same sport
because people crave colors in the winters when somewhere else and then it makes it into the
everything is grey and dark. The colors is to keep the mainstream culture. I don’t surf but I wear Ugg
spirit up. I like to wear colorful clothes. boots.
When I go to Denmark I have to dress accordingly to I wear T-shirts, jeans, dresses and school uniforms.
the four seasons.
When I went to Denmark last Summer the trend for
people my age was baggy pants, a small jeans vest
and a jumper. We bought some of these clothes in
Copenhagen. When I brought them back to California
no one else was wearing these things, so I didn’t
wear them in public very much.
Not all trends are the same between Denmark and
California.
10. Home
• I have my own room and that is where I keep all my things.
• We eat in our dining room.
• We don’t have a TV.
• We gather in the living room to read, play games, and hang out with each other.
• Education is very important to me and my parents.
• I get consequences for making bad choices but I also get consequences for making good
choices. For example I will loose privileges for making bad choices and I might get to go out
for ice cream if I make a good choice.
• I have to say “please” and “thank you”. I have to be respectful to elderly and I have to look
people in the eyes when they talk to me. I am not allowed to interrupt a conversation.
• I am expected to help out around the house. By helping out I am learning the responsibilities
of a family so I am not being paid for doing chores. Some of my chores are:
- Cleaning my room
- Help with dinner
- Setting the table and do the dishes
- Take the trash and compost out
- Do my laundry
11. Home Continued
Danish Californian
I noticed that in Denmark people like their home to In California there are many different types of
be neat and tidy. When I went to Denmark I was houses: wood, cement, steel etc. The most important
amazed how pretty the houses and gardens are. The thing is that the houses have to be built to withstand
inside of the house is very lovely because the winters earthquakes.
are long and you need to be inside a lot. I would not
enjoy being in a messy house for such a long time. In
the summer people like to be outside so they keep Living in the suburbs make it necessary for us to use
their gardens beautiful. a car everyday.
The summer days are very long. The sun is up until We are located at latitude 36.93. It is the same
10 or 11pm because Denmark is located at latitude
55.7 degrees which is the same as Ketchikan Alaska! distance from here to the equator as my home in
People like to be outside on these long and warm Denmark is to the North Pole!
summer nights. It is hard to go to sleep so there are
curtains on the windows to keep out the late night
light.
In Denmark the houses are built to handle the four
seasons. They have to be very insulated and most of
the houses are build of bricks.
The houses are located in villages and close to public
transportation.
12. Other Aspects of My Culture
Danish Californian
• When I visit Denmark over the summer, I stay in my • I live in Royal Oaks in a country house. Our
grandmother’s house in Lynge. It is a small farming neighbors live further away, to us, then in the
village where the neighbors live close together.
city.
• I noticed that Danes, including myself, greet others
by saying, “Hello, how are you ?”. In Danish of • One of the greetings that I use a lot, in
course! California, is “ Hi, how’s it going ?”
• In Denmark there is a difference in personal space. I • I noticed that there is less personal space in
think that the Danes have a wider amount of California then there is in Denmark.
personal space.
• The languages in Denmark are Danish and English. • The languages that I speak, and are spoken
• The currency is kroner and øre. commonly through out the state, are English
• I don’t think that Danes are as obsessed with money and Spanish.
as most Americans are. • The currency in America is dollars and cents.
• I attend some of the summer festivals when I visit • I noticed that people in the states are more
Denmark. obsessed with money then people in Denmark.
• The Danish government is a Constitutional
Monarchy. • We go to culture festivals and food festivals
• I think that Danes are very equal between genders. • Our government style in America is Democracy.
• The Danish geography is mostly a low rolling • I don’t think that genders are totally equal.
landscape.
• The landscape here has everything.
• I bike a lot in Denmark because of the landscape and
because of the size of the country. • The sports that I do in California are dancing,
biking and some times volleyball and soccer.
13. 10 Elements of American Culture
10 Features My Feelings
1. Value youth and beauty: VOGUE No
2. New is better, change is good Sort of
3. Optimism: BE HAPPY! (They lived happily ever after) Yes
4. You can be whatever you want to be: I want to be an actor Yes
5. Success = Money Success = What we own No
6. Speak your mind Yes
7. We are informal: Come on in and have a cookie! Yes
8. We are friendly and open: Hi, how are you today? Yes
9. Equality Mostly
10. We take risks, we are innovative and creative Sort of
14. Conclusion
My culture comes from what I was raised with. From the food that I eat to the
clothes that I wear. The reason that I feel half American and half Danish is
because I have lived in both of these countries, and learned and practiced the
cultures. My sponges and my lens would be orange (Danish) and blue
(American) because I have developed from both my mom and dad’s cultures
and made my own. I have two different cultures all in one.
