What højskole people think of Romanians
Most common points are: the imposing mountainside, cool landscapes, gorgeous women, hard booze and theft.
Originally appeared in VICE Romania
After my interview with Alexandra, one of the cooks from Vesthyllands højskole, who spoke to me about what it's like to work in Denmark and what the view on Romanians is, I had an itch to understand how the situation is from the other side.
Therefore, I've talked to some random non-Romanians, be it teachers or pupils, locals and strangers. I wanted to check out how they see us, when it comes to social or cultural clichés and how close they are to reality. This is the result:
Palle, 25, from Copenhagen
VICE: What comes to mind when you hear about Romania?
Palle: A corrupt government, nice landscape, some poverty.
Have you met any other Romanians?
Actually, I've been in Romania for a whole day, when we talked with someone who asked a lot of weird questions.
What happened?
We were in this sort of train Eurotrip, about four years ago, and wanted to go to Bucharest. I was with a friend, so in our first Romanian city we decided to go to a bar and wait for our connection. There, an mysterious guy started asking what we had in our luggage or regarding our travel plans. My mate was scared. “He wants to fuck us or something”, he said. We went back to the platform only to find out that our train was cancelled, so we decided to go back to Budapest.
So you benefited from the Romanian railroad experience, nice.
What impressed you most?
Your plastic money.
What's the most fucked up lie that you've heard about Romanians?
A common racist thought in the Scandinavian countries is that Romania is a gipsy country, with people stealling and all. I think that's exaggerated a bit. Like you do with so many other countries. But I'm sure it's not as bad as people think.
Do our countries have anything in common?
Of course. We're people and we love to have fun.
Would you accept Romanian immigrants?
If people really needed help, yeah. Of course.
Describe my country in three adjectives.
Beautiful, messy (not the player), mysterious.
Maria McInthyre, 21, dane of British and Norwegian heritage
VICE: What comes to your mind when you hear „Romania”?
Maria: Nice landscapes that my friends showed me. But also poverty.
What Romanian friends do you have?
Flaviu, who's been here for five years now. He's an engineer. I also have a Romanian-Danish friend. But I've also worked with a lot of other Romanians at one point: Vlad, Elvis…
Elvis?
Yeah, Elvis, a not so Romanian name.
Doesn't sound like it. Where have you met them?
I was working with them as a volunteer, at a non-profit coffee shop in Copenhagen. Most of them were here as students, so they were pretty educated.
How was the interaction?
Really nice, 'cause outside of working hours, we used to drink. They have loads of humor and it's pretty dark. Some of them are among the funnyest people I've met.
What shitty stuff have you heard about us?
I know of a funny story with one of you guys. One of my mates was, I think, the manager of an important company in Copenhagen. He went to buy a u-lock for his bike, and the vendor there told him: “With a bike that cool, you’d better buy this huge u-lock, ’cause there are so many Romanians on the streets nowadays.”. The guy went: “… I’m one of them. Fuck you!”. So the main misconceptions are from this area, that all of you guys are thieves.
Ce avem în comun? What do we have in common?
We drink a lot. And we get cheery during the holidays.
Have you ever visited?
No, but I’d really like to. Flaviu, my best friend, told be about some festival. I’d also love to go swimming in the Black Sea.
Søs Banke — (now former) theater teacher, 47, from Holstebro (Denmark)
VICE: What do you know about us?
Søs: The fact that your roots are still embedded in your culture.
What would you love to know about my country?
About your authors. And about the music that sprang from your people, from your tradition.
Things we have in common?
Humor. Maybe, maybe not. On the other hand, you’re more serious when it comes to some life aspects.
Have you visited or planning to?
As I’ve said, the reason that I’d come for is because I have the feeling that you still have a specific culture that arises from your respect towards tradition. For example, if you create modern music with a traditional flavor, it’s nice. So I have the feeling that I’d find this, there. We should enjoy more the foreigners that bring their traditions in Denmark with them.
Do you think that this is how most of the danes think?
No. Not at all.
Zsófia Anna Tóth, 27, from Hungary
VICE: Hey, neighbour. What do you like about Romania?
Zsófi: The landscape, the mountains. Does it suck if I don’t give you pretentious answers?
No, I prefer sincerity. What cities are you familiar with?
Oradea, Cluj, Tîrgu Mureș. And a bit with Deva.
What’s the most lively memory that you have while being there?
While in Tîrgu Mureș with a couple of mates we had a really nice lady who hosted us. She used to make us ciorbă for days on end. But on one day, we ran out, yet still managed to convince her to make another one for us. It was great there at her place.
The most fucked up lie that you've heard about us is…?
That all Romanians hate us and we must hate them back.
What did your education system teach you about us?
Our common history and that Wallachia was a ugly place. But it's interesting. Let me explain something: in high school, we were told about the Trianon treaty and that “see how much it sucks for us, they’ve divided our country and we were left with just this small piece of land, and they got the biggest part”. But we’ve never discussed in class why this happened. So I asked my dad, ’cause he reads loads of history and thinks critically. He explained to me that in the nineteenth century we did a lot of nasty stuff to the other nationalities in the Empire: we banned school in their native language, we gave them no benefits. Basically, it was just a big fuck you. And this sucks, because people still believe, even after a hundred years, that Romania owns a large part of our country. But I tell them “no, it’s not Nagyvárad or Nándorfehérvár anymore, but Oradea și Belgrade”. It’s time we comprehended that.
Do you think that Hungary would accept Romanian refugees, in case of war?
No.
What do you like about us?
I cannot really put my finger on it, but I just love it there. Especially in Cluj.
Daniel Dalgaard —writing teacher, 28, from Ringe (Denmark)
VICE: I say “Romania”. What comes to mind?
Daniel: Gheorghe Hagi, Herta Müller, count Dracula.
What stuff would you like to know about us?
Well I’m a poet and I love sports. Therefore, I’d say sport and literature. I’d love to know how it’s like to be a Romanian writer. Because it’s one thing to be a writer here, but I imagine that it’s another world there.
Have you heard any shitty lies about us?
Franky, I don’t know a lot of stuff about Romania, but I’m sure that there’s a lot of shit that makes the rounds in the political narratives about Romania and generally about Eastern Europe.
What do you imagine that Romania is like?
A large country with a lot of trees. And I imagine a lot of dark haired folks, maybe a bit drunk and aggressive, but mostly OK. Just don’t provoke them. That’s my preconception regarding the stories about you guys.
What has school taught you about Romania?
Ceaușescu.
Daniel has written a poem regarding a danish politician’s statement on Romanians.
We tried to translate it, and you can read it here.
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