Some more thoughts

After being here for awhile, I've noticed that the Jewish community is very hidden. Being in Europe means being closer to the aftermath of WWII. As a result the community is very closed, secured by guards at the synagogue, and does not outwardly display any signs of being Jewish (for example no one discusses the fact that they are Jewish at work, nor do they wear Magen Davids necklaces that are visible in public). In fact, at Chabad last week, one of the guests made a short speech in honour of DAP (the one making aliyah). He was saying how he admired DAP for not being afraid to wear his kippah and tzitzit out in public. In North America it seems quite safe to do this. Here, DAP once got hit by a piece of fruit thrown at him. Many of the young Jews are leaving DK and heading to Israel or other cities with bigger Jewish communities, and many say the community here will be gone in 20 years. I don't know if it is that extreme, but you can definitely sense a difference between being here and North America, where it is much easier to be freely Jewish.

Another thing that is strange here is that it is very much in fashion to wear Arafat-like kefiyah scarves. The teenagers have them in a myriad of colours. How this became a fashion statement is beyond me!

On a less-serious note...

One cool thing I saw the other day:
Everyone has lights on their bicycles for night-time riding. There is one kind of light that is powered without batteries. There is a rubber block that is placed near the front wheel of the bike that very lightly touches the front rim. As you pedal and the wheel turns, friction is created, which then gets transferred to the light and it turns on! Apparently the fact that it requires more effort and might slow you down is quite negligible. I thought this was very cool.

Danish sales:
Udsalg is the word for sale. Here in DK, after Christmas, every store has a sale (big Udsalg signs everywhere). First they start out quite modest at maybe 40% off, but by now, stores are offering 70% off and more. In fact, they basically try to empty out their entire store - there are stores here that look like they are closing because the shelves and walls are entirely bare and they are re-arranging the store for new merchandise. I wonder if they have the same thing at the end of the summer.