on being utterly unremarkable

Something I had been thinking about for a few days was mentioned to me the other day, and inspired me to write about it. It was something along the lines of: Being blonde doesn’t have quite the same effect in Denmark.

I had to agree. Not that I am the most stunning person in the world, but being blonde/blue-eyed and being able to cutesy-it-up has certainly had its benefits. I’ve definitely batted my eyes and smiled my way through a lot of stuff over time, gotten my share of free drinks, talked my way out of a speeding ticket, etc. (I’m not going to lie, sometimes I’ve contemplated adding in a ‘fake’ accent just to see what the effect might have been). In the US if you are a girl and even somewhat attractive, you’re guaranteed some male attention. It’s actually pretty good for the self esteem.

Now, I am surrounded by tall, blonde, blue-eyes, beauties. I walk into a room and immediately feel inferior to the Amazon women walking around with their long blonde hair and their long skinny legs, always immaculately dressed and accessorized, ability to drink the average Irish man under the table and at the same time seem completely oblivious to their beauty.

To make things worse, it makes life a lot harder when you no longer come with an entourage. I’ve been spoiled these past years, having always been surrounded by a posse of fun, beautiful girls and lots of fun guys. When you come as a group, you can always just make fun of the prettier girls; you can have fun and smile and pretend you are the coolest people in any setting just because you come as a group.

Anyway, it’s just another adjustment I have to make. I’m not trying to say that Americans are ugly or I’m ugly or trying to fish for compliments. I’m just saying that the stereotypes about Scandinavians are absolutely true; it’s like walking around in a sea of blonde. It’s hard to stand out in a crowd. Maybe I should finally dye my hair purple like I’ve been talking about for years? ;o)

Also, remember how I talked about Sidney Lee in my last post? I was wrong about him. He is actually a ‘professional gamer,’ not whatever I said he was. He is also a part of this show “singleliv.” It’s impossible to properly describe this guy, but he is everywhere, everyone knows who he is, and everyone talks about him. This weekend, probably 10 different people have told me (on their own) some version of the following: “Well it doesn’t sound like you’ve acquired an American accent, like Sidney Lee did…..”


Oooh Denmark.