So, this was originally supposed to be a oneshot, but I got too many ideas so I decided to make it a multichapter.
Let me just clarify that I am not Danish, I don't really know anyone Danish, and I've never been to Denmark *cries* but I really love Denmark, not just the character but the country too, and I figured Denmark and his country need more recognition. So, I decided to write this fic which acknowledges the many wonderful things and strange things about Denmark and Danish culture. I did a lot of research for this, so hopefully it's somewhat accurate. That being said, I apologize in advance to any Danes who might happen to be reading this for any inaccuracy that might occur in this.
Also, excuse my horrible Danish. I've been teaching myself Danish for a while, but I'm not exactly fluent yet, so hopefully it's somewhat correct, and I didn't want to use Google Translate because that's always off, so I just went with the Danish that I know. If it needs corrections let me know.
Disclaimer: Hetalia doesn't belong to me.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Copenhagen Airport. We hope you enjoyed your flight, and we thank you for flying with Scandinavian Airlines."
America took off his headphones as he heard the announcement over the loudspeaker, notifying the passengers of their arrival. He immediately looked out his window to get his first glimpse of the Danish capital, but was utterly disappointed when the heavy rain and clouds blocked his view of the so called "city of spires."
But Denmark's gloomy weather was barely able to take its toll on the excited American as he hastily gathered up his belongings he had brought with him in his carry on bag, still overly enthusiastic about his first visit to the home of one of his best friends. How could he not be excited as this was the country of Lego, fairytales, and the oh so famous Danish pastries?
With that in mind, America followed the rest of the passengers as they exited the plane. Upon entering the modern looking airport, America went through customs and immigration, and while waiting for his baggage decided to send a text to Denmark to let him know of his arrival.
Hey dude, I'm here!
A response came within seconds of America's sending of the text.
I know. You told me beforehand what your arrival time was, lol. I'm here waiting for you.
America grabbed his suitcase as it came down the conveyor belt and made his way through the airport to find Denmark. Despite the fact that he was exhausted from the eight hour flight, America managed to keep his excitement and energy up because of how much he was looking forward to this week's visit. He had only planned the trip two weeks ago when Denmark found out that America had never even been to his country before. Denmark then insisted that America should come visit for a week, and America happily agreed as he was always up for traveling to new places, especially if it was the country of one of his friends.
America reached the airport's exit and headed out into the thunderstorm that engulfed Copenhagen. It was hard to see through the heavy rainfall, but America spotted Denmark standing by his car amid the other dozens of cars waiting for their arriving passengers. Denmark spotted him too and waved at him. America hurried over to the car, getting completely soaked in the process.
"Hej, America! Welcome to Denmark!" Denmark greeted the American nation. "What do you think so far?"
America laughed as he packed his luggage into the car. "Well, the weather isn't very nice."
Denmark laughed in aggrement. "Yeah, it's not, but I promise you that the rest of it is awesome!"
They then both got into the car. Denmark began to drive out of the airport and America looked out the window with interest.
"So, this is Copenhagen?" He asked as Denmark turned onto the E20 leading away from the airport. There wasn't much to see, so he was a little unsure.
"Well, technically," Denmark answered. "we're actually in Kastrup which is a suburb south of Copenhagen. It's not a long drive though, we'll get to Copenhagen pretty soon."
During the short drive to Copenhagen, Denmark began to tell America about everything he planned on doing with him that week.
"I'll show you all around Copenhagen. We'll see all the famous attractions, like Tivoli, the Little Mermaid Statue, Nyhavn, everything! At the end of it all, you won't even want to go back to America!"
America laughed. "I highly doubt that, but I'm sure it'll be fun. Is the rain supposed to stop soon because that would make it even better."
Denmark shrugged. "Who knows, but our luck it'll be like this the whole week."
"Great." America said sarcastically.
"Don't worry, I'm just kidding."
Eventually, they had reached Copenhagen and were driving over the Langebro bridge and entering the city center. America looked out his window in awe as they drove over the harbour. Even though it was raining, Copenhagen was still as beautiful as ever. Denmark pointed out some of the more famous sites as they passed them.
"Right now, we are driving on H. C. Andersens Boulevard. He's the guy that wrote-"
"Yes, I know. The Little Mermaid." America interrupted. "You only told me about a hundred times."
"Right. Oh, there's Tivoli!"
America looked to where Denmark pointed to, but he couldn't really see anything as there were too many trees blocking his view.
"It's an amusement park, right?" America asked excitedly, proud of the little fact he knew about it.
"Yup. It's also one of the oldest in the world. Dyrehavsbakken is the oldest, but that's in my country too."
America smiled. Once you got Denmark started on boasting about his wonderful country it was hard to get him to stop, but America let him continue having his little moment of fame.
"I'll take you there one day, when it's not raining. There on your right is city hall."
America looked to his right and saw the Copenhagen City Hall building. As he looked out his window his stomach growled, and it was only until now that he realized how hungry he was.
"Is there anyplace we could stop to eat maybe because I'm starving."
Denmark thought about the possibilities, but because it was already so late he was sure that most places would be closed at this hour.
"I'm not sure." He then got an idea, but he wasn't sure if America would like it. "Though, there is a twenty-four hour McDonald's nearby."
Denmark cringed at the surprised expression on America's face. "I came all the way here for McDonald's?" He then paused as if considering it. "Alright. I'm in the mood for a hamburger anyway."
Denmark sighed in relief and headed for the McDonald's a few blocks away. He really wanted to take America to one of his many restaurants as Copenhagen was known for having some of the best restaurants in the world, but decided that that would have to wait for another time.
"Hey, I know!" America said enthusiastically. "How about I order my food in Danish!"
If he wasn't trying to drive in a thunderstorm, then Denmark would have given America a very confused look.
"But you don't speak Danish."
"Yeah, thanks Captain Obvious," America said sarcastically. "I know. What I meant was that you could teach me."
Denmark smiled and tried not to laugh at America's ridiculous suggestion. He quickly glanced at him, and figured he couldn't exactly say no to the puppy dog eyes staring back at him eagerly.
"Fine. We'll try it." America grinned, happy that he had gotten what he wanted. "What did you want to order?"
"A hamburger."
Of course he did. "Okay, so you can say, kan jeg have en hamburger. Now you try it."
Denmark waited for America to try repeating, but the American never said anything. Denmark turned to him to see him looking very confused.
"What did you say?"
Denmark sighed. This was going to take awhile. "Alright, we'll do it word by word. The first word is easy because it's practically the same in English. It's just kan."
"Oh, I can do that. See, I just did it right there." America laughed, and Denmark had no choice but to laugh with him.
"Okay, so you're trying to say can I, so you're going to say kan jeg."
"This sounded a lot harder when you said it." America said. "Kan jeg. How was that?"
"Good, just try not to sound too American."
America looked at him offended. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Denmark laughed nervously. "Uh, you know, just don't sound too foreign."
He then decided to drop the subject because of America's confusion. "Never mind, it was good. Now you're gonna say have. It's actually spelled the same in English just pronounced differently. Try saying the word how and add a little "e" at the end, and try not to emphasize the "w" so much."
America tried it, concentrating very hard to get it right. "Have." Though, it didn't come out exactly right, but Denmark decided it was good enough.
"You're getting there."
"Hold on! Let me try again." Denmark waited as America began to say the word over and over again, each time trying a different pronunciation, and each time pronouncing it wrong.
"It's good enough, America." Denmark interrupted. They didn't even finish the sentence yet, and they were almost there. "Now you want to say, a hamburger, so you're gonna say en hamburger."
"Eeein, how was that?"
Denmark was at a loss. "Uh, maybe try saying the name Ian."
"Ian. Hey, it sounds like how you said it! I'm speaking in Danish!" America then turned back to Denmark. "Uh, what was the whole sentence again?"
Denmark went through the sentence again, pronouncing each word very slowly. "Kan jeg have en hamburger?"
"Right. So hamburger is just hamburger?"
Denmark nodded. "Yeah, but try to say it with an accent."
"But you took it from English!" America protested.
"Technically, you took it from German, and I don't think in German it's pronounced hamburger." Denmark said, saying the word hamburger with a very American accent.
"Hey, that's not how we talk."
"Whatever. Say what you want. We're here."
America immediately forgot about the argument when they drove up in front of the McDonald's. His stomach was growling again. He needed something to eat now. He then quickly hurried out of the car.
"Okay, let's go speak some Danish."
Denmark rolled his eyes and followed behind him. This was going to be so embarrassing.
There wasn't a very big line as it was pretty late, so it didn't take long for them to reach the counter. When they approached, the cashier immediately spoke to them in Danish.
"Hvordan kan jeg hjælpe dig?"
America looked over at Denmark questioningly and whispered, "What did she say?"
"Just tell her what I taught you."
"Oh, okay." America prepared himself and quickly went through the sentence again in his head. The cashier looked up at them expectantly, not really sure what was going on.
"Kan jeg have en hamburger?" Denmark turned away, trying his hardest not to laugh. The cashier looked at him funny, but then smiled knowingly when she realized what was going on.
"Ja, og for dig?" She asked, addressing Denmark.
"Ikke noget for mig."
The cashier then left to get the food.
"Why are you laughing? I tried." America asked Denmark, pretending to be offended.
"I'm not laughing at you. What made you think that?" But before he could defend himself anymore, Denmark broke into a fit of laughter.
"Sure."
The cashier then came back with America's order and handed it to him.
"How do you say thank you?" He quickly whispered to Denmark.
"Tak."
America nodded and turned to the cashier. "Tak."
The cashier smiled. "Det var så lidt."
America then turned to Denmark again. "What did she say?"
"She said you're welcome, now let's go already before she realizes you're not fluent." Denmark said sarcastically.
America pouted, but followed Denmark out. "Oh, come on, I wasn't that bad."
"Don't worry, we have a week to work on it. Now let's go home because it's late and I want to give you a grand tour tomorrow!"
This was more of an introduction chapter, but I hope you liked it. The next chapters will focus more on America's reactions to the weird differences between the two countries.
Translations:
"Kan jeg have en hamburger?" - Can I have a hamburger?
"Hvordan kan jeg hjælpe dig?" - How can I help you?
"Og for dig?" - And for you?
"Ikke noget for mig." - Nothing for me.
"Tak." - Thanks.
"Det var så lidt." - You're welcome.
Thank you all for reading and reviews are appreciated. Also if there's any suggestions of what you think America should find strange about Denmark, let me know!
Farvel!
