2nd
May Day in Copenhagen
For pretty much everywhere in the world besides America, May 1st is International Workers’ Day. The idea originated in America with the workers’ push for an 8 hour work day, but in later years the day became a symbol of the Soviet Union so we replaced it with Labor Day in September.
Some of my Danish friends suggested that I head to one of the big parks in Copenhagen to take part in the May Day celebration. When I got there I realized that I had vastly underestimated the number of people that would be there. It was Denmark’s biggest party! Musical acts performed on several stages and political leaders gave speeches while thousands of Danes drank, smoked, and hung out. The political groups ranged from the mainstream to the fringe. The Red-Green Alliance’s tent was pretty full (even though they’re the smallest in parliament), and the Socialist People’s Party tent was totally packed (they’re very popular with the youth, 13% voted for them), but the Social Democrats had a pretty small crowd (despite being the second largest party in parliament). Some of the groups would potentially be viewed as hostile in America, like the pro-Palestine organizations. There was one group pushing for US withdrawl from Korea and the re-uniting of the coutry… except under communism. I’d never seen a North Korean flag flown before. It was quite strange. Putting the extremists aside and considering the two main characteristics (copious amounts of Carlsberg and democratic socialist politics), it was quite Danish.
