Fotos: Justin Yang
I hvert nummer sætter Delfinen fokus på en studerende eller en underviser ved Aarhus Universitet, og prøver på at gå under huden på dem.
Navn: Jesse Beentjes
Alder: 23
Land: the Netherlands
Jeg er i Danmark fordi: I’m Studying: MA Erasmus Mundus Journalism, media and globalisation
The theme of this issue is “colors”, could you put down some words springing to mind when you hearing this word?
The first that that comes to mind, I would say, are colorful people, that I like to surround myself with. People that dare to differ, are honest to themselves and that are open for other people’s ideas, opinions and cultures.
Do you think of Denmark as particularly “colorful”? (take that as you want 😉 )
It depends a bit on what you define as colorful. If it’s the colorful houses in Aarhus, then yes. If it’s the way people dress, then absolutely no. I haven’t seen so many people dressed in the same, very stylish, grey and black combinations in one place ever in my life. I have the idea that people here are very conformist, in that sense that they are afraid of being different from the rest, which might be part of a strong Danish group moral, the wish to do everything together. I think that’s why all houses have the same kind of design lamps and furniture, that people dress so alike and that there are around four haircuts for each gender that you see constantly.
Is that different from The Netherlands?
Yes. The Netherlands is a very individualistic country, in which people do not seem to care too often about what other people think. This results in very strong personal opinions (to which all Dutchies always say they have the right) and sometimes very nasty public statements, but on the other hand it also results in people trying to be original and not bothering whether people like the way they behave and dress or not. I don’t know which one is better, it’s just what you’re used to I guess.
You’re so amazingly colorfully dressed – what is the significance of this to you?
Haha, I think I explained it already a bit. The way you dress is part of your identity, I think, which would in my case be an open-minded person. But, honestly, I only thought about this now, while answering the question. The more realistic answer would be that I just really love putting different colors in the same outfit. It has always been like that, but now I don’t have my mom around who tells me I cannot wear this or that, because I would look like a clown then.
