One thing that I didn’t notice during my last visit here was how the smell of smoke is everywhere and it permeates everything. But just to clarify, it isn’t that people here smoke everywhere, but rather there are specific locations and times where smoking is a common social act. However, the smoking is heavy enough during those times to the point where the smell of smoke clings to my hair and clothing and refuses to leave.
When Emily and I attended our first Alka Superliga (the Danish soccer/football league) on Sunday to watch FC København play FC Midtjylland at the Telia Parken Stadium, I was very excited and caught up in the excitement of the chanting and cheering. Even though, we could not understand a single word of the crowd’s cheering, we had quite a bit of fun. Eventually it got cold and the crowd become rowdier, but we took it all in stride.
However, one thing that neither of us could shake off was the casual smoking by members of the crowd. All around us, we saw people lighting up cigarettes throughout the game. I was shocked by the fact that people could smoke in the stadium. Perhaps it is a common practice elsewhere, but I had never seen smoking in a stadium before. Although the stadium was not indoors, there was quite a few flammable items in the area – the grass, the cardboard holders of Carlsberg beer and paper napkins, just to name a few. Also, second-hand smoking is usually a health concern for people. Given that there were people of all ages and filled stands, I was surprised that there were not stricter regulations on smoking in the stadium. I cannot recall such heavily smoking from the last time I was at the Telia Parken Stadium, which was to see a friendly match two years ago. However, the crowd was also far smaller than the one this time.
As a non-smoker, I am very sensitive and have a low tolerance for the smell of cigarettes and the smoke. The cold air and the smoke was a brutal combination for my lungs. After getting back to Danhostel, I found my coat and hair smelling like smoke. Furthermore, our experiences at the stadium were not the only place where smoking was common. There have been mornings where our floor in Danhostel smelt like smoke (despite it being a non-smoking floor!).
Based upon personal experiences, smoking in the United States tends to be in places more secluded from public spaces and large crowds. However, I did not expect to be so sensitive to the smoke, given that I had grown up in China during a period of time when smoking in public was more widely accepted. Perhaps the smell of smoke is something you become acclimated to and I have lost that after living in the United States for three years? I wonder if the smell of smoke is something I will become used to after four weeks in Copenhagen… ask me again at the end of this trip!