I’m writing this from Copenhagen, Denmark. Finally! I’m happy, really happy to be here, for the chance I have and for the great experiences I’ll have here. This is more or less a personal update about my very first impressions in the city and Denmark in general.

But I want to share a short story before I go on. As my Twitter followers might know, I spent two days in Paris (and only there) before arriving here. And I was lucky to spend one with this amazing girl. She’s special – special to the point of being the one and only woman who constantly amazes me. And there’s a lot of women.

But there she is. Once every forever I meet her and the world turns around. She puts me in an awkward situation when it comes to other women – stupefied or so. It’s kind of a weird feeling, hard to describe, but she just obliges me to put standards that are beyond any other woman’s. It doesn’t mean she is the best – but she definitely plays in another league.

What makes a person special is entirely subjective – what is special for me may well not be special for you. But no matter how hard it will look to you, there’s surely one person in this world who is all what you always hoped for. Find that person, look for and treasure him or her. If you want to be happy in love, this person and the few others who really, really love you are the only who matter. It’s hard to please them all, but it’s worth the try!

So – that was Paris. But what about Copenhagen?

1- Not so efficient. Funny thing is that, despite all the call to the ‘Danish Efficiency’ and ‘In Scandinavia everything works’ the train I took from the airport to the city center broke down. I had to wait and then travel all the way standing with ~40kg+ on me. That’s something I could expect home in Buenos Aires (or in Greece, perhaps) but not here – nice that the Danish wanted me to feel at home from day one.

2- Definitely expensive. But not all myths have been debunked – Denmark is as expensive as everyone tells you it is. And maybe even more. Perhaps up to 30% more than Vienna (which was already quite expensive). It’s a bit worrisome, especially since I still don’t know how much I’ll need to spend to maintain the lifestyle I want to.

3- It’s impossibly safe. Or so it looks like. Bikes are parked around the city without any type of lock, everything looks open and people don’t worry about security at all. I was writing emails from a park next to menacing immigrants and no one even looked at me. In Buenos Aires I would have been killed and slaughtered for my computer, shoes or whatever else they could get. And other places could be even worse.

4- People are very friendly. Only at few places I’ve find people so helpful as here in Copenhagen. Everyone looks relaxed and willing to help me out, all the time and almost everywhere. It’s a nice surprise, and always appreciated when moving to a new country. To sum to that, everyone speaks English. And everyone is everyone – the guy storing luggage, the one cleaning the street and anyone who I spoke with spoke English fluently. A blessing as my Danish is still so-so.

5- The meat is a disaster. I expected poor quality meat – here cows are not as a common sight as they are in Argentina. But considering how much things cost, I was expecting the Danish guys to at least import decent quality one. What I’ve tasted so far is horrible – low, low in the world meat rankings. But there’s hope – I’ve only been here for two days and there’s a chance I might find something approaching Austrian-levels – not good, but not bad.

So far I’m strictly following my moving to a new country rules. It’s all done (once I find a house, that is) so I’ve the time of my life here in Copenhagen. We’ll see what happens!

For the record, too, if anyone know someone in Copenhagen who might rent a room or a house, contact me. It’s ridiculous how hard to find a room looks like!

Photo credit: Jim G

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Why Remember All Those Names

Few skills are as important for social relationships as remembering names. Dale Carnegie hit gold when he said “A person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” It’s really no less than that.

People often, because of one reason or the other, don’t commit as much as they should on this. Better for us: it’s a big handicap. You can make a great impression on people if you remember their names, even after just a one minute chit-chat. You’ll immediately stand out: they will start looking at you with different eyes.

And it’s easy. We are not talking about remembering complex topics, structures, words, etc… Just a name. It’s truly worth all the effort. Whoever wants to be a successful networker has to remember names.

Here are a few quick tips that will help you out:

1- Make it a habit.

Only a loser will say he’s bad with names or faces. Perhaps you are not naturally good with it, but then it’s when you got to work hard and strive to get better at it. All it takes it commitment to work and not to give excuses.

If you want to remember the names of everyone you meet, make a clear decision of doing so. Every day you go out to work, to a party or to a meeting remind yourself of making your best effort to remember everyone’s name.

Don’t focus only on the big guys. Instead, try to remember everyone’s name. For example, if you take the same bus every morning, or eat somewhere too often, ask the guy’s names. Next time, a “Hello, XXX” will make the service even much better. It’s that simple.

2- Concentration.

Be concentrated when you ask someone’s name. For those few seconds don’t get distracted and be completely focused on that person. He or she has to have all your attention so you make sure you’ll remember the name.

It could happen that you are introduced hastily and you don’t have time to clearly hear the name nor to concentrate enough. Then just politely ask for the name again. Same if you don’t understand: excuse yourself and tell them you are having trouble understanding. You’ll have to make sure you get the name right.

Then, if the situation is good for it, shake hands or kiss saying loud “Nice to meet you, NAME” while you have a smile on your face. This way is the best to show warmth from the very beginning

3- Repeat, speak.

Repeat the name often enough so it gets a place in your memory. Do it immediately, then silently to yourself and also keep using it during your conversation. It’s good if you use phrases as “You know, NAME, …” as it serves the double purpose of repeating the name and of making the other person comfortable.

Also, if you have the possibility, introduce this new person to your other friends. Call one and tell him or her, “Hey, this is NAME.” Something so simple will leave a lasting impression on this person. It’s a perfect way of standing out from the mediocre rest.

Finally, once you left the place, write down the names of the people you met. Do it along some small facts about their lives and looks you’ll later use to associate. For example: Bob, brown hair, lawyer, basketball fan. Make it a habit and the pay off will be, in the future, huge.

4- Practice and associate.

If your memory is really bad and you just can’t remember people’s names, sit down and work. Take all those memory games, cards and materials around and practice. Memory is like a muscle: the more you exercise it, the better it will work. And you want it to work as best as possible, right?

To help out, also try associating. Associate the person (and the name) to whatever feels the most comfortable to you. Some people associate to their impression of the person, others to joke, others to words, etc. To what you associate it’s depends just on you. Find what kinds of associations make it the easiest for you to remember.

5- Social networking.

Social Networks made it really simple to remember people’s names. If it’s possible and won’t look too intrusive, add your new friends to networks as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. You’ll have their names, personal information and photos for you to keep in the loop.

I also like social networks because they are especially great to take care of acquaintances. Perhaps you don’t have anything important to speak about in the short term, but a few tweets, messages and updates can keep you off that person’s metal attic.

Do you have any other tips or techniques to remember people’s names? Let us know!

Photo credit: russelljsmith

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