One of my closest friends in Denmark is an American girl named Tasha. She grew up in Nassau County, New York, the daughter of a Guyana-American (Muslim) father and an Indian-born (once Hindu, now Christian) mother. Tasha has two sisters, and the three of them are eerily similar in appearance, personality, and proclivity for shenanigans as TV-land’s 3 notoriously fun sisters, Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian of the eponymous reality show, Keeping up with the Kardashians. Tasha – living abroad in Denmark – would be Kim; little sister Nita —living the high life as a pharmaceutical drug rep in Miami— is wild-child sister Khloe; and big sister (and married mama) Lynn, back in NY, is the Kourtney-type.
In my book, they are the Kurry-dashians, on account of their maternal roots.
Tasha is my breath of fresh air as I try to carve out some semblance of a partially American (mostly Danish) life for myself in Copenhagen.
It isn’t easy, but we make it work.
We get together for long gab-fests with two other American girls, Jenn and Kris, and our honorary “American” friend Ditte (who is 100% Danish, but likes Americans and is very international. So we let her into our American sorority). Ditte Holm thought her last name was too Danish, so she changed it to McHolm in a nod to her favorite burger joint and to be more accessible to the Scottish roommate she took into her flat (Andy McInroe). We didn’t know his name was Andy because Ditte only calls him Scotty, because you see, he’s from Scotland. So you get the picture – we’re a super international crowd (trying to be hipsters, ending up goobers).
Tasha Kardashian met Ditte McHolm when Ditte was 13-years-old and on holiday in Barbados. Ditte’s open-minded, very Danish parents encouraged young Ditte to explore the island and date! Tasha and her sisters, seizing on her long, flowing hair and killer, tight Danish bod, took little Ditte under their wings, for fear that the men of the island would exploit the naiveté of a Scandinavian blonde in a Caribbean land.
Fast forward many years later, Tasha is married to a Danish man, and Ditte is a smart and savvy Danish journalist cracking up her American friends with stories of her misadventures in dating. Ditte is Denmark’s Bridget Jones, in every possible way, on the hunt for her Colin Firth (but encountering mostly lecherous Hugh Grants).
Ditte is like our hilarious little sister. You always want to help her, you sometimes want to pay for her. You know she’s going to show up 30-minutes late to brunch with sunglasses and a hangover. But really, I think she’s the one showing us the ropes. I'm so glad we have her.
This is my sorority. Now you know the major players.
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