28 September 2007
In Denmark Two-Wheeled Diplomacy Attracts Crowds
U.S. ambassador wraps up ReDiscovery bicycle tour across Denmark
Washington -- Between August 20 and September 27, juggling his diplomatic duties, U.S. Ambassador to Denmark James. P. Cain would hop on his bicycle to pedal through all corners of the country where the bicycle is a common mode of transportation in cities and in the countryside. His “ReDiscovery Bike Tour,” on which he often was joined by crowds of local cyclists and runners, was an effort “to know more about Denmark and Danes” and to let Danes know more about America.
“The students were very curious about America’s foreign policy, my relationship with the President, and what I was doing on my bike tour,” the ambassador wrote after meeting with a classroom of 13-year-old Danish kids. But they seemed to get their knowledge of America mostly from television and movies -- “much of it negative,” he added. However, some kids also spoke of “freedom” and “power to do good” as the things they associate with Americans, he said.
Cain wrote about his tour in a daily blog published on the embassy’s Web site.
As the news of the ambassador’s tour spread, it attracted more and more local participants. “Along the way I felt, for the first time, a bit like Forrest Gump,” Cain wrote in one of his entries, referring to the American movie hero who runs across America. “We picked up additional riders, young and old, along the way, so by the time we reached school, we must have had at least 70 guest riders.”
Ambassador Cain met with scores of local leaders, religious communities, students and their teachers, scientists working on alternative energy solutions, agricultural workers and small shop owners. Those meetings, at which he often appeared “sweat-stained, haggard and dressed in cycling clothes,” were instructive to both sides, the ambassador wrote.
As he tried to dispel the images of American violence, selfishness and greed with which mass culture is bombarding young Danes, he was reminded, in the words of one young rider, that “we Danes are not as prejudiced or as reserved as the media sometimes depicts us.”
Riding along with a group of youngsters in the historic town of Vordingborg, the ambassador had an interesting conversation on the Danish and American concepts of happiness. The Danes all saw America as a high-pressure society in which people are willing to take risks, but where the price of failure is extremely high, according to Cain.
“I tend to disagree,” Cain wrote. “Historically, I think failure is more tolerated in America than elsewhere, with those who fail encouraged to get up and start over.”
On the sixth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks, Cain was in Frederikssund, where he was invited to speak at a memorial ceremony at a local church.
“We had many wonderful conversations with members of the congregation after the service, including with several men who had memories of WWII, and who defined America as 'providing us our Freedom,'” wrote the ambassador.
“I am finding very strong impressions about America, many of which are formed as a result of current policies, but I am also finding a curiosity, an open-mindedness that gives me confidence that whatever challenges America’s image faces today in this part of the world, we can retain our strong bond of friendship in the generation to come,” he wrote.
This year, Cain covered sections of the Danish provinces of Lolland, Falster, Zealand and Jutland. Next spring, he plans to continue his tour in Jutland, Funen and the Baltic island of Bornholm.
Ambassador Cain’s blog is available on the Web site of the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
