How to Live in Denmark
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How to Live in Denmark
Quick takes on life in Denmark, in 10 minutes or less. Life as an international in Denmark, one of the world's most homogenous countries, isn't always easy. In Denmark’s longest-running English-language podcast, Kay Xander Mellish, an American who has lived in Denmark for more than a decade, offers...
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October, democracy in denmark, and competitive poster hanging
Election posters are a colorful part of democracy in Denmark. In October, the campaigns swing into gear, and when the whistle blows on a set date at p...
September, elite sport, and the not-quite death of Jante Law: The Danish Year Part 9
Denmark may be a small country, but it produces world-class athletes in cycling, tennis, handball, badminton, and golf. How do they do it? And how doe...
August, The first day of school, and how children learn to be Danish: The Danish Year Part 8
Denmark is a very good place to be a child, and to have children, yet the birthrate is dropping as it is in so many other countries. Some preschools h...
July, Nature in Denmark, and following The Daisy Route: The Danish Year Part 7
July is vacation month in Denmark, and it’s ironic that many Danes go elsewhere on vacation at just this time of year, when you have the best chance o...
June: Danish pride, women in uniform, and the reverse Jante Law: The Danish Year Part 6
As of this month, girls who turn 18 can be drafted into the Danish military.
This is new, even though girls in Norway and Sweden have been elig...
May, the candle in the window, and getting old in Denmark: The Danish Year Part 5
There's a lovely May tradition in Denmark of setting a candle in the window on the evening of May 4. This is to commemorate the surrender of the Germa...
April, Gardening in Denmark, and what it means to be “Pear Danish”: The Danish Year Part 4
As the long Danish winter finally draws to an end, it’s time for Danes to start planting their gardens.
Now, in early April, it’s rhubarb, pars...
March, "Gække Letters", and the things lost in Digital Denmark: The Danish Year Part 3
Gækkebrev are a great Danish tradition, but like many other Danish traditions, they are fighting to survive amid the country’s ambitious digital agend...
February, the Cat in the Barrel, and the Absence of Faith: The Danish Year Part 2
Fastelavn is one of the Danes’ favorite holidays. It takes place in February, when the light is finally beginning to come back after a long season of...
January, Skiing, and Income Inequality: The Danish Year Part 1
If you’re one of the bottom 80% of Danish earners, you’ll probably spend most of your dark January evenings and weekends at home, hoping your bank acc...
The Danish Empire - without Greenland?
Denmark, as Danes like to tell you, is a little country. But it used to be a much bigger country, a bit of an empire. Norway was once part of Denmark....
Learning Danish through song lyrics
One of the tips I often give to newcomers in Denmark is to learn Danish through song lyrics. Find a Danish lyricist whose music you enjoy listening to...
Job switching in Denmark
Denmark has one of the highest job mobility rates in the world - about 20% of Danes start new jobs each year. Frequent job changes are a reflection of...
The Design Quirks of Copenhagen
Did you know that Copenhagen has its own color? It’s called Copenhagen Green, and it’s a dark emerald green, mixed with a fair amount of black. A litt...
Who is Holger Danske?
Many countries have a fictional character who represents them. Uncle Sam for the USA, Marianne in France, Mother India. Others have a legendary figure...
The white magic of the Danish graduation hat
In June of each year, the streets of Denmark are suddenly full of young people wearing stiff white caps with bands of various colors - burgundy, midni...
Do you have to speak Danish to work in Denmark?
If you’re only in Denmark for a few months, it might not be worth the investment in time to learn much more than the basic pleasantries in Danish. But...
Why Danes Find Compliments So Awkward
A story I’ve heard over and over again when I talk to internationals working in Denmark is this: They thought they were going to get fired.
They...
Romance in Denmark
Whether you're navigating the cobbled streets of Copenhagen on a first date, exploring the charming countryside with a new companion, or swiping right...
Finding light in the Danish Winter Darkness
Many internationals newly arrived in Denmark struggle with the long Danish winter.
The darkness that starts to fall in the early afternoon mean...
New Year's Eve Traditions in Denmark
It’s almost Week 1, in the weekly numbering system that’s widely used in Northern Europe, where the year starts with week 1 and runs through to Week 5...
How to Handle a Conflict in Denmark
If you are an international who lives in Denmark, or someone who wants to, you have to learn the Danish way of dealing with conflict. This might be wi...
Drugs in Denmark
Denmark is getting rich selling pharmaceuticals to other countries, but within Denmark itself, the approach is inconsistent. Getting illegal drugs doe...
Equality and the Electric Bike
When I first arrived in Denmark, you could shut down any dispute in Denmark by appealing to equality and the common good. Solidarity - “solidaritet” -...
How to Meet a Dead Viking: The Mummies of Denmark
Many people who visit Denmark are fans of the Vikings, the colloquial name for Scandinavians before the medieval era, although technically speaking th...
No ice cream in July: Scenes from the Danish summer vacation period
In Denmark, the right to a long summer vacation is enshrined into law - the national vacation law, which states that all employees have a right to thr...
Rich in Denmark
Denmark is a rich country, but does it have rich people? It does, but Denmark’s wealthy tend to keep a low profile, due to the informal Jante Law in D...
What Newcomers to Denmark Ask Me
When you’ve been an international in Denmark for a while, as I have, you sometimes forget what it was like to arrive here for the first time and know...
Denmark and Butter: A Love Story
The hottest competitive sport in Denmark over the past year hasn’t been handball, or football, or badminton. It’s been chasing cheap butter in the sup...
Randers is not a joke
It seems as if every country has a city or region that it is the butt of jokes. The rest of the country makes fun of the locals’ unattractive accents...
The Bridges of Denmark
A country like Denmark, with so much coastline and water, needs a lot of bridges - and there have been 5 new colorful, stylish bridges built in Copenh...
On returning to Denmark: Swimming in Copenhagen harbor, picking wild blackberries, and admiring Danish law and order
After some time out of Denmark, Kay returns and finds a whole new list of things to love.
Swimming in Copenhagen harbour is a delight - the once...
Ballad of the Danish Royal Teenagers
It’s hard to be a teenager no matter who you are or where you live, but spare a thought for the two teenagers of the Danish Royal Family. 16-year-old...
Tivoli vs Bakken: How two amusement parks show the two sides of Denmark
Denmark has several amusement parks, including the original Legoland, but the ones I know best are the ones in Copenhagen - Tivoli Gardens and Bakken....
On the Road: Copenhagen Northwest, beyond the cherry trees
It’s springtime, and the cherry trees are about to bloom in Copenhagen Northwest, which is usually the only time people who live outside Northwest bot...
The Secret Strategy for Practicing Spoken Danish
Newcomers to Denmark often complain that the locals aren’t chatty. Danes don’t want to converse on the bus, or on the train, or in line at the superma...
Queen Margrethe, Denmark's good-humored, much-loved monarch
No matter how they feel about the institution of royalty, almost everyone likes Denmark’s Queen Margrethe, who is celebrating 50 years on the throne t...
The Non-Drinkers' Guide to Danish Christmas parties
Drinking, and drinking heavily, is common in Denmark at holiday time. Whether it's the traditional "gløgg" - hot spiced wine with nuts, orange peel an...
Denmark's Big and Wonderful Second Hand Economy
Denmark has a thriving second-hand economy, in part because people generally don't look down on second-hand goods here.
The Danes are practical...
On the Road: The Tunnel to Germany
Getting to Sweden from Copenhagen is easy: you take a quick trip across the Øresund Bridge in your car or on the train. Getting to Norway from Copenha...