How to Live in Denmark

Brok  rhymes with clock, and it is a Danish word that describes the petty complaints that are common in one of the happiest countries in the world, and one of the richest. It's complaining as a social activity, usually about things that are more irritating than dangerous. I feel there's more Danish brok  in the summer because people come into contact with each other, the joy of spring is gone, and...

These are the light times in Denmark. In May and June, it's light until 10 or 11 in the evening, and then the sun is back around 4am. It's a nice contrast to the dark times in winter, although all that light can make you feel a bit jittery and overstimulated. It's also one of the few times a year that the Danes close their curtains. They do that so the first rays of sunshine won't wake them up at...

One thing no one ever tells you about moving to a new country is the incredible awkwardness of it. As a newcomer, you are constantly doing or saying or planning the wrong thing, something that would be perfectly reasonable in your home culture but is weird or laughable in your new location. Like eating alone in a restaurant. Eating alone is no big deal in Manhattan, where I was coming from, and it...

Danes usually don't do spontaneous. They do calendars. This episode looks at why a country that can count 8,000 ballots in three hours still needs two weeks' notice for almost everything else. From perfectly timed buses to highly efficient elections, Denmark's culture of planning keeps society running smoothly. But it can also make it hard for newcomers to connect, whether on a playground, a boat...

Some might say that the most Danish piece of furniture is the chair. The Swan Chair, the Egg Chair, the Wishbone chair. They're all international design classics. You can buy a poster with 100 of the top Danish chairs, and if you go to Designmuseum Danmark there is a hall of chairs you can walk through, the display cases stacked three high. Chairs, chairs, everywhere. But I think the most Danish p...

Watching vintage TV and movies is a great way to survive the long Danish winter—and if you're learning Danish or trying to understand Danish culture, it's even better. Many classic Danish films and TV shows are available online for free.   Whatever your taste, there are Danish films for it: Danish film noir from the 1940s if you like crime dramas, the classic Olsen Gang comedies if you prefer some...

The nisse is a centuries-old figure in Danish folklore, and every December these tiny, mischievous spirits take center stage. While Santa Claus makes one big appearance late in the month, the nisse are active the whole season long. With their short stature and bright red hats, nisse are often mistaken for Santa's elves, but they live very different lives. Rather than helping in a workshop, nisse b...

November always seems like the rainiest of Danish months, but it isn't, actually. October is. But November feels rainier, because the sky is so grey, and it gets dark so early, and the rain sometimes comes down in little freezing pellets. Denmark is a watery country, not just its long coastline and many rivers and lakes, but also the fact it is mostly near sea level. Like the Netherlands nearby, i...

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 precisely noon, teams of poster-hangers cover the country with the faces of their candidates. It's highly competitive; It's against the law to take down posters once they're hung, so there's a big rush to get your party's poster up first. So on that O...

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 does the tax-financed effort to create athletic champions fit with the culture code of "Jante Law", the idea is that no one should think themselves better than anyone else?  September is when fall sports season starts in Denmark. The badminton league be...

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 have shut down due to lack of kids. Just this year Denmark reached a population of 6 million –   a big landmark -   but that's mostly due to immigration, not more children being born. All the initiatives that experts recommend for increasing fertility...

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 of good weather in Denmark. And I do mean chance – there is never any guarantee. Some Danes go abroad, driving vacations to Southern Europe are popular. There's a well-known cycle in which the summer weather is good one year, so everyone plans a vacat...

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 eligible for the draft for some time. Denmark is proud of its record on gender equality, so maybe it's a wonder it hasn't happened sooner. After all, more than half of the medical doctors in Denmark are female.  More than half of the priests in Denmark are fem...

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 Germans and the end of the Nazi occupation in 1945.  The Nazis imposed a blackout on Denmark to confuse the Allied air forces, so now that they were defeated, a candle in a window became a small symbol of rebellious light. I intend to participate every ye...

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, parsnips, cabbage. After the risk of frost is gone, in late April, you can put down some beets, and chives, and parsley – all good traditional Danish food.  By May, you can try with the tomatoes, which may or may not ripen depending on whether you get a warm,...

Gækkebrev are a great Danish tradition, but like many other Danish traditions, they are fighting to survive amid the country's ambitious digital agenda.  What is a gækkebrev,  or gække letter? A single piece of paper, cut into a lace-like design somewhat like a snowflake, sent anonymously in the days before Easter. A poem is handwritten on the letter, but it is unsigned...except for a number of do...

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 winter darkness. "Hitting the cat in the barrel" - which used to involve a real cat, but no longer does - and eating messy fastelavn buns full of custard are part of the holiday. What's no longer really part of the holiday is its religious background...

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 account can recover from Christmas excesses. Restaurants have a lot of empty tables this time of year. Shops mostly process the return of unwanted Christmas presents. Now, this can and often is packaged as hygge . Candles, TV, sweaters, warm slippers, h...

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. Iceland was once part of Denmark. The southern half of Sweden and a bit of northern Germany used to be part of Denmark. What is now called the US Virgin Islands used to be part of Denmark. And Denmark had colonies in Africa and India, which is why w...

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 on repeat. The repetition will help you get a feel for how the Danish language flows, and you'll have something to dance to during those long, dark winter months. I did this myself when I first arrived in Denmark, and learned a great deal of Danish...

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 Danish concept of "flexicurity" – flexibility with the security of the welfare state. As a matter of fact, if you stay in the same job for many years in Denmark, people start to wonder why.  Young people switch jobs the most, of course, but even...

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 little like the dark green we see on the leaves of trees here late in August. Pantone 3435C , for you designer types.  You'll notice that all Copenhagen benches are this color, an you will see Copenhagen Green on many wooden doors and window frames in th...

Many countries have a fictional character who represents them. Uncle Sam for the USA, Marianne in France, Mother India. Others have a legendary figure, who was real at one point but is now shrouded in myth, like King Arthur in England. For Denmark, Holger Danske is both. He was probably real, although he didn't live in Denmark. He was a Danish knight living in France in 8 th century, serving Charl...

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, midnight blue, light blue. These teenagers have just graduated from gymnasium , the Danish equivalent of high school, and the white hat is a sign of that accomplishment.  They wear the white hat everywhere they go for the two or three weeks after final ex...

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 you plan to stay in Denmark for more than a year or so, it's a good idea to learn some Danish – and your visa may require that you do so. Even if you're not forced to, it's a good idea to learn Dan ish if you plan to make a commitment to Denmark. It...