I'm from Denmark, ask me anything you might be curious about

[ScandinavianSummer]

Hello everyone! I'm a (very) long time lurker of Mumsnet, particularly the AMA-section - I thought I'd start a thread of my own in case anyone is curious about my country, Denmark, or anything Danish! I'm happy to answer any question!

Yes but my family tell me that it's more than that...eg a friend there has to "hide" his new car as people will think he's being flashy. People look down on others who take "too many holidays". They says it's quiet envy. Do you agree?

My ds and his gf visited Denmark last year and said that everybody was very tall and good looking and that they both kept on being mistaken for being danish (they are both very tall and good looking)!

Do you agree in general?😂

Why are Danish people not upset/ shocked about the barbaric ‘grind’ - or whale killing that goes on in the Faroe Islands?
The cruel mass slaughter of these clever, social creatures is something that I would have thought many people would campaign to abolish. The videos of this are very upsetting, so why don’t people seem to want to ban this extremely painful ritual?

& Thank you for giving the opportunity to ask.

I have actually never lived in the UK, so I wouldn't say I'm in a position to make fair comparisons. However, from what I have read on this forum I can definitely say something about childcare and nursery fees. Compared to UK nursery prices, Danish nurseries are a bargain. I believe parents pay around £350 a month for a child in fulltime care. I believe nursery prices for fulltime care in the UK are much, much higher, making it difficult for many parents to afford nursery fees. It's very rare for Danes to worry about whether they can afford nursery, I would say, where it seems to be a huge worry for many UK parents. Parental leave also seems better in Denmark than in the UK as parents get their full salary throughout their one year leave, which I think UK parents don't, necessarily. I also think it seems easier to access healthcare here than in the UK. For instance, I have a lung condition and see a lun specialist for it. There are very few of them in the entire country, but I have still managed to see a lung doctor at a short notice. I also felt unwell in another city so I went to a hospital where I was seen to almost immediately even though it wasn't an emergency situation.

Some things I think UK does better is definitely being more open, particularly to differences and diversity. It's true that Danes can be reluctant to change - whenever societal changes are made, there's usually always some kind of uproar and complaints. But at the same time, people end up just complying with decisions made. We don't have a very strong 'cancel culture' here, I would say.

In the UK you also seem much better at being open and welcoming of 'the unknown'. Danes can be suspicious and wary of foreigners, for instance, which makes it hard for them to be accepted. It's already difficult to be let into Danes' personal sphere, but even more so if you are a foreigner.

When I visited Copenhagen I loved it but found the men really rude. (I am from a country known for its rudeness so this surprised me!) Is this a fair impression or was I just unlucky? (The women were all perfectly nice)

I just asked a friend about the morning alcohol, and he told me that it used to be a thing from before my time. In this day and age, I genuinely don't know of anyone who enjoys a morgenbitter. Perhaps it still is with older generations, but not as far as I know.

Does your husband still travel on the Storbælt Bridge?

As for the toll prices, I think they are quite expensive. Especially considering that they only installed toll prices in the first place in order to pay off the building costs. Well, the bridge has been paid off a long time ago, so I feel like they are now running the bridge as a business rather than accommodating commuters and travellers fairly. You can get a 'bride pass' which makes travelling on Storebælt, and other bridges, a lot more reasonably priced - I guess that's something.

Hello fellow dansker! Thanks for the clarification. I asked my friend about this, and he mentioned the morgenbitter to me. I had honestly not heard of it before! But in my defense, it seems to have been more popular before I was born.

Very interesting, thank you!

I'm glad to hear you have fond memories of living in Copenhagen. I very often drive up the coast myself! Not all the way to Helsingør, though, haha.

Sounds really nice! Next time you are in Nyborg, definitely pay the Japanese Gardens a visit! I think it's only a 30 minute drive away.

Any idea why pickpocketing is so bad in Copenhagen?

I've travelled a lot & have never seen anything like it.

Loved absolutely everything else about it, the place, the cycle ways especially, atmosphere, Tivoli gardens, people everything.

Also, do you find it very expensive? (I think the might answer the first question!)

Of course! I love talking about food!

I would say some of the most traditional Danish dishes are

• roasted pork belly, fish cakes, meat balls or fish with boiled potatoes, peas, carrots and parsley sauce
• smørrebrød - or smorgasbread as I think they call them in English speaking countries. They are basically open faced sandwiches. They consist of a slice of rye bread and various toppings like liver pâté, meat balls, egg salad, chicken salad, herring, mackarel, smoked fish, roast beef, breaded fish, ham and charcuterie meats, cheeses, potatoes, etc. They are also topped with things like fried onion, pickled beetroot, pickled cucumbers, lettuce, vegetables, prawns, fish eggs, mayo, remoulade, and so on
• mild curries and rice
• biksemad, which is basically potatoes mixed with meat and vegetables, with a fried egg on top

In day to day life, Danes definitely eat things like pasta, pizza, stir fries and other more international dishes. I would say here in Copenhagen, traditional Danish food is often considered a bit boring...most people in my circle prefer to eat Thai food or Middle Eastern food to Danish food. But at Christmas, eating more traditional dishes is non-negotiable. It wouldn't be Christmas with certain dishes.

Thank you for sharing, I'm so happy that you had this positive and beautiful experience in Copenhagen. I hope you are feeling better, and I hope you'll come back to Copenhagen with your family soon.

Something I love about Denmark is that there's a lot of room to be yourself. Because people here don't care about things like class, status, lifestyle choices and appearing a certain way. That's why I always find discussions on Mumsnet about being middle class (for instance) utterly bizarre. We just don't have those kind of discussions here - and to be honest, I don't think anybody knows what classes exist, and which one they belong to.

I also like how safe it is here. I'm not scared to go out at night by myself, because I know nothing will happen. When I'm home alone I feel good about leaving my doors unlocked...I know nobody is going to break in. I can leave my stuff at a table in restaurants and be sure that they are still there when I get back. Of course things aren't perfect here, but having that sense of security and safety means a lot.

Lastly, I really like our welfare system. Healthcare is free, university and education is free, nursery prices are on the reasonable side...and if you become unemployed, you don't have to worry about money, because most people are members of something called an A-kasse. An A-kasse is a sort of unemployment insurance company. If you become unemployed, the A-kasse will pay out 90% of your salary for 2-3 years, while you look for a new job. Of course on certain conditions (like you have to apply for two jobs weekly), but it's nice to not have to worry about having NO income while unemployed.

As for my favourite places in Denmark...obviously, Copenhagen is great. But I actually much prefer the area just north of Copenhagen, by the coast. I also really like Aarhus and the island of Samsø. Bornholm, as well. Skagen is lovely - it's the most northern town in Denmark, and the beaches there have crystal clear water. And wild seals that you can catch a glimpse of quite up close!
Unpopular opinion, but I also really like Faxe for their lime quarries.

My best friends are teachers, and it sounds like they go through a lot of drama and headache at work. I'm not sure if they have it better or worse than teachers in the UK, but I would say teachers here have a fair amount of autonomy and are generally supported.

Haha! I knew this one would probably come up! I do like licorice, but I'm not addicted. Licorice comes in all forms here, including in ice cream and pasta. I don't mind the occasional sweet or salty licorice, or licorice ice cream, but it's not my most favourite things in the world.

Do you really consider Norwegian a separate language? I feel like I can understand as much Norwegian as i can Danish. Ie, very little. But in equal amounts. I got to level 13 on duolingo 😅

Yes, we are. Animal welfare is something that concerns people, and is being addressed. The government does make an effort to improve policies around animal welfare in the farming industry, but there's obviously still a long way to go. In Copenhagen, a lot of people have grown more of an interest in learning about food production, including animal products, and make more mindful choices. Also, it's not uncommon for people to produce their own food in some capacity. A lot of people who live in houses in the city have garden chickens, for instance, so get fresh eggs from their own chicks.

But yes, I agree with you - we can do much better.

My husband is Danish and gammel dansk at breakfast/brunch on special occasions is very much still a thing in his family (it's disgusting btw!)

Great thread! Thanks for starting it @ScandinavianSummer

Nice to hear from a neighbor! Where in Sweden might you would like to own a summer house in? Mine is basically between Stockholm and Uppsala, in Norrtälje.

Is hygge a massive thing for Danes, or was it just a big fad/marketing thing here in the UK?

Is hygge a part of your daily lives? Do you all practice it?

my friend at uni came from Denmark and was here for a term or two. She came from a community where each family lived in a separate house, but there were community events like eating together regularly (like several times a week), and each child from a fairly young age was in a sort of group with other people (including adults) from the community and they planned the meals and did various jobs together - separate from their parents/siblings, who were in their own groups. It made her seem very independent to us at 18 or 19, that she seemed so capable of doing things. Is this sort of communal style of living quite common?

There is a dish that I cannot spell, but you will know what I mean from the translation, red porridge with cream, lots of berries stewed up with cream on top. Is this actually eaten regularly or is it just designed to torment foreigners with trying to pronounce it? (rot grot mid flur is about the closest I can type it but I know that's not quite how it'd said!).

Do you think the greater cultural simlilarity/relative lack of diversity contributes to the more equal society or makes it easier to achieve that aim?

No problem! And yes, I hear from a lot of people that they feel pressured to drink by peers. I have personally never experienced it myself, perhaps because I'm someone who has strong boundaries with alcohol, and isn't afraid to lay them down for people.