Culture Shocks / American in Denmark / Expat Life
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- Опубликовано: 23 авг 2024
- #cultureshock, #expatlife, #americanindenmark, #livingindenmark, #expatsindenmark, #denmark
What are some culture shocks I faced when moving to Denmark? Come along and I will tell you the good, the bad and the ugly of the things that shocked me about our cultural differences.
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Tell me about your own experiences with culture shock!
Do you live in Denmark? What are some things that you think might be (are) shocking to outsiders?
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I’m sending all my love out to a very cranky lady today! Let’s hope it reaches her! I can’t imagine living in that darkness! I hope you all have a great day!
My New Danish Life you mentioned that you don’t eat meat. I was wondering how is it being a vegetarian/vegan in say a larger city there compared to America?
Ashley Presley It really depends on where you live in both countries. Bigger towns will have more to offer. Things are getting better in both grocery stores and restaurants, but like many places in the US, there are places where no veggie options exist in the menus. I’d say it is easier overall in the US because there are more options.
you can just write if you want some danish vegetarian tips. cause danish people eat a lot of meat
@@MyNewDanishLife I remember once I visited lapland in north Dweden with a friend that is vegan. In a restaurant we asked them if they had any vegan options, and the server said yes and came back with a printed paper. It showed the shortest route to the railway station by foot. My friend got so upset she left.. we found another place to eat.
Btw i Love your Name, “Kelly” Its really pretty🥰🥰🥰
The reason that you probably think Danes have a weird way of eating their ryebread "sandwiches" is that we DON'T consider them sandwiches. Normal sandwiches are eaten the same way Americans would, never with fork and knife. And usually you cannot buy traditional ryebread (smørrebrød) at a sandwich shop. That probably also explains why we Danes wouldn't consider topping our ryebread with multiple different toppings, like we would in sandwiches. We think of them as quite different things, even though when taking a step back, I can see why you would call them sandwiches 🙂
"The reason that you probably think Danes have a weird way of eating their ryebread "sandwiches" is that we DON'T consider them sandwiches."
This. Very much this.
Hello! :) Rye bread is not the same as 'smørrebrød' but rather the bread beneath the toppings on the 'smørrebrød'. The open faced sandwich is the term for 'smørrebrød'. It is true though, that rye bread is not that often seen as a choice in sandwich places, although most places offers different types of wholemeal bread as alternatives to the light bread. Besides that you are correct when you're saying rye bread is not that often topped with a lot of different toppings, but when you are ordering open faced sandwiches they are on the opposite pretty often topped with quite a lot of different kinds of topping. Take the traditional egg and shrimp open faced sandwich as an example, where your are getting the eggs and shrimps, often along with salad, tomatoes, cucumber, mayo, lemon, dild, butter and caviar. That is quite a lot of toppings for a single piece of rye bread if you ask me :P
Have to say that there is alot of toppings on "smørrebrød" and it is har to eat with fork and knife. Normaly, they are places in 3 cat.the small once at home with usualy one type of toppings, the "smørrebrød" with 2-4 toppings, able to eat with hands" and "højbelagt smørrebrød" that usualy cant be eaten without fork and knife, at it will make a mess, with alot of toppings and decorated with fruit and vegi. And other reason is, that most danes in general dont like to get messy, unless it is fun or work... And without thinking about it, it helps Kids eat without their hands at home, as the smaller "smørrebrød" is easyer to cut then what you get for dinner (not many would agree here, but as said, it is without thinking about it)
One thing to remember is that smørrebrød is not made, it is created, crafted, or even composed (depending on the circumstances).
Yes, you can create a leverpostemad with a single straight line of mayonnaise down the middle, but even the most lazy or busy person will add a little "swing" to the mayonnaise to make it look a little better.
The next level is to add a little extra flavour and colour to the smørrebrød. Instead of sprinkling a little salt on your æggemad (sliced egg on ryebread), adding some bright orange "kaviar" (actually lumpfish eggs) not only adds some nice colouring, it is also salty and can replace (some of) the salt.
A bright green salad leaf underneath the toppings also adds colour, but more importantly, it prevents the ryebread from turning soggy from moisture in the toppings.
Onion rings on herring, kapers on meat, remoulade on fish, it all serves a purpose. Either for the (contrasting) taste, the colour, or ideally both. The trick is not to overdo it, but to know why you are doing it.
@@JanBruunAndersen Mayonnaise på leverpostej?
I would say. In a social setting, we use knife and fork for ryebread, but when its just your packed lunch, you dont. And if you are alone, you dont either... depending on what you have on it, sometimes it can be really messy, or hard to bite, and then you might do it still...
I do
Kindergardeners in denmark swear like drunk sailors, and its hilarious.
U should hear my 5 year old nephew! There is not a swear word he hasn't heard and fallen in love with. Anything from stupid face and poo head to much worse. We are danish so... yeah. True.
We are a sailor nation 😁
In the US we are prude. We inherit
You werent shocked by the whole "No medical bills" and no need for tipping? :) I'd think they would be among the big changes...
It's amazing how much you DON'T think about something, once it just works and is free at point of use
Complete opposite in Las Vegas. It's a tipping town. I'm a really, REALLY, big tipper. However, I have a tipping job. I've had Danes in my cab and they tipped me, because I think they know that in America, we tip.
crazywomancreek1 I will never tip, except if I had a something extra or a really nice experience! ITS THE EMPLOYERS RESPONSIBILITY TO PAY THE EMPLOYEES!!!!!!
I never tip! The idea of paying some people for basically doing their job and not paying others seems illogical to me. Why not tip the nurse in the hospital or the bus driver? Those are service jobs too. If you have to live off your tips that's one thing but in Denmark you don't. Instead we have a decent minimum wage. It's even called The Danish Model. Tipping undermines this, so no I never tip.
Ya I'm not tipping either as Karina Holst stated. there are a lot of people in job no one tips at all. like office workers. people laying down roads i could keep listing.
So why tip those who serve you your food. when they get paid already by their employer.
I never understood this in other countries. why they tip so much. until I noticed that in a lot of those countries the minimum wage is so low if not non existing that some people has to have multiple jobs to survive. so every little extra coming from tips helps.
where in Denmark, if you have a full time job 8.5 hours a day. you can get by no matter what your work place is.
The reason we love potatoes is because we have some of the best in the world (in my opinion) more specifically Samsø potatoes
As a Norwgian I love dansk rugbrød. Its not really part of our regular diet but its pretty easy to get high quality but its pretty expensive (even for Norwegian standards). Other than that you could be speaking about Norway...
EDIT : The main reason we use foreign swears is because its less personal. Its more of a secondary swear with less negative impact to it. Ofcourse, you using English as primary would naturally see it as a primary. That said, Im over 40, I dont know how it is amongst teenagers now.
Do you buy the Norwegian version of Danish rugbrød or do you actually import the real thing? 😂
I went to Gjøvik for half a year, and didn't find real Danish rugbrød even tho it literally said 'Dansk Rugbrød' on the package
In my experience the English swear words are more common among the younger generations :)
Occasionally I'll hear "shit" from people in their mid to late 40s but it's mostly "for fanden" or "satans" or the like.
@@c7ndk They have imported, but one company here has finally managed to make a bread that tastes like the real thing. Took us a century or so lol
I would say that I don't feel like the F-word is seen as something kids are allowed to say here in Norway. I would tell my kids not to if they ever did. Shit/skitt, on the other hand, is a very common word, but it's not seen as a swear word in the same degree. Here in Norway most Norwegian swear words are about religion or sex and words about other bodily functions might be seen as a little rude, but more something kids have fun talking and making jokes about. But shit is used a lot and I would probably tell my kids they shouldn't use that if we were travelling to an English speaking country.
@@zinatarata We have politicians in primetime saying shit without much reaction. Its basically like saying something is dumb or something to that effect.
I would HATE! To have lit up roads, because sometimes I just like to pull over, get out and look at the stars without the light pollution ruining my view
Spot on
Me too!
"The senior citizens in Denmark are so active." I wish more people had that mindset in the US
I'm not sure it is a mindset. I don't know many who have such good physical shape. I have knee problems, so there are plenty of Danish grandmas that could run circles around me. Sucks for me, I guess! ;)
@@MyNewDanishLife I'm guessing that Many Americans seniors will have health and mobility problems because they were inactive through their adult life, and will have not sought medical treatment if they had any concerns about how to pay for the treatment. My daughter lives in Denmark. I have only been able to visit her once, but coming from the UK I felt quite at home, although the language is tricky.
In Denmark many people will use swear words as strong words to emphasize meaning. It makes perfect sense and gives better communication.
And we do use danish swear words too: det gør vi (sgu/fandme/eddermanme/gudpikmigifissenda etc..). = SURE we do :) It can also mean excitement and anger depending on tone.
Jeg har nu lært et nyt bandeord. Tusind tak
Sgu er ikke et bandeord. Det sidder vist under listen af biord tror jeg.
@@charKT-7461 jo det er, hvis du for eksempel siger 'Det er sgu for dårligt...'. Hvis du siger 'Vi sgu hellere tage til Tyskland...' så er det ikke, men det er fordi det i virkeligheden er skulle der bliver udtalt forkert.
Men sig da endelig sgu, det gør jeg med stor fornøjelse. Selv om jeg nok ikke bruger det så meget som FUCK or Fucking!
Smider lige min post fra videoen her også så i 3 også ser den.
13:12 There are no bad words, it's how they are used!
You can say much worse things with no "bad" words, and you can say positive things with "bad" words.
We Danes do say lots of danish "bad" words.
Sgu
Fandens
Pis
Pisse
Lort
Kraftedeme
For søren
For helvede
Gud
Fanden
Helvedes
Pokkers
For pokker
Skidde (wath the old Olsen gang movies and you will hear 'Skide godt Egon' manny times)
Probably many more, the thing is no one really gets offended, as no one should!
If you watch US series and movies, you can see how completely devious and evil, especially young people can be to each other, without using bad words. If they said FUCK or SHIT it would not make it any worse!
Maybe the US/UK have really failed as societies when focus is on teaching kids not to say certain words and not on teaching them not to be evil to each other. It's the same in Asia.
Maybe one of the reasons the Nordic countries are always in top of the global happiness index, is that we do not focus on stupid things like "bad" words!
Just watch the teen movie title Fucking Åmål and you will see it's not a danish thing.
@@charKT-7461 sammentrækning af "så ved gud" : sgu.
Sammentrækning af "skulle" : sku.
Let’s not get crazy? Both of my parents ask for a knife and a fork at McDonald’s
For helvede 🙏🏼😄
That is crazy.
More than crazy.
Satan is even scared of that.
Burn it. (>⊙~⊙>)
My friends first time at “Bones”, she started eating with a knife and fork. I was just like “Oh no sweatiest no” ❤️😘
A bad word in a forreign language is not nearly as bad as a real bad word.
Lmaooo I love you 🤣🤣🤣
I think maybe one should consider how a word is thought of in its native country. I’m sure that Danes and Germans have offensive words that they wouldn’t say in front of their grandmother. They don’t know or don’t care that most everyday Americans consider the F word highly offensive no matter what the movies say.
You are right. I’m from Denmark, and we do swear a lot. It’s actually pretty irritating ans stupid.
But we do have both danish and english swear words, we really don’t know the difference.
We have so many english words in the danish language, both swear and normal.
Also not everyone do that squishy thing haha.
I grew up in Chicago on the South Side and I went to universities in USA and Canada. I was lucky enough to get a postdoctoral fellowship to continue my research in Denmark, so I flew over in 1972, Your observations about how customs differ in Midwest USA and Denmark are generally correct; your observations are good. However, you don't have to conform to every and all aspects of Danish daily life. It's up to you to be who and what you want to me. That's one of the strong points about Denmark compared with US Midwest, in my opinion.
Donald F. Smith Nice to meet another Midwesterner! I lived in IL or OH for 38 years! Some similarities and some differences.
As a Dane I know what you're talking about when saying we swear a lot - a lot of us have grown up with american televison and the internet, so we've learned it mainly from american entertainment.
It is still considered rude to swear in front of people if they're not in your friend group. You do NOT swear at the elderly, your parents, your co-workers (unless you're good friends) and GOD FORBID you swear at your boss. And mostly adults don't swear around kids. Everyone in my family are very careful about not saying swear-words near my little cousin.
It's more of a friend thing, where we say it in good fun or when we are actually pissed off. You would seem like an idiot if you went around dropping f-bombs in situations where you and your friends weren't joking. (Or as I've sadly seen, in front of professors. That makes me wan't to curl my toes in embarrasment.)
You did not learn swear words from American movies or tv3. Because they are not allowed to swear. Only tv after 9 or 10 pm. We just swear a lot because we dont see it as that big of a real. Or at least most people i know dont.
ill have to disagree, most of my life, i and people around have always been swearing - family, teachers, bosses, colleagues and classmates.
both english and danish swearing that is. maybe its just my area
I can hear that you have not been exposed to "håndmadder". Those are open face sandwiches without all the toppings eaten with the hand. Usually in your madpakke.
Selvfølgelig er hun blevet præsenteret for håndmadder. Hun er bare blevet "indrulleret" med folk, der er så dannede, at de spiser madder med kniv og gaffel. Langt de fleste af os spiser dem sgu med fingrene. Det er simpelthen en mere kultiveret familie hun har, og hun sidder nok ikke i kantinen blandt mekanikere og arbejdsmænd på sin arbejdsplads, men evt blandt akademikere, eller sygeplejersker i en kantine, hvor smørrebrød serveres med bestik. Jeg undrede jeg mig over det samme som dig. Vi spiser da i den grad vore rugmadder med fingrene.
Swear words is a tough one! We have totally adopted the most commonly used english swear words. F... is actually an official Danish word now! In my experience, sweating in English "easier"! We don't regard the words as being really bad swear words because they've been slowlycadovted over the past 20'ish years. When I swear in traditional Danish, then there's REAL trouble!! ☺
Thanks for this. I'm originally from Northern Jutland but have been living in the capital region in Zealand for about 15 years now.
As for cultural shocks on a personal note, I have a wife who's from Moldova; which is one of the poorest countries in Europe. But I really love their great hospitality and how sincere they are in spite of their circumstances. Her family lives in a small village in the country and their sustainable society is just so remarkable and admirable.
We could certainly learn a thing or two from experience when living in a completely different culture from our own. Albeit it only for awhile.
I'd rather not leave Denmark... yet ;)
Almost sounds like you're in The Netherlands :)
I think Danes are closest to Dutch. We need to build a bridge.
Well, we are getting the upcoming 700 MW, 294 km sea cable set up between us. I suppose that will do for now
Agree. We have much more in common than danes and swedes or danes and norwegian for an example .. Our languages are also unique.
@@christianp.madsen4260 Yeah, for example I was amazed by how quickly Christian Eriksen spoke fluent dutch. In 6 months he was almost completely fluent. Kasper Dolberg however, was too shy to speak dutch, even after a couple of years.
We are close related. Some Danish Vikings settled in what is now Netherlands and Normandy in France and in england
@@lottesrensen8004 Frisians are also Vikings. Frisker er Vikinger ogsaa. Normandy is viking country. Fécamp er Fiskhavn.
13:44 we acually do "for fanden" "for satan" (yes, one of the words in danish for "the devil" is spelled completely as in english) "for helvede" and "sgu"
I at least use these words pretty casually
Teknisk set er sgu vist ikke et bandeord længere ;) . Husker det blev bestemt på et tidspunkt for nogle år siden.
@@louisejj3797 Sgu betyder "så sandt gud er til" - i følge bibelen er det groft misbrug af guds navn. Det står endda i de 10 bud "Du må ikke misbruge Herren, din guds, navn" Men det kan godt være man har bestemt det der som du siger. Men sgu ER jo netop groft misbrug af guds navn.
@@MeBallerman tjah så må vi konkludere folk der tror på ham ikke må sige det og vi andre kan bruge det som vi vil .
"Sgu" isn't even a curse.
@@louisejj3797 Det er også fordi folk fejludtaler skulle som sgu, det er ofte ikke til at vide om de bander eller ej.
I went to alabama for a year. I had all the same problems just the other way around.
It is called a SKRABER to scrabe water away from your tiles to provent lime (kalk) and so they don't look awfull and you have to use really harsh cleaning remedies to clean them. So therefor a Skraber
the reason danes swear in english is because it doesn’t mean anything and socks and sandals is a thing you only do when you live in udkants danmark. it’s also only old houses that don’t have a separation from shower and floor
Tænk hvis hun kom i 60'erne. 70'erne eller langt op i 80'erne hvor de fleste var helt nøgne på stranden. Som teen så man tit et par af ens kærestes veninder osse, når man tog ud og lå sammen med dem i Hvide Sande. 😉
ebbhead20 It is not just a hippie-thing, though. I have read descriptions from English and Spanish travellers from 300-400 years ago. They often had to stay over at local peasants houses, and were totally baffled, when the entire host-family stripped down out in the room, before creeping into bed.
The amount of stuff me and my colleagues say to eachother during a normal work day would probably be what other companies entire staff say in a year.
And the reason alot of danes dont swear in danish is because its a lost art. Really giving somebody the low down in "old" danish is an art form, and is respected.
Dont be afraid to "swear" since it has quite a few meanings based on the context that arent bad.
So if we dont know the context we cant decide if its good or bad.
Greetings from Texas! I enjoyed watching and listening to your video. I am a Scandinavian (Swedish) American/Texan. I have lived abroad, including in Europe. I lived several years in Sweden (Hej) and in Germany (Hallo). I would often travel through DK. I can relate to many of the cultural differences that you have experienced. Coming from Texas, I found a lot (not all) of the Swedes to be very reserved. That took some getting used to. >>> In Denmark, are they still putting the babies outside the restaurants/ coffee shops while the parents are inside? 😁 I always had pleasant experiences in Denmark, and I like the Danes. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Your comments made me laugh. All the best to you!
Yep. Still the same. I see some sleeping outside every day - no guard - no nothing - just HYGGE :-)
Finn Krone Thank you for answering my question. My best to you and the people of Danmark.
In the case of swear words the saying 'taking offense' certainly applies. That words themselves (without context) can offend anyone is a problem they should work on. Be offended if the one saying the words intent to offend you, but if you make a problem of swear words used to emphasize something of no ill-intent, then people will actively start to avoid having conversation with you.
Some can still be taken a back if you are very liberal with the swearing but in general i have the same experience, people just don't care as much about the word itself but rather the tone and context
But we dont really see swear words as that bad. At least the younger generation doesnt. To me, its all about the tone you use. And to be offended by a countries culture, which swearing is kinda, is a little rude and something the person should work on.
those openface sandwiches you are talking about is called rugbrødsmad
Smørrebrød
@@egogeo851 kommer vel an på dialekt
For mig er det først smørrebrød er når det er anrettet pænt, højt belagt og yadayada.
En rugbrødsmad, eller rubber, derimod, er når det bare når det skal være hurtigt og nemt.
Kommer sikkert også an på hvor man er fra, bevares.
Nordsjælland her, hvertfald.
rundentom :-) (slice of bread)
@@f1nn0 trode det var rundt en om.
rundtenom.
ved sku ikke hvad er rigtigt.
"slice of rugbrød"
normal bread is not included in this word
About the lack of lights on the road; There are those markers next to the road, they are there to help you when its dark and/or snowing. They have reflective things on them so when your cars light hits them, the light shines back and you know you're still on the road.
And it probably be horrible for the people living next to the roads out in the country, if there were lights shining all night.
Never thought about the naked baby thing. It's just easier that way (with a LOT of sunblock on) - And we don't put birdseed in the bread :-D It's different kinds of seeds.
I think the reason is we luckily don't sexualise our children here.
@@raindropsneverfall It has started, and yes, I am thinking of that Audi thing with a little girl eating a yellow curved fruit!!
About the bad Words. That has nothing to do with the culture in Denmark. Its just like in America, some people swear, and some dont.
Yes, there are plenty of Americans that swear. Where has she been.
Haha i never thought about it as a dane but mountain biking is very popular despite having no mountains
maybe it is /because/ there are no mountains. - It's easier to go off-road if you don't have to wonder how tf you're supposed to get up/down/across //THAT// ^^
sorry to say it to you ,but you can thank hollywood for the english swear words ,it is you film that have made the danes swear in english
Kent Nielsen And Gordon Ramsey 😁
And from american rap - but that is not an excuse for us to overuse it.
The internet aswell. I swear quite a lot, and normally I'm not concerned about it, as words are just words. But a few days I was trying to express dissatisfication, and ended up saying the danish word for whore. Dissatisfication for losing in a card game. That has made me rethink it a bit I must admit. I haven't really found a conclusion about it yet, and if I know myself imma end up not doing anything about:/
@@jimmywayne983 That's an other case, but true: Husbund, wife, window, egg, leg, guest.................all danish or norønt language
19:19 A lot of buildings were built before the car became a thing. The car first became a thing everyone had in the 60’s-70’s
About cursing and swearing: Sadly, you're right. I find it appalling and I will not tolerate any cursing or namecalling among my children. When I was a child (30 years ago) people did say "shit!" occasionally,, but I don't recall anyone EVER saying f...! It is a bad habit that has sadly gained some acceptance. And if you find "shit!" offensive, may I suggest you say "møg!" instead. That is a mild expression, a so called euphemism.
With that being said, I also know that bad words are censored out in the US ("beep") and danes find that exaggerrated. Bad words do exist and children will sooner or later get to know of them.
And about socks in sandals: even if you know it is going to a nice sunny day, the mornings in Denmark are chilly. So you can leave with socks in sandals in the morning and then later you may take off the socks. Danes are not used to hot summer temperatures. However there is an unwritten rule: NEVER white socks in sandals!
You are giving the bad words power by not allowing them. The power that makes you want to ban them in the first place.
magnushmann It is a culture thing. I want my children to know what is acceptable in an English-speaking culture. Especially since they are half American and need to communicate with family.
magnushmann It is a culture thing. I want my children to know what is acceptable in an English-speaking culture. Especially since they are half American and need to communicate with family.
I do indeed get it in practice, but in principle, I'm afraid it is definitely circular logic
Not trying to necessarily change anyone's mind here, and as always: enjoy your videos!
Okay boomer. Getting offended by swears is dumb. Unless it's not a joke when they swear. Also I get that you don't want people to swear around your children but they're gonna learn to swear at some point because children swear a shit-ton.
I just read your trip to the Doctor post - OMG so funny! The underwear bit too much! I am laughing so much that my daughter calls down from her bedroom to ask me what is going on.
Love your videos! Didn't even realize that we eat that amount of bread - but it's spot on!🙈
danish rye bread could be had in the 70' from Iversens bakery in chicago, and he did export out of state.
I don't think you should feel weird about wanting your kids NOT to swear. A lot(I mean, literally every average parents) wishes and tries to raise their children without swearing. Of course, as you can see between youth, it's not been that successful, simply due to the internet and the social medias. It spreads like cockroaches the bad words.
Personally, I NEVER swear(Maybe once a month?), because my parents just looks disappointed when I do and I don't like that look, so I don't do it. Simple as that.💞
Basicly we don't in general really care if anyone is offended. that there issue. Tho I do agree the F, B and S bomb gets used too much.
true we don't give a flying fuck if someone is offended, becaus nothing happens if you are "offended" and these days "I'm offended" is so overused it makes most people puke... this here pretty much explains what offended means: ruclips.net/video/ceS_jkKjIgo/видео.html Steve Hughes... Offended.
Yeah I was thinking the same. The sentence "I'm offended" makes my skin crawl.. if you really don't want to fit in in Denmark then tell a Dane what he can or more importantly, what he can't say..
Might as well poke him in the eye with a rusty nail
We only use the F-bomb as a joke. Unless you're mad or something. I don't see why you would get offended by it.
Regarding street light: there are reflections on each side of the road in two different colours, one for each side. You may navigate according to them. Street lights are only in the cities
Also: It's wasteful to put up lights when you can perfectly well navigate without them. If you can't you might be going too fast :)
That thing with swearing in front of children depends on families
My family swears a lot but that's only because we know it's not serious.
it's pretty normal to eat ryebread with your hands, I only use knife and fork when the topping is hard to cut apart with one bite
Danish person here.. The worst curse in Denmark is Glutenallergies.. Dear Fbomb Lord in heaven, no breakfast og lunch.
Actually all beaches in Denmark are clothing optional by law. So you can go completely nude anywhere, and nobody has the right to be offended by it. The really shocking thing is that not a lot more people do it!
I have an exchange student coming from Denmark so this was good to know.
Might be a little late as your post was one year ago. But I was a dabish exchange student in Midwest and I had to bite my tongue hard everywhere. No swearing allowed at all. Calling teachers mr. And mrs. Everything seem so uptight and formal. And then the church thing. We're an atheist nation. It was very strange to adapt to this. I know alot of the german exchanges had big issues with the cursing as well.
Americans are prudished. We topless in France since forever, Idtill grocery shopping every other day even now I’m living here in Texas, and at 60, I dance, walk long distance beside exercise routine almost every day
I'm Danish, and I would say using a fork & knife is very situational for me, if I'm at home, I most times eat my Rye bread/sandwich/toast, with just my hands. But when out,I mostly use a fork & knife.
It's very Scandinavian to always use knife and fork but in Brazil they also does the same.
I think one of the things you touch on is the difference with the danish (really a more northern european) more laid back culture regarding nudity and swearing vs. the american very puritanical culture, where sex, nudity and to a lesser degree swearing is still something you are supposed to be ashamed off. I think it something danes often note about America along with your alcohol culture vs our (remember that here in Denmark we didn't have a minimum age for buying alcohol in shops until 2004) where it's still normal to led young teens try alcohol and drinking in public is legal and accepted.
Your pearl clutching cracks me up - we Danes simply just swear a lot, and profanities doesn't carry the same weight here.
A really big plus with eating with a knife and a fork, is that you eat slower, smaller bites and concentrates more on your food, witch is good for your digestion!
The swearing thing, I don't know about Danes and swearing in Danish, but here in Norway, especially in the northern regions, swearing is a culture (a very creative culture, there are swearing championships, lol). We also use foreign swear words, English especially (and it's a mix between the English-English and Norwegianized-English), but we could just as likely do German, French, Finnish swear words as well, it depends on our mood and swearing vocabulary, lol. It's way less of a taboo here, you try to not do it too much around kids, but it's also not the end of the world if they hear some of it.
Kelly you will have a tough time here with swear words. Try to consider them 'power words' or emphasizing. You might even hear them on TV (by accident because of their frequent use).
Might be mid-west don't use them that much - but I spend a lot of time in California and they are quite often used there in everyday informal conversation (but not as often as in DK).
You might be right that Chicago uses then less - at least in a business environment where i talk to Chicago daily.
Yes in Jutland there are few lights on the streets - try coming to the Copenhagen area and you will feel more at home 😉
😳Socks in sandals is blasfemi.... 😳 Im a dane... Socks in sandals should be fined
Klaus Bang Nielsen Nope.. gider ikke kigge på bare grimme mandefødder 😂
hun bor i jylland
I wear my socks in sandals just to annoy people 😆
And with no socks you get smelly feets
@@Fetguf Smelly feats are like changing a bad nappy or cleaning the washing machine after your toddler has emptied his potty in it.
If you have a roof and sides, it's a carport, if you have roof, sides and a back, it's a carport if you have a roof, sides, back and a closed front, it's a garage :)
I eat ryebread both with fork and knife and with my hands, it depends if i’m alone or with others 😊
Or if it is just a quickie or if you piled tons of goodies on it :P
It also depends on what you use as “pålæg” i would eat “leverpostej” with my hands, but, like, “makrel i tomat” is definitely a knife and fork food.
I don't like hearing swear words from kids either. I don't care which language they swear in, it's still swear words imo. I work in daycare and spend a lot of time telling the kids to not use swear words 😒
I agree, I thoroughly hope that it will get better eventually
Hvorfor bruger i ikke det forfærdelige bandeord "paraply" - for 20 - 30 år siden arbejdede jeg på en lille skole hvor 0 - 2 klasse havde lært at "paraply" var det ultimative bandeord !
@@formstrup hvad skulle det hjælpe når de hører forældre og ældre søskende bruge alle de andre grimme ord?
Smorrebrod is certainly different. Almost an art form putting it together.. I got treated to the works.. Certainly a lot more meats and fish in the local diet. And yes I saw a shower like that.. It almost didnt register with me.. I saw the shower head but it didnt click till I saw the drain in the floor. And observation of mine.. Its weird to walk a few blocks and go from small cottage homes to high rise apartments to larger family homes.. And everyone seems to get along. Age,economic status , race, religion... Much different vibe from what you would get in the States. I like it.
We also use our Danish swear words, but as Klaus Ole Kristiansen said, we see the English swear words as being milder than our own. Some of our own you might encounter is fandeme, satme, kraftedeme and sgu. The last one is also considered fairly mild. As for why it has become like this I think it's a mix of what was mentioned before and what Kurt Frederiksen is saying.
As far as the knife and fork thing goes, its a question about raising kids with manners. This dosent mean that everyone eats with knifes and forks, it just means that we know the ettiquette for eating "out" on restaurants, and stuff like that, where space can be kinda tight. Back in the days it was mostly royale people useing them, and haveing silverwear was a profe of status. Older generations was raised with phonebooks underneath each arm, and had to hold knifes and forks while keeping the phonebooks from falling underneath the armpits, and this was a way of considering the person next to you, as kitchens in the olderdays or diningrooms could be kinda squeezed together.
when it comes to the showering in the public swimminghalls, its not a "danish" culture or a thing we "like".. its more about the purity of the water, so everyone does it, even the danes can be quite uncomfortable with it. Yet strangely enough when the summer comes, the same people can go topless on the beach, because sun and summer is quite scarse here, so when the sun actually allows for it, we are like "yeah whatever, imma get my tan going, so f*** them" and then balls and titties go flying all over the place. xD .. allthough its quite more often to see breasts at the beach, then penises, because for somewhat doucebag reason its more "okay" to show breasts than balls.. because.. "well them boyz be naughty" or whatever, but it happens still.
When it comes to eating, i think its a question about tradition. For instance in my family we have a rule saying that everything that can fly, is okay to eat with your hands. This is Chicken, any sort of bird, and so on. But we also eat spareribs like true vikings, and not all of us uses fork and knifes for rugbrød, even pizza. I guess it all depends on situation. :)
This was so intriguing! And I’m right there with you when it comes to swearing in front of my children. Denmark sounds like a wonderful country though!
Marcus & Ashley Henry Thanks! It is definitely different!
I'm happy that we are so laid back when it comes to nudity. You should be comfortable being naked. We all have different shapes and sizes and nobody should be anxious about whether or not they have the right shape. But most kids in Denmark has started to be more shy and insecure about how they look and many won't shower after P.E.
When it comes to swearing then you shouldn't put too much into it. Mostly it's used to exaggerate things, like for example: "I am so fucking good at playing soccer". If you post something stupid you will also likely get cursed at or getting called names. But then again, the swear words don't have that much meaning to us. There is no good reason to swear but it has become a habit and we are all familiar with it and used to it.
I hope this helped you a bit! Have fun here ;)
Lil Shrimp I think I would like a bit more differenciation here. From my view point (old hag), some teenagers have grown rather insane with swear words weareas older generations still at least try not to the swear a lot in front of strangers or children.
@@ejensen1050 That is of cause very true. My bad :D When I said "we" then I meant most Danes.
In the US you mostly try to avoid bad stuff.. Where in denmark its more Natrual to learn about bad stuff.. Bad stuff is real and will hit you no madder what you do so learn your kids how to deal with it before they hit teen years.. when kids hit the teens you cant raise them anymore you can only guide them and hope they listen. =) ..
it's funny because a lot of people go mountain biking in Denmark, but we don't even have any mountains!
I'm a German living in the US since 9 years and still have the same difficulties you are describing but only the other way around! I guess danish and german culture is pretty similar in a lot of ways! I wish US-Americans would have a more natural, free and open approach towards the human body, the upbringing of children, the environment, being outdoors and active outdoors a.s.o.. I could go on for hours unfortunately!!!
Same here in the other direction. I guess it all depends on the person. My husband lived in the US for 9 years, and something was pulling him back to DK. Now that we have been here a few years, he has moments where he wants to go back to the USA. Then again, so do I. I guess it also depends on the day! :)
I ran around naked as a kid to! Viking power!
So interesting, thanks for sharing!
The reason why roads outside of cities aren't lit, is that we do not wish to disturb the wildlife, and furthermore, it is unreasonable to spend huge amounts of electricity on lighting roads, since cars are equipped with headlights, and the roads are not very populated during the dark hours.
I'm a Dane, and I agree that we should try not to curse around kids. But try not to over react when it happens.
Drescher1984 Good point. I think it shows a bit of a cultural difference between the two countries. I think as English speakers, many of us feel that just because foreigners know our language, we assume they understand our culture. I’m finding that is very much not true! 🤔 It is helping me be more mindful when I travel, which is my silver lining.
also a dane here I guess yes but I don't do it in English or danish I do it in either german or Dutch but even when I don't swear youtube influences so much all curse words In games or orther sources. that I have noticed with the 2/3 orther kids in my family the third doesnt like gaming (they are all boys so far) they are like 10-12 play cod, gta or orther and that has influenced them much
@@MyNewDanishLife yeah. I usually swear like 30+ times a day - mostly in danish. Have done that since i was a little kid. My parents, siblings, friends, colleagues, etc. does it too. Nobody really cares about it here, except some elderly people and a few "misfits". It is just a way to emphasise your point. :-)
i found rye bread in hippie stores(whole foods and others) in the US, goes good with herrings from Ikea
Thanks for the input about the foul language. I am danish with a foreign wife. Our kids and she are really offended on a daily basis, as they do understand what the words really mean. Please do notice that the Danes are getting their language inputs from both US and UK. People from UK are in general using more profanities in their language than Americans and this influence is pulling in the wrong direction too
"Rural Jutland"
"In the middle of it all"
LMAO
But your point about swearing is strange to me as a dane.
They are just words and they are used as sentence enhancers. If a 5-year-old says the f word then my reaction would be that it is funny. It should also be said that swear words in other languages doesn't carry the same strength as a swear word in your own language. So when you as an American hear swear words from your own language then it feels a lot more powerful than when we hear that same thing. I guess all I can say is that you shouldn't let it bother you if you can :)
when the comes the swearing, you're way too sensitive. It's a part of danish culture, we swear a lot and the majority of our swear words are satanic, that's why it's better to use english swearwords around children and they don't people as much, since it goes through that language filter.
We have also satanic swear words in Finland - people in northern countries are pissed enough for using those.Some people also llike to swear like: vittu saatana perkele (fuck satan devil; yeah it's kinda stupid in english).
Fellow Dane here - I wholeheartedly disagree! :)
See the thing is, that in danish culture the contextual value of a swearword is much more important than what tends to be the case in other countries. In danish culture, swearwords are often used to express a deeper emotional meaning, mainly by the context of the chosen swearword. For example, if I were to shout "For helvede" = "Fucking hell" it would often be a way to express anger or annoyance meanwhile "For Satan" = "For fuck's sake/ Damn" could express sympathy or compassion. What I am trying to convey is that Danish people often use swearwords both English and Danish in a way to stress a certain emotional meaning based on the context of the conversation. That being said, many Danes do use swearwords in their daily vocabulary.
Sorry for the use of swearwords above. And I agree the use of swearwords should be confined to between either close friends or at least other adults. People should be better at knowing when to use particular swearwords so that our children don't pick up our bad habits.
Hope this helps. If you have any questions I am happy to help, as I am a Norwegian living in Denmark.
great video! love from a danish couple
It's funny most ppl I know in copenhagen, including myself, eat oatmeal or mysli with milk or yogurt. Rolls (and other breakfast breads) are reserved for special occasions (and sometimes sundays). The area u live in sounds like they're very traditional in their diet. Lots of ppl in the city have spiced up their potatoes by changing things up and baking them or frying them. My fav is slicing them and sprinkling them with salt and pouring on some olvie oil, then letting bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. See if you can't convience your family to try that. It's really awesome. While rye bread is still the staple for most ppl's lunch, it's getting more and more popular to bring salads of various kinds to work instead. It does take extra prep tho.
Also, the knife and fork thing. In copenhagen it all depends on the setting, all about manners. If it's a formal lunch, then the knife and fork come into play. But if you're just being casual with friends or family, more often then not you just use your hands for bread and pizza, etc. I'll admit I don't know much about Jylland, but I didn't expect those kinds of differences. It almost sounds like you're describing an oldfashioned upper middle class/upper class, society. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. ^^
I hear you on the changing rooms, lol, took me years to get used to too, and I grew up here.
Pastel-Sunrise I have been told that Copenhageners are different, but I never realized how much! Thanks for sharing all this info! Really neat to see how unique my little world is! 😂 Thanks for watching!
@@MyNewDanishLife You're welcome. ^^ Another common and popular breakfast food is oatmeal porridge. There's also Øllebrød, which you totally have to try if you havn't already. Various kinds of porridges really, but oatmeal is the most common and popular bc it's easy to make, and most ppl have the oatmeal already bc u can use in in so many ways. :3
Also lots of ppl have started eating the icelandic Skyr instead of regular yougurt. I can def rec that too.
Pastel-Sunrise We normally eat oatmeal at our house for breakfast. After living here a while, we switched back to our “normal” routine! 😂I’ve heard of the Øllebrød but never tried it. Would love to, though!
@@MyNewDanishLife Øllebrød is excellent, and pretty simple to make, alas it's not really easy to do a one or two portion size, it's more of a "I'm going to make this, and have some for breakfast for the next couple of weeks"-thing. There are a bunch of slight variations of it too. As a kid it took a good deal of persausive power to get my mom to make a batch once or twice a year. we were usually just, bread or cereals in the morning kind of family, no heated stuff in the morning.
vrenak I’m hoping I’ll run across it at a function! 😂 Otherwise, I’ll just have to experiment one day! I’d love a recipe if anyone has one!
Wiping down the walls/floors in our bathroom a tool "svaber" is used. Works fine as noun and verb. About swearing - svaber is also a slang for the male bits so expect smiles or jokingly comebacks... As a Dane I think the timing of the swearing comes into play and our rights of free speech... Don't tell Danes to shut up. You can't avoid swear words but you can choose the proper time and situation to use them.
We may be used to changing rooms in denmark but if you go to hotels in germany they only have one unisex changing rooms for the swim area so you can shower and a whole family comes in. That is a culture shock even to danes.
Garage without a door = Carport ;)
That shower thing was one of my greatest shocks too, as I come from a very conservative country too. But then as you said, you get use to it.
The rugbrød toppings depends entirely on the person making the meal and what they like...
Officially the first video ive heard the sentence '' Strip the baby down'
It will probably also be the last.
Kids love being naked, free and running and playing around. If you take that into a sexual thing then it's on you. It's like you assume a big portion of the population are sick creeps. And that will cast a shadow on the way you see the world.
I lived in Denmark from 1986 to 1994. Speak fluent danish now, but, as you know, it can sound like an entirely different language from one part of Denmark compared to another part. To this day there are words and phrases that escape me in English but I know them in danish. I am fascinated by the teak sideboard behind you. It looks exactly like the one we had. Do the middle doors open to reveal pull out drawers and the sides open to reveal shelves?
My kids were always reminded, that there were different ways of speaking and to whom
1. how you speak when you're with friends
2. how you speak with family
3. how you speak with grandparents
4. how you speak to fx: strangers/cashiers
Great video!
About the socks in sandals thing.. walking with bare feet in sandals my skin very easily get broken from sand rubbing against the skin. As a diabetic this is a serious thing so if I am very hot and abandon my custom made shoes for sandals I use socks to protect my skin. Whether the socks get filled with sand is irrelevant to me as they can be washed. I am also at an age where I could not give a flying f-bomb about other peoples opinions or sensitivities. Whether healthy young people use socks in sandals or not is their choice. However I feel that if you wear open toed footwear you should take care of your feet and not show yellowish crusty nails and calluses. If your skin looks like turkey jerky socks, keep your socks on.. just my opinion :)
😀 LOL I am from CA U.S.A and have been Living in Danmark from 2005 .
I could make a book of things that are not The same. LOL
I love Danmark But I ever get over some things and way that we do things here.
hey! im from Denmark myself you should have taken that about dress codes in schools with it. There is like no dress codes and you can't even were a t-shirt in England? (of what I've heard)
I've never been to England, but the kids dress pretty much the same here as they do in the US. Not every school has a dress code.
When we were in the US visiting LA. it was so strange that the downtown was all deserted.
It is kind of like Butterbrot in central and eastern Europe. we never refer to them as "sandwiches" when they are open faced.
And the sandals in socks thing is simple :D
It is too warm for shoes, but too cold to be barefeet in sandals. End of story :P
Sandals and socks lets your feet feel free and let the swet vaporrise, opose to shoes that feels like putting your feet in a bodybag. I wear sandals all year, in the winter the socks are just thicker ;-)
Or to avoid blisters from the sandals?
I live in Woodridge IL now. Lived "pa Sjaelland", from 1986 until 1994.
Small world. I did part of my teaching experience in college in a middle school in Lisle and a high school in Naperville! :)
Yes, the knife and fork! Hehe! It’s when eating a burger that got me. The technique is amazing! Same in the much of Europe. The cursing in English is pretty shocking, but when I’m in Copenhagen, I’m going to a beer festival, and not with children, so it’s not upsetting to me. I think your kids will be able to classify it as harmless in time.
Greetings from a Dane finding your observations quite amusing.
As others have said, non-Danish swear words loose the edge for Danes. They're mild swears (comparative to "darn") for us, because Danish people don't truly get just how harsh those expressions are.
When I was in 1.st grade, the then big word was the German "scheisse" (shit). Us tiny kids would use it, while we'd never use the Danish equivalent. Then one kid was on vacation in Germany, and used the word in public, where she suddenly realised everyone was looking shocked at her.
Comparatively, calling someone a "ho", is a lot less bad than calling someone "luder" in Danish. And dropping an f-bomb really is... A mild swear as you say. Whereas using strong Danish swears hit hard.
Regarding that knife and fork thing. We actually have a very traditional famous dish: fried pork with parsley sauce. _EVERY_ Dane craves this. Technically, it's just thickly sliced very very _VERY_ crispy bacon strips. Impossible to eat with anything but your fingers. And I had American tourists visiting the restaurant where I work, and they wanted to try the dish they had heard so much of. And I gave them a minute. And then I leaned in and whispered "You're allowed to do as all Danes do and eat with your fingers..." "THANK YOU!" they shouted. :D
Feeling offended by swear words seems super weird to me - but yeah, it's a cultural thing. People swearing don't mean to offend they're just 'embellishing' their language. ;)
I understand if you get offended by swear words if the person saying them are mad at you. But saying it as a joke shouldn't be taken seriously.
we have garages..... i cannot find a house near me without a garage......... however we don't store our cars inside them, at least not often. The reason for this would be that we fill the garages with tools, materials, spare parts (for cars and bicycles etc.) and the stuff we dont have space for inside the house.
Naa in general on country roads we don't have street lights.. Because you have ligth on the car :p some intersection do. But most don't. And only in cities/towns and some high risk places have signal lights
We use all sorts of swear words in english and mainly because our kids don't understand them, they might say it, but they don't know what it means.
The "Every dane eats everything with a knife and a fork"
That all comes up to the person
I never really use my utensils for anything besides dishes with sause and grease
I always eat my pizza, burger opensandwitch and other fried foods with my fingers and so many people I know does the same and yes I'm Danish 😃
Same 🙌