SALT LICORICE IS ONE OF DENMARK’S MOST SUCCESSFUL LITTLE AMBUSHES. You accept a black candy from a friendly Dane. You expect sweetness. Instead, your tongue gets salt, sharpness and a faint impression that the North Sea has opinions. This is…
IN MUCH OF DENMARK, YOUR RADIATOR IS NOT HEATED BY A FURNACE IN YOUR BASEMENT. HOT WATER ARRIVES THROUGH PIPES FROM A SHARED HEATING NETWORK. This is district heating — fjernvarme in Danish — and it is one of those…
DANISH RYE BREAD IS DARK, DENSE, SLIGHTLY SOUR AND COMPLETELY UNINTERESTED IN BEING A FLUFFY SANDWICH PILLOW. Americans often meet rugbrød and assume something has gone wrong with the loaf. It has not. This is the point. Rye bread has…
IF YOU ARE STAYING IN COPENHAGEN, YOU DO NOT NEED A CAR. YOU NEED SHOES, A METRO TICKET AND A NORMAL TOLERANCE FOR BEING NEAR OTHER HUMANS. American travel habits make a rental car feel like emotional support equipment. Copenhagen…
DENMARK HAS A STATE CHURCH. IT ALSO HAS A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO WILL SEE THE INSIDE OF A CHURCH AT CHRISTMAS, A WEDDING OR WHEN SOMEBODY DIES. That sounds like a contradiction to many Americans. In Denmark, it is…
GREENLAND IS NOT A SCANDINAVIAN BACKYARD, A DANISH COUNTY OR A CONVENIENT WAY TO MAKE A MAP LOOK IMPRESSIVE. Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. That is true. It is also self-governing, has its own parliament and government,…
IN DENMARK, A SMALL FLAG ON A BIRTHDAY CAKE MEANS “HAPPY BIRTHDAY,” NOT “THE REPUBLIC HAS FALLEN.” Danes use the national flag, Dannebrog, as a party decoration. Tiny red-and-white flags appear in birthday buns, on cakes, on tables and sometimes…
DENMARK HAS A KING, A PRIME MINISTER AND A PARLIAMENT. ONLY ONE OF THEM RUNS THE GOVERNMENT. Americans understandably look for the president. We do not have one. Denmark is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy: the King is…
IN DENMARK, A UNIVERSITY ACCEPTANCE LETTER DOES NOT ARRIVE WITH A SMALL FINANCIAL THREAT ATTACHED. Danish students at public institutions generally do not pay tuition. For eligible students, the state also offers monthly education support called SU. Yes, that is…
THE POINT IS NOT TO SQUEEZE A FIVE-DAY PANIC ATTACK INTO FEWER HOURS. For much of Denmark, full-time work means 37 hours a week. Shops open. Hospitals run. Trains are late occasionally, because this is still Earth. But the country…