Category Archives: Living in Denmark

Danish Flags

My first glaring encounter with the Danish flag happened on the first birthday card I received from Michael’s parents; I received an envelope covered in Danish flag stickers. I was taken aback, nigh offended. Why weren’t they respecting who I was and where I was coming from? Why weren’t they accepting my identity, and instead imposing their own onto me. The Danish flag has nothing to do with me, so why is it on MY card?

The Danish Flag

The Danish flag also known as the Dannebrog, consists of a white Scandinavian cross on a red background. The legend goes that the Danish flag fell from heaven during a battle in Tallinn on the 15th of June 1219. No historical records support this legend, though were the legend to be true the Dannebrog would be the oldest state flag still in use by an independent state.

It is customary that the flag is not suppose to touch the ground and should be taken down before sunset. There are also laws that you cannot fly another flag in Denmark besides the Dannebrog, unless the Dannebrog flies on a nearby pole at the same height (or higher), or if on the same pole, the Danish flag needs to be positioned on top.

Why its Widespread Use?

Of course, the feelings that I felt on receiving my first Danish birthday card are not what my Danish in-laws were aiming to project. As this article states, to Danes the flag is an empty symbol to which they can assign whatever attribute they would like. As Inge Adriansen is quoted as saying in that article, while the flag abroad is seen as a symbol of nationalism, in Denmark it is also seen as a symbol that the people own. These attributes are typically ones relating to celebrations, and in fact flags are used everywhere: at birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, graduations, farewells… supermarket discounts? You name the celebration, the Danes will bring the flags!

I have been slowly learning to accept this way that flags are used in Denmark. The fact that Michael has learnt to moderate flag usage around me helps. His parents? This year’s birthday card still had flags!

Flags on birthday card

Sonderborg weather

http://www.flickr.com/photos/esbenthomsen/7555560998/in/photostream

Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it.

Going kayaking, cycling or walking in and around Sonderborg I often check the weather – multiple times – to see if I can dodge a rain cloud or get out and home before the wind picks up. Here is a quick overview of the resources I have used. I would love to hear if you have any other resources you use.

Websites

The main resource in Danish is DMI (Danish Meteorological Institute). And if there is one thing Danes like to complain about more than the weather it’s the weather forecasters at DMI. One of this summer’s stories in the papers were that DMI was the worst of the Scandinavian agencies to predict the weather. Hwever DMI debunked that. In a summer like the one we’ve just had with a lot of scattered, very local rain DMI’s rain predictions can be quite misleading so keep that in mind.

Byvejr (What’s coming)
When I look for forecast I first look at Byvejr where they predict the local situation broken down by half hour columns:

Above the first graph is the general prediction. The first red line is the temperature. The blue columns at the bottom are rain or snow measured in mm. The second graph shows wind predictions with the red being gust wind speed and the blue being average wind speeds. At the bottom you can see wind direction.

DMI rain/snow radar (What has been)
After that I take a look at the radar images where a number of radars across Denmark produce a map of the country.

The image is an animation that shows the past hour of weather changes with an image every 10 min. The newest image is at least 20 minutes old so you have to speculate a bit in how the clouds move if you are trying to dodge rain using this. The blue dots indicate lightning with triangles showing cloud-to-ground lightning and diamonds showing where lightning went cloud-to-cloud. Keep in mind that the radar we are depending on here in Sønderborg sits on Rømø and it seems to have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to weather over the border region.

Weather stations
There are two local official weather stations on DMI’s list. That is Sønderborg Airport and Kegnæs Fyr.

Wetter Speigel
At a local camp site I was talking to a guy who always used the radar from the German provider Wetter Speigel as it gave better insight into rain coming than DMI according to him:

Nordwind EV
I recently came across an article in Blandt Naboer/Unter Nachbahn about a grassroot run network of weather stations called Nordwind in Schleswig and they even have one in Sonderborg.

Some where in Sonderborg they have a weather station that gives live data which is great for sailors and surfers.

DWD (Deutscher Wetterdienst) The German equivalent of DMI also creates radar images and Nordwind EV puts these together in an animation of the past 2 hours Click Abspeilen to get the animation started.

Smartphone App

My phone is often the first point of attack when I want to know what is coming. DMI and Woerk has made one iphone app called Byvejret that shows – as the title indicates – the same as Byvejr online in a slick wrapping.

In the last update they improved the visuals but also removed radar.

The android app, called DMI Weather, recently got an upgrade but still shows radar and webTV unlike the IOS version.

DMI also has a mobile site that you can bookmark for easy access to countrywide forecast in English or the radar image.

So there you have it. The resources I use to work out the weather. What’s your tool of choice?

UPDATE 23-9-2012: @Casper_O told me about the Norwegian weather service he uses called YR.no. They are very reliable he said and their page on Sønderborg has a lot of info with cloud prediction and web cams:

The quote in the beginning of this post has been attributed to Mark Twain but there is a different story behind it.

The amazing photo at the top of the cloud and the castle is by Esben Tomsen

Danish flags and kagemand

Elements of a Danish Celebration

Danes love their celebrations (as probably everyone does). However, there are certain elements that you won’t necessarily be familiar with. These are some of those elements that I was not used to before.

1.Danish Flags

Danish flags are a prerequisite of almost any celebration in Denmark. Danes go all out with them especially if it is your birthday: you will raise the flag on the flagpole you inevitably have outside your house, you neighbours will raise the Dannebrog as well, and at home and in the office you will raise a small flag on a small flagpole you inevitably have around the house.

Magnus blowing the birthday lights

That’s not all! If you receive a birthday card expect the envelope to be decorated with tiny Danish flag stickers, and do not be surprised if the card itself is a drawing of the Danish flag. If you have a party expect tiny cocktail sticks with Danish flags decorating most of the dishes, and numerous flags all over the tables. It’s an understatement to say that you cannot have a birthday without a Danish flag (and no – if you are foreign you will probably still get the Danish flag for you party! Or at least that is what I have got so far).

2. Hand Shaking

Any Danish party starts with a prerequisite round of hand shaking, where as you arrive you shake the hand of everyone already there and then stand at the end of the line waiting to shake the hand of all new arrivals. I have been told a number of strategies to deal with this: either arrive early so you do not have to do much walking, or arrive late so you do not have to do much standing. In any case, beware if the crowd is mainly big burly farmers. You hand will be the worse for wear.

Oh, and by the way, this is all repeated as you are leaving!

3. When do I Sit Down?

In case you arrived early and are done with standing around, can you go to your chair and sit down? Oh no you don’t!

When it becomes time to get to your (invariably) chairs and tables, don’t you dare sit down immediately! Protocol dictates that you wait for everyone to find their chair (probably you need to hunt down a seating plan first if it is a bigger party), stand behind it, and wait for the party host to give the word. If you unknowingly try to sit down early, you will be promptly jerked back by your neighbour. Don’t-even-dare!

4. Speeches and Such

No Danish gathering is complete without a speech or two (or 25!). The speeches invariably consist of memories the speechmaker has with the speech receiver(s). Tears are optional.

If you are not much of a speechmaker, however, do not despair! Instead of a speech you can commission any of numerous songwriters to write a special song for the special person on a well-known tune. Do not expect the song to rhyme much, or if it rhymes don’t expect the metric to fit the tune. All you need to do then is to get someone to start off the song, and off they go! struggling through the song like pros.

5. Birthday: Kagemand

A cake is a common feature in most birthday celebrations around the world. Denmark, however, gives you the cake man! The cake, especially for young kids, has to be in the shape of a man (or woman), regardless of what it is made of. I have seen him made as a biscuit, a sponge cake, even open sandwiches! The emphasis here is on the man. Who cares about cake?

 

Longest Day of the Year

The lit path

June 21st is the longest day of the year. In Denmark this corresponds to a whopping 17.5 hrs of sun, and 19.5 hrs of light. In comparison, the shortest day of the year in December is more than 10 hrs shorter.

Scandinavians love their long summer days. Summer is when they come out of the homes they have been holed up in all winter to enjoy the outside environment. They find the days perfect for lounging out in their gardens, grilling, and just enjoying the longer days.

But how is a girl from the Mediterranean dealing with these days?

The longer days are great! After work there is still so much time to do other things you enjoy – from walking along the beach, kayaking on Als Sund, cycling around town – that it feels like you have time for both a day of work and a day of free time each day. However, there is one place where I am really struggling: Sleeping!

The long days have really messed up with my sleep. The sun being up for so long doesn’t really indicate to my body that it is time to sleep. Combine this with black-out blinds that are not as efficient as I am used to back home, and it is a recipe for disaster. Danes and expats who have lived here for a while tell me that they typically sleep longer in winter and less in summer. Unfortunately, no one told that to my body as yet!

Education in Denmark

I am tired of constantly being told by certain people that the Danish education system is an all-singing all-dancing perfect affair. In the words of a friend, “the Danish education system is not backward like the education systems in Russia, France and the UK”. So I decided to dig a bit deeper.

A quick search online brought me to review on the national policies of education commissioned by the Danish Government from OECD. When I saw it I thought ‘Great – an objective report!’ and set to reading it.

So what did I find?

The report  was written following the PISA results carried out in 2000, a study which aims to investigate how prepared students are to future challenges. It is divided into 2 parts: a background report on the Danish education system, and an examiners report written by people from three reference countries (Canada, UK and Finland). In the examiners report there are sections on the strengths and on the weakness of the system, which I found particularly interesting:

The strengths

A strength of the system is, without a doubt, the interest of the state in investing in education (7.8% of GDP in 2008). This provides some of the highest ratios of staff to students, resources and equipment. The government also provides the different schools with the flexibility for innovation. Another positive aspect from my point of view is that the students are happy and feel well-supported. The parents also are strongly involved. This makes for happy customers all round, with public satisfaction being constantly high.

The weaknesses

Unfortunately, what the report clearly shows (saying it in the first paragraph of the executive summary) is that while Denmark has one of the most expensive education systems in the world, it is disappointingly underperforming. In particular, the report identifies a strong underachievement, where there are “fewer high flyers, a lower average performance, and a greater proportion of those experiencing serious difficulties” than might be expected. A possible reason given for this is that there are very few evaluation systems put in place to be able to identify if there are problems that need to be taken care of, and often very little sharing of successful practices.

However, what I found even more surprising is that, while I have constantly been told that the quality might be suffering because Danes aim for equality, the report clearly shows that this is not the case. In fact, the difference between the weaker students and the ones from less advantaged backgrounds and the average is bigger than in other countries they looked at. One particular point they picked up on was that the weaker students are often taken out of class to improve in one subject (mainly Danish from what I understand), which consequently means that the students are automatically falling behind on the other subjects, causing a downward spiral from which it is harder to get out.

I think the report really hits on a couple of things I have been feeling since I have been bombarded by how great the Danish education system is. I tried to summarise the main points that struck me, but there are others, such as that the system focuses on the social and emotional skills, but forgets that its primary aim is also intellectual skills, and that it should also challenge the kids. So I urge you to read the report yourself if you have an interest in the subject… and I am curious. What do YOU think?

King of the Road

In London the King of the Road is probably the pedestrian who crosses the road at random, particularly in the centre. In Malta it is the motor vehicles who hurtle down the roads like nobody’s business. In Denmark? My vote goes to the bicycle!

Tweed Run 011

Denmark being such a flat country makes cycling the transport method of choice is small towns like Sonderborg. You can probably think of cycling as something of a national sport. It knows no boundaries.  You see old ladies, style conscious teenagers, foreigners and Danes alike and also parents with a couple of kids in their carrier.  Everyone owns at least one (two or three?) bike.

However cycling doesn’t become big in a vacuum, as other countries have lately started to discover. A cycling culture arises because the facilities are right for cycling. This is true for Denmark. Bicycle stands are available all around you. Bike paths, often separate from the main road, also cover much of the road network. The paths are also decent, and more importantly, they are cleared when it snows! All in all, cyclists have a good life here.

Of course, if there is a king, there must be a pauper. Well, car being cars, they probably come a close second to the bikes. This leaves pedestrians at the very bottom of the pecking order. Why do I say this? Well, let me just say this one point. You need to look out when crossing the road on a green light – because cars crossing your path probably have a green light too! Not a very comforting feeling now is it?

Easter in Denmark

The schools are closed for a week and for the working people there is an extra long weekend with Thursday, Friday and Monday off – it’s Easter! The real reason for Easter is lost on most Danes – DR Syd just did a survey and found that 27% of the people between 18-29 of age did not know why we celebrate Easter.

Instead Easter means coloured eggs, a visit from Easter bunny, chocolate shock and “gækkebreve”.

Gækkebreve is a tradition that goes back to the 17th century. “Gækkebrev” is a sort of Valentine’s letter. According to this tradition you send this letter made from fine paper and cut into patterns. On the letter you write a little poem and sign it with dots …… – as many dots as there are letters in your name. The receiver now has to guess who sent the letter and if you can’t guess that, you owe the sender an easter egg. Here’s a brief video showing how to cut a letter.

The tradition really gained popularity in the 19th century when publishers started to publish books with poems to add to the cards. Hans Christian Andersen is known for making some elaborate cuttings.

In the old days Easter was the time of the year when the chicken started laying eggs again. The reward for guessing right is an Easter egg. Either hand painted real eggs or the chocolate kind.
Colored Eggs

With the eggs came the chickens and bunnies.

On Easter Sunday many Danish family have lunch together. In my family, and I think a lot of others, we afterwards go out to look for Easter eggs. Like Santa, Easter Bunny has snuck in to the garden (or the living room if its raining) and hid a number of chocolate eggs for the kids to find. The bigger the kids the more competitive the hunt usually becomes.

Photo by Jacob Tomaw of The Fletiron Life. Video by Denmark.dk

Visit to the Emergency Room

So far, I haven’t been the luckiest person ever living in Denmark healthwise. I have had to visit my regular doctor, the out-of-hours doctor, the dentist. On Sunday it was the turn of the accidents and emergency department, or skadestue (as it is known in Danish).

a cupcake and knife

On arriving at hospital I was surprised that there were only two guys in the waiting room – clearly waiting for a friend who was being treated. This was my first time in any emergency department, but I always thought they would be super busy. I guess having the possibility to get an appointment in the building next door at the out-of-hour doctor means that people do not clog up the emergency room unneccessarily.

On arriving, you are instructed to ring a bell and wait in a waiting room. We only had to wait for around 15 minutes for us to be called in. We were in and out within 30 minutes I think, which is superb service.

My only complaint? The nurse burst out laughing when we said why we were there. Do I blame her though? Absolutely not! Michael had to explain that he dropped a big knife on my big toe while looking extremely sheepish about it!

Photo by huberton.

Book Review: Xenophobe’s Guide to the Danes

Before my first visit to Denmark, around 4 years ago, Michael had sent me Xenophobe’s Guide to the Danes to ‘prepare’ me for what I was going to find. Now that I am permanently living here I thought it would be useful to read it again.

The book offers a light-hearted look at Danes, their characteristics and their foibles. Having visited Denmark regularly over the past years, I feel that the book accurately dissects the Danish psyche and exposes it without any indication of malice; in light of all the strong feelings written about foreigners and Denmark, it is uplifting to read something about Danes and foreigners that is not completed skewed one way or another.

The best thing about the book, though, is the quotes. When reading the book you will find gems that you will chuckle over for quite some time and you will want to remember and recite whenever you feel the need for sanity to return to your world! Reading quotes such as:

Pollution is generally frowned upon. Smoking is not. The atmosphere in many living rooms is thick enough to cure herring.

which perfectly illustrate what I have been thinking (and said in previous posts) was definitely heart-warming. I think you might find a few of these quotes sneaking in to posts in the future!

So if you are coming to Denmark, or in any way want to understand Danes better, I do suggest you read the book…you can also get a sneak preview here. On the other hand, if you are already here, I think you might find this post by a Danish blogger/historian interesting. And finally if you want a more serious and in-depth book about coming to Denmark check out Worktrotter’s Guide.

Cost of living in Denmark: Groceries

Where do you think it is cheapest to shop for groceries, London or Sonderborg?

We moved to Sonderborg from north west London and before we left London we went to our local supermarket, Sainsbury Kilburn, and got prices (without getting arrested) for a typical big shopping trip for us. We went to our new local supermarket in Sonderborg, Bilka, and found the same items. The items we put on the list are our most typical items for groceries shopping.

Iceland on Kilburn High Road closing

We colour coded the items so you can see what is cheapest where. Green means it’s cheaper in Sonderborg, red/yellow means it’s cheaper in London. Here is what we found:

When shopping in Denmark we have been quite shocked by the prices of beans, lentils and couscous. But looking at our result here pasta and rice are also vastly more expensive in Denmark. At the end of Perlegade we have found an ethnic supermarket that is slightly cheaper and with good quality products.

We did not buy yoghurt or cheese but it’s my experience that dairy products are cheaper in Denmark than UK. Likewise fish and some meat products (apart from minced) also seem cheaper in Denmark.

Unlike most countries Denmark has a flat VAT rate of 25% on everything. In UK (and most other countries) unprocessed food has a reduced or zero VAT rate. With the Danish “Fat Tax” and other behaviour adjusting taxes it is no wonder that Danes cross borders to shop. It is estimated that 12 billion kroner or the equivalent to 4% of what is spent in Danish shops takes place abroad.

Of course, this is not the most scientific of surveys! First of all, prices were noted on different dates some 3 months apart. The sample shopping also has more meat to vegetable than we would normally get and our selection is not that wide. Nevertheless, you can still get a good idea of shopping costs.

We have gone for the cheapest brand, usually the store brand where possible. If the weights were not the same we converted the weight/price. For comparison we used the exchange rate of October 27, 2011 with 1GBP = kr. 8.5571. The prices in London were collected on October 27, 2011 the prices in Denmark were collected mid-January. Here is a link to the spreadsheet with the data.