Where to learn about Danish culture

When I visited Denmark for the first time, it was to study abroad. I was only here for about 3 weeks (it was a short summer program) and I was mostly surrounded by other Americans. So of course I noticed some differences between Denmark and the US, but I didn’t really experience “culture shock,” to be honest. It mostly felt like I was living my normal life in a much more charming place!

It wasn’t until I started dating a Dane and began to spend more time with his friends and family that I started to notice the ways our upbringing and everyday lives differed. Suddenly, I was learning all sorts of new rules for social situations: always take off your shoes inside; call your friends’ parents by their first names (the equivalents of Mr. and Mrs. are much too formal); there is a specific, correct way to eat smørrebrød at a julefrokost and everyone will look at you weird if you put herring on the wrong kind of bread.

Of course, it often wouldn’t even occur to my Dane to explain these things to me ahead of time, because for him, they were completely normal. Fortunately, I found some other resources that helped me understand Danish customs and culture (and some of these are from an outsider’s perspective, which can sometimes be even more helpful!). These are 3 of my favorites!

Book: The Xenophobe’s Guide to the Danes

One of my friends bought me this book as a gift before I moved here, and I seriously can’t recommend it enough! If you’re not familiar with the Xenophobe’s Guides, they are sort of tongue-in-cheek guides to understand the people and culture in various countries. I’ve read a few of them, and they are reliably both funny and accurate. (I haven’t read the entire Guide to the Americans, but the parts I have read are spot-on.) When I read the Danish one, I kept asking my husband (then-boyfriend), “Wait, is this true?!” and he confirmed pretty much everything (although I remember he scoffed at the assertion that “younger Danes have a sneaking admiration for the Swedes”, haha). It’s meant to be humorous, so take it with a grain of salt, but you can definitely learn a lot from this book. Oh, and it’s less than 100 pages!

A few examples of what you can learn from The Xenophobe’s Guide to the Danes:

• All about janteloven — aka why Danes don’t brag
• Manners, like greeting everybody when you walk into a party
• Drinking culture (“What oil is to Texas, beer is to Denmark.”)
• A primer on Danish humor (dark)
• Quirks of the Danish language (“Danish is not a mellifluous language…, but it is economical. Why invent a new word when two old ones are perfectly adequate?”)

Podcast: How to Live in Denmark

I found this podcast shortly after I started dating my husband, and promptly binged all of the episodes that were out at the time. It’s hosted by Kay Xander Mellish, an American who has been living in Denmark for over a decade. Each episode focuses on a specific topic, and they are typically only 5-10 minutes long, so extremely digestible!! There are episodes on dating Danes, the real secret to Danish happiness (antidepressants?), celebrating Christmas in Denmark, practical tips for working in Denmark, and so much more.

Website: Scandinavia Standard

I have found Scandinavia Standard so useful since moving to Denmark. I especially love the monthly What’s On in Copenhagen series, frequent restaurant lists and reviews, and guides to celebrating holidays like the Danes (including explanations of all the food!). I just saw they also published a list of Danish films to watch, which has several overlaps with mine, but also some I hadn’t heard of!

Leave any other Danish education resources that you love in the comments! 🙂