In the middle now.

Wife is already Swedish so I’m doing it on easy mode, plus job is remote.

Politeness, wow, that’s tough to get used to. Trying to fix my silicon valley manners and I’m still coming off as the biggest asshole.

Government is more involved in your life, but it’s not too bad, just something you get used to, ups and downs, they mostly try to help.

Amazon is shit, thats a thing for me, but you manage.

They have a food culture.

No, you may have misunderstood me, I did not say they have food in their culture, I mean a significant part of their societal culture revolves around food.

Did not understand this, used to Door dashing and eating to get by, they don’t do that, food matters to them, spending half a day cooking is just a thing you do, it’s not work to them anymore than watching YouTube is.

Otherwise you’ll get by, just try to tone down your socialization reflexes, they’re more reserved and our outgoing nature can scare them shitless if they’re not ready for it.

Dane here, living in the UK but have lived in the US and spent a lot of time with Americans.

First of all make sure your are looking at Forskerordningen, which can radically lower your tax burden as a foreign worker coming to Denmark.

Second, binge watch YouTube - there’s a lot of content of Americans moving to Denmark and most of them are full of advice. Travelin’ Young is the most nuanced.

It’s very easy to navigate stores and big cities with English. Do not let that fool you. Danes REALLY appreciate arrivals learning the language and there are many places where not knowing the language will really impact you. Also, language is culture and it’s too easy in Denmark to fool yourself into thinking it’s not a problem for you. You won’t really live there and make those connections without speaking the language. Learn the language; I cannot say this clearly enough. It’ll make an ENORMOUS difference to you.

Danes are very direct compared to Americans. Especially in the work place. They can find Americans phony and saccharine if too indirect and they do not like corporate lingo. Speak plainly, be clear, feel a little “rude” (as an American) and you’ll quickly zero in on the right level of directness. It will be extremely difficult for you, as an American, to not read Danes as bored or rude. They are just plain.

Be advised that “provinsen” (the outskirts) is quiet, dull, won’t speak English and very bare. If you’re not living in a big city, be prepared for an uphill climb. On the upside, though, if you built relationships out there, they’ll last a lifetime.

If you want to be fully “adopted”, be advised that alcohol is part of the culture. Most events include alcohol. Sobriety isn’t normal (nor is getting blind drunk, basically go for the medium). If you decline a drink, people will understand, but it will prevent your acceptance.

If you have kids, steel yourself for the liberty danes afford their children - and expect others to give their own too. Kids will roam and being exposed to risk is seen as healthy part of growing up, including in state schools. Tree climbing, whacking each other, tumbling, whittling with knives, playing without supervision - these things are the norm and if you try to “protect your children” against these risks, you’ll find Danes chuckling behind your back.

Janteloven is real. If you’re ambitious, be strategic about how you expose your ambition to others. Succeeding through hard work and not shouting about it from the rooftops is seen as “how it’s done”.

There’s a “template” for the happy Danish life; Detached house, robot lawn mower, dug down trampoline, one nice car, robot vacuum cleaner, open plan living - OR a city flat. That’s fine, you think, people can do what they want. But in Denmark, diverging from that template will cause others to be confused … “why don’t you want this life”, they’ll ask, never openly … but not adopting this template will prevent a lot of things that you’ll only ever discover once you adopt this template. Not keeping your house and/or your garden will rapidly ostracize you.

You won’t eat out as much as you used to. Most Danes cook, every day, from raw ingredients. The US “recipes” that involved combining three branded, prepared foods, is not seen as cooking. Food and tax levels promote this life style, which means it’s very expensive to eat out (however, the quality will be high). Take away foods are low quality, compared to the US … there’s is not the same DoorDash culture in Denmark and most take-aways are salty, fatty and done without a lot of care. You can struggle against it, but it’ll kill your budget. Motorway stops are crap compared to the anglosphere - you’re lucky to find food you’ll want to eat. Public bathrooms will be rough in those places. Distances aren’t as long in Denmark, so it’s less of an issue in Denmark.

Danes are worried about immigration and will openly speak about these worries. The tone can seem very direct to an American. Be advised they definitely don’t mean you; they mean immigration from Africa and the Middle East. There’s an undercurrent of racism that’s real - but it’s not bound in skin colour, just in culture. If you behave nicely and - even better - you speak the language it’ll never affect you.

Be on time. Danes expect others to be on time and they’ll get very frustrated if you’re not. If you’re invited somewhere, arrive no earlier than the stated time and no later than 10 minutes after the stated time. Danes will work hard to be on time themselves and if you’ve invited someone somewhere for, say, 6pm and you aren’t then ready at 6pm, they’ll also be quite frustrated.

Money doesn’t talk in Denmark. I mean, of course it does, and rich people quietly getting their way is an unfortunate fact of life in Denmark too. But people are not impressed at expensive habits, nor willing to accept that someone with money can jump the queue. As an example, there was an ENORMOUS debate this summer, across all news media, about Legoland having a paid option to skip the queue. It touched the very nerve of what Denmark was about to many Danes; “how can you be allowed to jump the queue just because you have money?!”. Of course, private (supplementary) health care exists in Denmark, but private hospitals are out of sight and people wouldn’t always feel proud to be able to afford to skip queues. “We are all individuals! We are all individuals!”, “I’m not”, “YES YOU ARE” is for real in Denmark.

That’s a lot of warnings and negatives, I’m sorry.

On the positive side:

• The Danish summer, when it arrives, is second to none. Warm, pleasant, beautiful, with free roaming kids enjoying each others company. Sandy beaches, ice-cream, happiness. Going to a summerhouse for a couple of weeks, even if rented, is a state of mind you’ll quickly adopt.
• Society & the state works. There’s a template that you’re expected to fit into and when you do, you’ll realise how many things just WORK.
• Politics are sane. People go from working a till in a supermarket to being President of the Parliament. Coalitions are normal. Politicians are much higher quality and much more sane than the US. You may even find your vote makes a difference.
• Danish kids are, in my view, the most well-adjusted children you’ll every find. Yes, they’ll do risky things, yes they’ll make drunken mistakes. But they grow up ready for adulthood. Their way of raising children is extremely effective.
• The work-life balance is much better. It’s ok to not answer emails at 11pm.
• Danish wealth is in how they live. It’s not always materially rich (I mean, it is, but not in the way you’d assess material wealth in the US), but it’s very blessed and I’d argue Danes are a lot happier than most other people.
• There is very little littering and trash in Denmark. People would be aghast at seeing someone throw something out of a car window and very likely to react against it if spotted.
• Public pools, libraries and other facilities are very, very high quality. You get what you pay for and I’d argue the “deal” is totally worth it in Denmark. You will be expected to shower naked together and in front of strangers when entering any pool. It took my English family a little … eh … getting used to, but now they’ve come to appreciate the communal, body-positive nature of the experience and love the clean, low-chlorine water (low-chlorine because people are actually clean, before they get in). It also means Danish children - and as a result Danish adults - grow up with a much higher acceptance of nakedness and all the wonderful shapes and sizes we all come in. Sunbathing topless is common and being naked is not the end of the world.
• Kindergartens are very, very state-supported and you do not need to earn a lot before it’s worth getting back to work. Generally the quality is high, although in places with high levels of immigration or lower income, you’ll spot the effects fleeing war or not earning enough has on families. The upside, thus, is that everyone can get back to work. The downside is that it’s hard for a parent to make a choice to stay at home, even if they want to. Society frowns upon it, unreasonably so IMHO.
• Unions are strong and in most workplaces you’ll be expected to join one. Some collective agreements require it (i.e. prevents an employer from employing you unless you’re part of a union). Unions, broadly, work and provide benefit. They often have a seat in the board and become working partners with employers. Overall, it’s much better than not having any unions, though it’s not perfect. Many unions run unemployment insurance too, so once you’ve worked and been a union member for a couple of years, any loss of job sees you losing only 20% of your income from before.
• High quality schooling and extremely high quality university education is free (and you get money from the state while in education). The downside of free is that places are limited, so even if you’re willing to pay to be trained as a midwife, unless your grade average is extremely high, you won’t be able to. Intake is managed according to society’s needs (“We need 200 midwives this year”) and using high school grades (“Therefore we set the required grade average to A to ensure only 200 can enter”).
• Public transport is amazing. The Danes don’t think it is, but that’s because they haven’t lived anywhere else. It’s a-may-zzzing.
• Once you get to know Danes, and get to know the banter, you’ll find really good friends.

I hope that’s helpful.

I don’t know if Denmark does it, but Norwegians love to use week numbers in corporate/education environments for scheduling instead of using dates like normal people, so you might end up in a situation where you have to check the calender to find out what date Monday week 42 might be.

Don’t walk in the bike path.

4th. of July is celebrated in Rebild, which could be a nice excuse to drive through the country and meet other Americans in Denmark.

Just dont pull a gun when some gets unauthorized on your property.

• Language is by far the most important door opener, so put in one hour of learning every day for at least a year.
• Mingle to get out of your comfort zone: Go to after-work parties and flea markets, take public transit. Use hobbyist/ meet-up apps. Read/ watch the local news.
• Don’t expect to be invited, especially not to people’s homes. People might also be uncomfortable being invited to your home. Meeting in a public place is almost always the better option, unless you’ve gotten to know someone really well.
• Irony/ sarcasm don’t translate very well between cultures.
• Europe has some lousy weather, so get watertight coats and waterproof your shoes and backpacks.
• Take it slow.
• Also: Enjoy it! Europe is a fantastic little place at the crossroads between Asia and Africa and I would never want to leave.

Create a second gmail account when you get there. Many apps that you will need there don’t exist in the US app/playstore, so you will need the second account to download them.

• learn the language AND CUSTOMS
• don’t hang out in foreigner/english bubbles
• don’t assume anything works the way it does in the US (from gasoline and driving to medical to government). There are lots of little things that seem like they obviously must be done X way but aren’t in other countries
• be careful with any investments. It’s very easy to end up with PFICs which are punitively taxed (making retirement vehicles here in Japan outside of the national pension prohibitive for me, for instance).
• celebrate
• bring any snacks that you can legally bring but they can’t legally sell (some things with food dyes, etc. if you really like them are banned in some countries to produce/sell but not eat).

All round great advice. For a bit more silly one: record yourself opening the window for the first time in Denmark.

(iykyk)

First of all, a practical item that people sometimes forget: traffic laws are different in every country. Even if your driver’s license is valid in other countries, take a moment to read up on traffic rules.

If you live in a city, give public transport a serious consideration. It’s not for everybody and not every place has good connections, but you’d be surprised how little you need a car if you live in an area well-served by public transport.

As with any foreign country, you’ll do well to learn the language. Written Danish probably isn’t too difficult to learn when you already know English (they share a heritage after all) but spoken Danish is quite peculiar. You’ll probably get by with just English just fine, but most people will prefer to speak their native language.

What I’ve heard from family moving to Denmark: check and double check your tax information and registration. The bureaucratic process can take a while, even when moving within the Schengen zone. Also: America has some weird laws where you need to pay taxes regardless of if you live there or not, as long as you’re a citizen. Make sure you know how much taxes you need to pay to what government! You generally don’t need to pay tax in both countries unless you make a boatload of money but it can’t hurt to check.

Speaking of, you’ll pay a lot of taxes. You get a lot in return, but make sure you know what your net income is going to be like and what taxes are hiding around the corner. The amazing Danish welfare state needs to be funded somehow!

If you live near any borders (European definition of “near”), check any visas you may have for what you’re allowed to do. Some visas allow you to move freely within a single country but not leave it for x amount of days consecutively/in a year, for instance. Denmark is actually one of the few countries with border checks (Germany too these days).

What I’ve heard from other Americans visiting Europe: it’s smaller than you think and everything seems closer than you think. That’s very nice when it comes to stuff like grocery stores, but some people feel a little claustrophobic because of the lack of free, open space.

Make sure your credit card is set to allow for international payments, unless you already have your money in a Danish bank account. You don’t want to arrive and find out you can’t pay for anything.

Get yourself a local SIM card. It’s probably a lot cheaper than carrying your American number in general, but roaming charges between the US and the EU are Not Fun.

Most Danes speak English well, in my experience. However, don’t let that fool you into thinking they share the same cultural norms. Things common in some American subcultures (calling everyone “dear”, saying stuff like “we should hang out some time” without actually meaning it) can cause some humorous/awkward interactions when misinterpreted. Knowing the words isn’t the same as knowing what you actually mean!

Prepare to do a lot of currency conversions in your head. You can get tricked into spending more money than you thought if you don’t know what amount of DDK translates to USD. 1 USD is about 6.8 DDK, so yeah, good luck with that, multiply by seven and subtract a bit I guess?

Stores in Denmark will often show prices including tax, so don’t do too much mental math. You generally don’t need to apply the 25% VAT on listed prices unless you’re buying business to business.

Based on experience from expats: immerse yourself into the local culture and language. Making connections with strangers is hard, likely harder than in the US, but you’ll end up quite lonely if you only hang out with coworkers and other expats.

Also read up on punctuality expectations. Some cultures expect you to be five minutes to half an hour “late” to an agreed upon time, others expect you to be there much earlier, and then other cultures expect you to arrive right on time. That applies both professionally and socially!

On a similar note, make sure you read about the expectations your coworkers may have of you, culturally. If you work for an American company you may end up with an American style corporate hierarchy, but Danish companies are a lot more egalitarian on average. Not just office wise, but also “only addressing the boss by their first name” wise.

Working overtime may not be appreciated as much, and may even be seen as a bad thing in some contexts (i.e. constantly working after 5PM to finish your work, implying you can’t finish in time when you’re really trying to show your work ethic or something like that). Work/life balance is important and every country has different standards.

From what I can tell, the Danes are quite strict in not wanting to spend too much of their life working, so don’t be that person that brings work into every conversation. As a foreigner, you probably have much more interesting topics to talk about!

I’ve only head good things about Denmark from people who worked/moved there, so I hope you enjoy your time there!

It’s worth it. I’m almost two years in Germany. Wouldn’t move back for a million dollars (although at 3 I could be bought). Work on the local language, volunteer or other community involvement activities, treat it like the new home it is. We’re fortunate to be able to move to a new country, try to be a part of improving it and earning your spot there. I’m even more fortunate to be white, male, straight etc - assuming you’re at least some of those things, do your best to counter the anti-immigration fear mongering that comes out of the political right. It effects you now, but more importantly it’s ramping up and it’ll effect people less fortunate far worse.

Hope you love it and welcome to Europe.

The danish people will maybe say a lot of things about us swedes, but don’t believe the lies.

Getting new friends in Denmark can be difficuelt at first. Many are reserved and needs to thaw up first. Do not expect colleagues to invite you home, if you are ysed to that. However, when people open up it is because they like and respect you. Danes are in general not superficial as Americans often can be. So remember, we are not unfriendly, just different from Americans :) Advise from a 100% Dane.

Think of other topics and questions than work, Americans care too much about work outside of work.

Switch your phone apps to celsius and start your brain switching ASAP.

Knowing what country or region you’re going to would help

Don’t bring a truck or guns with you. Change some dollars for euros. Remember that the US has an insane tax system that follows you abroad and you still have to file taxes in the US in addition to the country you live in.