What The Denmark | Danish Culture for Expats, Internationals and Danes

When temperatures drop, the last thing on most people's minds is to go outside, strip off and take a plunge into near freezing water.

That is, however, what a large percentage of the Danish population do each winter.

Why on earth would someone choose to do this?

Well, it turns out that the benefits to doing so are pretty convincing, and not just for the physical aspects of helping you burn more calories.

Sam and Josefine are joined this week in the studio by journalist Saskia Weneit.

Saskia spoke to many experts and enthusiasts in researching this topic, including:

• Jørgen Hedevang: Chairman of the Danish Winter Bathing Association
• Mette Thomsen: Danish ice-swimming champion
• Helle Gollers: a winter bathing "addict"

During the episode we cover all sorts of interesting aspects of winter bathing:

• What it actually is
• The physical health benefits of winter bathing
• The mental health benefits of winter bathing
• The history of winter bathing in Denmark
• How it has entered local politics
• How you can get started
• How to winter bathe safely

as well as Sam and Saskia's experiences winter bathing as they try (unsuccessfully) to convince Josefine to try it out...

Thanks to ECO Hotels for hosting us at Guldsmeden Hotel in Copenhagen.

Learn more about What The Denmark via: www.whatthedenmark.com and @whatthedenmark on Instagram

Note that this is the last episode of Season Two of What The Denmark - we hope you've enjoyed it!

If you've enjoyed the show, please do leave a rating/ review - it's a great way to support what we are doing, especially as we speak to potential sponsors for the show.

We hope to have more episodes for you soon!

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, citizens' trust in their governments has declined all across Europe, and around the world.

Denmark, however, stands out as a country where trust levels have increased.

But why?

This is the topic of this week's episode + an exploration into the country's remarkable high levels of trust between people.

We discuss:

• The game theory of strangers trusting other people
• The historical roots of Denmark's strong independent institutions
• What "default trust" feels like to outsiders
• How other countries can encourage trust amongst citizens
• The upsides of trust: efficiency, oxytocin
• The downsides of trust:; how to combat it

and more broadly an exploration of "the trust dividend" that is felt from a society where the default setting is to trust one another.

In this episode we spoke with three excellent guests

• Peter Mühlmann, CEO of Trustpilot
• Gert Tinggaard Svendsen, Professor of Political Science at Aarhus University
• Kathy Borys Siddiqui, a Polish/ American expat in Denmark for the past 13 years and founder of Active Action

Note that the image is of a roadside stand on the Danish island of Bornholm where members of the public are trusted to pay for the items available. (Sam took the pic whilst on holiday there last year)

Thanks to ECO Hotels for hosting us at Guldsmeden Hotel in Copenhagen.

Learn more about What The Denmark via: www.whatthedenmark.com and @whatthedenmark on Instagram

Danish food culture has an outsized impact on the world stage.

For a country with less than 0.1% of the world's population, Denmark boasts the two best restaurants in the world and has a culinary movement that is the envy of chefs and kitchens around the world.

But it wasn't always that way...

In fact, there was a very distinct turning point when Danish (and more broadly Nordic) food became "New".

In 2004 a group of restauranteurs and food experts gathered in Copenhagen to write an outline of how they were going to revolutionise the region's food industry, much in the way the film and TV industry had done.

The result was The Manifesto for the New Nordic Kitchen.

Two of the chefs present were René Redzepi (Head Chef of Noma, now the #1 restaurant in the world) and Claus Meyer (food entrepreneur).

In this episode Sam speaks with Jonas Astrup, head of product innovation at Meyers Madhus ("Meyers Food House" - the company Claus founded) to encourage more people to get interested in cooking and food.

Sam and Jonas talk about:

• The history of the New Nordic Cuisine movement
• What "old" Danish food practices valued
• What it looks like in practice
• How the founding principles are becoming increasingly relevant to the sustainability agenda
• How anyone can use
• Jonas' inspiration for working in food
• Challenges to overcome in tackling e.g. food waste

and how methods such as fermentation are becoming increasingly more popular as a way to create the umami flavour from plants.

You can learn more about Jonas and Meyers Madhus at: https://meyers.dk/

Thanks to Hotel Mayfair in Central Copenhagen for hosting us for the recording. You can get 25% off your stay by using the code WTD at checkout

Learn more about What The Denmark via: www.whatthedenmark.com and @whatthedenmark on Instagram

Guki is originally from Georgia (the country, not the US state), and moved to Denmark for studies after growing up fascinated by Scandinavia.

This is a different type of episode to our usual ones, where we speak with people are learning about Danish culture after moving to Denmark.

These interviews, we feel, are a great way to learn practical advice from others adapting to Denmark, but also to get fresh perspectives on things that seem peculiar to outsiders.

Guki and Sam talk about a variety of different topics, including:

• Guki's experience growing up during conflicts in Georgia
• Similarities between Georgia and Denmark (rice pudding)
• Differences (approach to drinking; people volunteering in Denmark; how Danes queue)
• Advice for people new to Denmark

as well as how Guki's parents are still worried about her cycling.

Learn more at: https://www.whatthedenmark.com/

Do you have some interesting advice to share?

Be in touch via the contact form on the website + subscribe to the What The Denmark newsletter (via the website) where you'll receive details of how to be interviewed on the show.

We'd also love to hear what you think of these types of episode. Should we do more? Let us know!

As winter approaches, you might spot an unusual sight on the streets of Denmark: fashionable people (mostly women) wearing an all-in-one ski suit worn predominantly by toddlers.

These ski suits (or rather "flight suits") have become a fashion trend in Denmark in recent years, and they show no signs of stopping.

Sam and Josefine discuss the past, present and future of this trend with lifestyle expert Julia Lahme, and what it says about Danish culture as a whole.

We discuss:

• How flyverdragter are linked to the importance placed by Danes on fresh air
• The history of flyverdragter - from shipyard apparel to fashion item
• Why it is deemed a human right (kind of) for small children to have flyverdragter in Denmark
• Flyverdragter in other countries, and how it is a growing export market
• General fashion trends, especially as the Covid pandemic finishes

Find out more from Julia via: https://julialahme.dk/

Thanks to The Dalset for sharing flyverdragter we referenced in this episode, head to https://thedalset.com/ to see more of their flightsuits and how you can get one too.

Thanks also to Eco Hotels for hosting us in their Guldsmeden Hotel in Islands Brygge, Copenhagen. Learn more: https://guldsmedenhotels.com/

Learn more about What The Denmark via: www.whatthedenmark.com and @whatthedenmark on Instagram

Danish culture is premised on various values such as trust, equality and respect for privacy.

Whilst this has many virtues, from an outsider perspective, this can also appear to play out in scenarios where Danes come across as... well, a bit rude.

For example, it's not natural for Danish people to hold the door open for each other, or to offer help for someone struggling to take a baby stroller off a train.

In this episode Sam and Josefine are joined by Danish anthropologist Dennis Nørmark.

We talk about a whole range of scenarios in Danish culture that can seem perplexing to outsiders, but begin to make sense when viewed through the Danish prism (for example, buying your own birthday cake on your birthday?!)

We discuss various other things such as:

• How whether cultures seem cold/ rude is linked to the sense of privacy
• How Denmark (and Scandinavian countries) are in fact living a sort of extreme individualism
• Why Danish people won't instinctively help people struggling in public
• How Danes view specific reciprocity vs generalised reciprocity in other cultures
• How the trust in Denmark means there's not the need to "get to know" people you do business with
• How the smiley face is the Danish word for please
• Giving and receiving gifts
• The fear (or not) of being laughed at

You can learn more about Dennis' work at: https://dennisnormark.dk/

Thanks to Hotel Mayfair in Central Copenhagen for hosting us for the recording. You can get 25% off your stay by using the code WTD at checkout

Learn more about What The Denmark via: www.whatthedenmark.com and @whatthedenmark on Instagram

David Heinemeier Hansson is a tech entrepreneur and internationally successful racing driver. Anyone who has worked in computer programming will likely have come across Ruby on Rails. Well, David invented it.

David is the author of several business books with his American Basecamp business partner, Jason Fried including Rework, Remote and It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy at Work. He writes frequently about the importance of simplicity and work life balance in the working (and especially tech) world.

In this conversation, Josefine and Sam speak with David about his experiences working/ living in the US and now back in Denmark (where he grew up).

We cover:

• How Denmark is a country made for kids compared the US
• The American "enthusiasm for newness"
• The Danish conservatism (both positives and negatives)
• The effects of the lack of societal hierarchy in Denmark
• How Basecamp's company philosophy is inherently shaped by David's Danish upbringing
• What Denmark can learn from the world
• What the world can learn from Denmark

Thank you to the wonderful Hotel d'Angleterre for hosting us for the recording. If you ever visit Copenhagen, try to go there.

Learn more about What The Denmark via:

www.whatthedenmark.com and @whatthedenmark on Instagram

The initial stumbling block for a lot of non-Danes speaking Danish is being able to say things in a (somewhat) comprehensible manner, and understanding what others are saying back to you.

Danes are notorious amongst their Scandinavian counterparts for mumbling, earning the not so flattering reputation of sounding like they speak with potatoes in their mouth...

In this episode we understand why this is!

We talk about what makes the Danish language special, including:

• Vowels, vowels, vowels: three extra letters (å/æ/ø); a vowel-heavy language; intonation; assimilation (a.k.a. sounding like you have potatoes in your mouth)
• How Danish differs from Swedish and Norwegian: and perhaps reflects the countries' personalities?
• Danish is effectively two languages: the one you speak and the one you read/ write
• Viking roots: how the longstanding (written) history of Danish differs from, say, languages written down more recently (such as, say, Swahili)
• The Danish word committee: how new words enter the lexicon compared to, say, Norway ("is it majonæse or mayonaise?")
• Danglish: the fun mix of Danish and English (it's hard to be a nissemand)
• Lene, Lena, Line, Lina: four distinct Danish names that are basically indistinguishable to non-Danes because of the additional vowel sounds that Danish possesses
• Monophthongs vs diphthongs: plus other linguistic differences between Danish and other languages

as well as a discussion about the theory of language acquisition.

We also spend a lot of time discussing practical tips for how to practice pronouncing Danish from three experience language teachers

• Signe Tofte Brantelid (Studieskolen)
• Naja Hou Alberdi (Copenhagen Language Center) and
• Anders Basby (UC Plus)

The book that Josefine brings in is the Danish children's classic Halfdans ABC.

A big thanks to our excellent researcher for this episode Eli Tornøe, and the rest of the What The Denmark team.

Learn more about What The Denmark via:

www.whatthedenmark.com and @whatthedenmark on Instagram

Sam, Josefine and Andreas (our "audio guy") have a conversation about the things we've learnt from the first season of What The Denmark.

We cover:

• Feedback from listeners
• Favourite things we've learned from the episodes so far
• New perspectives on the topics (e.g. does the Danish army have a "flat hierarchy"?)
• Behind the scenes and some of the statistics
• New episode ideas that will be coming up soon

It's a fun, free ranging conversation that covers all sorts of interesting things from What The Denmark so far.

We hope you enjoy!

Season Two

We'll begin work on future episodes of What The Denmark once we have secured sponsorship.

If you know of any organisations interested in teaching the world about Danish culture, or helping attract/ retain international talent in Denmark then be in touch via [email protected]

What to do while you wait?

If you haven't already, do listen to the episodes that have been released so far to get an understanding of how Danish culture works, and tell friends who might be interested to hear.

In preparation for Season Two you can also

1. Subscribe to the show: this way you'll get notified in your podcast app when new episodes come out
2. Sign up to our newsletter: which is where we share additional insights and job opportunities

Until then, a big thank you to everyone who has contributed to the show and been in touch!

We really appreciate all the messages and ideas and hope to be back soon making more episodes.

As always, you can read more about the show on https://www.whatthedenmark.com/

The sport of handball has a rich history in Denmark.

The country invented the modern form of the game (so the story goes) and the men's team are the two-time reigning world champions.

In this episode, Sam and Josefine speak with the head of the Danish Handball Federation, Morten Stig Christensen, about his view on the sport and what it means for the country.

Through the discussions, a number of questions are answered, such as:

• The history of the sport
• Which countries do and don't play (and why)
• What it takes to succeed in the sport
• How it factored in Cold War propaganda
• How to get involved in the sport

and the big question for people living in Denmark: why is handball so popular in Jutland (rural Denmark).

We provide answers to all these, as well as a discussion of how Danish foreninger (associations) represent a core component of Danish culture.

Read more at: http://www.whatthedenmark.com/blog-post/handball