6 Of The Hardest Things About Living In Denmark: Americans in Denmark Explain
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- čas přidán 3. 06. 2024
- 6 Of The Hardest Things About Living In Denmark: Americans in Denmark Explain
#Denmark #Danmark #LivingInDenmark
In this video, we explain the hardest things about living in Denmark from our perspective as two Americans. After almost five years living in Denmark as Americans, we share our experiences of the not-so-happy parts of life in Denmark as a foreigner.
First we cover the tough parts of finding housing in Denmark as a foreigner. Then we discuss the difficulty of a private postal service (it's not the "socialist Denmark" that American media makes it out to be, and the postal service in Denmark is not so great.
Then we talk about the resistance to foreigners in Denmark. The government clings to tactics of using foreigners as scapegoats and it can make life much more difficult.
Learning Danish while living in Denmark is also a tough part of living in Denmark. We discuss the fact that it's necessary for long term living in Denmark and you can watch more on the topic in this video, DO YOU NEED TO KNOW DANISH TO LIVE IN DENMARK?: • Do you NEED to know Da...
Next we talk about the high prices in Denmark and what you may have to change about your normal budget to get by in the Danish way. Finally, we talk about the challenges of having to constantly answer for your country and every political move they make or cultural stereotype of your nation of origin.
While we are happy to share the hardest parts of living in Denmark, we can't stress enough how much we love calling this country home. We truly do love our life in Denmark as foreigners and wouldn't trade it for anything.
Please keep that in mind and keep the comments civil. We know that we touch on some hot button issues like immigration laws in Denmark and other criticisms, but it's only because no place is perfect. Even though we love every part of our life in Denmark, we don't want people to consider moving here to be unprepared for some tough realities. That's why we share these experiences of living in Denmark.
Let us know what you think below!
CONTENT:
0:00 - Intro
0:20 - Opening Thoughts
1:12 - Finding Housing
2:56 - The Postal Service
4:18 - Resistance to Foreigners
6:25 - Learning Danish
7:31 - Prices
8:50 - Having to Answer for you Country
10:58 - Final Thoughts
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A comment about the Resistance towards Foreigners, and particularly the fact that English is no longer a primary language in many university classes. This is less due to a hostility towards foreign students (Denmark certainly has benefited a lot from those!). The problem is that Denmark only has a population of about 5.5 million people. Denmark also has one of the worlds greatest support of students, with not only the actual study programs being free, but also paying the students monthly via the SU system. There are few other countries that can match that, and since that by EU law, Denmark has to offer the same benefits to people who just come here to study, and then leave the country. Since we're so few people living here, it really doesn't take a lot of people to upset that balance, meaning the students who come here, study for free AND get paid for doing so, and then leaving the country without working or paying back can quickly drain the money box, meaning the system could fail sooner rather than later. Since it's by EU law not legal to provide different services to people from different countries, the only real way to regulate it is to at least make sure students have enough interest to stay here long enough to learn the language, and be able to pay back via taxes and so forth. The Danish education system cannot survive being a place where people just go to get a free education and then leave without giving anything back to the country.
Actually, non-western, non-EU/EEA students do pay for college tuition, acco. and everything else. If given jobs, they are more than happy to pay taxes and give back to the system. But unfortunately, they are the ones facing more resistance than the EU students exploiting SU and leaving the country once they're done with studies in DK.
@@KurtFrederiksen Firstly, having to conduct english classes implies that IELTS/TOEFL scores must not have been a criteria back then. If yes, that's just a bad way of selecting students by this specific university. And if these scores were in fact counted and students found a deceptive way to show more than the minimum score, on figuring out their deception, you have every right to revoke admission and deport such students.
Secondly, 20-25%? On what basis should I belive these figures? And btw, it's better to be field specific. If most Danes are not interested in IT (or any other field that most Danes don't seem interested to specialize in/ are employed enough to keep the local unemployment rate low), what should companies belonging to that sector do?? Not hire anyone??
It's a fact that non EU students pay tuition fees worth 30,000 EUR for the 2-yr master's+ acco expenses+ work part time and have taxes deducted from these tiny wages as well. So when they're clearing giving more for the study period than taking home, I find your argument really strange.
If you still think I'm wrong, then I have nothing to say🤷🏻♂️
This is just my opinion. Neither you nor Kurt are wrong. It's currently a problem in Denmark: How do we attract the students/people we need, while working within the framework of the EU, without bankrupting the state and/or destabilize the current population and system. If we make every class in the university have English as their primary language, every Dane will have to compete with every other EU citizen, who is interested, and they will receive the same benifits as Danes. This isn't a problem with IT, but art history, Russian, Theology, philosophy, or Latin? How many of these will fill a needed sector of work in Denmark? While the situation might be wierd its been a long debate and issue, with many cases of criminals, and private individuals abusing the system to this day. At the same time Denmark is in dire need of immigrants who, are either educated (and certified) or under education and planning on staying. The issue is in my opinion quite complex especially considering the current political climate in Denmark.
This is why East Germany built the wall 😄
Interesting what you say regarding foreign Students. I live in Leipzig, and I am amazed how many American Students there are here, simply because they don't have to pay tuition, like in the US.
The good thing about living in a country with high prices is that when you travel everything is cheaper, even the expensive tourist traps.
Yes!!!!! It’s wonderful to visit cheaper destinations and feel like royalty 😂
One thing about our prices is that they are all inclusive. What you see is what you pay. No sales tax or tips or anything.
@@TGC851 Except for pant.
@@karsten69 You are not in doubt about how much pant there is on something tho, it is not like shopping in the US you count your money find stuff you can afford only to find out they havent added the VAT yet.
@@TGC851 What do you mean? We literally have a 25% sales tax....
@4:20 : "Resistant to foreigners"? Ha ha! Love it - Danes are resistant to Danes too! Once Danes become 25 of age, they have decided who they want as friends and that's for life!
I was born in DK and lived there 24 years, then I moved to the UK in '98. When people learn I'm Danish I sometimes suddenly have to explain current Danish politics. LOL
The first thing I thought, was that when people move to another country and tell you are from the country you moved to, people will ask questions about anything - also current politics, no matter witch country you are from and move to 😀
I moved to London in 2012 and everyone asked me all the time why on earth I would move away from Denmark when it’s such a secure country and apparently everyone is happy 😂😂 I tried many many times to answer but no mater what my answer was no one understood why we left Denmark.
In all fairness it has to be said that Post Nord did not so much suffer from the privatization as from the steep decline in the number of letters sent. Denmark is in the front of using email and secure electronic mail with authorities. Also, we pay our bills electronically. When the rest of the world arrives there the postal services in those countries will suffer too.
You are right about that. And we don't send much fiscally mail so the company is suffering.
it is probably faster to send a letter it as a package and cheaper :) Snail mail's are almost unheard of in Denmark now.
Post nord the last couple of years has worked fine with package service, 1 in 20 is not next day delivery, I do tend to have it sent to pickup point, so much easier and a little cheaper.
The steep decline in letters send and the use of alternative delivery options for packages is partly a result of the steep rise in cost and sharp fall in service after privatization. Post Danmark earned quite a bit per e-boks letter send back when they started the cut-backs and price increases, so it wasn't a necessity so much as a decision to destroy traditional mail.
hey at least we're getting a couple hundred million back lol or was that the EU that's getting the funds!?
very good points.
As someone who has worked some years at the copenhagen postalcenter, it was a huge blow when all the betalingsservice letters went away on went digital.
Plus when PostDK merged into PostNorden they had to seperate from CSC, and in that deal they gave CSC the dutch postalservice, which they had a very large stock majority in, and it earned PostDK on the right side of 100 mill a year
And lastly they have to deliver to everyone in the country, and private services dont, and that is very expensive.
Could they deliver to private adresses only 2 days a week it would be enough for most and could save them alot of money
If I ever get to go live in Denmark, I'm really gonna have to meet you, guys. You are two of the coolest-sweetest-warmest CZcams hosts. 🤗☀️👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
You guys present things in a very digestible way which makes me stick around and listen to your videos to the end. Thanks for the great videos.
Thank you SO much, that is the highest compliment for us about our videos. We really appreciate it 😀🇩🇰 We're so happy that you found us and enjoy our tone. We'll keep it coming!
@@RobeTrotting Glad to hear that!
as a Dane, I would say that prices in Copenhagen are higher than in other smaller cities in Denmark
Sure, that’s definitely true. And similar to most capitals/big cities around the world I suppose.
Hi. I follow your channel because our daughter has been dating an American for a number of years and they have plans to settle in Denmark. It helps me understand the challenges they face and the culture and thinking that characterizes an American. He is from California so he is again very different from you, but he has found that going out to eat is very expensive 😂😂 thank for your videos
A quick note on renting - the laws regarding deposits are quite square.
If you run into trouble with a landlord that keeps your entire deposit - you can challenge that, by contacting organizations like LLO (Lejernes Lands Organisation - Renters National Organisation). They will take the case and evaluate it - and provide the lawyers and caseworkers necessary. They do this for 500-700 DKK - which is a fraction of the cost of what people usually lose.
Often times landlords keep the deposit for what constitutes "normal wear and tear" - which is wear on floor boards, doors, windows etc. If your lease says you have to repaint - it has to be specifically noted in the lease, that you either have to use professionals - or professionals of their choosing. Otherwise you are well entitled to doing it yourself.
Whenever you move to an apartment - take a lot of pictures. And I mean A LOT. Before you put your stuff there.
You have 14 days after you move in to highlight "fejl og mangler" or defects. These defects are most easily provided as photographs accompanied with a list. It will also help if you get blamed for something later - like a stain on the kitchen table, damage to the doors or whatever.
Thank you for this! We definitely want to make a video with some tips for renting and protecting yourself! If you have any connections at LLO or a similar organization, please email or DM us because we have this on our content list but haven't made those connections yet :)
@@RobeTrotting “the postal service is not good………..”😂🤣 i hear you guys - and i agree😂 it’s horrible😂😘
2 more details for this. Many landlords will let you talk to the next renter, and you can ask them to approve the paint job (i.e. if you had it in a non-standard white). Also for many landlords there is a builtin depreciation of the wear and tear, so if you lived in the same place (usually) 8+ years you are entitled to get your full deposit back and they will pay for the paint job.
@@DennisHaney If a deposit is supposed to pay for wear and tear, it doesn't sound like a deposit to me. In my thinking, a deposit should cover unexpected damages (like insurance). Everything that is expected should be in the rent itself (IMHO). Says a Norwegian guy who doesn't rent...
9;37 honestly I don’t think that is totally about you guys. The politics in America is something people really follow closely, especially when it is time for a new president. People didn’t just ask you that. Everyone was talking about, to and with everyone. I couldn’t go a day without the election coming up in conversation. And I am just some random danish teenager, who dont have any none-danish friends.
USA being the super power it is, means that it's politics affects the rest of the world. Trump was really like an elephant in the glass shop (Danish saying). We live close to the Russian dictatorship, that is becoming more and more dangerous, so if the America First policy means the US is leaving NATO, we Danes are getting really nervous...
Yeah, people may have just been hoping you'd have a perspective they didn't, and were desperate for some *good* news...
@@davidpax Exactly, the President of the USA is often referred to as the leader of the free world, and Denmark is definitely part of the free world. Btw, the English equivalent of 'elephant in a glass shop' is 'bull in a china (i.e. porcelain) shop'.
Thank you for the video! I never really gave much thoughts into these issues, so thank you for the heads up!
I loved this vid! I just knew there had to be some not so great things about us so thank you for your honesty 😊
Dane here - we all also collectively hate PostNord haha. It's the shittiest, most expensive and unreliable postal service in the world
😂 wow, we didn’t know it was so universally despised. It is always nice when something comes along and there’s an issue we all agree on 😃
The scary thing is, even though PostNord are pretty bad, they are not even in the top10 of shittiest! (Maybe top10 shittiest in Europe though 😂)
we can add DSB on top of that (not postal but it's just as hated)
PestNord*
Is there a movement to try to nationalize the postal service again? If there isn't, why not?
I just love your videos, you guys are just so sweet, even when youre talking about the difficulties youre talking nice about Denmark 💙
I really loved this video - your right about the things you mentioned and i'm sure you can come up with many other things that has been hard and maybe even still are hard for you guys. Can't wait for more videos like this - where you talk about the harder things
All very true. Thank you so much for another great video☺️
Thanks for watching Diana! 😀🇩🇰
I watch your videos because I am trying to move to Scandinavia from the US. I’d like to hear more about the difficulties of moving there so this video was nice to see. And it did not discourage me from trying to move there!
So glad you found us and hope that this one helped a bit. These things are definite hurdles and can be annoyances, but overall we find way more good than bad 😃
I must share this channel on my Facebook page. Even not everything is perfect here in Denmark, I really love you two guys found the way to my country. Welcome!
Thank you so much Nicholas and thank you for watching. Sending love right back to you. No country is perfect, of course, but we are so happy to call Denmark home and embrace more and more of Danish culture as we live here 😃🇩🇰
The Danish' postal service used to be as good as the American but then it was merged with the Swedish postal service and semi-privatized and since then it has been horrible.
It doesn't help that everyone hates paper mail and we were very swift to adopt electronic payment such as PBS. It's a lot of infrastructure to keep running for an ever declining amount of letters going to a given area. The recent uptick in online shopping is probably going to help improve the letter service eventually, as it will eventually be viable to just handle parcels and letters from the same vehicle.
@@andersjjensen On the other hand packets exploded, and PostNord could not deliver. Because they had removed the people you could trust. Instead they relied on untrustworthy semi-private couriers.
@@konzack Would you happen to live in or near Copenhagen?, when I hear people complaining about the Postal service they usually come from Copenhagen, I live in South Zealand, and here the Postal service works fine, it is by far the best way to have packets delivered.
Here is actually a clue to Derek and Mike - Danes love to criticize Sweden - just divert from USA to Sweden, it is very easy!
As a Swede living in another country, I recognize some of the problems as universal when anyone moves to another country. Take "legal stuff" as housing for example. Even if one knows the language good, it can still be very tricky and confusing (it can even be hard in my native tongue Swedish). I recommend any expat to get help from the locals there.
For prices, I am used to everything being all inclusive. Where I live now, I have to expect many "small" extra costs. These costs are always presented with a smile and a glance as if I am completely stupid when I ask about them... :D
Some really good points there! 🙂
Post Nord (formerly known as Post Danmark) is the absolute worst, and most prefer to use other services whenever possible. If I need to ship or receive a package and can choose between e.g. GLS and Post Nord, I would usually go with any other available option. Packages are also not always treated that well by Post Nord, which is why they have gotten the nickname "Post Mord" (Post Muder) by many. So it's not just you - we heavily dislike their service too! :D
In my family we refer to PostNord as PostLort
Ive never heard the Post Mord, amazing
@@mariushaakonssen The nickname Post Mord is quite spread in Sweden too. (Post Nord is merged from Post Danmark and the Swedish post, and pretty much all complaints you have in the comments here, you hear in Sweden too.)
I agree, but PostNord is a totally different company than Post Danmark. Just to clarify, because you wrote "formerly known as"...😉
about having to answer for your country, while that does happen for foreigners from many different countries, because many Danes are very curious about what is going on around the world and does to some extend keep up with many countries, it is especially true about America, partly because it is so prevalent on the international scene, and partly because theway things are handled in USA is so foreign to Danes that they seem almost silly.
I love your upbeat energy !! Def will hit the sub -trying to visit Denmark soon :)!
Danish is an ancient culture that goes back 5000 years. And that’s so important to remember- why Danes are proud and privileged living in their own history
So true! Many forget that, simply because they didn’t keep their own records so their stories were often told by other cultures and people, or by archaeologists.
Danish culture doesnt go back 5000 years. Gorm The Old lived in the 10th century. Valdemar The Great was the king who firmly established Denmark as one united kingdom and culture, in the 12th century. Denmark is around 1000 years old.
Even if you count the germanic tribes who lived in Jutland, during the Roman Era, as some kind of proto-danish culture, that would make danish culture around 2000 years old.
Gravballemanden is abit over 2000 years old. I dont think we have any knowldge of a people living here, 5000 years ago.
5000 years??
Not true, Danes migrated into this area around the year 500.
@@animetributes6996 😂😂😂😂
Postal service have been reduced dueto nearly nobody send letters. Today I receive one or two letters each year, everything else is digital. About restaurant prices in Denmark, I belive it's the other way around. It's not people eat at home because restaurant prices are high. Restaurant prices are high because many people prefer eating at home and rarely eat out.
Interesting about the restaurants, and that the quality is often very high so it’s never like we feel we don’t receive the value for which we pay.
Also interesting about the postal service, fewer letters but we always get the advertising materials 😂
@@RobeTrotting There are ways to avoid getting advertising materials.
Lies... McDonalds is packed everyday
Hello again - Thanks for that very enlightening episode! Actually Copenhagen started to surprise us recently - in a good way - about the cost of eating out! I’m from Odense, and for some reason the prices of beer in bars and pubs was the first difference I noticed between Odense and Copenhagen 😆 We went to some semi-famous places like Charlie’s Bar in Pilestræde, - very British place, if you like that kind of thing - and most of their tipples were 10 or 20 percent cheaper than in our bars in Odense - it’s most likely a consequence of the big competition in Copenhagen that prices are relatively low - we found that it’s a general rule. Then recently my gf, my mate and myself went to our capital again to stay at my mate’s daughter’s new flat and we dined in her students’ part of town, notably at a place called Stefano’s Pizzabar in Stefansgade. They served some of the best pasta dishes we had had in a while. It’s a lively area, at least in the summer, and we only found affordable bars and restaurants there!
You guys caught it spot on.
Anyway, when people ask about your perspective on US politics, it's not meant to bother you. It is just that we are quite well informed and curious. So we hope to get a bit more in-depth understanding, by asking directly. Sorry.
Great video!
Thank you Rebecca 😃
I definitely recognized from this that I might be guilty of being that curious person looking for perspective and asking about the US or whatever.
I also like to think that most Danes would (or at least should) respect and understand a direct "Can we talk about something else? I'm just here to have a beer"
You're 100% right, it's never been a problem with our Danish friends, but on a few occasions it has been random people at a bar that we don't know, even just a month ago someone we don't know wanted to pop off about Trump (hasn't been in office since last January). It took some restraint to just say "can we talk about a politician who is actually in office?" haha
Love love love you guys ! 😌❤️
Thank you 😊 sending love right back to you - really appreciate you watching and your comments and support.
Fun fact, it can be faster, cheaper and easier, to hire a taxi for mail/package delivery, that actual mail and package delivery companies and Post Nord.
😮 wow, that’s understandable though
The post office in Denmark is in great crisis, as people no longer send letters. They talk about that the bottom of the number of mail sent is about to be reached, so to understand is they will soon no longer be able to drive the mail retable. In the old days, we had a fine and well-functioning mail, but in step with the Internet, the postal service has become worse and worse.
Tell it as you see it. Both good and bad. All of your other vids are great too, but this helps expand to a broader, more useful image, both as the two of you coming to Denmark, what Danes could do better, and last but not least, for other foreigners to look out for, when coming to Denmark. Keep it coming! 👍
You can pay up to six month in downpayment when you rent. But half is preepayed rent. Which means that you do not have to pay for the last months you rent and your landlord is sure that you pay rent after you have cancelled your rental. The other half is a depositum which your landlord can use if he has to fix up the rental after you have moved. It is illegal to charge more than three months depositum and more than three months of preepayed rent.
Thank you for clarifying this, it’s still a lot of upfront money - but a little more comforting to know that they can only try to retain 3 months of your deposit 💸 😃
I love your videos and how respectful you are in sharing your impressions about Denmark ❤️. Although I do not come from the US, I can relate to a lot of the topics raised in this video. I work in a university and I could see how top down this decision (regarding putting an end to courses held in English) was, and how much unsatisfaction it raised among my Danish colleagues. Sadly, the universities are already feeling the consequences, the number of paying students has decreased drastically (even in courses held in English) and is putting a lot of financial pressure on the shoulders of the universities! It's sad to see :(
Also, I can relate to the resistance to foreigners. It's annoying to be recruted from abroad because you have a unique set of skills that is needed here, but finding some natives talking to you like they were doing you a favor to let you live in their territory... or the immigration agents asking for a "marriage certificate" because they don't understand that a latina can live here based on her own work visa...Fortunately I am also in a supportive environment with a lot of very kind Danish colleagues that do not think like that 😊
Regarding representing your country, probably people who draw such comments don't understand the difference in size and diversity between the US and Denmark. I have found myself in a similar situation a number of times, to put things into perspective, I explain you can fit Denmark 190 times inside my country, so there you can not is find a homogenous reality when it comes to living standards, political opinions, cultural backgrounds and so on. To be honest, I appreciate the curiosity. Sometimes these questions end up leading towards a very interesting conversation.
As a Dane, I agree with a lot of this. But it is more a feel of being against wellfare migrants, and the feeling the former eastern European, come and work for less. Undermining our work, Unions, the good pay and wellfare system. And yes, we are worried about loosing our idendity, our Danishness, because of other religions, traditions and behavior. We are a small country, that could loose what we love
Totally understandable, it’s tough to balance all that you said with the reality… the need for a workforce at every level to support a modern and expanding economy. Denmark being a small country means you only have a small amount of engineers and a small amount of taxi drivers from the native population. It’s so tricky to balance those economic needs and the needs to retain your culture. Thanks for adding your perspective Henrik, it’s definitely a really good point that you bring up here.
Every single time migration happen, it is good for the country, it boosts the economy and improves standards of living. Also a country and its identity is in the history books, and always will be.
now you know how americans feel about mexico. we're not so racist now, are we?
@@Lobanjolom what a garbage reply.
Love You Guys!! ❤️🇩🇰
Man, don't get me started on privatization of both postal services and rail :-)
Agree with everything you say here, even as a Dane (well, apart from the difficulty of learning the language). PostNord makes my blood boil; I don’t care that most things are digitalized these days, it would be nice if confirmation cards (for example) would arrive within a week and not several days after the event. (I can’t help noticing that several of us comment on this more than on your comments on immigration :-))
Well done guys ... great video!! Been back in Denmark for 5 years after 20 years in the UK .... and it is HARD!!! Even as Danish, connecting with Danes is very hard and (sorry Denmark) but is completely anti-foreign (which includes Danes who have been away).
Love your videos.
Oh wow, we have been here about as long as you've been back. Living abroad is such a great way to gain a better perspective of your native country, so hopefully, that still helps you to reintegrate 😀🇩🇰 thank you so much for watching!
@@RobeTrotting you are so right. It gives a great understanding of one self, but it also allows you to see your country from the outside.
Couldn't agree more. My husband and I have been living in Denmark for 27 years, (we are not "welfare-migrants" or anything like that, my husband has studied and worked from day one), but we still find it pretty hard to assimilate into this society. Wish we had moved to the States or Britain all those years ago, to be honest. Denmark is not a welcoming country, in my opinion.
Living without eye-contact from folks is a soul crusher for me. I agree with your comments though. I enjoy your videos fellas.
I am glad you guys were able to make it here, and I am so sorry about the unnecessary difficulty the government puts immigrants through.
I love how you put Schmeicel when you said wall
I'm from Denmark and I'm quite proud of my country and often enjoy the feedback from especially american immigrants, coming here.
But of course not everything about being a foreigner in Denmark is all sunshine and lollipops and we get that.
I think it's good that you address the difficult parts too.
If you paint a too rosy picture of Denmark, I think that the things that really ARE amazing, lose credibility, because only highlighting those things, begins to seem a bit forced.
(Sorry if I'm butchering the grammar)
So I actually appreciate the more nuanced evaluation.
It’s great to live as a foreigner in a country. Don’t expect to become a local before you set down roots. Til then we are visitors. I fix am a frequent visitor in Ghana - where my family lives. But I will never become Ghanaian. That’s ok.
Great advice. That’s the same kind of attitude we have. We love jumping into Danish culture but we know we won’t be Danes 😊
I think I can agree to these points, as a Dane living in the USA (where nobody cares what Denmark thinks, really) I get the points about having to 'representing your country' when I can imagine that 'representing' the former guy must have been harder than me representing that Denmark cut their UN quota refugees to zero and blamed it on the Syrian refugee crisis - a policy with which I totally disagreed - how can you suddenly decide that you abandon a signed treaty just because it's popular to be worried about Syrian refugees?
I respect you guys more and more with every video you release, and I think Philly is a pretty cool city too.
Completely agree!!!
It makes me a bit sad to hear that we don't want foreigners in Denmark. It is absolutely not true. It is a misunderstanding. The new problem that we did not see much 20 years ago is, that it had to be addressed, that our society (or any society for that matter) cannot provide free social goods and education for a growing number of foreigners who have no intention of interacting, integrating or assimilating taking a job and pay tax. We have not previously had to worry about violent religious fanatism (exept during wwII) in a way we do now all over Europe.
We want to make shure that asylum and aid is provided to people who needs it, and not to people who would just like and want it. I cannot blame anyone for liking to receive free benefits, but we owe it to be adressed to pople in need.
In my eyes, you are danish if you pay you taxes and participate in the society no matter your gender, colour or religion. (We also have danes who are too lazy to work and pay tax even if they can). We are a very small and of course attractive country for many, if you are leaving a country because of poverty, corruption etc. But we simply cannot provide help for all of the world. Of course we have to wellcome refugees but not necessearily migrants who just want a better life. (Who doesn't want that). We are of course very privilledged having a safe, stabile, nonviolent and orderly society with none or very little corruption. Beeing part of a richer society naturally makes it an obligation to share with and care for others. We want to continue the path, not having poor people living in the streets, and provide help locally and also outside our borders. I feel sorry for people who grow up in parts of the world with poverty , no social security and violence and corruption. If nobody works, pay a very high tax (world record) we will not be able to help anyone. Beeing a simple scoolteacher and not a millionaire, I am not a racist, I believe a have very few prejudgies, and I pay my tax with joy and pride, knowing that if we all do that, many people will have a better life. What I/we want to protect is the right to reject, a very few of all foreigners from misusing our hospitality and our social services.It is not an excuse, that it is a tradition where you come from to recieve social goods which is not meant for you, to hate the danish institutions and establish an second line of alternative religious legislation controlled by religious leaders who openly declare, that Danish legislation does not have to be followed.This is what makes prejugies and racism. In many year we have been afraid of conflicts. We have to stand up forthe rules of our society. The privelegies goes hand in hand with supporting your hosts and friends taking part in our society and paying tax. We will protect your rights to dislike us, write in the newspapers, demonstrate, call the queen and any politician an idiot without risking anything. We don't use the term honour much in Denmark, but it means a lot in other cultures. It doesn't mean that we don't have honur. It actually violates my honour when my/our hospitality is abused. I will not accept beeing called a racist because I want to protect my home from people who have no intention of participating and no intention of contributing when offered asylum, or permanent stay no matter if you are from Sweden , Bahamas or Ghana or any specific religion. The problems are not about many foreigners, but a very limited group, who repeatedly contribute to inscurity with long, long list of serious continuous gang and drugcrime, religious fanatism, violent religious traditions fx honour-killings. These are so far from our values. Of course we have our own criminals, murderes etc. , and they are no better. These few are destroying he possibilities for all the real refugees and imigrants with good intentions. If we close the door for imigrants in Denmark we have a problem. The population is shrinking and getting older day by day. We need more young people to work and pay tax to help others and ourselves.
Sorry for a lot of spellingerrors due to my silly keyboard
thanks for the vid, what are you guys studying and how long have you lived here? are you planning on going back to america?
PostNord,, bhaa. Glad when i buy stuff online its here next day with Gls. Great topic again from you, about us danes.
Well done.
I love you guys😊
The six months rent you put down before you can move is a two-part deal: ½ is a deposit to pay for repairs and renovation (fresh paint etc) after you move and ½ is rent to pay in advance.
I'm from Denmark. where I don't totally agree on the immigration, your part right. Most of the hard time laws politics are advocating for are things like reducing all the free money most immigrants get. and making it harder for immigrants to just come here for free money. Denmark is not a huge country so we can't handle 2million immigrants when we are only 5mil Danish people. our system is not build for it. we have high tax for the soul reason to be able to go to school for free, hospital free, doctor free and so on. when then immigrants come here who don't work and goes on our free support where you get 1330$ a month without working. this takes a lot out of our system.. most immigrants we got was from Iraq and those countries. they have another culture that where some don't let their women work. and some are not willing to learn Danish at all.
They also get a lot more children and here you also get x amount of money from the state for free for each child you have. and a lot just lived on that.
When people abuse our system it will ruin it for other immigrants that come her to make a life for them self's. it's a shame.
one law was to change it so you can only gain money for free to two of your children. this hit's Danish people too. just because so many immigrants abused it.
We don't want our hard worked welfare system to break down just because some immigrants just come here to free load on our system.
But some immigrants come here and make something out of them self's and that nice. I don't think you would be able to find a Danish person who has anything against those immigrants.
you maybe find some but they are far and few between.
90% of Danish people can speak English. Sure we would want people living here permanently to learn Danish this is because so many immigrants speak langue's that we don't understand.
So communication breaks down. if everyone who came here all spoke English then I think we would not force people to learn Danish if they wanted to become a citizen.
The reason for closing studies taught in English is that students from other EU countries have the same rights as Danes to study for free in DK and also to get SU (6321, - dkr per month study suppliment) and very many students from Eastern Europe used that posibility. If you graduate in DK EU citizens are also garanteed unemployment benefits for 2 yrs.
Yes, in DK we give the SU money to students bc they are expected to be a benefit for DK later. But if they just move back to their country, the money is wasted.
Sure, but to get SU they have a work requirement, right? And they have received zero other benefits before moving here in their 20s, so the chance to snag some foreign talent should be worthwhile. In our opinion, which is skewed of course, there are better solutions than discouraging ALL foreign students with one policy. If they stay you get them during their “paying years” without supporting their “paid for” years (0-20 and 60+). Those are the people to attract! 😃
Actually, no. There was a ruling in the EU that Denmark had to give immigrants from within the EU the same benefits as a dane. So people from other EU countries could travel here, get a free education plus SU without working.
@@Maitch3000 Ah, okay - we are ummm... how to say it... a bit beyond our university years LOL so we honestly aren't too up to date on the details. I'm not sure what the solution should be though, there are certainly benefits to bringing in high skilled potential labor.
@@RobeTrotting Yeah, it kind of sucks, but they crunched the numbers and the majority of the students went home again after finishing school, so it wasn't good business for Denmark. I agree that we need to attract highly educated people.
The EU verdict was kind of a bomb under the Danish welfare state, because if anymore can just come to Denmark and immediately get benefits then that would be way to expensive and we already have some of the highest taxes. So either you lower the benefits for everybody including Danes or try to come up with some rules that would take care of the issue. This of course leads to all the crazy ever changing immigration laws that you find troubling.
When the Danish Postal Service was founded by King Christian the 4th back in 1624 - the expected delivery time of mail from across the country was 6 days. Today with Post Nord the expected delivery time is the same as nearly four centuries ago. No wonder people lose faith in the Danish postal service.
Yes, that is so sad to learn 😣
Im a graduate student in Århus, and all my classes are in english, we have a dutch, brasilian and indian teacher 😅 - I agree about the resistance, I Think because we are a small country and we dont even have housing for our homeless, we would like to take Care of them too🤷♀️ I believe the newer generations are more open than the Older ones where some still live in the 50s 😅
The wall thing, and the Mario sound, I can't ... XD
We decided we will put the word “wall” and a pop up Schmeichel in every video we can until he goes to the Copenhagen Zoo with us 😂 (this was not a sober decision).
Think about how lucky you are; you get to known, enjoy and sometimes choose the best of both worlds. Regarding postal service; I can tell you service is worse in Canada (no longer any mail brought to the door) in spite of being far behind in public IT solutions - the main reason for why few uses mail in Denmark and it has gotten so expensive.
Hej Casper! We didn't know service was so tough in Canada. We are definitely very lucky to have two perspectives on two countries (and love both). Thanks for watching and adding your thoughts 😀
It's really interesting see your perspective sometimes, especially because I do find it very very copenhagen :)
I've lived in 5 different cities in jutland, I've never heard of 6 month deposit, I didn't even know it existed.. Nor have I had any trouble with the post service, and I have stuff delivered to me every month.. Real estate example! I recently moved, when I moved I was paid back my full deposit because the owners of the apartment I lived in didn't have the time to honor the law that states that they have to put the apartment up for sale again as fast as possible.
Also, I find it completely ridiculous that anyone in the year 2021 have to learn danish to stay here.. While it might be polite or whatever(I don't really care for it either way), it most definitly should not be a necessity.
oh yeah, while not mentioned here, I don't think we're too strict on foreigners beside the above, I do however think we can have a horrible mentally towards foreigners at times.. While we praise ourself with the law of jante, we are easy to blame "outsiders" when something bad happens
Well, post DK, and now postnord has certainly cut back service from when I was a boy in the middle of Jutland. You do get much better service and prices from GLS for instance.
I agree on the rental deposit tho, even in Copenhagen area, anything more than 3 months deposit and first month paid up front is very high. That can only be because it's very difficult to find anything inside Copenhagen municipality.
Anyway about the policies making it difficult for immigrants, I can only agree. You basically need to know each little detail of the law, to stay legally in Denmark. My wife, from China, feared the permanent resident test a lot, but it turned out to be the language test being the difficult one. Anyway after taking that culture test and passing Danish 3, she's very much set and able to apply for permanent. Applying for citizenship is a whole other story tho.
But if you don't enter through family reunification, you will in general face some harsh requirements, that's not specifically Copenhagen. But because of the fierce competition to have an apartment in CPH, it gets difficult because you're supposed to have a home that is not on a time limited contract, as a foreigner.
@@BenjaminVestergaard What do you mean with the cut back service? Do your mail not arrive? are you paying excessively for it? I'm not quite sure what I'm missing here, as I said, I've never had any problems with it, I can't even imagine what problems I could have hehe
@@Vradica haha, that is such a Danish response "I am so sorry you drove your car into my car, that's my fault, but we should probably exchange insurance information"
PostNord has gotten a lot more expensive and a little less reliable. hehe
@@James_XXIY_crafts How does that parallel fit here? :)
I'll ask again.. How? I might just not know how that works to be honest.. I receive monthly packages, however its value is always above a thousand, so the companies I go through pay for the mailing and I've never had any issues with the mailing system itself arriving or even just arriving on time.. Or maybe we're talking about letters or something? I can imagine why they would NEED to be expensive to send in these modern times :P
Have you ever thought of making a video about the differences between Danish and and American entertainments like movie theaters or carnival/amusement parks. Since i personally have always thought them to so different from each other like hygge vs spectacular
Interesting idea, there’s a lot of differences where things don’t overlap 😃
Great idea, I'm a Dane that's had my rounds in Orlando (Disney & Universal + a bit more)
I think that if you want to compare those attractions, you'd need to go to Legoland here in Denmark.... Bakken is nice, Tivoli a little more polished, but Legoland is really where the competition with Orlando comes in, especially if you have an extra day and visit Lego house.
I can see how it must have been hard for you guys during the US Election last year , I totally understand what you are talking about, when I go to Denmark , friends , family, wants to discuss US politic and it can get really TOO MUCH!
Danish people always think they know everything about us plotics but they really often only know what the news tell them. So it is always like the democrats are good and repuplicans are bad. And Obama was a big savior and Trump a big liar and he is racist and good you got joe Biden and the Clintons are Angels bla bla. It is like that becouse the news leans towards the left...
They dont look any deeper thsn that but still think they should talk about it and of course they are alot smarte than u americans in their own head. So as a dame i can see why u feel that way.
@@MrJuhs91 Exactly , they believe EVERYTHING they hear on the so called news , mostly lied, I can't even talk with my Danish family about what's going on.
Love this video, and I feel the same about having to answer for your country... I am tired of that topic of the former guy. ;) Even though you talked about very valid points of things that can be hard to deal with while living here, you did it very well and respectfully as always. :)
Thank you so much! We were a little nervous to touch on some of these things so I’m glad we hit the right tone 😃
As for it being expensive, yes, sure, it can be.
BUT
Just as you said "paying New York prices" the same can be said for where you live now, Copenhagen.
"Copenhagen prices" is a thing in Denmark.. and according to memory, Copenhagen has also frequently (don't know if it is at this point in time) appeared on the list of the "20 most expensive cities in the world to live in"....
As for the expensive "eating out" part, true, it's not cheap going out to have dinner ect. but on the other hand, you don't have to tip in Denmark.
15% of the bill is actually tip. (more or less)
Servers here doesn't have to rely on tips to make ends meet, it's already a part of their salary.
There's a whole more to the "drikkepenge" subject, but it was due to a law that got passed in 69 and then some other things as well.
Great points, and something we want to cover soon is a video on the differences in eating out in DK vs. USA including most of what you laid out so well 😃🇩🇰
Plus as you mentioned New York or Copenhagen prices also come with New York or Copenhagen wages - so it balances out the budget well enough.
Thank you Mike and Derek for your very reasonable answers. The Danes do indeed respect people with honest opinions.
Especially for the part about being ambassadors for the US must really get annoying, and I totally get that. I think it's quite hypocritical for Danes to ask so many loaded questions about the political stance of Americans regarding American politics, but keeping Danish politics private.
Thanks for this video. It feels honest and true and not like something made by the Danish tourism office to make you move to Denmark. (I'm Danish) 👍🙂
😂 but we really do love it here and have had great experiences overall. I guess even when we want to point out the difficulties we are overly positive haha
When you said Postal Service I was like "what's that?" as I never use the word in english. But when I looked it up I thought aahhh ofc. *Remembers PostNord delivery time nam flashbacks*
Sorry to put you through that kind of PTSD haha 😂🇩🇰
Grey skies and dark winters also go on my list.
I'm curious. Do apartments in Denmark come with kitchens, or lights? Here in Germany they usually don't. It also like you said, trying to find an apartment if you are a foreigner. Even though I am a dual National. I have had a difficult time, renting apartments that I wanted. Got turned down many times. The rent deposit thing surprises me though. Here they have to refund it, or you can take them to court.
Your right. Post is a disaster. Yes. We care for our country. Some Danes think: if you want to live here, you have to make an effort and take part.
We really never knew how bad the post could be until now haha. And we tend to agree with that sentiment of making an effort to take part in society 😊
Glad to hear that you guys can deal with some of our flaws lol. It's that vicious circle really; if we pay the staff a fair wage, all along the chain from producer to serving staff, eating out becomes pricey. When producers don't need to supply 5 million examples to a supermarket but maybe 5,000 or 50,000, then there's a better chance for them to source or provide materials of a higher quality too - we can easily overlook just how much that snowballs. I think it's good for promoting independence in terms of entertainment - if you can't work it out for yourself, it's gonna cost because it ain't anyone else's unpaid job - once we've left home. I think it can only become the 'normal' thing in economies like the UK, US, where there is always someone desperate for the work/money or in developing countries where there is large economic disparity within society, between the 'haves' & 'have not's. A Dane will just give it the 'Overenskomst!' and know there's a solidarity between enough people to keep it that way (ish, kinda.. for now....whimper).. I kinda feel that here, if the consumer wants to be 'King' - he best have the walk to back the talk, or at least pockets beyond his ambitions. Poor people staying poor trying to drive, shave, eat and sleep just like the insta-lifestyle that a millionaire is being paid to pretend he has.. Næh check yourself and check your lane before stepping. 'Janteloven anno 2021'. If we're checking ourselves the same way we expect companies to, it'll turn out just fine. Either side of the pond.
7:20 Hey c'mon guys!! Danish also works in Sweden, Norway, the Faroe Islands and Greenland! (kind of)
The rental market seems to work sooo differently in the different Nordic countries. Denmark with the deposits, Norway with the whole "appliances not included" thing, us Swedes with the multitude of different queue-systems ... Funny when we're so similar on other points.
Ah, wow - those differences don’t sound too fun either!
I have used PostNord hundred of times, and I have never had any troubles! My mails always get there the next day. Even though it’s going to an other country.
👀 really?! We have a different experience haha.
No surprises here, I agree with your opinions. The higher price, which in turn lead to less consumption in some areas (relative to the US, not all countries) can be hard if you are use too getting more "bank for your buck" and being able to consume more.
Separate the people from the government's decisions, I love that. That should apply everywhere
The postal service - that was the understatement of the year 🤭🙃🤣🤣🤣
😂 😂 😂
You can also use danish in Norway, Greenland, Fareo Islands and in south Sweden.
How close is it? We always wondered if it’s discernible but difficult to reply to or as close as the different accents within America or the UK.
Postnord is also known to not even check if you're home and just pretend like they did. Stories of people who were home all day only to recieve a "We tried to deliver your package but you werent home" are very common.
Yes!!!!! We tracked it when we worked from home for a year and they actually tried to deliver it under 1/3 of the times.
Here in Germany the landlord is not permitted to ask for more than three months (without the costs for water or heating) of deposit. Also needs a good reason if he intends not to reimburse the whole deposit. Not the right colour especially if it is white is not a reason. I guess you don't even have to paint at all but i'm not sure.
I believe that the rules are the same here in Denmark... But it's so difficult to find rentals in CPH that a lot of people are willing to do some under-the-table business, just to get within walking distance of midtown.
@@BenjaminVestergaard Thank you for explaining. I live in an arpartment from a housing company. Bribing is not possible ( I suspect).
I agree with your points. I'm a native Danish citizen and I like my country but it doesn't prevent me from criticizing things that I find problematic. It's difficult to find new friends in DK even for native Danes as they generally prefer sticking with their old friends. It's extremely difficult to rent a suitable apartment as the waiting lists are usually very long. Often you will have to wait 10-15 years for a vacant apartment. And you're right that the Danish postal service sucks big time, especially PostNord who have lost or misplaced numerous parcels adressed to me. But apart from that there are many things I love about DK, especially the health care system. Things that prevent me from moving to another country though I do love the USA that I have visited 6 times.
You are quite right, no country is perfect and we love Denmark so we take the good and the less-good all together 😃🇩🇰
So basically you´re bickering about the exact same things as we Danes do.
Guys,- you´re becoming Danish.
Welcome. :)
In all fairness, they didn’t bicker.
@@Trex100 True, but anyway....
Question... I think you said "I learned to stop asking 'How are you doing?'" I haven't watched *all* your videos yet (so I apologize if this is asking you to repeat yourself), but if I understood you correctly, could you share more about that, please? (If leaving a link to a specific part of a different video of yours is easiest, that's great too! Thank you!)
Omg last point is soooo true just got back from spending the summer in Copenhagen and I noticed that so much😂 just like you said you just would be out having a drink can you get it interrogated on why do US is the way it is😂
The rain and the darkness. How is the rain, gloom and dark not getting to t you? I love my home country, but the weather is nasty and often depressing.
I agree 💯 ─Postal service has gone downhill since the privatization in 1995. 📯Post Danmark did a great job, and we had dedicated post offices that are now gone. 😮💨
With PostNord it is not only expensive, but _waaaaay_ slower than when I was in my youth.
Back in the 80's you'd mail a letter and the recipient would get it the next day; the stamp cost perhaps 5 DKK.🤩
About the postal service. yeah it's shit but it really depends on who you chose as a postal service fx. Danish Freightmen is acctually what most people chose cuz sometimes depending on who you have bought your stuff from it's next day delevery. I can say it cuz I work at Danish Freightmen on Fyn where almost all my customers tell me that I was quick and they only bought it the day before. But postnord and gls etc. are generally slow and bad to use depending on what it is you have bought.
there is an organization called LLO which helps with problems with landlords. and the problem you describe is mostly a copenhagen and big city problem in Denmark, in the countryside apartments and houses are very cheap, I live in a 185 square meter house for about a million Danish kroner. and it is very common in the province.
Denmark is not in the same way expensive in the countryside, and the small towns in the province, a loaf actually costs almost half in the small towns than in Copenhagen. and the salary is actually not that much lower. a family can have up to 17000-10000 kr more for themselves per month by living in the province
Copenhagen is also more expensive to live in than the rest of Denmark, I'm from Northern Jutland, I'm used to high prices, and I still have a minor heartattack when I see the prices in the capitol.
Very true.
On average people fellow American foreign politics and the big controversies more than they fellow common Danish politics. Many Danes just want more knowledge so they will ask an American if they can, especially when the President says a lot of things.
It is really difficult to not start asking about that stuff because we are curious.
no no our system is designed to make sure that people who comes to Denmark wants to take part in supporting our Society. Not to scar them away lol. We had way to many moving to Denmark and not even wanting to try and learn the language, or even work here they just wanted the social goods we have cause of high taxes without even paying 0 Danish krone in taxes to support the system. We Danes got tired of that shiet. That is the real reason for tightening the screw on immigrants.
Hack for postal. Get it sent to your work. Everyone does it here where I work. You'll get your stuff faster and easily. Granted. It's an office building but it's so sweet. I get a mail from the "office building secretary" when it's ready to be picked up. Oh and order things early in December, otherwise you might be standing in line. xD
hello I have a question for you, how do you feel as immigrants in Denmark regarding the language? is it easy for immigrants like you to communicate just in English?
In the US its also expensive to eat out .. we went i San Fransico and New york in 2015 .. and when we compare the excange rate $ vs kr. and the mandatory 20% in tip it's more expensive .. 😁😁
Its not mandatory- its suggested, and its 15%.
@@jimmybaldbird3853 my mistake about fhe 20% .. but everyone expects the 15 % in tip ..
@@olexxr8503 yeah, but on a 20 dollar meal thats 3 bucks. Id have to see the restaurants you ate at- nothings cheaper in denmark haha even when you compare with nyc. Thats cocky to compare sf and nyc with aarhus and copenhagen
@@olexxr8503 You were actually correct about the amount-20%-that's generally expected, and in many cities 25% is expected, provided the service was decent. Ironically, in cheaper eating establishments, where waitstaff's wages are typically low, the waiter, who could really use the money, will only make $4.00 from your average tip for a $20.00 meal, while the waiter in a higher-end restaurant, who is typically paid more and is given more benefits (often required by law in many cities) will expect a $50.00 tip from your $200.00 bill.
@@tyreesetranh4074 in Denmark you can easily eat out for a 100 $ = 650 dkr without giving tips .. 🙂
I think it would be so interesting if you made a video about trash sorting and going to the dumb in DK vs US
We could look into that, we would have to do a bit of research though. Some states and municipalities (kommune) do a much better job than others in the States but we could take the cities that we come from compared to DK.
One thing You forgets? Don’t forget umbrella when you living in Denmark! Always is raining 🌧
For sure! If you don’t have one, you’ll need one eventually 😂
Yeah as I dane I agree with the point at the post service , it was good untill 2007-2008 ,ever since it have been horrible
I would love to have a beer with you. I am married to Kento, a Japanese and we have so much to talk about and I have also been an expat in the UK and the US.