Hi all!
We’re very excited to move to Denmark soon as lifelong Americans. I have a good job lined up, and we’re set on a place to live for a while.
Any advice from people who have done it, looked it up, had friends who have done it, etc? Just in general :)
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.
Pilsner Urquel is a damn fine beer.
And from Czech, not Denmark. Are you thinking of Carlsberg? Mikkeler is the brand you recommend to people going to Denmark
Buy fancy feast and put in on some toast. Now you know what danish food is like.
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.
Without knowing what country or region you’re going to would help
Never met an American who wants to “talk about work” out here. They all prefer to keep their free time work-discussion free.
Oh switching to metric is a great idea.
Denmark :)
American here, got stationed in Italy for a few years. Learning Celsius was easy with this in mind:
0 freezing
10 cool
20 nice
30 hot
40 swelteringCool!!
Or a “good enough” rough estimate is: double (the Celsius number) + 30
(0 * 2) + 30 = 30F freezing
(10 * 2) + 30 = 50F cool
(20 * 2) + 30 = 70F nice
(30 * 2) + 30 = 90F hot
(40 * 2) + 30 = 110F sweltering
In reverse: subtract 30 (from the Fahrenheit number), and divide by 2
(30F - 30) / 2 = 0 C freezing
(40F - 30) / 2 = 5 C freezing
(50F - 30) / 2 = 10 C cool
(60F - 30) / 2 = 15 C cool
(70F - 30) / 2 = 20 C nice
(80F - 30) / 2 = 25 C nice
(90F - 30) / 2 = 30 C hot
(100F - 30) / 2 = 35 C hot
(110F - 30) / 2 = 40 C sweltering
(120F - 30) / 2 = 45 C start praying
It’s easier to just remember a few key values and estimate based on those. I know the conversions for every ten degrees Celsius from -10 to 30
Do you speak the local language, if not start getting courses now, even if many person are fluent in english, not everyone will want to speak English. (You know the joke about Parisian who don’t know English if you start talking with them in English, but would switch to a perfect English if you have a slight foreign accent when speaking french)
Expect that even basic stuff won’t work the same way as you’re used too. It’s already an issue when moving between two European countries, even basic stuff like what you can legally find on a lease or how to get health coverage will drastically change.
In southern Europe people are pretty touchy/tactile and an America would feel sexually harrassed, Nordic Europe is the other way around with pretty distant people where an American would pass for way too touchy/friendly
Learn to ride a bike, and expect to walk way more than in the US, also remember that even though winter are milder, Europe is way far up north than the US
Including which country could help :)
Fair enough, moving to Denmark!
lucky.
You are welcome! You may visit the danish l instance at feddit.dk
Just as Denmark, it is not very large but plenty of people willing to help, mixed with some degree of Danish sarcasm
I haven’t been there, but get a bike!
Unless work is helping you out, expect to have difficulties opening up bank account in EU due to FATCA. Lots of banks don’t want to deal with that, so they’ll outright reject Americans.
As others have said, try to learn the language, at least a little. Although I’d say 90% of the population will know English.
Take ferry over to Germany if you want cheaper beer/wine/alc. The Swedes go to Denmark, and Danish go to Germany :).
Q: will you be returning to the US?
They are helping set up a bank account, thankfully.
Yeah, for sure we are leaning in and gonna try to learn Danish. Worst case my wife and I have a secret code language to ourselves in the future :)
We don’t intend to return, but anything could happen in life
Hej Frank!
Welcome in advance!
Where are you gonna live? You don’t need to specify city, but perhaps approximate destination? Jylland, Fyn, Sjælland? And which part?
Which line of work?
Indeed, try to learn Danish even though it is a ridiculous language. I believe there are even free courses, although I am absolutely sure. Here’s a few words to get you started:
Hej/godmorgen/goddav’ = hello/good morning/howdy (last word especially in Jutland) Farvel = goodbye Tak = thank you Velbekomme = you are welcome Undskyld = sorry Undskyld mig = excuse me Ingen problem = no worries Jeg hedder Frank = my names is Frank Godt at møde dig = nice to meet you Vi ses/hav det godt = see you/take care Hav en god dag = have a good day
And remember! Free health care! Free schools and education! Although you will pay higher taxes, lol.
Hope you will enjoy! And feel free to ask questions. I live very near Aarhus in Eastern Jutland.
Ah this is great! We are doing some Danish, and will continue to learn it. We’ll be in Copenhagen, which will make leaning on our English a little easier.
I’m an engineer, and my work will be all in English, which is a great way to start.
I spent ~$8,000 USD on shoulder surgery this year. I can’t wait for healthcare lol
Take me with you?
It’ll be tempting, but don’t try to drive there.
Time to learn a new language, unless you’re moving to Ireland or Malta I guess. Tons of people come to Germany and are shocked when not everyone speaks English.
Anyway, I think you’ll get better answers if you specify a country. The EU is quite diverse, so I don’t think there’s a ton of advice that’ll be true everywhere in the EU.
Malta
Maltese is an awesome language!
Tons of people come to Germany and are shocked when not everyone speaks English.
It’s funny, I more often seem to read so many stories of people saying “Finally, I can practice my German with someone!”
And the German is like “I speak English it’s okay.” Lol
I think it’s exactly those stories that give people a false impression when they come here. It’s not that they are false, most of the time you’ll certainly find people who can speak decent English. A tourist probably won’t need any German, but when it comes to living here long-term, dealing with bureaucracy, finding a job or making friends, knowing German is pretty essential.
Most people saying that also are either tourists, or live near a military base, where a lot of the German population know how to speak English. Knowing danke, bitte, and entshuldigung does quite a lot. Wer ist döner is the most essential phrase in German though. Unsure about danish. Probably similar sounding but slightly more English since the closest language to Denmark for quite some time was Anglish.
Just dont pull a gun when some gets unauthorized on your property.
Depending on where you’ll live exactly, look up the local train and bus operator. If you’re in a city, chances are, you won’t even need a car most of the time.
Also get ready to install a different suite of apps. WhatsApp is big in europe, although Signal is obviously preferable when possible.
Yeah, I’ll be in Copenhagen. I hope to not own a car at all! Just a bike and public transit
The danish people will maybe say a lot of things about us swedes, but don’t believe the lies.
Do not believe this liar. Danes speak the truth.
Too bad nobody can understand what they are saying
Could a Dane confirm any of this or review it?
Am Danish. This is fairly accurate, a solid 60% of Danish is just random guttural sounds. This documentary however misses that the remainder is 30% raw deadpan sarcasm, and 10% English words pronounced in an awful accent.
To contrast and compare, this is an average modern Swedish television quiz show: https://youtu.be/lzv6ljgwgzs
Frederick,
Thank you very much for this quality review, comment, and link. I’ll have a look this evening.
Euro-fight!
Scandi-fight is even better. All the Danes, Swedes and Norwegians secretly love each other (basically the same people and the same societies) but they’ve made an international sport of dissing each other. It’s like three brothers come home for Christmas.
“Finnish him!”
Denmark isn’t real, it’s a fabrication of big pork to keep us in line. Don’t believe their lies.
- 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.
UK inhabitant here. Is being invited to someone’s house a casual thing in the US? I don’t think I’ve ever been invited by someone who isn’t a close friend.
Greece here, we invite people to our homes all the time, even if we don’t know them very well.
I lived in Italy and Germany and it does happen here. Mostly with friends you already know reasonably well though.
All of this sounds so exciting. Thanks for the reply.
