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social conditions

Everyday life in Denmark book
Books, Stories about life in Denmark, The Danish Year

New Book! The Danish Year, 12 Months of Customs, Quirks, and Rhythms of Everyday Life in Denmark

Why do Danes “hit a cat out of a barrel” in February, set a single candle in the window in May, disappear for three weeks in July, and set out a bowl of porridge for a mythical “nisse” in December?

What are the aspects of the Danish year that aren’t on any calendar?

You’ll find the answers to these questions and so much more in our new book, The Danish Year: Twelve Months of Customs, Quirks, and Rhythms of Everyday Life in Denmark, available exclusively on Amazon Kindle for only DK35/USD 5.

(If you don’t have a Kindle, you can still read this short book on your tablet or phone using the Kindle app.)

Why is this book electronic-only?

After more than 10 years of putting out print books, I’ve chosen to debut this one as electronic-only on Amazon Kindle.

Why?

🔴 It’s short – only 89 pages – and going online allows me to sell it at a modest price that’s within most people’s budgets. And online publication allows for color illustration, which would make a print book very expensive.

🟡 Short books fit the way people read now. Our attention spans are fractured, sadly, and as a passionate reader myself, I have plenty of half-read books around the house.

The Amazon Kindle app allows people to read the book wherever and whenever they have time, on their tablets, phones, and or Kindle readers if they have one. (I do.)

🔴 Online books can be revised as circumstances evolve. Although this book isn’t really a news book, small facts do change (such as the name of the Danish prime minister), and it’s nice to be able to revise information that would otherwise make the book look dated.

New strategy

My new strategy is this: as opposed to writing one big book every few years (How to Work in Denmark, my previous book, came out in 2022) I plan to write 1-2 short books per year.

Some will also be published on paper, and some will just live online as part of my new “𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬” series on Amazon.

April 22, 2026 by
learn to be Danish
Podcasts, Stories about life in Denmark, The Danish Year

August, The first day of school, and how children learn to be Danish: The Danish Year Part 8

I’ve referred to “The Danish Year” before on How to Live in Denmark. It’s a series of events that are simply expected to happen every year in Denmark, even if they aren’t formal holidays. In 2025 I’m going to try to do a podcast every month about aspects of the Danish year, and how they fit into the overall context of where Denmark is coming from, and where it’s going.

August in Denmark is the beginning of fall. The summer strawberries disappear from the supermarket, the leaves start to turn brown on the trees, and the primary schools open again, after their usual brief six-week summer vacation.

This month some young Danes will be starting school for the very first time. They’re usually welcomed with a ceremony that includes Danish flags, speeches, and songs, and their parents, who take a lot of photos of the first day of school.

This was something I unfortunately didn’t know when my own daughter had her first day of school in Denmark. She’d already been going to playground classes there, so on the first official academic day I just dropped her off at school as if it were an ordinary day, and there nobody there to take her picture.

Such is being a foreigner and not knowing the local customs. She still brings it up to this day.

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August 9, 2025 by
Stories about life in Denmark

Moving to Denmark, a Guide for Americans

Moving to Denmark as an American has become a hot topic recently; I hear a lot from Americans interested in immigration to Denmark.

Since I’m selling books called How to Live in Denmark and How to Work in Denmark, you’d think I would encourage as many Americans as possible to look into Denmark immigration.

But moving to Denmark with a U.S. passport isn’t as easy as just buying a plane ticket and a lot of sweaters.

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June 9, 2021 by
Stories about life in Denmark

Denmark and World War II: Thoughts on an anniversary

Anyone who takes a walk around Copenhagen is bound to run across one of the hundreds of concrete bunkers that were built to defend Danes from air raids during World War II.

There are a couple in the park near my house, huge slabs of grey concrete now partially covered by greenery. Many of the interiors have been renovated, and the bunkers are very popular with up-and-coming rock bands, who use them as soundproof rehearsal halls.

The bunkers were never used for their intended purpose.

The German occupying force rolled in by land, and Denmark surrendered almost immediately – the flat Danish landscape would have been no match for the powerful Nazi tank divisions of 1940. Denmark was occupied for more than 5 years.

Tomorrow evening – Monday, May 4, 2020 – many Danes will put a candle in the window to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of that occupation.

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May 3, 2020 by
Stories about life in Denmark

Denmark’s Weapons Against COVID-19: Early Action, High Trust—and a No-Nonsense Queen

The worst-case coronavirus scenario is as terrifying in Denmark as it is everywhere else. There is no guarantee that the Danish health system will have the resources to help everyone who needs care. And the economy might be in tatters when the quarantine ends.

But for now, there is a certain pleasure in watching the gentle social machinery of the Danish state swing into action.

At the lakes in downtown Copenhagen—the city’s former moat—kindly city employees in safety vests make sure everyone runs or strolls in a clockwise direction, minimizing the chance of close face-to-face encounters.

The Danish police sent a friendly message to every mobile telephone in the country, reminding recipients to practice social distancing as you “enjoy your weekend.”

And Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made an appearance on the Instagram account of Denmark’s top Gen-Z influencer, Anders Hemmingsen. She empathized with teens’ desire to go out and party, but encouraged them to stay home and tolerate their parents for a little longer.

I occasionally write for other media outlets and websites. The above is an excerpt for a piece about how Denmark handles coronavirus that I wrote for Quillette, an international magazine devoted to free thought.

Read the entire piece in Quillette here.


Hear all our How to Live in Denmark podcasts on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts.

Read more:

COVID-19 in Denmark: A few thoughts

April 2, 2020 by
Stories about life in Denmark

Coronavirus and Denmark: A few thoughts

The first Danish Coronavirus case was diagnosed on February 27, and so many things have changed in Denmark over the past four weeks.

Most notable, of course, is the misery of the people infected with the virus, the pain of the families who have lost loved ones, and the Herculean efforts of the health care workers who care for them.

But daily life has changed for ordinary citizens as well, and not just because many of us aren’t quite sure what will be happening with our jobs and exactly how we will be paying the rent in the future, not to mention all that online shopping from home we’ve been doing during quarantine.

Schools are closed, with the kids (more or less) learning from home, and many of their parents are (more or less) working from home too. Cinemas, shops, gyms, and swimming halls have been shut down in an attempt to break the chain of infections. Concerts and sporting events are canceled.

Confirmations scheduled for the spring have been put off – a crushing disappointment for the teenagers who have spent the past 6 months in Bible studies with hopes of a big spring party.

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March 26, 2020 by
Podcasts, Stories about life in Denmark

Drinking in Denmark

Earlier this year, my daughter and I visited several Danish high schools to help her decide where she’ll continue her education. We looked at the classrooms, and at the laboratories – my daughter likes science. We looked at the athletic faculties, and we looked at the bars.

Yes, most of the high schools we visited had a bar, or at least a café where they serve the students beer on tap, or hard cider in cans, or alco-pops in bottles when they want to relax after class.

Now, high school students are usually 16 to 19 years old, and the legal purchase age for wine and beer in Denmark is 16, so it’s all totally legal.

It’s just a bit surprising when you come from anyplace where teenagers are encouraged not to drink alcohol to find a bar conveniently located next to the school gym.

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February 2, 2020 by
Podcasts, Stories about life in Denmark

Debt in Denmark

January, February, and March are some of the dreariest months in Denmark – it’s dark, with no Christmas lights to pep it up – and many people are dealing with a heavy load of year-end debt from travelling, parties, dining out, and gifts.

Along with religion, personal finances (privatøkonomi, which many Danes insist on directly translating to “my private economy”) is a topic that is rarely discussed in Denmark. But the country has one of the highest rates of household debt in the world.

And once you get into debt in Denmark, it can be very difficult to get out.

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January 12, 2020 by
Stories about life in Denmark

What hygge is and isn’t: Thoughts on a misused word

It’s unusual for us Americans to miss a business opportunity – it feels a little unnatural, to be honest – but for some reason, I have never before written about hygge.

Hygge is big business. Hygge housewares catalogues offer candles, soft blankets, earthenware coffee mugs, and warm socks that will help you, too, experience hygge. Hygge tours are offered in major Danish cities.

And authors who do write about hygge are richly rewarded. They’re interviewed by glossy magazines, their books are arranged in elaborate piles in the shops at Copenhagen airport, and they speak to adoring audiences in London, Paris, and Rome. Meanwhile, my next exciting engagement is at Holsterbro Gymnasium. (I really am excited, kids – see you there!)

Selling hygge has become an industry. But hygge, like love, is not really something you can buy.

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December 8, 2019 by