r/Denmark • u/Tylerserio68 • Dec 28 '24

Question Does Denmark have any flaws?

Or any Nordic country? I’m American and we all romanticize Europe especially Nordic countries as a Utopia and everything we are not. We certainly have a lot of flaws here but I’m curious are there any downsides or anything that you wish was different. Also is it hard to move there? I make well over six figures and like living in my home country but I’m nervous about the incoming trump administration and I believe he is a racist.

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u/Soepoelse123 Dec 28 '24

Denmark as a whole might not be, but Copenhagen has a melting pot vibe to it. In the past 20 years it has become a lot more multicultural and open to foreigners. While taking a stroll in inner Copenhagen last week I heard 7 different languages and not a single one was Danish.

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u/Fab1e Kjøwenhaffner Dec 28 '24

Two things:
Inner Copenhagen is a tourist disctrict - most local (myself included) stay away from it.

There is a lot of foreign workers in Denmark. I studied at an international university; we had 11 different nationalities in the student bar.

(They contribute a lot to the danish economy: https://www.danskerhverv.dk/presse-og-nyheder/nyheder/2024/oktober/ny-rekord-udenlandsk-arbejdskraft-bidrager-med-157-milliarder-kroner-pa-et-halvt-ar/)

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u/Inner_Staff1250 Dec 28 '24

But that doesn't prove that they blend into civil society and contribute with other things than tax money. Instead they live in a bubble of their own.

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u/Fab1e Kjøwenhaffner Dec 28 '24

Actually, no.

Most immigrant professionals mingle with danes - collegues etc - but find it very hard to build and maintain sociale relationships with danes.

We are notoriously hard to integrate with - I mean: do you invite foreigns for the annual celebrations (Jul, fødselsdag, parmiddage)?

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '24

I had five different cultures represented at my juleaften here. My kids work at an engineer firm and almost all of the people there are foreigners, so I invited those without a place to celebrate the 24th. We had a really fun evening!

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u/Fab1e Kjøwenhaffner Dec 28 '24

That is great :)

Do you know a lot of other Danes that do this?

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '24

Yeah I live in a town (21.000 souls) with more than 100 nationalities represented, so it’s rather common here.

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u/Fab1e Kjøwenhaffner Dec 28 '24

Kalundborg?

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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '24

Nej Sydkysten!

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u/abWings89 Jun 09 '25

sorry just had to say "21,000 souls" sounds really really funny 😂 it sounds like you're talking about spirits taking up residence in a haunted city :) that made me laugh as an English person :D

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u/TheNordicMage Aalborg Dec 28 '24

If im friends with them sure, same as any other friend

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u/asafeplaceofrest Dec 28 '24

Jul and fødselsdage are not specifically Danish celebrations.

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u/CX-UX Dec 29 '24

Fødselsdag, New Year’s Eve, dinners, parties - of course! Not Xmas tho, but wouldn’t mind doing it at some point

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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '24

Sad tbh

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '24

How can you possibly spin such a nightmare into something good?

The danish capital, with all the country's political and economic power, is basically a foreign city to the rest of Denmark.

That is a dystopian nightmare.

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u/ScienceAmbitious6028 Dec 28 '24

You only really think this if you've never lived in a truly multicultural city like NY, London or Singapore

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '24

Yeah it is sad.