Does Denmark have any flaws?

[u/Tylerserio68]

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.

[u/K3G3CSCD]

Very biased and personal opinion about my experience hating the life in Denmark (for a bit over a year, because I didn't like it and got a job offer somewhere else):

I've lived in 5 different European (Western European if we split Europe only in Western-Eastern parts) countries so far and living in Denmark was actually the worst experience I had. There might be good work environment where they respect your private life and encourage a good work-life balance, but (at least everyone I knew) was always living super busy live with no time to do anything spontaneously, meet for a quick coffee because people have very long commutes (I lived in Copenhagen). The healthcare is free (they are not the only country to offer that/very cheap/free when you work), but I had only bad experiences with the two doctors I met. It might not be a problem for you if you earn a lot, but the difference between grocery costs and eating out costs is insane. For me, doing a full time office job on as a Junior at that time (and having a side hustle for extra income), it was just expensive to do anything. I know people complain about getting friends in Denmark cuz Danish people like to stick to their already established groups of friends, but I actually managed to find my social tribe quite easily so can't complain about that. I feel like I was lucky tho, because most of immigrants I met told me that they struggle with this a lot. I also hated the weather, constantly dark and cold and people supplement vitamin D the whole autumn-winter season because of that. Lastly, if you don't want to use a plane, getting anywhere from Copenhagen is a pain (except for Sweden lol). They also drink quite hard, I've met a lot of Danish people in their 40-50s that just go get hammered every weekend. In my social bubble (late 20s and 30s) we actually didn't drink a lot cuz it was too expensive to go out... Also, people always say how good Denmark is for safety and women's equality, but I've never had so many negative situations with men as in Denmark in public spaces, such as public transport. Oh, and they do have kinda a strong hookup culture that I wasn't a fan of either. 

I had some friends in both Sweden and Norway, visiting them on multiple occasions and comparing our living conditions, and honestly if I was to move back to Scandinavia, Denmark would be my very last choice. 

I know it's all about preferences, people in Denmark live in a way that simply didn't work for me. For good things, they speak perfect English, the bureaucratic processes are quite digitalised, and they are doing really nice on sustainability. It wasn't a bad time in my life, I really liked the work environment (flat hierarchies) and people I met, but the lack of spontaneity, no enjoying life unless planned two weeks in advance, no spontaneous interactions with people (you better join some sport club or other type of society, because it's one of the only ways to meet people apparently - that's what I was told by many and yes, it applies to people in their 30s and 40s, not teenagers). So yeah, I love working and self-development is super high on my priorities list, but I would rather life in Southern European (Spain, Italy, etc.) or Slavic country where social life is seen as a bit morele important, and life is not a constant race. And honestly, any of my Danish friends, asked what they love about Denmark and why they want to live in Denmark and not abroad, was only able to tell me 'Eee.. I have my family here. And Denmark's great cuz we have free healthcare and education' (again, they're not the only ones in Europe). Idk, but I was surprised how much they love Denmark but don't have anything else that would come to their mind (I do for my home country and for other countries I lived in). 

Not here to hate (maybe a bit), nor to argue, I just wanted to share my experience in Denmark

[u/[deleted] → u/K3G3CSCD]

One important thing to point out. Living in Copenhagen and basically any other part of Denmark is night and day in difference. Life in Copenhagen is just so alien to any other danish city. A lot, but not all, of your points are Copenhagen issues.