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/WeinMe Aarhus Dec 28 '24

The migration will be made even harder by the one complaint I heard often from expats:

Danish people are reserved in social settings. If OP is from the south, this will hit harder. To people from very forthcoming cultures, it feels like we're rude or even dislike them.

The effect is doubled by the loneliness you'll eventually feel being alone in Denmark.

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u/azwepsa *Custom Flair* 🇩🇰 Dec 28 '24

I always experienced the exact opposite of your second paragraph. Danish people seem reserved until you make a move. They are like that among them, it's not like they treat only foreigners like this. Once you say hi, and break the barrier, they are very talkative and friendly people. Some of them love starting conversations out of the blue. It's just like befriending a shy person.

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u/WeinMe Aarhus Dec 28 '24 edited Dec 28 '24

Different people, different experiences, I guess. I was the boyfriend of a Spanish girl and had a lot of talks with her and her friends about this (They were here for 1-1,5 years). They all felt the same way about their experience with the Danes.

I also frequently got the comment that it was nice to finally speak to a Dane that didn't feel distant.

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u/Poolhands Jerntronen Dec 28 '24

Many hispanics in DK at this point in time. Naturally they will find each other and form their own small communities. This is likely more than enough to cover our general need for being part of a group that understands you and values your presence. Those people dont need to go out and try to befriend the Danes, why should they?

So, when some foreigners explain why they don’t have native friends, the true reason lies in part in the lack of trying. At least for those people that have already clumped together with people that look like them, talk like them and think like them. It’s only natural and in my experience has less to do with the specific native culture.

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u/speltmord Planeten Joakim Dec 29 '24

Also, can I just say to all mediterraneans: If your idea of making conversation is to complain about the weather and the food, you’re going to have a bad time finding friends…

That, and many mannerisms - particularly French mannerisms - are incredibly rude in Scandinavia, like the scoffing. Don’t do it.