It’s been exactly a year since I moved to Denmark. And this feels like a cause for a – no, not celebration – reflection is more like it. Not that there’s nothing to celebrate, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that I tend to use milestones as an excuse to ponder on things rather than celebrate them. Not one of my better qualities for sure, but there you go.
So what do I feel after a year in Denmark? Well, one thing I’m proud of is that I survived my first winter here. And I have to say, it wasn’t half as bad as I expected. Perhaps my general tendency to prepare for the worst served me well this time, but I felt that once I figured out how to dress properly, I was fine. The snowy period in November was fantastic, and April’s been so gloriously sunny that it felt like a sweet reward for having endured a Nordic winter.
Other than the positive sunny vibes recently, I’ve also met some great people and companies that made me realize Denmark can sometimes be more international than I expect. One local technology start-up I recently worked with has a Copenhagen office of 20 people – half of which are not Danish! Still a rarity here unfortunately but good to know these places exist. Another pleasant thing is that I’m finally starting to crack the code of this once unintelligible language – I actually understand what they’re talking about on the news on TV if I really focus hard (I still don’t understand what they’re saying, but I guess a year is not sufficient for that).
Then there were a few things on the not-so-positive side. For starters, hearing about a friend of a friend who was recently kicked out of Denmark for being Australian and unlucky enough to get entangled in Danish bureaucracy reminded me of a side of Denmark I decidedly dislike. Or going to the pharmacy to buy my usual asthma inhaler that used to cost me £7 in London, and being asked to pay 1,500 kr. (yes, that’s 25 times more expensive in case you think I got the figures wrong) – well, that sure doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy about Denmark. I’ve lived in 3 countries before moving here and never paid more than 10% of the manufacturer’s price for my medications. Now that I live in the country with the world’s highest taxes, I pay 90%. Go figure.
But at the end of the day, pros and cons exist everywhere. And when it comes to a rational analysis of a country, one can find faults and benefits in every single country. The question in my case is more emotional than rational – do I like this place? Can it become ‘home’?
The answer isn’t clear. I definitely feel a sense of affinity to Denmark. In fact, I sometimes feel the story of me and Denmark is one of unrequited love (me being the one doing the loving). The reason is simple – it’s never nice to feel like a second class citizen. Not something I felt in England or the US, but something I do sometimes feel here. And that’s a shame. It’s also a shame that Fortress Denmark is becoming increasingly fortified and isolated from the world, with the majority of Danes either actively supporting it or passively accepting it.
Nevertheless I do like this place – the genuine, down-to-earth people; the values that prioritize family life over material success; the intimacy Copenhagen has while still being a relatively large city; and of course, my daughter’s vuggestue! I now know that the Danes are not in fact the happiest people in the world (don’t get me started on that), but I think I finally understand what’s behind that statistic – a level of contentedness and modest expectations that are basic qualities in the Danish mindset, and which I very much like.
As for the second question – whether this place can become ‘home’ for me – I might need a bit of an extension on that. Ask me on my second anniversary. I hope to have an answer by then.
