What I Know About Denmark

Listing things is boring, but I wanted to keep what I have learned in my memory (or at least on WordPress’ server so that I can look it up later).

Warning: NO OFFENSE. They might be not accurate or totally wrong. In that case, please gently inform me. These are mostly from what I saw, what I heard from people around me, and some more details I got from Google.

I now know some figures.

• Area. South Korea : Denmark = 2 : 1
• Population. South Korea : Denmark = 10 : 1
• Population in Seoul is 10 million
• Population in Denmark is 5 million
• Population. Seoul : Denmark = 2 : 1

I now know many Koreans have been adopted to Danish family.

• There are many Koreans adopted in 70’s and 80’s.
• Someone told me about 6 Korean babies were adopted per week in 80’s.
• Some of them have visited Korea or want to, some don’t.
• Now, law has been changed and it is hard to adopt Korean babies.

I now know a little about Denmark.

• In Danish, “Denmark” is “Danmark”.
• And this often makes me spell “Denmark” as “Danmark”.
• Big franchise like Starbucks, McDonald’s, Staples, etc. are very rare.
• Very, very rare.
• From what I felt, Denmark is more interconnected society due to smaller population.
• And it has more informal culture.
• In turn, it is less hierarchical and less competitive mindset.
• Many families have summer houses.
• During summer vacation, most people either travel or go to their summer house.
• In average, workers have 6 weeks of vacation per year.
• And it is quite flexible to decide when to take the vacation and for how long.
• Most companies either provide lunch or include price for lunch in their salary.
• And the lunch is almost always dark bread(Rugbrød).
• Dark bread for Danes = Rice for Koreans
• With close friends, Danes say hello by hugging.
• Danes know how to enjoy time after work, weekends, holidays, and vacation.
• Danes speak good English.
• Typically, they are tall and blond.
• They are good drinkers :)
• They love sun (and so do I).
• They love natural lights.
• And therefore, they use many candles on daily basis as well.
• They love swimming.
• And most of them can swim because they have swimming in their curriculum in schools.
• They do miss beach/sea/ocean whenever they are inland for a while ;)
• They tend to like hard texture of food I assume? For instance, bread, crackers, snacks, etc. were rather hard than soft.
• There are much less mosquitoes!

I now know what makes it possible to bike in Copenhagen.

• It’s usually windy and not too hot (avg highest temperature is 20ºC in summer).

Summer in Copenhagen starts in June and ends in August. It is often the most popular time to visit the city due to the warmer temperatures and longer days, however during July and August rainfall is at its peak. The average temperature high during the day during the summer months is around 20 degrees Celsius with a night time low of around 12 degrees Celsius. July and August are the warmest months of the years. – World Weather Online

• So unless you ride a bike for a very long time or super fast, you barely sweat.
• It’s very flat in Copenhagen as well.
• REALLY FLAT.
• And most of the time on the road, bike comes first.
• You always have to be aware of bikes when driving.
• Pedestrians also have to be cautious of bikes.
• There are well-organized, wide bike lanes on almost every street.
• If there isn’t, cars would be very careful of bikes instead.
• There are even traffic lights for bikes.
• Traffic lights for cars, bikes, and pedestrians change at different timing considering their speed.
• Sometimes, there are two bike lanes: one for slower riders, the other for faster riders.
• Or for different directions such as one for going straight and the other for turning right.
• Even if there is one lane, it is usually wide enough so that people ride on the right side and let faster bikes pass on the left.
• There are hand signals for right/left turn, stop, etc.
• There are too many bikes to worry about losing yours even if you don’t lock it.
• …..but always good to lock it for sure :)

I now know some random facts.

• Denmark can be divided into Sealand, Jutland, and Funen.
• And then cities, communes, Sognekommune, etc.
• There are 2000+ churches.
• The biggest city is of course Copenhagen, the capital.
• The second biggest one is Aarhus.
• Whose name, in fact, is Århus, but known as Aarhus for non-Danish speakers.
• More specifically, for those who don’t have “Å” in their keyboard.
• Major religion in Denmark is Christianity.
• But it is common not to go to church every Sunday but only for special occasions such as Christmas.
• The government removed part of forest to reveal landscape for scenery.
• And they (intentionally) make cattle graze around to keep wild-plants from growing too much.
• How to name Danish cows: Color-Nationality-Purpose cow
• For example: Black and white Danish milk cow
• Be careful of these cattle when you drive rural area.

▲ Cute sheep I ran into in the hills of Trehøje