If you do make a video on restaurant culture here in Denmark, I noticed a fun thing when my American friend came to visit that might be interesting to add: in Denmark we place the cutlery in a certain may on the plate to silently communicate to the waiter that you are finished. The waiter will notice and take the plates when the whole table have placed their cutlery in the finished position. That way we won't get disturbed before we're finished :) I didn't realize Americans didn't have this system. We even do it at home. Feels weird to finish a meal and not place the cutlery in the finished position :D love your videos!
30 years ago I was in Tivoli’s old wooden rollercoaster 🎢 with an American college student and he was so shocked about the lack of security 😅 I remember he said how dangerous it was because you could get your arm ripped off if you stuck it out and hit the wall, I pointed to a sign and said “well, it clearly says not to do that, so why would you?” And he said “what if you are a kid?” And I had to explain to him that Danish kids was taught not to do stupid stuff like that. I really didn’t understand what the big deal was, but later I moved to the US and discovered the whole “I’ll sue you” culture 😬 I spent a year in West Chester, Philadelphia in 1993-94 as an Au-pair, taking care of 2 small girls. The winter was really bad that year I was told compared to normally, with a long period of snow and ice, people crashed every day on slippery roads because there was not enough salt to spread. However, the worst part for mig was that the kids had no outdoor clothing. We walked from the kitchen directly into the garage and drove everywhere so the parents saw no use for it. I felt so confined that winter, I wanted to build a snowman ⛄️ and make snow angels with the girls. It’s still so strange to me that 2 children (age 18 months and 3 years) didn’t get to play outside even once during the winter. Here I DK children sleep outside in prams all year round.
They sleep outside in prams in the streets of the capital sometimes not even in view of the parents with only a baby monitor keeping watch. Feels nice to live in a safe place.
Have a look at Reactions to Danske skovbørnehaver. If you want to watch an american drop his or her jaw, watch them look at danish kindergarden children learning to use knives and playing outside on trees.
It’s because they think it’s dangerous for the children to be alone outside. This is due to a culture of fear and badly planned towns and cities. The children cannot travel outside their neighbourhoods without the parents driving. This makes it very uncommon to see children alone outside, to the point that people have gotten their 12 year old child taken away
The comment about American stores being more convenient also reveals a cultural difference. Being Danish and having lived in Canada and having visited the US on multiple occasions, I found grocery shopping extremely inconvenient in both counties. The store is always very far away and far too large to find anything easily. Food was also generally sold in very large amounts, forcing a lot of control and planning on what to eat in order to avoid throwing most of it out, which was definitely quite inconvenient. Especially if I realized I'd forgotten something I needed. Also, despite the supposed large number of options, it mostly amounted to different brands of the same thing or very similar thing and bizarrely narrow product ranges. The local (kinda, it was still a 45-minutes walk) supermarket in Canada had an entire aisle of rice, yet it was just different brands and packaging-sized of the same kind of cheap, plasticy-tasting rice without any easy option for jasmine, basmati or some other cultivar. I also never managed to find tomato concentrate. In general, variety didn't actually seem any greater than in a small town or suburban Kvickly, the store was just twice as large, making finding anything a lot harder. In general, when buying groceries in Denmark, it pays to know which stores sell what. Some are going to have specialized in certain kinds of products more than others and some are going to have higher quality versions of products than others. In urban areas stores are also going to be quite close together, so going between different stores to get more specialized or higher quality products and learning which stores have what does take a bit of work. But once you learn it, it allows both considerable variety and access to high end products above what I've ever seen in a North American store. You'll be hard-pressed to find literally hundreds of cheese options within a ten minute walking distance of each other in North America, including ones that are high end and protected enough that the store needs to bid for limited production at auctions, for example.
@siliara and now you know why obesity is a bigger problem here in the US. Both the fact that food portions are way bigger than you get in other countries, and, also, way more processed.
Fun fact about the hight of all the older buildings in Denmark: they are only 4 floors tall because of fire safety, so if the building was on fire the ladder on the firetruck could only reach the 4th floor
I didn't know it was illegal to enjoy alcohol in public in US, even in the parks... The smoking is allowed in tiny pubs/Bodegas in Denmark, but they have to be smaller than 40 m2 to allow it. Larger venues and bars are still no smoking zones. PS: I heard the City of New York banned smoking in Central Park, NYC. That's harsh. (edit: missing words)
Denmark is a surprising country for many and a shocking country for others. But that's what the country is. Danes live under a well established culture that starts at schools (since the 60's) and teach kids how to behave in society and among other people. I moved here for more than 20 years ago and got shocked with many things (I'm a latin) but slowly got adjusted to this wonderful, but never perfect, country. Which country is perfect? Cheers
Something I noticed when dining in America, was all the side dishes. If you are not attentive you might end up just ordering meat. Because you think the order is a meal like in Denmark. And the portions are extremely big even the small ones 😊 and as a dane you are not use to ordering a doggybag for the leftovers, but you don’t want the food the go to waste either 🤷♀️🙈
@@Solskin60Tina The side dish thing was definitely the one I had to get used to in America. I've noticed some places in denmark have adopted that as well and it always catches me off guard. "what do you mean what do I want with my steak? ...strange"
I recognise a lot from all things in this video 🙂 I am Dutch, living in the Netherlands with my Danish partner and I visited Kopenhagen quite a few times. Many things are similar to Dutch cities but Kopenhagen is definitely cleaner and better taken care of. Therefore one of my favourite cities. Thanks for sharing👍
I find it nice that there's no tipping in Denmark ... It just avoids a lot of awkward situations. If you don't like the food/service, just don't come back. With tipping it often ends up hurting someone who maybe wasn't at fault. But yes... it can some times be hard to convince the staff that you need the bill to be able to leave.
It's so fun to hear all the small cultural differences - I had no idea america had restrictions on drinking in public - which just sounds wierd, because It's pretty much part of growing up in denmark, lol (although I was raised in a small city with about 2000 inhabitants so I can't speak much for CPH nightlife)
It was a big change for us to feel okay walking around with a beer or going to a park to drink outside. We love it! And it’s definitely the same in CPH - especially on these nice summer days 😊🇩🇰🍻
I think US drinking laws are not understandable from a European perspective. Just seems bizarre that you can get married, be a parent, buy guns, join the armed forces and fight and die for your country but aren’t deemed old enough to buy a beer.
If you tried drinking a beer in a park or by the river you would be fined in America. There was some exception to this during the pandemic when some cities and towns granted bars the ability to make "take away drinks" but it was the first time in our lifetimes this was allowed and I think the intention was not for you to drink them on the streets.
Shops opening hours are convienient for the retail workers, because they have better salery, better working conditions and time off at holidays and evenings ( ment for sleeping :)
Yes, at first we had a hard time with this, but then it really made us realize that it was nice for us to let things go and be home at a convenient time. It's better to plan ahead more and not be "running errands" all hours of the night.
The standard (mandatory) opening hours used to be a leftover from war time restrictions during WW2, then got gradually relaxed between 1980 and 2010 under various right wing government. One moderate politician invented a special exception that shops with an annual gross revenue below a certain amount would be completely exempt from restrictions on opening hours. As a result, some supermarket chains organized their branches to keep some shops under the limit and thus open late.
I'm kinda surprised about the smoking you mentioned. Only about 20% or less smoke in Denmark (still too many though) and tobacco sales are at the lowest in 70 years. Smoking indoors in public places is generally forbidden by law, except for bars that are smaller than 40 square meters and don't serve food. These places of course then tend to attract smokers. So I guess this means you guys hang out in a lot of small bars. ;) Regarding late night dining, Restaurant Rio Bravo used to be open until 4am, nothing fancy but was okay for a late night meal. Sadly they now close at 11pm. But Restaurant Vita is still open to 2am on 4 days of the week and there are a few others that are open to 1am on the weekends. But yeah, not a lot of options.
Oh, that's good to know about Vita - we have heard of them. Yeah, we go to a few smaller bars regularly and it's annoying to smell like smoke (or to have to think about if it's smoking or not). It's funny that it's the small bars that get an exception though.
Because of the high taxes on tobacco, the cigarette black market has exploded. Berlingske and TV2 Lorry have done som pieces on it. So yes the official numbers are that the numbers of legal tobacco products has fallen in sales. But the black market has eaten it up. Much like what America tried with prohibition, it has the opposite effect as to what the laws tried to achieve.
@@RobeTrotting The really small, non-food serving, bars got an exempt because they would pretty much croak otherwise. I'm not going to throw the word alcoholic around... but those places tend to live off "the usual suspects" for 5 out of 7 days of the week. And the crowd that goes to the local bar right after work (or right after breakfast) every single day is almost entirely made up of smokers.
Rio Bravo is famous for the fact that the government once hung out there during late night negotiations that ended up in a set if laws popularly referred to by the name of the restaurant.
@@MachivelianBear Was not aware of that, but I guess it's to be expected. Us Danes will do our best to find a way around things the government tries to enforce. :)
4:30 filter coffee is also a fashion. I don't think anyone doesn't have a parent or a grand parent that has a filter coffee machine. So it's "just" the "counter coffee culture" of the times. xD
I can so much relate to the part with the coffee machine is down... 😆 here in Sweden it would also be close to a strike in the office if that machine has downtime.
Oh, tourists in Copenhagen and the bikes is like my favourite topic to rant about XD As a person biking in Copenhagen, tourist season especially is not for the feint of heart. All of a sudden someone is dragging their suitcase along on the bike lane rather than the side walk, or people just walk across it. Worse even, people who are adults but have probably tried sitting on a bike three times in their lives and two of them was when they were kids, are now trying to bike around the city like slinkies on wheels. All while not signalling for stop or turn. I even tried two years ago almost being run over by two kids on a bike (two people on a bike will give you a fine in Denmark, btw) who yelled at me in English to get out of the way. I was on the sidewalk. They were not even riding on the right side of the road, much less the designated lane. And last but not least, often tourists don't automatically make room for people to pass them on the sidewalk. It is like they see the bike lane and then think, oh but there is plenty of room to walk past us. Meanwhile I, as a Danish person, am certain my death is immanent the moment I step on there to get around them. Ok, rant over XD
So funny that you experience the difficulty of finding filter Coffee! Finter Coffee is what everyone used to drink! . What everyone used to have in their homes as well. It is definitely the traditional thing. Ten years ago, if you went outside the bigger cities it was impossible to find any espresso-kind of coffee. I remember going to my grandmother's town, dying for a cappuccino after days of her filter. Asking around, but not able to find it. If you go to bodegas they will probably have it, as well as in any summerhouse, there will be a filter machine, and at any grandparents place.
It’s sad to see that smoking has become a politicized issue in Denmark. We used to have a lot of “frisind” but an unfortunate influence of American puritanical culture has crossed back over the Atlantic. The funny thing is: All smokers know how bad it is for them. Some wanna quit and a lot really don’t, because anyone who has tried smoking knows how nice it is. Best way to approach it should be to let bars themselves chose wether they allow indoor smoking or not, same goes for restaurants. Austria has had a lot of success with that system. Great video as always!
Yeah, it's a horrible Amaricanism when some managers insist on extending the (already excessive) indoor smoking ban to extremely well ventilated areas, such as outdoors on company property.
Hey guys I'm danish American, born and raised in Copenhagen Tipping in Denmark is optional, but most places will share tips with the kitchen and the cleaning staff. All tips go into 1 pile and shared evenly. Great show's, even with all the small misunderstanding 😉 Mvh Kasper
Its harder for you to get Filterkaffe here in denmark, because Filterkaffe is about 2 dollers for a full pot if you make it your self at home, and about 5 dollers pr. cup if you by it at a cafe. So we only want to buy special coffe when we are out, we hygger us med kaffe derhjemme. (Know you speak enough danish to understand that :-)
I'm surprised to hear about american laws against smoking being more resitrctive than here, it doesn't fit the narrative of freedom above all :) at the same time, I'm dismayed at the pace in which we are acting on it here.
Yeah it’s so funny the things we can ban and the others that we just can’t 🤷🏻♂️ I always wished we could drink in public when I lived in the States - that one made no sense. You can even get a fine or detained for “public drunkenness” at the discretion of a police officer.
I really enjoy watching your vlogs. You’re very observant and have a great approach when talking about cultural differences/experiences. I’ve watched your videos on and off for quite some time and I’ve got to say, strangely you guys look younger in your newer vlogs compared to the older ones. The same goes for Travelin’ Young. Generally you also seem calmer or maybe more in balance in a sense like you’re in a good place :D Stay happy and healthy
Just love the channel :) My experiences with American tourists has only been positive. They are very polite. One time had just finished work in Hillerød, so i was walking to my train (Lokalbanen) when I saw some confused tourists. Many become unsure what train to take because they all look alike. So several times I have guided people to the right train and Americans have always tried to give me money for it. I always refused, just did it to help. This one time an American woman tried several times to give me money, no don't give me anything. Perhaps because I was in uniform they thought I was hired by the railway or something. lol.
Well, that wasn't them being polite. They most definitely thought you worked for the company and tipping is a big part of American culture. But, at least they didn't talk down to you like they might a server or cashier at an American store. I think they were just behaving a bit more politely because they weren't at home and didn't want to feed into the stereotype of Americans being rude. I am an American myself, and, unfortunately, being rude and treating those you perceive as lower then you is very much deep seated into American thought processes. Which is a big reason once I am out of the military I plan fully on leaving to live in Denmark. Really, any Scandanavian country where my skills as a healthcare worker can be put to use in a much better healthcare system.
The funny thing about the young people drinking, it doesn´t generate more alcoholics later in their lives. It´s just a periode of time in their lives, where they want to feel free and party, and then later on it stops again. I love your channel!
I think for the coffee part, it is mostly the thought of going out and talking to another human being so early in the morning to get you caffeine. Not very Danish. So you will probably find that almost all homes in Denmark have some way of producing a cup of coffee, even if the people living there don't drink it (My bf had a jar of instant for his mother when I met him, and my aunt and uncle have a full size coffee machine despite not drinking it).
@@RobeTrotting Yeah, most homes have either a filter coffee maker, or simply a tea cettle ready for some instant coffee. And if not there, then a fair few workplaces will have a coffee machine ready if you missed your cup in the morning. Again it all kinda also fits into the food culture here with less eating out in general and more meals being done at home.
Spot on. I don't drink coffee, but I do have coffee in the freezer, filters in my kitchen cupboard, a thermos only for coffee and a filter top to do slow pour. Plus coffee cups and sachets of creamer (since I am lactose intolerant) just so I can present the minimum expected hospitality of: "Vil du have en kop kaffe?"
9:00 7-Eleven is always open also some during new years and Christmas. We used to have 24 hour open Nettos (I wish they would bring that back). However in Europe, Denmark is actually the one country with ANY stores that are open during sundays and holidays, and even during night. Go to any other country and you'll notice everything closes at 22 at the latest, and holidays and sundays are completely closed.
You forgot to mention how pleasant the Danes are! I am currently in Copenhagen for a few days. I am an American living in Berlin for over twenty years and I have been to many European cities and I find the people in Copenhagen just lovely. Nice channel.
This is true, I also hear people say "everyone looks so happy and laid back" and that really is the case. Enjoy your time in Copenhagen - maybe we'll run into you! Thanks for watching 😀
I have not read the other comments. I am sure I am not the only one who knows, that only very small bars in Dk are allowed to have smokers (which is ironic). And I am also sure, I am not the only one who praises your good Work and charm 💜
Apart from the smoking part I would prefer the Danish way to the American way. I think if I visited USA I probably would forget the rules and get in trouble for jaywalking, drinking in the street or something. I would also not appreciate being expected to rush my meal to free up the table. I think I would have to experience the cycling culture to know just how it works. Here in Croatia they allow cycling on the pavements and several times I've nearly been knocked down when walking in city streets.
We definitely love living in Denmark and have to say that we prefer the lifestyle immensely (not that we don't still love America - we do). When we visit the States we always forget that we can't just grab a beer and walk to meet up with friends. It's so weird not to have that haha. Cycling on the pavement has to be difficult for everyone! You can get fined for it in Denmark but people still do it a little and on the pedestrian streets. Thanks for watching :)
Smoking inside bars is amazing. In fact a lot of Norwegians and Swedes go to Denmark to drink(because it is a bit cheaper). But also because of the relaxed smoking laws. I worked as a bartender in Jomfru-Ane Gade(Aalborg, definitely google it). And a lot of Norwegians especially take the ferry to Aalborg. The amount of times Norwegians that has shouted “I love Denmark!” While ordering in the bar with a cigarette in their hand is crazy. Atleast in my experience.
LMAO. You need to put "smoking" in bars into the right context. Smoking in bars, is dependent on the size of the bar. In most bars and nightclubs, NO SMOKING/Vaping is the norm. Sure. You can still smoke or vape outside. You can't smoke/vape indside government/municipal buildings. Privat companies make there own rules. As said. Bars and restaurants need to follow special laws. But your right! We "jog" a lot, but still do unhealthy things🤣 ! We each try to enjoy life, as we feel fit.., even if Life ends up killing us 😲 ! As always! Good VLOG 👍 !!
My wife has family in the US and they have also been surprised by the way we live, and it has made us think that there is more difference in some areas than we think about on a daily basis. The American family thought we were a bit behind and more or less communists who left almost all of our salary to the state, but when they experienced our healthcare without insurance and that you are always guaranteed treatment regardless of your income, they were positively surprised. They were also wildly surprised at how we were insured if we became unemployed, so that we didn't have to sell our house and the like. However, they could not fully understand the gun law, although they had to admit it made for a much safer society (They may be getting too much of their knowledge from Fox News) They said they heard some some negative things about Communist Denmark, but if it was Communism they'd would exchange it the extra vacation, LOL 😂
In my experience a lot of Danes can't drink coffee in the afternoon and sleep either. And... why would you run out of toilet paper and batteries in the middle of them night ? ... just saying...
In Norway it is not allowed to drink in public areas such as on the street or in parks. But...if you bring food and some wine with you and sit in a park, no one will care...they will think it's positive. What is not positive is that someone sits drinking in a park on the way to a restaurant...or 10/15 young people sit down drinking alcohol. It is probably so much about noise in public places. Or the possibility of it. I have not been worried about taking a friend to a lunch in the park where one has beer or wine.
All of these are spot on, I work with tourists here in Copenhagen, and these are the exact things that ALL of the American visitors to Denmark point out 😄
Haha, that's good to know we hit the same reactions, but I hope we didn't give you PTSD Simon - it couldn't have been easy taking those Americans around town LOL
Most danes I know, wakes up in the morning and makes one litre of filtered coffee. They drink at least two big cups of it. Maybe later in the afternoon they drink a small cup of coffee with a fancy italien name ;)
@@RobeTrotting I think that caffeine affects people differently. I’ve noticed that a lot of my North American colleagues can’t drink coffee at night whereas Danes and many other Europeans don’t find it problematic to finish an evening meal with a cup of coffee or an espresso. Maybe it’s genetic.
This is one of the best channels on TH-cam, no kidding. I love hearing about how totally weird things are here in Denmark, that we're just used to. Definitely do a video on restaurants! Maybe one on music venues too, if you have any experience with American venues to compare to?
Wow, thank you Kasper - that's such a nice compliment. We'll keep the videos coming and we need to work on restaurants for sure. Music venues could be interesting to compare as well - we have been to a lot of the major stadiums and a selection of concert halls and venues like Red Rocks in Colorado.
New viewer here, love the content. As a major in cultural studies I find your videos both hilarious and educational - it’s so fun to watch foreingers experiences/expressions of Danmark (although I’d Hardly Call you foreingers any more). While the legal age is up for debate at the moment (as I Think it should be) there’d probably be a straight up revolution if they Tried to Ban public drinking.
I'm so glad you found us Pelle, and thank you for watching and your kind words. We love to get into the cultural side of things and those micro differences are always the most interesting (at least we think so). It's always funny when we learn why our American phrasing or habit is taken the wrong way and to look at the cultural nuances that get missed day to day 😀🇩🇰
Hi with you 2 Am glad that you are happy to live in Denmark Should you want to go outside Copenhagen e.g., to the dark Jutland as a Copenhagener/Zealander will put it, or as we call it "The Real Denmark" Then you are more than welcome here at the top of Denmark, Frederikshavn, Skagen and Sæby. A bit of history for your point number 6 When we went on raids to the UK, France and other countries in the Viking Age, we used to take prisoners who became our slaves. It was called back then: Trældom = state of being oppressed by a ruler and without ordinary rights Trælleri = enslaved en træl, flere trælle = one slave, several slaves We gladly took the most beautiful girls and had children with them, often releasing them in those cases. So, Scandinavia has for a 1000 years ago introduced some of the beautiful girls to the region, which has then been inherited through the ages. Best regards Hans Kristian Byrialsen Aka HK
Hey Hans, we love trips to Jutland and have a few videos from there - definitely due for another visit soon. We have heard the reason that the prettiest women were taken back to Scandinavia - never researched it though. I guess sometimes the most simple answer is the one haha.
In 2007, Denmark introduced a national smoking ban, prohibiting all indoor smoking in workplaces and public places. So I don't know where you've seen people smoking indoors, but I have never seen that. That is the case in most of Europe actually.
You can smoke in a lot of bars in Denmark and there is no prohibition on how far away from the public you have to be in outdoor settings. You can’t smoke within 10 meters of a building entrance in the States and in most states, restaurants can’t allow smoking in outdoor eating spaces. Its definitely not the same as in the States and people smoke in more settings in Denmark. I haven’t done the research but probably more people smoke overall (especially young people) too.
You mention smoking in tiny bodegas at 2:56. This only applies to smaller bodegas at max 40 sqm. The smoking laws have become more strict. Smoking inside all restaurants, buses and public buildings was banned in 2007. In 2021 the law was changed and now it's illegal to smoke at train stations, outside hospital entrances and outside schools.
Thanks for another great video: It really is interesting to me to learn about the small, but rather curious cultural differences we have within Western cultures. As a native Dane, I can't help but smile hearing your observations about coffee: I was born in 1977 in a Copenhagen suburb (Værløse, 10 miles north of Copenhagen) and both my paternal and maternal grandparents only knew regular filter coffee, so I am raised on filter coffee, you might say! 🙂 As far as I know, traditional Danish coffee has thus ALWAYS been regular filter coffee until something like 20-30 years ago, when the whole Italian Espresso-style method caught on in posh Copenhagen cafés, because we wanted to be "more international". And yes, while a lot of younger people from the middle class might have also gotten on to this hype and bought some quite expensive Espresso-machines in the 700-1000$-range - or their rather cheap and popular derivatives like Nespresso - for their homes, I would bet that most Danes living outside the cities still would serve regular, honest "cup of joe"-filter coffee to their private guests. (Or - again in the more academic middle class - perhaps the Bodum "French Press"-type of coffee, Bodum being one of the typical 'Danish Design'-icons). At least a glance at general supermarket shelves still show, that regular, finely ground coffee is by far the most sold product. Thank you for your great videos!
Im danish and I don't live in a big city; I don't want to devalue your experience but at the same time I feel like "WTF are you guys talking about?!! It's nothing like that here".
Either way they're our experiences and not universal, but of 12 things, I'm sure most of them are pretty typical for Americans (which could also be why if you're Danish you don't notice these things regardless of if you live in a city or not).
4:29 In the municipality I live in there are officially 19 buildings from before 1800. There is even an Estate from 1390 and a Diocese from 1586. In addition, the oldest "ordinary" dwellings are from 1638, 1675, 1677. The remaining of the 19 oldest are built between 1750 and 1780. I must admit that I chuckle a little when I see an American proudly displaying their "antique" house from last part of 18 hundred or beginning of 1900 "i bought a 100 year old house" as if that was something special. But maybe it is to them. 7:09 ok i bite. You look good. Don't sell yourself short even if you do live in a country with and aktive Jantelov 🤣
It's so wild to us when we see older buildings - I think mentally we always look at anything built before 1776 as extremely old (because that would be colonial age in America and only the east coast has such buildings remaining). And then our friends are like "I was baptised in a church that's 750 years old" and our jaws drop haha.
Yeah, it's prohibited indoors everywhere in the States and even outside dining and terraces, etc. Maybe it's less than in years past, but there are still a lot of places where you can smoke in public in Denmark compared to zero in the US.
I would like for the restaurants to be open way longer. So for instance if you’ve been to the movies, you could go out for a nice meal while talking about the movie
Yeah, that's always nice. We're used to at least having a 24 hour diner open late for that. Plus it's always hard to explain to visitors (especially when the sun is up later than restaurants are open) that we need to make a reservation and book it early - especially our American visitors who don't like to plan as much.
I wish we had better smoking laws, but i think the politicians would loose a LOT of voters on it so they kinda just... Bump up the price on cigarette instead, which makes the youth turn to e-cigs OR those disgusting white bags of nicotine that you can see EVERYWHERE now :( Or Snus, they do a lot of that too apparently..
@@RobeTrotting That is true! Im glad that its more and more uncommon to smoke at the train stations or bus stops, as i have developed asthma, so in that regard i am glad that snus only affect the person who's using it haha! I do wish that teenagers would wait till they where at least 25 with that stuff, it does bring a culture on the gymnasiums fx that its okay, and then weed is okay and then MDMA when they party and the ball can roll from there. (Im not against weed, people are free to do what they want, I had lots of friends whom did it a lot around me. But again i wish they would wait till they where 25 and not 14.. I had a costumer at work, in a art store, she was 14 and she smelled like a weedbag up close, the smell of weed did not go away immediately either, so that was nice or something..)
You 2 guys has noticed the extreme number of people on bikes in Denmark - it is better for your health, the inviroment, the climate, and in town it is much faster than a car…… Apparantly not understood by the US former ambassador to Denmark - Carla Sands - who got nominated by President Trump due to a large donation. Very recently she claimed that the many bikers in Denmark were due to the middle class in Denmark not being able to afford a car so they had to go by bike or train if longer distances. This was her conclusion after having stayed in Denmark for 3 years not realising that the Danish socalled “middle class” simply LIKE biking, and has a higher salary than similar jobs in the US. And then she asked the American people : this is what President Biden is aiming at - do you really want this? Her predecessor as US ambassador to Denmark was Rufus Gifford - he was extremely well known and popular in Denmark. He went on a bike trip around most of Denmark to meet the Danes, and thereby got to know Denmark and the Danes very well. Not so for the millionaire and actress Carla Sands…..
We catch ourselves doing or saying little things all the time. Even just saying (in English) "thanks for today" which would be really weird to say in America haha.
Honestly, the one about everyone here being good looking, as a Dane, that is 100% true. And I’m bi, so I just go around and think, “you’re hot, you’re cute, Wauw that’s a nice face. WHY IS EVERYONE SO HOT YET NO ONE WANTS TO DATE ME!!” It’s a blessing and a struggle.
I believe the waving part would be threatening, which is not legal. But a threatening person carrying a rifle peacefully - on his back - is fine. ... Unless your skin is black or brown.
Denmark is heaven on earth ..... YES taxes are HIGH ..... but you have free health care and even get payed while educating yourself (the education are FREE) and you can live while being out of work ! (The best three best things i can come up with) Well if you get kids ... theres free child care .... (while you work) The 4th good thing that your taxes goes to ... With the smoking i grew up with parents that where bouth smokers .... and ALL 3 of their children began to smoke my big sister has quitted ,,,, but me and my younger brother still smokes but give it 20-30 years more and us old smokers are DEAD and gone ! :P Bodegas is OLD Danish bars and smokers have gone there for the past 100 years..... you two should go to a modern coffee bar og cafe ! ;) You two would seem out of place if i met you in one of the Bodegas i frekvented in my youth tbh ! :D (Most of em isnt anymore) You would STAND out as being gay ...... if you aint .... well im sorry but i would think so if i met you at/in a OLD Danish Bodega ! (Nothing bad in being that .... just stating FACTS) But besides that i LOVE your videos about Denmark ! ;)
about eating out in Denmark, when u want to get a waiter over, look for one, make eye contact, raise your hand, do a little subtle wave and they will come over... we want to be left alone, unless we need something, unlike in USA where they hover over u for 90min and then push u out the door, coz they want the tips... do u like being able to spend 3-4h when u are out eating in Denmark?
I'm not sure exactly the day - but after about 4-6 months we totally switched and went 180 degrees on eating out. At first we missed the hovering and then we realized we could just wave a server down to get something and we never wanted to be bothered by a server again. We can't stand eating out in the USA anymore LOL
Yeah, city design in the two countries is very different just because of the age of cities. I agree with you though - biking to work is a nice way to wake up!
I spend a month in US in 2008 driving from Seattel to New Orleans doing 9500 km, and not once smoking became an issue. I had heard that it was a big issue, everybody in europe was on about it...but as I said not once. I even asked bartenders if it was allright, and the answer was "do you need an ashtray". I think it is a very elite american and big town idea that is just not true. Look up the consumtion figures pr. capita in stead of passing on trivia.
Which makes no sense because it’s just worse in a small bar (but honestly, most bars are small so it’s pretty common). In the States you can’t even smoke in outdoor patio spaces and such because of the dangers of second-hand smoke, so it REALLY stands out that you can smoke at all in public spaces.
I dont understand the Brown bag law with alchol. Because if you’re having a pickning with a bottle of vine it would be hard to spot. But as soon as it comes in a Brown bag everyone knows what’s in the bag. Just a confused dane
I'm totally with you on the coffee! 😂 Even though I'm Danish, I can't drink coffee in the afternoon either. I don't understand people who can do that. I would be wide awake at night 😂
Right... so it's allowed haha 😉 It's universally banned inside all public spaces of any size in our home state and most others in the US, so the fact that indoor smoking exists, and there are no rules against smoking right outside of a building are all very noticeable differences for Americans.
@@RobeTrotting You just made it sound like it's a rampant issue, when you actually have to purposefully go looking for small bars to find places where it is allowed to smoke indoors. I just wanted to clarify what you said :-)
Careful now. Many Americans seems to think that only the USA has freedom :p I love watching LouderWithCrowder but when he starts on how only Americans has freedom, then I really start to wonder if they ever really had it. Do you guys think/feel that you have more freedom here in Denmark or in the USA? :)
That is a great idea for a video. Short answer here though - we have both said many times that we have more freedom here (particularly the ones we actually care about). Americans are kind of taught that we have a monopoly on freedom and like to think the rest of the world is lacking in the area. It's partly a hold-over from the Cold War era, but some really don't understand that the rest of the world caught up and exceeded American freedom generations ago. I know there are actual freedom statistics that measure this in an objective way, so it could be fun to really dig into that data and the topic.
Back in the day, 30+ years ago, there would be "cannabis smoking prohibited" signs around cafes in Copenhagen. There was coffee shops too. And women in red lit windows. You don't see that anymore
In Norway tipping someone is considered insulting. It's like saying: "You must be poor so I'm gonna help you out." You only tip if you are VERY, VERY, VERY pleased with the service. And that tip usually goes into a tip bucket which all the employees gather the money from at the end of the year to throw a huge party for the people who work at the restaurant/diner/cafe.
Regarding the coffee thing here in Denmark, I hate it. I like coffee, and I like _good_ coffee, and if you call your establishment a coffee shop, you'd better be able to serve me a cup of coffee. But as you pointed out, in many places the closest thing you can get is an americano, but watered down espresso is _not_ the same thing as filter coffee. There, rant over ;-)
What? Smoking is still legal inside in Denmark? Haven’t been to Denmark in 10 years so can’t remember much from my visit but here in Sweden it’s been banned since 2005, smoking outside in restaurants and in most public areas were banned some years ago. Very very few people smoke these days in Sweden.
Bars that are smaller than 40kvm (serving area, so toilets, storage, dishwasher area, etc doesn't count) which doesn't serve food can chose to be a smoking bar. It's basically so the alcoholics don't start drinking at home in stead :P
Café/restaurant coffee culture is very different than what people drink at home or at the office. Filter coffee is your every day drink, and most people when they go out they want something more fancy.
3:45 outside of old houses... I remeber a Korean friend asking "Why do they build these houses in an old style?" And, I pointed at the four numbers on the facade saying "1577", and telling him that this is the year they were build...😏
It's the littlest things that make a difference... While you were talking about 'the good-looking people' don't you think it also might be bc Danes wear clothes, when they leave the house? You don't see a lot of leisure wear on the streets, which to me, can make people look sloppy...anyhoo...just a thought 🤔 Love to hear your opinions, guys hello from Hundested 🌸 🌱
I knew a nurse once who had visited the us, she was walking down the street, when a police car stopped her and asked if she was all right. Not because she had done something wrong but beacuse they were worried about her (she was walking). Unfortunately i do not know where she was walking, probably a bit outside of town, not besides the freeway. But her comments about that episode had the word "Fat epidemic" in it. This was a while ago 20-30 years.
The lack of skyscrapers is partially due to politicians disliking new buildings towering above the spire of their favorite old public building. Plus a rule that any church can object to structures tall enough to spoil the look of their church and belltower.
The unpleasant truth to the "good looks" of skandinavians. Is that back when vikings raided most of Europe and also the countries along the "Østersø", like Latvia, Lithyania and such. We took slaves back to Denmark/Sweden/Norway, they were called "Trælle", and the prettiest of the girls and women, were of course used by their "owners", thus adding a LOT to our scandinavian genepool....
There are a plethora of studies that show the greater number of options the less happy people are. Scientia Non Domus, (Knowledge has No Home) antiguajohn (Ole Jørhen Birk)
Honestly i really hate that there’s a point about smoking because its really dumb that people still smoke probably one of the only things that i would wish that Denmark would be more like the US, everyone i know that smoke know that its dumb that they smoke but problem is the starting of the smoking because people think its cool and its really sad that we literally have the record for the earliest smokers in the whole world.
If you do make a video on restaurant culture here in Denmark, I noticed a fun thing when my American friend came to visit that might be interesting to add: in Denmark we place the cutlery in a certain may on the plate to silently communicate to the waiter that you are finished. The waiter will notice and take the plates when the whole table have placed their cutlery in the finished position. That way we won't get disturbed before we're finished :) I didn't realize Americans didn't have this system. We even do it at home. Feels weird to finish a meal and not place the cutlery in the finished position :D love your videos!
100 % rigtigt
We have the same system in Sweden, too, but I think it's not as prevalent as in Denmark.
4:20 if you're done. And 7:20 if you're not.
From having done waitstaff work in London, they have the same system there.
You know when I've finished my meal, because the plate is empty 🤣
30 years ago I was in Tivoli’s old wooden rollercoaster 🎢 with an American college student and he was so shocked about the lack of security 😅
I remember he said how dangerous it was because you could get your arm ripped off if you stuck it out and hit the wall, I pointed to a sign and said “well, it clearly says not to do that, so why would you?” And he said “what if you are a kid?” And I had to explain to him that Danish kids was taught not to do stupid stuff like that.
I really didn’t understand what the big deal was, but later I moved to the US and discovered the whole “I’ll sue you” culture 😬
I spent a year in West Chester, Philadelphia in 1993-94 as an Au-pair, taking care of 2 small girls. The winter was really bad that year I was told compared to normally, with a long period of snow and ice, people crashed every day on slippery roads because there was not enough salt to spread.
However, the worst part for mig was that the kids had no outdoor clothing. We walked from the kitchen directly into the garage and drove everywhere so the parents saw no use for it. I felt so confined that winter, I wanted to build a snowman ⛄️ and make snow angels with the girls. It’s still so strange to me that 2 children (age 18 months and 3 years) didn’t get to play outside even once during the winter. Here I DK children sleep outside in prams all year round.
They sleep outside in prams in the streets of the capital sometimes not even in view of the parents with only a baby monitor keeping watch. Feels nice to live in a safe place.
Wtf lousy kinda parents dont let their kids outside to build a snowman/play. Poor kids.
Have a look at Reactions to Danske skovbørnehaver. If you want to watch an american drop his or her jaw, watch them look at danish kindergarden children learning to use knives and playing outside on trees.
It’s because they think it’s dangerous for the children to be alone outside. This is due to a culture of fear and badly planned towns and cities. The children cannot travel outside their neighbourhoods without the parents driving. This makes it very uncommon to see children alone outside, to the point that people have gotten their 12 year old child taken away
The comment about American stores being more convenient also reveals a cultural difference. Being Danish and having lived in Canada and having visited the US on multiple occasions, I found grocery shopping extremely inconvenient in both counties. The store is always very far away and far too large to find anything easily. Food was also generally sold in very large amounts, forcing a lot of control and planning on what to eat in order to avoid throwing most of it out, which was definitely quite inconvenient. Especially if I realized I'd forgotten something I needed.
Also, despite the supposed large number of options, it mostly amounted to different brands of the same thing or very similar thing and bizarrely narrow product ranges. The local (kinda, it was still a 45-minutes walk) supermarket in Canada had an entire aisle of rice, yet it was just different brands and packaging-sized of the same kind of cheap, plasticy-tasting rice without any easy option for jasmine, basmati or some other cultivar. I also never managed to find tomato concentrate. In general, variety didn't actually seem any greater than in a small town or suburban Kvickly, the store was just twice as large, making finding anything a lot harder.
In general, when buying groceries in Denmark, it pays to know which stores sell what. Some are going to have specialized in certain kinds of products more than others and some are going to have higher quality versions of products than others. In urban areas stores are also going to be quite close together, so going between different stores to get more specialized or higher quality products and learning which stores have what does take a bit of work. But once you learn it, it allows both considerable variety and access to high end products above what I've ever seen in a North American store. You'll be hard-pressed to find literally hundreds of cheese options within a ten minute walking distance of each other in North America, including ones that are high end and protected enough that the store needs to bid for limited production at auctions, for example.
@siliara and now you know why obesity is a bigger problem here in the US. Both the fact that food portions are way bigger than you get in other countries, and, also, way more processed.
Fun fact about the hight of all the older buildings in Denmark: they are only 4 floors tall because of fire safety, so if the building was on fire the ladder on the firetruck could only reach the 4th floor
I didn't know it was illegal to enjoy alcohol in public in US, even in the parks... The smoking is allowed in tiny pubs/Bodegas in Denmark, but they have to be smaller than 40 m2 to allow it. Larger venues and bars are still no smoking zones.
PS: I heard the City of New York banned smoking in Central Park, NYC. That's harsh.
(edit: missing words)
No alcohol in public ? Why?
I'm a Dane so I don't understand the fuss.
I want to walk and not breath the smoke of other people
Denmark is a surprising country for many and a shocking country for others. But that's what the country is. Danes live under a well established culture that starts at schools (since the 60's) and teach kids how to behave in society and among other people. I moved here for more than 20 years ago and got shocked with many things (I'm a latin) but slowly got adjusted to this wonderful, but never perfect, country. Which country is perfect? Cheers
We couldn't agree more - it's a great society and never perfect, but no where is. Cheers to you Mario and thank you for watching!
About the lack of 24hrs availability of streetfood: We need to close early to get our beauty sleep.
I would love a whole video about “restaurant culture” if you can call it that
We need to work on this one - there are so many big and small differences.
I agee! It would be interesting!
Something I noticed when dining in America, was all the side dishes. If you are not attentive you might end up just ordering meat. Because you think the order is a meal like in Denmark. And the portions are extremely big even the small ones 😊 and as a dane you are not use to ordering a doggybag for the leftovers, but you don’t want the food the go to waste either 🤷♀️🙈
Agree! More food!
@@Solskin60Tina The side dish thing was definitely the one I had to get used to in America. I've noticed some places in denmark have adopted that as well and it always catches me off guard. "what do you mean what do I want with my steak? ...strange"
I recognise a lot from all things in this video 🙂 I am Dutch, living in the Netherlands with my Danish partner and I visited Kopenhagen quite a few times. Many things are similar to Dutch cities but Kopenhagen is definitely cleaner and better taken care of. Therefore one of my favourite cities. Thanks for sharing👍
I find it nice that there's no tipping in Denmark ... It just avoids a lot of awkward situations. If you don't like the food/service, just don't come back. With tipping it often ends up hurting someone who maybe wasn't at fault.
But yes... it can some times be hard to convince the staff that you need the bill to be able to leave.
It's so fun to hear all the small cultural differences - I had no idea america had restrictions on drinking in public - which just sounds wierd, because It's pretty much part of growing up in denmark, lol
(although I was raised in a small city with about 2000 inhabitants so I can't speak much for CPH nightlife)
It was a big change for us to feel okay walking around with a beer or going to a park to drink outside. We love it! And it’s definitely the same in CPH - especially on these nice summer days 😊🇩🇰🍻
I think in general you are not allowed to drink in public in city centers, I know even in my small'ish city it's not allowed.
I think US drinking laws are not understandable from a European perspective. Just seems bizarre that you can get married, be a parent, buy guns, join the armed forces and fight and die for your country but aren’t deemed old enough to buy a beer.
@@spencermoore137 yea thats a bit willy wonka that
If you tried drinking a beer in a park or by the river you would be fined in America. There was some exception to this during the pandemic when some cities and towns granted bars the ability to make "take away drinks" but it was the first time in our lifetimes this was allowed and I think the intention was not for you to drink them on the streets.
Shops opening hours are convienient for the retail workers, because they have better salery, better working conditions and time off at holidays and evenings ( ment for sleeping :)
Yes, at first we had a hard time with this, but then it really made us realize that it was nice for us to let things go and be home at a convenient time. It's better to plan ahead more and not be "running errands" all hours of the night.
The standard (mandatory) opening hours used to be a leftover from war time restrictions during WW2, then got gradually relaxed between 1980 and 2010 under various right wing government. One moderate politician invented a special exception that shops with an annual gross revenue below a certain amount would be completely exempt from restrictions on opening hours. As a result, some supermarket chains organized their branches to keep some shops under the limit and thus open late.
I'm kinda surprised about the smoking you mentioned. Only about 20% or less smoke in Denmark (still too many though) and tobacco sales are at the lowest in 70 years. Smoking indoors in public places is generally forbidden by law, except for bars that are smaller than 40 square meters and don't serve food. These places of course then tend to attract smokers. So I guess this means you guys hang out in a lot of small bars. ;)
Regarding late night dining, Restaurant Rio Bravo used to be open until 4am, nothing fancy but was okay for a late night meal. Sadly they now close at 11pm. But Restaurant Vita is still open to 2am on 4 days of the week and there are a few others that are open to 1am on the weekends. But yeah, not a lot of options.
Oh, that's good to know about Vita - we have heard of them. Yeah, we go to a few smaller bars regularly and it's annoying to smell like smoke (or to have to think about if it's smoking or not). It's funny that it's the small bars that get an exception though.
Because of the high taxes on tobacco, the cigarette black market has exploded. Berlingske and TV2 Lorry have done som pieces on it. So yes the official numbers are that the numbers of legal tobacco products has fallen in sales. But the black market has eaten it up. Much like what America tried with prohibition, it has the opposite effect as to what the laws tried to achieve.
@@RobeTrotting The really small, non-food serving, bars got an exempt because they would pretty much croak otherwise. I'm not going to throw the word alcoholic around... but those places tend to live off "the usual suspects" for 5 out of 7 days of the week. And the crowd that goes to the local bar right after work (or right after breakfast) every single day is almost entirely made up of smokers.
Rio Bravo is famous for the fact that the government once hung out there during late night negotiations that ended up in a set if laws popularly referred to by the name of the restaurant.
@@MachivelianBear Was not aware of that, but I guess it's to be expected. Us Danes will do our best to find a way around things the government tries to enforce. :)
4:30 filter coffee is also a fashion. I don't think anyone doesn't have a parent or a grand parent that has a filter coffee machine. So it's "just" the "counter coffee culture" of the times. xD
"De drikker kaffe fra kaffemaskiner hele formiddagen"
Gnags
I can so much relate to the part with the coffee machine is down... 😆 here in Sweden it would also be close to a strike in the office if that machine has downtime.
Oh, tourists in Copenhagen and the bikes is like my favourite topic to rant about XD As a person biking in Copenhagen, tourist season especially is not for the feint of heart. All of a sudden someone is dragging their suitcase along on the bike lane rather than the side walk, or people just walk across it. Worse even, people who are adults but have probably tried sitting on a bike three times in their lives and two of them was when they were kids, are now trying to bike around the city like slinkies on wheels. All while not signalling for stop or turn.
I even tried two years ago almost being run over by two kids on a bike (two people on a bike will give you a fine in Denmark, btw) who yelled at me in English to get out of the way. I was on the sidewalk. They were not even riding on the right side of the road, much less the designated lane.
And last but not least, often tourists don't automatically make room for people to pass them on the sidewalk. It is like they see the bike lane and then think, oh but there is plenty of room to walk past us. Meanwhile I, as a Danish person, am certain my death is immanent the moment I step on there to get around them.
Ok, rant over XD
So funny that you experience the difficulty of finding filter Coffee! Finter Coffee is what everyone used to drink! . What everyone used to have in their homes as well. It is definitely the traditional thing. Ten years ago, if you went outside the bigger cities it was impossible to find any espresso-kind of coffee. I remember going to my grandmother's town, dying for a cappuccino after days of her filter. Asking around, but not able to find it.
If you go to bodegas they will probably have it, as well as in any summerhouse, there will be a filter machine, and at any grandparents place.
I really like that you always say “Hej hej” like natural born Danes, instead of “Bye bye!”
It’s funny because we notice a lot of little things where we use Danish or the English translation of a Danish turn of phrase now 😊🇩🇰
It’s sad to see that smoking has become a politicized issue in Denmark. We used to have a lot of “frisind” but an unfortunate influence of American puritanical culture has crossed back over the Atlantic.
The funny thing is: All smokers know how bad it is for them. Some wanna quit and a lot really don’t, because anyone who has tried smoking knows how nice it is. Best way to approach it should be to let bars themselves chose wether they allow indoor smoking or not, same goes for restaurants. Austria has had a lot of success with that system.
Great video as always!
Yeah, it's a horrible Amaricanism when some managers insist on extending the (already excessive) indoor smoking ban to extremely well ventilated areas, such as outdoors on company property.
Hey guys
I'm danish American, born and raised in Copenhagen
Tipping in Denmark is optional, but most places will share tips with the kitchen and the cleaning staff. All tips go into 1 pile and shared evenly.
Great show's, even with all the small misunderstanding 😉
Mvh
Kasper
Wait there's tipping here? I have never ever seen it
Its harder for you to get Filterkaffe here in denmark, because Filterkaffe is about 2 dollers for a full pot if you make it your self at home, and about 5 dollers pr. cup if you by it at a cafe. So we only want to buy special coffe when we are out, we hygger us med kaffe derhjemme. (Know you speak enough danish to understand that :-)
I'm surprised to hear about american laws against smoking being more resitrctive than here, it doesn't fit the narrative of freedom above all :) at the same time, I'm dismayed at the pace in which we are acting on it here.
Yeah it’s so funny the things we can ban and the others that we just can’t 🤷🏻♂️ I always wished we could drink in public when I lived in the States - that one made no sense. You can even get a fine or detained for “public drunkenness” at the discretion of a police officer.
@@RobeTrotting Are you not allowed to be drunk in public? How do you get home from bars and parties?
One word "Prohibition", they also have a history of restrictions.
I really enjoy watching your vlogs. You’re very observant and have a great approach when talking about cultural differences/experiences. I’ve watched your videos on and off for quite some time and I’ve got to say, strangely you guys look younger in your newer vlogs compared to the older ones. The same goes for Travelin’ Young. Generally you also seem calmer or maybe more in balance in a sense like you’re in a good place :D
Stay happy and healthy
Just love the channel :)
My experiences with American tourists has only been positive. They are very polite. One time had just finished work in Hillerød, so i was walking to my train (Lokalbanen) when I saw some confused tourists. Many become unsure what train to take because they all look alike. So several times I have guided people to the right train and Americans have always tried to give me money for it. I always refused, just did it to help. This one time an American woman tried several times to give me money, no don't give me anything. Perhaps because I was in uniform they thought I
was hired by the railway or something. lol.
Well, that wasn't them being polite. They most definitely thought you worked for the company and tipping is a big part of American culture. But, at least they didn't talk down to you like they might a server or cashier at an American store. I think they were just behaving a bit more politely because they weren't at home and didn't want to feed into the stereotype of Americans being rude. I am an American myself, and, unfortunately, being rude and treating those you perceive as lower then you is very much deep seated into American thought processes. Which is a big reason once I am out of the military I plan fully on leaving to live in Denmark. Really, any Scandanavian country where my skills as a healthcare worker can be put to use in a much better healthcare system.
The funny thing about the young people drinking, it doesn´t generate more alcoholics later in their lives. It´s just a periode of time in their lives, where they want to feel free and party, and then later on it stops again. I love your channel!
Just like the nummer of high school students smoking weed doesn't create more drug addicts in the US 😅😅😅
I think for the coffee part, it is mostly the thought of going out and talking to another human being so early in the morning to get you caffeine. Not very Danish. So you will probably find that almost all homes in Denmark have some way of producing a cup of coffee, even if the people living there don't drink it (My bf had a jar of instant for his mother when I met him, and my aunt and uncle have a full size coffee machine despite not drinking it).
Actually, in those terms it makes a lot more sense haha
Even myself have a coffee machine and i don't drink coffee. This is true.
@@RobeTrotting Yeah, most homes have either a filter coffee maker, or simply a tea cettle ready for some instant coffee. And if not there, then a fair few workplaces will have a coffee machine ready if you missed your cup in the morning. Again it all kinda also fits into the food culture here with less eating out in general and more meals being done at home.
Spot on. I don't drink coffee, but I do have coffee in the freezer, filters in my kitchen cupboard, a thermos only for coffee and a filter top to do slow pour. Plus coffee cups and sachets of creamer (since I am lactose intolerant) just so I can present the minimum expected hospitality of: "Vil du have en kop kaffe?"
I can add to this too - I don't drink coffee, can't stand the stuff at all, but i still have both instant and filter coffee in case of guests.
9:00 7-Eleven is always open also some during new years and Christmas. We used to have 24 hour open Nettos (I wish they would bring that back). However in Europe, Denmark is actually the one country with ANY stores that are open during sundays and holidays, and even during night. Go to any other country and you'll notice everything closes at 22 at the latest, and holidays and sundays are completely closed.
You forgot to mention how pleasant the Danes are! I am currently in Copenhagen for a few days. I am an American living in Berlin for over twenty years and I have been to many European cities and I find the people in Copenhagen just lovely. Nice channel.
This is true, I also hear people say "everyone looks so happy and laid back" and that really is the case. Enjoy your time in Copenhagen - maybe we'll run into you! Thanks for watching 😀
I wasn't aware we were noteworthy pleasant, but thanks for your kind words, and I hope you'll enjoy your stay with us.🙂
@@mace8873 I guess, to an american you are pleasant if you don't shoot them. 😊
Most Danes find Americans lovely too including myself who is engaged to an American woman.
though Berliners are known to be especially rude within Germany.
I have not read the other comments. I am sure I am not the only one who knows, that only very small bars in Dk are allowed to have smokers (which is ironic).
And I am also sure, I am not the only one who praises your good Work and charm 💜
Apart from the smoking part I would prefer the Danish way to the American way. I think if I visited USA I probably would forget the rules and get in trouble for jaywalking, drinking in the street or something. I would also not appreciate being expected to rush my meal to free up the table. I think I would have to experience the cycling culture to know just how it works. Here in Croatia they allow cycling on the pavements and several times I've nearly been knocked down when walking in city streets.
We definitely love living in Denmark and have to say that we prefer the lifestyle immensely (not that we don't still love America - we do). When we visit the States we always forget that we can't just grab a beer and walk to meet up with friends. It's so weird not to have that haha. Cycling on the pavement has to be difficult for everyone! You can get fined for it in Denmark but people still do it a little and on the pedestrian streets. Thanks for watching :)
Smoking inside bars is amazing. In fact a lot of Norwegians and Swedes go to Denmark to drink(because it is a bit cheaper). But also because of the relaxed smoking laws. I worked as a bartender in Jomfru-Ane Gade(Aalborg, definitely google it). And a lot of Norwegians especially take the ferry to Aalborg.
The amount of times Norwegians that has shouted “I love Denmark!” While ordering in the bar with a cigarette in their hand is crazy. Atleast in my experience.
LMAO. You need to put "smoking" in bars into the right context. Smoking in bars, is dependent on the size of the bar. In most bars and nightclubs, NO SMOKING/Vaping is the norm. Sure. You can still smoke or vape outside. You can't smoke/vape indside government/municipal buildings. Privat companies make there own rules. As said. Bars and restaurants need to follow special laws. But your right! We "jog" a lot, but still do unhealthy things🤣 ! We each try to enjoy life, as we feel fit.., even if Life ends up killing us 😲 ! As always! Good VLOG 👍 !!
I just heard that the previous US ambassador claimed that people biked in Denmark because they couldn't afford cars and gas.
My wife has family in the US and they have also been surprised by the way we live, and it has made us think that there is more difference in some areas than we think about on a daily basis.
The American family thought we were a bit behind and more or less communists who left almost all of our salary to the state, but when they experienced our healthcare without insurance and that you are always guaranteed treatment regardless of your income, they were positively surprised.
They were also wildly surprised at how we were insured if we became unemployed, so that we didn't have to sell our house and the like.
However, they could not fully understand the gun law, although they had to admit it made for a much safer society (They may be getting too much of their knowledge from Fox News)
They said they heard some some negative things about Communist Denmark, but if it was Communism they'd would exchange it the extra vacation, LOL 😂
In my experience a lot of Danes can't drink coffee in the afternoon and sleep either.
And... why would you run out of toilet paper and batteries in the middle of them night ? ... just saying...
In Norway it is not allowed to drink in public areas such as on the street or in parks. But...if you bring food and some wine with you and sit in a park, no one will care...they will think it's positive. What is not positive is that someone sits drinking in a park on the way to a restaurant...or 10/15 young people sit down drinking alcohol. It is probably so much about noise in public places. Or the possibility of it. I have not been worried about taking a friend to a lunch in the park where one has beer or wine.
Denmark is the only place it’s normal to buy beer and drink open on the sidewalk when you are 16
It’s easy to answer the “why are every Scandinavians so hot” The Viking didn’t bring back the ugly once. then they raided the rest of Europe 😂😂
LOL we have heard that explanation - sometimes the most logical answer is the one haha
All of these are spot on, I work with tourists here in Copenhagen, and these are the exact things that ALL of the American visitors to Denmark point out 😄
Haha, that's good to know we hit the same reactions, but I hope we didn't give you PTSD Simon - it couldn't have been easy taking those Americans around town LOL
Most danes I know, wakes up in the morning and makes one litre of filtered coffee. They drink at least two big cups of it. Maybe later in the afternoon they drink a small cup of coffee with a fancy italien name ;)
I wonder if we just get raised to think that afternoon coffee would keep us up all night?
@@RobeTrotting I think that caffeine affects people differently. I’ve noticed that a lot of my North American colleagues can’t drink coffee at night whereas Danes and many other Europeans don’t find it problematic to finish an evening meal with a cup of coffee or an espresso. Maybe it’s genetic.
I just Saw that building today when I was in Copenhagen
This is one of the best channels on TH-cam, no kidding. I love hearing about how totally weird things are here in Denmark, that we're just used to. Definitely do a video on restaurants! Maybe one on music venues too, if you have any experience with American venues to compare to?
Wow, thank you Kasper - that's such a nice compliment. We'll keep the videos coming and we need to work on restaurants for sure. Music venues could be interesting to compare as well - we have been to a lot of the major stadiums and a selection of concert halls and venues like Red Rocks in Colorado.
New viewer here, love the content. As a major in cultural studies I find your videos both hilarious and educational - it’s so fun to watch foreingers experiences/expressions of Danmark (although I’d Hardly Call you foreingers any more). While the legal age is up for debate at the moment (as I Think it should be) there’d probably be a straight up revolution if they Tried to Ban public drinking.
I'm so glad you found us Pelle, and thank you for watching and your kind words. We love to get into the cultural side of things and those micro differences are always the most interesting (at least we think so). It's always funny when we learn why our American phrasing or habit is taken the wrong way and to look at the cultural nuances that get missed day to day 😀🇩🇰
Hi with you 2
Am glad that you are happy to live in Denmark
Should you want to go outside Copenhagen e.g., to the dark Jutland as a Copenhagener/Zealander will put it, or as we call it "The Real Denmark"
Then you are more than welcome here at the top of Denmark, Frederikshavn, Skagen and Sæby.
A bit of history for your point number 6
When we went on raids to the UK, France and other countries in the Viking Age, we used to take prisoners who became our slaves.
It was called back then:
Trældom = state of being oppressed by a ruler and without ordinary rights
Trælleri = enslaved
en træl, flere trælle = one slave, several slaves
We gladly took the most beautiful girls and had children with them, often releasing them in those cases.
So, Scandinavia has for a 1000 years ago introduced some of the beautiful girls to the region, which has then been inherited through the ages.
Best regards
Hans Kristian Byrialsen
Aka HK
Hey Hans, we love trips to Jutland and have a few videos from there - definitely due for another visit soon. We have heard the reason that the prettiest women were taken back to Scandinavia - never researched it though. I guess sometimes the most simple answer is the one haha.
In 2007, Denmark introduced a national smoking ban, prohibiting all indoor smoking in workplaces and public places. So I don't know where you've seen people smoking indoors, but I have never seen that. That is the case in most of Europe actually.
You can smoke in a lot of bars in Denmark and there is no prohibition on how far away from the public you have to be in outdoor settings. You can’t smoke within 10 meters of a building entrance in the States and in most states, restaurants can’t allow smoking in outdoor eating spaces. Its definitely not the same as in the States and people smoke in more settings in Denmark. I haven’t done the research but probably more people smoke overall (especially young people) too.
You mention smoking in tiny bodegas at 2:56. This only applies to smaller bodegas at max 40 sqm. The smoking laws have become more strict. Smoking inside all restaurants, buses and public buildings was banned in 2007. In 2021 the law was changed and now it's illegal to smoke at train stations, outside hospital entrances and outside schools.
You can’t even smoke in outdoor bars and restaurants in the US and it’s been like that for 20 years. 30 or more for trains.
Thanks for another great video: It really is interesting to me to learn about the small, but rather curious cultural differences we have within Western cultures.
As a native Dane, I can't help but smile hearing your observations about coffee:
I was born in 1977 in a Copenhagen suburb (Værløse, 10 miles north of Copenhagen) and both my paternal and maternal grandparents only knew regular filter coffee, so I am raised on filter coffee, you might say! 🙂
As far as I know, traditional Danish coffee has thus ALWAYS been regular filter coffee until something like 20-30 years ago, when the whole Italian Espresso-style method caught on in posh Copenhagen cafés, because we wanted to be "more international".
And yes, while a lot of younger people from the middle class might have also gotten on to this hype and bought some quite expensive Espresso-machines in the 700-1000$-range - or their rather cheap and popular derivatives like Nespresso - for their homes, I would bet that most Danes living outside the cities still would serve regular, honest "cup of joe"-filter coffee to their private guests. (Or - again in the more academic middle class - perhaps the Bodum "French Press"-type of coffee, Bodum being one of the typical 'Danish Design'-icons).
At least a glance at general supermarket shelves still show, that regular, finely ground coffee is by far the most sold product.
Thank you for your great videos!
Im danish and I don't live in a big city; I don't want to devalue your experience but at the same time I feel like "WTF are you guys talking about?!! It's nothing like that here".
Either way they're our experiences and not universal, but of 12 things, I'm sure most of them are pretty typical for Americans (which could also be why if you're Danish you don't notice these things regardless of if you live in a city or not).
4:29 In the municipality I live in there are officially 19 buildings from before 1800.
There is even an Estate from 1390 and a Diocese from 1586. In addition, the oldest "ordinary" dwellings are from 1638, 1675, 1677. The remaining of the 19 oldest are built between 1750 and 1780.
I must admit that I chuckle a little when I see an American proudly displaying their "antique" house from last part of 18 hundred or beginning of 1900 "i bought a 100 year old house" as if that was something special. But maybe it is to them.
7:09 ok i bite. You look good. Don't sell yourself short even if you do live in a country with and aktive Jantelov 🤣
It's so wild to us when we see older buildings - I think mentally we always look at anything built before 1776 as extremely old (because that would be colonial age in America and only the east coast has such buildings remaining). And then our friends are like "I was baptised in a church that's 750 years old" and our jaws drop haha.
@@RobeTrotting hehe
@siliara yes. . I was Baptized in one that was build in around 1100
Joke:
Guide to American couple: This church was built in 1120.
Husband to wife: Geez, Mildred, we just missed it by 20 minutes…
😂
@@julianneheindorf5757 HAHAHA
Smoking indoor in DK is prohibited in most establishments and public buildings.
Yeah, it's prohibited indoors everywhere in the States and even outside dining and terraces, etc. Maybe it's less than in years past, but there are still a lot of places where you can smoke in public in Denmark compared to zero in the US.
I would like for the restaurants to be open way longer. So for instance if you’ve been to the movies, you could go out for a nice meal while talking about the movie
Yeah, that's always nice. We're used to at least having a 24 hour diner open late for that. Plus it's always hard to explain to visitors (especially when the sun is up later than restaurants are open) that we need to make a reservation and book it early - especially our American visitors who don't like to plan as much.
I wish we had better smoking laws, but i think the politicians would loose a LOT of voters on it so they kinda just... Bump up the price on cigarette instead, which makes the youth turn to e-cigs OR those disgusting white bags of nicotine that you can see EVERYWHERE now :( Or Snus, they do a lot of that too apparently..
I also wish they cared about second hand smoke the same way they do about other health matters. At least snus doesn’t affect anyone else haha.
@@RobeTrotting That is true! Im glad that its more and more uncommon to smoke at the train stations or bus stops, as i have developed asthma, so in that regard i am glad that snus only affect the person who's using it haha! I do wish that teenagers would wait till they where at least 25 with that stuff, it does bring a culture on the gymnasiums fx that its okay, and then weed is okay and then MDMA when they party and the ball can roll from there.
(Im not against weed, people are free to do what they want, I had lots of friends whom did it a lot around me. But again i wish they would wait till they where 25 and not 14.. I had a costumer at work, in a art store, she was 14 and she smelled like a weedbag up close, the smell of weed did not go away immediately either, so that was nice or something..)
I can’t sleep if I haven’t got my “aftenkaffe” (evening coffee)…
have you considered to go to Greenland, from fellow greenlander
We would love to, we just haven’t been able to get there yet 😃🇬🇱
You 2 guys has noticed the extreme number of people on bikes in Denmark - it is better for your health, the inviroment, the climate, and in town it is much faster than a car…… Apparantly not understood by the US former ambassador to Denmark - Carla Sands - who got nominated by President Trump due to a large donation. Very recently she claimed that the many bikers in Denmark were due to the middle class in Denmark not being able to afford a car so they had to go by bike or train if longer distances. This was her conclusion after having stayed in Denmark for 3 years not realising that the Danish socalled “middle class” simply LIKE biking, and has a higher salary than similar jobs in the US. And then she asked the American people : this is what President Biden is aiming at - do you really want this? Her predecessor as US ambassador to Denmark was Rufus Gifford - he was extremely well known and popular in Denmark. He went on a bike trip around most of Denmark to meet the Danes, and thereby got to know Denmark and the Danes very well. Not so for the millionaire and actress Carla Sands…..
Y’all are beginning to speak English with a Danish accent
We catch ourselves doing or saying little things all the time. Even just saying (in English) "thanks for today" which would be really weird to say in America haha.
Honestly, the one about everyone here being good looking, as a Dane, that is 100% true. And I’m bi, so I just go around and think, “you’re hot, you’re cute, Wauw that’s a nice face. WHY IS EVERYONE SO HOT YET NO ONE WANTS TO DATE ME!!”
It’s a blessing and a struggle.
WOW, yes! It's a nice problem to have I guess haha.
The U.S. - can’t drink a beer in the park, but waving your semi automatic rifle around is pertectly fine.
I believe the waving part would be threatening, which is not legal.
But a threatening person carrying a rifle peacefully - on his back - is fine.
... Unless your skin is black or brown.
Ugh 😔 I know. Imagine opening a can of beer in a park while open-carrying an AR15 and the cops come to give you a ticket for the beer.
i’m obsessed with your videos!! i’m going on a youth exchange in denmark starting in august for 11 months!
Aw, so glad you liked it - hopefully out channel can help you prepare. Good luck :)
Schools are different too. Check the Travelin Young TH-cam channel for more about that.
Denmark is heaven on earth ..... YES taxes are HIGH ..... but you have free health care and even get payed while educating yourself (the education are FREE) and you can live while being out of work ! (The best three best things i can come up with) Well if you get kids ... theres free child care .... (while you work) The 4th good thing that your taxes goes to ...
With the smoking i grew up with parents that where bouth smokers .... and ALL 3 of their children began to smoke my big sister has quitted ,,,, but me and my younger brother still smokes but give it 20-30 years more and us old smokers are DEAD and gone ! :P
Bodegas is OLD Danish bars and smokers have gone there for the past 100 years..... you two should go to a modern coffee bar og cafe ! ;)
You two would seem out of place if i met you in one of the Bodegas i frekvented in my youth tbh ! :D (Most of em isnt anymore)
You would STAND out as being gay ...... if you aint .... well im sorry but i would think so if i met you at/in a OLD Danish Bodega !
(Nothing bad in being that .... just stating FACTS)
But besides that i LOVE your videos about Denmark ! ;)
I guessed BIKES EVERYWHERE as #1 :)
Thanks guys, another fun video!
Our pleasure! Thanks for watching Magnus 😊🇩🇰
The 6 or 7 phily vs 3 -4 dane got me laughing hard.
😂 It's not a lie LOL
Just wait until we get a hard winter again. -10+ or should i say - ;) and the wind chill.... But im glad you like this great contry. :)
Do you Guys speak a bit danish cus i am danish jeg elsker jeres videoer
Aw, mange tak for det! 😍
about eating out in Denmark, when u want to get a waiter over, look for one, make eye contact, raise your hand, do a little subtle wave and they will come over... we want to be left alone, unless we need something, unlike in USA where they hover over u for 90min and then push u out the door, coz they want the tips... do u like being able to spend 3-4h when u are out eating in Denmark?
I'm not sure exactly the day - but after about 4-6 months we totally switched and went 180 degrees on eating out. At first we missed the hovering and then we realized we could just wave a server down to get something and we never wanted to be bothered by a server again. We can't stand eating out in the USA anymore LOL
@@RobeTrotting that's interesting... ty for the fast reply :)
I saw a youtube video about difference about skyscrapers in the US and Europe.
biking to school or a job made me more away and ready for the day
Yeah, city design in the two countries is very different just because of the age of cities. I agree with you though - biking to work is a nice way to wake up!
I spend a month in US in 2008 driving from Seattel to New Orleans doing 9500 km, and not once smoking became an issue. I had heard that it was a big issue, everybody in europe was on about it...but as I said not once. I even asked bartenders if it was allright, and the answer was "do you need an ashtray". I think it is a very elite american and big town idea that is just not true. Look up the consumtion figures pr. capita in stead of passing on trivia.
Only were small places, can get away with allowing smiking. So its a rarety.
Which makes no sense because it’s just worse in a small bar (but honestly, most bars are small so it’s pretty common). In the States you can’t even smoke in outdoor patio spaces and such because of the dangers of second-hand smoke, so it REALLY stands out that you can smoke at all in public spaces.
@@RobeTrotting
No, but that's the law.
I dont understand the Brown bag law with alchol. Because if you’re having a pickning with a bottle of vine it would be hard to spot. But as soon as it comes in a Brown bag everyone knows what’s in the bag.
Just a confused dane
I'm totally with you on the coffee! 😂 Even though I'm Danish, I can't drink coffee in the afternoon either. I don't understand people who can do that. I would be wide awake at night 😂
I'm Danish and I drink coffee at all times of the day except right before bedtime.
Same here. My last cup of coffee is at 15:00. Anything later than that and I hope I have a good movie I can watch cause I sure ain't sleeping
Yeah, I was very surprised by that bit. I know *lots* of Danes who can’t drink coffee at night, it’s definitely a thing here too.
A lot of Danes drink coffee first thing in the morning, we just have our own coffee machines
Smoking indoors is not allowed in Denmark - only in very small bars
Right... so it's allowed haha 😉 It's universally banned inside all public spaces of any size in our home state and most others in the US, so the fact that indoor smoking exists, and there are no rules against smoking right outside of a building are all very noticeable differences for Americans.
@@RobeTrotting You just made it sound like it's a rampant issue, when you actually have to purposefully go looking for small bars to find places where it is allowed to smoke indoors.
I just wanted to clarify what you said :-)
As a Dane, those brown paperbags around alcoholic drinks in American movies really puzzled me :D
Careful now. Many Americans seems to think that only the USA has freedom :p I love watching LouderWithCrowder but when he starts on how only Americans has freedom, then I really start to wonder if they ever really had it.
Do you guys think/feel that you have more freedom here in Denmark or in the USA? :)
That's a excellent tip for a video! I'd be very curious about a down to earth take on a freedoms comparison!
That is a great idea for a video. Short answer here though - we have both said many times that we have more freedom here (particularly the ones we actually care about). Americans are kind of taught that we have a monopoly on freedom and like to think the rest of the world is lacking in the area. It's partly a hold-over from the Cold War era, but some really don't understand that the rest of the world caught up and exceeded American freedom generations ago. I know there are actual freedom statistics that measure this in an objective way, so it could be fun to really dig into that data and the topic.
I agree!! I have 2 coffee to wake up and no more. If I drink any coffee after noon then I will be up half the night 🤣🤣🤣
Okay we are the same way 😂
Good observations. Stay here in Denmark. ;)
Thank you, and that is our plan :)
Go to "The Midwestern Diner" in Copenhagen, it's American food the good classic way, and it's amazing!
Back in the day, 30+ years ago, there would be "cannabis smoking prohibited" signs around cafes in Copenhagen.
There was coffee shops too. And women in red lit windows.
You don't see that anymore
We love when non danes talk about denmark here so keep up the good work☔
Thanks for watching 😊🇩🇰 we will definitely keep the videos coming.
Even me as a dane living in Sweden loves to hear all the stories about good old Denmark.. 😁
In Norway tipping someone is considered insulting.
It's like saying: "You must be poor so I'm gonna help you out."
You only tip if you are VERY, VERY, VERY pleased with the service.
And that tip usually goes into a tip bucket which all the employees gather the money from at the end of the year to throw a huge party for the people who work at the restaurant/diner/cafe.
Regarding the coffee thing here in Denmark, I hate it. I like coffee, and I like _good_ coffee, and if you call your establishment a coffee shop, you'd better be able to serve me a cup of coffee. But as you pointed out, in many places the closest thing you can get is an americano, but watered down espresso is _not_ the same thing as filter coffee. There, rant over ;-)
What? Smoking is still legal inside in Denmark? Haven’t been to Denmark in 10 years so can’t remember much from my visit but here in Sweden it’s been banned since 2005, smoking outside in restaurants and in most public areas were banned some years ago. Very very few people smoke these days in Sweden.
Bars that are smaller than 40kvm (serving area, so toilets, storage, dishwasher area, etc doesn't count) which doesn't serve food can chose to be a smoking bar. It's basically so the alcoholics don't start drinking at home in stead :P
From Vikings to Bikings?
😂
try wisiting at "skovbørnehave" in Denmark... kids climbing 5-6 meters up in trees... using knives...
Café/restaurant coffee culture is very different than what people drink at home or at the office. Filter coffee is your every day drink, and most people when they go out they want something more fancy.
That makes sense. We have a little less variety in the type of coffee but all the additional sugary coffee drinks and flavor syrups etc 😊
3:45 outside of old houses... I remeber a Korean friend asking "Why do they build these houses in an old style?" And, I pointed at the four numbers on the facade saying "1577", and telling him that this is the year they were build...😏
It's the littlest things that make a difference...
While you were talking about 'the good-looking people' don't you think it also might be bc Danes wear clothes, when they leave the house?
You don't see a lot of leisure wear on the streets, which to me, can make people look sloppy...anyhoo...just a thought 🤔
Love to hear your opinions, guys
hello from Hundested 🌸 🌱
New buildings do NOT fit perfectly in. On the contrary.
I knew a nurse once who had visited the us, she was walking down the street, when a police car stopped her and asked if she was all right. Not because she had done something wrong but beacuse they were worried about her (she was walking). Unfortunately i do not know where she was walking, probably a bit outside of town, not besides the freeway. But her comments about that episode had the word "Fat epidemic" in it. This was a while ago 20-30 years.
The lack of skyscrapers is partially due to politicians disliking new buildings towering above the spire of their favorite old public building. Plus a rule that any church can object to structures tall enough to spoil the look of their church and belltower.
Gentlemen. You are both solid 10s.
100% agreement from a female perspective!
"Auw, but you are a 10 to me" *Big Heart*
Thanks all 😀 obviously all of you as well - all 5.8 million of you but especially you three
It’s crazy because people wonder why America isn’t as happy. Like everything y’all are saying adds up.
Storebaelt has been frozen over enough for trucks to drive across. So we CAN get extremely cold winters. I have seen -32 C here.
I’m enjoying your videos because I’m about to move to Denmark. What part of Philly did you leave? I was born there.
Nice video 😄
Thank you for watching and the kind words Lars 😀🇩🇰
Where do you buy those American glasses? I would really like to try seeing things through "American eyes"! 🤔🤔
😜😜😂😂 I loved that little gimmick!
The unpleasant truth to the "good looks" of skandinavians. Is that back when vikings raided most of Europe and also the countries along the "Østersø", like Latvia, Lithyania and such. We took slaves back to Denmark/Sweden/Norway, they were called "Trælle", and the prettiest of the girls and women, were of course used by their "owners", thus adding a LOT to our scandinavian genepool....
its funny... so many say Copenhagen is clean. I always think its very dirty xD
There are a plethora of studies that show the greater number of options the less happy people are.
Scientia Non Domus,
(Knowledge has No Home)
antiguajohn
(Ole Jørhen Birk)
I'm really surprised to learn about the smoking in Denmark. If you're a smoker in Norway, I suspect life is much worse.
Honestly i really hate that there’s a point about smoking because its really dumb that people still smoke probably one of the only things that i would wish that Denmark would be more like the US, everyone i know that smoke know that its dumb that they smoke but problem is the starting of the smoking because people think its cool and its really sad that we literally have the record for the earliest smokers in the whole world.