Danes and their culture

Probably the most common reaction you can get about danes,is that they are arrogant and distant. This is not only preception of foreingers but also some  danes are aware of the impression they create.

To assume all danes are like this woul be wrong. Some of them might really be arrongant or distant, but do not let the first impression scare you away. Danes are friendly, helpful people. They live according motto that could be explained followingly : everybody is equal,do not  stand out, do not inferior others.  Nice,  is not it,and they really live accoridng to it. 

Danes belong to culture,where at first you need to get to know person before they start to act more personal. Therefore, hugging somebody or kissing on cheaks, if you do not know each other that well, is not appropriate. They will not be rude on you,if you do so, but it will create so called " awkward moment". I can say form my experience, that even hug given from pure happiness can take them by surprise  :D I got some very good news from my landlord, instinctivly i gave him a hug for bringing me those news. Eventhough,  we do known each other quite well and communicate often, his reaction on my behaviour was : " What are you doing?". 

So as you can see personal space is quite important in here. If you are searching for job,allready got a job or have some meeting arranged, they are quite punctional when it comes to time,they will come even few minutes before the meeting and no interuptions are acceptable. On the other hand, when it come to work, they will not work longer then they are supposed to,if you see that for example shop is opened from 9 to 20,then they will close exactly at 20.  So be carefull if you need to manage some papers at municipality,police or bank not to miss it. 

As much as the personal space is important, they are less strict when it come to communication. It si absolutly normal to call other people by their first name, no hiearchical differences (Mr. or Mrs, sir or madam ) those have no use in Denmark. I come from country where you would call your teacher very formaly,  saying good mornig ,using the status teacher and their surname, in Denmark you just say hi to each other, and hi hi when leaving, no status or surname used.

I do not know if you have ever heard the phrase " drunk as a dane ", yes or no, it is quite interesting how danes are proud about their drinking. So once you are here, praise their beer.The two most  popular brands in here ar Tuborg and Carlsberg. Beer,or alcohol is one of the topic you can talk about, next favourit is weather.

As in every culture,they love complainig about the weather in here, and I must admit, there is reason for it, it is hard to like it :D Let´s say it makes you really appreciate every tiny sign of sun you get to see. Thought,the weather here si most of the time grey - ish, danes are smily peopel with their specific sense of humor  - irony.