The sound of Denmark? Quiet. Very quiet

The sound of Denmark? Quiet. Very quiet

Denmark is a quiet country, even within the cities. Especially this time of year, February, when it's too cold to do anything but scurry from place to place, when the street cafés are closed and no one wants to eat their lunch in the park. The Danes are hibernating in their homes until the spring.

And especially when a blanket of snow covers the cities and countryside. Then everything around you will be beautifully, peacefully, totally quiet.

This Danish quiet can freak out a lot of internationals when they first arrive.

The Danes have a lot of respect for quiet. If you ask a Danish friend how things are going in his life, he's likely to stay "Ah, stille og roligt." Which Google Translate renders as "Quiet and quiet." ('Nice and easy' is another translation)

Quiet is written into the laws in Denmark – car horns are rarely heard, for example, because it's against the law to use them unless you are in immediate danger. I learned to drive in Manhattan, where you use your horn every 3 or 4 seconds, so this was a big change for me.

Church bells are only allowed to chime at certain times of the week. And most trains in Denmark – local S-trains and national – have a silent car. If you choose to sit there, you are not allowed to make any noise at all.

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Episoder(150)

Brok: The Danish art of petty complaints

Brok: The Danish art of petty complaints

Brok rhymes with clock, and it is a Danish word that describes the petty complaints that are common in one of the happiest countries in the world, and one of the richest. It's complaining as a social ...

24 Jun 6min

Authenticity and the Danish Summer Light

Authenticity and the Danish Summer Light

These are the light times in Denmark. In May and June, it's light until 10 or 11 in the evening, and then the sun is back around 4am. It's a nice contrast to the dark times in winter, although all tha...

28 Mai 8min

My Awkward First Year in Denmark

My Awkward First Year in Denmark

One thing no one ever tells you about moving to a new country is the incredible awkwardness of it. As a newcomer, you are constantly doing or saying or planning the wrong thing, something that would b...

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The Scheduled Dane: Why Friendship Needs a Calendar

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Danes usually don't do spontaneous. They do calendars. This episode looks at why a country that can count 8,000 ballots in three hours still needs two weeks' notice for almost everything else. From pe...

30 Mar 6min

Danish dinner party customs & why it's OK to break your Royal Copenhagen cup

Danish dinner party customs & why it's OK to break your Royal Copenhagen cup

Some might say that the most Danish piece of furniture is the chair. The Swan Chair, the Egg Chair, the Wishbone chair. They're all international design classics. You can buy a poster with 100 of the ...

15 Feb 7min

Vintage TV and movies as a guide to Danish culture

Vintage TV and movies as a guide to Danish culture

Watching vintage TV and movies is a great way to survive the long Danish winter—and if you're learning Danish or trying to understand Danish culture, it's even better. Many classic Danish films and TV...

22 Jan 9min

December: Little Nisse, Big Money: The Danish Year Part 12

December: Little Nisse, Big Money: The Danish Year Part 12

The nisse is a centuries-old figure in Danish folklore, and every December these tiny, mischievous spirits take center stage. While Santa Claus makes one big appearance late in the month, the nisse ar...

3 Des 20257min

November Rain and "daylighting" buried rivers: The Danish Year Part 11

November Rain and "daylighting" buried rivers: The Danish Year Part 11

November always seems like the rainiest of Danish months, but it isn't, actually. October is. But November feels rainier, because the sky is so grey, and it gets dark so early, and the rain sometimes ...

22 Nov 20258min

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