
September, elite sport, and the not-quite death of Jante Law: The Danish Year Part 9
Denmark may be a small country, but it produces world-class athletes in cycling, tennis, handball, badminton, and golf. How do they do it? And how does the tax-financed effort to create athletic champ...
16 Sep 20259min

August, The first day of school, and how children learn to be Danish: The Danish Year Part 8
Denmark is a very good place to be a child, and to have children, yet the birthrate is dropping as it is in so many other countries. Some preschools have shut down due to lack of kids. Just this year ...
10 Aug 20258min

July, Nature in Denmark, and following The Daisy Route: The Danish Year Part 7
July is vacation month in Denmark, and it's ironic that many Danes go elsewhere on vacation at just this time of year, when you have the best chance of good weather in Denmark. And I do mean chance – ...
1 Juli 20257min

June: Danish pride, women in uniform, and the reverse Jante Law: The Danish Year Part 6
As of this month, girls who turn 18 can be drafted into the Danish military. This is new, even though girls in Norway and Sweden have been eligible for the draft for some time. Denmark is proud of it...
1 Juni 20258min

May, the candle in the window, and getting old in Denmark: The Danish Year Part 5
There's a lovely May tradition in Denmark of setting a candle in the window on the evening of May 4. This is to commemorate the surrender of the Germans and the end of the Nazi occupation in 1945. Th...
2 Maj 20258min

April, Gardening in Denmark, and what it means to be "Pear Danish": The Danish Year Part 4
As the long Danish winter finally draws to an end, it's time for Danes to start planting their gardens. Now, in early April, it's rhubarb, parsnips, cabbage. After the risk of frost is gone, in late ...
3 Apr 20258min

March, "Gække Letters", and the things lost in Digital Denmark: The Danish Year Part 3
Gækkebrev are a great Danish tradition, but like many other Danish traditions, they are fighting to survive amid the country's ambitious digital agenda. What is a gækkebrev, or gække letter? A single...
5 Mars 20258min

February, the Cat in the Barrel, and the Absence of Faith: The Danish Year Part 2
Fastelavn is one of the Danes' favorite holidays. It takes place in February, when the light is finally beginning to come back after a long season of winter darkness. "Hitting the cat in the barrel" -...
9 Feb 20256min




















