Arriving in Denmark: Some tips from my experience

Hello and welcome to the How to Live in Denmark podcast. I'm Kassandra Melish. August in Denmark. Brings the first signs of fall—a crisp chill in the air, the changing color of the leaves, the annual posters warning drivers to be aware of small children riding their bikes to school for the very first time—and foreign university students in the local 7-Eleven asking that their buns be warmed up. I saw a newly arrived young American student in my local 7-Eleven this morning asking—no demanding—that her newly purchased bun. Be warmed. The 7-Eleven clerk told her, sorry, but there were no bun warming services available at that branch. Well, she wasn't too pleased, but it's always a mistake to expect U.S., U.K., or Asian-level concepts of customer service in Denmark. In this egalitarian country, nobody serves anybody, and if they do, they're frequently grumpy about it. You and the store clerk are equals. And nobody's going to warm anybody's buns unless it was agreed to in the original deal. Now, while I didn't dare approach the angry American bun woman, I thought it would be useful to her and to others to list a few tips for arriving in Denmark at any time of year. You know, random things I wish people would have told me before I arrived. First of all, how should you pack for Denmark? Bring lots of basics. Socks, undies, t-shirts, jeans, exercise clothes— these are going to be really expensive in Denmark. And plan to layer to keep warm. Jean jackets, leather jackets, and sweaters are great, and anything waterproof will come in handy. Bring scarves. In a country where most people's clothing style runs from black to navy blue, scarves are the main form of fashion expression for both women and men. Warm gloves and a hat are good too, but there's no need to pack like you're planning an Arctic expedition. Unless you plan on hiking in Sweden or Norway, you probably won't need a heavy parka. Now, the first thing you'll do after you arrive in Denmark is get a 10-digit CPR number, your own personal number in Denmark's Central Person Registry. The CPR is the basic unit of social control. You need it to get medical care, library books, a mobile phone, a bank account, or an apartment rental contract. A side effect is that in Denmark, the police will always know precisely where you live. The first 6 numbers of the CPR are your birthday, making it pointless to lie about your age in Denmark. The last 4 are supposed to be kind of a secret. Of course, it's not really secret because you hand it out all the time to sign up for fitness centers and car rental contracts and other various services, but sort of a Semi-secret. Suffice to say that if someone gets your CPR number, they can use it for minor mischief, like giving your identification on the trains if they get caught without a ticket. Now, you don't need a ticket to board most local trains and some buses, but you're expected to buy one anyway. And if the controllers do happen to turn up that day and find out you don't have precisely the ticket you need for the zone you're currently in, don't count on them to have any mercy for a cute or crying foreigner. They will take you off the mode of transport, take your name and CPR number, and you will get a big bill in the mail. And because everything's centralized in Denmark, the bill really does have to be paid. They will find you. In general, it's good to pay your bills as soon as you get them in Denmark. I know in some countries and cultures people just treat the first bill as kind of a suggestion and wait to see if a second or third reminder will show up. That doesn't work in Denmark, where the second bill will come with a large fine added. If you don't pay your bills or your taxes, you get put into RKI, a central registry of people who don't pay their bills, and you'll find your financial life sharply restricted. You won't be able to get a phone, rent a place, or possibly even a job that will allow you to pay your overdue bills. So just pay all your bills on time if you can, and if you can't, get in touch with the people you owe money to and work out a payment plan. You'll need a bank account when you arrive in Denmark, and I would suggest one of the bigger banks: Danske Bank, Nordea, Jyske Bank, all of which have net banks in English and some experience dealing with foreigners and their concerns. You'll get a Danekort, which is the universal debit card. In Denmark, cards pretty much pay for everything. You only need cash to reward street musicians. Almost everyone else takes Danekort or the app version, MobilePay, which you should download as soon as possible. Even the homeless people who sell newspapers on the street in Denmark take mobile payments. Plan to cook your own food as much as possible because Denmark is not really a restaurant culture. While takeaway is becoming more popular in the big cities, most sit-down restaurants are expensive, open limited hours, and sometimes exhibit bizarre customer service. More than once I've walked into a nearly empty restaurant on like a Tuesday night in August and been told all the tables were booked and they would not serve me. It's quite hard not to take this personally. Plan on doing a lot of cooking for yourself and bring your recipes. If you need special spices or ingredients, bring them with you. Desperate foreign cooks looking for condensed milk or Marmite or jalapeños or canned pumpkin are a standard feature of the online forums for foreigners in Denmark. Danish vegetables and herbs are also quite specialized. Fresh dill and parsley is in every supermarket, but cilantro, for some reason, is almost impossible to find. If you're looking for cilantro, otherwise known as coriander, I recommend Asian or Indian or Arab greengrocer markets. Or grow your own on your windowsill. Don't count on having a friend send missing ingredients or anything else to Denmark. Postage costs here are extremely high, and any package from outside the European Union worth more than 80 Danish crowns, which is about 10 euros or 12 US dollars, is going to be delayed while the customs people mess around with it, and then hit with 25% sales tax plus 160 crown administration fee. So the tax and the fee can easily end up being worth more than the thing you just had sent. If you need to order something online while living in Denmark, Always order from within the EU to avoid this type of customs headaches. Now, these are my top tips, although I have many more. Apartments in Denmark have to be flawless and spotless when you move out, and you'll still have trouble getting your security deposit back. If you're a Christian, avoid the boring Danish State Church and find a fun international congregation. Turn on week numbers in your electronic calendar. The Danes love to say such and such is happening in week seven or make sure you get it done by week forty-two, but nobody ever knows precisely. when those weeks are. And if you're really in trouble, you can always ask one of your Danish colleagues or fellow students for help. But you have to ask. It's a cultural quirk that the Danes will often not come up to you and offer help. They don't want to break into your private space or insult your independence or suggest that you're not capable of handling the situation on your own. But if you ask for assistance on a personal level, they will generally go out of their way to help you. Unless, of course, you want your bun warmed. And that's How to Live in Denmark for this week. Remember, you can stage a live How to Live in Denmark event for your company or school group. Check it out at events.howtoliveindenmark.com. Come leave a comment on our Facebook page, How to Live in Denmark, or follow us on Twitter @howtoliveindk. And you can find the How to Live in Denmark book at many bookstores in Denmark, including those on college campuses. Look at bookshowtoliveindenmark.com for more information. See you next time.