In this solo episode of the How to Live in Denmark podcast, host Kay Xander Mellish records from her Copenhagen desk during a bleak, cold winter day, describing the darkness, low temperatures, and the biological tendency to stay inactive. She reads a listener letter from Barbara, a 19‑year‑old from Portugal who is considering moving to Denmark for free university education, a student grant, and better career prospects amid Portugal’s economic crisis. Kay shares her own migration story—from the Rust‑Belt town of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, to New York City, and eventually Denmark—to illustrate why relocating at a young age can be advantageous. She advises Barbara (and other prospective immigrants) to seek a structured university environment for social integration, warns about the challenges of finding jobs and building friendships, and stresses the need for long‑term commitment. To help cope with the long, dark Danish winter, Kay suggests several strategies: embracing Danish holiday parties, using sun lamps or tanning salons for light therapy, immersing oneself in books, DVDs, or crafts, and simply allowing oneself to stay in bed on especially dreary mornings. The episode concludes with a sponsorship plug for AmericanVoice.dk (English voice‑over services) and a promotion of her How to Live in Denmark book, encouraging listeners to download it via Amazon Kindle and leave reviews.
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Hi, and welcome to the How to Live in Denmark podcast. I'm Kay Xander Mellish. I'm sitting at my desk in Copenhagen right now. And it's almost noon, but it's not really very light. Outside, the sky is gray, and the air is kind of thick and soupy, almost gluey. And it's cold. I'm indoors, and the heat's on to the max, but I'm wearing a thick woolen scarf and a knit hat. I'd be wearing gloves if I could type in them. These are the dark times in Denmark. November, December, January, February. Dark and cold. You can only get through it with a lot of tea or coffee or maybe some red wine and some chocolate. It's hard to even move during the dark times. I've been told there's an evolutionary reason for this, that before modern times there really wasn't all that much food to eat during the winter. So people were biologically programmed not to move around or burn too many calories. I hear that. I find that on a lot of mornings it's hard to even get out of bed. This week I got a letter. I get a lot of letters from foreigners who hear the podcast and go to the website howtoliveindenmark.com. The letter I got was from Barbara in Portugal. I won't use her last name. Barbara is 19 years old and wants to know if she should move to Denmark. I took the liberty of looking at what the weather is like in Portugal today. It's sunny and it's 10 degrees warmer Celsius than it is here. For my American listeners, that's the difference between 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. But Barbara told me that given the terrible economy in Portugal right now, she feels that if she stays in her homeland, She'll never be able to achieve her dreams. She'd like to work in the tourism industry, but she doesn't have the money to study that in Portugal. In Denmark, university education is free, or taxpayer-financed by people like me. Plus, in Denmark, you get a student grant to live on when you're here. Plus, when you're done with your education, you can move into the Danish social service system. Since the economic crisis in Southern Europe began, There's been a huge flow of young people from Southern Europe to Northern Europe, and to Denmark in particular. So should Barbara move here? Give up her home and her family and her friends and the sun and move here? I told her yes, for 2 reasons. One is you have to move where the action is, particularly if you're 18 years old and don't own any furniture yet. I left my hometown, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, when I was 18. Wisconsin at the time was also in a bad economic situation, factories closing down. It was part of the Rust Belt in America in the 1980s. The factories shut down, and the area downtown where the factories had been was so deserted that the local wildlife started to come back— deer and badgers and snakes and woodchucks. Right in the middle of downtown. Anyway, I moved to New York City, which turned out to be a launch pad for a whole new life for me. So from personal experience, that was the right move. But I also think that if you're going to come to Denmark, it really helps coming into a structured environment. If Barbara comes to attend university here, there'll be classes and student activities and all different ways to meet people and fit in. She'll have a place to be and a place to go. That's not always true for people who come to Denmark out of love. I know it can work. I have many friends who came here because of their partners, but the couple has to be really committed to each other, like lifetime commitment, because it's hard when you come to Denmark and only know one person. It can be hard to find a job, even for professional people. And it can be hard to make friends. You have to be in it for the really long haul. And you have to be outgoing and willing to find your own social life, separate from your partner as well as together. It is hard work. So, back to Barbara. Let's just say a year from now, Barbara is here in Denmark. How should she deal— how should you deal with the dark times? Well, you can be like the Danes and just party. That's why Christmas is so big in Denmark, even though not many people here are really Christian anymore. It's a way to break up a long, dark season. Another approach is sun lamps. You can buy a lamp that replicates sunlight, or even buy little glasses that contain tiny lamps that replicate sunlight. Or you can just go to the tanning salon. I know they're dangerous, but they're very popular during the winter, and not because people want to look orange. It's because it's just a little bit of light during the dark times. It really helps your mood. Or alternately, you can survive the dark times with a big pile of books or a big stack of DVDs. Danish libraries have a huge selection. Or a craft project. I'm sure the Vikings did their weaving and carving during the dark times. Or, on a dark, cold, rainy morning, you can just go back to bed. And that's How to Live in Denmark for this week. This week we're sponsored by AmericanVoice.dk, which just got a new logo this week. If you're looking for adult or children's English voiceovers in Denmark, contact us at AmericanVoice.dk. Music arranged by George Garvis. See you next week. Remember, the How to Live in Denmark book is available for download on amazon.com. You can read it on any phone or tablet. All you need is the Kindle app, and the Kindle app is free. The book's not free, but it's not very expensive either. If you read the book and enjoy it, please leave a review on your local version of amazon.com. It helps other people find the book and find the podcast.
