I wonder if the fitness/good looking-ness comes from a lack of depression AND a lack of celebrity worship.
In America a lot of us are depressed, and a lot of us eat because we’re depressed. A major cause in us being a nation of fatties. Some people’s depression stems from obsession with looking like celebrities, which can’t be attained. Some depression stems from failing at competition as well.
My impression, from a week spent in Copenhagen, is that there is simply no culture of eating out, there. There were three restaurants attached to my hotel, all of which were dismal (and one gave me traveler’s sickness), and aside from that–couldn’t find anything except sidewalk cafes near the main canal. Definitely no fast food restaurants anywhere.
Am I right? Are there very few restaurants?
One thing I’ve noticed about denmark (several visits), because sales taxes are so high (VAT = 27%!!), people TAKE care of stuff-like cars! Here in the USA, we throw stuff away ,because its so cheap to replace. This means that people are careless-the Danes buy a car, and expect it to last 12+ years-which is why you see immaculate older cars in Denmark. What I like about the place:
-it is compact-you can get anywhere (on the excellent rail system), within 3 hours
-the bread is baked fresh at small bakeries-and it tastes so much better than that fiberglass insulation/Wonderbread stuff.
-people take pride in their houses-most are clean and freshly painted
The downside-very hard to advance-I once mew a guy at Bellevue Beach-he was an economics graduate (M.A.) from U of Copenhagen-he was a bus driver! :o
There are fewer restaurants than in many other countries, since it is quite expensive here. Also less fast food, but there are some McDonalds around.
What do you mean that it’s hard to advance? I don’t think the example you mention is a common one.
Merkwurdigliebe, something of a threadjack, but would you mind terribly if I quoted some of what you said in some outside email? I could do so with your screen-name attached or anonymously, your choice.
The reason I ask is that I’ve recently had some rather serious discussions over the American view of hapiness, and some of those I’ve discussed this with seem to think that the American definition is ‘universal’. I’d like to give them an eye-witness account to the contrary.
Why do I think of Hobbits, & the Shire?
Yes, the Danish people are happy and it’s nice to see how their editorial cartoon from last year spread that happiness worldwide. 
Of course, the Danish people have much to celebrate now that
Reptilicus is no longer a danger to their country or its citizens.
But seriously, (although I’ve never been there), the Danish people have always conveyed a kind of healthy, laid back mentality that other countries would do well to adopt.
And as far as the women? Admittedly, I too love the blonde haired, blue eyed, Scandinavian ideal.
If I ever get around to do some world travelling, Denmark is defintely one country I’d want to visit.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so offended in my entire life.
Honestly, it’s like ScareyFaerie doesn’t know what the word means.
I’ve been to Denmark once. We spent a week in Copenhagen. Given that it was a vacation, and given that we stuck near the touristy bits, and given that it was just one week in the summer… I don’t think I’ve been in a happier place except for once or twice.
That, and Legos* rock.
If I ever fall afoul of the authorities in Mexico, then I’ll probably retire to Denmark instead.
*“Lego brand building bricks” for the pedantic.
Wrong again, Shakespeare!
I spent about a week in Denmark last spring. If that’s the happiest place on Earth, we’ve got a sadder planet than I thought. It was nice, but completely gray. I thought the Dutch seemed happier, although I couldn’t figure out why…
Wow, there’s a post you may want to re-think.
Sheesh…“effeminate singsong” of Swedish? “Guttural grunts” of Danish? I’m a little astonished that a journal aimed at highly educated professionals would use such offensive turns of phrase.
Does anyone else think Swedish sounds effeminate? Other Scandinavians, maybe?
I’m very astonished that anyone would say that Danish is “faithfully preserving” anything, given the huge changes in pronunciation just over the last twenty years or so, with consonants disappearing all over the place.
Hold that thought if you will. I will likely open a thread on it that topic in the near future, because to explore that issue here would be too much of a hijack.
Several people have strong interest in how the Danish language have evolved to have less clear pronounciation of the consonants. :S
ArrMatey, I’ve got no problem with you taking something I’ve said here in an email.
As to how I got here, i’ve kind of got this weird kind of wanderlust and the opportunity to come here resulted in me coming here.
My favorite quote about Denmark has to be in Conan O’briens sketch where he insults every nation just to see where Late Night is actually aired by seeing which countries send hate mail.
“Denmark: Too bad you can’t build a warm, sunny day out of Legos”
That really cracked me up. Another one was “(Some former Soviet bloc country) Where the east and west come to dump their trash”
But if you come in March…well, that’s still very much full on winter.
As far as the bread is concerned, to an American, the bakeries might seem great. After all most American bakeries seem to be devoted to sweets and cakes. I prefer German and French bakeries, actually.
As for the American idea that the American way to happiness is universal, well, that leads me to a slight threadjack. I think this is a reason why people believed that Iraqis would simply be happy with their new freedom because many assumed that they’d just love to live like Americans. Sure, there are many people who’d love to live in America, but that doesn’t necessarily equate to complete agreement with our way of life. I’d like to live in Denmark (or Europe for that matter) simply based on a sober assesment of job security and protection from this kind of competition in America. I’ll just say that for anyone who has really gotten in touch with another culture on any real level, you can really tell that this isn’t true. It’s less clear in some cultures, though. Anyone remember the pyramid of human needs? Well the bottom basically has food, shelter, etc. Midway up the pyramid you can see things like love, and closer to the top you get respect from peers and the top is something like self-actualization, whatever that means. But I think that in America the upper level of the pyramid tends to be focused on competition, while here it isn’t. Denmark seems to have a very homogenous society and the social system is based on these things. In other countries where I’ve lived I’d say that it isn’t so clear to me. Spain is a difficult one to crack. Maybe Nava could shed some light?
I lived in Germany for a year and a half too, but I think their ideal is a little less clear. One great resource, though would be the Xenophobe’s guides. They are very informative while still comparing cultures from a viewpoint that is familiar with me. I’m really sick of people who want to say that it is politically incorrect to judge entire cultures in that way. I mean we ARE different folks. Might as well embrace it, and possibly even make a personal judgment on which you prefer.
Danish language doesn’t seem particularly pure to me. There is a long history of influences and even to day you have a large amount of American terms in common usage. Well, relatively large, compared to other languages I am familiar with.
I’d really be happy to answer any more questions if anyone else is curious. Maybe I’ll do a bit of thinking and try to get an OP going with a more general theme.
ON this note, IIRC the Danish word for overcast cloudy conditions is “sky”, though I don’t know how that’s pronounced. Judging by the fact that “sky” was borrowed into English to mean “sky” pure and simple, I suspect that you wouldn’t be able to build a warm sunny day out of Legos in England, either.
Sky (danish) = cloud (english)
sky…cloud…what’s the difference?
In two words: “You vill.”