Author: Claudia

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have been paying attention to the way people react to the whole situation, both in Denmark and in France (from what I can gather from the news and talking to my friends). I decided to stay in Denmark during this lockdown, as I am very fortunate to… Read more

A question I have always been asked, every time I meet a new Dane is: Do you plan to stay in Denmark? And my answer to that question has changed over the years. In the early days, it was a clear and loud “Yes!”, while now it is more of a weird face followed by:… Read more

Although I have tried my best to integrate in Denmark, learned to say “rød grød med fløde”, and got rid of most colours in my wardrobe, there are still some things that I feel I will never master. Like: 1- Not stopping when you meet someone in the street.  I have already mentioned it in… Read more

I have found out that birthday celebrations can vary a lot across cultures. Here are my observations about Denmark: That’s right, in Denmark it’s not really your birthday if you come to work without a cake. This also applies to your last day at work, where you’re supposed to bring cake. In France, it is… Read more

Writing articles for LinkedIn inspired me to talk about work here. You have probably heard of the Danish (or Scandinavian) work environment, with short work days and a very flat hierarchy. Danes do not need nannies to pick up the children as they can do it themselves, leaving work usually between 3 and 4 pm… Read more

After having talked about Denmark in all the previous posts, I would like to talk a bit about France. Living in Denmark where the flag is everywhere, has led me to wonder why the French flag was so absent in France. Have you ever wondered why there are no flagpoles outside private houses in France,… Read more

Living in Denmark as a French, there are a few things that never cease to amaze or amuse me. These differences between France and Denmark remind me that, although the countries share many common values, we’re not quite the same. Here are some of them: 1. The flag is everywhere In France, we have a… Read more

If you’ve been living in Denmark for some time, chances are you’ve experienced that as well: you are meeting a fellow international for the first time, or catching up with expat friends, and someone throws in a little sarcastic remark about the Danes’ behaviour or something as mundane as the small choice selection in Danish… Read more

My first experience living in Denmark was as an exchange student. I picked Aarhus University a little randomly, in the list of partner universities, and to my surprise got accepted. So I took my chances, my rain boots and my ski jacket and left for Denmark (yes I really wore a ski jacket in August,… Read more

I will start off with one of the hot topics here in Denmark: the weather (no pun intended). You can only understand me if you have lived the whole 4 seasons of Denmark. Although with global warming, we’re slowly losing spring and autumn, so I will focus on winter and summer. The winter During all… Read more