About Denmark

This is the opinion from a polish citizen living in Denmark, taken from reddit. I consider that is worthed sharing here.

The danish culture is strange to me. Theyre very patriotic and proud, but i feel they have very little to base the pride on. Bacon and Lego? Danes are, as most scandinavians, very introvert, keep to themself, don't open much up to you, and it takes a lot to get into their inner circle, if you ever do. They're very individualistic, family is not something to be too concerned about. This is shown in two ways. One, most danes do not get kids before theyre in their mid 30's, and the majority never marries (majority over the last decade at least). Two, parents tend to get forgotten and only called on holidays, and visited on xmas. The close family bond i know from Poland is non existant.
Parents let kids have a lot of freedom. At confirmation, kids are 14, and get shitloads of money as presents. Also, it is assumed that after now, they are almost adults, and not many parents would frown upon their kid having sex and drinking and staying out late from this age on. As long as they did it in a responsible way.
Danish society is very closed. They don't like foreigners and foreign things, they dont do well with change. The common mentality is that the danish system works great, and the danes have made it great, so others shouldnt come here and exploit it or strain it. But the fact is, the system wasn't working in the 70's , when they invited a bunch of immigrants over because the danes wouldnt do the "crummy jobs".. same when Poles became available for work in 2003 upon joining the EU. I actually worked in a administrative position at an employment firm, and the poles that would get jobs from the day they arrived in Denmark was shocking to me. Danes just didn't want to pay 200+ DKK an hour for some danish handyman with a beer in his hand to do the same work a pole will do for 4 times cheaper.. and make it look nicer, for recommencations for later.
Danes often see themself as too important. I love when some international team is doing soemthing and they jump on the fact that one is a dane, or that the spaceship designed for mars has danish components. Caroline Wozniacki and Wilson Kipketer are both successful danish athletes born in another country. If they didnt do their sport, they would just be "another foreigner". I don't look danish nor have a danish name, and feel this weekly, despite being succesful and fluent in danish. When the foreigners on Nørrebro yell" alle danskere er fucking racister", they're not far from the truth. I bet you Fru Jensen in Jylland is a bit "mørkeræd"... hence the success of DF.
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[People are] not as much racist, as discriminatory. Example : Ahmed from Palestine came to Denmark in 1981. His family at home. He worked 18 hours daily for the first 5 years so he could earn enough for them all, wife and 2 kids, to come to Denmark and join him. Then, once they do, he buys a kiosk or a grocery store, and takes care of that place of business. Usually, the kiosks and grocery shops are open 24/7, when danish shops close at 5pm. My point is, he has , because of his responsibilities, never become fluent in danish. He speaks with an accent. Old lady walks in the store, and although he answers her back in danish, she replies "what? speak danish, i cant understand you! You're in denmark now." or similar things. To compare, a 20 year old swedish chick comes to Copenhagen 2 years ago. She goes straight to H&M where she gets a job, and when you go to ask her something, she answers you back in swedish. And this is not a problem, because shes "one of us" (aka, nordic, blonde, etc). Eventhough she doesnt even speak the language, as Ahmed above does, she is still more accepted than Ahmed or anyone not looking like a dane. Such is the sad truth.
Of course, there are many many tolerant people here. But I live in the smack middle of Copenhagen. Go outside the city, and you'll get your racists too.