COPY LINK

For members

DANISH HABITS

Five Danish phrases you only hear in summer

Summer can leave foreigners baffled by Danes’ seasonal habits. Here's our guide to small talk when the sun comes out.

Published: 12 June 2023 17:29 CEST
Updated: 3 June 2024 06:53 CEST

Five Danish phrases you only hear in summer

A bowl of Danish koldskål, in this instance with an extra fruit flourish. File photo: Niels Ahlmann Olesen/Berlingske/Ritzau Scanpix

Jeg skal på sommerferie. Jeg kommer tilbage om en måned (I’m off on summer holiday. I’ll be back in a month)

Danish employment law ensures some of the most generous annual leave in the world, with five standard weeks or 25 days normally available to most employed people.

There is a “main holiday period” which starts on May 1st and ends on September 30th, during which three weeks’ consecutive vacation can be taken out of the five weeks.

Danes are often creatures of habit and tend to take their three weeks off in a row in July, when the schools are also on holiday. So don’t be surprised if you receive out-of-office replies asking you to try again in a month.

Hvor har du sommerhus? (Where’s your summer house?)

While in many countries second homes are reserved for the rich, properties in the Danish countryside are relatively cheap and certainly much more affordable than homes in the major cities.

The country has around 220,000 summer houses for its almost six million inhabitants, so you might be able to find a friend to put you up for the weekend.

If this isn’t the case, you could try renting a summer house – around a fifth of all the summer houses in the country are rented out by their owners.

Summer houses differ from regular homes in that residence is not usually permitted year-round. Rules preventing permanent use are in place to ensure summer house areas remain recreational in nature; to limit new construction in valuable and uninhabited coastal areas; and to protect natural landscapes from wear and tear.

Many Danes make for their summer houses during their month-long summer holidays. File photo: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

Det er for varmt (It’s too hot)

The Danish winter is long, the shoulder seasons brief and the summer can be intermittent (apart from in years like 2018, when the hot weather was unbroken for weeks).

With this in mind, you’d think that temperatures reaching into the mid-twenties in Celsius would be welcomed.

This is far from the case, though. I’ve often been surprised at how little it takes for Danes to begin longing for cooler temperatures. Anything over around 24-25 degrees Celsius is likely to be considered for meget (“too much”) and I’ve seen what I would consider a regulation summer temperature of 26 degrees described as denne forfærdelige varme (“this dreadful heat”).

I get the sense that this is partly due to the fact that many homes are designed for the cold winter climate, are well insulated and can therefore feel too hot even when the temperature outside is still pleasant.

On the flip side, it’s also common to hear the opposite weather complaint det er for koldt (“it’s too cold”) in summer, for example during a rainy Roskilde Festival or on a grey August day. This phrase can be heard year-round, though, and does not belong exclusively to summer.

Skal vi spise koldskål? (Shall we eat koldskål?)

Koldskål (literally “cold bowl”) is a buttermilk dairy product somewhere between milk and yoghurt in consistency. It usually has a lemon flavouring and is served chilled in a bowl. It is eaten by mixing it with dry biscuits called kammerjuncker.

There’s a certain amount of disagreement among Danes as to whether the biscuits, which are about 3cm in diameter, should be dropped into the koldskål whole or crumbled first. Similarly, there are various preferences as to how soggy they should be allowed to get.

One thing is definitely agreed on though, and that is that koldskål should only be consumed during the summer.

Unlike some other Danish food staples – I’m looking at you, rye bread – a refreshing bowl of koldskål is not an acquired taste, even if it sounds weird. It makes a great dessert or summer refreshment.

Jeg savner at tænde lys (I miss lighting candles)

The old cliche of candles and blankets as a cornerstone of Denmark’s “hygge” culture has an element of truth in it, because it’s rare to see a living room without candles during most of the year.

The sun sets late in summer, and the candles generate heat, so they are not used as frequently in the warmer months. This can elicit feelings of nostalgia for getting wrapped up in front of the flames, insulated from the cold and dark within the confines of your home.

It’s therefore not unheard of for Danes to bemoan the fact that their living rooms feel less homely without the soft light of flickering candles during the summer.

Member comments

Become a Member to leave a comment.

How to survive a children's birthday party in Denmark

If you’re hosting, remember: man skal bare hygge sig (you only need to have a nice time!)

In a some countries, children’s parties (børnefødselsdage) are an opportunity for social competition. You blast other parents away with a conjuror flown in from Dubai, helium on tap, cakes and treats from the most expensive local caterer, glitzy decor, and generous presents for each attendant.

Not in Denmark. Here it should be hyggeligt: good enough to meet the minimum requirements for a children’s party, but not so lavish as to create a standard other parents might struggle to meet. In short, just make sure everyone feels comfortable and that there’s a pleasant vibe.

You can add small personal touches – cute homemade cup cakes, a party game from your own country – but nothing too dramatic.

Whatever you do though, don’t forget the Danish flags. The national flag, Dannebrog, is not only a symbol of patriotic pride but a marker of any celebratory occasion, not least birthdays. You’ll see little paper flags stuck into the grass outside, tiny ones scattered across the dining table and, if there’s a flagpole on the property, an outsized version of the red Danish flag proudly flying to show there’s a birthday going on.

A flagpole is not a must, but making sure there are flags is. Fortunately, this is easy to do if you’re hosting a birthday, because all supermarkets sell packets of paper flags of all sizes, for the specific purpose of using them for birthday parties.

Who to invite?

There aren’t any strict rules about this, but until the age of nine or so, don’t be surprised if you are expected to invite all the kids in your child’s børnehave (kindergarten) or class, even the weird ones with unsavoury parents.

If they all come, and you invite friends too, this can mean something like 15-20 children, and perhaps a similar number of adults, running around your house or apartment.

While a good way to cut down on numbers might be to send out the invitations a week, or even just two or three days, in advance — Danes aren’t big on spontaneity — you might find that even with plenty of notice, the number who have prior plans will mean you end up with a manageable amount.

Although Denmark is a highly digitised society, birthday party invitations can still be sent out like they were in the 1990s and 2000s — on a piece of paper deposited at each of your child’s’ classmates’ coat hooks, drawers, or whatever other space they have for storage at their school or kindergarten.

Where to have it?

If your house or apartment is big enough to handle 20-30 people, then you can host it at home. In which case, to meet Danish standards, you should make sure everything is impeccably tidy. In terms of decor, aside from the mandatory flags (see above), balloons and maybe a bit of bunting are enough.

If you live in a 50 square-metre, two-bed apartment, and want to avoid a squeeze, many blocks of apartments in Denmark have a shared function room called a fællessal. These can be a little institutional and you should book it well in advance (usually through the building’s vicevært or the housing association, if this is applicable). On the plus side, you won’t have to tidy your house before the event.

Skattejagt or fiskedam?

Danish children’s parties – up until the children are aged about nine anyway – usually have one of these two things.

A skattejagt is a treasure hunt (skat = treasure, jagt = hunt), where a series of paper clues leads to a box or bag containing bags of sweeties. A fiskedam is a fishing game (fisk = fish, dam = pond) in which bags of sweeties are fished out.

Whichever it is, the game is often announced by the birthday boy or girl halfway through the party and is a way of delivering a sweetie bag into the hands of each child while also sending a signal to parents that it will soon be time to get going.

These games are quite important in successfully creating a hyggelig kid’s birthday vibe. If you don’t have them, children will complain.

For the skattejagt, the clues can be simply a drawing of the place where the next clue is hidden, but for older kids they can be more challenging and creative: I’ve heard of clues frozen in a block of ice in the freezer, hung out of the window on string, and put inside balloons which need to be popped.

For the fiskedam, a curtain or sheet is pinned about 150 centimetres high across a doorway. A fishing rod is then created from a broom handle or other suitable pole, with a piece of string tied to the end, and a clothes peg at the other end of the string. Children (with the help of an adult) then fish for the sweetie bags, and an adult on the other side either attaches the sweets, or some sort of comedy item (a sock, a boot, or an unused nappy, for instance).

The bag should contain maybe ten sweets, of which one is a lollipop as well as maybe a small toy like a temporary tattoo or bouncy ball.

What should you lay on?

A giant thermos of coffee for parents is pretty much obligatory. There should be also be tea, but you don’t need to go overboard here. A box of green tea bags and another one with some kind of fruit infusion will do. If you’re attending a birthday (or anything else in Denmark for that matter), then Yorkshire Tea or PG Tips are not going to be on the menu.

Some biscuits or småkager for the grown ups to nibble on also goes down well, as does some sliced fruit like melon, pear and apple. If it’s summer, include a bowl of strawberries (don’t worry about the cream).

You should lay on a couple of different types of crisp or nuts, and children should also get saft, a berry squash drink.

If you want to offer warm food — this is not a bad idea if the party is likely to last a few hours — then pølsehorn, small hotdogs which can either be baked with your own dough or bought frozen, are enough to keep everyone happy (with a bit of ketchup on the side).

It’s a good idea to offer sausage, biscuit and cake options in vegetarian, gluten-free, and lactose-free form.

What about the cake?

In the UK and the US, it is totally acceptable and even encouraged to make your own cake representing a child’s favourite cartoon character, an animal or a vehicle.

This is less common in Denmark, where a lagkage, literally “layer cake” consisting of layers of sponge, cream, strawberries and chocolate is the quintessential birthday cake at kids’ parties.

If you want to push the boat out a bit while remaining fully traditional you could buy or make a lagkage with an extra marzipan layer.

Putting candles on the cake and getting the fødselar or birthday boy or girl to blow them out is not uncommon but I’ve also seen children’s birthdays where this hasn’t featured, leading me to think it’s probably an imported custom in Denmark.

What to do as a guest?

Danes are punctual, so unless you’ve warned otherwise, turn up within 15 minutes of the party’s official start time, and pick up your children about 15 minutes before the official end (if you’re not staying — for younger children, a parent will probably stay for the duration).

Children can be dressed up in fancy dress, or in better-than-average clothes, but shouldn’t be in mini-tuxedos or frilly crinoline. Normal clothes are also fine, but they should be clean.

Up until about the age of five or maybe six, at least one parent is expected to stay while the party is going on. After that, most will just take off their children’s boots and jacket, oversee the giving of presents, and disappear.

If you do have the chance to stay, it’s probably best to do so, as it’s one of the best opportunities you will find to get to know other parents as a foreigner in Denmark.

If you do, you should probably help out the hosts with clearing the table, stacking the dishwasher, and calming crying children.

You should bring a present for your child to hand over but it’s best not to spend much more than 100 kroner. Cards are less important but older children might want to a write longer message to their friend, in which case you should not hold back. Toy guns, swords, knives and nunchucks are generally frowned upon.

Do you have any tips for Danish birthdays? Let us know in the comments.

SHOW COMMENTS

Url copied to clipboard!