𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥: 𝐌𝐲 𝐀𝐰𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤 is my first essay on @Substack.

Danish FSD Challenge 🇩🇰 🇩🇰 Who will be the first to take a fully FSD ride from Coast-to-coast-to-coast-to-coast-to-coast-to-coast? 👀 😂🚀🤖 And who will be the first to the North-to-South route? 🛣️ @DavidMoss are you gonna beat us to that too? Or are you satisfied with the US and the Canadian trips 🥳 @Arpe_DK @RiisAlex @philipengberg @kirk3gaard @falgantil @FSDEurope @magiicmark95

FSD approved in Denmark

One of the causes of political instability across Europe is rarely discussed: Class. Take my own country, Denmark. The entire left wing is prepared to fight tooth and nail to preserve the state grant given to university students. It is one of the most generous schemes in the world: roughly €1,000 per month, with no repayment obligation. A student who completes a five-year degree receives around €60,000 from the state. The interesting part is that many economic studies have found that this benefit has a regressive social profile. In plain English: relatively poor taxpayers subsidise the education of people who are very likely to end up with above-average lifetime incomes. Money flows from the poorer part of society to the future upper-middle class. This points to a broader problem. Across much of Europe, the traditional workers' parties have gradually been captured by the academic middle class. As a result, they increasingly prioritise issues that matter to university graduates: climate activism, identity politics, and expansive immigration policies. The working class often has different priorities. When workers abandon these parties, their former leaders rarely ask whether they themselves have changed. Instead, they look elsewhere for explanations. When one of Europe's old workers' parties loses its next election, the excuses will be familiar. - Misinformation. - Manipulation. - Ignorance. - "The algorithms". Anything but the possibility that the party no longer represents the people it was created to represent. Perhaps the real mystery is not why the working class is leaving. Perhaps the real mystery is why anyone is still surprised.

Are you looking for a Danish company that actively promotes internationals, sometimes over Danes, and presents them in prestige settings at the top of their field? There’s at least one national company that does so, although you will need some special skills: the Royal Danish Ballet. Out of 24 listed principals and soloists, there are 17 non-Danish dancers. On a recent trip to Gamle Scene in Copenhagen, we were presented with two short Balanchine ballets plus some more recent choreography, starring a fully diverse cast of dance professionals. Soloist Ji Min Hong (South Korea) was featured in the newer ballet alongside principal dancers Silvia Selvini (Italy) and Jón Axel Fransson (Iceland). Corps dancers Jimmy Coleman (Canada), Tomoko Kawazoe (Japan), Hannaë Miquel (France), and Joseph Aumeer (Black British) were also onstage. Of course, the Royal Danish Ballet currently has a non-Danish director, the American Amy Watson, originally from California. She joined the company as a dancer in 2000. ----------- An interesting fact about the Royal Ballet is that it has a mandatory “retirement” age of 40, or at least retirement from active classical dancing roles. You can continue in less physically demanding character parts, like the evil witch Madge in 𝘓𝘢 𝘚𝘺𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦 or the mysterious toymaker Drosselmeyer in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳, but your jumping and pirouetting days are over when your 40th birthday candles are blown out. The idea is to create turnover and opportunities for younger dancers, as well ask protecting older dancers from performing beyond their physical peak. It also protects company leadership from having to have "that conversation" with a dancer who can't accept that they are aging out. Many athletes in popular sports - hello, Novak! - could benefit from this type of system.

Finally got my US 2025 taxes done, right before the June 15 deadline for expats. (I had to wait until my 2025 Danish taxes were finished in order to get the foreign tax credit.) Anyway, it's a great relief to file file file file file.

OK, this is Danish transparency: The local cops announce exactly which streets will be the focus of traffic enforcement operations in the week ahead. If you're dumb enough to *still* speed on those particular streets, you deserve to get caught.

We call them "States."

I often suggest Meetups.com as a way to meet new people in Copenhagen, and I still use it myself, especially if I develop a new interest and want to find people who share it. The good thing about Meetups is that the people you're thrown together with actively want to meet someone new. They're not just hanging around with the friends they've known forever. They're more open to a chat with a total stranger like me. My most recent meetup was with a photo group lead by László Gattyán, a social media manager who does portraits as a hobby. He told us all to be at a certain spot near Nyhavn at 7pm, where he would take a few shots of each person at the "golden hour" with Nyhavn as a background. We were a mixed group. We had a German 🇩🇪 engineer who wanted some good shots for his grandparents' annual Christmas calendar; we had a Moroccan 🇲🇦 med student on an exchange who wanted some scenic images to take home with him. Alone in Copenhagen except for his colleagues, he hadn't taken a single photo of himself with a local background. We had an Indian 🇮🇳 fellow who made a hobby of visiting every café in Copenhagen, and showed us a long list of the best ones in the Notes app of his iPhone. There was also a young woman who said she hadn't updated her Facebook profile picture in 5 years and thought it was time to do so. And there was me, a local speaker 🇩🇰🇺🇸 who constantly needs new photos to share with media and event organizers. They understandably don't want to use the same publicity photo that was used for last week's speaking event somewhere else. Lazlo photographed us one-by-one with Nyhavn as a background, and as we waited the rest of us chatted. The German and I had a sharp exchange of words about whether @grok was reliable or not. The Indian fellow recommended more cafés. Someone played some music on a portable speaker. It was a fun experience, and Lazlo's work was so good that I used some of the photos to revamp my website. Later, some of us took a walk together and ended up having a drink. Bottom line: if you're new in Copenhagen or just looking to refresh your friend circle, Meetups.com can be a good approach.

Want to understand Danes? Watch what they watch. 🇩🇰📺 Danish film & TV reveals more about Danish culture than any guidebook — from classic noir to beloved comedies like The Olsen Gang and the landmark series Matador. And a lot of it is FREE. 🧵

Apparently DK35 is the magic number, at least for eBook downloads. Since 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 is selling well, I've dropped the prices on all my other Denmark eBook downloads to just DK35, exclusively on Amazon Kindle. That's just $5, EUR 5, or GBP 4. 💰 That means you can download all these books for just Dk35 apiece: 📕 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝘈 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 📙 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝘛𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘣, 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘣𝘰𝘴𝘴 📘 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐓𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬: 𝘈𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴-𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰-𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 📕 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐓𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬: 𝘈𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴-𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰-𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 📘 𝐓𝐨𝐩 35 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡, 𝘈 𝘍𝘶𝘯 𝘎𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘚𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘌𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘴 And, of course, my newest book 📙 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫: 𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘴, 𝘘𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘬𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘩𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬 All for less than the price of a flat white! ☕️ You can also read your eBook on any phone or tablet using the Amazon Kindle app.

Do holidays like Grundlovsdag just seem to creep up on you? When I first moved to Denmark, I remember being constantly surprised by unexpected holidays and traditions, including some (like Blue Monday and the motorcycle procession opening Bakke each year) that aren’t on any calendar. That’s why I wrote “The Danish Year: Twelve Months of Customs, Quirks, and Rhythms of Everyday Life in Denmark, only Dk 35 on Amazon Kindle. That’s less than the cost of a flat white! ☕️ You can read it on any smartphone or tablet with the Amazon Kindle app. You’ll read about: ⛷️ January, and why ski holidays are a good indication of income inequality 😻February, and how the “cat in the barrel” shows the decline of traditional religious faith 💌March, and how the decline of “gækkebrev” is a loss for romance in Denmark 🪏 April, and why Danes care more about gardening than many foreigners 🕯️May, and what it means to put a candle in the window on May 4 ⚔️ June, and the “defense day” military screening that is required for all Danish boys – and, as of 2026, of Danish girls as well 🌼July, and why “the Daisy Route” is a great way to discover parts of Denmark you ordinarily would not see 📚August, the first day of school, and why early education is an important part of making kids ‘Danish’ 🤾‍♀️ September, the opening of handball season, and why elite sports are exempt from The Jante Law 🗳️October, often election season, and why you’ll often see Danish candidates putting up posters with their own face on them ☔️November rain, and why Denmark is tearing up its streets to prepare for the flooding caused by climate change 🧑🏼‍🎄December, and why Christmas nisser. are a clue to the way Denmark sees itself Check it out, and if you like it, please leave a review on Amazon or on Goodreads! 😀