Weird Danish Things to Foreigners Living in Denmark

this is me in 2017. yeah hello Derek

nice

this meet just moved to Denmark six

weeks ago he tried snaps he's tried

biking again it's like riding a bike

but 2017 me is seeing some weird Danish

things for the first time and it all

started this summer why is that drunk

girl wearing a sailor hat

today you and I are gonna explain some

weird things in Denmark to the old me

who are they burning over there

we're going to cover all of that and

more so if you're watching this as

somebody who recently moved to Denmark

or if you're visiting Denmark for the

first time this summer I'm gonna make

sure that things to you are a little

less weird than they are for the old me

we're going to explain some Danish

traditions and experiences that you may

or may not be used to air declar huh oh

ja

[Music]

so are you gonna tell me about that

sailor thing or what ah the sailor hat

well in Denmark when students graduate

they wear a special cap called uh

students wow I guess I got really good

at speaking Danish yeah a lot of people

tell me that

anyway the tradition of the graduation

caps date back to 1856 and it was

inspired by Nordic student meetings

these were meetings that were held in

the mid-1800s and basically students

from uppsala University Lund University

the University of Copenhagen and the

University of Oslo met up to find out

ways that they could unify around

Scandinavian culture the cap was

developed as common headgear for all

Scandinavian students to wear so they're

all the same not quite the strudential

is usually white with a black shade and

a ribbon and it's usually burgundy

that's the most common color at least

but it can vary depending on the

student's schooling and the area of

Education that they chose and it has a

cross or another symbol in the middle so

they wear them all year to school no

it's actually bad luck for students to

wear them before they take their last

exam but originally the student caps

were worn the entire way through their

higher education they would only take

them off once they received a master's

degree but day that has kind of faded

from the importance of the cap and it's

actually just worn post-graduation

during the party period they wear it to

party

yeah there's all kinds of rules about

the cap and it can help graduates get

free drinks around town so that's part

of the reason they wear it but it's

mostly celebratory I'm gonna do an

entire video on the Caps later this

month and all of the graduation

Traditions so make sure that you

subscribe and catch that one subscribe

but we're the same person

not you but yeah I guess and I'll tell

you one more graduation tradition you

need to know about

[Music]

what was that uh that's a student to

colossal what's that mean

I think it actually translates to

student drive and that's a tradition

that's been going on for at least 100

years in Denmark in the old days it

would be a horse and carriage but today

you'll find flatbed trucks and even

tractors that pull students from house

to house for a drink so like a bar crawl

or a party truck kind of they go to

everyone's home and again they'll have

kind of a drink or maybe some food while

they're riding around and of course

they're celebrating in between houses

that seems annoying people must hate it

actually not really I'm sure that there

are some eye rolls but since basically

every Danish person has done this at one

point in their life they usually just

smile and think fondly of their own

graduation and they they cheer or honk

their car horn with a little bit of

nostalgia for the students that they're

seeing that they can relate to I still

think that'll take a little bit of

getting used to but

it's not like I can really sleep anyway

why not the sunlight

uh yeah I remember how weird that was at

first but don't worry it does get a

little bit easier and eventually you're

going to install blackout Shades they're

not perfect but they definitely help

look I'm a lightsaber so when the

sunlight starts creeping in around 3 30

I really have trouble falling back

asleep and the late Sunset can be tricky

the other day I forgot to eat dinner and

all of a sudden it was 10 p.m and I was

a little tipsy yeah you are still a

light sleeper and you still do that what

about midnight sun does does that happen

eventually

no actually it it does get somewhat dark

here by midnight but you do have to go

farther north if you want to find

Midnight Sun it's still a long ass day

though because by the summer solstice

it's pretty pretty late by the time the

sun sets in fact by the end of April

you've already had the longest day that

you've ever had in your life really

yeah in Philly the sun sets at 8 30 pm

on the summer solstice but in Copenhagen

you hidden 8 30 p.m sunset on April 23rd

damn so what happens on the summer

solstice in Copenhagen we burn witches

say what

yeah we burn witches but it's totally

Humane they're burned in effigy which

sends them back to a lake in Germany

that's confusing can you try explaining

that in more detail

sure we call it Sant Hans often I I

guess it's actually St John's night in

English so a Christian thing

well actually it has roots in the

pre-christian religious Traditions

Legend has it that during the evening of

the summer solstice all sorts of evening

forces come out to play and witches make

their way to the highest peak in the

hars mountains in Germany it's called

brocken

spooky right but don't worry our Danish

friends have worked out a very clever

tradition and a way of keeping us safe

from the wicked witches and all of their

mischievous troll buddies during the

summer solstice they light up a bonfire

to ward off the Sinister forces and

ensure that everybody's safe exciting

indeed and to make it even more exciting

they usually play some type of witch or

a figure on top of the bonfire and as it

burns it symbolizes the peak of Summer

and the beginning of longer nights it's

actually really fun yeah I love bonfires

I assume it's probably a giant party too

yeah well that makes sense because

Denmark and it can be a big party if you

want it to be there's all kinds of

places to gather and celebrate with

people and watch the bonfire in the old

days people would actually gather and

have magical herbs and consume them on

the solstice but now those herbs are

usually consumed in the form of a cold

beer and that's how they celebrate the

season isn't it amazing how Traditions

can evolve while still retaining their

original charm yeah absolutely you'll

find Denmark is all about tradition and

even in that tradition it may evolve

over time but the spirit of Celebration

and connection always shines through so

let's head down to the harbor and we'll

see something else that I don't think

you're going to be used to

[Music]

now this has been a big surprised at me

just how many people are out and about

compared to when I first moved here and

everybody's enjoying the green spaces

with a drink

yeah it's almost like the sun and warmth

grows people out of thin air actually

remember when back when I was you

um moving to Denmark in March and not

seeing that many people out and about

and then literally the very first warm

sunny day like in the beginning of

Spring just wow where did all these

people come from yeah it's like the

population has tripled everybody's

outside from hibernation and drinking in

public I love that yeah and uh you still

do and it's super nice being able to go

outside and just have some drinks in a

park or along the harbor like we've seen

a lot of people doing just now does it

still seem weird that you can go out in

the wild and drink in public no I that

part of Danish culture was easy to get

used to and you don't really need to

drink your beer out of a paper bag

anymore and that's kind of nice well you

know I never did that but what are those

sticks people are playing with ah yeah

we walked past some people playing Conga

Spiller

you're so good at Danish

I know uh people say that that game was

invented by Vikings during the Middle

Ages and uh fun fact what do you think

they used instead of wooden sticks um

bones yeah allegedly it was first

created with bones the the centerpiece

that you have to to knock over in order

to win the game was apparently made from

the skulls of Vikings enemies and the

batons were actually the femur or the

leg bone for real well I don't know it's

a cool myth it's not proven though the

game's actual first documented use was

in the early 1900s and at that point it

was just kind of widely played in

Scandinavia and in the 80s you could

actually purchase a set pretty much

anywhere I'm on a bone set you're sick

but these Harbor beds are cool too I

share where a lot of these Harbor beds

are in our Copenhagen summer guide I'll

put a link to it in the description it's

pretty cool

sounds like something I'll need to find

out cool places to go in Copenhagen

during the summer but all these people

they're just jumping into the harbor to

swim I I can't believe people go

swimming in the harbor I could never

imagine swimming in the port of

Philadelphia yeah I wouldn't do that but

it wasn't always that way here this

Harbor used to be just like the one in

Philly and then Copenhagen spent decades

de-industrializing the harbor they

rerouted water and sewage runoff and

took a lot of care to dredge the harbor

and remove contaminants they even rezone

the area around the harbor and their

efforts really paid off because

eventually the water tested good enough

and it was declared safe for people to

swim in and then the first of these

Harbor baths opened in 2002 and you can

find ones like the ones we've seen up

and down here today all over Denmark

from the big cities like albo and Aus to

smaller towns and coastal cities Danes

pretty much love the water yeah it must

be nice to go swimming in the summer oh

yeah try all year long the baths like

this one have lifeguards from June to

September but you'll have people swim or

taking cold water baths in the middle of

winter too oh like with a wetsuit nice

in fact it's pretty common for people to

swim in the nude are you serious yeah

for real and maybe a little less common

now that we all walk around with a

camera in our pocket but nude swimming

and and topless sunbathing those kinds

of things even just changing into your

swimwear on the side of the harbor is

pretty common and I know yeah it's kind

of open air and people might see but

not that big of a deal here that's

different yeah and that's the right word

it's different but Danes are pretty

comfortable with that kind of thing so

don't be too alarmed when you see nudity

in the wild or on television or even in

advertising I guess it is just a body

and it's 2017 after all yeah kind of but

um yeah it's never mind the point is get

used to swimming in the harbor maybe

even in the winter and don't be awkward

if when you are you see a little bit

more of somebody than you're used to

whether they're swimming or sunbathing

you're in their country good advice it's

hot today so I think maybe I'll go for a

swim it'll probably be this nice until

at least September right oh yeah here's

the thing about Danish summer

yeah it's usually the nicest weekend of

the year that's a joke you're going to

hear many times living here in Denmark

but the idea behind it is that sure it's

nice today but it could be nine degrees

sorry 50 degrees Fahrenheit tomorrow so

you just have to take advantage of it

when it comes and be prepared for

whatever kind of Summer you get yeah I

noticed I still usually need a zip up

jacket in the morning and I'm sweating

when I sit in the Sun but then when a

cloud covers it up I'm I'm cold it's

almost like it's the same temperature

but it doesn't feel like it all day yeah

you'll get used to that too and you can

enjoy Denmark in all types of weather

just don't expect too much or plan too

far ahead and you won't be disappointed

the weather change was pretty fast here

now does it ever get too hot like where

you would need air conditioning because

I can't find it anywhere yeah yeah yeah

not a lot of AC here in Denmark and a

few weeks of the month you'll actually

feel like you really need it and that

can be kind of tough but if you want to

know why air conditioning isn't really

commonplace and a lot of Scandinavia

especially in Denmark you've got to

watch this video right here and for now

let's just go cool off in the harbor

Bass

thanks for watching everybody hi hi and

thank you thank me