Dane here, living in the UK but have lived in the US and spent a lot of time with Americans.

First of all make sure your are looking at Forskerordningen, which can radically lower your tax burden as a foreign worker coming to Denmark.

Second, binge watch YouTube - there’s a lot of content of Americans moving to Denmark and most of them are full of advice. Travelin’ Young is the most nuanced.

It’s very easy to navigate stores and big cities with English. Do not let that fool you. Danes REALLY appreciate arrivals learning the language and there are many places where not knowing the language will really impact you. Also, language is culture and it’s too easy in Denmark to fool yourself into thinking it’s not a problem for you. You won’t really live there and make those connections without speaking the language. Learn the language; I cannot say this clearly enough. It’ll make an ENORMOUS difference to you.

Danes are very direct compared to Americans. Especially in the work place. They can find Americans phony and saccharine if too indirect and they do not like corporate lingo. Speak plainly, be clear, feel a little “rude” (as an American) and you’ll quickly zero in on the right level of directness. It will be extremely difficult for you, as an American, to not read Danes as bored or rude. They are just plain.

Be advised that “provinsen” (the outskirts) is quiet, dull, won’t speak English and very bare. If you’re not living in a big city, be prepared for an uphill climb. On the upside, though, if you built relationships out there, they’ll last a lifetime.

If you want to be fully “adopted”, be advised that alcohol is part of the culture. Most events include alcohol. Sobriety isn’t normal (nor is getting blind drunk, basically go for the medium). If you decline a drink, people will understand, but it will prevent your acceptance.

If you have kids, steel yourself for the liberty danes afford their children - and expect others to give their own too. Kids will roam and being exposed to risk is seen as healthy part of growing up, including in state schools. Tree climbing, whacking each other, tumbling, whittling with knives, playing without supervision - these things are the norm and if you try to “protect your children” against these risks, you’ll find Danes chuckling behind your back.

Janteloven is real. If you’re ambitious, be strategic about how you expose your ambition to others. Succeeding through hard work and not shouting about it from the rooftops is seen as “how it’s done”.

There’s a “template” for the happy Danish life; Detached house, robot lawn mower, dug down trampoline, one nice car, robot vacuum cleaner, open plan living - OR a city flat. That’s fine, you think, people can do what they want. But in Denmark, diverging from that template will cause others to be confused … “why don’t you want this life”, they’ll ask, never openly … but not adopting this template will prevent a lot of things that you’ll only ever discover once you adopt this template. Not keeping your house and/or your garden will rapidly ostracize you.

You won’t eat out as much as you used to. Most Danes cook, every day, from raw ingredients. The US “recipes” that involved combining three branded, prepared foods, is not seen as cooking. Food and tax levels promote this life style, which means it’s very expensive to eat out (however, the quality will be high). Take away foods are low quality, compared to the US … there’s is not the same DoorDash culture in Denmark and most take-aways are salty, fatty and done without a lot of care. You can struggle against it, but it’ll kill your budget. Motorway stops are crap compared to the anglosphere - you’re lucky to find food you’ll want to eat. Public bathrooms will be rough in those places. Distances aren’t as long in Denmark, so it’s less of an issue in Denmark.

Danes are worried about immigration and will openly speak about these worries. The tone can seem very direct to an American. Be advised they definitely don’t mean you; they mean immigration from Africa and the Middle East. There’s an undercurrent of racism that’s real - but it’s not bound in skin colour, just in culture. If you behave nicely and - even better - you speak the language it’ll never affect you.

Be on time. Danes expect others to be on time and they’ll get very frustrated if you’re not. If you’re invited somewhere, arrive no earlier than the stated time and no later than 10 minutes after the stated time. Danes will work hard to be on time themselves and if you’ve invited someone somewhere for, say, 6pm and you aren’t then ready at 6pm, they’ll also be quite frustrated.

Money doesn’t talk in Denmark. I mean, of course it does, and rich people quietly getting their way is an unfortunate fact of life in Denmark too. But people are not impressed at expensive habits, nor willing to accept that someone with money can jump the queue. As an example, there was an ENORMOUS debate this summer, across all news media, about Legoland having a paid option to skip the queue. It touched the very nerve of what Denmark was about to many Danes; “how can you be allowed to jump the queue just because you have money?!”. Of course, private (supplementary) health care exists in Denmark, but private hospitals are out of sight and people wouldn’t always feel proud to be able to afford to skip queues. “We are all individuals! We are all individuals!”, “I’m not”, “YES YOU ARE” is for real in Denmark.

That’s a lot of warnings and negatives, I’m sorry.

On the positive side:

• The Danish summer, when it arrives, is second to none. Warm, pleasant, beautiful, with free roaming kids enjoying each others company. Sandy beaches, ice-cream, happiness. Going to a summerhouse for a couple of weeks, even if rented, is a state of mind you’ll quickly adopt.
• Society & the state works. There’s a template that you’re expected to fit into and when you do, you’ll realise how many things just WORK.
• Politics are sane. People go from working a till in a supermarket to being President of the Parliament. Coalitions are normal. Politicians are much higher quality and much more sane than the US. You may even find your vote makes a difference.
• Danish kids are, in my view, the most well-adjusted children you’ll every find. Yes, they’ll do risky things, yes they’ll make drunken mistakes. But they grow up ready for adulthood. Their way of raising children is extremely effective.
• The work-life balance is much better. It’s ok to not answer emails at 11pm.
• Danish wealth is in how they live. It’s not always materially rich (I mean, it is, but not in the way you’d assess material wealth in the US), but it’s very blessed and I’d argue Danes are a lot happier than most other people.
• There is very little littering and trash in Denmark. People would be aghast at seeing someone throw something out of a car window and very likely to react against it if spotted.
• Public pools, libraries and other facilities are very, very high quality. You get what you pay for and I’d argue the “deal” is totally worth it in Denmark. You will be expected to shower naked together and in front of strangers when entering any pool. It took my English family a little … eh … getting used to, but now they’ve come to appreciate the communal, body-positive nature of the experience and love the clean, low-chlorine water (low-chlorine because people are actually clean, before they get in). It also means Danish children - and as a result Danish adults - grow up with a much higher acceptance of nakedness and all the wonderful shapes and sizes we all come in. Sunbathing topless is common and being naked is not the end of the world.
• Kindergartens are very, very state-supported and you do not need to earn a lot before it’s worth getting back to work. Generally the quality is high, although in places with high levels of immigration or lower income, you’ll spot the effects fleeing war or not earning enough has on families. The upside, thus, is that everyone can get back to work. The downside is that it’s hard for a parent to make a choice to stay at home, even if they want to. Society frowns upon it, unreasonably so IMHO.
• Unions are strong and in most workplaces you’ll be expected to join one. Some collective agreements require it (i.e. prevents an employer from employing you unless you’re part of a union). Unions, broadly, work and provide benefit. They often have a seat in the board and become working partners with employers. Overall, it’s much better than not having any unions, though it’s not perfect. Many unions run unemployment insurance too, so once you’ve worked and been a union member for a couple of years, any loss of job sees you losing only 20% of your income from before.
• High quality schooling and extremely high quality university education is free (and you get money from the state while in education). The downside of free is that places are limited, so even if you’re willing to pay to be trained as a midwife, unless your grade average is extremely high, you won’t be able to. Intake is managed according to society’s needs (“We need 200 midwives this year”) and using high school grades (“Therefore we set the required grade average to A to ensure only 200 can enter”).
• Public transport is amazing. The Danes don’t think it is, but that’s because they haven’t lived anywhere else. It’s a-may-zzzing.
• Once you get to know Danes, and get to know the banter, you’ll find really good friends.

I hope that’s helpful.