First reaction: glad I don’t live there. And then I made this comparison. It doesn’t differ that much actually.

CDA 14% – Konservative 10%
VVD 21% – Venstre 26%
PVDA 20% – Socialdemokraterne 25%
SP 10% – Socialistisk Folkeparti 13%
GL 7% – Enhedslisten 2%
PVV 16% – Dansk Folkeparti 14%
D66 7% – Radikale Venstre 5%

Gotta love Danish politics.. They spend MONTHS (I don’t even want to know how much money has been spent on that) discussing whether or not to forbid burka’s, only to find out there’s only three (3!) persons wearing them in Denmark

So, in Holland we celebrate Sint Maarten by kids going around town with lanterns, singing songs at doors, collecting candy (I wonder if this is actually related to trick-or-treat). How lanterns and candy are related to a bishop sharing his coat, I cannot tell.

In Denmark they eat duck the night before St Morten’s day. The reason for this, is because St Martin didn’t want to become bishop and hid in a stable filled with geese, where the geese betrayed him with their honking. That’s why they eat duck! Logical eh?

Yeah, it’s a bit far out.. But I like both candy and duck, so I won’t complain.

I can only conclude with: A cada cerdo le llega su San Martín!

I’m pretty sure this is the highest result I ever got for learning a language

My Dutch driver’s license was going to expire in October, so I had to renew it. Instead of renewing it at the embassy, I was told to get a Danish one instead. This one is valid until the day I turn 70 No more renewing fees every ten years, yay! Though I wonder how long I could drive with it in Holland if I’d move back (no plans).

2 years in Denmark, 2 years at Hello. Time for champagne

It’s been a while, so let’s start with a good rant about the danish holiday act.

Facts:
- I started working in Denmark April 1st 2007
- My contract clearly states I get 25 paid holidays per year

My issue:
Up til May 2009 I have only been able to take 18.75 paid holidays instead of 52 (2*25, plus 2 from April 2007).

Why:
Well, the accountant says: you get 2.08 days for each month you work. In 2007 I worked 9 months (2.08 * 9 = 18.75). But, the danish holiday year runs from May to May. Fine, you’d think the calculation shifts a bit, so that from May 2007 til May 2008 you’d get the 18.75 days. But noooo, you apparently don’t get the 18.75 days until May 2008 til May 2009, and not until May 2009 to 2010 you get the full 25!

Now, my company says that I can just take the other days unpaid. But that’s a lot of money we’re cutting here. If you take a week off, that means 25% less salary that month, which resolves in that I can’t pay my rent. So because I can’t afford financially to take these days off, the whole “25 paid holidays” is just a big myth the first 2 years. Companies can’t state in their contracts that you get those holidays, because that just means plain lying!

Disclaimer:
I know that you American friends must be happy if you only get 10 days, but that’s up to you to rant about

I’m not very positive about Post Danmark usually (slower than pigeons!), but I have to say that they have something really cool now: døgnposten.

Because I have a normal job, I’m at work every weekday between 9 and 5 (yawn). Of course this is also the time frame in which the postman delivers any packages, causing the packages to return to the post office where I need to collect them on Saturday (closes at 2pm.. so even that is sometimes hard to manage).

With døgnposten I can send my packages to:

Rico Tijsen
ID 51372521
Døgnposten 623
2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark

And they will send an sms (containing a pincode) when I receive a new package after which I can pick it up at whatever time! Just brilliant!

I love to get packages btw.. so keep them coming

Gebyr is the Danish word for money-making-scheme-in-the-cultural-sector, aka service/adminstration fee. I can perfectly understand when you buy a ticket in advance through a third party with your credit card that you have to pay a bit for that service. But, when you’re buying a ticket psyically at the cinema, with a voucher, how can they charge you 5 dkk extra? Is it for printing that ticket? Why wouldn’t that be included in the total amount? Another example was a dance performance. I went in, did not reserve in advance (because I knew there would be enough tickets), paid in cash, and still got charged 15 dkk in gebyr. Seriously this must be a price fixing of the cultural sector cartel. Neelie Smit-Kroes, I call on you to look into this mafia!

In the category of Danish Oddities, I bring you Chokoladepålæg. Somehow they thought it was really efficient to make thin layers of chocolate to put on your bread. I think it’s just really an excuse to put an extra thick layer of butter on your bread to make the broken layers stick instead of falling off. Did I also mention that butter almost always is salty here?