BBJ
Father Of The Forum
I've just finished reading "The Year Of Living Danishly".
Here's how Amazon summarizes it.
"When she was suddenly given the opportunity of a new life in rural Jutland, journalist and archetypal Londoner Helen Russell discovered a startling statistic: the happiest place on earth isn’t Disneyland, but Denmark, a land often thought of by foreigners as consisting entirely of long dark winters, cured herring, Lego and pastries.
What is the secret to their success? Are happy Danes born, or made? Helen decides there is only one way to find out: she will give herself a year, trying to uncover the formula for Danish happiness.
From childcare, education, food and interior design to SAD, taxes, sexism and an unfortunate predilection for burning witches, The Year of Living Danishly is a funny, poignant record of a journey that shows us where the Danes get it right, where they get it wrong, and how we might just benefit from living a little more Danishly ourselves."
I have to declare an interest. We have a daughter who has lived in Denmark for the last 20 or so years so it's a country we've got to know a little better than your average Villan in the street. In many ways, the author nails it. I laughed out loud at parts and, in one particular chapter (the one about "flags") I knew exactly what would happen next after they flew a pennant that wasn't the Danish one.
It's a country that we like to visit, the people are largely warm and welcoming, and we could learn a bit from how they do some things but we've not got any desire to live there. It's all a little too "ordered". I somehow think that living on the edge of impending chaos is where it's at for people in Ireland (and, I suspect, also in Britain, if perhaps to a lesser extent).
Here's how Amazon summarizes it.
"When she was suddenly given the opportunity of a new life in rural Jutland, journalist and archetypal Londoner Helen Russell discovered a startling statistic: the happiest place on earth isn’t Disneyland, but Denmark, a land often thought of by foreigners as consisting entirely of long dark winters, cured herring, Lego and pastries.
What is the secret to their success? Are happy Danes born, or made? Helen decides there is only one way to find out: she will give herself a year, trying to uncover the formula for Danish happiness.
From childcare, education, food and interior design to SAD, taxes, sexism and an unfortunate predilection for burning witches, The Year of Living Danishly is a funny, poignant record of a journey that shows us where the Danes get it right, where they get it wrong, and how we might just benefit from living a little more Danishly ourselves."
I have to declare an interest. We have a daughter who has lived in Denmark for the last 20 or so years so it's a country we've got to know a little better than your average Villan in the street. In many ways, the author nails it. I laughed out loud at parts and, in one particular chapter (the one about "flags") I knew exactly what would happen next after they flew a pennant that wasn't the Danish one.
It's a country that we like to visit, the people are largely warm and welcoming, and we could learn a bit from how they do some things but we've not got any desire to live there. It's all a little too "ordered". I somehow think that living on the edge of impending chaos is where it's at for people in Ireland (and, I suspect, also in Britain, if perhaps to a lesser extent).