Reply to: any UK expats living in DK here?

[dsc]

Definitely worth it if only for throwing abuse at locals

[SueEllen]

I'd say it's much easier without kids as kids mean you pretty much have to learn the local language (Danish isn't particularly fun) due to them going to schools and picking up the language themselves. Then again if you know you are only going for say two years, then you can probably get by with just using English and only learning the basic words / phrases.

But you should learn the language anyway so when a taxi driver tries to rip you off you know and can swear at them.

[dsc]

I would jump at the chance to do a stint overseas. But then my partner lives at the end of the country and I have no kids to drag me down.

I'd say it's much easier without kids as kids mean you pretty much have to learn the local language (Danish isn't particularly fun) due to them going to schools and picking up the language themselves. Then again if you know you are only going for say two years, then you can probably get by with just using English and only learning the basic words / phrases.

[TestMangler]

How do you live life to the full when you get a heart attack everytime you get your bill at a restaurant or buy a round?

He's from Yorkshire. The concept of 'buy a round' is alien to him

[ladymuck]

I would jump at the chance to do a stint overseas. But then my partner lives at the end of the country and I have no kids to drag me down.

[dsc]

No worries there, I have both a UK and an EU passport.

[darmstadt]

So, main question is, am I missing something?

Don't forget all the paperwork you and the company are going to have to do to move there as you're no longer an EU citizen...

[dsc]

Actually yes petrol is cheaper, around £2 as it was 18DKK where I was (Jutland), so definitely not £2.40 as I put it. Restaurants are a bit of a weird one, pick a burger joint, something similar to Byron or Five Guys and you pay 100DKK for the meal, but 40DKK for the drink (400ml soft drink / sparkling water), so overall the bill is around £16-£18. But go to a fine(r) dining joint and you pay £60-£80 + drinks for the meal per person, so not much different to what you pay when you dine in London.

Alcohol - don't care really as I drink none but from what I've heard it's fairly reasonable, definitely cheaper than Sweden / Norway for some reason. Veg / fruit are roughly just slightly above what they are in the UK, but from what I've seen and tasted they are definitely better tasting. You can check pretty much anything here for example, this is most likely their equivalent of something between tesco / waitrose:

https://www.foetex.dk

Car prices are killer, both new and used as much of the price is the tax. We are talking anything from circa 70-180% added tax, so if you can afford say a BMW 3 series, then you are defo well off there

The only way we would go if my wife can get a job as well, maybe try it out for a year or two, no idea how long I can get by with just English, yes it's doable but with kids at school, sooner or later you need to pick up the local language, at least to some extent. I was looking for someone from the UK who've lived there as most things you hear are a myth, like the super high salaries etc. Another option would be to rent a flat / house for a few weeks and go there in the summer, that way it would definitely be easier to live like a local and calculate how much cash goes on shopping etc.

Thanks for the replies, previously I was looking at this is a one-way kind of decision, but could just try it out and if it doesn't work out go elsewhere / come back to the UK. I have to admit that the cost of decent property there is definitely a positive thing, for around 300k euro you can have a nice 150-180sqm house with a 1000-1200sqm garden, something you will never find down south in Surrey (unless you have 2mil to spend).

[vetran]

Agree if it were on offer I would consider it, I did previously do national travel & international. Some of the best times of my professional life, wandering around new cities and eating different foods is exciting and worthwhile.

Not sure I would want to move the family over right away. Maybe do 6-10 months in a monthly rented flat flying back for the weekend then agree to bring your family over once stable and you have found somewhere nice.

[vetran]

My dad was working in Berlin when he met my mum while she was on a trip from Copenhagen where she was working as a nurse. A year later they landed in Zambia for the next 5 years. Had me and two years later they came back home. And this was in the 70's!! They've got some fabulous stories of their travels. Furthest I got was a hop over the Pennines and I regret it. Ok not live life to the full but seize the moment and all that. Doesn't hurt to give it a go for a few years at the very least. That way you won't regret that you didn't do it even if it didn't turn out as it should.

coming over here, abusing our newbies!

[northernladuk]

The OP is talking about Denmark

That's what I put....

[northernladuk]

I can indulge in that culture in the UK, I wouldn't say it was "living life to the full".

Nor is growing up, having a family and dying in the same town/city/area. Go see the world, get stories and then settle down back home if you want. I've never met anyone that's moved countries that's regretted it and I also know many more than listen to the stories of people moving around and regretted they didn't. Even if you just do it for a few years and then settle down. World is a big place and very much more accessible than it was back in our (my) younger days.

My dad was working in Berlin when he met my mum while she was on a trip from Copenhagen where she was working as a nurse. A year later they landed in Zambia for the next 5 years. Had me and two years later they came back home. And this was in the 70's!! They've got some fabulous stories of their travels. Furthest I got was a hop over the Pennines and I regret it. Ok not live life to the full but seize the moment and all that. Doesn't hurt to give it a go for a few years at the very least. That way you won't regret that you didn't do it even if it didn't turn out as it should.

[ladymuck]

Same here, but not really. I couldn't move now but I'd dearly love to and regret not doing it. Maybe when I'm a bit older it will be on the cards. I'll certainly be telling my kids to go and follow their hearts. Why anyone wants to live their life out in pissing wet through Manchester when they could be experiencing life in places like Norway I have no idea.

For myself, and I imagine Cojak is the same, the cost of stuff is irrelevant. Quality of life of Norway would far outstrip any cost of living rises. The buzz and life improvement far exceeds looking at the price of petrol and food IMO. If you want to go go, don't let the price of bread change that. Your equivalent wealth might not be the same over there but by god living life to the full will make up for it.

The OP is talking about Denmark

[northernladuk]

How do you live life to the full when you get a heart attack everytime you get your bill at a restaurant or buy a round?

Coming from Yorkshire it's something I've lived with all my life

[d000hg]

The culture is different.

In most countries people don't buy "rounds" they buy a drink for themselves, their partner/spouse and their family members not friends.

They go out less often to restaurants in the evenings.

There's a reason our Scandinavian friends don't go out, they cannot afford to. They nip across the border to Estonia or somewhere in a transit van every couple of months and load it up with cheap booze to drink at home.

I can indulge in that culture in the UK, I wouldn't say it was "living life to the full".

And yes, I know they don't buy rounds - I was talking about the price of 2 drinks