How to Live in Denmark

There was no How to Live in Denmark podcast last week, and I apologize for that.  I have been busy studying for my Danish citizenship exam.  As some of you may know, Denmark is allowing double citizenship as of next year. 

That means you're are allowed to keep your home country passport  - in my case, USA - while also becoming a Danish citizen.  Personally, I'm a little concerned that this may be overturned if a right wing government takes power next year. Danske Folkeparti, which is now the biggest party in Denmark, is passionately opposed to it.

So like supermarket prices, this offer may be for a limited time only.  So, I decided to get my Danish citizenship at the first opportunity.

To become a Danish citizen, you have to take a Danish language test and a citizenship test that's tests your knowledge of Denmark and Danish culture.   That's the test I will take on Tuesday.  It's only given twice a year, and it costs 700 crowns to take, so you might as well get it right the first time.

So I have been studying hard.  Actually, I started out by studying the wrong thing.  There were several quizzes online that tested your knowledge of Danish history - like Harold Bluetooth.  Did you know your Bluetooth headset was named after 10th century Danish King?  I did not.   Bluetooth was the guy who brought Christianity to Denmark.  Whether or not he actually had blue teeth, which suggests pretty bad dentistry, remains unknown.

So I took the online practice quizzes, and I learned a lot of other things.  I learned about King Christian the Fourth, who build the round tower in Copenhagen. And I learned about King Christian the Seventh, who was crazy and ended up in a movie being portrayed in a movie that also starred Mads Mikkelsen.