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Published: June 8, 2014, 12:01 p.m.

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Hello, and welcome to the How To Live in Denmark podcast.\\xa0 I\\u2019m Kay Xander Mellish.

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I don\\u2019t regret many things in life, but I do regret not going to a party I was invited to almost 14 years ago.

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That was in 2000, when I first arrived in Denmark.\\xa0 It was a party to mark the opening of the \\xd8rseund Bridge, which connects Denmark and Sweden.\\xa0\\xa0 There were no cars on the bridge yet, so you could easily walk or bike between these two countries that had been bitter enemies for hundreds of years.\\xa0 At one point, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden \\u2013 who were both young and unmarried at time \\u2013 met and shared a hug and kiss in the center of the bridge, right across the national dividing line.

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Now, that\\u2019s a party.

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I won\\u2019t be able to walk or bike across the \\xd8resund Bridge any time soon. \\xa0A half million cars per month drive over it now, plus a train every 20 minutes, full of commuters.\\xa0

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There are Danes that live in Sweden, and Swedes that work in Denmark.\\xa0\\xa0 Personally, I love the Swedes who work in Denmark.\\xa0 A lot of them are in service positions \\u2013 restaurants, shop assistants \\u2013 and they have revolutionized customer service in Denmark by being\\u2026.cheerful.\\xa0 They say things like \\u2018Hello\\u2019 and \\u2018Can I help you?\\u2019

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This is in contrast to traditional Danish service personnel, whose default approach is \\xa0\\u201cAre you still here?\\xa0 What do you want?\\u201d\\xa0

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And then, of course, there are the Danes living in Sweden.\\xa0 At the height of the housing boom, living in Sweden was much cheaper.\\xa0 People could buy a house in Sweden they never could have afforded in Denmark. \\xa0

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The prices have leveled out a bit since, so there are two groups of Danes who live in Sweden.\\xa0 One is people who have new foreign romantic partners \\u2013 gay or straight \\u2013 who cannot be admitted to Denmark under the restrictive Danish immigration laws. \\xa0That basically means anyone from outside the EU, so American, African, Australian, Bolivian.\\xa0 The couple lives in Sweden for a couple of years, gets Swedish residency, and then they can move to Denmark.

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The other group of Danes living in Sweden is people who love cars.\\xa0 Denmark, as you know, is bicycle country.\\xa0 Denmark has never had a car industry, which is one of the reason the tax on a new car in Denmark is 180% and more and more streets in Copenhagen are being closed off to cars entirely.

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Sweden had a car industry. \\xa0There\\u2019s not much of it left with Saab bankrupt, and Volvo sold to the Chinese, but you can see the influence of that car industry that as soon as you go over the bridge to Malmo.\\xa0 The streets are much wider, even in the newer parts of downtown.\\xa0 Swedish streets are built for cars.

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When a young Danish man moves to Sweden, often the very first thing he does is buy a car he never could have afforded in Denmark.

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The truth is, there are some ways that the bridge has brought Denmark and Sweden closer together. Danes buy vacation homes in Southern Sweden. Swedes come to attend university in Denmark.\\xa0 Danes go shopping in Sweden, because almost everything is cheaper there. As a matter of fact, the only thing cheaper in Denmark than in Sweden is alcohol.

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So, may be closer, but still, Swedes and Danes are very different peoples.\\xa0 Danes still eat rye bread, Swedes eat flatbread.\\xa0 Danes eat Sausages, Swedes eat meatballs.

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And Danes, as cold as they may seem to outsiders, are still more outgoing than the Swedes.\\xa0 Among Scandinavians, Danes are sometimes called the Latins of the North.\\xa0 They know how to sit down, open a bottle of wine, and enjoy life.

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Swedes, on the other hand, are known as the Prussians of the North.\\xa0 They\\u2019re tall.\\xa0 They stand up straight. \\xa0They follow rules.\\xa0 And the men have terrible haircuts.

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Do you know the hairstyle known as the mullet in the United States?\\xa0 It\\u2019s that terrible two-level haircut so many men had in the 1990s \\u2013 the Ziggy Stardust. Short in the front, long in the back.\\xa0 Or, as it\\u2019s sometimes said, business in front, party in the back.\\xa0 The mullet, in Denmark, is known as Swedish hair.

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To Denmark, Sweden is a big brother with a terrible haircut.\\xa0 He\\u2019s regimented, he\\u2019s boring, he\\u2019s stiff.\\xa0 He can\\u2019t dance.\\xa0 There\\u2019s a famous saying that inside every Swede is a little policeman trying to get out.

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That\\u2019s only half the famous saying.\\xa0 Here\\u2019s the whole thing.\\xa0 Inside every Swede is a little policeman trying to get out \\u2013 and inside every Dane, there\\u2019s a little criminal trying to get out.

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And that\\u2019s the How To Live in Denmark podcast for this week. \\xa0\\xa0We\\u2019re always looking for sponsors for the podcast \\u2013 we get several thousand listeners every week \\u2013 so you know an ethical business that would like to have its message here, get in touch.\\xa0 We\\u2019re on Facebook at How To Live in Denmark, you can reach us at How To Live in Denmark.com, or you can Tweet us at How2LiveinDK \\u2013 the 2 is a number.\\xa0 See you next week!

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