this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2024
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Europe

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Most favorite: Norway
Least favorite: Sweden
Completely objective and unbiased reason: I'm Norwegian

As a more serious answer, my parents and I often went on summer holiday in southern Denmark and I loved it, so I guess that's my final answer.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Most favorite: Sweden
Least favorite: Denmark
Completely objective and unbiased reason: I'm Swedish

Also see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-mOy8VUEBk

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

I'd also recommend: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FqgRC5sfCaQ&pp

I've always been impressed how my Swedish colleagues could understand Danish.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Oh yeah, this one explains the origins very well :D

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

https://m.piped.video/watch?v=FqgRC5sfCaQ&pp

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

https://www.piped.video/watch?v=s-mOy8VUEBk

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I would probably pick Denmark as a favourite based solely on their legal right to hit ice-crossing Swedes with sticks. And Swedes suck balls (source: am Finnish).

However, to be somewhat pedantic, Scandinavia either refers to Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, or just Norway and Sweden (the actual Scandinavian peninsula). Finland, Iceland, and the Baltic countries are not part of Scandinavia.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Whether Danmark or even Finland is included is matter of definition, but the Baltics are usually not included.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

By definition, if Finland is included, we're talking about Fennoscandia and, if you add in Iceland, it's the Nordic countries.

Denmark is usually included in Scandinavia, but technically it isn't part of the Scandinavian peninsula.

However, I know that outside Europe the distinctions aren't all that important.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Most favourite: all of them

Least favourite: Denmark

I think all of them has some individual progressive Systems which other countries can learn from, for example: education.

Denmark at the end because I heard their strong community has some trouble with people outside of their community. But I wouldn't call it fascism, it's more like a nationalism.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

I’ve only been to Denmark but certainly concur with voting Denmark last.

  • society is designed to render people without a CPR β„– dysfuctional
    • could not check out a library book without CPR β„–
    • could not make a photo copy without CPR β„–
    • could not open a bank acct without CPR β„– (bank falsely advertised to expats the possibility to process paperwork before even arriving)
    • could not get student rate on trains until the CPR β„– was granted. Took a month to get the number, the clock of which only started ticking after finding a seemingly legitimate place to live. Not counting time sleeping in a classroom. No way to get the train fare difference back retroactively.
  • society is designed to render people without a bank account dysfuctional
    • many restaraunts refuse service to cash payers, including university campus snack shops
    • university events required electronic payments (someone has to use their personal bank acct to let cash payers participate)
    • someone could not simply do laundry
  • university e-mail outsourced to Microsoft, forcing everyone on campus to share their school-related email with a US surveillance capitalist
  • university itself used Facebook to announce events, thus excluding those who do not use FB
  • university forced 2FA on some academic resources, which then required SMS (thus denying students without a mobile phone or the will to share their number access to school resources)
  • university outsourced e-book service to a Cloudflare service (Proquest), who then blocks access to some demographics of people
  • banks themselves are cashless. If your ATM card fails because of some persnickety paperwork issue, you have no money access unless you visit a branch during opening hours, at which point a banker actually has to walk down the street to an ATM with you, carrying a special internal ATM card. So getting your own money out of your bank account is comparable to asking dad for money.
  • banks app can receive inbound international money, but cannot send outbound international transfers (only domestic)
  • housing crisis: the waiting list for an apartment is years; had to sleep illegally in a classroom and dodge night guards, or deal with lots of dodgy landlords exploiting the crisis. Had a landlord who was illegally subletting, who demanded cash payment (fine) but then refused to give a receipt.
  • severe shortage of on-campus dorms. Just enough to house foreign exchange students. All β€œdorms” for locals are scattered in private apartments. Getting one close to campus is a competition.
  • was denied a CPR β„– because the dwelling had more people than officially allowed on paper, despite some of the officially known people not actually living there.
  • expected this country with the world’s highest degree of income equality to be quite liberal, but the people & culture were ironically conservative. No concept of privacy.
  • cycling actually sucks. You might expect it to be the best place in the world for cycling, but the cycle paths are so popular they are like driving on a highway. Overcrowded. If you cruise along slowly a bicycle traffic jam becomes possible. Car driving stresses are there on the high traffic cycling lanes.

That’s just off the top of my head. The nannying is endless.

Can anyone confirm or deny whether many of these issues are replicated among Denmark’s neighbors?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago

While that sounds frustrating, I also could not get a bank account in the UK when I studied there, and my wife had to go to maybe 10 different banks in France to find one which would open an account for a foreigner when she lived there for a while.

We spent close to a year preparing to live in the UK as students for 8 months, emailing universities and city councils and so on. Moving to a new country is full of that sort of thing in general.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Damn, for a second there I thought Danes were required to know cardiopulmonary resuscitation to get access to basic amenities.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago

I'm from the U.S.

I've finally connected with my extended family in Norway. I've been pushing hard to find them since 2016 during my first visit.

I'm going back in October to attend a family gathering.

I've met a beer buddy and his friends from Oslo. I made friends with a Paramedic up in Hammerfest. I'm friendly with the owner/brewer of Graff brewery in TromsΓΈ.

Can't wait for my next visit.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Sweden. Reason: not denmark, not an oil economy. Also i live here soooo

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

reason: not denmark

Tell me you live in Sweden without telling me you live in Sweden, but then also tell me you live in Sweden.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Its more like tell me you live in sweden or norway but yes

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

The Norwegians are way too busy being rich as fuck to waste time making fun of the Danish

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Norway! The mother of Black Metal. She didn't give birth to it, but she definitely raised it!

[–] Bronzie 11 points 5 months ago

1: Norway

Source: Am Norwegian

Dead last: Sweden

I’d like to kick them out of Scandinavia and welcome the Finns instead. They can stay Nordic though. Pretty sure Denmark would support it.

Seriously though, I think we’re all great. We’re just the best…

[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Iceland. Purely for the irony of the name.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

It's that the Alanis Morissette school of irony?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Iceland. Its pretty, it has an interesting history, the culture is very egaltarian, and the people are quite friendly. And I love the cold.

Plus they make INSANELY good gin.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Scotland

Because it makes the brits mad

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Finland because HAVE YOU EVEN SEEN THE WRC THERE?!?

FUUUUUUUUCKIN HELL

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Sorry, that was me. I was late from sauna at friends place and had to get the beers before the shops stop selling it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I'm more of a GrΓΆnholm person myself.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I was actually at the rally where he told a policeman "I can drive this car". Didn't see it personally but it was the stuff of legends

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Oh nice. Yeah that was a legendary moment. Do I remember correctly, Timo had to hang out of the window to keep the cars ass off the road? Or was that some other one..?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Yeah that's the one. Didn't see that either but it was all everyone talked about in the pub after πŸ˜‚

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

If I can’t pick my own country, I would choose Norway as my favourite. One of the reasons being that they are not Swedes.

Scandinavia is Denmark, Norway and Sweden. No offence to the rest of the Nordic countries, but historically that is what make the most sense.

[–] 1boiledpotato 7 points 5 months ago

Free City of Danzig

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

Iceland. It's such a pretty island.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

On a global level all Scandinavian countries are pretty much the same with similar people. If we talk about Nordic countries, like the picture suggests, Finland is the one that differs the most. But which is the best really depends what you like.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago

*Nordic country.

Am Swedish. Norway and Denmark are superior. Finland is scary, cold, snowy, talking-in-tongues type of language. Iceland is good, too. Sweden is dead last.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

In order:

Norway, Denmark, Finland, then Sweden. To be queer (it's June), it's not like Sweden is bad, or anything, I just think it comes last in line.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

I was going to say Denmark but I just now learned about the spiralsagen so hey maybe Finland

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

HEJA SVERIGE!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

I've only been to Iceland so I can't judge the others, Norway really fascinates me with its nature, and political history. The Baltics are on the map, I was supposed to go to Latvia in 2021 for a concert, but it's been postponed 5 times, but I hope I get to visit all three of them as well.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

Latvia because everything i know about them comes from Brooklyn 99. Also Riga is an amazing city name.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Finland. Because they were total bad asses in the Winter War. Finnish ski troopers versus thousands of Soviet tanks in -40 weather? Fuck yeah.

Also, the Finnish sauna is the best sauna.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Finland os not Scandinavian though

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Fair enough. I chose to read it as Nordic rather than Scandinavian given the extent of the map.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

I really like Norway because of shows like Lilyhammer and Norsemen. It seems Norwegians have a good sense of humour.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

I only recognize one country on this map - the one unified Svea Rike.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

My family is from Sweden but since I'm from Ontario I've always been attracted to the lakes in Finland.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Behold, as I piss off three countries at once:

I like the Kingdom of Kalmar

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Norway, just because it's the only one I visited!

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