The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell

Author : Helen Russell
Title : The Year of Living Danishly
Published : 2015
Publisher : Icon Books
Pages : 368
Genre : Autobiography / Travel

     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 (not to mention 'hygge') to SAD, taxes, sexism and an unfortunate predilection for burning witches.

     I think it is safe to say that at some point or another we have all dreamt of packing it all in and going to live in another country. The grass is after all greener on the other side, right? I know personally, I have come close more times than I can count, the thought of leaving everything behind in the hopes that I can all be better. But what if this daydream suddenly became a reality. Would you really go through with it? Well, that is just what Russel and her husband did. Leaving behind the chaotic world or London for what was promised to be a much happier one in Denmark. But I suppose the idea is often a lot more simple than the real world. Firstly when you rock up in your new country in the middle of nowhere and don't speak a word of the language, this can prove to be a little tricky. How do you go about communicating where you need to get to. or how to buy the things you need. While I have been lucky enough to travel far and wide, only on a handful of occasions has this really been an issue for. I do realize the arrogance of assuming that everyone you meet will magically speak English.

     This book, however, is far from doom and gloom. The author set's out to ingratiate her self into this new and strange land they are to call home. It is funny how we all get used to people acting a certain way around other people so when they don't it can cause the brain to flip out. How do you cope with all the new customs and foods? Well, she does her best to throw her self in at the deep end, some times with great successes other times with completely embarrassing results. There are definitely moments in this book that will cause you to burst out laughing. She brings a lighthearted approach to a situation that would probably cause me to curl up in a ball and wait for the ground to swallow me whole. It is an interesting thing to follow someone as they leave behind the things they take for granted and go on to replace them with new things that soon become familiar and like home. Things that at first seem so alien to not only her but me as a reader soon become the norm. 

     This is not to say that everything is sunshine and rainbows. Denmark is officially the happiest country on the planet according to every pole. But as we discover not only through her own life but in interviews and research, not all the glitters is gold. I would say that it seems the Danish people are far more excepting of there a place in the world.  They fill there time from the moment they wake to when their eyes finally close. And yes they have a great health care system (which I would point outcomes at a price). And there work ethic is also one that would greatly appeal to me. They seem to go out of there way to eliminate stress from the working environment.  But they do have their fair share of drug and alcohol problems. This is the dirty little secret the tourist board would like to hide. It also seems to me that a large proportion of them are also on antidepressants. So if this is the case do you count a medical world as a happy place to be.  Whilst I must admit the author does a grand job of expressing the virtues of this amazing land, there are still things that would stop me packing up and shipping of there. 

     Overall this was an enjoyable look into a place I have only briefly visited. She shows what would seem like a balanced view of a country that most only have a general idea of. Whilst I have mentioned the bad there truly a great many benefits to living there. And a few I wish my own country would adopt in some struggle to have what seems like a much more hassle-free life. Both witty and insightful. Russell gives it her best and brings us along for the ride.