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The Year Of Lliving Danishly By Helen Russell Przykładowe tłumaczenie
Tekst źródłowy (English) | Tekst docelowy (Danish) |
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It all started simply enough. | Det startede i det små. |
After a few days off work my husband and I were suffering from post-holiday blues and struggling to get back into the swing of things. | Efter at have haft fri nogle dage kæmpede min mand og jeg med en tilbage-på-jobbet-depression og med at få sparket trædemøllen i gang igen. |
A grey drizzle had descended on London and the city looked grubby and felt somehow worn out – as did I. ‘There has to be more to life than this…’ was the taunt that ran through my head as I took the tube to the office every day, then navigated my way home through chicken bone-strewn streets twelve hours later, before putting in a couple of hours of extra work or going to events for my job. | – Der må da være mere i livet end dette … |
As a journalist on a glossy magazine, I felt like a fraud. | Som journalist på et livsstilsmagasin følte jeg mig som en bedrager. |
I spent my days writing about how readers could ‘have it all’: a healthy work-life balance, success, sanity, sobriety – all while sporting the latest styles and a radiant glow. | Jeg brugte tiden på at skrive om, hvordan læseren kunne få det hele: god balance mellem fritid og arbejdsliv, succes, sundhed, afholdenhed – mens hun samtidig førte sig frem i den nyeste mode og strålede af sundhed og lykke. |
In reality, I was still paying off student loans, relying on industrial quantities of caffeine to get through the day and self-medicating with Sauvignon Blanc to get myself to sleep. | I virkelighedens verden betalte jeg selv stadig af på mit studielån, var afhængig af koffein i industrielle mængder for at komme igennem dagen og måtte selvmedicinere med Sauvignon Blanc for at falde i søvn om aftenen. |
Sunday evenings had become characterised by a familiar tightening in my chest at the prospect of the week ahead, and it was getting harder and harder to keep from hitting the snooze button several times each morning. | Mine søndagsaftener var karakteriserede ved en velkendt trykken for brystet ved tanken om den kommende uge. |
I had a job I’d worked hard for in an industry I’d been toiling in for | Jeg havde et job, som jeg havde arbejdet hårdt for at få, i en branche, som jeg nu havde knoklet for i mere end ti år. |
But once I got the role I’d been striving towards, I realised I wasn’t actually any happier – just busier. | Men da jeg endelig havde opnået den position, jeg havde kæmpet for, opdagede jeg, at jeg ikke blev mere lykkelig af det – jeg fik bare mere travlt. |
What I aspired to had become a moving target. | Mine drømmes mål var blevet flydende. |
Even when I reached it, there’d be something else I thought was ‘missing’. | Selv efter at være nået frem følte jeg, at noget manglede. |
The list of things I thought I wanted, or needed, or should be doing, was inexhaustible. | Listen over ting, jeg troede, jeg ønskede eller havde brug for eller burde gøre, var uendelig. |
I, on the other hand, was permanently exhausted. | Samtidig var jeg konstant udmattet. |
Life felt scattered and fragmented. | Livet føltes opdelt og fragmenteret. |
I was always trying to do too many things at once and always felt as though I was falling behind. | Jeg forsøgte konstant at lave for mange ting på samme tid, og jeg følte mig konstant bagefter. |
I was 33 – the same age Jesus got to, only by this point he’d supposedly walked on water, cured lepers and resurrected the dead. | Jeg var 33 år gammel – samme alder, som Jesus nåede. |
At the very least he’d inspired a few followers, cursed a fig tree, and done something pretty whizzy with wine at a wedding. | Om ikke andet havde han i hvert fald inspireret nogle mennesker til at følge sig i hælene, havde forbandet et figentræ og gjort noget ret imponerende med vin til et bryllup. |
But me? | Men jeg? |
I had a job. | Jeg havde et job. |
And a flat. | Og en lejlighed. |
And a husband and nice friends. | Og en mand og nogle søde venner. |
And a new dog – a mutt of indeterminate breeding that we’d hoped might bring a bucolic balance to our hectic urban lives. | Og en ny hund – et gadekryds af ubestemmelig herkomst, som ville bibringe vores hektiske byliv lidt landlig balance. |
So life was OK. | Så livet var sådan set okay. |
Well, apart from the headaches, the intermittent insomnia, the on/off tonsillitis that hadn’t shifted despite months of antibiotics and the colds I seemed to come down with every other week. | Altså bortset fra hovedpinerne, den tilbagevendende søvnløshed og halsbetændelsen, der kom og gik trods måneder på antibiotika. |
But that was normal, right? | Men det var da normalt, ikke? |
I’d thrived on the adrenaline of city life in the past, and the bright, buzzy team I worked with meant that there was never a dull moment. | Jeg havde altid elsket bylivets puls, og mine spændende, travle kollegaer sørgede for, at jeg aldrig kedede mig. |
I had a full social calendar and a support network of friends I loved dearly, and I lived in one of the most exciting places in the world. | Min kalender var altid fyldt med aftaler, og jeg havde et godt netværk af højtelskede venner. |
But after twelve years at full pelt in the country’s capital and the second stabbing in my North London neighbourhood in as many months, I suddenly felt broken. | Men efter 12 år på fuld kraft i landets hovedstad og knivoverfald nummer to i løbet af lige så mange måneder i mit kvarter i det nordlige London følte jeg mig pludselig i knæ. |
There was something else, too. | Og så var der også noget andet. |
For two years, I had been poked, prodded and injected with hormones daily only to have my heart broken each month. | Igennem to år var jeg blevet pirket i og prikket til og injiceret med hormoner på daglig basis blot for at få knust mit hjerte igen hver eneste måned. |
We’d been trying for a baby, but it just wasn’t working. | Vi havde prøvet at få et barn, men det ville bare ikke ske. |
Now, my stomach churned every time a card and a collection went round the office for some colleague or other off on maternity leave. | Nu fik jeg ondt i maven, hver gang endnu et kort og en indsamling cirkulerede på kontoret til endnu en kollega på barselsorlov. |
There are only so many Baby Gap romper suits you can coo over when it’s all you’ve wanted for years – all your thrice-weekly hospital appointments have been aiming for. | Der er grænser for, hvor mange sparkedragter fra Baby Gap man kan beundre, når man har ønsket sig det samme i årevis – og har aflagt besøg på hospitalet tre gange ugentligt for at opnå det. Folk var begyndt at spøge med, at jeg skulle ”skynde mig”, at jeg ikke var ”så ung mere”, og at jeg jo ikke måtte komme ”for sent til båden”. |
I would smile so hard that my jaw would ache, while trying to resist the urge to punch them in the face and shout: ‘Bugger off! | Hver gang smilede jeg så meget, at det gjorde ondt i kæberne, mens jeg bekæmpede trangen til at stikke dem en på skrinet og råbe: ”Skrid! |
’ I’d resigned myself to a future of IVF appointments fitted in around work, and then working even more in what spare time I had to keep up. | ” Livet var lidt en kamp, hvor kunstige befrugtninger skulle passes ind i en travl arbejdsdag, hvorefter jeg måtte arbejde endnu mere i fritiden for at følge med. |
I had to keep going, to stop myself from thinking too much and to maintain the lifestyle I thought I wanted. | Jeg var nødt til blot at fortsætte for at forhindre mig selv i at tænke alt for meget, og jeg klamrede mig derfor til den livsform, jeg troede, jeg ønskede. |
That I thought we needed. | Som jeg troede, vi ønskede. |
My other half was also feeling the strain and would come home furious with the world most nights. | Min bedre halvdel følte nemlig også presset og kom de fleste aftener hjem og var rasende på hele verden. |
He’d rant about bad drivers or the rush-hour traffic he’d endured on his 90-minute commute to and from work, before collapsing on the sofa and falling into a Top Gear/trash TV coma until bed. | Han rasede over mængden af dårlige chauffører og myldretidstrafik, som havde tvunget ham til at bruge halvanden time på sin tur til og fra arbejde. |
My husband is a serious-looking blond chap with a hint of the physics teacher about him who once auditioned to be the Milky Bar kid. | Min mand er en alvorligt udseende, blond fyr med et strejf af fysiklærer over sig. |
He didn’t have a TV growing up so wasn’t entirely sure what a Milky Bar was, but his parents had seen an ad in the Guardian and thought it sounded wholesome. | Han er vokset op uden TV, så han var ikke helt sikker på, hvad en Milky Bar var, men hans forældre havde set en annonce i Guardian og syntes, det lød sundt. |
Another albino-esque child got the part in the end, but he remembers the day fondly as the first time he got to play with a handheld Nintendo that another hopeful had brought along. | Et andet albino-blondt barn fik rollen, men han mindes stadig dagen med varme følelser, eftersom det var den første gang, han fik lov at spille på en håndholdt Nintendo, som et andet håbefuldt barn havde medbragt. |
He also got to eat as much chocolate as he liked – something else not normally allowed. | Han fik også lov at spise al den chokolade, han ville – hvilket normalt var forbudt. |
His parents eschewed many such new-fangled gadgets and foodstuffs, bestowing on him instead a childhood of classical music, museum visits and long, bracing walks. | Hans forældre skyede mange af disse nymodens dimser og fødevarer og gav ham i stedet en barndom fyldt med klassisk musik, museumsbesøg og lange, styrkende vandreture. |
I can only begin to imagine their disappointment when, aged eight, he announced that his favourite book was the Argos catalogue; a weighty tome that he would sit with happily for hours on end, circling various consumer electronics and Lego sets he wanted. | Deres skuffelse må have været enorm, da han i en alder af otte meddelte, at hans yndlingsbog var legetøjskataloget fra Argos. |
This should have been an early indicator of what was in store. | Dette burde have været et tidligt varsel om, hvad der var i vente. |
He came along at a time in my life when I had just about given up hope. | Han dukkede op på et tidspunkt i mit liv, hvor jeg næsten havde opgivet håbet. |
2008, to be exact. | I 2008 for at være helt præcis. |
My previous boyfriend had dumped me at a wedding (really), and the last date I’d been on was with a man who’d invited me round for dinner before getting caught up watching football on TV and so forgetting to buy any food. | Min tidligere kæreste havde droppet mig til et bryllup (det er rigtig nok), og den sidste date, jeg havde været på, var med en mand, der havde inviteret mig til middag og dernæst var blevet så opslugt af at se fodbold i TV, at han havde glemt at købe mad. |
He said he’d order me a Dominos pizza instead. | Han tilbød at bestille en pizza til mig. |
I told him not to bother. | Jeg sagde, han ikke skulle ulejlige sig. |
So when I met my husband-to-be and he offered to cook, I wasn’t expecting much. | Så da jeg mødte min kommende ægtemand, og han tilbød at lave mad til mig, havde jeg ikke de højeste forventninger. |
But supper went surprisingly well. | Men det gik overraskende godt. |
He was clever and funny and kind and there were ramekins involved. | Han var klog og sjov og venlig, og middagen involverede ramekiner. |
My mother, when I informed her of this last fact, was very impressed. | Da jeg fortalte min mor om dette, blev hun meget imponeret. |
‘That’s the sign of a very well brought up young man,’ she told me, ‘to own a set of ramekins. | – Det tyder på, han er en ung mand med en god baggrund, sagde hun til mig, − når han ejer et sæt ramekiner. |
Let alone to know what to do with them! | Og ikke mindst ved, hvad han skal bruge dem til! |
’ | Tre år efter giftede jeg mig med ham. |
Mostly because he made me laugh, ate my experimental cooking and didn’t complain when I mineswept the house for sweets. | Mest fordi han fik mig til at grine, troligt spiste mine madlavningseksperimenter og ikke beklagede sig, når jeg støvsugede huset for slik. |
He could also be | Han kunne dog også være utroligt irriterende. |
incredibly irritating – losing keys, wallet, phone or all of the above on a daily basis, and having an apparent inability to arrive anywhere on time and an infuriating habit of spending half an hour in the loo (‘are you redecorating in there?’). | Han forlagde næsten dagligt sine nøgler, sin pung, sin telefon eller alle tre dele, og han var ude af stand til at nå frem til noget sted til tiden, og så havde han en irriterende vane med at tilbringe halve timer på toilettet (− sig mig, er du i gang med at renovere derinde?). |
But we were all right. | Men vi havde det godt. |
We had a life together. | Vi havde et liv sammen. |
And despite the hospital visits and low-level despair/exhaustion/ viruses/financial worries at the end of each month (due to having spent too much at the start of each month), we loved each other. | På trods af hospitalsbesøgene og dyb fortvivlelse/udmattelse/økonomiske bekymringer ved slutningen af hver måned (fordi vi brugte for mange penge i begyndelsen af hver måned) så elskede vi hinanden. |
I’d imagined a life for us where we’d probably move out of London in a few years’ time, work, see friends, go on holidays, then retire. | Jeg så for mig en fremtid, hvor vi ville flytte ud af London om nogle år, være sammen med venner, tage på ferier og til sidst lade os pensionere. |
I envisaged seeing out my days as the British version of Jessica Fletcher from Murder She Wrote: writing and solving sanitised crime, followed by a nice cup of tea and a laugh-to-credits ending. | Jeg forestillede mig, at jeg ville ende mine dage som den britiske udgave af Jessica Fletcher fra Hun så et mord. |
My fantasy retirement was going to rock. | Min fantasitilværelse som pensionist ville blive fantastisk. |
But when I shared this vision with my husband, he didn’t seem too keen. | Men da jeg delte denne vision med min ægtemand, virkede han ikke voldsomt ivrig. |
‘That’s it? | − Er det alt? |
’ was his response. | lød hans svar. |
‘Everyone does that! | − Sådan gør alle jo! |
‘Were you not listening,’ I tried again, ‘to the part about Jessica Fletcher? | − Sig mig, hørte du overhovedet den del med Jessica Fletcher? |
He began to imply that Murder She Wrote was a work of fiction, to which I scoffed and said that next he’d be telling me that unicorns weren’t real. | − Jessica Fletcher? |
Then he stopped me in my tracks by announcing that he really wanted to live overseas someday. | Men han fik mig til at tie brat, da han meddelte, at han faktisk rigtigt godt kunne tænke sig at bo i udlandet på et tidspunkt. |
‘“Overseas”? | − I udlandet? |
’ I checked I’d got this bit right: ‘As in, “not in this country”? | Havde jeg mon forstået ham rigtigt: − Altså, du mener ikke i dette land? |
Not near our seas? | Ikke i nærheden af vores egne omkringliggende have? |
‘Yes. | − Ja. |
‘Oh. | − Åh. |
I’m not someone who relishes adventure, having had more than my fair share of it growing up and in my twenties. | Jeg er ikke den eventyrlystne type. |
Nowadays, I crave stability. | Nu om dage har jeg mere brug for stabilitet. |
When the prospect of doing anything daring is dangled in front of me, I have a tendency to weld myself to my comfort zone. | Når muligheden for at gøre noget vovemodigt dukker op, har jeg tendens til at klynge mig til min komfortzone. |
I’m even scared of going off piste on a menu. | Selv når jeg vælger fra et menukort, er jeg bange for at gå ”off piste”. |
But my husband, it seemed, wanted more. | Men tilsyneladende ønskede min mand mere end dette, hvilket skræmte mig og fik mig til at blive bekymret for, at jeg ikke ville være nok for ham i det lange løb. |
This frightened me, making me worry that I wasn’t ‘enough’ for him, and the seed of doubt was planted. | Og så var tvivlens frø blevet plantet. |
Then one wet Wednesday evening, he told me he’d been approached about a new job. | En våd og fugtig onsdag aften kom han hjem fra arbejde og fortalte mig, at han var blevet kontaktet angående et nyt arbejde. |
In a whole other country. | I et helt andet land. |
‘What? | − Hvad? |
When did this happen? | Hvornår er det sket? |
’ I demanded, suspicious that he’d been applying for things on the sly. | spurgte jeg og mistænkte ham for at have søgt job i smug. |
‘Just this morning,’ he said, showing me an email that had indeed come out of the blue earlier that day, getting in touch and asking whether he’d be interested in relocating … to Denmark. | − Her til morgen, svarede han og viste mig en e-mail, der virkelig var kommet ud af det blå samme dag med et spørgsmål om, hvorvidt han måske ville være interesseret i at flytte … til Danmark. |
The country of pastries, bacon, strong fictional females and my husband’s favourite childhood toy. | Landet, der bugnede af bagværk, bacon, stærke kvindelige filmkarakterer og min ægtemands yndlingslegetøj fra barndommen. |
And it was the makers of the small plastic bricks who were in search of my husband’s services. | Og det var netop producenten af disse små plastikklodser, der søgte hans hjælp. |
‘Lego? | − Lego? |
’ I asked, incredulous as I read the correspondence. | spurgte jeg vantro, mens jeg læste e-mailen. |
‘You want us to move to Denmark so you can work for Lego? | − Vil du have, vi skal flytte til Danmark, så du kan arbejde for Lego? |
’ Was he kidding me? | Var det en joke? |
Were we in some screwed-up sequel to that Tom Hanks film where grown-ups get their childhood wishes granted? | Befandt vi os pludselig i en forskruet efterfølger til den Tom Hanks-film, hvor voksne fik alle deres barndomsønsker opfyldt? |
What next? | Hvad blev det næste? |
Would Sylvanian Families appoint me their woodland queen? | Ville sylvanske familier henvende sig med henblik på at udnævne mig til deres skovdronning? |
Were My Little Pony about to DM me inviting me to become their equine overlord? | Ville My Little Pony kåre mig til deres hestelige herskerinde? |
‘How on earth has this happened? | Hvordan i alverden var dette sket? |
And was there a genie or a malfunctioning fairground machine involved? | Og var der en flaskeånd eller en dårligt fungerende spillemaskine involveret? |
My husband shook his head and told me that he didn’t know anything about it until today – that a recruitment agent he’d been in touch with ages ago must have put him forward. | Min mand rystede på hovedet og fortalte mig, at han intet havde vidst før i dag – at det måtte være et rekrutteringsfirma, som han for lang tid siden havde været i kontakt med, der havde præsenteret ham. |
That it wasn’t something he actively went looking for but now it was here, well, he hoped we could at least consider it. | Han havde ikke aktivt søgt jobbet, men nu hvor tilbuddet lå her, håbede han faktisk, at vi i hvert fald kunne overveje det. |
‘Please? | − Vil du ikke nok? |
’ he begged. | tiggede han. |
‘For me? | − For min skyld? |
I’d do it for you. | Jeg ville gøre det for dig. |
And we could move for your job next time,’ he promised. | Næste gang kan vi flytte efter dit job, lovede han. |
I didn’t think that this was an entirely fair exchange: he knew full well that I’d happily stay put forever in a nice little town just outside the M25 to execute Project Jessica Fletcher. | Jeg syntes ikke, det var en helt fair aftale. |
Denmark had never been a part of my plan. | Danmark havde ligesom aldrig været en del af min plan. |
But this was something that he really wanted. | Men dette var noget, som han virkelig godt kunne tænke sig. |
It became our sole topic of conversation outside work over the next week and the more we talked about it, the more I understood what this meant to him and how much it mattered. | I den næste uges tid blev det vores eneste samtaleemne uden for jobbet, og jo mere vi talte om det, jo mere forstod jeg, hvad og hvor meget det betød for ham. |
If I denied him this now, a year into our marriage, how would that play out in future? | Hvis jeg nægtede ham dette efter blot et års ægteskab, hvordan ville det så ikke blive i fremtiden? |
Did I really want it to be one of the things we regretted? | Ønskede jeg virkelig, at det her skulle blive en af de ting, vi fortrød? |
Or worse, that he resented me for? | Eller værre endnu: som han ville hade mig for? |
I loved him. | Jeg elskede ham. |
So I agreed to think about it. | Så jeg sagde ja til at tænke over det. Vi tog til Danmark på researchtur i en weekend og besøgte Legoland. |
We went to Denmark on a recce one weekend and visited Legoland. | Vi lo over, hvor langsomt alle kørte og rystede på hovedet over prisen på en almindelig sandwich. |
We laughed at how slowly everyone drove and spluttered at how much a simple sandwich cost. | Der var dog nogle åbenlyse fordele. |
There were some clear attractions: the place was clean, the Danish pastries surpassed expectations, and the scenery, though not on the scale of the more dramatic Norwegian fjords, was soul-lifting. | Stedet var rent, de danske kager overgik alle forventninger, og selvom landskabet ikke var på højde med de dramatiske norske fjorde, så var det opløftende. |
While we were there, a sense of new possibilities started to unfurl. | En fornemmelse af nye livsmuligheder begyndte at vågne i løbet af vores besøg. |
We caught a glimpse of a different way of life and noticed that the people we met out there weren’t like folks back home. | Vi fik et glimt at en anden livsform og noterede os også, at de mennesker, vi mødte, slet ikke lignede folk derhjemme. |
Aside from the fact that they were all strapping Vikings, towering over my 5′3″frame and my husband’s 5′11″-on-a-good-day stature, the Danes we met didn’t look like us. | Bortset fra at de alle var monsterhøje vikinger, der tårnede sig højt op over både min mand og mig, var der også en anden åbenlys forskel mellem os og danskerne. |
They looked relaxed. | De så afslappede ud. |
They walked more slowly. | De gik langsommere. |
They took their time, stopping to take in their surroundings. | De tog sig god tid og standsede for at kigge på omgivelserne. |
Or just to breathe. | Eller for bare at trække vejret. |
Then we came home, back to the daily grind. | Så vendte vi hjem til den daglige trædemølle. |
And despite my best efforts, I couldn’t get the idea out of my head, like a good crime plot unravelling clue by clue. | Men på trods af alle anstrengelser kunne jeg ikke få tanken ud af hovedet igen. |
The notion that we could make a change in the way we lived sparked unrest, where previously there’d been a stoic acceptance. | Tanken om, at vi faktisk kunne ændre på tingene, havde erstattet vores tidligere stoiske accept af vores liv. |
Project Jessica Fletcher suddenly seemed a long way off, and I wasn’t sure I could keep going at the same pace for another 30 years. | Pludselig virkede Projekt Jessica Fletcher meget langt væk, og jeg var slet ikke sikker på, at jeg ville kunne holde til det samme tempo i 30 år mere. |
It also occurred to me that wishing away half your life in anticipation of retirement (albeit an awesome one) was verging on the medieval. | Det slog mig også, at det var på kanten til det middelalderlige at bruge halvdelen af sit liv på at glæde sig til pensionisttilværelsen (om end det var en fantastisk drøm). |
I wasn’t a serf, tilling the land until I dropped from exhaustion. | Jeg var ikke en fæstebonde, der måtte trælle i marken, til jeg faldt om af udmattelse. |
I was working in 21st century | Jeg levede og arbejdede i det 21. |
London. | århundrede. |
Life should have been good. | I London. |
Enjoyable. | Fornøjeligt. |
Easy, even. | Endda let. |
So the fact that I was dreaming of retirement at the age of 33 was probably an indicator that something had to change. | Så det faktum, at jeg allerede i en alder af 33 drømte om pensionisttilværelsen, var sikkert et tegn på, at noget burde laves om. |
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been relaxed. | Jeg kunne ikke huske, hvornår jeg sidst havde været afslappet. |
Properly relaxed, without the aid of over-the-counter sleeping tablets or alcohol. | Sådan rigtigt afslappet uden støtte fra håndkøbssovemedicin eller alkohol. |
If we moved to Denmark, I daydreamed, we might be able to get better at this ‘not being so stressed all the time’ thing … We could live by the sea. | Hvis vi flyttede til Danmark, dagdrømte jeg, kunne vi måske blive bedre til det der med ”ikke at være så stressede hele tiden” … Vi kunne bo ved havet. |
We could walk our dog on the beach every day. | Gå ture med hunden på stranden hver dag. |
We wouldn’t have to take the tube anymore. | Ikke tage undergrundsbanen mere. |
There wouldn’t even be a tube where we’d be moving to. | Der ville slet ikke være en undergrundsbane der, hvor vi skulle bo. |
After our weekend of ‘other life’ possibilities, we were faced with a choice. | Efter vores weekend med ”andre livsmuligheder” stod vi over for et valg. |
We could stick with what we knew, or we could take action, before life became etched on our foreheads. | Vi kunne fortsætte med det kendte, eller vi kunne handle, før livet kunne læses i vores pander. |
If we were ever going to try to lead a more fulfilling existence, we had to start doing things differently. | Vi var nødt til at gøre noget anderledes, hvis vi nogensinde skulle få et rigere liv. |
Now. | Nu. |
My husband, a huge Scandophile, was already sold on Denmark. | Min mand elsker Skandinavien og var allerede solgt til Danmark. |
But being more cautious by nature, I still needed time to think. | Men jeg er mere forsigtig af natur og havde brug for mere betænkningstid. |
As journalist, I needed to do my research. | Jeg havde brug for at lave noget research. |
Other than Sarah Lund’s Faroe Isle jumpers, Birgitte Nyborg’s bun and Borgen creator Adam Price’s knack of making coalition politics palatable for prime time TV, I knew very little about Denmark. | Ud over Sarah Lunds færøske sweatre, Birgitte Nyborgs knold i nakken og Borgen-skaberen Adam Prices sans for at gøre koalitionspolitik spiselig på TV i bedste sendetid kendte jeg meget lidt til Danmark. |
The Nordic noir I’d watched had taught me two things: that the country was doused in perpetual rain and people got killed a lot. | Men de nordiske noir-film, jeg havde set, havde dog lært mig to ting: Landet soppede i endeløs regn, og der blev begået virkelig mange mord. |
But apparently it was also a popular tourist destination, with official figures from Visit Denmark showing that numbers were up 26 per cent. | Men tilsyneladende var det også en populær turistdestination, og officielle tal fra Visit Danmark viste, at antallet af besøg var steget med 26 procent i de senere år. |
I learned too that the tiny Scandi-land punched above its weight commercially, with exports including Carlsberg (probably the best lager in the world), Arla (the world’s seventh biggest dairy company and the makers of Lurpak), Danish Crown (where most of the UK’s bacon comes from) and of course Lego – the world’s largest toymaker. | Jeg fandt også ud af, at det lillebitte skandinaviske land markerede sig på det internationale marked med eksportvirksomheder som Carlsberg (formentlig den bedste øl i verden), Arla (verdens syvende største mejerivirksomhed og Lurpak-producent), Danish Crown (hvorfra det meste af vores eget bacon kommer) og naturligvis Lego, verdens største legetøjsproducent. |
Not bad for a country with a population of 5.5 million (about the size of South London). | Ikke så dårligt for et land med et indbyggertal på omkring 5,5 millioner (cirka det samme som i Sydlondon). |
’ I guffawed when I read this part. | − Fem en halv millioner! grinede jeg højt. |
I was alone in the flat with just the dog for company, but he was doing his best to join in the conversation by snorting with incredulity. | Jeg var alene i lejligheden med kun hunden som selskab, men han gjorde sit bedste for at tage del i samtalen ved at snorke vantro. |
Or it might have been a sneeze. | Eller måske var det et nys. |
‘Does five and a half million even qualify as a country? | − Er fem en halv millioner overhovedet nok til at udgøre et land? |
’ I asked the dog. | spurgte jeg hunden. |
‘Isn’t that just a big town? | − Er det ikke bare en stor by? |
Do they really even need their own language? | Har de overhovedet brug for at have deres eget sprog? |
’ The dog slunk off as though this question was beneath him, but I carried on unperturbed. | Hunden listede væk, som gad han ikke engang beskæftige sig med spørgsmålet, men jeg fortsatte uforfærdet min research. |
I discovered that Denmark had been ranked as the EU’s most expensive country to live in by Ireland’s Central Statistics Office, and that its inhabitants paid cripplingly high taxes. | Jeg opdagede, at Irlands centrale statistik havde rangeret Danmark som et af EU’s dyreste lande at leve i, samt at dets indbyggere betalte vanvittigt høje skatter. |
Which meant that we would, too. | Hvilket indebar, at vi også ville komme til det. |
Oh brilliant! | Skønt! |
We’ll be even more skint by the end of the month than we are already… But for your Danish krone, I learned, you got a comprehensive welfare system, free healthcare, free education (including university tuition), subsidised childcare and unemployment insurance guaranteeing 80 per cent of your wages for two years. | Så vil vi være endnu mere pressede ved slutningen af måneden, end vi allerede er … |
Denmark, I was informed, also had one of the smallest gaps between the very poor and the very rich. | Jeg opdagede, at kløften mellem rige og fattige var mindre i Danmark end i andre lande. |
And although no country in the world had yet achieved true gender equality, Denmark seemed to be coming close, thanks to a female PM and a slew of strong women in leadership positions. | Og selvom intet land i verden endnu havde opnået ægte ligestilling mellem kønnene, var Danmark tilsyneladende tæt på, takket være en kvindelig statsminister og mange stærke kvinder i ledende stillinger. |
Unlike in the US and the UK, where already stressed out and underpaid women were being told to ‘lean in’ and do more, it looked like you could pretty much lean any way you fancied in Denmark and still do OK. | Meget anderledes end i USA og England, hvor allerede stressede og underbetalte kvinder fik besked på at ”komme ind i kampen” og gøre mere, hvis de ville opnå noget. |
Oh, and women weren’t handed sticks to beat themselves with if they weren’t ‘having it all’. | Åh ja, og kvinder fik tilsyneladende heller ikke overrakt en pisk til at slå sig selv med, hvis de ikke ”havde det hele”. |
This, I decided, was refreshing. | Jeg besluttede mig for, at det var forfriskende. |
Whereas in the US and the UK we’d fought for more money at work, Scandinavians had fought for more time – for family leave, leisure and a decent work-life balance. | Mens vi i USA og England havde kæmpet for at få flere penge, havde skandinaverne kæmpet for at få mere tid. |
Denmark was regularly cited as the country with the shortest working week for employees, and the latest figures showed that Danes only worked an average of 34 hours a week (according to Statistic Denmark). | Danmark blev regelmæssigt fremhævet som det land i verden, der havde den korteste arbejdsuge, og de seneste tal viste, at danskerne kun arbejdede i gennemsnit 34 timer om ugen (ifølge Danmarks Statistik). |
By comparison, the Office of National Statistics found that Brits put in an average of 42.7 hours a week. | Til sammenligning havde Office of National Statistics i England fundet ud af, at englænderne arbejdede i gennemsnit 42,7 timer om ugen. |
Instead of labouring around the clock and using the extra earnings to outsource other areas of life – from cooking to cleaning, gardening, even waxing – Danes seemed to adopt a DIY approach. | Frem for at arbejde konstant og bruge de ekstra penge på at få andre til at gøre arbejdet for sig – fra madlavning til rengøring og havearbejde, ja, endog voksbehandlinger – syntes danskerne at være mere til gør det selv-metoden. |
Denmark was also the holder of a number of world records – from having the world’s best restaurant, in Copenhagen’s Noma, to being the most trusting nation and having the lowest tolerance for hierarchy. | Danmark havde også en række verdensrekorder. |
But it was the biggie that fascinated me: our potential new home was officially the happiest country on earth. | Men en helt særlig ting fascinerede mig mere end noget andet: Vores potentielt nye hjem var officielt det lykkeligste land i verden. |
The UN World Happiness Report put this down to a large gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, high life expectancy, a lack of corruption, a heightened sense of social support, freedom to make life choices and a culture of generosity. | I rapporten fra FN stod der, at man mente, det skyldtes et højt bruttonationalprodukt, høje forventninger til livet, mangel på korruption, en følelse af at blive støttet socialt, frihed til at tage beslutninger i livet og en helt speciel generøs kultur. |
Scandinavian neighbours Norway and Sweden nuzzled alongside at the top of the happy-nation list, but it was Denmark that stood out. | De skandinaviske naboer, Norge og Sverige, smøg sig ind ved siden af Danmark i toppen af listen, men det var Danmark, der skilte sig ud. |
The country also topped the UK Office of National Statistics’ list of the world’s happiest nations and the European Commission’s well-being and happiness index – a position it had held onto for 40 years in a row. | Landet stod også øverst på listen over verdens lykkeligste nationer fra Office of National Statistics og på Europakommissionens indeks over trivsel og lykke – en position, som det havde fastholdt i 40 år i træk. |
Suddenly, things had taken a turn for the interesting. | Pludselig virkede det hele mere interessant. |
‘Happy’ is the holy grail of the lifestyle journalist. | ”Lykke” er den hellige gral for enhver livsstilsjournalist. |
Every feature I’d ever written was, in some way, connected to the pursuit of this elusive goal. | Hver eneste artikel, jeg hidtil havde skrevet, havde haft en eller anden forbindelse til jagten på dette flygtige mål. |
And ever since defacing my army surplus bag with the lyrics to the REM song in the early 1990s, I’d longed to be one of those shiny, happy people (okay, so I missed the ironic comment on communist propaganda, but I was only twelve at the time). | Og lige siden jeg skamferede min taske fra hærens overskudslager med teksten fra den der REM-sang i begyndelsen af 90’erne, havde jeg længtes efter at være en af de ”shiny, happy people” (okay, jeg fangede ikke den ironiske kommentar til kommunisternes propaganda, men jeg var også kun 12 år på det tidspunkt). |
Happy folk, I knew, were proven to earn more, be healthier, hang on to relationships for longer and even smell better. | Jeg vidste, at lykkelige mennesker beviseligt tjente mere, var sundere, havde længere parforhold og endda lugtede bedre. |
Everyone wanted to be happier, didn’t they? | Alle mennesker stræbte da efter lykken, ikke? |
We certainly spent enough time and money trying to be. | Vi brugte i hvert fald masser af tid og penge i jagten på den. |
At the time of researching, the self-help industry was worth $11 billion in the US and had earned UK publishers £60 million over the last five years. | På det tidspunkt var selvhjælpsindustrien i USA omkring 11 milliarder dollars værd, og den havde indtjent 60 millioner pund til en række engelske forlag i løbet af de foregående fem år. |
Rates of antidepressant use had increased by 400 per cent in the last fifteen years and were now the third most-prescribed type of medication worldwide (after cholesterol pills and painkillers). | Forbruget af antidepressiver var steget med 40 procent i løbet af de sidste 15 år, og det var nu den tredje mest ordinerede type medicin i verden (efter kolesterolpiller og smertestillende medicin). |
Even those lucky few who’d never so much as sniffed an SSRI or picked up a book promising to boost their mood had probably used food, booze, caffeine or a credit card to bring on a buzz. | Selv de heldige få, der aldrig havde så meget som snuset til lykkepiller eller læst en bog, der lovede at forbedre deres humør, havde sikkert brugt mad, sprut, koffein eller et kreditkort til at opnå lykkefølelse. |
But what if happiness isn’t something you can shop for? | Men hvad nu hvis lykke ikke kan købes? |
I could almost feel the gods of lifestyle magazines preparing to strike me down as I contemplated this shocking thought. | Jeg kunne næsten fornemme, hvordan livsstilsmagasinernes guder gjorde sig klar til at slå mig til jorden, mens jeg tænkte denne chokerende tanke. |
What if happiness is something more like a process, to be worked on? | Hvad hvis lykke er noget i retning af en proces, som man skal arbejde på løbende? |
Something you train the mind and body into? | Noget man træner sin krop og sit sind til? |
Something Danes just have licked? | En færdighed, som danskerne har tilegnet sig? |
One of the benefits of being a journalist is that I get to be nosy for a living. | En af fordelene ved at være journalist er, at jeg kan leve af at være nysgerrig. |
I can call up all manner of interesting people under the pretext of ‘research’, with the perfect excuse to ask probing questions. | Jeg kan ringe til alle mulige interessante mennesker under dække af ”research” og har den perfekte undskyldning for at stille borende spørgsmål. |
So when I came across Denmark’s ‘happiness economist’ Christian Bjørnskov, I got in touch. | Så da jeg faldt over Danmarks lykkeforsker, professor Christian Bjørnskov, ringede jeg ham op. |
He confirmed my suspicions that our Nordic neighbours don’t go in for solace via spending (thus ruling out 90 per cent of my usual coping strategies). | Han bekræftede min mistanke om, at vores nordiske naboer ikke er tilhængere af trøst via forbrug (hvilket smadrede omkring 90 procent af min sædvanlige overlevelsesstrategi). |
‘Danes don’t believe that buying more stuff brings you happiness,’ Christian told me. | − Danskerne tror ikke, man bliver lykkelig af at købe ting, fortalte Christian mig. |
‘A bigger car just brings you a bigger tax bill in Denmark. | − En større bil koster dig bare mere i skat i Danmark. |
And a bigger house just takes longer to clean. | Og det tager bare længere tid at gøre rent, hvis man køber et større hus. |
’ In an approximation of the late, great Notorious B.I.G.’s profound precept, greater wealth means additional anxieties, or in Danish, according to my new favourite app, Google Translate, the somewhat less catchy ‘mere penge, mere problemer’. | Som i den afdøde rapper Notorious B.I.G’s dybsindige tekst var større rigdom blot lig med flere bekymringer. |
So what did float the Danes’ boats? | Så hvad var det, der fungerede for danskerne? |
And why were they all so happy? | Og hvorfor var de alle sammen så lykkelige? |
I asked Christian, sceptically, whether perhaps Danes ranked so highly on the contented scale because they just expected less from life. | Jeg spurgte skeptisk Christian, om danskerne måske rangerer så højt på tilfredshedsskalaen, fordi de forventer sig mindre af livet. |
‘Categorically not,’ was his instant reply. | − Bestemt ikke, svarede han omgående. |
‘There’s a widely held belief that Danes are happy because they have low expectations, but when Danes were asked about their expectations in the last European study, it was revealed that they were very high and they were realistic. | − Mange tror, at danskerne er lykkelige, fordi de har lave forventninger, men da man i den seneste europæiske undersøgelse spurgte ind til netop det, viste det sig, at de har både meget høje og meget realistiske forventninger til livet. |
’ So Danes weren’t happy because their realistic expectations were being met; they were happy because their high expectations were also realistic? | Så danskerne er altså ikke lykkelige, fordi deres realistiske forventninger bliver opfyldt. |
‘Exactly. | − Præcis, lød svaret. |
‘There’s also a great sense of personal freedom in Denmark,’ said Christian. | − Vi har også en følelse af stor, personlig frihed i Danmark, sagde Christian. |
The country is known for being progressive, being the first to legalise gay marriage and the first European country to allow legal changes of gender without sterilisation. | Landet er kendt for at være progressivt og var først med legaliseringen af homo-ægteskaber. |
‘This isn’t just a Scandinavian thing,’ Christian continued. | − Dette er ikke bare noget generelt skandinavisk, fortsatte Christian. |
‘In Sweden, for instance, many life choices are still considered taboo, like being gay or deciding not to have children if you’re a woman. | − I Sverige for eksempel er mange livsvalg stadig tabu, som at være bøsse eller at beslutte ikke at få børn, hvis man er kvinde. |
But deciding you don’t want kids when you’re in your thirties in Denmark is fine. | Men i Danmark er det i orden at beslutte sig for ikke at få børn, når man er i trediverne. |
No one’s going to look at you strangely. | Ingen kigger skævt til dig af den grund. |
There’s not the level of social conformity that you find elsewhere. | Vi har ikke samme niveau af social konformitet, som man finder andre steder. |
’ That’s not to say that your average Dane wasn’t conforming in other ways, Christian warned me. | Men dermed ikke være sagt, at gennemsnitsdanskeren ikke er konform på andre måder, advarede Christian. |
‘We all tend to look very much alike,’ he told me. | − Vi har en tendens til at se meget ens ud, fortalte han. |
‘There’s a uniform, depending on your age and sex. | − Der eksisterer en særlig uniform afhængig af alder og køn. |
’ Females under 40 apparently wore skinny jeans, loose-fitting T-shirts, leather jackets, an artfully wound scarf and a topknot or poker-straight blonde hair. | Tilsyneladende er de fleste kvinder under 40 iført stramme jeans, løse T-shirts, læderjakker, kunstfærdigt arrangerede tørklæder og har enten en knude på toppen af hovedet eller helt glat, blond hår. |
Men under 30 sported skinny jeans, high tops, slogan or band T-shirts and 90s bomber jackets with some sort of flat-top haircut. | Mænd under 30 viser sig også i stramme jeans og dertil sneakers, T-shirts med bandbilleder eller slogans på brystet og jakker i halvfemserstil. |
Older men and women preferred polo shirts, sensible shoes, slacks and jackets. | De lidt ældre mænd og kvinder foretrækker poloskjorter, fornuftige sko, bukser og jakker. |
And everyone wore square Scandi-issue black-rimmed glasses. | Og alle bærer naturligvis firkantede briller med sort stel i skandi-stil. |
‘But ask a Dane how they’re feeling and what they consider acceptable and you’ll get more varied answers,’ said Christian. | − Men hvis man spørger danskerne, hvad de mener, og hvad de finder acceptabelt, får man mere varierede svar, sagde Christian. |
‘People don’t think much is odd in Denmark. | Der er ikke mange ting, som man synes er underlige her i Danmark. |
He explained how social difference wasn’t taken too seriously and used the example of the tennis club to which he belonged. | Han forklarede, at man ikke tager sociale forskelle alt for alvorligt, og brugte som eksempel sin egen tennisklub. |
This immediately conjured up images of WASP-ish, Hampton’s-style whites, Long Island iced tea, and bad Woody Allen films but Christian soon set me straight. | Jeg så omgående WASP-/Hampton-lignende typer (hvide, angelsaksiske protestanter), Long Island iste og dårlige Woody Allen-film for mig, men Christian fik mig snart på andre tanker. |
‘In Denmark, there’s no social one-upmanship involved in joining a sports club – you just want to play sports. | − I Danmark ligger der ikke nogen social betydning i at slutte sig til en særlig sportsklub. |
Lots of people join clubs here, and I play tennis regularly with a teacher, a supermarket worker, a carpenter and an accountant. | Masser af mennesker er medlem af sportsklubber her, og jeg spiller jævnligt tennis med en skolelærer, en butiksansat, en tømrer og en bogholder. |
We are all equal. | Vi er alle lige. |
Hierarchies aren’t really important. | Hierarkier er faktisk ikke så vigtige for os. |
What Danes really cared about, Christian told me, was trust: ‘In Denmark, we trust not only family and friends, but also the man or woman on the street – and this makes a big difference to our lives and happiness levels. | Christian fortalte mig, at danskerne er mere optagede af tillid. |
High levels of trust in Denmark have been shown time and time again in surveys when people are asked, “Do you think most people can be trusted?” | Det er af stor betydning for vores liv og vores lykkeniveau. |
More than 70 per cent of Danes say: “Yes, most people can be trusted.” | Når folk får spørgsmålet: ”Tror du, at man kan stole på de fleste mennesker? |
The average for the rest of | ”, svarer mere end 70 procent af danskerne: ”Ja, man kan stole på de fleste mennesker. |
Europe is just over a third. | ” I resten af Europa ligger gennemsnittet lige over en tredjedel. |
This seemed extraordinary to me – I didn’t trust 70 per cent of my extended family. | Dette lød mærkeligt i mine ører – selv stolede jeg ikke på 70 procent af min udvidede familie. |
I was further gobsmacked when Christian told me that Danish parents felt their children were so safe that they left babies’ prams unattended outside homes, cafés and restaurants. | Jeg blev endnu mere forbløffet, da Christian fortalte mig, at danske forældre føler sig så trygge, at de stiller deres babyer i barnevognen uden opsyn uden for deres hjem, caféer og restauranter. |
Bikes were apparently left unlocked and windows were left open, all because trust in other people, the government and the system was so high. | Cykler bliver ofte efterladt ulåste, og vinduerne åbne. |
Denmark has a miniscule defence budget and, despite compulsory national service, the country would find it almost impossible to defend itself if under attack. | Danmark har et lillebitte forsvarsbudget, og på trods af tvungen værnepligt vil landet få store problemer med at forsvare sig selv, hvis det bliver angrebet. |
But because Denmark has such good relations with its neighbours, there is no reason to fear them. | Men eftersom Danmark har så godt et forhold til sine naboer, er der ingen grund til at frygte dem. |
As Christian put it: ‘Life’s so much easier when you can trust people. | Som Christian sagde: − Livet er så meget enklere, når man kan stole på folk. |
‘And does Denmark’s social welfare system help with this? | − Og hjælper Danmarks velfærdssystem med det? |
’ I asked. | spurgte jeg. |
‘Yes, to an extent. | − Ja, i en vis grad. |
There’s less cause for mistrust when everyone’s equal and being looked after by the state. | Der er mindre grund til at nære mistillid, når alle er lige, og staten sørger for alle. |
So what would happen if a right-wing party came to power or the government ran out of money? | Men hvad ville der så ske, hvis et højreorienteret parti kom til magten, eller regeringen løb tør for penge? |
What would become of the fabled Danish happiness if the state stopped looking after everyone? | Hvad ville der blive af den sagnomspundne danske lykke, hvis staten holdt op med at sørge for alle? |
‘Happiness in Denmark isn’t just dependent on the welfare state, having the Social Democrats in power or how we’re doing in the world,’ Christian explained. | − Lykke i Danmark er ikke kun afhængig af velfærdsstaten, af at socialdemokraterne har magten, eller hvordan vi klarer os i verden, forklarede Christian. |
‘Danes want Denmark to be known as a tolerant, equal, happy society. | − Danskerne ønsker, at Danmark skal være kendt som et tolerant, ligeberettiget, lykkeligt samfund. |
Denmark was the first European country to abolish slavery and has history as a progressive nation for gender equality, first welcoming women to parliament in 1918. | Danmark var det første land i Europa, der afskaffede slaveriet, og landet har tradition for at være progressivt i forhold til ligestilling mellem kønnene. |
We’ve always been proud of our reputation and we work hard to keep it that way. | Kvinderne fik stemmeret i 1915. |
Happiness is a subconscious process in Denmark, ingrained in every area of our culture. | Vi har altid været stolte af vores omdømme, og vi arbejder hårdt for at bevare det. Lykke er en underbevidst proces i Danmark og dybt integreret i alle aspekter af vores kultur. |
By the end of our call, the idea of a year in Denmark had started to sound (almost) appealing. | Da jeg lagde telefonen fra mig, var tanken om et år i Danmark begyndt at lyde (næsten) tiltrækkende. |
It might be good to be able to hear myself think. | Det kunne måske være helt godt at kunne høre mig selv tænke. |
To hear myself living. | Høre mig selv leve. |
Just for a while. | Bare et stykke tid. |
When my husband got home, I found myself saying in a very small voice, that didn’t seem to be coming out of my mouth, something along the lines of: ‘Um, okay, yes … I think … let’s move. | Da min mand kom hjem, hørte jeg en meget lille stemme, der ikke lød, som om den kom ud af min mund, sige noget i retning af: − Øh, okay, ja … Jeg tror … vi kan flytte. |
Lego Man, as he shall henceforth be known, did a rather fetching robotics-style dance around the kitchen at this news. | Legomand, som han herefter vil blive omtalt, udførte en ret indtagende, robotagtig dans rundt i køkkenet efter denne nyhed. |
Then he got on the phone to his recruitment consultant and I heard whooping. | Så ringede han til sin rekrutteringskonsulent, og jeg hørte jubelråb i den anden ende af røret. |
The next day, he came home with a bottle of champagne and a gold Lego mini-figure keyring that he presented to me ceremoniously. | Næste dag kom han hjem med en flaske champagne og en nøglering i guld med en Lego-figur, som han højtideligt overrakte mig. |
I thanked him with as much enthusiasm as I could muster and we drank champagne and toasted our future. | Jeg takkede ham med så megen entusiasme, som jeg kunne mønstre, og vi drak champagne og skålede på vores fremtid. |
‘To Denmark! | − For Danmark! |
From a vague idea that seemed unreal, or at least a long way off, plans started to be made. | Fra at have været en vag og ret uvirkelig, eller i hvert fald fjern, idé ændrede tanken sig nu til konkrete planer. |
We filled in forms here, chatted to relocation agents there and started to tell people about our intention to up sticks. | Vi udfyldte formularer, indgik aftaler med flyttefolk og begyndte at fortælle vores omgangskreds om vores planer om at rykke alt op med rode. |
Their reactions were surprising. | Reaktionerne var overraskende. |
Some were supportive. | Nogle mennesker var forstående. |
A lot of people told me I was ‘very brave’ (I’m really not). | Mange sagde, at jeg var ”meget modig” (det er jeg slet ikke). |
A couple said that they wished they could do the same. | Et par sagde, de ville ønske, de kunne gøre det samme. |
Many looked baffled. | Flere var forundrede. |
One friend quoted Samuel Johnson at me, saying that if I was tired of London I must be tired of life. | En ven citerede Samuel Johnson for mig og sagde, at hvis jeg var træt af London, måtte jeg være træt af livet selv. |
Another counselled us, in all seriousness, to ‘tell people you’re only going for nine months. | En anden gav os i ramme alvor rådet: ”Sig til folk, I kun skal være væk i ni måneder. |
If you say you’re away for a year, no one will keep in touch – they’ll think you’re gone for good. | Hvis I siger, I skal være væk i et helt år, vil ingen holde kontakten – de vil tro, I er væk for altid. |
’ Great. | Skønt. |
Thanks. | Tak. |
When I resigned from my good, occasionally glamorous job, I faced a similarly mixed response. | Da jeg sagde op fra mit gode, indimellem glamourøse job, fik jeg lignende blandede reaktioner. |
‘Are you mad? | ”Er du blevet sindssyg? |
’, ‘Have you been fired? | ”, ”Er du blevet fyret” og ”Skal du til at leve livet som holdt kvinde? |
’ were the three most common questions. | ” var de tre hyppigste spørgsmål. |
‘Possibly’, ‘No’ and ‘Certainly not’, were my replies. | ”Muligvis”, ”Nej” og ”Bestemt ikke”, svarede jeg. |
I explained to colleagues that I planned to work as a freelancer, writing about health, lifestyle and happiness as well as reporting on Scandinavia for UK newspapers. | Jeg forklarede mine kollegaer, at jeg ville arbejde som freelancer og skrive om sundhed, livsstil og lykke samt rapportere om Skandinavien til engelske aviser. |
A few whispered that they’d been thinking of taking the freelance plunge themselves. | Nogle få hviskede så, at de også selv havde tænkt på at springe ud som freelancere. |
Others couldn’t get their heads around the idea. | Andre forstod det simpelthen ikke. |
One actually used the term, ‘career suicide’. | En brugte faktisk begrebet ”karriereselvmord”. |
If I hadn’t been terrified before, I was now. | Hvis jeg ikke havde været skræmt før, blev jeg det nu. |
‘What have I done? | − Hvad har jeg dog gjort, klagede jeg flere gange om dagen. |
‘What if it doesn’t work out? | − Hvad nu, hvis det ikke kommer til at gå? |
‘If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out,’ was Lego Man’s pragmatic response. | − Hvis det ikke går, så går det ikke, lød Legomands pragmatiske svar. |
‘We give it a year and if we don’t like it, we come home. | − Vi giver det et år, og hvis vi ikke bryder os om det, tager vi hjem igen. |
He made it all sound simple. | Han fik det til at lyde så enkelt. |
As though we’d be fools not to give it a go. | Som om vi ville være dumme, hvis vi ikke gjorde forsøget. |
So, after welling up on my last day at work, I came home and carefully wrapped up the dresses, blazers and four-inch heels that had been my daily uniform for more than a decade and packed them away. | Så efter at have grædt mine modige tårer den sidste dag på jobbet kom jeg hjem og pakkede omhyggeligt de kjoler, blazerjakker og ti centimeter høje hæle væk, som havde været min daglige uniform i det sidste årti. |
I wouldn’t need these where we were headed. | Dem ville jeg ikke få brug for. |
One Saturday, six removal men arrived at our tiny basement flat demanding coffee and chocolate digestives. | En lørdag morgen ankom seks flyttefolk til vores lillebitte kælderlejlighed og krævede kaffe og chokoladekiks. |
Between us, we packed all our worldly possessions into 132 boxes before loading them into a shipping container to be transported to the remote Danish countryside. | Vi pakkede i fællesskab alle vores jordiske ejendele ned i 132 kasser, hvorefter de blev læsset ind i en skibscontainer for at blive transporteret til et fjerntliggende sted på landet i Danmark. |
This was happening. | Dette skete virkelig. |
We were moving. | Vi flyttede. |
And not to some cosy expat enclave of Copenhagen. | Og ikke til en lille, hyggelig expat-enklave i København. |
Just as London is not really England, Copenhagen is not, I am reliably informed, ‘the real Denmark’. | Ligesom London ikke er lig med England, er København heller ikke, har jeg opdaget, ”det rigtige Danmark”. |
Where we were going, we wouldn’t need an A–Z, a tube pass or my Kurt Geiger discount card. | Der, hvor vi skulle hen, ville vi ikke få brug for et A-Z-kort over London, et månedskort til undergrundsbanen eller mit Kurt Geiger rabatkort. |
Where we were going, all I’d need were wellies and a weatherproof mac. | Der, hvor vi skulle hen, ville vi få brug for gummistøvler og vandtætte jakker. |
We were heading to the Wild West of Scandinavia: rural Jutland. | Vi skulle til Skandinaviens vilde vesten: Vi skulle bo på landet i Jylland. |
The tiny town of Billund to the south of the peninsular had a population of just 6,100. | Den lille by Billund ligger i den sydlige del af Jylland og har et indbyggertal på kun 6.100. |
I knew people with more Facebook friends than this. | Jeg havde bekendte med flere Facebook-venner end det. Byen er hjemsted for Legos hovedkvarter, for Legoland og … tja, det er vist alt, så vidt jeg kunne forstå. |
‘You’re going somewhere called “Bell End”? | − Skal I til noget, der hedder ”Bell End”? |
’ was a question I got from family and friends more times than I care to remember. | lød spørgsmålet fra venner og familie oftere, end jeg bryder mig om at tænke på. |
‘Billund,’ I’d correct them. | – Billund, rettede jeg. |
‘Three hours from Copenhagen. | – Tre timers kørsel fra København. |
If they sounded vaguely interested, I’d elaborate and tell them about how a carpenter called Ole Kirk Christiansen started out in the town in the 1930s. | Hvis de lød bare lidt interesserede, ville jeg gå videre og fortælle dem om, hvordan en tømrer ved navn Ole Kirk Christiansen startede sin virksomhed i den lille by i 1930’erne. |
How, in true Hans Christian Andersen style, he was a widower with four children to feed who started whittling wooden toys to make ends meet. | Og hvordan han i ægte H.C. Andersen-stil var enkemand med fire børn og begyndte at fremstille trælegetøj for at skaffe penge til at forsørge dem. |
How he went on to produce plastic building blocks under the name ‘Lego’, from the Danish phrase ‘leg godt’, meaning ‘play well’. | Hvordan han gik videre til at producere plastikklodser med navnet ”Lego” – en sammentrækning af de danske ord ”leg godt”. |
And how my husband was going to work for the toymaker. | Og hvordan min mand nu skulle arbejde for den selvsamme legetøjsproducent. |
Those curious to know more usually had a Lego fan in their household. | De nysgerrige havde som regel en Lego-fan i huset. |
Those without children tended to ask about opportunities for winter sports. | Dem uden børn stillede flere spørgsmål til mulighederne for vintersport. |
‘So, Denmark, it’s cold there, right? | – Nå, men det er jo ret koldt i Danmark, ikke? |
‘Yes. | – Jo. |
It’s Baltic. | Det er iskoldt. |
Literally. | Bogstaveligt talt. |
‘So, er, can you ski or snowboard? | – Men kan du så stå på ski eller snowboard? |
‘I can, yes. | − Ja, det kan jeg godt. |
But not in Denmark. | Men ikke i Danmark. |
Then I’d have to break it to them that the highest point in the whole country was only 171 m above sea level and that you’d have to travel to Sweden for skiing. | Og så måtte jeg afsløre for dem, at det højeste punkt i landet lå blot 171 meter over havets overflade, og at man måtte tage til Sverige for at stå på ski. |
‘Oh well, it’s all Scandinavia, isn’t it? | − Nå, men det er jo alt sammen Skandinavien, ikke sandt, lød det typiske svar fra dem, der fiskede efter at låne en skihytte, og dertil måtte jeg svare, at det nærmeste ski-resort desværre lå 250 kilometer væk. |
Many struggled to get their heads around precisely which of the Nordic countries we were moving to, with various leaving cards wishing us the ‘Best of luck in Finland! | Mange havde stort besvær med at finde ud af præcis, hvilket af de nordiske lande vi skulle flytte til, hvilket resulterede i adskillige farvelkort, der ønskede os ”held og lykke i Finland”! |
’ and my mother telling everyone we were off to Norway. | Min mor fortalte til alle, at vi var på vej til Norge. |
In many respects, it may as well have been. | Men det kunne det på mange måneder også lige så godt have været. |
The downshift from London life to rural Scandinavia was always going to be a shock to the system. | Skiftet fra livet i London til livet på landet i Skandinavien var under alle omstændigheder et chok. |
Once the removal men had gone, all we had left was a suitcase of clothes and the entire contents of our drinks cabinet, which apparently we weren’t allowed to export due to customs laws. | Da flyttemændene var væk, stod vi tilbage med en kuffert med tøj og det samlede indhold af vores drinkskab, som vi på grund af toldlovene ikke måtte eksportere. |
We convened an ad hoc ‘drink the flat dry’ party in response to this, but it turns out that drinking three-year-old limoncello from a plastic cup in a cold, empty room on a school night isn’t quite as jolly as it might sound. | Vi indkaldte til en improviseret ”tøm lejligheden for drikkevarer”-fest, men det viste sig, at det ikke var helt så muntert, som det lød at drikke tre år gammel Limoncello af et plastikbæger i en kold, tom lejlighed på en hverdagsaften. |
Everyone had to stand or sit on the floor and voices echoed around the furniture-less space. | Folk måtte stå op eller sidde på gulvet, og stemmerne rungede i den tomme lejlighed. |
There was no sense of occasion and it wasn’t anything like the epic, cinematic send-offs that you see in films. | Det føltes ikke som en særlig festlig begivenhed og var meget langt fra de episke afskedsscener, man ser på film. |
For most people, life was carrying on as normal. | For de fleste fortsatte livet som sædvanligt. |
Us leaving the country wasn’t much of a big deal to anyone other than a few close friends and family. | Bortset fra nogle få nære venner og familien betød det ikke det store for nogen, at vi forlod landet. |
Some made an effort. | Men enkelte gjorde dog en indsats. |
One friend brought over mini Battenbergs and a thermos of tea (we had no kettle, let alone tea bags by this point). | En ven kom med nogle mini-battenbergkager og en termokande med te (vi havde hverken kedel eller teposer på det tidspunkt). |
I was so ridiculously grateful, I could have wept. | Jeg var så tåbeligt taknemmelig, at jeg kunne have grædt. |
Thinking back, I may have done. | Måske gjorde jeg det også. |
Another made a photo montage of our time together in the capital. | En anden ven havde lavet en fotomontage af vores tid sammen i hovedstaden. |
A third lent us a lilo to sleep on for our final night. | En tredje lånte os en luftmadras at sove på den sidste nat. |
A damp, Edwardian terraced flat with no furniture, in winter, in the dead of night, is a very sad place indeed. | En fugtig, edwardiansk lejlighed uden møbler, om vinteren, midt om natten, er virkelig et meget trist sted. |
We lay uncomfortably on the not-quite-double lilo and tried to stay still lest we bounce the other person off onto the hard wooden floor. | Vi lå dårligt på den ikke-helt-dobbelte madras og forsøgte at ligge stille, så vi ikke skubbede den anden ned på det hårde trægulv. |
Eventually, Lego Man started to breathe more deeply so that I knew he was asleep. | Efterhånden begyndte Legomand at trække vejret dybere, så jeg vidste, at han sov. |
Unable to join him, I stared at the crack in the ceiling in the shape of a question mark that we’d planned to fill in ages ago. | Jeg kunne ikke slutte mig til ham, så jeg stirrede i stedet på den spørgsmålstegnsformede revne i loftet, som vi havde talt om at gøre noget ved i årevis. |
It felt as though we’d lost everything, or we were squatters, or had just gone through a divorce, despite the fact that we were lying next to each other. | Det føltes, som om vi havde mistet alt. |
Just for that night, we had nothing. | På trods af at vi lå der side om side. |
I stared at the plaster question mark for what felt like hours until the street lamp outside the window went off and we were finally plunged into total darkness. | Lige denne ene nat havde vi intet. |
The next day we had lunch with family and a couple of close friends in a café near our flat. | Næste dag spiste vi frokost med familien og nogle nære venner på en café i nærheden af lejligheden. |
There were chairs! | Der var stole! |
And plates! | Og tallerkener! |
It was heaven. | Det var himmelsk. |
There were also tears (mine, my mother’s, and those of a school friend whose alcohol tolerance had been severely diminished by the recent arrival of twins), as well as beer, gin and gifts of several more Scandi box sets to get us in the mood. | Der var også tårer (mine, min mors og en gammel skolevenindes, hvis alkoholtolerance var blevet alvorligt formindsket efter den nylige ankomst af tvillinger) samt øl, gin og gaver bestående af flere bokssæt med skandinaviske film for at få os i den rette stemning. |
And then, a few hours later, the taxi arrived to take us to the airport. | Og så nogle få timer senere ankom taxaen for at køre os til lufthavnen. |
I suddenly wanted | Mens vi kørte gennem tusmørket, ønskede jeg pludselig at dvæle lidt længere ved London og suge alle byens detaljer til mig. |
I wanted to Have A Moment. | Jeg ville have et sidste minde om min by. |
But the driver wasn’t the sentimental type. | Men chaufføren var ikke den sentimentale type. |
Instead he turned on some hard-core US rap and unwrapped a Magic Tree air freshener. | I stedet tændte han for noget hardcore amerikansk rap og pakkede et Wunderbaum-træ ud. |
We sat in silence after this. | Herefter sad vi i stilhed. |
I kept my mind occupied by going over and over my plan of action, ‘keep busy, then you can’t be sad! | Jeg tænkte igen og igen på min handlingsplan. |
’ being the mildly manic philosophy I’d adhered to for the past 33 years. | ”Hold dig i gang, så du ikke har tid til at blive trist! |
My loosely thought-out plan was this: to integrate as far as possible in an attempt to understand Denmark and what made its inhabitants so happy. | ” Det havde været min lettere maniske filosofi igennem de foregående 33 år. |
Up to this point, my typical New Year’s Resolutions consisted of ‘do more yoga’, ‘read Stephen Hawking’ and ‘lose half a stone’. | Min løst udtænkte plan var som følger: Jeg ville integrere mig så meget som muligt i et forsøg på at forstå Danmark, og hvad der gjorde indbyggerne så lykkelige. |
But this year, there was to be just one: ‘live Danishly’. | Indtil dette tidspunkt havde mine typiske nytårsforsætter været ting som at ”dyrke mere yoga”, ”læse Stephen Hawking” eller ”tabe omkring tre kilo”. |
Yes, I even invented a new Nordic adverb for the project. | Men i år var der kun et nytårsforsæt: at leve på dansk. |
Over the next twelve months, I would investigate all aspects of living Danishly. | I løbet af de næste 12 måneder ville jeg udforske alle aspekter af livet på dansk. |
I would consult experts in their fields and beg, bully or bribe them to share their secrets of the famed Danish contentment, and demonstrate how Danes do things differently. | Jeg ville konsultere eksperter og tigge, presse eller bestikke dem til at dele deres hemmeligheder om den sagnomspundne, danske tilfredshed og demonstrere for mig, hvad det er, danskerne gør anderledes. |
I had been checking the weather in Denmark on an hourly basis during our last few days in London, prompting my first question – how do Danes stay upbeat when it’s minus ten every day? | Jeg havde tjekket vejrudsigten for Danmark hver time i løbet af vores sidste dage i London, hvilket havde affødt mit første spørgsmål: Hvordan holder danskerne sig på toppen, når det er minus ti grader hver dag? |
Revelations about how much we’d both take home after taxes were also eye-opening. | Afsløringen af hvor meget vi rent faktisk ville hive hjem efter skat, var også en øjenåbner. |
Doesn’t a 50 per cent tax rate really stick in everyone’s craw? | Var en skatteprocent på 50 ikke noget, der irriterede alle? |
Lego Man remained stoic in the face of possible penury and focussed instead on all the great examples of Scandinavian design that kept being featured in weekend living supplements. | Legomand forblev rolig over for udsigten til mulig fattigdom og fokuserede i stedet på alle de fantastiske eksempler på skandinavisk design, som altid blev vist i weekendens livsstilstillæg. |
Could the much-celebrated Danish aesthetic influence the nation’s mood? | Kunne den meget omtalte danske æstetik påvirke hele nationens sindsstemning? |
I wondered. | funderede jeg. |
Or are they just high on dopamine from all those pastries? | Eller er de bare høje af dopamin fra alle de kager? |
From education to the environment, genetics to gynaecological chairs (really), and family to food (seriously, have you tried a freshly baked pastry from Denmark? They’re delicious. Why wouldn’t Danes be delighted with life?), I decided I would set out to discover the key to getting happy in every area of modern life. | Fra uddannelse til miljø, fra genetik til gynækologiske stole (ja) og fra familie til mad (helt ærligt, har du smagt en nybagt dansk kage? De er vidunderlige. Hvorfor skulle danskerne ikke være glade for deres liv?). |
I would learn something new each month and make changes to my own life accordingly. | Hver måned ville jeg lære noget nyt og ændre mit liv som følge deraf. |
I was embarking on a personal and professional quest to discover what made Danes feel so great. | Jeg stævnede ud på en personlig og professionel jagt for at opdage, hvad der fik danskerne til at føle sig så fantastisk tilpas. |
The result would, I hoped, be a blueprint for a lifetime of contentment. | Jeg håbede, det ville resultere i en opskrift på et liv fyldt med tilfredshed. |
The happiness project had begun. | Lykkeprojektet var gået i gang. |
To ensure that each of my teachers walked the talk, I would ask every expert to rank themselves on a happiness scale between one and ten, with ten being delirious, zero being miserable, and the middling numbers being a bit ‘meh’. | For at sikre mig at alle mine eksperter fulgte deres egne råd, ville jeg bede dem rangere sig selv på en lykkeskala fra et til ti, hvor ti var ovenud lykkelig, nul var lig med at have det forfærdeligt og de mellemliggende tal sådan lidt ”tja, måske”. |
As someone who’d typically have placed herself at a perfectly respectable six before my year of living Danishly, this proved an interesting exercise. | For en, der typisk ville have placeret sig selv som en helt respektabel sekser før mit år med livet på dansk, skulle dette vise sig at blive en interessant øvelse. |
Despite having been commended for Julie Andrews-style upbeat cheerfulness in every work-leaving card I’d ever had, I soon learned that there’s a difference between eager-to-please nice-girl syndrome and feeling genuinely good about yourself. | På trods af at jeg i alle farvelkort var blevet komplimenteret for min Julie Andrews-lignende munterhed, fandt jeg hurtigt ud af, at der er stor forskel på at være den pæne pige med lyst til at gøre andre glade og på at føle sig virkeligt godt tilpas med sig selv. |
I’d asked Christian for his score during our preliminary phone call, and he admitted that ‘Even being Danish can’t make everything absolutely perfect,’ but then followed up with, ‘I’d give myself an eight’. | Jeg spurgte Christian, hvordan han ville rangere sig selv, da jeg første gang talte med ham, og han indrømmede, at ”selve det at være dansk ikke gør alting perfekt”, men fortsatte så med ordene: ”jeg giver mig selv et ottetal”. |
Not bad. | Ikke så dårligt. |
So what would have made the professor of happiness even happier? | Men hvad ville så have gjort lykkeprofessoren endnu lykkeligere? |
‘Getting a girlfriend,’ he told me, without hesitation. | − At få en kæreste, sagde han uden at tøve. |
Anyone interested in a date with Denmark’s most eligible professor can contact the publisher for more details. | Hvis nogen er interesseret i en date med en særdeles gifteklar dansk professor, kan de kontakte forlaget. |
For everyone else, here’s how to get happy, Danish-style. | Og hvad alle andre angår: Her kommer opskriften på den danske lykke. |
Przykładowe tłumaczenie Other
Discover Italy Oplev Italien Lonely Planet Przykładowe tłumaczenie
Tekst źródłowy (English) | Tekst docelowy (Danish) |
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Just come as you are, and let Italy show you how it's done. | Kom, som du er og lad italien vise dig, hvordan man gør. |
In a couple of days you'll have a new wardrobe; in a week you'll be on a Vespa, making gestures that could get you arrested elsewhere. | I løbet af få dage har du fået helt ny garderobe, og inden for en uge kører du rundt på en Vespa og har lært at gestikulere på en måde, der ville få dig arresteret alle andre steder. |
You've god places to go; an Amalfi Coast beach, maybe an opera in a Roman amphitheathre, or your pick of Italy's year-round festivals. | Og du har meget at nå. |
You don't have to wait for Venice Carnevale or yet another World Cup victory to party in the streets - any old saint's day or country sagra (harvest fair) will do. | Du behøver ikke vente på karnevallet i Venedig eller endnu et verdensmesterskab for at finde en fest i gaderne - en hvilken som helst helgendag eller landlig sagra (høstfest) kan gøre det. |
Przykładowe tłumaczenie Art/Literary
Nikki And The Lone Wolf Przykładowe tłumaczenie
Tekst źródłowy (English) | Tekst docelowy (Danish) |
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A WOLF was at her door. | Der stod en ulv udenfor. |
Okay, maybe it wasn’t quite at her door, Nikki conceded, as she came back to earth. | Okay, måske ikke lige udenfor, indrømmede Nikki. |
Or back to the sofa. | Men hylet virkede ret tæt på. |
The howl was close, though. | Det føltes, som om hendes hår rejste sig lige i vejret. |
Her hair felt as if it was spiking straight up, and for good reason. | Og af en meget god grund. |
It was the most appalling, desolate sound she could imagine — | Det var den mest ulykkelige lyd, hun kunne forestille sig, og det var ikke noget, hun forestillede sig. |
She set her china teacup onto the coffee table with care, absurdly pleased she hadn’t spilled it. | Hun satte forsigtigt sin porcelænskop på sofabordet og følte sig absurd glad for ikke at have tabt den. |
She was a country girl now. | Hun var en pige fra landet nu. |
Country girls didn’t get spooked by wolves. | Piger fra landet lod sig ikke skræmme af ulve. |
Yes, they did. | Jo, de gjorde. |
She fought for logic. | Hun prøvede at tænke logisk. |
Wolves didn’t exist in Banksia Bay. | Der var ikke ulve i Banksia Bay. |
This was the north coast of New South Wales. | Det her var nordkysten i New South Wales. |
Was it a dingo? | Kunne det være en dingo? |
Her landlord hadn’t mentioned dingoes. | Hendes udlejer havde ikke talt om dingoer. |
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