Time
January 2010
What is the right time to arrive at a dinner party in Denmark? Some talk about ‘the academic 15 minutes’ which means that you are expected to arrive 15 minutes late.
This has always been the tradition in Annes family. Meeting her husband and his family who are just as Danish as Anne changed this view. There you’re on time. An invitation to arrive 18.00 means 18.00. 5 minutes earlier or later is acceptable but 15 minutes late is considered rude. Even after 10 years of marriage they still have their different opinions about the right time to arrive and I belive that it is a family cultural thing developed through years and deep-rooted in their minds. A few weeks ago they were invited to some friends’ silver wedding in Western Jutland. Anne and her husband arrived two minutes late (which for Anne was being very early) and she was astonished to see that they were among the late arrivals of the 60 guests. What she thought was uncommon seemed to be normal and what she thought was normal seemed to be uncommon. It is not easy to know when to arrive, even within a group of Danes.
“Tax is just one factor that plays a part in deciding whether a country is an attractive place to be posted (…) What matters most in a posting is that the family settles into the new country, and that only happens if there is proper help and support on hand”
Ditlev Engel, CEO at Vestas, taken from an article in Berlingske Tidende 30/09/09: Top industry professionals break with the fear of globalisation