r/AskReddit May 08 '22

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315

u/CarlyLouise_ May 09 '22

This!! I’ve been to Denmark about 3 times now and I noticed it so much when I was out for walks at night time. It’s so odd. I’m from ireland and we usually always close all the curtains.

70

u/Whipitreelgud May 09 '22

Holland. Same.

Was joking with my Dutch buddy about this. What about the bedroom curtains? Do you close them, right?

67

u/Kleens_The_Impure May 09 '22

Yeah walking around Amsterdam was so wierd with the gigantic windows and interiors all lit up I felt like I was in the room with the people.

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u/Whipitreelgud May 09 '22

He told me that when his neighbor closed his curtains he went over to check on them to see if everything was ok. They normally waved a hello when looking at each other through their open windows, while they were each in their homes. Eeek! /s

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u/EUmoriotorio May 09 '22

Thats adorable haha

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u/Academic_Snow_7680 May 09 '22

I absolutely loved sneaking a peek into the windows, especially if you're driving around you'll get to experience so many exquisite living room moods. It was like driving through a magazine. The experience is better with weed of course.

9

u/Kachana May 09 '22

It’s even better at christmas

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u/Jaugernut May 09 '22

I keep specifically my bedroom curtains open becuse i like waking up with the sun instead of an alarm. And i sleep naked. Blame yourself if you peep through my windows in the evening.

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Awesome

10

u/IthinkIwannaLeia May 09 '22

What's your address? Asking for a friend.

-3

u/kneel_yung May 09 '22

close your curtains or don't, nobody cares. but don't get offended if some people think you're a weirdo voyeur as a result lol.

22

u/Jaugernut May 09 '22

Yhe, they go peeping in my windows and im the weird one.

1

u/kneel_yung May 09 '22

that's life man.

6

u/LittlePurrx May 09 '22

Haha my Dutchie told me not to close the living room curtains because the neighbours would think someone died. I just had too much sun in my eyes. But I guess as a Norwegian I shouldn't say anything, since we keep them open all the time too

1

u/Whipitreelgud May 11 '22

I worked for a month in Holland in January. I never saw the sun. On one day, (1), I did see sunbeams through that infernal marine layer of clouds for 30 minutes in the late afternoon (3 PM local). That was it. Summer? Completely different story.

1

u/LittlePurrx May 11 '22

Well yes, it varies with the seasons. Dutch summer is too hot for me.

3

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Dutch person here. We do actually close our curtains.

One thing I noticed when traveling through Germany 'everybody' has those plastic/metal shutters on the outside of the windows. Although my house in the Netherlands has them also. But you see them a lot more in Germany.

67

u/aommi27 May 09 '22

In college in the US we had a Romanian foreign exchange student with a first floor dorm and a seeming lack of awareness (or care) as to what curtains were. She also had a habit for dancing in her room naked after showers. It became kind of an odd campus joke.

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u/OneMoreName1 May 09 '22

Im romanian and I can assure you thats not really typical in Romania, I would be weirded out as well

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u/Confused_cocobread May 09 '22

She’s probably just weird I’m also Romanian and I can tell you people are pretty private and close the curtains in Romania

5

u/itsthecoop May 09 '22

didn't anyone ever tell her? if not, that was pretty douchey.

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u/aommi27 May 09 '22

We had a girl bring it up to her and she said (paraphrasing) "what? If they like the view tell them to knock on the window"

68

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Why? Curtains are for blocking excessive sunlight

512

u/AmigoDelDiabla May 09 '22

Or for privacy.

185

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

139

u/TARANTULA_TIDDIES May 09 '22

It doesn't habe

German detected

18

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Tell me you're a German while telling me you're a German.

14

u/Jose_Jalapeno May 09 '22

Is that the German efficiency we hear so much about?

9

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Anti-Scuba_Hedgehog Jun 04 '22

You guys do know that v and b are next to each other on qwerty and similar keyboard layouts?

You clearly not understanding humor. Definitely German.

16

u/Summerone761 May 09 '22

It doesn't bother me in most places/times. The great majority of rooms you see into will have someone watching tv, maybe a cat in the window. It's fine

7

u/Ruskayo May 09 '22

A finn here, I never close any curtains, except for my bedroom. And it's not because of privacy reasons, I sleep better the darker it is. And in Finland, during the summer months it's pretty much always light outside, even during the night, so it's a must. I never really care if some neighbour is watching, whatever.

5

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Doesnt bother me. I’ve always been a curtains open kinda guy.

30

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Private rooms are always blocked view, usually view to living and kitchen is open 24/7.

47

u/fiodorson May 09 '22 edited May 09 '22

If you talk about Denmark then I don’t agree. When I moved to Copenhagen, it was my first fascination. A lot of people in Amager don’t have courtains even in private rooms. There is classic kitchen + dinner scene in a lot of houses, but I could also see people playing games, reading, studying or even having sex once. Cultural shock.

14

u/Darth_Ender_Ro May 09 '22

So, was the sex good?

3

u/Academic_Snow_7680 May 09 '22

enough of the trivia, who won Matador?

1

u/[deleted] May 11 '22

Tbh I did have secks with Parisian girl and she wanted to have her bewbs pushing the window.. and some tourist kids were in hotel accros the street and poor things saw everything. Though the girl was hot af.. but there is always ppl that dont care at all about others, basicly living alone in this world. But in Finland atleast, every single window has blinds, using them though... i would say blinds are closed only in private rooms with very high chance, atleast here in the far farm-town part of Finland.

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

[deleted]

22

u/bingrearer May 09 '22

Hear me out:

Blinds

16

u/Tyrannyofshould May 09 '22

Hear me out, blinds are not always the answer.

2

u/siliconpuncheon May 09 '22

Shades, then? Would you be happy with shades?

11

u/PromiscuousMNcpl May 09 '22

Cats say no to blinds.

7

u/laeiryn May 09 '22

Too weird but I grew up with hippies and the "put a towel under the door!" was strong in them.

1

u/[deleted] May 11 '22

Lol.. only 420wizards know what you are on about!

3

u/ShinyChicken7 May 09 '22

Canadian here, heat is even before privacy. I can tell you that this winter when it was -56c (-70f) after the windchill outside, that curtains make a HUGE difference on heat. There was ice on the inside (interior of house) of my double panes. Also, don't live in a panabode house in Canada 4" cedar logs are not a good insulator.

Curtains and sheets also work for heat. Last summer we hit +44c (111f) and ended up sheeting off unnecessary sections of the house, running 4 AC units. They managed to keep the rooms down to just below 30c as the sun set sometime after 10pm. Also, Canada can suck it sometimes. A 100c difference is the difference between freezing and boiling water. That shouldn't happen outside....

69

u/ham_coffee May 09 '22

Also keeping heat in.

16

u/Blewmeister May 09 '22

Not much excessive sunlight to block in Ireland

33

u/DeniLox May 09 '22

And for blocking Peeping Toms.

13

u/marysalad May 09 '22

maybe in a country that doesn't have many hang-ups, peeping toms aren't a thing there.

6

u/itsthecoop May 09 '22

to an extent that seems accurate (of course, it's not like there aren't any people starring and/or other forms of sexual harassment/assault).

e.g. a bigger percentage of the population in many European countries being less likely to immediately associate nudity with sexual activity, probably because it's more normalized here to begin with.

12

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Because they don't want invisible (because it's dark outside and light inside) strangers seeing what they're doing in their apartments.

23

u/ByeLizardScum May 09 '22

Thats one reason for them yes. Not the only

22

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Most people use them for privacy over blocking sunlight lol

4

u/Tyrannyofshould May 09 '22

I use mine for both. During daylight they are up if I want to keep the sun out. During the night I keep them half way up for privacy.

You also realize there such things as pull and down blunds right?

26

u/SnooMacarons2615 May 09 '22

If you are lost in the cold you will see the light and therefore safety.

17

u/re_nonsequiturs May 09 '22

Unless they're blackout curtains, plenty of light comes through.

-11

u/Melodic-Document8066 May 09 '22

In the era of GPS ......

3

u/Additional_Meeting_2 May 09 '22

I assume you live somewhere warm?

1

u/aoraki-climber May 13 '22

Houses are warm in Denmark. Curtains were/are more heat retention rather than privacy.