thank goodness the election season is only three weeks

nothing to see here...

today is the danish election and fittingly, DR, the national media concern, has depicted the past four years in LEGO - pretty fitting since the female prime minister has had her share of botox and thus looks pretty authentic immortalized in plastic. i can't vote in the national election, since i'm not a citizen (tho' i can vote in the municipal and regional elections), but i've followed it quite closely and husband is going to spend all day as a monitor at the polling place, because finally, at the age of 50, he joined a political party. he is, however, not going to vote for that party. or so he says. there are so many parties in danish politics that it's hard for me to know who i'd vote for (probably the radikale, as they are the well-educated, sensible ones).

mostly i'm grateful that the danish election cycle is only three weeks from the government in power calling the election to voting day, so the vitriol and madness are short-lived. there are some things about denmark that are definitely better. as of september this year, denmark will allow dual citizenship and so i just might go for it and be able to vote the next time elections come 'round.

election day in denmark

it's election day in denmark. we vote for the municipal and regional representatives. i say we, because even i, as a non-citizen, can vote in the municipal and regional election. there are a lot of parties in denmark - left (which is actually right), conservative, the danish people's party (dansk folkeparti - they're just a shade to the left of nazis), social democrats, socialists, radicals, a left party called enhedslisten, which wants to send denmark into an ecstatic state of fourierian utopian socialism.

i have a pretty clear idea from the national level, what each party stands for, but it gets a little murky and diluted at the municipal level. and tho' you'd think the regions are between national and municipal, in denmark, they're not (basically all they decide about is the hospitals), they're really a third tier. DR, the national media outlet, has a quiz you can take to determine who you should vote for (there are so many candidates and you can only vote for one, so it's hard to know what each individual might stand for). the candidates were asked to the take the quiz as well and then the results match you with the ones whose answers were the most like yours. here are my results:

they illustrate nicely how far the local politicians are from their national party lines. i come out as most in agreement with someone from enhedslisten, which is at the far left of the spectrum on the national level. tho' i am not an advocate of utopian socialism, i could possibly be inclined towards their thinking, so the result isn't that surprising. what is, however, surprising, is that the candidate i'm next most in agreement with is from venstre, (which tho' literally left, is actually right), the second most right wing party in the country. on the side i least agree with, it doesn't surprise me that at the top is a member of dansk folkeparti, the party which has done all they can in the years i've been in denmark to capitalize on fear and demonize immigrants. what is surprising is the place in that column of a member of enhedslisten - that means that their two candidates represent the opposite ends of the spectrum in our local election.

the person that i was planning on voting for doesn't even make either list, which leaves me a bit in doubt. she is, however, one of the few i've actually spent time talking to about the issues, so perhaps that should count for more than the results of some media quiz.

tho' there is generally high voter turnout in denmark, people are saying they will stay home from this election. i personally think it's because there are too many candidates and people feel they can't get their head around it to know who to vote for (i know i feel that way). however, i do intend to exercise my right to vote. i think it's important and i'm grateful that i'm legally allowed to do so, despite not being a citizen. what happens in my municipality (which is more like a county in american terms) affects me, so i'm pleased that i have a say.  with so many candidates, the election can be decided by just a few votes, so it might even be that my vote actually counts.

i'll have to do some more thinking before i go in and tick that box later today, but i know already now that it's not going to be a member of dansk folkeparti. i never did like their politics, but last week, their "equality spokeswoman" spoke out against a toy store catalog that had featured boys playing with girl toys and vice versa, saying it was "perverse." that level of perverse thinking will definitely not be getting my vote. nor will anyone from venstre, whose national leader is in trouble (again again) for flying first class to the tune of 700,000 kroner in his capacity as director of a dodgy environmental organization (GGGI). not to mention at a more local level, one of the politicians from venstre declared in a neighboring municipality that "it's over with approaching the municipality in english."

i imagine i'll land somewhere in the middle and probably vote for the woman who seemed sensible and intelligent when i spoke with her a few weeks ago, even tho' she's not a member of the party i most identify with (radikale). sometimes you just have to go with your gut.

some days are like that

it's been one of those days. you know the kind...where you're running around, doing a million errands and tho' it seems like there must be a rainbow there on the horizon, you simply can't focus on it properly. all the further ahead you can see is the next item on the list. pumpkins: check. cat food: check. return library books: check. green market which is the only place they have sweetened condensed milk: check. smashed screen iPhone to repair: check. 

although technically speaking, and in terms of the list of things that must be done for our saturday halloween party, i got a lot done, it felt like spinning my wheels. why is it we can't appreciate the little things? especially when collectively, they do add up to quite a lot. 

i also got a bee in my bonnet for my next knitted blanket (because i want to make another one) and was stymied in my attempts to buy yarn by three yarn shops. one, where they didn't have the colors i had in mind. and the other, because it wasn't there anymore and i didn't have time to go look for where it had moved. and a third one i didn't stop in because there was no parking nearby. i'm sure they would have had precisely what i was looking for. *sigh*

* * *

i spent the evening helping with a political event. there are municipal elections coming up in a few weeks and the women candidates for the city council (which is more like a county commission in american terms) were doing a speed dating evening and i agreed to help. my help extended to pouring glasses of white wine. i'm pretty good at that. it was also interesting for me to talk to the candidates. not very many people came, so i got plenty of chance to do that. i felt both educated and dismayed. this multi-party system they have in denmark (there were candidates from 6 different parties there and all but one of them had all of their own teeth) is quite fascinating. each party does manage to have its own personality and i would say the candidates that were there fit the profile (tho' the missing tooth was a little counter-intuitive), even tho' at the municipal level politics is something completely other than what it is at the national level. only a couple of the candidates that were there were already on the city council, so it was interesting to hear why the new folks wanted to get involved. and i probably did legitimately get closer to knowing who i want to vote for in a few weeks. because yes, as a foreigner, i can vote. i am a permanent resident and can vote in municipal and regional elections, but not national. danes are democratic like that. it's part of why they're so happy.

* * *

this series of photos of an old japanese lady and her cat are magical. 

we might have to name our new white cat fukumaru.

* * *

it only took about 8 hours before the first bossy, righteous dane reared her ugly head in the pinterest translators group. *sigh* i guess it was bound to happen.

but mostly, it's really interesting following the threads in the group (which is secret, sorry, i can't share), 

also for finnish. some serious language intricacies are being discussed in a very interesting way.

* * *

i might have to drag out the old canon AE-1 and try some freelensing to shake things up photographically. problem is, i'm rubbish at getting the films developed, so who knows when we'll see the results.

of handsome men and not so handsome politicians

as you know, i spend a rather inordinate amount of time trying to figure out what makes the danes tick. i have assorted bloggy (and real life) friends who do as well. here's an especially amusing new theory - the theory of the handsome danish men. yesterday, i observed a Handsome Danish Man in action (he was Handsome, just ask him, he'll tell you himself (flips hair fetchingly)). he sauntered around importantly. he flashed smiles at himself when he caught sight of his salt and pepper hair in mirror-like surfaces. he oddly kept calling attention to the fact that he is an embedsmand (non-political government official), which frankly, detracted significantly from his handsomeness, but must have been making him feel important. and it was more than obvious that he feels important as well as Handsome. however, i'm not yet ready to fully buy the theory as in my opinion, it's danish women who exhibit the most appallingly rude behavior in public space. perhaps they're just bitter about being treated badly all those years by the handsome men. i'll have to ponder this new theory a bit more.

* * *

apropos attempting to understand the danes, there was recent swirl in the billund newspapers surrounding a report on quality of life among expats in that municipality. (billund is where the second largest airport in denmark is located and is the home of lego.) apparently one local politician was so incensed that the report was in english that he publicly declared that it was over with addressing politicians in english in the municipality. 

the report is the result of interviews and a workshop with 22 expats living within the municipality (which is more like a county-sized entity in US terms). they had a lot of positive things to say about denmark (it's safe, it's not corrupt, it's a great place to raise children, there is a good work-life balance), but they also expressed a lot of negatives, largely surrounding how hard it is to break down the barriers and establish a social life with danes. people had tears in their eyes as they told tales of feeling rejected by their neighbors and even strangers in line at the grocery store. some were on the verge of clinical depression due to inability to connect or get meaningful work. two said they had actually taken antidepressants. so the overall story was of a pretty harsh reality of daily life as an expat in a place where people felt invisible and rejected. and the people of billund were outraged. how dare foreigners complain about this idyllic little land? they should just pack it up and go back to wherever they came from.

the reaction of the politician, to declare that this is denmark and all municipal business must take place in english simply underlines the results of the report. foreigners feel rejected by danish society. he apparently advocates taking away completely the voice of the minority population within the municipality when he declares in a news story that "it's over with addressing politicians in english." how a grown man who is an elected official in a little land with a minor language can stand up and say out loud that he doesn't speak english is beyond my comprehension. the largest business within the municipality is the very successful toy maker lego. foreign workers are essential to their continued growth and success, so to deny these people, who bring jobs and money into the community, a voice is absolutely absurd. the politician actually said, "i wasn't there on the day we had english in school," so he further negates the importance of english in a globalized world. happily, there is an election coming up this autumn and foreign residents of a municipality are allowed to vote in municipal elections (at least for now, tho' the xenophobic danish people's party would like to take that away), so perhaps this clown will be shown the door and replaced by someone with a more global view. 

another interesting side note - in three articles about the report, the reporter in question never once made an attempt to contact the authors of the report for more information on methodology or the results or to have a more nuanced view on the story. and this despite declaring in a sidebar that they will spend the next week looking in depth at the contents of the report. and that's journalism today, folks.

* * *

and speaking of danish politicians, i spent yesterday with several of them. i sat down next to one of them at lunch, a heavily pockmarked older man with a shaggy and decidedly non-hipster 70s mustache and a dried sweat stain on the back of his shirt. he didn't ask me my name or tell me his (perhaps assuming i knew he was An Important City Council Member). instead, apropos one of my uncles at a family reunion, basically asked me what i did with myself to deserve the air i was using up. when i explained that i do all kinds of writing and communications in english, he asked if i was english. on the principle of not offering more than you're asked, i said no. what i should have done next was ask him what he did with himself to deserve the air he was using up. instead, i just sort of gulped and fumed a little bit about being made to feel inadequate by this unfashionable-shoe wearing git. it then came out that i was american. and where i lived. and that was that.

sometime later, as we toured a library, he asked me how long i'd been in denmark. i said 15 years and he said, "oh, well, you're danish then." i replied that i most decidedly was NOT. (funny how we're most our nationality in defensive situations.) and he asked, incredulous, why. i pointed out that i have an american passport (i've heard those are quite sought after) and why on earth would i give that up? (he'd ticked me off by then.) he said, oh, but you can have both. and i said, no, i can't. the americans would allow it, but the danes won't. even the former prime minister's own son had to give up his danish passport when he became an american citizen a few years ago. this guy should have known that, since he is from that same party!

i'm sure he's pondering ways of trying to get me thrown off the local group which is involved in establishing a "culture house," on the grounds that i'm a bad foreign influence. he probably doesn't realize that i get to vote in municipal elections. and i know who i'm not going to be voting for.  he also speaks a bit against the handsome danish men theory, as he was most decidedly not handsome (i have a photo of him, but i don't dare to publish it). but again, i'm not done pondering that one.

* * *

monty python and the holy grail lego sets. awesome.

sunset brings hope for change

after ten long years of a mediocre, xenophobic danish government utterly without vision, a new government was elected yesterday. fittingly, late afternoon, the sun broke through in all of its golden, autumn glory.  let's hope it's a sign of things to come.

happy weekend, one and all.

you shall be assimilated or let them eat bacon

i've mentioned the trials and tribulations crimes and misdemeanors antics of the danish integration ministry several times of late. when we last left our vikings heroes losers they had just kicked out the dolores umbridge toadlike minister known as birte rønn hornbæk and appointed søren pind, who was best known for his saturday morning radio call-in advice show performances.

mr. pind, never one to shy away from the limelight in his designer glasses and overly bushy eyebrows, immediately began talking about how his ministry wasn't going to focus so much on integration as assimilation. and thus we stepped into an episode of star trek: the next generation and there was no cute picard as lucretius of borg in sight. "resistance is futile, you shall be assimilated." and so it got me thinking about what being assimilated might mean. and what the implications of assimilation are, if you carry them out to their logical conclusion...

some of my fellow foreigners and i joked about it on facebook, saying we'd have to learn things like how to run over people with your grocery cart and never even THINK about apologizing. and how to master looking right through people as if they don't exist and never chatting with a stranger anywhere, but especially not in line at the grocery store.

but then i realized that to truly stamp out anything not danish would change things around here very dramatically. for example, since the danes don't make cars, i imagine we'd have to get rid of those. as for sushi and pizza and kebab - forget it, it's all gotta go. no italian scooters to replace our missing cars. and no beer, since that's not a danish invention either. i'm thinking pretty much all we'd have left would be bacon.

dang, i wish they'd hurry up and call an election so we could get rid of this increasingly unfunny joke of a government. but at least we have bacon.

if you can't laugh...

there's been a lot of attention in the danish media of late on the integration ministry and what i like to refer to as their crimes and misdemeanors, mostly against foreigners in denmark, but also against simple danish citizens who happen to marry foreigners and want to bring them home to denmark.  i got on my soap box about this a couple of times (possibly as recently as yesterday).

today, the integration minister, who i like to refer to as dolores umbridge, after her toadlike power-hungry twin in the harry potter novels, was fired after writing the world's worst and least explaining explanation as to why a number of young palestinians who were born and raised in denmark and were, per UN convention, entitled to danish citizenship, were denied said citizenship.

her departure resulted in a couple of other ministry shifts and the guy who was given her job as integration minister is best known for his role on a saturday morning radio call-in show that solves people's issues with their family and neighbors. oddly, it also resulted in an electrician being appointed tax minister. i think what we're seeing is a government in dissolution and i can only hope that it dissolves soon and calls an election.

before birte rønn hornbæk went tho', she did revoke susanne bier's danish citizenship. susanne won the oscar for best foreign film for her film in a better world last week and since her film wasn't even nominated for the danish equivalent of the prize (the bodil), she was deemed to have more connection to the US now than denmark, so they took her passport.

* * *

one of the things i said above was a joke - can you guess which one?

pushing my buttons

this week, sabin's class it set to participate in the PIRLS study - an international study on reading levels in the fourth grade.  after reading both the danish university that is behind it here and the PIRLS site itself, i am no closer to an answer as to what the purpose of the test really is. there is a lot of vague information about how the information will be used to improve policy and decision-making regarding the education of children. that, i could support. but i wonder if that's it.

we received a questionnaire today that we should answer as parents in connection with the study. it's that questionnaire that has me worried. a few examples:

3.) which language(s) did your child speak before s/he started school?

i would be ok with that, but the answer choices are:
a.) danish
b.) turkish
c.) arabic
d.) serbo-croatian/bosnian
e.) punjabi (is that even a language? isn't it a place?)
f.) other

the same languages are listed under the question of "what language does the child's father/mother primarily speak?" are these particular languages politically motivated? and to what end?

and i have to say that with all of the news of late of the crimes and misdemeanors of the Danish Integration Ministry, i am concerned about the purpose of these questions. those languages were clearly deliberately chosen and i'd like to know by whom and why? those cannot possibly be the languages universal to the international version of the test. so to what purpose do they want to know about those particular languages? by participating, do we contribute to further tightening of the noose around foreigners?

i don't want to be one of those uncooperative parents, but seriously, shouldn't we have more information about what we're contributing to? what purpose it will serve? and who has ordered it? i think we all need to get better at questioning authority. and i'm starting here.

reason doesn't live here anymore

there will be an election in denmark sometime this year. and that's increasingly obvious from the heightened political rhetoric.  it's also obvious in the media coverage. our newspaper is, on a daily basis, turning up the heat on the sitting government coalition - investigating their policies - especially as they apply to immigrants. and the stories they've uncovered don't paint a pretty picture. they paint a picture of a government that increasingly kowtows to the conservative and foreigner-fearing dansk folkeparti.

a new law went into effect in january. it affects how foreigners in denmark are approved for both work permits and permanent residence.  it sets high standards for education (more points if you come from an arbitrary list of the world's top 20 universities) and work experience, as well as danish language skills (how you're supposed to learn passable danish outside of denmark, i'm not sure and they don't say anything about that).

when the law first passed, there was a calculator online and i put in my data and was relieved to see that i would qualify. however, i put in my husband's data and i'm afraid that he, as a native-born dane, didn't meet the point requirements. i have to wonder how many of the legislators enacting this system would qualify.

recently, information has covered several foreigners in denmark who were turned down for permanent residence:

~ one young man of afghan parentage, who is about to depart on his second mission to afghanistan as an interpreter with the danish military, was turned down because he didn't display "active citizenship." apparently serving denmark on what will now be a second dangerous mission in afghanistan isn't enough citizenship for the immigration office.

~ a young american who has been in denmark since 2003, completed a danish master's degree with top grades and is married to a dane and works in the social ministry was turned down because she didn't work enough while she completed her full-time education.

~ a young mexican woman, who has been in denmark in a full-time job for six years is denied permanent residence because her recent return to a full-time university education cancels out her six years of work experience and she has to start the qualification time over.

it makes me quite happy that i "got in" and gained permanent residence before all of this absurdity began. tho' i am increasingly worried about what kind of place i'm now a permanent resident of.  and it's not just on the immigration front - yesterday, it came out that the new media agreement that funds the state-owned danish radio - which has a fleet of channels on both television and radio - mandates that they are now to "give special weight to the christian cultural heritage." excuse me? but WTF? denmark is one of the most secular places i've ever seen. the people attend church only for the big events...birth, marriage, death and the odd christmas service. that the national television station has to have a christian bent is absurd beyond belief and cannot be what the people in this democracy actually want. it's nothing more than a thinly veiled stab at other religions, especially islam.  and it's worrying, to say the least.

but all over europe these conservative, we-must-keep-ourselves-to-ourselves parties are on the rise - whether it's geert wilders in the netherlands or the sweden democrats (i recently saw the head of that party flayed wide open on BBC's hardtalk). there are dictates about showing outward signs of religion - e.g. head scarves, tho' the sweden democrat leader fumbled around when it asked if that included not publicly wearing a necklace with a cross. because it turns out that it didn't. i won't go into the whole head scarf question here, as i've ranted on long enough, but if you're interested, poet has written a very excellent post on the implications of the whole debate around headscarves.

i'm not saying that i'm ready to move back to the US on the next boat, as it's even worse there (i recently found out my own aunt is a regular viewer of fox "news!"), but i think the trend is a very worrying one indeed.  where in the world will reason reside?