Denmark's Dark Side
Kendrick and I have received many messages from friends and family about a study in the UK claiming that Danish people are the happiest people on earth: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5224306.stm.
We've been having such a good experience that we don't refute that claim. Of course, happiness is not really measurable. Both Denmark and Canada score pretty high. In fact, I really feel that there are a lot of similarities between Denmark and Canada. People here complain about a lot of similar social issues - wait times for health care, high taxes, complacent civil service, etc.
There is one key issue that Denmark is struggling with that Canada has had more experience with, and that is immigration and integration. I got my first inkling of this problem the very first time I arrived in Copenhagen. My taxi driver was from Ethiopia, and told me all about his troubles breaking into the job market. With his language skills, he should have been able to get a job very easily in the hospitality industry, but after so many years of trying he was ready to give up. London, he said, was much more open and therefore his next destination.
Friday evening was the first time I heard anybody charging the Danish people with racism outright. We were gathered at Cecar and Virginie's apartment, and among the guests were Vasco and Maria from Portugal. Maria is a really friendly girl, we've been to their place for a get together and I liked her immediately. She's also got this beautiful face, great bone structure, she looks like a prettier Nelly Furtado. She also hates Copenhagen. She's been here 6 months and she is not afraid to declare that she is supremely unhappy with her situation. She has a good job, a car (wow!) and a beautiful apartment. When I mentioned this study about Danish people being the happiest on the planet, you should have seen the sparks fly. She started in on a lengthy diatribe about Danes. They are so racist, she said, they take one look at me, assume that I am Arab and treat me like sh*#. She's had people following her around in stores suspecting her of stealing; she's had taxis not stop for her. Within a month of being here she was actually mugged (held up)!! She came at the start of winter and had to use the inefficient train system to commute to work, further than my own commute. To top it off, the high calcium content in the water is ruining her hair. And how can they be the happiest, she challenged, if they have the second highest suicide rate in the world? (source unknown)
Maria's comments really made me see another side to Denmark, but it's not so different in Canada. In 1998 my classmate Allistair (who's a really big guy from Barbados) complained to me that Canadians were racist. He told me that he would be walking down the street in the evening, and ladies walking toward him on the same sidewalk would cross the street to avoid him. I remember feeling a similar dismay for him as I did for Maria. Have things changed in Canada for Allistair after eight years? Probably not too much. Will it get better? I believe it will.
Anyways, I've have to conclude that SteveM was right when he warned me about Denmark. They say it's the best place in the world to live, he said, that means that if you don't like living there, then there's nowhere left to go!
We've been having such a good experience that we don't refute that claim. Of course, happiness is not really measurable. Both Denmark and Canada score pretty high. In fact, I really feel that there are a lot of similarities between Denmark and Canada. People here complain about a lot of similar social issues - wait times for health care, high taxes, complacent civil service, etc.
There is one key issue that Denmark is struggling with that Canada has had more experience with, and that is immigration and integration. I got my first inkling of this problem the very first time I arrived in Copenhagen. My taxi driver was from Ethiopia, and told me all about his troubles breaking into the job market. With his language skills, he should have been able to get a job very easily in the hospitality industry, but after so many years of trying he was ready to give up. London, he said, was much more open and therefore his next destination.
Friday evening was the first time I heard anybody charging the Danish people with racism outright. We were gathered at Cecar and Virginie's apartment, and among the guests were Vasco and Maria from Portugal. Maria is a really friendly girl, we've been to their place for a get together and I liked her immediately. She's also got this beautiful face, great bone structure, she looks like a prettier Nelly Furtado. She also hates Copenhagen. She's been here 6 months and she is not afraid to declare that she is supremely unhappy with her situation. She has a good job, a car (wow!) and a beautiful apartment. When I mentioned this study about Danish people being the happiest on the planet, you should have seen the sparks fly. She started in on a lengthy diatribe about Danes. They are so racist, she said, they take one look at me, assume that I am Arab and treat me like sh*#. She's had people following her around in stores suspecting her of stealing; she's had taxis not stop for her. Within a month of being here she was actually mugged (held up)!! She came at the start of winter and had to use the inefficient train system to commute to work, further than my own commute. To top it off, the high calcium content in the water is ruining her hair. And how can they be the happiest, she challenged, if they have the second highest suicide rate in the world? (source unknown)
Maria's comments really made me see another side to Denmark, but it's not so different in Canada. In 1998 my classmate Allistair (who's a really big guy from Barbados) complained to me that Canadians were racist. He told me that he would be walking down the street in the evening, and ladies walking toward him on the same sidewalk would cross the street to avoid him. I remember feeling a similar dismay for him as I did for Maria. Have things changed in Canada for Allistair after eight years? Probably not too much. Will it get better? I believe it will.
Anyways, I've have to conclude that SteveM was right when he warned me about Denmark. They say it's the best place in the world to live, he said, that means that if you don't like living there, then there's nowhere left to go!
posted by Gina at 9:09 PM
3 Comments:
How Danes treat Chinese? Are they also suspect you stealing following you when you walk into the stores?
Portugal almost got the World Cup this year. I wonder how Danes feel if Portugal get the World Cup since their team did not even qualify.
HT Ng
One day while we were living in the Annex, Dion and I were walking home along Ulster. There was a guy in a trench coat walking towards us. Dion said, "That guy looks like a weirdo. Let's walk on the other side of the street." Turns out we knew the guy. Eng Sci 9T9. Name withheld to protect the innocent. But definitely a white guy.
hmm... can I tell SteveM that he's now not entirely off the grid and has been featured in your blog? :p
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