here & now
Voidance “Several years ago, I had the incredible opportunity to work in a Scandinavian country that I jumped on. Having never been to Europe, I was ecstatic. Four months of cycling, working with a fantastic firm, and enjoying the hygge lifestyle seemed idyllic. And by the end of April, I had four days off in which I was grateful to have my mom and sister come to visit. During the day, I showed them everything we could reach; all the things I got to experience for the first time during those four short months. The country had truly dazzled me and I was overjoyed to show them its beauty. We stayed in the home I had
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They shook their heads and told me it was just a complaint from concerned neighbours asking that they investigate. It was in the second that I closed the
invalidation
been renting, as they used the vacant bedrooms my roommates had occupied before departing earlier that month. On Easter morning, we had a knock at the door. We weren’t expecting anyone and the landlord wasn’t set to come back for a couple weeks. I was greeted by two police officers, asking in English if they could come in and speak with me. I immediately panicked. Seeing the police as a foreigner, I promptly explained who I was, that I was a Canadian working as an intern, that my family was visiting me for a couple days, and that we all would be off soon. My family 23
watched as I briskly pulled out all of my employment paperwork, visa information, and showed them each of our passports. They silently jotted down my responses and took photos of everything. Confounded and a bit shaken by their presence, I apologised to them on their way out and asked if there had been a noise complaint or something of the like, and if there was anything I could do.
door that I realised this interaction wasn’t typical. They were concerned about what? They wanted to investigate what exactly...? I admit that I was quite ignorant to the weight of racial tensions in Scandinavia before my internship. I hadn't known much about the plights of the Roma or Sámi. Or about the growing sentiments of nationalism as non-western immigration increased across Nordic countries. But, I was well aware that the neighbourhood we stayed in was a homogeneous suburb. Clearly Scandinavian and relatively far from the city centre where you may expect to see a family like ours.
