international
the
ISSN 2596-5220
AUTUMN TUMMY-WARMERS
SLEEP WELL THIS WINTER
CYCLING FOR ALL ABILITIES
THE POWER OF COMMUNITY
OCTOBER 2018 - THE-INTL.COM
COUNTESS ALEXANDRA
FREE
PAPER
THE WOMAN BEHIND THE TITLE
OCTOBER 2018 - WWW.THE-INTL.COM
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EMBRACE CHANGE AS THE WARM SUMMER DAYS TURN TO COLD WINTER NIGHTS, BE INSPIRED BY THE CHANGE OF SEASON - BECAUSE LIFE IS ALL ABOUT EMBRACING CHANGE, AND BEING HAPPIER FOR IT.
I
I LOVE THIS
time of year! The leaves are starting to turn a mirried of different oranges and browns, the sun starts to set earlier and the night requires a warm cosy fire with hot chocolate. There are so many great events happening over the October period, make a special note in your diary to catch Roskilde horror, and hang out with some scary zombies and goolies! Also, get great make-up tips for Halloween, Barbara shares all the details. Before it gets too cold, try and get in some cycle time - Keri shares with us her recent adventures embracing the Danish cycling culture. Our cover and feature story is a business woman, board member and author - Countess Alexandra. This feature reveals a different side to the countess that we've become familiar with over the years - definitely a must-read! This issue we also meet expats, Emily and Amanda as they share their story of being volunteers and friends. Thomas from Globally Local ends his series on "Cracking the Danish cultural code" (page 17) - exploring the difficult question we all ask ourselves when moving here - how to not only settle in, but integrate into Danish culture! Suzaan ex-
plores sleep this issue - testing the best sleep gadgets on the market today. If you're anything like me and crazy about apps (I'm constantly on my phone), I wish
I'd seen an article "there's an app for that" (page 20) when I moved here. Melanie gives us the 19 Apps you need to make life in Denmark just that little bit easier - well worth a look! As the days turn colder in October we start to try and find excuses for missing gym, evening walks and being more active in general. Ed, our resident health coach, is here to help motivate us to reach for our goals towards a life of happiness, and explores what science hasn't told us about obtaining true health and fitness. Erin tantalises our taste buds with warming, comforting soups and ciders three great recipes inside! Over in Jutland, hear the interesting story of Sine - a global citizen, and her move back to Denmark, and life as a repat. As you dive back under your duvet, remember to keep warm as we head into darker days, enjoy the changing colours and take care of each other.
“Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights.” - Pauline R. Kezer
Love,
LYNDSAY JENSEN MANAGING EDITOR AND PARTNER WEBSITE: THE-INTL.COM
MEET THE TEAM MANAGING EDITOR & PARTNER LYNDSAY JENSEN has twenty years' experience in the advertising and publishing industry, and holds degrees in Business and Desktop Publishing (print and repro). Born in the UK, and brought up in South Africa, she has the ability to understand different cultures, and is passionate about networking. She is a wife of twenty one years and mother to two boys aged 20 and 14. She loves travel, photography and art. lyndsay@the-intl.com
INTERN LÉA SEVERINO is a Master's student in Film & Media Studies at the University of Copenhagen and an aspiring journalist. Passionate about literature and arts, she started writing culture-related articles for the newspaper of her home university in Switzerland, where she graduated with a Bachelor's in French and Cinema. lea@the-intl.com
SALES For advertising sales, please contact: sales@the-intl.com ADDRESS
The International ApS, Industrivej 14, 4683 Rønnede; +45 42676745
Provins-Trykkeriet ApS, Vordingborg
COVER PICTURE MANAGING DIRECTOR & PARTNER KENNETH MACALPINE is a Nordic Financial Manager in the Transport industry. His education is in Finance and he has a business degree obtained in the UK. Born in Norway he moved to Denmark at the age of 22. He is of Danish Scottish ancestry and lives in southern Denmark with his large multi-national family consisting of Danish, Irish and Brazilian heritage. He is always interested in new challenges and loves to live life to the fullest. kenneth@the-intl.com
SUB-EDITOR DAVID NOTHLING-DEMMER is a print and digital writer, communicator and media production manager/ editor. He has several years’ experience in the media and publishing industry, and holds a Master’s degree in media and politics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa). He is passionate about politics, publishing and people-empowerment. He is a husband of almost two years, and has a love affair with good food and wine. david@the-intl.com
OCTOBER 2018 - WWW.THE-INTL.COM
ADVERTISING SALES HEIDI GREVES is married, and a mother of six boys. She Moved back to Denmark five and a half years ago after 14 years in Kent, England. Born in Copenhagen to a British mother and a Danish father, Heidi has knowledge and language skills of both countries. She has experience in the tourism industry in Denmark, and sales experience in England. She loves to be creative with photography, art and baking, and loves to socialise. heidi@the-intl.com
DISTRIBUTION SATYA PRAPANCA is married, and moved to Denmark one and a half years ago from Indonesia. His previous work experience includes; subtitle translator, documentary films, photographer, and music curator in his spare time! Satya's passion is composing music with his guitar and laptop. He enjoys nothing more than taking in the beauty of Copenhagen while enjoy coffee/tea and cake at a local cafe.
Bax Lindhardt
DISTRIBUTION
The International is available at a range of businesses, institutions, cafés and public libraries across Denmark
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For home or corporate delivery of the printed edition please contact: distribution@the-intl.com The International is published 12 times a year. This issue was published on August 27, 2018
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WHAT'S ON
IN OCTOBER WHILE THE DAYS MAY BE GETTING SHORTER, AND COOLER, THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF THINGS TO DO AROUND THE COUNTRY’S MAIN CENTRES. USE OUR GUIDE AS A STARTING POINT FOR EXPLORING ALL THAT AUTUMN HAS TO OFFER.
WHOLE COUNTRY
ODENSE
MAALTID
MEYERS MAD
KARSTEN PIPER
HELSINGØR
4 - 13 OCTOBER
10 OCTOBER
11 OCTOBER
SLAPSTICK & SLAUGHTER BY DESPERATE MEN (UK)
SMAGENS TIME
BRUNSVIGERENS DAG AT DR FYN
You are never be too young to become a real gourmet chef, capable of preparing complex dishes beyond the staples of chicken nuggets or a plate of plain pasta. This is what many restaurants across the whole country are going to showcase on October 10, on the occasion of Smagens Time (The time of Taste). Dozens of restaurants, from Skagen and Kerteminde to Helsingør and Bornholm, will exclusively open their doors to children between five and 15 years old to offer them a special dining experience they will never forget. Selecting the best ingredients from the season, skilled chefs will prepare a royal three course menu for the little cherubs, inviting them to expand their culinary horizons. The feast will start at 16:30, and like with any ‘grownup' restaurant visit, a reservation must be made in advance. Tickets cost DKK 165 per child and can be purchased online. On the website can also be found the list of restaurants participating to the event, and the number of remaining seats they have available. Parents are most certainly not allowed!
“Imagine Monty Python performed by Statler and Waldorf from the Muppet Show, repeatedly establishing and puncturing an air of portentous pomposity.” – The Stage Two men recklessly attempt to confront the absurdity of war in just 35 minutes, using their bodies, their voices and the surrealist toolbox of DADAism. Playful, physical and blackly comedic, SLAPSTICK & SLAUGHTER examines how the barbaric chaos of World War One manifested itself in the nihilistic, nonsensical art that grew from it. This show splatters big ideas on a small canvas, exploring art’s reaction to the war’s wholesale destruction of lives, the old order and old hypocrisies, and finding echoes in equally absurd modern conflicts. Through a series of anarchic but consummately crafted sketches, the cultural impact of World War I is disclosed the way Marcel Duchamp would have wanted – with ridicule, abstract sound poems, and hyperbolic shouting. Painfully funny, but simultaneously subtle and disconcerting. SLAPSTICK & SLAUGHTER will be performed in English, combined with a nonsensical DADAist vocabulary…
FOR TICKETS AND MORE INFO: WWW.SMAGENS-TIME.DK
DR P4 FYN
FOR MORE INFO: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ EVENTS/120653761940559/
MEYERS MAD
DURATION: 45 MIN TIMES: THURSDAY AND FRIDAY: 18:00-20:00; SATURDAY: 16:00-18:00 CREDITS: PERFORMERS: RICHARD HEADON & JON BEEDELL / ARTISTIC TEAM: DIRECTOR ANGUS BARR / CHOREOGRAPHY: HELEN PARLOR / MUSIC: SHIRLEY PEGNA COSTUME: KIRSTY HANLON / PAINTING: JOHN CLOWRY WWW.HELSINGOR-TEATER.DK
While "Stegt flæsk med persillesovs" (roasted bacon with parsley sauce) has been elected National Dish of Denmark, the inhabitants of Fyn will agree that their national meal – and pride – is much more fluffy and interesting than the aforementioned piece of meat. The object of their gustative delight is called "Brunsviger" (probably due to its brown colour, though its exact etymology has not been clearly established) and consists in a dense mass of dough drowned in butter and sugar. Sometimes pieces of colourful candy are added on top, adding a festive touch to this diabetic bomb disguised as a cake. To honour the brown delicacy, DR Fyn has proclaimed October 11 "Brunsvigers Day", and invites every Brunsviger aficionado to come to their headquarters to celebrate. The doors will be open from 14:30 to 17:30, tables will be covered with Brunsviger cakes, and rooms filled with Brunsviger songs and Brunsviger love.
OCTOBER 2018 - WWW.THE-INTL.COM
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COPENHAGEN
REPAIR CAFE
ENJOY LIMFJORDEN
KULTURNATTEN
AARHUS
LIMPFORDEN & VADEHAVET
12 OCTOBER
12 - 21 OCTOBER
13 OCTOBER
KULTURNATTEN – IN THE WHOLE CITY
OYSTER WEEK
REPAIR CAFÉ AT DOKK1
While vegans will not appreciate that the third week of October is dedicated to eating animals who are still alive, foodies will see their throats turned into long oysters-slides. During this viscous week, the delicate Danish oyster – famous around the world for its tasty qualities and virtues – will be celebrated in all its forms. Oysters will be at the centre of attention during creative gastronomic experiments, but not only. The festival will also focus on the role of oysters in nature and the cultural heritage of the country. So, if you are interested in getting to know this weird gluey animal a little bit better, Oyster Week is the perfect opportunity for you to take a little trip to the sea.
As its name suggests, Repair Café is the place you go if you have broken objects you wish to get fixed. Yet, if it is coffee you are looking for, you’d better go to another address, for Repair Café is more a workshop than an actual café. Bicycles, mobile phones, computers, a pair of trousers, a rocking chair or a teddy bear; every injured item is welcome and will be taken care of by a rescue team of volunteers who will try to fix it. Because it makes as much sense for your wallet as it does for your planet to repair things instead of throwing them away and buying them new, Repair Café is a place worth visiting. The workshop takes place at "the Ramp", in Denmark’s coolest library, DOKK1, and comes around every second Saturday of the month. You only need to pay for spare parts, but your participation is otherwise completely free.
Every year in mid-October, when the summer is really gone and nights become longer than days, the city of Copenhagen transforms itself into a gigantic open doors exhibition called Culture Night. On this occasion, hundreds of cultural events are offered for children and adults in all kinds of different venues such as museums, churches, art galleries, theaters, city halls, NGOs, castles, but also basements, towers and many other hidden gems which are normally closed for the public. A badge giving unlimited access to all these events must be purchased for DKK 95. It is sold in libraries, museums or even at 7-Eleven kiosks. This Culture Pass also gives free access to public transports (trains, S-trains, busses and metro) between 5pm and 5am the next day. Children under 12 can participate for free, but their "Free Pass" cannot be used as public transport ticket. As the programme is thicker than the three volumes of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, it is a good idea to give it a look before the night starts, and to make a preliminary selection as well as draw the itinerary you want to follow. This will avoid the stress of crossing the city back and forth ten times instead of enjoying the beautiful treasures the city is displaying for you.
FOR MORE INFO: WWW.ENJOY-LIMFJORDEN.DK/LIMFJORDEN/OYSTER-WEEK-EN-HYLDEST-TIL-VERDENS-BEDSTEOESTERS-FRA-DET-KOLDE-NORD
FOR MORE INFO: WWW.REPAIRCAFEAARHUS.DK
OCTOBER 2018 - WWW.THE-INTL.COM
REPAIR CAFE-8
CNN.COM
COPENHAGEN COOKING
REPAIR CAFE-8
KULTURNATTEN
PR ROCK OYSTER FESTIVAL
FOR MORE INFO: WWW.KULTURNATTEN.DK/EN
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ODENSE
MAGISKE DAGE
ROSKILDE
LAST.FM
REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
COPENHAGEN
14 OCTOBER
17 - 20 OCTOBER 18 - 20 OCTOBER
SHANIA TWAIN
MONSOON FESTIVAL AT MONSOON CLUB
Shania Twain is a five-time GRAMMY Award-winner and the reigning Queen of Country Pop. With more than 90 million albums sold worldwide, and U.S. sales topping 34.5 million, Twain remains the top-selling female country artist of all time. Twain’s albums include the Platinum-selling 1993 debut, Shania Twain; the GRAMMY Award-winning, Double Diamond-selling 1995 release, The Woman in Me; Come On Over, the best-selling studio album in Soundscan history by a female artist in any genre and the best-selling country album of all time with over 40 million units sold worldwide; and UP!, Shania’s third consecutive Diamondselling album release.
FOR TICKET SALES AND MORE INFO: ? HTTP://TIDD.LY/6D72453F
For the second consecutive year, Monsoon Club, a Dance and Night Club in the center of Roskilde, is hosting an eponymous festival where big figures of the Danish hiphop scene will be present. Artists such as ZK, Vild Smith and ICEKIID will give live performances in the "wildest" party atmosphere. The shows costs between DKK 60 and 100, but a "Full Festival Ticket", costing DKK 150, can also be purchased for all those hard partygoers who would rather shake their booties four nights in a row than sleep.
FOR TICKET SALES AND MORE INFO: WW.BILLETTO.DK/EN/E/MONSOON-FESTIVAL-2-0-X-EFTERARSFERIEN-TICKETS-308245
MAGISKE DAGE All year long, children have impatiently been waiting for the return of the Magic Days, for the pumpkin smell to come back and invade the most obscure streets of their boring Muggle town, Odense. What the children don’t know is that during all this time, adults have been waiting even more impatiently! For the Magic Days is an occasion, as much for children as for their parents, to swap their raincoat for a long woolen cape and escape the grey routine of Muggle life for a weekend. A lot of activities are organised in different places such as Brandts Museum, the main library or the concert hall, where a special Harry Potter concert will be given by Odense Symphonic Orchestra.
FOR TICKET SALES AND MORE INFO: WWW.MAGISKEDAGEODENSE.DK
“Opening a Danish textbook could be your next big career move”
Alejandro, engineer from Cordoba.
Sign up for intensive Danish courses in Hellerup and Lyngby sprogcenterhellerup.dk
OCTOBER 2018 - WWW.THE-INTL.COM
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AARHUS
AALBORG
ISTOCK PHOTO
MUSIKHUSET AARHUS
BILMESSE & BRUGTMARKED
FREDERICIA
20 - 21 OCTOBER 21 OCTOBER CAR FAIR & SECOND HAND MARKET
CLASSICAL MORNINGS AT MUSIKHUSET
Car lovers and collectors will be delighted to meet each other at this gigantic car fair in Fredericia. With its 28,000m2 of indoor space, Bilmesse & Brugtmarked is the biggest sales exhibition in Denmark for vintage and rare cars, motorbikes, mopeds and many other engines that says vroom vroom. It happens twice a year and showcases products like antiques, veteran cars, car toys, license plates, vintage car clothes and all kinds of items related to the hobby of automotive craftsmanship. On Sunday, a charity event will be held on the driving course situated nearby the exhibition. Big and small car lovers will be able to get a bumpy ride in an old shiny Jaguar or a rusty Ford T, and thus go back in time as long as the ride lasts. Half of the DKK 100 that a ride costs will go to the car ride, with the other half going to charity.
Coming directly from the Royal Albert Hall in London, the idea of Classical Mornings is simple; it consists of enjoying a cozy brunch while listening to live classical music. Musikhuset in Aarhus adapts this British concept and offers a series a three Classical Mornings, starting at 10 o’clock on Sundays. The price is DKK 210 and includes a buffet loaded with fruits, salads, meat, waffles, cakes, freshly baked bread and many other appetising treats. On Sunday, October 21 the halls of Musikhuset will be filled with Wivex duo’s harmonies, a Danish duo composed of one violin and one piano. Their repertoire includes chamber music and film soundtracks. Do you know a more peaceful way to start the day?
BØRNEMUSIK FESTIVAL AT TREKANTEN LIBRARY & CULTURE HOUSE Live music for children will be performed on Trekanten’s big stage between October 24 and 27. Mostly schools and daycare institutions are invited to attend, but every young music-lover is of course welcome to join too. Among the big names who will set Trekanten’s stage on fire are the jolly Ann og Aberne, Karen Marie Bille and Palle Pirat. Moreover, Michael Back will take his audience on a trip to the Silly Trolls’ Land (Fjolletroldeland), while Ray Ray will sail his fans to the tropics with his ukulele! The tickets are free, but must be reserved in advance at boernefestival9220@gmail.com. Participants are encouraged to listen to the songs and learn them, so they can sing along at the concerts.
FOR TICKET SALES AND MORE INFO: WW.MUSIKHUSETAARHUS.DK/ARRANGEMENTER/ CLASSICAL-MORNINGS-1
MUSIKHUSET AARHUS
FOR TICKET SALES AND MORE INFO: WWW.TREKANTEN.INFO/ARRANGEMENTER/ BEGIVENHED/1024-BORNEMUSIK-FESTIVAL-BORN-I-NORD. HTML
ISTOCK PHOTO
FOR MORE INFO: WWW.BILMESSE-BRUGTMARKED.DK
BILMESSE & BRUGTMARKED
24 - 27 OCTOBER
PHOTOGRAPHER Peter Bondo Gravesen Portrait Event Wedding Nature Model Fashion
www.gravesengraphics.dk Phone: +45 26 79 47 60
OCTOBER 2018 - WWW.THE-INTL.COM
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COPENHAGEN
ODENSE
ALBANI BREWERY
ROSKILDE HORROR
MIX COPENHAGEN
ROSKILDE
26, 27, 31 OCTOBER 27 OCT - 5 NOV ROSKILDE HORROR BRINGS EPIDEMIC TO ROSKILDE MUSEUM
MIX COPENHAGEN LGBTQ FILM FESTIVAL AT CINEMATEKET AND EMPIRE BIO
Roskilde Horror presents a different kind of Halloween; no pumpkins or cute little ghots, but a horrible epidemic with a zombie side effect. Roskilde Museum in the heart of old Roskilde will function as a quarantine station, where guards, medical staff and patients desperately try to stem the rising tide of the un-dead. You too will need to be cleared of the virus, but not all who enter here will leave again…
Run by volunteer film lovers who are part of the LGBTQ community, MIX Festival has taken place every year in Copenhagen since 1986. It is one of the oldest LGBTQ Film Festivals in the world. Aiming at showing "a palette of movies that bend gender and break sexual boundaries, affect the gender debate and reflect a diverse world" MIX Festival offers a series of events not only reserved for the Lesbians, Gays, Bi, Trans, Queers, but also for "all the Copenhageners and [folks] far beyond the city limits".
ADMISSION: TICKETS ARE DKK 35 EACH LOCATION: ROSKILDE MUSEUM SANKT OLS STRÆDE 3, 4000 ROSKILDE
31 OCT - 3 NOV HORROR NIGHTS AT ALBANI BREWERY Turned into a huge ghost house for adults, the old buildings of Albani Brewery will open their doors to give you a good scare that you won’t soon forget. Inside the beer factory, "ImproNationals", an improv group composed of internationals, will guide you through a series of horror tours where your mum won’t be able to come and rescue you in case of a nervous breakdown. Spooky stories, terrifying ghosts, and poisonous beverage will be served for you during these Horror Nights. The tickets costs DKK 300 and includes a beer tasting. The tours are given both in Danish and English, but the minimum age is 18. Moreover, due to the scary settings, fragile persons with epilepsy, weak hearts or pregnancies are not allowed in this realm of terror. You have been warned!
FOR TICKET SALES AND MORE INFO: WWW.MIXCOPENHAGEN.DK
FOR TICKET SALES AND MORE INFO: WWW.ALBANI.DK
Friday, October 26 - 19:00 - 23:00 In English - 21:00 – 21:45 Tickets at: https://www.roskildebib.dk/arrangementer/ andet/roskilde-horror
EMPIRE BIO
Wednesday, October 31 - 18:00 - 22:00 In English 19:00 - 19:45 Tickets at: https://www.roskildebib.dk/arrangementer/ andet/roskilde-horror-1 From 8 years old with an adult!
ALBANI BREWERY
Saturday, October 27 - 19:00 - 23:00 In English 21:00 - 21:45 Tickets at: https://www.roskildebib.dk/arrangementer/ andet/roskilde-horror-0 From 13 years old!
H i g h Ac ad em i c S t an d ar d s C h ri st i an E t ho s C onv en i en t l y l o cat ed i n H el l er u p
rygaards.com OCTOBER 2018 - WWW.THE-INTL.COM
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COUNTESS ALEXANDRA A GLIMPSE INTO THE LIFE OF THIS BUSINESS WOMAN, BOARD MEMBER AND AUTHOR
MOST PEOPLE IN DENMARK KNOW ALEXANDRA AS THE COUNTESS OF FREDERIKSBORG AND YET, NOT ALL KNOW OF HER BUSINESS BACKGROUND, AND THE ACTIVE ROLE SHE PLAYS IN BUSINESS TODAY. ALEXANDRA SAT DOWN WITH CLAIRE ROSS-BROWN TO DISCUSS BUSINESS, HER NEW BOOK AND WHY DENMARK MEANS SO MUCH TO HER.
PHOTOGRAPHS BAX LINDHARDT / ISTOCK TEXT CLAIRE ROSS-BROWN
B
BORN ALEXANDRA CHRISTINA MANLEY, Countess Alexandra is of mixed Chinese and European ancestry. She grew up in British Hong Kong where she met Prince Joachim in 1994. The couple were married in Denmark in 1995 and have two sons (Prince Nikolai William Alexander Frederik, 19, and Prince Felix Henrik Valdemar Christian, 16). After her divorce in 2005 she remained in Denmark – a country she is happy to call home. Reflecting on her experiences living in Denmark – for some 25 years now – Alexandra has written a book Mit Lykkelige Land (My Happy Country) in which she explores why Danes are amongst the happiest people on the planet. “I have lived in Denmark for 25 years, but of course not born here. Having been a member of the Royal household, and through my marriage and my work which has involved travelling the country and abroad extensively, I feel I have collected enough information to share my first-hand experience as to why we are amongst the happiest people in the world,” Alexandra explains of the book, adding that she is “a people observer”. Growing up in Hong Kong – a melting pot of many different cultures – Alexandra says that she went to a school where there was at least 30 different cultures. “I’ve always been intrigued by how different cultures do things, and coming to Denmark, I absorbed all of
OCTOBER 2018 - WWW.THE-INTL.COM
that and have been fascinated by it,” she says. Alexandra believes that Denmark has a comradery that makes it such a happy place. “We are a nation where we have per capita and per person, the most organisations, clubs and associations compared to any other country, and I think that form of community and unity of being together with an interest of a passion unties us, we are very good here at supporting one another,” Alexandra says. She offers a few examples to make her point. “Many Danes are winter bathers and I wanted to understand where this desire to jump in the freezing cold water in the morning came from? So I decided to jump in myself, and I have to say with the amount of endorphins that I had suddenly jumping around me afterwards – I really got it. So I can tick that off my bucket list as something I have done. “Another big example are the kindergartens here in Denmark. The children are encouraged to play from the ages of three to six years to stimulate their creative genes, whereas when I grew up in Hong Kong, we were put in a kindergarten to learn pretty much right away the letters of the alphabet and numbers. I could see with my children compared to my niece and nephew’s in Hong Kong, that mine were climbing trees and at the same time
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my niece had mastered the computer at the age of four. I was getting extremely perturbed at whether they would in fact ever even out. Through my work with Unicef, I have seen through a centre called: “Innocenti” just outside of Florence where they collate data from EU countries, teenage school children’s level of education - it is called the “pisa” study (a famous study) and Danes don’t falter in any of the statistics at all. This I feel encourages us, and gives us a very good platform in Denmark to have that innovative line of thought and gives us that creativity that we all strive for, and to, later on in life.” Family is at the heart of life in Denmark according to Alexandra – and not just because she is so far apart from her own immediate family in Hong Kong. And, when she talks about family, she says that in Denmark this extends to close friends too. “Trust, honesty, transparency, and family is very important. Family comes first here in Denmark no matter what the situation. I believe that these are some of the most important values here. I think that friendships are very much being there for each other, supporting one another, making an effort in a friendship, devoting time to seeing one another,” she says, going on to say that this all adds to the fantastic work life balance that is so important to Danes – being able to work hard but love just as hard.
REDISCOVERING DENMARK Alexandra travelled the length and breadth of Denmark to discover Danish culture, its people and nuances. “Danes are so good at embracing nature in all climates, and whatever books you read about finding happiness, they often refer to getting out in nature, that you will find the answer there – and that’s what I did. I personally believe that happiness is something that we need to find within ourselves and I believe that happiness comes in ‘bursts’ – it’s not something that is a constant and therefore we need to grab the moments of happiness and try to strive for them. I definitely think that being in nature helps one find that path to happiness,” she says. Alexandra says that a lot of research went into the writing of this book. “I spoke with a Hans Christian Andersen expert, and an expert
in philosophy where we talked about Grundtvig and Kierkegaard. I interviewed one of the leading experts in happiness, in Holland – who has been studying this since the 1970’s – professor Ruut Veenhoven. He sees a collation between small highly developed countries – countries that have a lot of wealth and where there is not a big difference between the poorest and the wealthiest and also countries that have a stable and solid welfare system – and happiness.” Her book also explores Danish design, technological innovation and the intellectual value of its people – and how all this has made its mark on the world, and how Denmark is always looking into the future. “Danes are very humble in what they have achieved in the world – we have Danish design, ‘hygge’ and of course Danish crime writers, film, TV series such as Borgen and great Danish Directors – we are really out there on a global platform,” Alexandra says. “I had a fascinating interview with a design expert – Thomas Dickson – he studies architecture and is very knowledgeable about our Danish design, and how Danish design has really made its mark in the world and how we are constantly looking into the future. For example, looking for the next Arne Jacobsen. We also talked a lot about innovation and he told me a very funny and interesting anecdote – he said that he knows someone who works in a tech company in Palo Alto, California, and we (Denmark) had sent some people (delegates) from ministries here in Denmark over there, to discuss where they find their innovation ideas, especially having such a high talent in IT. Eventually these experts laughed and said ‘we don’t understand why you are coming here to pick our brains – because we go to Denmark to pick your brains regarding innovation’ – so I found that really interesting.” “I also talked with a language expert, as having learned Danish as a 4th language, I had so many questions as to why Danes say things in the way that they do – as when it is one’s own language (even English) we simply don’t question it ourselves and I found this really interesting. I also spoke with one of the most esteemed Viking experts, because I wanted to know more about the connection between the values that we have today and the Vikings – I also went to Christiania
"DANES ARE VERY HUMBLE IN WHAT THEY HAVE ACHIEVED IN THE WORLD - WE HAVE DANISH DESIGN, 'HYGGE' AND OF COURSE DANISH CRIME WRITERS, FILM, TV SERIES SUCH AS 'BORGEN' AND GREAT DANISH DIRECTORS - WE ARE REALLY OUT THERE ON A GLOBAL PLATFORM."
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and visited a female “smithy” (blacksmith) who was making beautiful creative objects out of metal in what is considered very much a man’s world,” Alexandra explains.
BUSINESS BEFORE PLEASURE In 2017, Alexandra wrote together with Timothy L. Fort, The Sincerity Edge: How Ethical Leaders Build Dynamic Businesses. In this, her first book, Alexandra speaks about ethical leadership, based on her board post at the Swiss pharmaceutical company Ferring Pharmacueticals, which she has had since 2007. The book was well received by both critics and the general public, and afforded her the opportunity of being one of the main speakers at the European Business Forums’ International Thinkers50 Event, alongside holding talks in the US about the book. Ethical leadership is the theme when Alexandra is to speak at the high-profile Thinkers50 event in Odense at the end of September. People will get to see and hear her in a whole new role. “Sharing my ideas and thoughts on leadership is something I feel people are interested in hearing because having written The Sincerity Edge, and having been a guest professor at the Kelley school of business last academic year – I have really seen how people want to know more about leadership and how we do things here in Denmark. We have a very flat working structure here, which is very much admired in many other countries, and this is also something that greatly attributes to us being one of the happiest countries in the world,” she explains, again referring to the country’s famed work life balance. Reflecting on the major business cultural differences between Hong Kong, and Denmark, Alexandra says, “Hong Kong never stands still – there is a pulse in Hong Kong, a constant buzz – you can go and buy something at 3am in the morning! In Denmark, that buzz and pulse can be missed once in a while.” With a second book under her impressive belt, can we expect another one or will Alexandra be focusing more on business leadership? “I would say that I am defintiltey not finished with writing books – this has really given me a taste for writing more – I have loved increasing my knowledge by meeting people from different walks of life and interviews in preperation for both of my books.” Watch this space, as I am sure there is plenty more to come from this incredible woman. THE-INTL
www.cis.dk
Before long, you’ll belong Settling into a new country can be challenging – especially for the nonworking spouse. We know, from studies and from experience, that a successful posting depends on the happiness of the entire family – and our school is home to a very active, warm and welcoming community. Our PTA offers a wide range of opportunities: newcomers network, Spring Fair, Halloween, Yoga, Activities Fair, Wine and Cheese Evening, Dads’ Club and Ladies’ Night Out. Dedicated parents coach our sports teams, run our boy scouts and serve on the school Board.
CLAIRE ROSS-BROWN BUSINESS ENTREPRENEUR AND EXECUTIVE
At CIS the whole family finds a place to grow roots and make friends. So to quote one of our parents: “I came for the job, but we stayed for the school.”
DIRECTOR OF FINTECH COMPANY CASHWORKS Claire has over 26 years', experience working as both a business consultant and actress/singer. She has worked as a Headhunter in London city with Investment Banks, produced an album and invests in companies. Claire is a true Londoner, yet considers Denmark her home, where she lives with her family. She loves to run, box, snowboard and wakeboard. Her column in The International is about Entrepreneurship, interesting businesses and key business people, board member of www.boernogungeinoed.dk
www.cashworks.ch
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CYCLING FOR ALL ABILITIES Whilst most Danes are seemingly ‘born on a bike’, embracing the cycling culture can often be a challenge for new residents and visitors to Denmark. This month Keri Bloomfield explores some solutions.
PHOTOGRAPHS KERI BLOOMFIELD / ISTOCK PHOTO
TEXT KERI BLOOMFIELD
I
I FIND IT a real treat every time someone visits our little family in Denmark. And this year we’ve been fortunate to have three sets of friends and family visit. Although with each visit comes a self-imposed pressure to ensure our visitors have the ‘best’ time experiencing the ‘real’ Denmark. Digging that little bit deeper to ensure they can live like a Dane, if only for a short time (Viking hats optional). Normally at the top of my ‘how to live like a Dane’ list is cycling. However, this was more challenging to achieve this year with our guests, as several of them were unable to cycle. So, I had to get creative and find some alternative ways for them to safely experience the cycling culture in Denmark. If you’re also a little unsure of cycling (or unable to cycle) then here are some options you may wish to consider for either yourself, or your next set of visitors.
AGE IS NO OBSTACLE You may already know about ‘Cycling Without Age’ - a movement started in 2012 in Copenhagen and now in 38 countries around the world. They have a team of volunteer ‘pilots’ who take the elderly and less-abled out on cycling trips in specially designed bikes (trishaws). Their dream is to give the elderly “the right to wind in their hair, the right to experience the city and nature close up from the bicycle”. In doing this, they have found a unique and very special solution to the problem of limited mobility faced by many as they age. But what you may not know, is that you too can experience one of these rides. The tours are booked through Airbnb with 100% of the cost going to Cycling Without Age (a non-profit organisation). You could even get lucky and share the ride with an authentic elderly Copenhagener. More details at cyclingwithoutage.org.
TOURS & TAXIS This was the option I choose for our visitors - a cykeltaxa (cycle taxi). Operating just like a normal taxi company, they can arrange tours or simply just take you from A to B. Benjamin was our guide, and he took our guests in his Rickshaw while we were allowed to follow along behind
on our own bikes. Extremely professional and flexible, it worked well for us. My only regret was that we didn’t have more time to explore a bit wider outside of the central city so that our guests could get an idea of my everyday commuting experience. If you’re in Copenhagen, you can book your taxi here: cykeltaxa.dk. Just make sure you give them at least 30 minutes notice. For other parts of Denmark, try googling ‘cykel taxa’. If your guests are a bit more agile and adventurous, then a great option is to join Andreas on his Cargobike tour of Copenhagen. Andreas explores not only the city, but also the secret (or rather science) of happiness. Most of his bikes have electric assist making it an easy pedal for one of you, while the other gets to ride in the cargo box. The tour is a generous three hours which gives you just the right amount of time to see the real Copenhagen. Bookable via Airbnb, it’s a lot of fun.
SELF-TOURS If you’re feeling a bit more athletic and
IF YOU'RE FEELING A BIT MORE ATHLETIC AND AMBITIOUS, THEN YOU COULD HIRE YOUR OWN CARGO BIKE. OCTOBER 2018 - WWW.THE-INTL.COM
ambitious, then you could hire your own Cargo Bike. Although be warned, without a motor, it can be a strenuous ride. So, you may wish to choose your cargo (passenger) wisely. Copenhagen Bicycles in Nyhavn has just added a new addition to their rental fleet, affectionately known as ‘A Couch on wheels’ designed by Arne Jacobsen. It’s also one of the designs that many of the ‘Cycling without Age’ groups use. So, if you’ve got the legs and stamina, then it’s perfect for your elderly, or mobility reduced guests. Alternatively, you can also head to Baisikeli who have
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KERI BLOOMFIELD BLOGGER
two rental shops in Denmark, and who operate as a social enterprise collecting used bikes in Denmark and sending them to Africa.
WHEELCHAIR USERS Many of the Cykeltaxa companies are more than willing to take wheelchair users on their bikes, and can help you find a storage place for the wheelchair while you’re on the taxi. But, for those who would like to take their wheelchairs with them, then the Model S from Christiania Bikes is a good option. Originally developed for children with special needs, they now have a customised version to suit wheelchair users who want to take their chair with them. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anywhere that was currently hiring out this model. But let’s hope that soon changes.
CYCLING LESSONS FOR BEGINNERS If you're not confident or a bit unsure about cycling, then it’s a great idea to take a few lessons. The Red Cross offers free lessons in Copenhagen and they provide everything (bikes, helmets, voluntary trainers). The classes are for everyone who needs to learn how to ride a bike – although their primary participants are female refugees or immigrants. Full details here: hovedstaden.drk.dk/det-goer-vi/integration/cykeltraening. THE-INTL
Keri Bloomfield is a connector, writer, event manager and blogger currently living in Copenhagen. Originally from New Zealand she was recently employed by her daughter (Bilingual Backpack Baby) as editor, writer, photographer and social media manager to document their adventures living in Denmark. Prior to this job posting, Keri navigated a corporate life in New Zealand and England working in the field of event management and people management. She is strongly passionate about healthy workplaces (and pastries).
Now based in Denmark Keri is on her way to becoming bilingual (she hopes) and is the co-organiser of ‘Post A Letter Copenhagen’. A monthly event held at ENIGMA Museum of Post & Communication in Østerbro. Entry is by donation and in return attendees are able to write letters to anywhere in the world for free. She recently initiated a project for volunteer writers to write to lonely elderly people all over the world. This is part of Keri’s greater goal to encourage more thoughtful and meaningful communication in the world. You can read and follow Keri’s adventures in Copenhagen with her Danish partner and daughter, and learn more about Post A Letter Copenhagen, by visiting: www.bilingualbackpackbaby.com www.postalettercopenhagen.com
ROSKILDE AY OPENVED MBER 16 NOEW YEAR 1
FOR NTS STARTING STUDEUGUST 2019 IN A
Enroling for Year 1
Did you know that your child can start school at 5 years old? Or that we give priority enrolment to children that attended an international preschool? Skt. Josef ’s International School provides an international education for children aged 5 to 16 (Year 1 to Year 11) based on Cambridge International Education. If you would like your son or daughter to begin or continue their education in English, and they turn 5 before 1st October, you should visit our open day on the 16th November, 8.30 am until 10am.
sktjosefs.com Skt. Josef ’s International School
Frederiksborgvej 10, Roskilde
+45 4635 2526
info@sjs-roskilde.dk
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A COMMUNITY
OF FRIENDS
A PAIR OF AMERICAN FRIENDS IMMERSED THEMSELVES IN THEIR COMMUNITY AS A MEANS OF SETTLING IN. THEIR VOLUNTEERING SPIRIT LEAD THEM TO A BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP THAT HAS ALLOWED THEM TO FIND THEIR PLACE IN A COUNTRY THEY NOW HAPPILY CALL HOME.
PHOTOGRAPHS AMY TODD/ FOCUSPEAK/ TIMO SCHAUFUSS TEXT DAVID NOTHLING-DEMMER
E
EMBRACING THE COMMUNITY spirit in Denmark, Amanda Davis and Emily Kelly immersed themselves in their little community of Roskilde. They both joined - at separate times - the international group that met at their local library, and would eventually go on to assist in organising board games and the likes for expats to engage with each other. Eventually, the pair became close friends. Fast-forward a few years, and in August of 2015, Davis stumbled across a monster dice bag and messaged Kelly, saying they should make monster bags of their own, and asked her to teach her to sew. Kelly, considered the hands-on craftier of the two, came up with an initial design for a monster dice bag, and since then, the pair have worked together to make custom monster creations and sell them through their hobby venture, Eccentricity. “One thing we have going for our dynamic duo is passion and a lot of creativity. We have enough ideas to last a lifetime,” says Davis, a 37 year-old American expat who has lived in Denmark with her husband, Neil, since 2011. “The plan was for me to become fluent in Danish and find full-time work here but I'm still working on that goal,” she smiles. The other half of this dynamic duo, Kelly, is described by her friends as “superwoman”, often juggling crocheting, baking, and sewing projects simultaneously. The 39 year-old
American has lived in Denmark for the past 10 years with her husband and 15-year-old son (her a 17-year-old daughter lives in America with her father). “We moved to Denmark in 2008 when my husband, a wind energy research scientist, got a job working at Risø DTU. We bought a house two years ago in Hvalsø, and adopted a Greek rescue dog this past January, so it is safe to say that we feel very settled here in Denmark,” she laughs.
TRANSITIONING Before moving to Denmark, Kelly was a volunteer costume designer for her local youth musical theatre programme. Since moving to Denmark she’s become involved with the Internationals in Roskilde group that often meets for potluck dinners and other fun events like pub quizzes and karaoke nights at Roskilde Library – as a means of integrating into her new home. Kelly was introduced to the library group by Davis, whom she had previously met through her husband - their husbands worked together. “When we first moved here, we knew no one, and in a country where it is not the norm to simply befriend your coworkers, it was a tough transition to finding friends here. The library is now central to everything we do here – I volunteer planning events there, we know most of our friends from
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there, and most of our social interactions revolve around events held at the library,” Davis says. Davis also found it hard adjusting to life in Demark initially, mostly because it was difficult for her to break into the job market. “I had a career in Multi-family Residential Property Management. I loved my work. When we moved here though, I realised that because of the laws in Denmark, my job, for the most part, doesn't exist here. So even with learning Danish, I couldn't work in the field that I knew,” she explains. “Living here, and unable to give back in the way of working, I try to make up for that with the volunteer work I do. For the past few years, I've been volunteering to organise board game events for the Roskilde Library. I have an amazing group of friends that I've met through the Internationals in Roskilde Facebook group, and board gaming at our local game shop,” she adds. Roskilde Horror is the latest community-based project the two have been working on, which is proving to be the most demanding, but rewarding of their projects, Davis says. “Roskilde Horror started out last year as an idea between friends and it turned into an event that kept guests waiting in line for two hours to enter the haunted house! Emily and I became the main organisers in January. We've been working to grow and recruit to make this year's event even more spectacular,” Davis says. The two Americans, say that it’s really exciting to finally find a “real Halloween" event in the Roskilde area. “We turned Roskilde Horror into a forening in May, and have worked very hard all year to put together a core of volunteer team leaders and volunteer actors who will be responsible for making the haunt happen (partnering with both Roskilde Museum - which this year will the location of the haunt, and Roskilde Library). We are really looking forward to it,” Kelly says. THE-INTL
"LIVING HERE AND UNABLE TO GIVE BACK IN THE WAY OF WORKING, I TRY TO MAKE UP FOR THAT WITH THE VOLUNTEER WORK I DO."
HALLOWEEN AT THE MUSEUM
Prepare to be scared as you make your way through this year’s haunted house. Doctor Rabenstern has designed a killer flu for the military, but has since gotten infected himself. The patient who unleashed the flu swallowed the cure to punish everyone. It is a real flu epidemic and doctors are doing everything they can to contain it and protect everyone. Alas, with little success… DATE: OCTOBER 26, 27, 31 TIME: 18:00 – 22:00 LOCATION: ROSKILDE MUSEUM, SANKT OLS STRÆDE 3, 4000, ROSKILDE
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RASMUS FLINDT PEDERSEN
LIOR ZILBERSTEIN
TUALA HJARNØ
CHRISTIAN LINDGREN
CRACKING THE DANISH CULTURAL CODE – PART 2 Once again Denmark ranks near the bottom in terms of Ease of Settling In and "Feeling of Home", according to Expat Insider 2018. Factors in this index included feeling at home in a country’s culture. How then can one expect to crack the code; and not only settle in, but authentically integrate into Danish society? This article, the second of a two-part series, will pick up where we left off last time and attempt to answer this most difficult question.
I
PHOTOGRAPHS COPENHAGEN MEDIA CENTER; ISTOCK PHOTO
IN MY LAST piece,
‘Cracking the Danish Cultural Code’, I touched upon what culture is and posed the complex question of what it takes to successfully integrate into the Danish society. It was argued that by having the courage to ask why and enhance self-awareness, inherited beliefs and attitudes can be put to the test, and new ways of being and doing can emerge. It is in this open space that one can seriously begin to understand, appreciate and participate in a new culture. Let us now examine those three key features.
#1 UNDERSTANDING As mentioned in the previous article, Geert Hofstede defines culture as “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes one group or category of people from another.” Hofstede distinguishes between cultures by looking at four main cultural dimensions. These are: power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity, and uncertainty avoidance. In a nutshell, Denmark is a country with very low power distance, meaning a flat hierarchy. Individualistic, in terms of its emphasis on “I” instead of “We”. Denmark is feminine with regards to the trademarks of the social welfare society, and has a low uncertainty avoidance, manifested in the comfortableness with doubt and critical inquiry. By gaining an understanding of Hofstede´s dimensions we have the ability to appreciate the significance and pervasiveness of the key feature of the Danish culture, namely social trust.
#2 APPRECIATION Social trust reflects both a person´s optimistic expectation of the outcomes of interactions with others, as well as the underlying expectation of how the social fabric in society works. In the power distance dimen-
sion, social trust is manifested in the flat hierarchy of organisations, where cultures of consensus are prevalent. It is further evidenced in the Danish expression “frihed under ansvar,” which allocates trust and responsibility to oneself and the group; whether it be towards a student, employee or citizen. In terms of the dimension of individuality, social trust lies in the expectation that the state can care for its citizens; so that individuals can freely pursue their own goals. Denmark is categorised as a feminine society according to Hofstede, where social trust is manifested through the emphasis on work life balance and that decision making is achieved through cooperative involvement. With regards to the uncertainty avoidance dimension, Danes rate low and are comfortable with ambiguity. There is a social trust that exploration, doubt, and making mistakes are not intrinsically negative. Having an understanding and appreciation of Danish culture will give you the tools to crack the theoretical Danish cultural code, but to truly crack the code legitimate participation is necessary.
#3 PARTICIPATION This raises the question; how does one legitimately participate? Initially, as a newcomer, one´s position is peripheral. To gain access into a new cultural community, it is important to build up a network of facilitators, i.e. global Danes, that can help bridge the cultural and linguistic divide that may arise, and therefore grant fuller access to
TEXT THOMAS MULHERN
THOMAS MULHERN MANAGING DIRECTOR, GLOBALLY LOCAL
participation in the multitude of both a support and practice of the core value of the Danish culture, namely, social trust. The more one participates, the more legitimate that participation will become. In turn this will help create a domino effect of cultural breakthrough. What does it take to authentically integrate into the Danish society? It requires, among other things, cracking the Danish cultural code. But how does one crack the code? It starts with having the courage to examine one's own beliefs and attitudes. This self-examination is the crucial first step to create the openness required for understanding, appreciating and participation in the Danish culture. Understanding what culture is and what dimensions make up the Danish culture are important theoretical tools, which ultimately lead to the appreciation of the significance and pervasiveness of social trust in Denmark. Through understanding and appreciating the Danish cultural values, one will begin to crack the code and with the help of facilitation, participate in Danish cultural practices with increasing legitimacy and significance. THE-INTL
Thomas is the former International Department Head at Institut Sankt Joseph, where he led the first fully bilingual Danish/English educational program in Denmark. He is himself an expat, married to a Danish repat and father to a Danish/American. Thomas has experienced first-hand the barriers that make integration in Denmark so difficult, but has also learned the tools to breaking down these barriers and what it takes to integrate, and make Denmark a lasting home. Globally Local uses innovative services to internationalise organisations, and integrate expats and Danish repats.
www.globallylocal.dk
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TECH-TOCK, IT'S BED TIME Tech writer, Suzaan Sauerman, invites you into her room as she tries and tests some of the best sleep gadgets on the market. PHOTOGRAPHS VARIOUS
TEXT SUZAAN SAUERMAN
AS THE SEASONS SHIFT, WE START TO SLEEP A LITTLE MORE AND LONGER. SLEEPING IS A FACT OF LIFE AND SOMETHING THAT IS SACROSANCT. HERE’S SOME OF MY FAVOURITE SLEEPING TECH, WHICH I HAVE TESTED AND USE MYSELF. TAKE YOUR PICK, AS THERE IS BOUND TO BE ONE THAT WILL HELP YOU COUNT THOSE SHEEP A LITTLE EASIER EACH NIGHT.
FIND YOUR RHYTHM Slim and affordable, the FITBIT ALTA HR is a wearable watch that tracks sleep well. It has a slim design that feels comfortable when you wear it in bed. Despite its small size, it still offers the same as the more expensive models where sleep tracking is concerned, such as sleep stages, sleep routine reminders and sleep coaching. The heart rate monitor does a reliable job when sleeping, but I would not recommend it dur-
JUST RELAX! Calm is an app focussed on mindfulness and meditation, both of which will help you sleep better. Doing a little bit of a guided meditation at night can calm anxiety and promote deep sleep. IOS OR ANDROID – FREE SEVEN DAY TRIAL AND MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION FROM DKK 79.
FOR THE INSOMNIACS Digital sleep lamp, Dodow was developed by insomniacs to help you drift off fast. It uses a hypnotising blue light to coordinate and slow down your breaths to stimulate your body’s natural resting state. FROM DKK 499 AT MYDODOW.
COM.
OCTOBER 2018 - WWW.THE-INTL.COM
ing intense exercise. To be used as a sleep tracker only. FROM DKK 999.
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✱
SLEEP EASY The Neuroon sleep mask helps you fall asleep faster, nap and even block out jet lag. The mask analyses your sleeping patterns and makes recommendations for the best time to take a power nap. Although, I think the product is pretty bulky in size, I am impressed with how quick it puts you to sleep, and is especially good for power naps.
FROM DKK 2,400.
EDITOR'S TOP PICK! THIS IS MY PERSONAL FAVOURITE THE BEDDIT SMART SLEEP MONITOR.
THE BEDDIT SMART SLEEP MONITOR This is my personal favourite – The Beddit Smart Sleep Monitor. I don’t like sleeping with wrist-bands or any other close to or on my body. This is a dedicated sleep tracker which consists of an unobtrusive thin strip that lies under your bed sheet to track your sleep, with an accompanying app to use on your smartphone. It tracks a wide range of interesting sleep information, such as heart and respiration rate, which could be useful if you’re worried about your health, or suspect you have a sleep disorder. Other features include, bedroom temperature, humidity and a smart alarm system that wakes you up at
SUZAAN SAUERMAN LIFESTYLE TECH ADVISOR Suzaan has spend the past 18 years working around the world for various technology brands, leading & transforming global marketing organisations, develop-
the best point in your sleep cycle. The app has
ing innovative product portfolio’s,
a wide range of sleep data, providing an overall
driving digital transformation and
sleep score and tips to help you improve your
consumer driven product experi-
sleep. It’s also super easy to setup, and so thin
ences. Today she is a consultant,
that you don’t even feel it when placed under a
advisor & investor in lifestyle con-
mattress or sheet. FROM DKK 999.
sumer technology, helping various brands to create people-centric experiences, instead of technolo-
ALL YOUR SLEEP NEEDS With sleep tracking, environmental sensors, smart alarm and sound machine, Sense is a unique take on home sleep monitoring tech. Sense comes in two pieces to monitor different factors. The little futuristic orb sits on your bedside table, checking your bedroom environment is right for sleep. Then you have
gy-centric. She is also a tech columnist writer & keynote speaker/ panellist at various global technology & lifestyle events. A self confessed tech geek, who has been travelling, working and living in all the continents of the world, is driven by curiosity in all aspects of life. In her spare time she likes to keep fit by running almost everyday & also training at
a small disk which clips onto your pil-
The Wolfpack Gym. She has a pas-
low and records your movement during
sion for food & wine, and always
the night. It can also play a range of mel-
scouting the best cup of coffee
low sounds to help you sleep. What I re-
when travelling to new cities.
ally love is that it has voice commands so you can speak to access the functions, including the alarm or get feedback on your night’s sleep. The slow wake-up light alarm is a nice feature, and found it helped me wake up more gently than with a loud alarm.FROM DKK 1,600.
Suzaan lives in Copenhagen, was born in South Africa and is a British citizen.
@suzaansauerman @suzaansauerman
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THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT 19 Apps you need to make life in Denmark a little easier.
PHOTOGRAPHS NEMLIG.COM / EASYPARK / MOBILEPAY
D
DENMARK IS A highly digitised country, and there is a multi-
TEXT MELANIE HAYNES
tude of different apps available on your smartphone to open up many opportunities in Denmark. I thought I would share some of the apps I use, and also ones I think would be useful to new expats.
● LIBBY, BY OVERDRIVE (MEET.LIBBYAPP.COM) This is a library app that connects you to your local kommune’s library service’s, ebooks and audiobooks. There are loads of English language books available, and often the wait is shorter than for physical books in the library.
SHOPPING
TRAVELLING ABOUT
● RESHOPPER (WWW.RESHOPPER.COM) You can use this app to buy and sell used children’s items, easily and safely. An excellent way to save money.
● REJSEPLANEN (AVAILABLE IN THE APPLE APP STORE) With this app you can plan your journeys on all public transport. You can also switch to English in the app.
● COOP MEMBER APP (TILMELD.COOP.DK/STANDARD/FORSIDE) You collect a bonus in kroner and use it when you shop in a Coop supermarket. You can choose to pay with your bonus when you are at the checkout. You can also choose to save your bonus and instead pay with your payment card.
● MOBILBILLETTER (DINOFFENTLIGETRANSPORT.DK/HJAELP-TIL-BILLET-
● LIDL PLUS (LIDL.DK/DA/LIDLPLUS) Once you sign up you can enjoy discount coupons in store as well as seeing all weekly specials. ● NEMLIG.COM (NEMLIG.COM/OM-NEMLIG/VARER-FORDELE/APPS) You can use the leading online grocery shopping service either via their website or the app. ● TOO GOOD TO GO (TOOGOODTOGO.DK) This is another app where you can register to get discounted goods from local stores and restaurants to help reduce food waste and save money.
TER/SALGSSTEDER/APPS-OG-SMS/DOT-MOBILBILLETTER-APP) Buy your public transport tickets using this app. ● TAXA (WWW.TAXA.DK/EN/DOWNLOAD-TAXA-APP) If you are concerned about saying your street name when booking a taxi, this is the perfect app. You can order a taxi and also pay using the app.
MELANIE HAYNES CONSULTANT, BLOGGER & WRITER Melanie is a relocation consultant, blogger and writer based in Copenhagen, where she has lived for the past ten years. After experiencing relocation to Copenhagen and Berlin, she
● EASYPARK (EASYPARK.DK) This is one for drivers, you can pay for your parking using the app, and it also lets you know when you need to return to your car. You can also add extra time to your parking from the app, so no need to return to your car.
runs a settling-in service aimed at
PRACTICAL
gen or who are already living here.
expats, called Dejlige Days Welcome. Through her consultancy she helps people planning to move to Copenha-
● MOBILEPAY (MOBILEPAY.DK) You can use this to pay for goods etc. in some shops, and also to pay other people directly from a secure app. All you need is a Danish bank account, a mobile phone number and a CPR number to use the app.
She regularly writes about expat life
● DANKORT APP (DANKORT.DK/PAGES/DANKORT-APP.ASPX) With the Dankort app you are able to pay using your Dankort via the app. Some supermarkets now accept this rather than MobilePay.
She has also appeared in the press in-
● DOG PARKS IN DK (AVAILABLE IN THE APPLE APP STORE) The official “Dog Parks in Denmark” app from Hundeskove.dk gives you an overview of Dog Parks and other dog friendly areas in Denmark.
● EBOKS (E-BOKS.DK/APP) Check your Eboks on the go with this app.
media talking about life as a seasoned
● SPOTTED BY LOCALS (SPOTTEDBYLOCALS.COM/COPENHAGEN) Crowd-sourced recommendations from a selection of local insiders in Copenhagen.
● NEMID CODE APP (NEMID.NU/DK-EN/HELP_FOR_NEMID/CODE_APP) This is a supplement to the existing code card. It is an app that provides access to online banking, public websites such as borger.dk, sundhed.dk as well as access to websites for private operators’ such as unions or unemployment funds.
● PRICERUNNER (PRICERUNNER.DK/IPHONE/INFO) Compare prices for many items and make sure you get the best deal.
RECREATION
● ÅRHUS GUIDEN (AARHUSGUIDEN.DK/APP) This is an app developed by Århus Kommune’s Library service, and is a guide to experiences in Århus with a number of different categories so you can find any event, big or small, that interests you.
OCTOBER 2018 - WWW.THE-INTL.COM
● 112 APP (112APP.DK) With Denmark’s official 112 app, you can start a call to the alarm centre and simultaneously send your mobile’s GPS coordinates so emergency services can find you quicker. THE-INTL
in Denmark in The Local Denmark and the Huffington Post as well as on her popular blog, Dejlige Days. cluding the Guardian and The Sunday Times, and also in the Danish expat in the Danish capital. She lives with her husband and son close to the beach in Copenhagen.
www. dejligedays.com
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TRINE BRANDTRYHEDE
TRINE BRANDTRYHEDE
DOM MAHER
DOM MAHER
EVERY GREAT STORY NEEDS A GREAT CHARACTER Far too often education focuses on the curriculum to be delivered, the content to be learnt, and the assessment to be graded. For some, education is seen as just a series of checkpoints, but where’s the fun in that?
PHOTOGRAPHS DOM MAHER/ ISTOCK PHOTO
TEXT DOM MAHER
I
IN ORDER TO
complete and collect all your education certificates and diplomas throughout your schooling career, one must put in a lot of hard work, demonstrate commitment, display dedication, be persistent, show resilience, and so on. To sum all these skills up in one word, one needs to possess ‘character’. Character does not just appear overnight. One’s character takes years to form. Lots of blood, sweat and tears helps to form character. Trying, failing and picking yourself up again helps to build character. You are the main character in the story of your own life, and every great story needs a great character. In this context, the great stories behind a character consist of long hours of practice, repeated failures and obstacles. That is what makes a great story.
DOM MAHER SKT. JOSEF’S ROSKILDE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL Dom is the Head of Department at Skt. Josef’s International School in Roskilde. He
LEARNERS TODAY, LEADERS TOMORROW Skt. Josef’s International School aims to build character by understand the true meaning of education. There are two different Latin roots of the English word education. They are "educare", which means to train or to mould, and "educere", meaning to lead out. While the two meanings are quite different, they are both represented in the word education. Skt. Josef’s aims to train and to mould leaders for tomorrow, leaders with great character. When faced with hard work or a challenge, many might quip “it’ll build character”, and there is truth to that. Students need to learn the skills that will help them to learn and to understand their learning process. Even geniuses, need to learn discipline in order to focus their talents. That is why students at Skt. Josef’s are explicit-
has over twenty years of exly taught skills such as grit, optimism and gratitude. We encourage curiosity and zest for learning. We want children to believe in themselves through a positive growth mindset and learn how to get along with others by developing the students socialemotional intelligences. School provides an excellent opportunity for character building. It is a safe place where children can learn to become adults. Every school should set a tone of respect, honesty and kindness for all students. Skt. Josef ’s teachers, include character traits as part of the learning objective for a lesson, and students receive recognition for the character they demonstrate in learning. Teachers are the best role models for students, and can provide examples of good character every day in the classroom.
"WE WANT CHILDREN TO BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES THROUGH A POSITIVE GROWTH MINDSET AND LEARN HOW TO GET ALONG WITH OTHERS BY DEVELOPING THE STUDENTS SOCIAL EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCES."
perience in education in different countries and across various school systems. Skt. Josef’s International School is located in beautiful Roskilde providing quality ed-
Students notice what teachers, do, say, tolerate, and how they handle challenges.
ucation for children aged five to 16 (Year 1 to Year 11).
BUILD CHARACTER WITH US If you would like your child to build character, or if you would like to learn more about Skt. Josef ’s International School, visit sktjosefs.com, or call Rikke on +45 46 30 46 05. A limited number of spaces are still available in some classes for this school year. THE-INTL
sktjosefs.com
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YOUNG, MUSLIM
AND PROUD Nour Makhlof is a Grade 8 Muslim student at Copenhagen International School. She shares her delight in learning in an environment which is open-minded to all races and religions.
PHOTOGRAPH COPENHAGEN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
TEXT
SUZANNE O´REILLY - COPENHAGEN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
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NOUR MAKHLOF SAYS that being Muslim, in general, is a big responsibility. “You have to represent your religion in a good way because these days there are lots of people who are racist or don't accept Muslims,” she explains. “Wearing the hijab to me means to represent my religion without being afraid of others and it lets people know that I am Muslim, and that I am proud of it,” she explains. For this young woman, religion plays a big part in her life, and not just in her outward appearance. “Being a Muslim isn't just what you wear but also what you eat; there are two strictly forbidden things that are called Haraam, which means forbidden in Arabic, that Muslims should avoid eating or drinking: pork and alcohol. The way you act is also a huge part of being a Muslim, like in many religions lying, stealing, swearing and so on are forbidden, and observing these laws are an important part of the religion too,” she says. Much of Makhlof ’s teaching about her religion comes from The Quran, a holy Islamic book that teaches about Islam and how to behave, it also tells the stories of the prophets, she explains. “The Quran also talks about Jesus, as well as Mosaic, since we believe in the same God as the Christians and Jews, the only difference is that the Quran has exactly the same text and words ever since it was written and not a single word has been changed.” Our differences, Makhlof says, should not have any bearing on how we see others because we are all humans who deserve to be treated equally. “We are all different in our own ways whether it's our religion, colour, intelligence or beauty, which is amazing.”
LEARNING IS LIFE Being in an international school, Makhlof
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"OUR DIFFERENCES SHOULD NOT HAVE ANY BEARING ON HOW WE SEE OTHERS BECAUSE WE ARE ALL HUMANS WHO DESERVE TO BE TREATED EQUALLY." NOUR MAKHLOF
says makes it easier to be and act as herself, because of all the other students who also have different religions, beliefs, cultures, and traditions. “At CIS you are freer to be yourself and people accept you very easily for who you are and don't judge you by your religion, which is amazing considering there are lots of other schools that make it hard to show who you are and your religion, because you could be afraid that people won't accept you or welcome you.” Makhlof has always been interested in religion, and learning about other religions while also sharing some things about Islam. “At my old school we didn't talk much about religions; although it did come up a few times in class, some people were afraid, or not confident enough, to talk about their religions; they said it made them feel uncomfortable, so we didn't dig deep into that topic. While here at CIS, I realised that students are more open and speak freely about their religion, culture, traditions, and family, which is great. I also love knowing more about other religions since religion is a huge part of our life now (even if you don't have a religion or do not believe in anything, it's still something big in your life). I think it's important to at least have a basic knowledge about different religions so that it's easier to understand people and also to make sure not to offend them in any way,” she says. “I love being recognised as a Muslim, and that is mainly because I love my religion. Islam is actually a very nice, peaceful religion, but there are people out there who represent it in a bad way. I always like to show that Islam is good, and make sure people recognise that I am a Muslim.” THE-INTL
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A NEW MODEL FOR
HEALTH AND FITNESS What science doesn't tell us about obtaining true health and fitness.
PHOTOGRAPHS ISTOCK PHOTO
ACCORDING TO RESEARCH conducted by the University of Ottawa, in 2009 we passed the 50 million mark in terms of total academic fitnessrelated papers published since 1665, with approximately 2.5 million being published each year. That is a whole lot of reading for the would-be fitness professional. Even narrowing this down to fat loss and muscle gain would result in the most avid reader not having the time to do anything else. Is there any wonder that the fitness industry all looks pretty similar? You’ll be hard pushed to find a service selling anything other than progressive load, progressive intensity and long duration, and those not selling that are selling the time efficient HIT training. All the while the fitness professionals debate back and forth as if these are the only options. Buy a Fitbit and track your 10,000 steps. Count your calories, lift weights and workout intensely. Of course there is nothing wrong with this advice, and the system is sound, it works. It is for me though, merely one flavour of ice cream.
RAINBOW FLAVOURED ICE CREAM The industry is poised for massive disruption though. Like “Netflix” was to “BlockBuster” the “iPhone" was to the mobile phone industry and “Spotify” was to the music industry, the old method of health transformation is set to return to a sport once again. Steve Jobs disrupted the mobile phone, music and computer industry by bringing elegance and simplicity to the market. In a similar fashion, the fitness industry is set for transformation in the same way, but this time the added ingredient is joy. That may sound a little wishy washy, but it’s not, and I’ll explain why. The work of Ellen Langer, professor of Psychology at Harvard has shown us how changing our environment can dramatically reduce signs and symptoms associated with ageing, literally creating health on autopilot.
TEXT ED LEY
The work of Dr Stuart Brown at the national institute of Play has shown us that physical and mental health is linked to the feelings evokes by activity, and that a spirit of play has been transformative for the health and fitness industry. The work of neuroscientists such as Robert M Sapolsky at Stanford University and Dr Lorimer Moseley, Professor of Clinical Neuroscience at the University of South Australia, has been enough to flip the whole industry on its head. Research into hearing aids, Stroke victim’s recovery, pain management, long term brain health and happiness all points us in one incredibly exciting direction – putting the joy back into health and wellness. Joy, happiness, wellbeing, whatever you want to call it is produced through growth, connection and novelty. Becoming a lifelong beginner and a lifelong learner is not only the best route to a long and healthy life, but to a happy one too. The best news is that you don’t need to eat someone else’s flavour of ice cream either, you can make your own. In fact, you are better off doing so. The challenge of course is creating a workable model that we can bring into our lives. Exercise is still important of course, but if we use the presence of joy as our marker while continuing to seek growth, we completely lose the battle with motivation and will power. What’s really important is sweat, full joint movement, oxygen to the brain and more energy. This is available to all of us without suffering or trading hours of time.
I want to challenge you to a fun activity that will help add a bit of joy to your life. Write down the following headings on a piece of paper:
Ed owns a private health coaching and personal training studio in Hellerup alongside his wife Christina. They use neurosci-
GOALS FOR HAPPINESS
1
ED LEY HEALTH COACH, CONSULTANT, WRITER AND SPEAKER.
Health and fitness, Learning, Relationships, Finances, Adventure, Business/work, Home, Play/ creativity.
2 Now write 10 goals next to each one, big or small.
ence techniques to help their clients build habits to move towards their goals in a way that works for them. To find out
3 Circle those that could be achieved in an hour or less and spread them out in order of importance to you across 100 days.
more visit our web-
4 Next, break down the bigger goals into bites of the same
www. absolute health.net
size as the smaller tasks, and put the first one towards the start of your 100 days.
site.
Get to work on ticking of your list, and remember, joy is your guide. THE-INTL
THE BEST NEWS IS THAT YOU DON'T NEED TO EAT SOMEONE ELSE'S FLAVOUR OF ICE CREAM EITHER, YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN. OCTOBER 2018 - WWW.THE-INTL.COM
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TUMMY-WARMERS: SOUPS AND CIDERS The cool, damp days have arrived, so what better way to embrace the chill, than a walk in the autumn woods followed by a tummy-warming soup. PHOTOGRAPHS ANDREAS WIKING & MONICA BACH
TEXT ERIN CHAPMAN, THE AMERICAN PIE COMPANY
"SOUP?!” I HEAR THAT A LOT. BUT A GOOD FLAVOURFUL SOUP IS QUITE POSSIBLY ONE OF THE MOST UNDERRATED DISHES OUT THERE, AND DEFINITELY ONE OF MY FAVOURITES TO MAKE. THEY’RE EASY TO THROW TOGETHER WITH AN ENTIRE MEDLEY OF FLAVOURS IN ONE DELICIOUS BOWL. ANOTHER AUTUMN FAVOURITE IS HOT SPICED APPLE CIDER. I LIKE TO MAKE A BATCH FOR THE KIDS AND THEN ADD A KICK OF BOURBON FOR A GROWN-UP HALLOWEEN COCKTAIL.
PUMPKIN SOUP WITH RYE CROUTONS THIS SAVORY, SPICED SOUP IS CREAMY AND SMOOTH, AND TAKES THE LITTLE ROUND GOURD TO SOARING HEIGHTS SERVED WITH CRISPY RYE CROUTONS. MAKES 8 SERVINGS.
SOUP:
4 hokkaido pumpkins 1 teaspoon cardamom 2½ tablespoons curry 1 teaspoon cinnamon 2 teaspoons ground coriander 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons butter 2 medium onions, chopped 3 cloves garlic, finely minced 1L chicken broth (can be made with 4 chicken bouillon and 1L hot water) 500ml milk 100g dark muscovado sugar 150ml cream
RYE CROUTONS:
6 slices of dark rye bread Olive oil Salt and pepper Garlic salt
METHOD:
Pre-heat the oven to 175 0 C. Cut the pumpkins in half and scoop out the soft centers and seeds. Place face-down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake until soft (about 45 min). Remove from oven and let cool. Meanwhile, stir together the cardamom, curry, cinnamon, ground coriander, ground ginger and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Chop the onions and mince the garlic. Once the baked pumpkin is cooled enough to touch, scoop out the baked
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pumpkin from the outer shell and place in a bowl. Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened. Add the blend of spices and stir for a minute. Add the baked pumpkin and chicken broth and blend well. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer soup in batches to a blender and pureé until smooth. Return soup to the saucepan. (You can also use a stick hand blender immersed in the soup – be sure to mix until soup is completely smooth. Keep the soup on low heat and add the muscovado sugar and stir until dissolved. Add the milk first, then the cream, slowly stirring until fully blended. Add a pinch more salt or spices to your liking. Serve with the rye bread croutons and chopped fresh parsley.
TO MAKE THE CROUTONS:
Pre-heat the oven to 150 0 C. Cut the bread into small cubes or strips and place in a bowl. Drizzle lightly with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Coat well by lightly tossing the bread with your hands. Spread out the coated bread pieces on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about 15-20 minutes, tossing every 5 minutes, until the bread pieces become crisp. Remove from oven and let cool.
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ERIN CHAPMAN CO-OWNER, THE AMERICAN PIE COMPANY
HOT SPICED APPLE CIDER THIS IS THE PERFECT WARM AND COZY DRINK, WITH A TOUCH OF CITRUS AND SPICES. ADD A SPLASH OR TWO OF BOURBON FOR AN EXTRA TUMMY-WARMER.
MAKES 4-6 SERVINGS.
INGREDIENTS:
POTATO, SAUSAGE & KALE SOUP THIS IS A HEARTY SOUP WITH BIG CHUNKS OF SPICY SAUSAGE AND POTATO, AND IS THE PERFECT WAY TO EAT THAT HEALTHY KALE. SERVE WITH CRUSTY WARM BREAD AND A GLASS OF RED WINE. SERVES 4-6.
INGREDIENTS: 1 large bunch of green kale, chopped 10-12 new potatoes, chopped 200g chorizo sausage, chopped 1-2 shallots, finely sliced 2 stalks celery, chopped 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1½ L chicken or vegetable broth 1½ cups (1-2 cans) white beans (Great Northern or Cannellini beans) Olive oil Salt Black pepper Chilli flakes 2-3 tablespoons vinegar
METHOD: Finely chop the kale, removing the thick middle stems. Scrub and chop potatoes into bite-size chunks (leave skin on) Chop sausage into bite-size pieces. Dice celery. Thinly slice the shallots, separating the rings. Finely chop the garlic cloves. Prepare chicken broth, if using a boullion. In a large soup pot, over medium-high heat, add a bit of olive oil. When heated, add garlic and sauté briefly. Add sausage and sauté until the sausage is slightly crisp on the edges. Add celery and stir into mixture. Then, add the chicken or vegetable broth, shallots and 1-2 cups of water. Turn heat down to medium-low and let simmer for about 15 minutes, adding salt, black pepper and chilli flakes. (Add these spices throughout rest of process until it's to your liking). Add potatoes and all the kale, pushing it down into the broth until its submerged. Stir in the vinegar and add the beans. Simmer over low heat for 30-40 minutes, until potatoes are just done and kale has had time to stew. Serve with warm crusty bread and butter.
1L (6 cups) Apple Cider (unfiltered fresh-pressed apple juice) 2 large oranges 2 cinnamon sticks 2 anise stars Pinch of ground cloves Pinch of ground ginger
METHOD: Pour the apple cider into a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add the cinnamon sticks, anise stars, ground clove and ginger. Squeeze the juice of 1½ of the oranges into the mixture. Slice the remaining half of the orange into ring slices and place into the apple cider. Simmer over low heat for about an hour to allow the spices to meld. Serve warm with a hug.
With over 20 years’ experience in the advertising industry, working both in Denmark and USA, Erin has specialised in brand building and image development for lifestyle, food and fashion clientele at both national and international level. Erin attended DIS, Denmark’s Study Abroad programme in 1996 and made a connection with Copenhagen. She moved to Denmark permanently in 1998 with two suitcases and a pocketful of change. Working in the advertising industry she worked her way up as a senior creative, as well as a voiceover artist, and then began her own brand and design business in 2006. Merging her love for food and art direction, she began food styling and cookbook design for other authors, and then proceeded to continue with recipe development, publishing two cookbooks in Denmark. While living in Los Angeles, Erin worked with several US brands on image and recipe development and upon returning to Denmark, she partnered with Dorte Prip in 2015 to introduce The American Pie Company in Copenhagen. Erin is happily married to her Danish husband and is the mother of a sassyfive year old daughter who speaks fluent “Danglish”.
www.theamericanpieco.com
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TOUR DE CHURCHES HOW MY “TEN CLIPS” FOR MY DAUGHTER’S CONFIRMATION WILL BE A JOURNEY INTO DANISH RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE. PHOTOGRAPHS ISTOCKPHOTO TEXT KAY XANDER MELLISH
T
Technically, Denmark is still a Christian country: unlike Norway and Sweden, it has not officially separated the church from the state. The Danish Queen is still head of the Church of Denmark, and prospective princesses are required to convert when they marry Danish princes. And there is, of course, a very large cross on the beloved Danish flag. But in reality, the Danes practice more of a “four wheels” Christianity – restricting their religious attendance to life ceremonies that involve a baby carriage (baptism), a wedding carriage, or a hearse. Throw in Christmas Eve, when Danish churches can get so packed that I’ve seen people push each other out of the way for seats. And then add the teenage celebration of confirmation, which is what my family is about to undertake.
KAY XANDER MELLISH KEYNOTE SPEAKER, BLOGGER “HOW TO LIVE IN DENMARK”
Kay is a popular public speaker in Denmark, with events like “How to Work in Denmark: Tips on Finding a Job, Succeeding at Work, and Understanding
COMING OF AGE RITUAL Many cultures have a ritual in which boys become men and girls become women, whether it’s the Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah for Jews, the Quinceanera in Latin America, or the warrior ceremony among the Masai. In Denmark, this ritual is Confirmation, or for the non-religious, Nonfirmation. For the teenagers, the best part of the confirmation is the flow of money in their direction. Their parents pick up the tab for new formal clothes – for Danish boys, it’s often their first business suit, and girls are allowed to shop in the expensive dress section on Zalandos – and for a fancy party after the ceremony, at which godparents and aunties and family friends attend bearing gifts, often cash gifts. “It’s like getting married, except there’s no groom,” says my 14-yearold daughter, who is looking forward to being confirmed. Confirmations are generally held on weekends or on religious holidays like Big Prayer Day or Ascension Day, and then the following Monday is “Blue
Monday,” on which kids take off school and go shopping with their newly-obtained cash. Some provincial towns even charter buses to take their newly confirmed teenagers to the nearest big shopping center.
MUST-SEE CHURCHES However, before anyone can be confirmed in a church, they need to attend religious training plus 10 church services in the months before the ceremony. This is why when you attend a state church service, you’ll often see 5 or 6 teenagers slumped in the back, sullen about the necessity of sitting through a 45-minute sermon on original sin. But it is a necessity: they must stay through the entire service and get a clip-card stamped by the priest on the way out. Otherwise, there’s no confirmation, no party, and no Blue Monday. My daughter and I are about to start this process of 10 clips, but I’m actually looking forward to the church visits. The Danish State Church has a wide
GRUNDTVIGS CHURCH
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CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOUR
range of gorgeous church buildings I’ve never seen from the inside, because I usually spend my Sunday mornings at spin class. In the Copenhagen area alone, there’s Jorn Utzon’s Bagsværd Church, his last major project after building the Sydney Opera House, and the fabulous 1930s Grundtvigs Church on top of Bispebjerg Hill, which is huge and dramatic to the point of being frightening. Plus the Church of our Savior on Christianshavn, with its famous spiral spire. (Only state churches are eligible for the “clip”, so those are the ones we will be visiting.) One of the interesting aspects of the state church in Denmark is that ordinarily, you must be paying your voluntary church tax in order to celebrate a life event there, like a wedding or funeral. That’s not true for confirmation: any baptized Christian is welcome to join in. The church is smart enough to know that those 14-year-olds will soon be 18-yearolds, deciding whether or not to pay their church tax every month. THE-INTL
INSIDE GRUNDTVIG CHURCH
your Danish Colleagues,” based on Kay’s book of the same name. She is also the voice behind the “How to Live in Denmark” podcast, free on Spotify and iTunes. Kay’s “How to Live in Denmark Game Show” is a fun event that brings Danes and internationals together. If you would like to plan a Game Show for your company Christmas party, contact Kay at denmarkgameshow.com.
www.howtoliveindenmark.com
VOR FRELSERS CHURCH
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GOODBYE BLACK STUFF Denmark is set to become more reliant on oil imports over the next decade, but hopes are that new technologies will allow the country to get back into the oil producing market. PHOTOGRAPHS ISTOCKPHOTO
T
THIS YEAR IS something of a momentous one for Denmark as, for the first time in a quarter century, the country will become a net oil importer. The last time the country had to rely on oil imports to meet its needs was in 1993, when Poul Nyrup Rasmussen of the Social Democrats was prime minister, and 1 British pound would buy you about 10 kroner (compared to today’s 8.3). The news was broken by the Danish Energy Agency, whose updated modelling came in the form of a press release. Previously, the agency had forecast Denmark would be an oil exporter for the next few years at least. So what has caused this sudden reversal? In a word: depletion. Denmark has the rights to extract crude oil and natural gas from various territorial fields in the North Sea, and has been merrily doing so since the early 1970s. Production was ramped up later that decade following the oil shocks, and at the same time the government implemented many of the energy conservation measures that made Denmark a talking point around the world. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Israel and the Yom Kippur War, Denmark – like almost every other nation on Earth – wouldn’t have bothered to encourage mass bicycle transit, sky high car taxes and some of the world’s most exacting building insulation codes.
LOOKING TO TECHNOLOGY Now, however, the party is over. Denmark’s crude reserves have gone swirling down the plughole (actually, swirling into the atmosphere would be more accurate), like most of the rest of North Sea oil. On a daily basis, Danes consume around 165,000 barrels of the stuff – a pipsqueak amount compared to the global daily level of 100 million – but for the first time since 1993 that figure almost exactly coincides with the amount being pro-
duced from Danish fields. The chart below depicts Denmark’s production and consumption of the black stuff over the past 40 years.
You’ll notice, when looking at the chart, that the future projections show oil production picking up again in 2024, while consumption remains flat. How is this possible? Well, the hope is that so-called ‘technological resources’ will come into play. These are reserves of oil that are currently off-limits as we don’t have enough advanced technology to get at them. The logic is that we will develop said technology just in time – allowing Denmark to become a net oil exporter again, even if for just one year (2024). Does this sound feasible? Only time will tell.
HELLO ELECTRIC GREEN SUMMER HOUSES That sucking sound coming from the North Sea couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the 2019 budget proposal to lower electricity charges for summer houses could it? At present, many summer houses, which are often remotely situated, are heated using oil pumped into standalone tanks. And it’s the high costs associated with heating the nation’s 45,000 hol-
TEXT JASON HEPPENSTALL
iday retreats that can make winter stays uneconomical. But Tax Minister Karsten Lauritzen wants to see that change, and aims to encourage summer house owners to switch over from oil to electricity to heat their properties during the cold months. The proposal is to introduce parity electricity charges between residential and holiday homes; currently the former get cheaper deals on electricity. The reduced charges, according to estimates, will save the average summer house owner some DKK 5,000 per year, and although nobody seems to have mentioned it, it will surely also mop up some of that excess electricity generated by the country’s substantial installed wind power capacity. Far more electricity is generated in winter compared to summer because, well, it’s a lot windier. The question is what to do with it. The Danish Chamber of Commerce hopes that by utilising some of it to electrically heat holiday homes, it will become economically viable to rent these properties out to foreign holidaymakers during the winter months. The net result, it is hoped, will be more holidaymakers, more tax revenue (to replace some of those lost by oil production?), more green electricity being used, and less oil being burned. THE-INTL
JASON HEPPENSTALL CURRENCY ANALYST AND ECONOMICS WRITER, TORFX.
Jason spent almost 10 years living and working in Denmark as an English teacher and news editor. With a degree in economics and years of experience in writing for the The Express, Jason also has a thorough knowledge of expat life in Denmark, and can convincingly say rød grød med fløde to the satisfaction of the average Dane. He is married to a Copenhagener and they live together in Cornwall, UK, with their two children.
www. torfx.com
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THOMAS HØYRUP CHRISTENSEN
MARTIN GREGERS JENSEN
TIVOLI - PETER NØRBY
THE INTERNATIONAL HIRE Generous benefits packages, intriguing job positions, high salaries and offering the chance to live in the happiest country in the world is costly. But getting to Denmark is only one part of the story – finding the right support when you arrive to your new ‘home’ is just as important.
T
PHOTOGRAPHS COPENHAGEN MEDIA CENTER & MARTIN GREGERS JENSEN
TRANSFERRING EMPLOYEES OVERSEAS is expensive. It costs international companies millions of kroner each year. Very often, these companies also provide relocation assistance with immigration, moving of goods and local registrations. Everything offered is geared to help the relocated employee, or ‘assignee’ arrive to their new home quickly, so they can commence work. In the article “Avoiding Corporate Relocation Disaster: Why Overseas Assignments Fail” it was noted that 70% of failed moves are a result of ‘unhappy families’. This shows that no matter how enticing the relocation package is, it still isn’t quite enough to ensure success. Adding additional support, post-relocation, for the accompanying dependents will greatly increase the likelihood the assignee will complete their full term. Having spent the better part of the last decade assisting these companies with
their foreign assignments, I know firsthand what a difficult transition this can be for both the employee and their accompanying family. I have personally assisted over 2,000 international professional working expats and their families, move in and out of Denmark. I’ve assisted people from all over the world with short- and long-term postings. I’ve seen it all. In my experience getting them here is the easy part. It’s about three to six months after they settled in that the difficulties would begin. The novelty of a new job in a new country wares off and unfortunately, by this point, the assignees relocation services are complete, and they are left to fend for themselves. It’s usually at this point that the spouse starts to feel the pinch of living far from home, without their support network. This leads to feelings of abandonment, frustration and isolation. This is not conducive to the makings of a happy em-
"BEING AN EXPAT SPOUSE IS A ROLLER COASTER OF EXPERIENCES AND EMOTIONS, WE HAVE TO STEP OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONES, LEARN TO ADAPT QUICKLY, BE PERSISTENT AND OFTEN DEAL WITH THE HEAVY BURDEN OF GRIEF, LONELINESS, AND GUILT." - KATHY BORYS SIDDIQUI, OWNER OF ACTIVE ACTION
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TEXT LAURA WINTEMUTE
ployee OR a happy accompanying spouse and family.
HAPPY SPOUSE = HAPPY HOUSE As a relocation expert it wasn’t long before I realised that there was a major component missing in an employee’s relocation package. Support for the accompanying spouse and family! Often these spouses have willingly agreed to leave behind their own career, family and friends to follow their partners to a new job in a new country. They sacrifice themselves for their partners’ career advancement. That being said, the pressure on the assignee is also immense, but that’s another article. “Being an Expat Spouse is a roller coaster of experiences and emotions, we have to step out of our comfort zones, learn to adapt quickly, be persistent and often deal with the heavy burden of grief, loneliness, and guilt. As an Expat Spouse, I have been there and done all of the above. I think it is crucial to support Spouses/ Partners, to emphasize the importance of the role that the spouse/ partner plays in a relocation and to be a voice for the Expat Spouses/Partners. It is time to acknowledge the needs of the Spouses/Partners,” explains Kathy Borys Siddiqui, a Polish expat/spouse and owner of Active Action. Shortly after arrival, the assignee heads off to work and the accompanying spouse is left at home to deal with all the daily routines of their new life. Unpacking, shopping, making the new house a home. They are left to make certain the children are adapting to their new school and making new friends. Planning and organising all extracurricular activities and creating a brand-new social life. Perhaps learn Danish or go to school. The pressure and adjustment to this new life can be immense. It can be downright hard. It’s easy to feel like you’re alone and forgotten. Companies like Homestead have become an integral part in the relocation process, helping expats and their families adjust to their new home. THE-INTL
LAURA WINTEMUTE OWNER, HOMESTEAD Laura was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. At a very young age she knew that she wanted to travel. At the age of 22, she packed her bags and moved to the tropical Cayman Islands. This launched her journey as an expat. In the Cayman Islands she learned how to interact with people from all walks of life, all nationalities and all cultures. She worked in the hotel concierge service, hotel management and, eventually, opened her own restaurants. In her eighth year of living in the Cayman’s, she met her Danish husband-tobe. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Whistler, Canada, where Laura managed a 5-star restaurant. One year later they settled in Denmark where she married and had a daughter. In 2012, she started working for a relocation company. It was a job that encapsulated both Laura’s experience as an expat and her love of helping people. She learned everything there was to know about relocation to Denmark and built a good network. After six years’ experience in relocation, she wanted to take her expertise to the next level and started Homestead – welcoming international working expats and their families to Denmark.
www.homesteaddenmark.com
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GET YOUR HALLOWEEN ON It’s Halloween! The time to let all your inner zombies, ghosts and most gruesome looks out for public display. One of the worlds oldest and most celebrated holidays, Halloween, didn’t just start off with crazy costumes, trick or treating and scary makeup looks. The Halloween we celebrate today has been taken from several different cultures, traditions and religions. The actual name, Halloween, is in fact an abbreviation of “All Hallows Eve”, the traditional name for the Catholic holiday of All Saints Day. When it comes to make-up and the holiday, the history and tradition behind it is believed to have been inspired by the ghosts and spirits of the dead which come back to haunt us around this time. People avoided leaving their homes incase of being attacked and haunted by the dead spirits. In order to avoid the living dead, people would wear masks and paint their faces to trick the ghosts and spirits into thinking they were one of them.
FEATURED MAKE-UP ARTIST
Make-up artist Mai-Ly Ryan (@makeup_with_mai), is known for championing cruelty free make-up and using vegan-based make-up where possible. Ryan gives us a step-by-step guide to easily create those stock-stand-
HALLOWEEN MAKE-UP MUST-HAVES
BARBARA MENSAH BEAUTY EDITOR & MAKEUP ARTIST
ard Halloween looks:
Barbara was born in England, London with her origins in Ghana. She has been a makeup artist for over 10 years. She moved to Copenhagen in 2017 with her Danish husband and son after living in Stockholm, Sweden. Barbara is currently working as a freelance makeup artist, and is travelling between the UK and Denmark for make-up bookings. You can follow Barbara’s life here in Denmark on YouTube –
GOOSEBUMPS ■ Cover eyelids with a colour of your choice. Any shade of green works best in this case. ■ Deepen crease of eyes with a darker version of your chosen original
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1
colour or use black eyeliner or eye shadow to intensify look. ■ Draw on eyeliner onto lash line to create a cat eyes effect. ■ Draw along bottom lash line with eyeliner. ■ Outline drips/teardrops with eyeliner to create tears or
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overflowing water. ■ Fill in drips with the same eye shadow used on eyelids.
Barbara Mensah Vlogs.
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INVERTED CROSS
Facebook: www. facebook.com/ barbaramensahvlogs
■ Draw upside down cross on eyes with liquid eyeliner. ■ Use concealer, which matches your skin colour to clean up the lines when drawing the cross. This helps to create a clean finish. ■ Pack reflective pink highlighter shadow on the inner corners close to
Instagram: @itsbarbaramensah
tear ducts of eyes. ■ Add fake lashes – bigger the better. ■ Go over the cross with a shimmery gloss to finish off the look.
ZOMBIE LIPS ■ Fill in lips with a shade of purple or blue matte lipstick. ■ Use a red cream-based lipstick or red lip liner to create “cat eye” illusion on corners of upper lips. ■ Apply red and black lipstick to the opening of the bottom and top lips. ■ Finally add fake blood to the outer and inner parts of the lips.
Bookings: barbaramensahvlogs@gmail.com
2 1. GUERLAIN: LA PETITIE NOIRE LIPSTICK, BLACK PERFECTO, DKK 172.04 (EU.FEELUNIQUE.COM) 2. CHANEL: ROUGE ALLURE LUMINOUS SATIN LIP COLOUR, PIRATE, DKK 295 (CHANEL.COM) 3. L’OREAL: SUPER LINER ULTRA PRECISION EYELINER, BLACK, DKK 64.95 (MATAS) 4. MARC JACOBS BEAUTY: GEL EYELINER, BLACK, DKK 180 (SEPHORA.DK) 5. FAKE BLOOD: DKK 79 (DRAGONSLAIR.EU)
OCTOBER 2018 - WWW.THE-INTL.COM
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JUTLAND
THE GLOBAL CITIZEN:
REDISCOVERING AARHUS AFTER LIFE ABROAD From Denmark to Cyprus to Denmark to Greece, and back again. Danish-born Sine Riisager’s path abroad led to romance, career opportunities and cultural discoveries. After 16 years she returned to Denmark to rediscover her hometown of Aarhus.
W
PHOTOGRAPHS ILEONORA YOSIFOVA
TEXT INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
“WHY NOT BECOME a hotel manager in Cyprus?” thought my 17-year-old rebellious self as I went and fell in love with a GreekCypriot. After this there was little doubt: life together in Greece deserved a chance. Thinking back to the start of my new life in Athens, I still remember all the visits to museums, theatres and art exhibitions so well. They were such a great way to get to know the city, culture and my new home – without the need for words. Similarly, I had to rediscover Aarhus after 16 years abroad.
A GATEWAY TO INCLUSION AND ADJUSTMENT Some neighbourhoods in Aarhus look the same and others are completely different from when I was a child. This leaves me with a mix of nostalgia and curiosity, but it also allows me to re-explore my hometown from time to time – armed with my camera or tickets to a local science museum. This has made me appreciate Aarhus more than before and I’ve found that to (re)-enter Danish society, you have to explore the culture and be engaged in civil society. Luckily, Aarhus has plenty of organisations that focus on community building, citizenship and diversity which makes it easy to be included – again – but, it took time to reach this conclusion. At first, I was confused by all the buses, unions and the different groceries. It was frustrating as everyone – including myself – expected my re-entry to be quick and easy. After all: I am from Aarhus! In all honesty, I felt like an alien at first – you’d be surprised by how many cultural gaps can form after decades abroad.
RE-LEARNING AND NETWORKING My knowledge on Aarhus was clearly lacking. As an academic I tackled this through research. Local newspapers and TV were
OCTOBER 2018 - WWW.THE-INTL.COM
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY a great help and municipal elections were it all the more necessary for repats to coming up and proved to be a blessing in take their time in resettling and rethinkdisguise. I went to rallies and debates – ing yourself – what do you want to do at asking candidates to give me their pitch home, who do you know and who do you as to why I should vote for them. This want to be? I might have some habits that gave me a sense of their aspirations and seem odd to other Danes, but I have takthoughts on the future of Aarhus – a city en the best from Greece and Denmark and where I needed to find my place. mixed it all together. This is what makes It also ignited my interest in local polime a repat, a changed Aarhusianer and tics and gave me the feeling that the city Sine 2.0. THE-INTL was going somewhere. I focused on building an even stronger network with new COMING HOME friendships and business relaRepatriation in Denmark is part the work done by Ertions in Aarhus. At first, I felt hverv Aarhus/International Community, and supports like my identity was directly tied to my work at The Danish Danish repatriates and expats returning home to DenEmbassy and Cultural Instimark. The initiative gives individuals and families the tute in Athens, but as my netopportunity to be part of a national social and profeswork grew I’ve become a “rethought Aarhusianer”. sional network of like-minded people living the repat People don’t often considexperience. Repats are welcome to join monthly ‘Stamer Danes who return after a bord’ meetings in Aarhus where repats share their stolifetime abroad. International experiences make you a difries. Find out more at repatindenmark.dk and facebook. ferent person with other valcom/repatindenmark ues and priorities. This makes
We offer a wide range of events, seminars and online activities that help internationals get settled in Denmark. Learn more at internationalcommunity.dk or follow us on Facebook @InternationalCommunityAarhus and Instagram @internationalcommunityaarhus. www.erhvervaarhus.dk www.international community.dk
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THE HORRIBLE SEASON IS UPON US... …and we’re not talking about the weather. Halloween is getting bigger and better in Denmark every year, so decorate your house and invite your neighbours in for a little trick or treat. Enjoy the darkening days with a bit of horror, feel that lovely cold tingle down your spine as you delve into these chilling reads. SUSAN JESSEN SPIELE LIBRARIAN Susan is a librarian at Roskilde Library, and in charge of the English section. She does English events all year; everything from expat dinners and pub quizzes, to karaoke nights and book talks. She is also busy with Roskilde Horror, a club dedicated to scaring the town.
KING’S WORST IS THE BEST
GREAT VINTAGE HORROR
ALL KINDS OF HORROR
DISGUSTING, YET FUN
SALEM’S LOT BY STEPHEN KING
THE BLACK CAT AND OTHER STORIES BY EDGAR ALLEN POE
HAUNTED NIGHTS: A HORROR WRITERS ASSOCIATION ANTHOLOGY
THE GROSS COOKBOOK BY SUSANNA TEE
A writer, Ben Mears, returns to his hometown
A new marriage quick-
to write about and ex-
ly turns ugly as the
orcise the horrors he
husband descends in-
saw there as a child.
to drink. After a grue-
T h e h o u s e t h a t wa s
some deed he must live
the center of it all has
with the consequenc-
a new tenant and may-
es. Poe was a brilliant
be the horrors are not
writer. He knew better
over yet, but starting
than most the dark side
up again.
of men and he wrote about what he knew.
16 chilling tales that explore every aspect of the darkest holiday. Scheming jack-o'-lanterns, vengeful ghosts, otherworldly changelings, disturbingly realistic haunted attractions, masks over terrifying faces, murderous urban legends, parties gone bad, cult Halloween movies, and trick-or-treating in the future. Turn the lights down low and enjoy.
DID YOU KNOW? If you are registered as a user at your local library, you can stream film from
Exactly that; gross!
www.filmstriben.dk.
And fun and delicious.
The classics, the films
Food that looks dis-
you can enjoy with
gusting but tastes lovely. If you have kids or
the kids or friends, or
are hosting a Hallow-
just a great thriller/
een party, look no fur-
comedy/romance/
ther for inspiration menu-wise if you’re the
action/western/scifi/
kind to go for severed
historical/documen-
fingers, cat litter cake
tary and more. The
or frog's egg pudding.
films can be viewed on your phone, tablet or computer for 24 hours, and you have three free films every month. Just ask at your friendly librarian.
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Wait, what!? You didn’t choose Studieskolen?
Ask anyone – where do you get the best Danish classes? We know the answer. We have been teaching Danish to foreigners for more than 40 years with great results. If fast progression, outstanding teachers and the best study environment is what you are looking for - go for the best. Go for Studieskolen Find our new courses on studieskolen.dk/dansk Follow us /studieskolen
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