Today is "Constitution Day" in Denmark... Which is both celebrated with typical Danish flag waving (every single city bus sported two little Danish flags at the front) and gathering in crowds. We had normal programming in the morning – but one of the speakers was actually a Danish political scientist and political economist who I relied upon heavily in my thesis! I have to admit I was a bit star struck. I don’t suppose he’s used to young American followers. He probably just thought I had some sort of staring issue. A fair assumption really given my recent tendency to gape open-mouthed at any Danish speaker. All the neurotic writing down of vocab words and listening to Danish music and deciphering newspapers HAS paid off though… I’m just in the socially-awkward staring space at the moment.
But to Constitution day! We went to a Ny-Dansk (New Dane) youth council celebration that featred local rappers and reggae artists as well as politicians such as the Minister for Integration and the Minister for Religion and Equality. They gave rather white bread talks but it was super cool to see them there in my neighborhood.... which you will read more about below and hopefully see why it was interesting to have the mainstream Danish political set present.
One of the program participants was a founding member of the Republican Movement in Denmark - which has nothing to do with American Republicanism as understood today. It's all about arguing about the state of democracy in Denmark and against the monarchy because it is so extremely undemocratic to preference certain people because of their birth. Not to mention pretty fiscally irresponsible to give them so much money when Denmark is in the red. The core argument though is that the constitution gives the Monarchy too much power and this flies in the face of Danish political values enshrined in the welfare state. In short, it is outdates. Maybe fine in 1849 when the constitution was officially written, but certainly unsuited for today. Technically no law is in force unless the Queen approves it. The Danish monarchy has significantly more power than the British monarchy because it's not just a verbally "understood" relationship between the crown and Parliament - the Constitution actually vests sovereignty in the Monarch. So. Constitution day. A bit of a big day for the Republican Movement folks.
Thought I'd write about København neighborhoods! Or at least my take on them… might be interesting to look back on once I've lived here for a while.
Indre by – City Center, or literally “Inner City” but it has NONE of the connotations of an American inner city. This is the old part of town where you’ll find churches, castles, Parliament, the old stock exchange, and Nyhavn (the famous canal that is just crawling with picturesque boats and Danish flags and colorful canal-front houses). It’s very pretty and fun to walk around though of course the streets are very much pre-motor vehicle so it’s easy to get taken downstream to the wrong end point when you’re on a bike. Also prohibitively expensive place to eat or do anything really.
Here's a photo of me in Indre by taken at Distortion, which I wrote about a few days ago:
Vesterbro – “Vester” means Western. This is one of the ‘hip’ neighborhoods to live. Lots of artists, coffee shops, a totally different feel to the streets – a bit more close together. This is one of the places where communities of immigrants live because housing is less expensive. The old meat packing district was hear… today that’s a cool place to go for bars and dancing because the big warehouses have been converted.
Fredriksberg – A fancier neighborhood northeast of Vesterbro…. lots of pretty gardens and expensive apartments and nice schools. Part of Fredricksberg is literally in a different municipality than the rest of København because they’re the wealthiest and have their own system of garbage collection and recycling going, etc. Very strange to find that out because it doesn’t seem to fit with the Danish mentality… I will try to learn more.
Nørrebro – Nørre means North. Sensing a pattern!??! I thought the neighborhoods and streets were so clever last year until I learned what it all meant. Really quite factual and unimaginative… Danish itself is the spicy thing. This is THE most multiethnic place in all of Denmark. And I live in probably the most multiethnic spot of all, Mjølnerparken. Closer to city center, Nørrebro has bunches of places to go out and coffee shops and cheaper food options. As you go further from the city center it gets less wealthy and more populated by immigrant families. My neighborhood, Mjølnerparken, is actually a complex of four big apartment buildings that are the Danish version of “the projects”. Here’s an aerial photo of the complex:
In the media this place has been spoken of as the ‘ghetto’ but that word choice is highly contentious, extremely racially loaded, and completely far off from reality. As I sit on the balcony of the apartment where I am staying I can see a woman putting out laundry. She’s wearing a veil. That’s really what it comes down to. In the courtyard I see a guy helping his friend fix a bike and about 20 kids running around playing in the jungle gym. Hardly that terrifying if you ask me. Anytime there is a WHIFF of crime or trouble in this area it is front page news. So much so that Danish politicians have made a show of going to visit the neighborhood. And others (Pia Kjærsgaard of Dansk Folkeparti) publicly say that they are too afraid to go here. Here are some politicians 'visiting':
Østerbro - Øster meaning "Eastern". Unsurprisingly it is to the east of Nørrebro, along the coast. It is a more calm neighborhood. Definitely a place to raise your kids. The huge city stadium and one of the biggest parks Fælledsparken is there as well. This is where I stayed with Thomas for the first week. He's always complaining that it's not 'edgy' enough and that the only thing remarkable about it is the high number of grocery stores you can find there. It's nice though!
Amager - this is the island south of the rest of the city.... Morten lives here and we had our staff welcoming dinner there at his house but that's the most I've really been there. Pretty residential / isolated. I actually have hung out along the huge canal on the Amager side but that's it. We'll see if that changes or not!
And then there are other little neighborhoods within neighborhoods of course, and places on the periphery like Hellerup (POSH) north of Østerbro and Valby south of Vesterbro... but I can't claim to know much about it all beyond that. Hahah except i took my bus WAY too far past my stop yesterday almost to the next county. Nice sight seeing at least. Hej hej for now!
But to Constitution day! We went to a Ny-Dansk (New Dane) youth council celebration that featred local rappers and reggae artists as well as politicians such as the Minister for Integration and the Minister for Religion and Equality. They gave rather white bread talks but it was super cool to see them there in my neighborhood.... which you will read more about below and hopefully see why it was interesting to have the mainstream Danish political set present.
One of the program participants was a founding member of the Republican Movement in Denmark - which has nothing to do with American Republicanism as understood today. It's all about arguing about the state of democracy in Denmark and against the monarchy because it is so extremely undemocratic to preference certain people because of their birth. Not to mention pretty fiscally irresponsible to give them so much money when Denmark is in the red. The core argument though is that the constitution gives the Monarchy too much power and this flies in the face of Danish political values enshrined in the welfare state. In short, it is outdates. Maybe fine in 1849 when the constitution was officially written, but certainly unsuited for today. Technically no law is in force unless the Queen approves it. The Danish monarchy has significantly more power than the British monarchy because it's not just a verbally "understood" relationship between the crown and Parliament - the Constitution actually vests sovereignty in the Monarch. So. Constitution day. A bit of a big day for the Republican Movement folks.
Thought I'd write about København neighborhoods! Or at least my take on them… might be interesting to look back on once I've lived here for a while.
Indre by – City Center, or literally “Inner City” but it has NONE of the connotations of an American inner city. This is the old part of town where you’ll find churches, castles, Parliament, the old stock exchange, and Nyhavn (the famous canal that is just crawling with picturesque boats and Danish flags and colorful canal-front houses). It’s very pretty and fun to walk around though of course the streets are very much pre-motor vehicle so it’s easy to get taken downstream to the wrong end point when you’re on a bike. Also prohibitively expensive place to eat or do anything really.
Here's a photo of me in Indre by taken at Distortion, which I wrote about a few days ago:
Vesterbro – “Vester” means Western. This is one of the ‘hip’ neighborhoods to live. Lots of artists, coffee shops, a totally different feel to the streets – a bit more close together. This is one of the places where communities of immigrants live because housing is less expensive. The old meat packing district was hear… today that’s a cool place to go for bars and dancing because the big warehouses have been converted.
Fredriksberg – A fancier neighborhood northeast of Vesterbro…. lots of pretty gardens and expensive apartments and nice schools. Part of Fredricksberg is literally in a different municipality than the rest of København because they’re the wealthiest and have their own system of garbage collection and recycling going, etc. Very strange to find that out because it doesn’t seem to fit with the Danish mentality… I will try to learn more.
Nørrebro – Nørre means North. Sensing a pattern!??! I thought the neighborhoods and streets were so clever last year until I learned what it all meant. Really quite factual and unimaginative… Danish itself is the spicy thing. This is THE most multiethnic place in all of Denmark. And I live in probably the most multiethnic spot of all, Mjølnerparken. Closer to city center, Nørrebro has bunches of places to go out and coffee shops and cheaper food options. As you go further from the city center it gets less wealthy and more populated by immigrant families. My neighborhood, Mjølnerparken, is actually a complex of four big apartment buildings that are the Danish version of “the projects”. Here’s an aerial photo of the complex:
In the media this place has been spoken of as the ‘ghetto’ but that word choice is highly contentious, extremely racially loaded, and completely far off from reality. As I sit on the balcony of the apartment where I am staying I can see a woman putting out laundry. She’s wearing a veil. That’s really what it comes down to. In the courtyard I see a guy helping his friend fix a bike and about 20 kids running around playing in the jungle gym. Hardly that terrifying if you ask me. Anytime there is a WHIFF of crime or trouble in this area it is front page news. So much so that Danish politicians have made a show of going to visit the neighborhood. And others (Pia Kjærsgaard of Dansk Folkeparti) publicly say that they are too afraid to go here. Here are some politicians 'visiting':
Østerbro - Øster meaning "Eastern". Unsurprisingly it is to the east of Nørrebro, along the coast. It is a more calm neighborhood. Definitely a place to raise your kids. The huge city stadium and one of the biggest parks Fælledsparken is there as well. This is where I stayed with Thomas for the first week. He's always complaining that it's not 'edgy' enough and that the only thing remarkable about it is the high number of grocery stores you can find there. It's nice though!
Amager - this is the island south of the rest of the city.... Morten lives here and we had our staff welcoming dinner there at his house but that's the most I've really been there. Pretty residential / isolated. I actually have hung out along the huge canal on the Amager side but that's it. We'll see if that changes or not!
And then there are other little neighborhoods within neighborhoods of course, and places on the periphery like Hellerup (POSH) north of Østerbro and Valby south of Vesterbro... but I can't claim to know much about it all beyond that. Hahah except i took my bus WAY too far past my stop yesterday almost to the next county. Nice sight seeing at least. Hej hej for now!
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