I’m having an affair...

Sorry, blog, but I am spending most my time with Facebook now, an even more fragmented way of communicating, “shouting out” my occupations, my daily life and invitations for social events...

I’m having an affair... This brilliant opening is inspired by this blogpost, that explains exactly why there has been such a long hiatus in the search for pieces all over the world, for the treasure hunt of friends..

“I was doing my usual daily blog reading last week when I came across one of those posts, “I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while…”. We all know the posts and typically I just skim right through them and move on. This post got me thinking though. The author explained his absence was due to him spending too much time on other projects. All of the sudden, I knew what was happening; I knew the signs. This guy was cheating on his website, and so was I.”


Well, another post today then. A bit more serious than the opening… Actually, I am having a bit the same feeling as around 10 years ago in the Netherlands.

Why? The Danish election results. They underline and confirm once again something that was worrying me for quite a while: that the suffocating, vile and poisonous way of working of the Danisg People’s Party is rubbing off on too many here.
They just got too many votes, and that worries me deeply.

We had the discussion at work: the challenge lies in communicating and through that making clear what the consequences are of such political statements as their nauseating party is throwing around.

Why does it remind me of the Netherlands? Well, 10 years ago a feeling was growing in me that the general tendency of the country was one of cynicism, negativity and biting & frustrated sarcasm. I felt less and less at home in a country that didn’t seem to be able to grasp and grapple the issues of the day, and the downward spiral I could see around me helped in confirming my choice of moving to Denmark.
…How little did I know that it would descend into a paranoid, xenophobic, and antagonistic society that was scared of anything out of the ordinary, after the murder of a politician and a film maker, culminating in being led by some backward closed-minded fundamentalist Christians, who stick their head in the sand and think back of the good old days of the 50s, were they perceive there were no threats (“when a nuclear bomb hits, hide under the table and turn on your radio!”), no societal changes and were there were a lot less communication channels through which those damn citizens could vent their unhappiness…

Aaaaaaaanyway…

Right now, with the current state of affairs on Denmark I almost feel like moving again… what was voted for was a status-quo, pretending no changes have happened in the Danish society in the last 5 years, as if everything will run along merrily without taking in consideration any of the world-wide developments (notice how I avoid the word ‘globalisation’ here).

Still, there is a huge difference in the situation between the Netherlands back then, and Denmark right now. There seems a great movement going on, both online and offline, and a significant portion of the Danish society seems troubled by the results, even those that voted for the current government have that gut feeling that there is ‘something rotten in the state of Denmark’ (I just had to use that cliché).

So, will we manage to clearly explain to ourselves and to those who voted for that People’s Party what the consequences are of their vote, of their vote for that suffocating, wet-blanket feeling of ‘tryghed’ (security is half-assed translation of that word)? Will we be able to drag their heads out of the sand and show that there is more outside the safe borders of their precious little fairytale-induced Denmark than they think?
It’s interesting to notice how the internal and external branding of the country has created a distorted image of reality, of the self-perception of Denmark and the Danes. Everyone believes in their traditional foods, sunny summerdays at the family summerhouse, flags waving, kids playing at the beach, etc etc… (you know all the tourist images).
There are huge local differences to take into consideration however: my grandmothers’ village in Vendsyssel or Nørrebrogade, it is several worlds apart, and yet both very much part of the same country…

I am wondering about the next months, but no matter what it will be interesting!

2007 has mostly been crap for me, seriously crap, with some very close experiences of the results of the current government on the welfare system, and am constantly reminded of the ridiculous immigration policies here, that are so tight they basically only hurt the ones they shouldn’t be hurting…
I have been in Denmark for more than 8 years now, and I guess my housewarming said it all… 100 people, and you had to search out the Danes with a magnifying glass ☺

Oh well… things are a-changin', for me personally things have turned upside down for the better, and for Denmark... well, we're working on it (whoever we might be)!