Two Thursdays ago, my Migration and Identity class went on a field study to Malmö and Göteborg in Sweden. In class, we compare Danish and Swedish migration and integration policies and this trip served as an opportunity for us to look at them on a closer level. Our first stop was Rosengård, a "ghetto" in Malmö. The word ghetto is deceptive, though; it looks like any reasonably well-off, middle-class neighborhood I've ever seen. I think the only reason it is referred to as a ghetto is because over 60% of the population was born outside of Sweden. Specifically, we visited Tegelhuset, or The Brickhouse, which is an after-school program for Rosengård's youth. The speakers were very good (as were the cookies they served us). I found it especially interesting that Rosengård employs people who are more or less professional neighborhood watchers. Between these pro neighborhood watchers, all 50-some languages (or sumpin crazy like that!) are spoken, and the gap between the ethnic population and the public services in the city such as the fire and police department is bridged a bit more.
Anyhowz, after that, we visited the Red Cross House of Humanity in downtown Malmö and then walked around a little bit. We stopped by this super good cafe for lunch, and it was waaay cheaper than in Denmark!
Anyhowz, after that, we visited the Red Cross House of Humanity in downtown Malmö and then walked around a little bit. We stopped by this super good cafe for lunch, and it was waaay cheaper than in Denmark!
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| Made this picture X-TRA LARGE so you can appreciate the texture of the avocado and brie sandwich and the mousse pastry. give me more now, plz. |
But while food in Sweden may be cheaper, their alcohol policies = ridiculous. The lady at 7-Eleven told us that you need your passport for identification. Um, what the heck, SVERIGE? Did I take a bridge from Copenhagen to the US or something? Oh, and I forgot to mention that before this 7-Eleven debacle, our professor took us to this French restaurant where we were showered with bottles of wine and salads and then took us to a micro-brewery across the street where we were showered with hops. Europeans have a very different view on education.
But I'm getting ahead of myself again. A few weeks without blawgin and I'm all over the place! Before the 7-Eleven and French restaurant and entire intoxicated class, we took a bus from Malmö to Göteborg. On the bus, we watched a movie by Fatih Akin called "Head-On" in English and something else in German. It was a good, though pretty heavy, movie about Turkish immigrants living in Germany. We also had this super-good Danish candy that is sweet on the outside and filled with salt. Gets u erry time! In Denmark, they have Big Salt Candy Mountain. Anyway, I'm totes bringing some back to the US with me. ERRY TIME!
In Göteborg, we visited the Museum of World Culture. It was a very interesting museum. They attempt to avoid ethnography (whether or not they actually succeed is another matter), so they have no constant exhibitions. We saw an exhibition on the legitimacy of museums' collections of foreign culture/whose culture belongs to whom; specifically, the Göteborg Museum of World Culture put its collection of Paracas textiles on display and extended an offer to the Peruvians to reclaim possession the textiles. We also visited an exhibition that confronts migration and movement around the world. It had a very powerful collection of abandoned items found at the US-Mexico border. I would have pictures, buuuuuutttttt...
Since everything Apple I've ever owned lets me down at some point in time, many of my pictures were lost with the S.S. Jordy's iPhone when it sank in the sea of fail.
Luckily, diving teams were able to recover some from the wreckage of the S.S. Jordy's iPhone! Yayyy!
So after the museum, we visited the University of Göteborg and had a roundtable discussion with a professor there and then went to the French restaurant and all that fun began, but this is starting to come full-circle which is kind of cheesy so here r sum pix!
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| We went on a boat tour in Go:teborg and had to duck our heads when we went through the CHEESE GR8R, a super low bridge. |
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| Sweden just had its national election yesterday -- The Swedish People's Party lost 24 Hitler-moustache-clad seats in Parliament On the way back 2 Copenhagz, we stopped by the Varberg/Getteröns Nature Reserve and kayaked in the Kattegat + ate wild blackberries + chatted about our trip! It was a pretty awesome weekend, and all I can say now is that our study tour 2 Turkey should be legen - wait, if you r lactose intolerant, you might want to stop reading cuz the next part of the word is - DAIRY! We also visited an open-air flea market in Frederiksberg that was super awesome, and afterwards we got pizza which was equall awesome but also delicious.  Half of my pictures so far have been of food. Hmmm.  FATALITY! Another X-TRA LARGE picture of food to push the balance in favor of food-related pictures! Sanct Peders Bageri, one of my favorite bakeries/producers of delish chocolate cinnamon snails since 1652. On Wednesdays, we don't have classes to allow for us to go on study tours. Two Wednesdays ago, my Danish (Dansk!) class went on a boat-tour of Copenhagen. Luckily, I saved most of these pix before the day that Apple failed me (for, like, the twentieth time).  Opportunistic picture of Nyhavn, tour boat railing and all.  Ditto.  Water reflected on the Black Diamond Library! Craaay-cray!  Whoever made this bridge clearly loves Star Wars  Church o da Savior  Danish Royal Fam's pad!!~~  Reeeeaaaaaalllllll funny, Denmark. After our boat tour, we paid a visit to the National Museum. The highlight of this experience was definitely when our elderly professor explained the sale of "mar-jahna" in Christiania to us. Let'z see. This past Thursday, Lauren, Rachel, Peter and I went to see The New Pornographers and The Morning Benders at Loppen in Christiania. We ate at a lil' cafe first and tried to get the cafe pup to come say hi, but he was too shy =[ . The show itself was pretty amazing. I was especially blown away by The Morning Benders and got a poster FO FREE! I was also blown away by how old The New Pornographers are now. I thought rock stars stayed, like the Alphaville song and Mel Gibson movie, forever young. Either way, it was an amazing show! And I would definitely recommend seeing both groups if the opportunity ever arises!  Yesterday, my Danish class went on another field trip to the F.C. København - Brøndby I.F. soccer match. The game itself was pretty intense, and the Brøndby fans got pretty rowdy! They lit chairs on fire in the stands and threw firecrackers onto the field like a bunch of hooooooligans!   Firecrackers in the stands  aaaannnnddd firecrackers on da field!  ~~sunday nite lites!!!~! Okay, that'z all I can think of 4 now, so I'ma end w/ sum more pix!  Clearly, there's some kind of envy here... A real American could eat that tiny ice cream cone in ONE. BITE.  Pretty please with jell-o cheesecake and gold on top?  and, to end, some of the cows who live on the farm next to Krogerup and greet us when we get back from the train station because much like the Wu-Tang Clan, they ain't nuttin 2 fuck w/! |
