Denmark’s New York

Here Steffan Todorovic and Peter Mikkelsen sits in front of a big graffity painting, which together with the sign with the words ”on air” decorates the walls . They are both on the board of Aalborg Student Radio, that offers entertainment and information in danish and english to the students of the city.

In their opinion the international students are generally happy in Aalborg. Steffan, who comes from Odense, believes that Aalborg is the most active city in Denmark when it comes to integrating these students.

- I know that the Student Council in Copenhagen asks how they manage to do so well, he says and Peter continues:

- I recently heard that Aalborg is called ”The Danish New York”. There is always an open bar and easygoing people from all around the world.

Steffan also highlights the good opportunities for volunteer work. A lot of International Students use a lot of their time at Aalborg Student Radio and The Student House for example. Through volunteer work they get in contact with both danes and other foreigners.

- Everyone knows each other. It is a lot about sharing what you know and taking part in the activities of others, Steffan says.

Lasse Frimand Jensen, member of the city council and the council of education for the Social Democrats in Aalborg Municipality, is also happy with the city’s approachability towards international students.

- We are good at welcoming them, also at a human level. Aalborg is not that big a city, and that makes things more personal, he says.

He thinks, however, that the Danes needs to better at including the international students in the Danish Community. From his experience there is often a large division between the two groups.

- We have to be better at taking them by the arm and ask: do you want to go to this event?, he says.

Lasse Frimand Jensen had a lot to do with international students when he himself was studying at the university. Together they arranged movie nights and common dinners, where each participant brought a dish from his or her home country.

Lasse Frimand Jensen knows that international students can have a tendency to seek and stick to their own.

- But you also go to another country to meet new people. There is a commitment from the international students to meet Danes, and there have to be one from the Danes as well, he says.

He suggest that Aalborg Municipality creates oppertunities for Danes and Internationals to meet and teach each other their native language. In this regard he also thinks that it is worth to look at how to make the Language Schools more flexible to accommodate the often busy everyday of the International Students.

Danish or english?

Lasse Frimand Jensen thinks that Aalborg University and University College Nordjylland is doing a good work of providing its International Students with information about Aalborg, and The International Office of the University and the Ambassadors of UCN are making sure that help is always near.

- But I understand, you wonder what is going on, when you arrive during Aalborg in Red, and you don’t know what it is.

He thinks that it is worth to examine the possibility of creating a local media in line with Copenhagen Post, a weekly newspaper in english with news from Denmark and especially Copenhagen. Another possibily is to provide more air time for Aalborg Student Radio, which Lasse Frimand Jensen praises for its efforts to provide information to international students about what is going on in Aalborg.

According to Leysha Savoy from Canada, who is responsible for communications at Aalborg Student Radio, the radio is always considering which way to go next. Should it for example offer more local news? Last year during the Municipality Election some of the Radio’s volunteers interviewed the local Politicians of Aalborg.

- But in order to cover local politics you have to have people that firstly are interested in it, secondly understands what is going on and lastly can translate it so that the international students can understand it too, she says.

In that regard it means something that only five of the 30 volunteers at the radio are danish. The radio started in 1996 and was made international just a couple of years ago to accomodate the higher number of International Students. Until then the content was offered only in danish. Now the radio has eight shows in english and just two in danish. According to Leysha Savoy the Radio is one of the City’s only offers, if you seek information in english.

Peter Mikkelsen thinks that Aalborg Student Radio mostly adresses english speaking danish and international students. But even if the Radio is now international, the danish is not to be forgotten. Peter tells that the radio wants to have more shows in danish to make it more interesting to danish listeners.

- Danish or English? That is definitely one of the challenges, we are facing, Steffan says.