Running in the land of lycra

In Denmark the question is not whether you jog or not, it is if you jog enough.

I’m going to put my hand up and admit that I am a newly converted jogger. I have bought a set of tight lycra jogging pants, together with a special jogging shirt and jacket, and I spend my Sunday afternoon beating a path around the local forest, and feeling more and more integrated with each stride in my well fitting trousers.

Me stretching out after my run in the local forest.

Jogging is a very Danish past time, it seems that most Danes run to a certain extent, which was a something I wasn’t used to in Australia, where in my opinion only the most extreme fitness buffs jogged. In Denmark everyone from small children to serious marathon runners and all the way up to pensioners with too much time on their hands, enjoy the benefits of jogging.

Since moving to Denmark I tried several times to start jogging regularly, but now it has definitely stuck in my weekly routine, and I’m feeling very Danish about it.

Many of my colleagues at work are very enthusiastic about jogging. The conversation at the lunch table the other day consisted of light hearted boasting about best jogging times over 5km. Boasting is quite rare among Danes, who are usually very down to earth by nature, but when it comes to jogging, it seems to get personal.

So now I’ve joined the jogging club, it seems to be a good ‘ice breaker’ for conversation, to discuss where and when you jog, and aside from the obvious physical and mental benefits of exercise, jogging also gives me the ability to enjoy the fantastic Danish forests, which as illustrated by the picture below, underlines the perks to jogging in Denmark.

With a forest this amazing around the corner, why wouldn’t you jog?

City of Smiles frowns upon facism

Aarhus’ slogan for many years was ‘The city of smiles’, but for a brief moment on the 31st of March 2012, fear and anger was the agenda of the day, as a gathering of anti-Islamic groups from all over Europe threatened to tear down the reputation of this cosy Danish city.

Fortunately for Aarhus, the Aarhus Counter-Jihad Meeting failed to have the impact it had hoped for, as only around 200 people attended the rally, supported by the extreme right group, the English Defence League.

Most inspiring was the presence of over 5000 anti-demonstrators, who rallied around the banner ‘Aarhus for diversity’, and stole the day from the fascists, and restoring the pride of Aarhus and Denmark.

Danish immigration laws could loosen, but only for westerners like me

All countries are equal, but (when it comes to immigrating to Denmark) some countries are more equal than others.

Danish immigration minister Søren Pind has conceded that there may be some changes made to the way migration into Denmark is handled, the first sign of a change in direction of the present government, which has been tightening immigration since 2001.

I read the story in the Copenhagen Post, and at first glance the news is positive. The idea is to make it easier for people coming from developed countries such as USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, which for me sounds really great.

Separating the immigrants who come to Denmark into categories will definitely be in my favour. For too long those in Denmark opposed to immigration (chiefly Danish People’s Party) have managed to bundle all foreigners into one pile and rhetorically claim that the sum of foreigners is costing the Danish state millions of kroner each year.

As the politicians rake mud, China invests in Australian renewable potential

I’m getting sick and tired of reading all the dramatic headlines about how disastrous the carbon tax is going to be for the Australian economy. Every day I take a look at The Australian online and see some more scaremongering about how costs will go up, jobs will go and Australia will be up shit creek without a paddle.

Whilst the politicians (primarily Tony Abbott assisted by the Oz) are banging on about how bad everything will be, let me point out one thing. What the market really needs, is a little more certainty. Nobody is going to make any serious investment in renewable energy whilst there is so much uncertainty about whether there will be a price on carbon or not.

Obviously I have an agenda in this debate, but I was shocked when I found out that two Chinese power companies, China Datang Renewable Power Co. and Baoding Tianwei Baobian Electric Co have signed on to develop $6 billion worth of renewable energy projects in Australia, in a joint venture with Australian company CBD Energy Ltd.

Bloomberg has reported that the group, which will be known as AusChina Energy Group, and will develop 1.5 Gigawatts of renewable energy projects over the next two years, in both wind and solar energy.

Several things strike me from this announcement. The first thing is that clearly there is business potential for renewable energy in Australia, the second is that the Chinese based companies will be reaping over 75% of the profits, and the third most damning point is that the Chinese companies will be supplying all the equipment, which means GREEN JOBS! That’s right people, there are jobs in green energy, contrary to the big business and union scare campaigns about the threat of job losses as a result of the carbon tax.

The most unfortunate thing about this is that the profit and jobs will be going overseas to China.

Wake up Australia, it’s time to grasp the opportunity to invest in a cleaner, more sustainable future. Not trying to look at the risks, let’s look at the potential we can get from going green.

Read more about the story here, where you can also watch the video.

(The views expressed here are entirely my own, and are not influenced by my job)

Support Gus (and rationality!)

Gus Murray is an Australian living in Denmark with his Danish girlfriend. His situation is pretty similar to my own, so when I heard he was being kicked out for some minor debt repayment issues, I felt the need to spread the word and get these ridiculous immigration rules overturned.

Gus holds two Masters’ degrees and is an entrepreneur with an impressive profile of eduction and jobs from around the world.

During a period of three months of unemployment he took a small loan called Starthjælp from Copenhagen’s Municipality. But owing to some bureaucratic confusion, he was told to pay back the money, which he did.

Germany: the Danish beer market

Beer is a big part of Danish culture, but unfortunately for Danes, tax is also a big part of the culture, and tax on alcohol is of one of those which is always rising, keeping beer pretty expensive.

So the entrepreneurial Danes have decided to get in their cars, with trailers towed behind, drive down to Germany and stock up on as much beer as they can take back with them.

Until recently I had heard about this little trick to avoid the tax on beer, but figured it was something passed along quietly by word of mouth, and only done by those most daring individuals. I had myself paid 75 Danish Kroner for 30 German beers (a ridiculously low price by any standards) but beer is now bought on far greater quantities than 30 at a time.

The German city of Flensburg is situated just across the border (it used to be part of Denmark and the border is fairly fluid, with many living close speaking both Danish and German). To accommodate for the Danish customers (with trailers) the Germans have allowed a multitude of Danish stores to operate on the German side of the border, complete with Danish flags, Danish staff and Danish products with prices in kroners.

One such store we visited on the way through Germany was Fleggaard. There was nothing fancy about Fleggaard. It was a big (mainly food and drink) store packed to the ceiling with bulk purchases for thirsty and hungry Danes. The enthusiasm of my fellow shoppers was evident in the way everyone hurried around the store, quickly filling shopping carts with cut price items.

Some studies have shown that nearly fifty percent of Danes have crossed the border for cheaper prices. The government tries to cut down on this blatant example of tax avoidance, but so far hasn’t had any success.

A full Danish car

As someone who lived in an extremely isolated city for most of my life. The idea of shopping in another country is quite strange, but you can really understand why. The price of beer is just so much lower in Germany, as most of the products are either Danish, or the same as what Danes by in Denmark so there’s no difference in quality.

The really ironic thing is…the price of alcohol is even more expensive in Sweden and Norway. So in the summer, it’s fairly safe to assume that towns in northern Denmark will be filled with Swedes and Norwegians, getting drunk on ‘cheap’ Danish beer.

The exchange of ideas

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain

I had always wanted to go on student exchange, and now I have done it, I can’t recommend it highly enough to anyone I meet.

My parents gave me the travel bug from an early age, and there really is no cure…. only more traveling.

So when I found out my university was planning to send four budding young journo students to Europe, I was determined for one to be me.

I ended up in little Denmark, the most marvelous country in northern Europe (sorry Philip), and I loved every minute of it.

The whole experience was fantastic. I studied with some amazing young journalists from all over the world and met a great bunch of Danes who made my stay very enjoyable.

Some of the amazing young people from all over the world I had the pleasure of meeting and sharing views with.

But what capped it off for me was the exchange of ideas, values and cultures which I feel has strengthened not only my journalism, but also my whole personality.

Just debating with some friends about everything from goal-setting, sport and the nature of how lucky I am to be an Australian, with people from Denmark, Sweden, America and Switzerland really diversifies discussion.

I began to see just how many different ways to approach such simple problems there are out there.

It is a constant struggle around the world that we just can’t seem to understand why other people won’t do things our way.

I’m not pretending going on student exchange will solve the worlds many problems, but surely if we all knew more about just one other culture to our own, then world peace may not be such a distant dream.

I love the old saying, “Never judge somebody until you have walked a mile in their shoes”, it’s so simple and yet so relevant.

So if you may have heard from someone about student exchange and thought it sounded like one big party, well I have news for you….it is!

But this party is one of ideas, learning and open-mindedness.

Sure there is a lot of drinking and general revelry involved, but reflecting on my own exchange one year after it started I can feel how open minded I become to other ways of thinking, and it is wonderful!

So if you are a student and you hear the call of the world, put your hand up for exchange. It’s fun, you’ll meet great friends, learn new things and more importantly- you will learn that there is always another way of accomplishing almost anything.

Almost 24, but marriage isn’t an option in Denmark

In one month I will turn twenty four, the legal age for me (a foreigner) to get married in Denmark.

This is due to the 24  year rule which prohibits marriage between foreigners and Danes until both partners have turned twenty four. This represents the toughest family reunification laws in the world.

Until recently I thought this was fairly harsh, but now I have discovered that should I want to get married, there are even more hoops the government wants me to jump through.

Firstly I have to prove that we would have more connection to Denmark than to Australia. They want to know how well we both speak Danish, are connected to the Danish labour market and whether we have any family here. As I studied here last year, I should be able to prove this, but I dislike trying to justify why I should be allowed to live in Denmark. Shouldn’t my love for my girlfriend be enough?

Secondly we would need to be living together, but no, that’s not all. The government has made requirements for the size of the property. The total residential area must be no smaller than 20 square meters per person. I wonder how this number was generated and why it matters?

Thirdly my girlfriend can’t have received any government assistance (welfare) for the last three years, I don’t know if the student support counts, but I surely hope not! Maybe this matters in the case of welfare cheats, but why should it impair marriage?

Fourthly my girlfriend would have to pay the municipality 62,231 kroner to ‘compensate’ the state for having to cover the costs of my relocation to Denmark. I mean, I’ve only just graduated from university, this seems a little unfair to me.

Last but not least, the Danish spouse (my girlfriend) must not have committed a violent act against me or another partner in the last ten years. But I’m sure we wouldn’t be getting married if she was slapping me around, so I don’t see why this should impede our relationship.

Last year when I was studying at the journalism school I did a story on this subject.  We concluded the rule which is meant to stop forced marriage, is really a guise for making immigration to Denmark more difficult.

Unfortunately for me I am an casualty of this twenty four years rule. I mean I don’t want to be a welfare cheat, I would like to work and integrate into society. I have an education, but not enough money. I have a desire to learn Danish and to respect Danish culture, but whether that will be enough to convince the government of this is another matter.

I have heard that the Danish Peoples Party who are responsible for this law would like to raise the age to twenty eight, as it has been so successful at keeping out foreigners. Purely on selfish grounds I hope this won’t happen.

One day on Twitter and already cynical

Yesterday I joined Twitter, and after twenty four hours I am already suspicious about what is really going on in the mystical world of social media.

The basic idea behind Twitter is you follow people you are interested in and when they ‘tweet’ a comment, you get to read about it on your home page.

Now I’m interested in politics, sport and journalism. The first person I followed was Wil Anderson (Australia comedian and former journalist) as I think he’s pretty funny. I then followed several journalists, news sources, the mighty Arsenal FC and an assortment of Australian politicians.

Now I chose to follow both the recently re-elected Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Opposition leader Tony Abbott. I thought as a journalist it would be wise to make sure I hear the policies of both major parties before I retweeted anything absurd.

So this morning I was unpleasantly surprised  to find out Julia Gillard is now following me on Twitter!

From this I can only conclude one of two things. Either Julia Gillard is actually a robot, and therefore doesn’t need to sleep, thus giving her time to check her Twitter account and see what the  37, 267 people she is following have been tweeting. Or Julia Gillard has a small selection of her staff designated to managing her Twitter account for her.

Logic would hint at the latter of the two conclusions, but then it raises the question of why Julia Gillard wants her henchmen to monitor my tweets. I can see the logic of us (the voters) wanting to hear what Julia (our grand leader) is saying, but my own conclusion from my first day on Twitter is that politicians are using Twitter as a guise for polling, marketing as well as general lying and cheating.

The New York Times’ Noam Cohen writes, “Twitter — a microblogging tool that uses 140 characters in bursts of text — has become an important marketing tool for celebrities, politicians and businesses, promising a level of intimacy never before approached online.”

This doesn’t make me feel too confident about anything I read on Twitter in the near future, who knows how many tweets are actually written by ghost writers. If you think about it, social media is the perfect tool for politicians. They can speak directly to the voters without scrutiny from journalists. No one would know if they are posting or not so they are free to go about baby kissing whilst their public relations team churns out the tweets.

Of course not all tweets you read are like that. I’m sure most people do their own tweeting, but like my cynical former teacher Asbjørn Slot Jørgensen once told me, “If your mother tells you she loves you…..check it out!”

Am I a blogger, or a journalist?

As a blogger I am subject to no rules, ethical codes or deadlines (great!). I have no editor, no publisher and no boss. I get to write what I want, when I want. So I can hardly be called a journalist if by my own admission I am not playing by any of the normal rules of journalism.

Unfortunately the lines between blogging and journalism has grown more and more blurred. Anybody can start a blog, it’s free and really easy to use. With the internet reaching further and father than any physical publication, a blogger can spread the news just as fast as the power of any media mogul.

Fortunately I have a degree in journalism to back up my credibility as a blogger. Although this does not necessarily give me the right to consider my blog an example of journalism. After all, as Rebecca Blood, author of the Weblog Diary points out, “it is the practice that defines the practitioner, not the other way around.”

In this case I wish my blog to be as professional as possible as I value my credibility as journalist. But this is my blog, it is my opinion about my observations of the world around me. Blogging is simply news with a personal touch. Andrew Sullivan, the author of The Blogging Revolution says, “This personal touch is much more in tune with our current sensibilities than the opinionated magazines and newspapers of old.”

In my opinion blogging represents a new, more democratic form of journalism. It promotes citizen participation and encourages debate, rather than stifles it with the over-inflated ego of puffed up editors.

What some journalists have a problem with, is that there is no regulation to compare the good blogs with the bad blogs. Although this is hypocritical, as unlike medicine or law, every aspect of journalism is subjective. Nothing is black and white when it comes to reporting the news.

There are no real standards for journalism, but there are ethical codes which are supposed to be adhered by. These include fairness towards sources, double checking of facts and quotes and grammar and spell checking, especially of names (journalism 101: don’t misspell your source’s name!).

At a blogging and journalism conference at Havard University in 2005 it was agreed that, “It’s impossible and undesirable for anyone to set ‘ethical standards’ for bloggers, but it’s also clear that certain principles make it more likely for a blogger or a journalist to achieve higher credibility.”

Now there is no reason why a blogger can not follow these ‘rules’ any more so than a journalist. Just because I don’t have a editor and a fancy desk doesn’t mean my blog can’t be considered journalism. I feel that ultimately it will be the reader who decides if a blog is worthy to be considered journalism or not.

So like any journalist, a blogger is accountable to their readers. If the blog is rubbish, the reader will click away.

I hope you consider this blog to be a good example of journalism.

…now you can click away!