Denmark News

I am not intending for this to be a daily news update.

Senior Citizens Help Young Expats Learn Danish - Sept 13, 2011

I read this story in Politiken last week and thought what a brilliant idea! Here is the story in Danish and below I will let you know what it is about. You can copy and paste it into google translate to get the complete story.

"Pensionister lærer unge indvandrere dansk

Pensionister i Gladsaxe har meldt sig som frivillige til at lære unge indvandrere om dansk sprog og kultur.

Det danske sprog kan være en hård nød at knække, når det ikke er kommet ind med modersmælken. Svært, men ikke umuligt. Det har fået Susan Rasmussen, der underviser på Gladsaxe Ungdomsskole, til at gå utraditionelt til værks.

Hun har trodset både sproglige og kulturelle barrierer og iværksat et projekt, hvor pensionerede ældre skal hjælpe unge indvandrere med at opnå en højere dansk sprog- og kulturfærdighed gennem en såkaldt venskabsordning..

»Mange af vores elever taler ikke godt nok dansk til at kunne gå i en almindelig folkeskole. Derfor er det er virkelig nødvendigt, at vi gør alt, hvad vi kan for at give dem et godt sprog«, siger Susan Rasmussen.

Pensionisterne og de unge er blevet smedet sammen to og to. Håbet er, at der opstår et venskab mellem de to fra hver deres generation.

»Jeg håber, kemien mellem de to parter er god nok til, at venskabet kan vokse sig til noget stort. Der stilles lokaler til rådighed her i Ungdomsskolen, men ellers er det meningen, at de selv laver aftaler sammen om for eksempel lektiehjælp eller madlavning«, siger hun.

»Unge mennesker gør mig glad« Det var gennem en annonce i et seniorblad, at Otto Jarl først hørte om projektet. Han var ikke sen til at springe på vognen.

»Unge mennesker gør mig glad, de holder mig i gang. Og derudover bryder jeg mig bestemt ikke om den måde, vi behandler vores nye indbyggere på her i Danmark«, pointerer han.

Projektet, der stadig er helt nyt, omfatter indtil videre syv unge og seks ældre. Bliver det en succes, både set med unge og ældre øjne, vil Susan Rasmussen arbejde for, at flere venskaber bliver sat i søen."

The news story is about a lady named Susan Rasmussen who teaches at the Gladsaxe Ungdomsskole, who has decided to connect senior citizens with young immigrants/expats/students, who need help learning Danish and adjusting to Danish culture. It is project which is designed to help those students who can not speak well enough to be attend a normal Danish school. Since, it is a pilot project, it is starting with 6 mentors and 7 students enrolled at this time.

I really hope this is a success and more schools and municipalities will implement such a scheme. It is great for senior citizens who want to be a bit active and get involved and for the young expat, it is a wonderful way to meet the Danes, get help with the language and feel a bit more comfortable with the culture.

Nice to see something positive like this! Kudos to Ms. Rasmussen and her volunteers.

Fines on Trains Have Been Revamped

DSB, the Danish Railroad System, has revamped their fine structures for people who are caught riding on their trains without a ticket. It use to be that if you were caught without a ticket, you would get a fine for 750DKK.

Well, now, if it is your first offence, you will be made to pay for a ticket on the spot and pay a more reasonable 100DKK fine.

If you get caught a second time, you will be paying the 750DKK fine. Last year DSB lost over 50 million kroner in ticket sales due to people riding illegally on their trains.

People complain about the rising cost of tickets, but if people continue to cheat, than they have to recoup their losses by raising prices. Please do not ride without a ticket - let's all pay our way and maybe we can keep the ticket prices down.

If you know someone is riding illegally, you should them report them to DSB.

Of course if you just forget, than the 100DKK fine is more reasonable than paying 750DKK for an oversite!

Marmite Banned in Denmark

You would think Denmark has more to worry about than banning something like Marmite! Me, I personally would rather put motoroil on y toast than Marmite. Wait ..it might be the same thing? The reason behind the ban is that Marmite violates the regulations over vitamin-fortified produce. Whatever that may mean.

Hey it was good enough to help POWs survive the camps due to the high concentration of vitamin B, but not good enough for the Danes! Let me people make their own decision. I mean how many people actually eat it. Even most Brits don't like it, but to ban it ... gee let's go overboard. Will someone get fined for bringing it in the country? Is it like bringing in drugs?

Is this something that is going to spread? Not Marmite but other products.

Food Warning! Beware of German Vegetables

Warning has come from the Veterninary and Food Administration in Denmark, that some vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce coming from Northern Germany may be contanimated with a bateria. This warning also applies to Spanish grown cucumbers.

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Authorities are warning you to discard any vegetables you might think come from that region or at least to cook them well. Washing is not a cure for destroying the bacteria, but cooking them may to do the job. Best to toss if in doubt.

Stores have already started removing any products from their shelves.

New Undersea Tunnel to Link Denmark and Germany

It was just announced last week that the final technical details for the massive undersea tunnel Fehmarn Tunnel in Lolland Falster has been completed. The tunnel which will be based in Rødbyhavn and go to Germany is a great news for the region of Denmark, which has a high unemployment rate.

The tunnel will run below the 19 kilometer wide Fehmarn Belt Strait with both a 4 lane motorway and also a 2 track railway line running alongside. The project is expected to be completed by 2020 and create 1000s of jobs in the region.

Another first for Denmark, since this is considered one of the largest road constructions job in Europe.

Border Control to be reinstated

The government is saying that it is to better control criminal activity like drug dealing and illegal immigration, but that is not the true reason. Denmark is losing money in taxes, when people cross the border to shop.

Also a lot has been made about littering of beverage cans. Since there is no "pant" on imported containers, they are left on the side of roadways and in the forests. In Denmark you pay pant on most beverage containers, which is refunded when the bottles are returned to the stores. This keeps them from being litter.

The European Union is trying to put a stop to these plans and has told Denmark that it is a violation of the EU Freedom of Movement laws.

If this passes in Denmark, many other countries may follow suit and that could destroy Schengen.

2012 Girod'Italia is Coming to Herning, Jutland, Denmark

Another Denmark Environmental Blunder: Carbon Emissions

A recent study has shown that Denmark is producing exceedingly high carbon dioxide emissions from their waste to energy incinerators due to the high amounts of plastic waste.

The amounts are almost double the amount allowed by the Kyoto Protocal. If Denmark just starting recycling more (instead of calling waste to energy recycling). That is not recycling. Recycling is turning waste products into new reusable products, helping to preserve natural resources and not just burning them.

Shame on Denmark for again for their environmental habits.

If you want to keep up with Denmark News , check out some of the local papers in both Danish and English. Many can be found online or can be subscribed to at very low cost.

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