It’s crazy that we haven’t had an ‘Expat of the Year’ before.
One of the problems is the word ‘expat’. A lot of people don’t like it. Expats are foreigners who know that one day they will return to their home country, but many move to Denmark who are open to the idea of staying forever. ‘Immigrant’ is a more accurate term, they point out.
But when the Danes refer to immigrants and use the term ‘immigrants’, they are not referring to love refugees from e.g. Great Britain, the USA and other Western European countries that have ended up settling in Denmark, regardless of what happened to them. the first ‘love’ that brought them here.
Instead, they mainly refer to immigrants from non-Western countries and, rather uncharitably, all their descendants. So ‘Immigrant of the Year’ would be misunderstood in Denmark. So ‘Expat of the Year’ that’s it.
Anything but the Oscars…
As the anniversary line-up on page 23 shows, many of us have obviously decided to stay forever – which is good news and bad news, I guess.
Bad news for xenophobic Danes, of course, and bad news because the international community’s death toll is rising. Soon we will have to start having an ‘In Memorandum’ section. Please, let’s not stay for the Oscars.
And good news, because Denmark’s capital is becoming increasingly diverse. Most would agree that Copenhagen was something of a village before 2007, but that its rapid internationalization has transformed the city into a beacon of progressiveness we are all proud to call home.
It is time to pay tribute to the internationals who have helped make Copenhagen great.
EXPAT ANNIVERSARY OF THE YEAR
Stuart Lynch: 10
(photo: Benny Thaibert, bitamin.dk)
Is it really a decade ago that the renowned butoh dancer became headmaster at Copenhagen’s Film & Theater School. Some might have thought they were taking a risk on the British-Australian theater man, but he has defied their expectations and led the school firmly into the 21st century with a holistic approach to the curriculum, producing actors ready for anything the industry throws at them can throw themselves over. them.
The Globe Pub: 25
“Our first show coincided with The Globes opening night! So, with most of the crowd taking up my offer of a pint next door, we arrived to an almost empty bar, after which Brian [McKenna] the landlord almost fell off his barstool,” That Theatre’s Ian Burns recalled of the pub’s debut in 1997. Contrast that scene with January 12, when 37 teams came to do battle in the pub’s fortnightly pub quiz – drunk to the brim, no barstools in sight, though Brian is still there, serving pints with the energy of the best bartender this side of the Mississippi.
The theatre: 25
(photo: Hasse Ferrold)
It’s certainly an incredible achievement, especially when you consider that for 18 consecutive years the company has completed two one-month races. Had it not been for the pandemic, the record would still be running thanks to the well-oiled machine that artistic director Ian Burns has established. Dedication is an understatement in his case: in his 44 years as a professional actor, he has only taken one night off after sustaining a nasty laceration to his head. The play in question? Blood brothers!
CPH Celtic: 40
Celtic FC was founded in 1887 by Irish immigrants in Glasgow and is known all over the world – less is its namesake in Copenhagen, an umbrella for all internationals, which began life almost a century later thanks to the industry of an Irish chef named Coogan . “We asked about football first, for references later,” he recalled to a room full of former and current players in late October. It is a legacy that the references will continue far into the future.
London Toast: 40
It was supposed to end in 2017. That was the plan: to call it a day after 35 years of pleasing the Copenhagen audience. But the Crazy Christmas Cabaret crowd made their feelings known: London Toast co-founders husband and wife Søren Hall and Vivienne McKee were wrong to say goodbye when they had so much more to give. But were they: had they pulled back, the pandemic would have been a mild annoyance rather than a crippling disaster – both 2020 and 2021 were years they’d rather forget. So it was only fitting that 2022, their 40th year, was such a triumph for the cabaret and also for McKee personally, earning her the CPH Culture Award for Best Actress for her joyous turn in ‘Shirley Valentine’.
‘In Memorandum’
Stephen Gadd
It was with great poignancy at the end of July that we realized that Stephen Gadd, our journalist and friend, had died at the age of 64 after a long battle with cancer. In his penultimate column in March, Stephen talked about the lyrics to Paul McCartney’s song ‘When I’m 64’ and it’s sad to think that when Stephen was born in 1957 it was a respectable age to live to, but that today is a young age to die. Stephen will be missed by all who knew him.
Source: The Nordic Page
