Megan Fisher is an American educator and author based in Aarhus.
Diversity is, in a sense, passive. It doesn’t require much effort. All it really takes is for people to show up. And because Denmark is beautiful and has so much good going on, people continue to do just that: attend.
One of our favorite spots is Aarhus Street Food. We eat there more often than we should because it’s a short walk from our apartment, the food is good, and the beer is good.
It’s communal seating with long tables and benches. A place where you can hear people’s voices clearly. We make a game to identify all languages spoken. There are a lot of them, some of which we haven’t figured out yet, but we love the sound of them.
This is where diversity comes into play. We are surrounded by bright and inspiring international people. I think this is even more true in Copenhagen.
However, inclusivity is something else entirely. It’s active. Needs work. Expats don’t automatically feel at home in their new place. To make this happen, we need people, policies and systems.
We’ve been here for almost two years. From what I’ve heard and read, our experience is nothing unusual.
We live in a building full of Danes in the city center. We go to shops and restaurants, open-air markets and parades, holiday events and festivals. Danes quickly switch to English when they hear our accent, but we try to speak Danish when ordering coffee or buying groceries.
We display the Danish flag at every celebration. We like to eat smørrebrød. It goes against every American instinct we have, but we try not to smile or make eye contact with strangers. For two years we have been trying to meet Danes where they are. We have two Danish friends.
I have applied for over 200 jobs in Denmark and have been unsuccessful so far. I’ve had three interviews with her, and my inbox is sadly filled with folders of rejection emails.
In addition to all these passes, often cryptic feedback also came. I was asked if I had ever considered marrying a Dane, as having a Danish surname “helps a lot” with the possibility of becoming Danish.
work.
One interviewer told me that he “liked my American enthusiasm,” but felt it “didn’t fit the Danish work culture.” List your master’s degree (I have two of his, both earned in the US) on your resume because most “employers here” consider a master’s degree equivalent to his one bachelor’s degree I was even told that I didn’t have to.
And while I still have both master’s degrees listed, I’ve completely rewritten my resume to reflect more Danish priorities, increased my LinkedIn presence, and added a neutral “Danish” for interviews. accepted the proposal to increase the number of clothes. I continued to apply day after day and was rejected one after another.
In short, we tried to integrate. But after two years of effort with little success, we can’t help but wonder. I wonder if anyone here actually wants us to do that?
If so, there is little sign of it. The company that hired my husband and asked him to immigrate provided assistance until he crossed the ocean, but there doesn’t seem to be any support system for expatriates beyond that. There is no welcoming outreach or family support committee, no networking assistance, no groups to help “trailing spouses” like me approach the job market.
This all looks like very common sense infrastructure to me. None of these are huge in terms of effort or cost, but they all go a long way toward making expatriates feel at least a little bit more valued and included here. For someone new to this country (or any other country), just being greeted with eye contact and a smile can make a huge difference.
My American enthusiasm may be just what this culture needs. If someone gives me a chance.