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| On the balcony - no snow yet. |
Here are a few pix from the Christmas market at Tivoli.
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| Notice the roller coaster in the loop. |
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I think I had more fun than the kids, watching all of them
on this ride. Their faces were filled with amazement.
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| At the central station |
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the corner market - I only go here when necessary.
I needed gløgg.
You needed what?
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You may be wondering why you have not seen or heard from me in a while. The reasons are many. Usually I can be found on facebook, e-mails, sms or messenger. Then again - maybe you haven't even noticed and you are wondering why I'm bothering you again.
About a 1½ to 2 years ago my friend Dan from New Jersey and my friend Nasko from Bulgaria, both announced to me that they are taking the test to get their Danish citizenship. I didn't think much about it. Later they both tell me how easy it was to answer the 30 questions and encouraged me to take the test too. By the time I get around to finally applying to take the test, the test had been bumped up from 30 questions to 40 questions. And they made the questions very difficult.
They - is the Ministry of Integration. They also added to the text, 50 pages more of history, government and culture to the existing text. I wanted to apply for the next testing group which was in June but the deadline had passed. That meant that I would have to wait for the next testing group - which was December 1 - just 24 days ago.
The testing group in June was the first group to take the test with the new and difficult 40 questions. It turns out that many politicians were very upset about the difficulty of the test. I for sure agreed to the crazy aspect of it; knowing that answers for questions with dates were just within a few years of each other. For example the choices could be: In what year did such and such happen 1309 or 1311 or 1313. Several politicians said it was not a test about Danish History, it was more of a memory test. But the Ministry of Integration stood behind the test and said that all of the answers were in the text. That's true, but there were a about 150 pages with small text and each sentence was loaded with info. And yes, most of it was interesting - which helped.
So just my luck - I missed the last testing group with the 30 easy questions and now the next test would show that the 40 questions were going to be a real challenge. All of this was reported on the news and it was told that only 33% of the testing group had passed. I was scared.
It wasn't just 40 questions I had to answer. I also had to take a writing, reading and oral test. I thought it was crazy that I would have to prove that I could speak Danish. I've been working in a Danish environment for years, so just talk to me. But NOooooo - that wouldn't do. I had to shell out some serious bucks and take the test.
The first test was in 2 parts: Reading & Understanding and then Writing. The first part was really hard for me. I came home and cried and cried because I knew I failed. I could just feel it. I was totally lost in the several pages of text where we had to find answers to question that were presented in abstract ways. There were several pages of text but the time was very short time to read it, figure out an answer and then write it down on the paper. I did the math and it turned out to be 1 minute and 33 seconds for each of the 15 questions. I read the newspaper almost daily but I didn't understand the rush behind the testing. If I read the morning newspaper and I don't understand what I read, I read it again - like any normal person in any normal situation. So this time limit thing was like impossible. Then we had to wait for about 1½ weeks before we got the test results. I was quite depressed in that period. I thought if I was lucky - really, really, really lucky, I just might get an e-mail that says that I passed. Crossing my fingers and hoping to god like a child - but I knew as a man, the truth of what the test results would be.
Several days later the e-mail finally came and I cried again. But they were tears of stress being released. I passed. My reaction was not of happiness, it was shock. Surprisingly, it turns out that I could actually done a little bit worse and still pass. It was hard to understand. I knew I failed but the e-mail said I passed - WOW !
I passed the written test too. I was thinking that I might get a bit better of a score than what I did get. In Danish there are A sentences and B sentences. B sentences are never alone and always with an A sentence but the B part can and often does come before the A part. And then there are the crazy verb endings and irregular verbs and just the most outrageous grammatical rules when speaking/writing in Danish. I always make the same mistakes over and over again. Most of the mistakes I am aware of but that's just the way my writing skills come out of my pencil. I write well enough for anyone to understand what I mean. The mistakes are small. I could have done worse and still passed but actually I tried really hard and thought that it would have been better than what it was. Of course now that I think about it, I was not scored only on grammar but also on expression and creativity - so who knows. We didn't get the test papers back to see what the mistakes were.
But in the end, I passed and with an average score - that's fine enough for me and I am thrilled.
Then came the 40 questions. It was a multi-choice test: A, B or C with 35 questions on History and Government. There were also five questions regarding events in 2016. It was difficult because the Danish history dates all the way back to the year 750 AD. In total, it's almost 1300 years of Danish history. America has just 250 years of history, and I was bad at my own American history when I went to school. So how should I learn everything about 1300 years of history in DK?
The test consisted of 8 pages with 5 questions. The first 5 questions were pretty easy. I flipped the page thinking "ok it was just a warm up page". But it turns out that I knew the answers to 39 of the questions and guessed at only one. I learned one of the answers just 20 minutes before getting on my bike to ride into town to get to the testing office. Dan told me they had 3 questions about the Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki. I'm like, Seriously?! 3 questions about Wozniacki?" "You have to know about a tennis player to be a Danish citizen?" "She doesn't even live in Denmark." "Who the heck even cares about tennis to let alone even ask 1 question about her. But 3 ?!" So suddenly it popped into my mind that I had better be sure that I know the name of the woman who won the gold in the Olympics in Brazil. This was a nobody woman on the swim team and a total surprise for everyone in the swimming world. She ended up winning the gold for Denmark. I seemed to remember her name was something like Penny Bloom. I asked Jens but he couldn't remember. So I googled it just as I was getting ready to leave the house. Yep - Pernille Blume is her name. So now I was ready for that question. Say.....while I'm at it, I'm thinking to myself, I should take a look to see what else Denmark won a gold in - just in case. Denmark won 2 gold medals in Brasil. One in swimming and the other was the men's handball team.
Well can you believe it - the question was: In which sport did Denmark win a gold metal: Cycling, Tennis or Handball.
Pernille Blume was the non-stop subject in the news here in DK. Handball is just another every day sport here. But thank goodness I googled it because I for sure would not have answered handball.
The question I didn't know and guessed at was: Who was reviewing a book called The Deepest Roots - A- the queen, B -the crown prince or C -the crown prince's wife. It sounded like something the queen would do but I thought it was a trick question. So I answered the prince. Then I double checked all of my answers and thought again. It didn't sound at all like something the crown prince would do and sounded very much like something the queen would do. So I changed my answer to the queen and I ended up getting all 40 questions right.
The day after the 40 questions test, our friends from Paris came for a visit. That was fun and the time zoomed by. Patrick and Fabien have been here a number of times and they came once again for a long weekend visit. It was wonderful to see them again and their visit helped clear my mind from all the testing.
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| Patrick and Fabien at Nyhavn. |
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| At Kongen Nytorv. |
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The tree behind Patrick and Fabien is made
only of a million pearls and lights
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But as soon as they left, I had to cram for my oral test. There came an e-mail that said: Your subject for the oral test is "the unwritten rules on the job market" And I'm like, the what!? I had to give a presentation on the subject in just 2 minutes or less. And then there were questions afterwards. The entire test lasted only 12 minutes. After the test I had to wait outside while the examiner and the censor talked about how well I did. After 1 minute I was called back to the classroom. I was really surprised about how they went on and on about how well I speak Danish (because I don't) and how much they praised me for my Danish language skills. They even said that I was good enough to talk to the queen. Wow that was really so nice to hear - BUT ......... .. and you know there's always a "but"....... "But the Test in Danish 3 a is more technical university test and your presentation was not technical enough," they said. "And therefore we have to judge you in relation to the rules regarding Test in Danish 3." I could hear that they were actually a little sad that I could not get a higher grade. But it was alright with me because they thought I was really good at Danish. I passed with an ok score of 7 and it was fine.
Test in Danish 3 is a test for those who want a higher education at a university or to prove that one can speak Danish for a higher position in the labor market. That I have passed such a test with a good score is in my opinion very fine. Oddly enough, the topic that was assigned to me via e-mail, said nothing at all about my presentation having to be on the technical side. Below you can read my presentation, which I wrote and which has to be presented without reading the text.
It goes as follows:
The topic that was assigned to me was "The Unwritten Rules In The Danish Job Market". In my presentation I would like to tell you about three things: Mehmet Yüksekkaya, The Ministry of Integration and body language and how these three things come together.
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Mehmet YüksekkayaMehmet Yüksekkaya came from Kurdistan to Denmark when he was 22 years old and now he is 54. He is a talented man and has a higher education degree in political science.Mehmet Yüksekkaya wrote a book, published in 2007.The book is called, funny enough, "the unwritten rules in the Danish job market".Ministry of IntegrationWhat I think is interesting is that the book is written with the support of the Ministry of Integration.This means that the author of the book knows what he's talking about.It also means that the topic is so important, that even the Ministry of Integration is looking for help to sole the problem. (which I knew they would ask afterwards, what problem, and I was ready with an answer)
Body LanguageIn the book there is a written list of 30 rules. They deal with everything from myths and prejudices to socializing. But Yüksekkaya says that part of the understanding of the unwritten rules is not just to listen to what is being said, but HOW things are said, both in tone and body. One's boss or one's workmate can say one thing, but the face and body movements can actually say the opposite.
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It absolutely could not go over 2 minuts or I would get a minus point for that too. That's crazy - you get a minus point for speaking too much when he test is to prove you can speak Danish - weird. Well....I thought it was pretty good. But what do I know, I haven't been in school for 40 years and here in DK, the education level is high. Good, it may or may not be, but for sure it was not technical. But at least it's good enough that I can talk to the queen. So I've invited her for a spot of tea next weekend so that we can ring in the new year together.
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| Sabrina from Ireland. |
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| Clarke from France (in the middle and w/a friend) |
Along with the testing, I've had visit from 2 nieces - one living in Ireland and one living in France. As well as our Parisian buddies that were mentioned earlier. So all of that has kept me busy as well. The visits, the studying and just in general, the daily living has kept me too busy to send out cards this year. Our postal system has been sold to a foreign postal company and they have tripled the prices on postage and extended the delivery time. So don't be waiting by the mail box expecting a card from us this year. This is it. So put a sheet of paper in the printer and hit "Ctrl + P". When the paper comes out, fold it and seal it with a kiss cuz a lick don't stick.
Now all I have to do is gather all of the propper paper$ and per$onal info and $end them into the Ministry of Interrogation Integration and in about 1½ years from now, I should have my Danish passport in my hand.
OK - you can stop reading now - if you have even gotten this far. And if so, in this modern world of facebook-one-liners and tweets on twitter, I'm impressed. But let me just say one last thing. The Ministry of Integration sent me a link to fill out a questionnaire about the testing. The first 3 questions didn't apply at all to me at all so I couldn't answer and I couldn't go onto the next page without answering the first 3 questions. So instead, I wrote them a letter telling them about my experience. I wanted them to know that I was not complaining but that I thought I was a bit better than the score that they gave me and that it was a bit unfair to give me a lower score on my oral test because I was not "technical" enough. I suggested that next time when they send out the e-mails with the subjects, they should say in the e-mail that the presentation should be technical. They should say it to the student before the testing instead of mention it after the testing.
So right after I sent that letter to the Ministry of Integration about me being better than the score that I got, I went to the market to buy some Christmas Gløgg. I couldn't find it. So I asked the man at the market in Danish,
"Do you have any glueg?"
He said, "Any what?"
I said "glueg."
He said with a giant question mark on his face, "glueg?"
"Yeah, you know, Christmas glueg."
"Oh, you mean gluck."
"Yeah that's what I said - glueg."
It would be like asking: Do you have any joice?
you know, morning joice, orange joice, fruit joice
oh you mean juice
yeah, that's what I said - joice.
alright - get outta here and have yourself a very Merry Christmas.
Happy Holidays with lots of love from us -
Eddie, Jens and Bounty
Her er teksten på dansk:
Mange af jer har allerede læst dette, men der er en lille smule mere af det samme i den engelske version.
I første omgang ville jeg ikke sige rigtig særlig
meget ang. mine prøver. Det var fordi, at hvis jeg
skulle dumpe, så gad jeg ikke snakke om det og ville hellere forholde mig tavs.
Den første prøve var Læs & Forståelse og Skriftlig. Det var virkelig svært for
mig.
Jeg kom hjem og græd, fordi jeg vidste, at jeg var
dumpet. Efter prøven skal man vente i 10 – 14
dage før man får sin karakter oplyst. Jeg var lidt deprimeret i halvanden uge.
Jeg tænkte, at hvis jeg var heldig, - rigtig rigtig heldig, så ville
jeg måske få en mail, hvor der står, at jeg har bestået prøven.
Jeg bad til parkeringsguderne: Kære parkeringsguder, please please please lad mig bestå.
Parkeringsguderne er de eneste guder, som gider høre på mig,
og de var søde nok til at give mig det, jeg ønskede. Men
overraskende og meget chokerende, kunne jeg faktisk have gjort det endnu dårligere
og stadigvæk bestå. Det var svært at forstå.
Så kom den næste prøve: Indfødsretsprøven.
Det var en multi-choice prøve: A, B eller C med 35
spørgsmål om Historie, Kultur og Politik. Og så var
der også 5 spørgsmål ang. de store begivenheder i 2016. Det var svært,
fordi den danske historie går hele vejen tilbage til år
750. Det er lidt før Gorm den Gamle. I alt
er det næsten 1300 år med dansk historie. Amerika har kun 250 år med
historie, og jeg var dårlig til min egen historie,
dengang jeg gik i skole. Så hvordan skulle jeg lære alt
om 1300 års historie i DK ?
Men jeg kan fortælle dig, at jeg bestod. Jeg
svarede rigtigt på alle 40 spørgsmål. Det ville have været kun 39 rigtige svar,
men kun få minutter inden jeg cyklede herfra til sprogskolen, tænkte
jeg, at de ville sikkert spørge om Pernille
Blume. Jeg skulle lige google navnet for at se, om jeg har husket det
rigtigt. Fordi Dan sagde, at de havde stillet flere spørgsmål om
Wozniacki, tænkte jeg, at jeg hurtigt skulle se, hvem der ellers vandt en
guldmedalje. Spørgsmålet
var: i hvilke OL sportsgrene vandt Danmark en guldmedalje i 2016? A-
cykling, B- håndbold eller C-badminton.
Havde jeg ikke slået Pernille Blume op, ville jeg
aldrig have set, at det var i håndbold, og jeg ville have
svaret C.
Jeg har læst og læst og læst og var forberedt på meget mere komplicerede
spørgsmål. Og selvom spørgsmålene
var nemme nok, ville jeg aldrig have bestået, hvis jeg ikke havde læst så meget,
som jeg gjorde.
I dag tog jeg en mundtlig prøve. Jeg fik et emne
tildelt for 14 dage siden. Jeg skulle give en præsentation
om emnet på kun 2 minutter. Og så var der en masse spørgsmål
bagefter. Hele prøven varede kun 12 minutter. Efter
prøven skulle jeg vente udenfor, mens eksaminatoren og censoren snakkede om,
hvordan det gik. Efter 1 minut blev jeg kaldt tilbage til klasseværelset.
Jeg fik overraskende megen ros for mit danske sprog, og de mente, at jeg var
endda god nok til at snakke med dronningen – hold
op! - MEN……….. og du ved, der kommer altid et ”men”…..
”Men Prøve i Dansk 3 er mere teknisk og din
præsentation var ikke teknisk nok”, sagde de. ”Og
derfor er vi nødt til at bedømme dig i forhold til reglerne angående Prøve i
Dansk 3.” Jeg kunne høre, at de selv var lidt kede af
det, at jeg ikke kunne få en højere
karakter. Men det var helt i orden med mig, fordi de mente, at jeg var
rigtig god til dansk. Jeg bestod med et 7 tal og det var fint nok.
Prøve i Dansk 3 er en prøve for dem som vil til en
højere uddannelse på universitetet eller for at
bevise, at man kan dansk sprog til en højere stilling på
arbejdsmarkedet. At jeg har bestået sådan en
prøve med en fin karakter er efter min mening meget fint.
Sjovt nok, det emne som var tildelt mig via e-mail, sagde slet ikke noget
om at min præsentation skulle være på den
tekniske side.
Herunder kan du læse min præsentation,
som jeg selv skrev, og som skal siges uden at læse
teksten:
Det emne, som blev tildelt mig var ”de uskrevne regler på det
danske arbejdsmarked”.
I min præsentation vil jeg gerne fortælle lidt om 3 ting: Mehmet Yüksekkaya, Integrationsministeriet og kropssprog og hvordan de 3 ting
hænger sammen.
____________________________________________
Mehmet Yüksekkaya
Mehmet Yüksekkaya kom fra Kurdistan til Danmark da han var 22 år
gammel og nu er han 54. Han er en dygtig mand og har en højere
uddannelse med kandidatgrad i statskundskab.
Mehmet Yüksekkaya skrev en bog, som udkom i 2007.
Bogen hedder, sjovt nok ”De uskrevne regler på det Danske arbejdsmarked”.
Integrationsministeriet
Det, som jeg synes er interessant er, at bogen er skrevet med støtte fra
Integrationsministeriet.
Det vil sige at forfatteren af bogen ved hvad han snakker om.
Det vil også sige, at emnet er så vigtigt at selve
Integrationsministeriet vil have hjælp til at løse
problemet.
kropssprog
I bogen er der skrevet en liste med 30 regler. De handler om alt fra
myter og fordomme til socialt samvær. Men Yüksekkaya
siger at en del af forståelsen af de uskrevne regler er
ikke bare at høre efter hvad man siger men HVORDAN tingene bliver sagt, både med
tonen og med kroppen. Ens chef eller ens kollega kan sige én ting,
men ansigtet og kropsbevægelser kan faktisk sige det
modsatte.
Håber at I alle sammen får en dejlig jul og et godt nytår.
med kærlige hilsner fra os -
Eddie, Jens og Bounty
