Europe according to Denmark

I hope this goes without saying, but this is not a serious post. This is humor. 

Nevertheless, maybe an explanation is in order?

Why do the Danes think this about ……:

Iceland (Denmark's greatest fan base)

The Nordic countries have a strong bond, both in terms of culture and politics. In the past Iceland was part of the Danish Kingdom until 1944 when they became an independent nation. They learn Danish in school, which for us it a bit strange to think of. You see, we are used to having to learn other languages as Danish is pretty useless outside of our boarders. If Danish is (still) mandatory in Iceland, they must like us very much!

Faroe Islands (Still gotcha)

The Faroe Islands are still a part of the Danish Kingdom. They are also represented in the Danish parliament. 

Norway (Northern Denmark)

Again with Norway, we have a close cultural bond. The Danish and Norwegian language are, at least in writing, almost the same. For us, going to Norway is not exactly like visiting a "foreign land". It is the beautiful backyard with snow. 

Sweden (Fellow vikings)

There is no denying that we have close bond in Scandinavia. 

Finland (Say what?)

In Norway and Sweden we can understand a lot of the local language(s). Then suddenly we reach Finland and realize that their language is impossible to understand. 

Russia (Good looking girls, not so good looking guys)

My dad once said that Russian women had to care a great deal about their looks, because the competition was fierce since many men had died at war. Not sure which was he was referring to.

I keep seeing all these beautiful Russian women online and out in the world. I am sure there are many attractive men as well, but where did they go?

Baltics (Studying in Denmark)

Because of the EU, other nationalities have gained access to the educational institutions in Denmark. Since we have a large amount of English speaking programs, this attracts foreigners. 

UK (ASOS)

I think I learned about the shopping site ASOS when I was 16. I used to get together with my friends and order together (to save shipping).

Ireland (UK, right?)

Geography is complicated. Who knew Ireland was an independent nation, seriously. 

The Netherlands (Friend with weed)

Marihuana is not legal in Denmark. 

Belgium (Holland 2.0)

For us, these countries have a lot in common. 

Germany (It's complicated)
It is complicated because on the one hand, many still think of WWII and how Germany occupied Denmark. On the other hand, today we have an excellent relationship with Germany and it is one of the largest trading partners. 

Poland (Cheap labor)

It has been in the media several times that Danish employers have taken advantage of laborers from Poland. 

Czech Republic (Invaded by drunk Danish high school students)

During the winter break in February, many Danish students go to Prague for a cheap night out. 

Slovakia (new country)
Not sure if Denmark has an opinion here. It is not a popular vacation destination so that typically means that people are somewhat unaware of the country. 

Austria (After Ski)
In Denmark we love to go skiing. We also love what comes after - the drinking. In Austria there is a lot of beer (which we love) and Snaps (which we also love) and Jägertee (which some people love). Some even go “skiing” just for the drinking. One slope down and then it is time for the first beer. 

Switzerland (Rich people)

Switzerland is famous for many things. One of which is wealth. 

France (Cute accent)
Pretty self explanatory. We can admit that our own language is a bit, well, special. We can tell that French sounds better. 

Spain (Siesta all day)
The concept of siesta has never fully made it to Denmark. We don’t have the temperatures for that. I am sure that we envy it. However, it is my experience that siesta is not currently common on the Spanish labor market.  

Portugal (More siesta)

To us, Spain and Portugal are a bit similar. 

Mallorca, Spain (Invaded by Denmark is summer)

Mallorca, and Spain in general, is very popular for vacation. 

Italy (People who live with their parents far beyond what's normal)

In Denmark it is uncommon to live with one’s parents after turning 19/20 yo. Partly this is because we have quite a lot of scholarships that allows people to move out. In addition, you may receive some judgment from living at home beyond this age. It is not considered “independent” enough for Danish standards. However, this may be changing a bit these days since living costs are rising but scholarships stay the same. 

Various countries (As seen on the Eurovision song contest)

This one is interesting. There are many small European countries that we never hear much about in the Danish media. However, many of them do quite well in the Eurovision show, and THAT, they are famous for!

Bulgaria (Sunny Beach)

Another popular vacation destination. 

Romania (Dracula)

Dracula is awesome. He needs a mention. 

Greece (people with white blazers)

In Denmark people wear black. A lot of black and dark colors. On the Eurovision Song Contest we see men wearing white blazers. It baffles us. 

Turkey (trying not to offend them)

In Denmark we have many people with Turkish origins. Our cultures clash a bit from time to time. 

I hope you enjoyed the post! Leave a comment if you want to say hi or if you have a question. If you have a suggestion for another map, feel free to leave it in a comment.

Thank you for reading!

Internship with AIESEC? Good luck -.-

Are you thinking about finding an internship through AIESEC? Then there are a few things you should know.
One of AIESEC’s services is the access to their database of internships GIP (Global Internship Programme).
The internships seem professional in the sense that the intern has real responsibilities within his/her field and they are often well paid (considering the wage level of the countries). There are internships to find across the globe although very few in for example the US. It should be noted that the access to the database costs around 2500 DKK* in which case I also expected a professional service during the entire process.
This is all information you are given upon entering the programme and additionally you are informed that your preferences regarding geographical location of the internship must be rather broad.
For me this was fine since I wanted to do an internship in either Latin America or central/western Europe.
I began applying right away and I found many internships of my interest within these regions.

The first disappointment occurred when I realized that France has a national policy that interns must be students during the entire internship and that the university has to sign a form saying that the internship is part of your degree. Since I recently finished my bachelor’s degree this is not the case for me. Later it turned out to be the case for many German companies as well. This is information I wish I had known earlier on.
I kept applying in other countries but at one point I realized that I had received pretty much no feedback at all from anybody. No confirmation notices, no interview invitations and even no rejections.
I began wondering whether or not my applications were even being considered. I changed strategy by asking questions about the internship before applying. Around 1 in 10 responded. Often with the information that they had already found an intern or something similar. One time the rejection was caused by the fact that the company had “preselected some interns”. And this is another problem; it is not always clear from the database when the internships expire or whether or not they have already found somebody. In other words, you risk wasting your time applying for internships that are no longer available.
The ironic part comes now. I have received around 50 e-mails from AIESEC departments in India encouraging me to apply for one of their internships. In addition I have received a few from the rest of Asia and a few from Eastern Europe. Finally I received an e-mail from a department in Brazil encouraging me to apply for their internship and so I did.

All in all, this is what you should know about finding an internship with AIESEC:
You pay a substantial fee to access the database but the students that run the initial application process are not being paid. So although is it natural to assume a professional service do not expect that. Another problem is the bureaucracy. Typically one low ranging AIESEC member is the contact person for the internship, when he/she finds a prospective intern it goes on to her/his boss and then to the company. So in many cases there are at least three links before you reach the company.
The next thing is the application process. Forget about applying. You clearly have to wait for somebody to write you (unless you like wasting your time by sending out applications that are never even reviewed).
It is very ironic that internships are listed in the database ready for applications when interns are preselected and contacted by e-mail. What is the point with the database and the search functions?

Would I recommend AIESEC GIP programme? If you have no specific country in mind, then yes (in which case you will end up in India). Otherwise: no.

A few other things:

• Language skills are often a requirement. Languages in high demand: English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Mandarin
• Most typical types of internships: business, marketing, programming and IT, language teaching and engineering.
• The salary varies a lot. In most countries the amount is enough to get by on, but if your travel expenses add up don’t expect them to be covered by the salary.
  Examples of salary/month by country:
  India: 250 USD
  Mexico: 700 USD
  Western Europe: 1000-1400 USD
  Brazil: 400 USD
  Chile: 900 USD
• There are very few internships in: The US, Canada, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Spain
• There are many internships in: India, China, Brazil, Taiwan, Germany
• If you do not find an internship you can get your money back (there are some requirements you have to fulfill). It does not compensate the time you have wasted though.

*2500 DKK = 450 USD

Is it fair to offer unpaid internships?

... and is it reasonable to settle for one?

The question of internships remains a hot topic. For many student it is a necessity to break through to the "real" labor market, gain valuable and necessary experience and in some cases a mandatory part of their education.

Many countries have rather complicated regulation when it comes to internships (in terms of conditions and salary) and one cannot generalize in a world wide perspective.
Though, fact is that we're often speaking of a grey area.

Aspect #1: Prices & wages
If you're looking for an internship in your home country (or country of study/residence), naturally you will already be in possession of knowledge regarding general price level, general wage level and supply/demand for your skills & education.

If you're looking at an internship in another country or even continent this information might be rather difficult to fully get a grib on.
This is all information that comes in handy when evaluating whether or not the pay (or no pay) is fair.

Aspect #2: Experience vs money
For a prospective intern the impact from the internship on the resume is essential.
Therefore there is a trade off between the pay and the nature of the internship function.
The better the gained experience, the better impact it will have on one's resume.
Therefore it could be an idea to compromise when it comes to salary if the internship is of high relevance and quality.

Aspect #3: "Interns should not be paid. This way they are not taking jobs from the unemployed"
This is a common argument (also used when explaining why foreign students in particular shouldn't get paid). But the logic is is not.. logical.
The demand for labor does not appear out of nowhere. And if a company can get free labor obviously this is a desirable solution. The main idea behind the argument is that the organization in question first of all hires the labor it needs and then hires interns. But if all the tasks are already being taken care of, the intern will end up getting coffee (which is rarely the point behind an internship).
So bam. Argument down.

Aspect #4: The use of agencies
When looking for a internship abroad it can be pretty diffcult to find something since you are not personally able to show up for an interview. As a result, some people use agencies to help them find internships. These agencies charge fees which differ a lot.
So be aware of agencies that charge an expensive fee in order to find a unpaid internship for you. Ask critical questions about what this fee is used for (sometimes your money will be spent financing their relationship with the companies)

All in all I am personally against unpaid internships. For ethical reasons, for monetary reasons and for common sense reasons. You provide a service as an intern, for that you should get some type of compensation (may that be accommodation or similar).
Otherwise the possession of an internship becomes a rich kid business.
Unfortunately some major organizations offer unpaid internships (such as the UN) simply because they can. That is pretty ironic considering the high salaries they offer for real jobs!

Fight for what you're worth ('cause that's a whole lot!)