Brace yourself for a quick end to this series of convoluted blog posts that I should have condensed into one nice little package.
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| Big city lights |
The 4 hour bus ride from Narvik to Tromsø was amazingly beautiful. The fjords and water and mountains were a sight that I doubt I will see again anytime soon. The bus started to fill up mid way though the journey and eventually a young Afghan kid sat next to me. We struck up a conversation and he asked me why I was in the Arctic. I said for a vacation. I asked him the same question and he responded with a simple answer. Asylum. The type of response that makes you cringe a little on the inside. When asked if he ever planned on returning to Afghanistan he replied, "never.... never."
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| crane and water |
By the time we reached Tromsø we were a little burnt from the travels. The city was bigger than any we had been to yet and the wind blew harder than it normally does in Skåne.
Unbelievably, none of us fell on our ass (the whole trip) despite the slick roads and sidewalks coupled with the lack of proper footwear.
After we checked into the hostel and a quick discussion on what was for dinner, we decided to drop about $20 on a kebab. Norway is expensive.
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| Spring break outtakes |
The gondola ride to the top of the mountain that overlooks the city seemed like a better idea from down below. By the time we reached the top it was total blizzard conditions with basically zero visibility. Not the best 80 krowns I've ever spent.
On the bright side I got to warm my trench-foot by the fire for about 20 minutes before we gave up and headed back down the mountain.
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| Death proof bridge |
The bridge the connects the island with the mainland is longer than you expect, extremely windy and was covered in slush. Also, the city has taken all the necessary precautions to make committing suicide quite the chore.
After painful decisions on how to spend our last hard earned Kronor, we were ready to catch the plane back to Copenhagen.
On the way to the airport I noticed one interesting thing about Tromsø. There is an entire network of underground traffic tunnels and connect the city. The city has made crossing the island very simple with a tunnel network that includes traffic lights, round-abouts and nice lighting. Although I assume the road had to be resurfaced every year because of the cars and busses that drive around with chains despite the dry roads. But Norway has oil money and people need jobs. It probably works itself out.
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| Fin |
What's the prevailing attitude of Swedish citizens towards the flood of immigrants due to Sweden's asylum policy? I've read that over 50% of the country's population consists of immigrants.
ReplyDeleteThat's definitely a complex and expansive question. In general, Sweden and Swedish culture is much more homogenous than anything in America, which tends to make foreign born citizens stand out. But due to a declining population, accepting a large percentage of asylum seekers balances the scales in some respects. The problem (in what I have seen) lies in integration, such as learning the language, finding a job, and generally contributing to society. I don't think these issues are exclusive to Sweden, but I think they are compounded because of the large amount of refugees and asylum seekers that the country accepts.
ReplyDeleteThere are always stories about racial tensions in the news (especially in Malmö), but these stories often come off as tabloid journalism rather than hard news. So, I would say that the majority of Swedes continue to support a rather loose asylum policy, but fringe groups that are against current immigration policy are starting to gain popularity. Honestly I don't think accepting such high amounts of asylum seekers is in the country's best interest. In the future I assume that Sweden will follow Denmark's lead and begin to restrict their asylum policy in order to curb spending on expensive social service programs. But the issue is so complex there are many more angles that I don't know/understand. So, who knows?