Jacob Christensen

I’m not sure if these decisions are announced by way of an envelope, but I will just note that all of Europe stopped for a minute when it was revealed that UmeÃ¥ will be the European Capital of Culture in 2014. Well, one of the European Capitals of Culture.

DN and SvD also covers the event while Sydsvenskan’s server seems to have been hit by a severe depression and refuses to show me the linked article. (Lund was the other contender for the Swedish title)

Offical Umeå 2014 site.

(The photo was taken on 29 August 2008 and it was the last but three that I took in Umeå)

Last year in Umeå (June 6 at 1am)

This year in Odense (June 24 shortly after midnight)

As it is, my new phone does quite a nice job, but the camera is a bit slow. No real point-and-shoot.

Believe me: Odense did not look like this last Friday. (We had 15 degrees C)

But I’m not the least surprised that Umeå did.

Umeå University will be looking for a new rector. Or president, if you prefer that title.

I never thought it would happen, but here is one final posting about Umeå: Peter Santesson-Wilson remembers his happy childhood in the north.

Oh dear – I read about the fire on Geografigränd in Umeå earlier today (it was mentioned on national Swedish TV), but as it turns out, the fire was in the complex right next to where I used to live (Matematikgränd 1).

I should perhaps point out that some of the Swedish papers and TV stations make two mistakes in their reporting: Geografigränd and Matematikgränd are on Ålidhem but these are ordinary apartments and not student housing and the houses are not high-rise buildings – they are “ordinary” 3- and 4-storey buildings.

One thing that I find rather unsettling is that the ventilation systems aren’t isolated so that the fire apparently could spread from one shaft to the others. The good thing is that nobody appear to have been physically hurt but it is still a terrible chock to those families who have to leave their homes for a shorter or longer period.

And one more note: I remember that the housing company repeatedly had to ask people to remove objects (prams, bikes) from the stairways and entrances so that there was access in the case of an emergency.

Update 2008-12-29: Västerbottenskuriren has an informative graphic showing the spread of the fire. I must admit that it raises some questions about the structure of the houses on Ålidhem which seems to give several opportunities for fires to spread and be difficult to control. Given that the buildings were erected around 1970, they don’t look state-of-the-art which surprises me.

Generally, the end of the year is considered the time to look back. In my case I will offer you a look at Umeå on the last day I spent in the town. And in case you are really curious, all of my photos from Umeå are here.

Who, for the love of god, dreamt up this one: Umeå City Airport? Umeå City Airport?!?

There is nothing quite like provincial pretentiousness. I’m sure some consultant is trying to convince the town council that the railway station should be renamed Grand Central Station Umeå.

The blog’s previous tagline – “Notes from the periphery” – was inspired by two facts: a) I’m not a political insider and b) I used to live in Umeå, which is not exactly the centre of the known universe. Considering that Odense is not Umeå, the tagline had become a bit misleading – Odense may not be a major political or economic centre but the city is pretty centrally placed in Denmark. And Odense’s city centre doesn’t have that suburban feel which haunted central Umeå.

Fortunately, the recent move of the Department of Political Science in Odense to a trailer park located between two parking lots provided me with the inspiration necessary to come up with a new tagline. So what you have now are the notes of a trailer park political scientist!

At one point in time, I have the ambition the write the ultimate “Umeå vs. Odense” post but I want to get Odense a bit more under the skin before I say anything definitive. Still, at double the size, Odense has much more of an urban feel to it compared to Umeå-the-oversized-suburb.

But in some aspects Umeå beats Odense hands down. Or rather Umeå University beats the Odense campus of the University of Southern Denmark.

First, SDU is placed on a field in the middle of nowhere. Our nearest neighbours are Bilka followed by Rosengårdcentret. Throw in Jysk and IKEA and you get the picture.

Second, the University library in Umeå was open all days, often with long evening hours. SDU’s library … not so.

Third, UmU had cafés and restaurants all over the place so you could get a meal or a sandwich, in case you had forgotten to bring your own food. SDU … well, today I realised that I had forgot to buy rye bread, so I hoped for the best.

Come by the restaurant at 2:30 and … nope. Not a chance. Not a sandwich in sight. Which meant that I had to head for the nearest megamarket to get a hot-dog. But at least Bilka is open until 9 pm. on week-days. And I have a grand selection of restaurants and cafés just across the street from my apartment.