Meet the people behind NAPA: Anna Jensine Arntzen 

Many of you probably know what NAPA does, but who are we? Currently, NAPA, The Nordic Institute in Greenland represents four Nordic countries: Greenland, Denmark, Norway and Finland. Today we introduce our Info Norden employee, Anna Jensine Arntzen. 

Anna is from Lofoten in Norway and has lived in Nuuk now for three years. She’s in the final stages of finishing her PhD at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. In her research, she examines urban planning and the ongoing impact of Danish colonialism in Greenland:  

“The research project I am part of combines art and research, and I am very happy to have NAPA as a workplace and come closer to what is happening in those scenes here.”  

She’s combining research work with a half-time position at NAPA for Info Norden. Info Norden is an information service for people wanting to move between Nordic countries. Anna helps with anyone who’s interested in or already moving to Greenland:  

“During my studies I have moved a lot around in the Nordic countries, which is good practical experience for the job I do at Info Norden.”  

New colleagues, new places  

Since Info Norden has offices in every Nordic country, she has colleagues across the entire region. Every spring and fall, the team gathers in one of the Nordic countries – this spring’s meeting took place in Denmark, where they made plans, exchanged insights from inquiries in their respective countries, and strengthened their connections. This fall, they will meet in Åland, an autonomous, self-governing territory that is part of Finland.  

“I am looking forward to go on a work trip to Åland this fall, which is the only part of the Nordics I have not visited yet (and I love the Finnish-Swedish dialect). “    

This spring she has worked on how to make Info Norden more relevant to people here.  

Get to know Anna  

In her free time, she enjoys both cultural events and city life, as well as being out in nature. And Nuuk offers the best of both, she says.  

Lastly, we asked, what is Anna’s favorite word in her mother tongue Norwegian and why:  

“When I speak with my Nordic colleagues, I don’t use my northern Norwegian dialect but rather capital Norwegian (like ‘rigsnorsk’) that is easier to understand. To me it sounds very proper and posh, which makes me miss the direct and very honest words used in my dialect, such as:   

Pesshysa/gorrhysa – a bad/slick person (hysa=cod🐟)”  

Contact Anna  

Anna encourages anyone who is moving to a Nordic country to work or study and has questions regarding that are very welcome to contact her.  

You can contact Anna in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.  

+299 556639
anna@napa.gl 

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