Students from 25 different\u00a0countries were represented in the workforce at the Spring Festival 2017. 120 of the total 320 volunteers were international students. Most of them served drinks and food\u00a0in the bars while the rest worked as stagehands, backstage crew and security.<\/p>\n
The Festival’s international coordinator Stine Agerb\u00e6k is excited about the diversity in her staff:<\/p>\n
\u00bbWe have volunteers from pretty much all the European countries. Iceland\u00a0as propably the northernmost. Then there’s USA and\u00a0Canada, of course. And\u00a0Ethiopia, Pakistan, India, China, Indonesia, Australia and so on. So there’s people from all over the world. It’s great,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n
Around half of the international volunteers are exchange students. The other half are permanent residents who are involved with Studenterhuset. Luke and Lewis are among that group. The University Post met them just after their shift as they sat down to rest and share a bucket of fries.<\/p>\n
Lewis (Liverpool, UK) and Luke (Brisbane, Australia)<\/strong> Luke studies environmental science at UCPH and is about to finish his Master’s degree:<\/p>\n \u00bbI have 28 days ’till I hand in [my thesis].\u00ab What is your job a the Spring Festival? \u00bbI really wanted to get involved in the volunteer culture that is so popular in Copenhagen, while being in a fun, music-filled environment. I wanted to meet more Danes especially, because I’ve noticed that it’s so easy to keep to my group of international friends. So I really wanted to expand my horizons and make the most of my experience here.<\/p>\n I expected to meet new people which definitely happened. I worked alongside two Danish girls which was lovely. I was also pleasantly surprised to be introduced to so many good bands that are atually from Copenhagen. And I had a great view of them all from behind the bar!\u00ab<\/p>\n Do they have anything like this at your uni back home? Rui echoes Stine Agerb\u00e6ks idea that volunteering at the festival is a unique opportunity to mix Danish and international students:<\/p>\n \u00bbThe girls I\u2019m working with told me there\u2019s a Friday bar at Panum, and I wouldn\u2019t have known that if I wasn\u2019t working with them today,\u00ab Rui says. \u00bbFor me when I was a volunteer it was a way to feel part of a community that sometimes I don\u2019t think I fit in. Because a lot of activities are of course held in Danish, which is completely fine, but this is a nice way to contribute instead of just attending.\u00ab<\/p>\n Ilenia says that the international students also sign up to further their chances for future employment:<\/p>\n \u00bbThe volunteers can use the experience to later find a small student job.\u00ab<\/p>\n If you could change anything for next years festival, what would it be?<\/em> I wouldn\u2019t mind having some bands that I actually know. All of my Danish friends and colleagues were super excited about all the bands, and I had no idea who they were. Apparently they\u2019re good (laughs).\u00ab<\/p>\n More than a third of the volunteers at this years Spring Festival were international students.
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\nLuke<\/strong>\u00a0(right)
\n\u00bbMy connection to Studenterhuset means a lot of my friends are volunteering, so I wanted to volunteer as well. I volunteered at festivals before and I quite enjoy volunteering. Sort of contributing.\u00ab<\/p>\n
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\nLewis<\/strong>\u00a0(left)
\n\u00bbI moved here three years ago. I came here on exchange and I liked Denmark so much, I ended up not going back. I did it [the Spring Festival red.] two years ago. It\u2019s a lot of fun and the shifts are nice. I had a lot of fun two years ago, and it felt like a good thing, because I had just moved from the UK six months beforehand.\u00ab<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>\u00bbI was stagehand which I\u2019d never done before. It was really fun. There was not much work involved, really. A lot of it was just down time waiting to move some stuff around.\u00ab
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\nNikki (Exchange student from the University of Texas, Austin, USA)<\/strong>
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\nNikki worked at the bar next to the Frekvens stage where Nor\u00e9ll, Chinah, Blondage and Sekuoia played. She explains why she decided to volunteer:<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>\u00bbMy university back home hosts a music festival annually but it definitely isn’t half as popular as the KU fest is. I’d say only twenty per cent\u00a0of the population are involved. It was quite the sight seeing so many KU students and faculty in one place just having a good time.\u00ab
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\nRui (Exchange student from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)<\/strong>
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\nWhy are you volunteering today?\u00a0<\/em>
\n\u00bbI think it was mainly to make new friends, basically. And also to get more involved with the University of Copenhagen and make the most out of my exchange. And I was free \u2013 I mean it\u2019s Friday and I don\u2019t have class, so why not?\u00ab<\/p>\n
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\nIlenia (Volunteer coordinator from Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy)<\/strong>
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\nIlenia is in charge of checking in the volunteers and making sure everything runs smoothly. She volunteered herself two years ago:<\/p>\n
\n\u00bbMaybe some more activities that are targeted to use more of the international students, what they can bring to the festival and the university, for example a language caf\u00e9 \u2013\u00a0something where they can contribute.<\/p>\n
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