Nima Alijani

If you ask me now during this interview, I feel more foreign than I usually do. Probably around 80% Danish and 20% foreign. But on a day where everything just runs smoothly, I feel 97% Danish. I rarely think of myself as a foreigner. I was only two years old when I arrived in Denmark, and I learned Danish before I learned Persian.

One of the most outrageous things I have tried was when I became member of the Order of Danish Freemasons, the oldest order in the world. Their entrance test was taboo-breaking. Since becoming a member I have worked a lot with myself, and I spend a lot of time there sparring with the elders. So today I believe more in myself and my ideas, which is incredibly important as an entrepreneur. The Order has also turned me into a more positive human being. My father-in- law managed to get me into the Order, and he has in many respects been a role model for me. I have always had a rather strained relationship with my own father. After we came to Denmark it was as if he continued fleeing, only now from us. I missed him terribly when I was young, and today we rarely speak.

33 years / male / in a relationship / entrepreneur / Copenhagen Ø / from Iran / came to Denmark in 1984 / residence permit same year