written by Lindsay
Welcome friends and family to the darkest day of the year. According to weather.com, the sun will rise today at 8:37am and set again at 3:39pm. It's 8:25 in the morning as I sit here and type, and I can verify that I first saw some light in the sky about 15 minutes ago. The cloud cover looks a little lighter than usual, so we may even possibly see a few rays of sunshine today. A few weeks ago, when the sun came out for a few minutes on a Saturday outing, Cavan was absolutely blinded by the light - it was as if we'd just crawled out of a cave. You would never believe how pale we all are right now!
Despite the dark and cold, we do have a reason to celebrate this weekend. Yesterday, after weeks of relentless pursuit on car-buying websites, we finally found one to call our own. We bought privately, so got a little bit newer car for the money - it's a white '99 Ford Escort with a hatchback. The space is incredible for a European car. We will easily be able to transport two kids, the dog and a barnevogn (pram) when we finally get around to buying one.
As much as I hate to sound like a spoiled American, I couldn't be more relieved right now. I will actually be able to run quickly and get groceries after getting off work and picking up Cavan from day care. We can drop off our recycling materials at the recycling center without encountering 20 minutes of blustery bike-riding there and then back again. The biggest relief, however, comes from being able to retire my bicycle for the time being. As much as I have enjoyed the exercise and the forced exposure to the elements, I have discovered that 20 weeks of pregnancy and winter weather are not the most ideal conditions for such a lifestyle. While I have no problems riding my bike at the moment, I have found that getting on and off requires more intense effort and concentration. The laws of physics were bound to catch up with me, as I rode down a wet street with a 20 pound belly, a 30 pound child and 10 pounds of groceries balanced on the top of my two wheels.
Looking forward, there are only brighter days to come. More mobility, and hopefully more fun activities. Right now we're looking into local swim halls, so that Cavan and I can get some good old-fashioned indoors exercise. Here's to living a more normal life !
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Why Buying a Car in Denmark Sucks
written by Lindsay
We have survived over 1 1/2 years without a car to drive, and for the most part we are used to the challenges and can plan effectively around them. However, with Baby #2 on the way (due in May) our transportation options are quickly dwindling. We're hoping to make it a few more months with me on my bike, and in the meantime we're considering our options for either buying or leasing a car for the duration of the pregnancy and through the newborn months.
But let me tell you, this is not an easy decision to make, nor a fun process to go through. Through the searching I've done so far online, here are the Top 6 reasons that I've come up with why buying a car in Denmark sucks:
We have survived over 1 1/2 years without a car to drive, and for the most part we are used to the challenges and can plan effectively around them. However, with Baby #2 on the way (due in May) our transportation options are quickly dwindling. We're hoping to make it a few more months with me on my bike, and in the meantime we're considering our options for either buying or leasing a car for the duration of the pregnancy and through the newborn months.
But let me tell you, this is not an easy decision to make, nor a fun process to go through. Through the searching I've done so far online, here are the Top 6 reasons that I've come up with why buying a car in Denmark sucks:
- Unit conversion - odometers are in kilometers, gas mileage is in liters, and prices are in kroners. Sure, I can use my calculator, but it takes a long time to figure out what kind of car you can get for the money.
- This is the kind of car you can buy for the equivalent of $5000 - depressing. (that is a 1997 Fiat Cinquecento 1,1 Sporting with 185,000km, by the way)
- Tax on said yellow car is 25% - an extra $1250.
- Have you ever heard of these makes/models: Citroen Xantia, Fiat Brava, Opel Astra, Renault Clio???? This is mostly what a search in our price range yields. How am I supposed to know which car will likely not break down on the motorvej?
- $7-ish per gallon for gas. Once we do find a car, we're still likely looking at heavy operating expenses. If gas costs this much, what about regular maintenance? What do we do if the old clunker does break down?
- We've been in Denmark long enough to settle into a comfort zone, where we have safely excluded life dealings that we're unfamiliar with. Buying a car takes us into uncharted waters - getting a Danish driver's license, buying insurance, reselling the car when we leave, etc.
On the bright side, once we get past this stage of figuring out what in the heck we're going to do, I have the feeling that owning a car in Denmark is going to open up a whole new world of possibilities for us, and make life unbelievably easier. No more waiting an hour for the next bus for a Sunday day trip, no more looking at the sky to see if a trip to the store is in the question. And we can start taking Sasha out on more adventures with us again. Not to mention, easier access to McDonalds and the grocery store that sells American items - two things that are guaranteed to make a pregnant woman happy.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Working in Danish
(written by Lindsay)
My command of the Danish language is very shaky, yet somehow I manage to get through each day at my new job as assistant teacher in a vuggestue (day care for children up to 2 1/2 years). It helps that children I work with have a average working vocabulary of about 4-5 words. Of course, there are many things I have to negotiate and communicate with my co-workers on a daily - scratch that - minute-by-minute basis: So and so needs to be changed. Who's going to get the food cart from the kitchen? What time do you leave today? So and so just woke up. We can't rinse the hard-boiled eggs because the water has been shut off while they're fixing the washing machine down in the basement. Little things like that, over and over again all day long.
So to say the least, I'm getting in some good practice. My co-workers assure me that it is not too irritating working with me, my American accent, and my limited comprehension. I get what they say for the most part. By the second time for sure. They understand me for the most part, by the second time I repeat something usually. It's a little trickier talking with parents because I never know what they're going to pull out of the air to talk about. Mysterious illnesses or rashes that I have never heard of, references to lost articles of clothing, specific instructions for what so and so can eat because his tooth is loose after a fall. And then there are lunch breaks in the staff room, which surprisingly haven't been too hard for me to follow. We talk about vacation, other day care institutions, the weather, how long I've been in Denmark and how long I plan to stay.
All in all, I like going to work. Being with small children, there's rarely a dull moment, and it's nice to have a real experience observing learning in an institution after so many years of studying learning in institutions. After just three weeks, most of the kids have grown fond of me, and sometimes fight over my lap. It's a good feeling to give and receive so many hugs in the course of the day. Certainly more tangible rewards than sitting and writing a dissertation alone in my house. Throw in the free snacks of rye bread and banana slices, hot lunches of beef stew and rice, and an income to support our traveling habit, and I figure I've got a pretty sweet job (for now).
My command of the Danish language is very shaky, yet somehow I manage to get through each day at my new job as assistant teacher in a vuggestue (day care for children up to 2 1/2 years). It helps that children I work with have a average working vocabulary of about 4-5 words. Of course, there are many things I have to negotiate and communicate with my co-workers on a daily - scratch that - minute-by-minute basis: So and so needs to be changed. Who's going to get the food cart from the kitchen? What time do you leave today? So and so just woke up. We can't rinse the hard-boiled eggs because the water has been shut off while they're fixing the washing machine down in the basement. Little things like that, over and over again all day long.
So to say the least, I'm getting in some good practice. My co-workers assure me that it is not too irritating working with me, my American accent, and my limited comprehension. I get what they say for the most part. By the second time for sure. They understand me for the most part, by the second time I repeat something usually. It's a little trickier talking with parents because I never know what they're going to pull out of the air to talk about. Mysterious illnesses or rashes that I have never heard of, references to lost articles of clothing, specific instructions for what so and so can eat because his tooth is loose after a fall. And then there are lunch breaks in the staff room, which surprisingly haven't been too hard for me to follow. We talk about vacation, other day care institutions, the weather, how long I've been in Denmark and how long I plan to stay.
All in all, I like going to work. Being with small children, there's rarely a dull moment, and it's nice to have a real experience observing learning in an institution after so many years of studying learning in institutions. After just three weeks, most of the kids have grown fond of me, and sometimes fight over my lap. It's a good feeling to give and receive so many hugs in the course of the day. Certainly more tangible rewards than sitting and writing a dissertation alone in my house. Throw in the free snacks of rye bread and banana slices, hot lunches of beef stew and rice, and an income to support our traveling habit, and I figure I've got a pretty sweet job (for now).
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Cavan's bicycle
(written by Lindsay)
One of the most interesting aspects of our move to Denmark has been our transition from having a car to biking and taking public transportation. Jumping on our bikes to head to the train station, the grocery store, or to take a ride for fun out in the forest is second nature to us now. It has been fun seeing how Cavan has experienced this as well.
In early May, a couple of weeks after we returned from our trip to the States, we noticed that Cavan was spending a lot of time at his day care on these orange bikes that they have, which have no pedals. They sit low enough for kids to push along on the ground with their feet and are amazing at helping them to learn to balance on their own. One day when I picked Cavan up, I watched as he picked up his feet and began to coast down the sidewalk there on the playground. I talked to his lead teacher a few days later, and she told me how much Cavan loved to ride that bicycle all day, and how it would be great if he had one of his own that he could bring (apparently because he just stood watching when another kid was using one of the orange ones). So we ordered one on the internet and surprised Cavan with it a few days later. In Danish, it is called a løbecykle which translates to "running bicycle."
Ever since getting his own bike, Cavan has learned so much about bicycle safety and the rules of the road. Every day, on the way to day care, we both ride our bikes together through the "Skovly" - a collection of small houses and gardens in a relatively closed off area. He has learned to listen for cars (which drive very slowly) and to pull off to the side to let them pass. We also bike around in our neighborhood, where he has learned to ride beside me on my right side, on the street. He has learned to stop at intersections and to look both ways for cars. A few times, I have even let him ride on the bicycle lane with me on a busier street near our home. One day, he even managed to keep up while we went for a ride on a path through the forest, near our home. We were out riding for over 40 minutes! He's had a few small crashes, but for the most part, he rides very under control.
In the U.S., it seems that we get bicycles as toys. While Cavan certainly plays around on his and enjoys riding, his has been a very different experience. Already at 2 1/2, he uses it for transportation and understands that he is a part of traffic when he rides. And all of this on a bike that has no pedals! So here are a few pictures and a short video of Cavan riding, in case you're reading and wondering what in the heck I'm talking about:
This is a picture of our ride home through the Skovly:
There is a place there in the middle for him to rest his feet while he's coasting. Definitely a great feature that this particular bike has, which I haven't seen on other models.
And here's a short vid of Cavan riding, about a week and a half after he got his bike. I don't have anything more recent, but this is still cute, I think:
One of the most interesting aspects of our move to Denmark has been our transition from having a car to biking and taking public transportation. Jumping on our bikes to head to the train station, the grocery store, or to take a ride for fun out in the forest is second nature to us now. It has been fun seeing how Cavan has experienced this as well.
In early May, a couple of weeks after we returned from our trip to the States, we noticed that Cavan was spending a lot of time at his day care on these orange bikes that they have, which have no pedals. They sit low enough for kids to push along on the ground with their feet and are amazing at helping them to learn to balance on their own. One day when I picked Cavan up, I watched as he picked up his feet and began to coast down the sidewalk there on the playground. I talked to his lead teacher a few days later, and she told me how much Cavan loved to ride that bicycle all day, and how it would be great if he had one of his own that he could bring (apparently because he just stood watching when another kid was using one of the orange ones). So we ordered one on the internet and surprised Cavan with it a few days later. In Danish, it is called a løbecykle which translates to "running bicycle."
Ever since getting his own bike, Cavan has learned so much about bicycle safety and the rules of the road. Every day, on the way to day care, we both ride our bikes together through the "Skovly" - a collection of small houses and gardens in a relatively closed off area. He has learned to listen for cars (which drive very slowly) and to pull off to the side to let them pass. We also bike around in our neighborhood, where he has learned to ride beside me on my right side, on the street. He has learned to stop at intersections and to look both ways for cars. A few times, I have even let him ride on the bicycle lane with me on a busier street near our home. One day, he even managed to keep up while we went for a ride on a path through the forest, near our home. We were out riding for over 40 minutes! He's had a few small crashes, but for the most part, he rides very under control.
In the U.S., it seems that we get bicycles as toys. While Cavan certainly plays around on his and enjoys riding, his has been a very different experience. Already at 2 1/2, he uses it for transportation and understands that he is a part of traffic when he rides. And all of this on a bike that has no pedals! So here are a few pictures and a short video of Cavan riding, in case you're reading and wondering what in the heck I'm talking about:
This is a picture of our ride home through the Skovly:
There is a place there in the middle for him to rest his feet while he's coasting. Definitely a great feature that this particular bike has, which I haven't seen on other models.And here's a short vid of Cavan riding, about a week and a half after he got his bike. I don't have anything more recent, but this is still cute, I think:
Friday, August 01, 2008
Hot, Hot Summer Days
(written by Lindsay)
In comparison to last summer, you'd think we were living in Texas. This year, we have had two long stretches of hot dry days, with temps reaching the mid-80's. This may not sound like much to all you Americans with an air-conditioning thermostat on your wall, but when there are very few places to get relief from the heat, it wears you out. Due to all the brick and the stone courtyard, our house gets pretty hot in the afternoon and stays that way until early morning. But I'm actually not complaining (much) because soon (maybe tonight) it will all be over, and for the first time in years, I have a decent sun tan!
We have been out and about quite a bit in recent days, in large part because it's no fun to sit and bake in our house. Last weekend, we had a fun multi-stop adventure in Copenhagen. It's that time of year when all the locals are sunning on the beaches of Spain, France and Italy and all of the tourists from everywhere else are making their way through the tourist attractions. So we got to pretend to be tourists for a day, which is always fun. Our first stop was the Rundtårn near Nørreport station, a spiral ramped tower adjacent a church which leads up to a great view of the city. Tom and I were hoping to take a good look around, but it turned out that Cavan was not too thrilled about the view (or possibly the height) and he quickly pulled us back down into the stairwell.
After the tower, we made our way to Tøjhusmuseet or the Royal Danish Artillery Museum. We found it in one of our guidebooks earlier that day, and thought it would be just the thing for the little guy, who loves to pretend to shoot his guns. There, we saw weapons from canons to machine guns to swords, and uniforms and armor to boot. Cavan really gravitated toward one canon in particular, which he kept asking if we could buy.
After the artillery and a quick lunch under a shady tree in the park, we set off past Nyhavn to a harbor where a large ship from Italy was docked. We had read in the paper that there would be tours and thought it might be cool to check out. The tours included the top deck only, and honestly, I was too terrified to enjoy it. After climbing the narrow stairs up to the deck, with the ocean looming below, and then noticing that the edges of the ship had absolutely no barriers to prevent small children from falling right off the side, I clung onto Cavan the entire time. I was so glad to be back on dry land.
To conclude our day in the hot, hot sun, we stopped for awhile at a playground in the shade to let Cavan run around and to recoup my sanity. It was a nice, fenced in area. We relaxed on a bench while Cavan climbed and spun around on this spinning seat thing. We weren't paying much attention to what he was doing over there, so apparently he'd been spinning a bit too much - when he stood up to walk back to us, he began walking at a right angle to where he intended and crashed into another couple who was sitting on a bench. I couldn't stop laughing. He just looked so confused. All in all, a great day out. Cavan is such a good traveller, and it is so fun to take him to experience these new things all the time. How lucky we are to live close to such an interesting capitol city!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Where have the last 8 months gone?
(written by Lindsay)
There's no excuse for failing to blog for nearly 3/4 of a year, but nevertheless, I will catch you all up on our lives by giving the longest string of excuses you've ever read. Life has been busy! Starting in November....
November Tom's mom came for a visit for Thanksgiving. While she was in town, we discovered small spots on Cavan, and discovered that he had an illness called ITP - a platelet deficiency. It ended up being a temporary thing, but because he was at high risk for bleeding, we had to keep him home from day care for weeks, and monitor his every toddler motion so that he didn't fall and hurt himself.
December brought a series of ear infections for Cavan, and a Christmas-time trip to Sweden to go skiing. We were as far north as either of us had ever been, and during the darkest days of the year - with about a total of 7 hours of daylight a day. Tom and I took turns on the slopes. Cavan developed a new ear infection while we were there, and we went right to after-hours care as soon as we got back from our 12-hour drive home.
January, I started working on my dissertation in earnest, and also continued to go to language courses in the evenings, two days a week. The winter days were terribly gloomy and dark, and we found ourselves staying home most weekends just to stay out of the ickiness.
Mid-March, we took our trip back to the States - three weeks for me and Cavan, and two weeks for Tom. The kiddo and I went through Philly to see my sister Kristie and family, flew to Kansas to visit parents and sister Jenny and family, drove to Texas, through Dallas to see some friends, and ultimately landed in San Antonio for brother Patrick's wedding to Sinath. Tom met us in Texas and we drove back to Kansas together - 17 hours on the road in one day! Then Cavan and I flew back to Denmark and Tom onto Seattle for a week of work and all-expense-paid meals!
In April and May, I dug into my dissertation revisions, and set a deadline for myself to finish in late May. It started getting much nicer, sunnier, and warmer, so we started taking more day trips on the weekend, including a return to Bakken and to the Zoo. Tom and Cavan spent Danish Father's Day in Helsingor at the Technology Museum while I stayed home and plowed through my work.
In June, I flew back to Seattle to defend my dissertation and graduate - all in four days time! Everything went well, and Mom and Dad flew up to attend the ceremonies with me. A week and a half after coming home, we drove to Amsterdam (another long drive!) where we rolled a family vacation and an educational research conference into one.
Now it's July, and things have finally slowed down -sort of. I still had final dissertation changes to make, and I spent my spare time searching for a job. About two weeks ago I found one - at a day care just up the road. Starting Monday, I will be working full time (35 hours a week) with the smallest kids (9 months to 2 1/2 years) and hopefully improving my Danish. I guess all of that work going to classes paid off. I'm excited to be working with kids - just nervous about the daily struggles I know I'm going to have with understanding everything.
So I promise never to do a laundry list blog like this again. I hope to update more frequently, as I have new adventures at my new job and beyond! Also, more pictures to come soon!
There's no excuse for failing to blog for nearly 3/4 of a year, but nevertheless, I will catch you all up on our lives by giving the longest string of excuses you've ever read. Life has been busy! Starting in November....
November Tom's mom came for a visit for Thanksgiving. While she was in town, we discovered small spots on Cavan, and discovered that he had an illness called ITP - a platelet deficiency. It ended up being a temporary thing, but because he was at high risk for bleeding, we had to keep him home from day care for weeks, and monitor his every toddler motion so that he didn't fall and hurt himself.
December brought a series of ear infections for Cavan, and a Christmas-time trip to Sweden to go skiing. We were as far north as either of us had ever been, and during the darkest days of the year - with about a total of 7 hours of daylight a day. Tom and I took turns on the slopes. Cavan developed a new ear infection while we were there, and we went right to after-hours care as soon as we got back from our 12-hour drive home.
January, I started working on my dissertation in earnest, and also continued to go to language courses in the evenings, two days a week. The winter days were terribly gloomy and dark, and we found ourselves staying home most weekends just to stay out of the ickiness.
Mid-March, we took our trip back to the States - three weeks for me and Cavan, and two weeks for Tom. The kiddo and I went through Philly to see my sister Kristie and family, flew to Kansas to visit parents and sister Jenny and family, drove to Texas, through Dallas to see some friends, and ultimately landed in San Antonio for brother Patrick's wedding to Sinath. Tom met us in Texas and we drove back to Kansas together - 17 hours on the road in one day! Then Cavan and I flew back to Denmark and Tom onto Seattle for a week of work and all-expense-paid meals!
In April and May, I dug into my dissertation revisions, and set a deadline for myself to finish in late May. It started getting much nicer, sunnier, and warmer, so we started taking more day trips on the weekend, including a return to Bakken and to the Zoo. Tom and Cavan spent Danish Father's Day in Helsingor at the Technology Museum while I stayed home and plowed through my work.
In June, I flew back to Seattle to defend my dissertation and graduate - all in four days time! Everything went well, and Mom and Dad flew up to attend the ceremonies with me. A week and a half after coming home, we drove to Amsterdam (another long drive!) where we rolled a family vacation and an educational research conference into one.
Now it's July, and things have finally slowed down -sort of. I still had final dissertation changes to make, and I spent my spare time searching for a job. About two weeks ago I found one - at a day care just up the road. Starting Monday, I will be working full time (35 hours a week) with the smallest kids (9 months to 2 1/2 years) and hopefully improving my Danish. I guess all of that work going to classes paid off. I'm excited to be working with kids - just nervous about the daily struggles I know I'm going to have with understanding everything.
So I promise never to do a laundry list blog like this again. I hope to update more frequently, as I have new adventures at my new job and beyond! Also, more pictures to come soon!
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