What are Danes like?

(written by Tom)

Many of you may be wondering what Danes are like (at least the ones that live around Copenhagen). Well, here is a list of what I've learned from the culture classes, heard from other people, and observed for myself. Yes, I am stereotyping and I know that not everyone here fits this mold, but I will use the first item as an excuse...

1. Danes love to stereotype - things works better if everything and everyone fit into neat little categories
2. Danes do not like to initiate any sort of interaction - if you pass someone on the street, they will always avert their eyes, even on the train it is often eerily quiet
3. Danes love to hear what foreigners think about Danes
4. Danes love to explain to foreigners what Danes are like
5. Danes resent the fact that their country is known primarly by the Little Mermaid statue
6. Despite #5, Danes make sure everyone knows who H.C. Anderson was
7. Danes are humble - I have never met a single one who was snotty or condescending
8. Danes do not like being compared to Swedes
9. Danes think of Germany as a country they have to drive through to get to the rest of Europe
10. Danes can speak excellent English - except for the older generation
11. Danes will usually not stop to help or hold the door for you, unless you ask, in which case they will be very willing
12. Danes love pizza
13. Danes think bathtubs are a luxury
14. Danes complain about the high taxes but really don't mind so much
15. Danes are obsessed with candles
16. Danes use any excuse to display the flag
17. Danes are patient in all circumstances except for getting on and off the train/bus
18. Danes don't like George Bush (but then again, who does outside of the US?)
19. Danes are very liberal with their use of swear words
20. Danes still fondly remember when they won the European Football Championship a few years ago (actually it was more like 15 years ago...)
21. Danes from Copenhagen consider their island the mainland, while Danes from Jutland consdier their peninsula the mainland
22. Danes are not all blonde-haired, blue-eyed - but a lot of them are!
23. Danes leave their babies outside in their prams while they shop
24. Danes dress their babies up in extremely warm clothing, even when it's not that cold outside
25. Danes are not known to provide excellent customer service
26. Danes put a strong emphasis on work-life balance
27. Danes are fond of their Viking heritage
28. Danes love their royal family - the emblem of the crown is seen everywhere
29. Danes have a do-it-yourself attitude
30. Danes have a forward thinking sense of gender equality

Disaster of an outing

(written by Lindsay)

It was a simple enough plan. I have a bike trailer, but no bike (yet, it's coming on the boat) so I thought I'd rent a bike for a few weeks. I could get out a little more, see more things, take Cavan out on fun adventures. There is a bicycle rental place downtown next to the train station, so I planned an outting today to take Cavan down via the metro/train and ride home on a rental bike.

I push Cavan in the bike trailer, which doubles as a stroller, and we find our way to the rental place downtown. I rent a bike that also has a baby seat on the bike. The "mechanic" guy from the shop comes out and helps me get the trailer attached to the bike so I can wheel it home, and shows me how to operate the wheel locks, etc. "Okay, Cavan, let's get in and go home. But first you have to put your helmet on......"This is when all hell breaks loose. Putting a helmet on this child, you'd think I am poking him with a hot brander. He screams and screams and then screams some more - and I still have to adjust the strap on his helmet. So I spend about 5 minutes doing this while he continues to scream. I manage to wrestle the helmet onto his head and buckle the straps. Cavan is lifting up on the helmet as hard as he can - so hard his whole head might just pop off.

Okay, Plan B. Let's put him in the bike seat and THEN put the helmet on. Once he realizes how cool it is to be sitting on top of the bike, he won't notice. WRONG.

Okay, Plan C. I'll put him in the trailer and then put the helmet on. WRONG.

Okay, Plan D. let's just go and once we start moving, he'll realize how fun it is, and will leave the helmet alone. WRONG.


So I am pedaling around on this bike, which turns out is way too large for me anyway - I'd have to jump off to reach the ground. There is a roundabout so I go around it once. Twice. I don't know where to turn. Cavan is still screaming bloody murder. That's it. I'm done. I'm ready to scream. We're taking the bike back. I stop at the corner and Cavan has already managed to wrestle his helmet off, and is still screaming/sobbing in the trailer. We go back into the bike shop and I explain the situation and ask for my money back. The guys there are nice and give me no problem. They can probably tell that someone's going to lose their head if they tell me no.

Once the money is refunded, I hold Cavan, and push the trailer back to the train station. We are both stressed but relieved that that ordeal is over with. There is a McDonald's at the train station so we stop for nuggets and a coke. After all that, I need something familiar. Cavan is happy sitting in the chair and eating his nuggets and seems to have forgotten all about the helmet.

Until the next time.

Pizza everywhere!

If you've ever spent any time in Seattle you'll know what I'm talking about when I say there's a terriyaki restaurant on just about every corner. Well here in Copenhagen it's the same thing with pizza places. You can't walk 2 blocks without running into some little place that sells pizza. In fact, there is a takeout place right across from our front door - we can see it if we look out our front windows. In such establishments you can usually also pick up sandwiches or even Shawarma.

The Land of the Vikings

Yesterday we decided to turn in the rental car, but before I did so we decided to take a trip to Roskilde, a town West of Copenhagen on the island of Zealand. The main attraction for us was the Viking Boat Museum, which sits on the edge of the Fjord of Roskilde.

The museum was interesting because the main exhibit was a collection of boats that had been excavated from the depths of the fjord back in the 60s. Apparently, back in the 11th century when folks had to worry about raids from unfriendly neighbors, several boats of various types where loaded with rocks and sunk at one of the channels to block the ships of the incoming hoards of invaders. In the end it turned out to be a great tactic because it forced them to land elsewhere, giving time to evacuate and prepare for battle. The early Danes were victorious and the scuttled ships survived the centuries at the bottom of the fjord until recently.

We packed a lunch and put Cavan in the backpack. Afterwards we stopped at a small playground just outside the site. The most exciting thing for him was encountering a city park worker with a 4 wheeler. He chased after her yelling "Tractor! Tractor!" (although it sounded more like "Cackou! Cackou!").



News on the house - we had an offer from someone last week and the inspection was supposed to happen today. We're keeping our fingers crossed!

Our first week

Well, we've been in Denmark for a week now. Up until tonight, each time that I (Lindsay) thought about posting on our blog, I just felt overwhelmed. Where would I begin? What events were most important to talk about? It occurs to me that in the midst of a change as great as moving overseas, there are moments where you're not sure what you know and don't know, or how you even feel about your surroundings from moment to moment. Even though we're in a city that's easy-going and safe, and where the majority of locals speak very clear English, there is still a panic that sets in. No matter how much support you have, or how prepared you feel you might be, you are in over your head and you know it. It happens as you are walking through the grocery store and trying to make a quick decision about which type of crackers Cavan might actually eat, or which item is butter and which is cheese; when you're paying for your new Danish/English dictionary and the cashier begins speaking to you in lightning speed Danish and you just nod and shrug and wonder what type of technical question she's asking you (as it turns out she just wants to know if you want a bag or not); and just as you are trying to make sense of how to get from here to there. It is all laborious and hard because it is all completely new.

But aside from the challenges, we are doing really well and having a great time in Denmark. We are settled into our temporary apartment in the town of Frederiksberg (in Copenhagen but its own municipality) - the place is much nicer than what we expected. All of the furnishings are modern and clean, even if the doors and floors are old and creaky. We're learning to get by without a dryer - our clothes are currently hanging on a very large drying rack here in our living room. We're experimenting with having bread and cheese as a nightly after dinner snack. And thanks to another American family from Microsoft, we're learning where to go shopping for what, and where to find deals. Our biggest shock so far has been the cost of things. It seems that most grocery items are at least 50% more than what we'd pay for them in the states - so we are also strategizing about how to stretch our dollar (well, Kroner) as far as we can. This fact alone, I think, is setting us up for a more economical, European lifestyle :)



Cavan is doing amazingly well with the changes. He seems content in the stroller on our walks to the grocery store and back - pointing out many, many bikes and cars and flags along the way. He loves going out in the back courtyard to toss the ball for Sasha (just like at home) and there are some sand toys and swing that he plays with out there. He doesn't have very many toys here yet - just a few that we could fit in our luggage - so we feel at times that he goes a little stir-crazy here in the apartment. Tom and I laughed today when we found him in his room crawling forwards and then crawling backwards, to no apparent purpose. "Yep, he's bored"


Sasha - well, let's say she's adjusting too. Thank goodness for the courtyard, or I think we'd all be going crazy. We take her out probably 4 times a day, either to play in the yard or go for a walk. She has learned to pee and poo on the sidewalk, because sometimes there's just no grass or dirt to be found. But she does a relatively good job walking on her leash amidst all the baby buggies and bicycles and cars and people and other dogs walking past.

In terms of things coming up: this week, Tom has already been allotted some vacation time from his boss (gotta love their work ethic here) so that we can spend some time to get settled. Thursday, Friday and Monday are all national holidays here because of Easter anyway. Tomorrow, we expect our air shipment from the States, our "reinforcements" of clothes and toys, Tom's desktop PC, and some other miscellaneous items. We won't really start looking for a permanent place until late April or early May, once we have gotten to know the areas better. Once we do move, I will likely start language lessons, and start looking for part-time day care for Cavan. Other things too that I can't think of right now.

So I think this officially exhausts my blogging energy for the evening. Keep checking back for updates and more pictures of lovely Denmark!

Lindsay

The time has come!

Well my last day at work has come and gone. I said farewell to all my coworkers and had a few last games of foosball (I think they let me win).

Tonight is fairly busy because we have to be ready for the pack & move crew to come by tomorrow morning. I'll be staying home tomorrow and Friday supervising the move while Lindsay and Cavan are out and about.

Tonight is our last night sleeping in our home. Starting tomorrow, we'll check into the Residence Inn. We were able to sell my car, but we decided not to sell Lindsay's Accord. Her folks are flying in tomorrow afternoon and will drive it back to Kansas for us to keep for us until we return. We just thought it will be nice having a car waiting for us when we got back.

Saturday we plan on spending cleaning the house and then Sunday our flight leaves at 6:50pm. It's a 9.5 hour nonstop SAS flight and we'll get in around 1pm local time. From there we have a hotel reservation at the Hotel Scandic Copenhagen for 3 nights. After which we'll move into our temporary housing. The address is:

Bentzonsvej 20, 2.tv.
DK-2000 Frederiksberg

That will be where we'll live for the next couple of months, until we find a more permanent place to rent.

Well, we've got a lot of work to do, so I best get at it. You'll hear from us after we touch down on the other side of the pond. Wish us luck!

Leave date

Okay, and now what everyone's been waiting to hear... when do we leave for Denmark?

My last day of work is Wed 3/21. The movers will be here from 3/22 - 3/23. During that time we'll be put up in a Residence Inn, and will fly out of Seattle on 3/25, arriving in CPH 3/26. After a few days rest I will start work on 3/29.

The house still hasn't sold yet. We hosted an open house yesterday but no one even came out to look at it. That was kind of depressing. :(

We're hoping it will sell soon so all we have to worry about is the closing while we are overseas.

Lindsay is working hard to get her car in shape to list it for sale. We're hoping that will sell quicker than the house.

Not so fast my friend...

Well, we thought we had the house sold, but the buyers backed out the day the inspection was due. Yeah, that really stinks. Because we live in a buyer-friendly state there's not really anything we can do to get the earnest back. Apparently the couple buying the home is going through a divorce and couldn't agree on the house. Kind of strange if you ask me.

After recovering from our anger and disappointment, we put the house back on the market. Well, it's a little harder this time around. We haven't had many people look at the house since then and of course no offers. We've decided to hold an open house this Sunday in the hope that it will draw in a few more people.

Now for some good news... our visa applications just got accepted yesterday from Danish Immigration! I FedEx'd our passports to get the stamps so we can be legal to reside in the land of the Danes. We should have them by this week.

So... when do we actually go? Well at first we thought that the sale of the house would hold us back, but our agent says we will still be able to sell or close on the house while we are overseas. Also, my new boss suggests that I start work by 3/29. So now we are looking at a departure date of the weekend of the 24th. Oh my gosh that's less than 4 weeks away!

We've got a lot more to do between now and then, but with a tangible date in mind I think we are both a little saner.

Gone in 60 seconds

Well that was quick. We put our house up on the market on Friday, and by Saturday received an offer for our asking price. We accepted the offer on Sunday and today our status changed to "Pending Inspection." The closing date is March 22, but we will be able to rent back from the new owners until April 7, if we need to.

Such a relief to get that out of the way. One less thing to worry about. And not having to worry about keeping the house spotless 24-7 is nice, too.

I definitely recommend Redfin if you ever want to sell your house. Currently they are located only in Seattle and San Francisco, but they are looking to expand to other cities in the future. The only problem we had was getting the for sale sign up in time, but other then that, things have been going smoothly. We're saving a bundle on not having to pay a commission to a listing agent.

This week will be the 4th week since our paperwork was submitted for the visas. 4-5 more weeks to go...

A Farewell to Wings

Tonight Jazmine went to a new home. We decided that taking him with us to Denmark didn't really make sense. It would probably have been too much strain on the little guy, especially having to travel on a long overseas flight.

He was adopted by the mother of one of Lindsay's colleagues at school. We know that Jazmine is going to a great home and will get lots of love and attention as his new mother recovers from breast cancer surgery.

Jazmine joined our family over 5 years ago, not long after we got married and soon after arriving in Seattle. Since that time we've gotten to know and love his traits and eccentricities. That's why it was hard letting him go. He's been through a lot with us, from an initial case of mistaken gender, to getting his toes chewed off by a macaw, all the way to helping us raise a puppy and a baby. He's made a lot of kids smile and will continue to do so, I am sure.

Good luck Jazmine! We'll miss you!

Redfinned

We were pleased to have Grama Joanne and Grampa Ed drive up from Oregon to visit us this week. They arrived Sunday and left to go back this morning. They were very helpful in helping us rearrange furniture and "frame" the house so we could take pictures to put on our listing.

This afternoon we ventured down to Pioneer Square to the startup-ish office of Redfin to speak with our assigned selling agent, Kelly. Things seemed to go smoothly enough. Except after a while Cavan got tired of being cooped up in a meeting room with nothing to play with but dry erase pens and highlighters. I don't blame him - I've been tired all day. We are scheduled for an appraisal on Thursday, and by next week we should have enough information to go live with the listing. Then the fun begins! We haven't decided whether we want to have an open house. It seems to be more hassle than benefit and Kelly told us it's really just a way for buying agents to pick up clients more than anything else.

Right now we are just packing away our "clutter" and finding some other place for it and sorting out the stuff we want to get rid of at the garage sale. Step by step we are making the house sellable. Actually Lindsay is doing most of the work on the house while I relax at the office all day (hah!).

Superbowl Sunday is this weekend. That's something American I'll definitely miss while we're in Denmark.

Departure delayed

Well, it doesn't look like we're going to leave when we thought we would. It took until last week to get the passports and papers ready to submit to apply for work & residence visas. And unfortunately the legal people are saying it's taking up to 10 weeks for the Danish Immigration Service to process visas these days.

So that puts us into Late March/Early April for our leave date. Kind of makes it difficult to know when to put our house on the market and sell our cars, but oh well. We'll get there eventually.

This Friday we're scheduled to meet with the movers at our house so they can do a pre-move survey. I guess they want to know how many boxes they need to bring to haul our junk over there.

The die is cast!

(written by Tom)

Back in November I flew to Copenhagen, Denmark for an interview for a position as a software tester with the Dynamics NAV division of Microsoft. Well, they offered me the job, and finally after reviewing the contract, getting numerous tax consultations, and lots of discussions with our families, we decided to accept the position and move the fam to Europe.

I am scheduled to start on 2/12/07, but before that we will have to sell the house and the cars, get the necessary paperwork done for working and living there (through a relocation agent), and say our countless goodbyes to loved ones.

Microsoft will handle all the details of actually getting there and put us up in an apartment until we find a place we want to stay.

Most likely we will want to stay 2-3 years. It will be an unbelievable experience and one that comes at just about the right time in our lives. Cavan is just over 1 year old and is just learning to speak. He'll have no problem picking up the native language. Lindsay is intent on finishing her dissertation after we move there and later possibly finding a job.

We hope to use this blog as a means to keep you guys updated with the latest goings on and detail our exploits in the land of the vikings.