Homesickness

(written by Lindsay)

We are soon coming up on the two year mark of living in Denmark. While there are a mountain of things that we have come to miss about being in the States (and can't wait to go back to), I personally feel like I have adjusted to living here. Being able to speak the language, having a job to go to, seeing people that I know at the grocery store, and of course having a car, have helped life to settle into a new normal.

Every once in awhile, however, homesickness hits me out of the blue and makes me realize just how far away my life has drifted from the familiar. Last weekend, I was out by myself shopping at the grocery store, when I heard some country music playing over the store's radio. This may not seem so remarkable, but virtually no one listens to country music here - it's not on the radio, and I don't think you can buy much in stores. So while I was picking out avocados, I was pulled back through time to "You Picked A Fine Time to Leave Me Lucille" and was discussing with my sister whether there were four hungry children or four hundred children. In the frozen food aisle, it was "Blue" and I was suddenly transported to a warm summer night, rocking with the waves on Mom and Dad's boat at the Lake. And it just brought tears to my eyes, missing the warmth, my family, and the familiarity of all those country songs.

Today, Cavan and I went to see the new Disney cartoon "Bolt". The movie was dubbed into Danish, as children are typically not good at reading subtitles. Believe it or not, after nearly two years of living in Denmark, this is the first time I've seen a movie in the theater that was not in English. I had no problems understanding, and I assume Cavan didn't either - another sign of how far we've come and how much we've learned since living here. And then came the scene, of Bolt and his road companions working their way West across the United States to find Penny in California. And the homesickness hit me again, as they crossed state lines into Missouri and Kansas. The road trip, the never ending highway, the waffle houses....we have taken a car trip or two since living in Europe, but it's not quite the same.

I like living in Europe for many reasons, and I feel that we as a family have done a good job at integrating ourselves into many of the lifestyles changes that go along with being here. But I am in my heart a proud American, and there are a great many things I miss about my culture, which I don't even realize on a daily basis. These little moments, however, break into my consciousness and call me back home. I'm not ready to go just yet - as I know that once we leave, this time in our lives will become something like a dream itself - but I do look forward to our homecoming, with all the small surprises of the things we didn't even know we'd missed for so long.

The Darkest Day

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 !

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:

1. 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.


2. 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)


3. Tax on said yellow car is 25% - an extra $1250.
   
   
4. 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?
   
   
5. $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?
   
   
6. 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.

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).

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:

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!

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!

How Halloween Went Down

(written by Lindsay)

It was a little difficult to work up the energy to go trick or treating with Cavan. Sure some of our neighbors had pumpkins on their front porches, and I'd been told that Halloween is starting to "catch on" here, but still we weren't sure what to expect. Dressing your child in a tiger costume and sending him around to collect candy from the neighbors isn't a cultural practice that necessarily translates.

But when it started to get dark, it just didn't feel right not to be going somewhere on Halloween, so Cavan got on his tiger suit, and we put together a make-shift trick-or-treating bag for him. Once we told him he was going to get some candy to put in his bag, he was all ready to go. We went to our friends' house first, as a test case. I don't think we caught them too off guard, but we quickly realized that even though people may know about Halloween, they are not necessarily opening the door with heaping bowls of candy. Fortunately, of the three houses we went to (people who I knew to have kids and who had pumpkins on their doorsteps) they each had some piece of candy to offer, which saved the evening from being a total embarrassment for us. But let's just say, trick-or-treating in Denmark was just not the same. As a classmate of mine said of the holiday in England, "It sort of feels like sending your children out begging in the street."

Cavan had a great time though. He caught on to the concept quickly, and was eager in his pursuit of more candy. We supplemented his three pieces with some that I had bought in the eventuality of trick-or-treaters at our own house (we had one group of kids, actually). Like every kid, he couldn't wait to dump it out on the floor and see what he'd collected.

Here's a few pictures of our little tiger:

Happy Halloween!

(written by Tom)

Halloween is apparently catching on here. I haven't yet seen any houses done up quite like they are in the US, but I do see people putting carved pumpkins and candles outside their doors. As far as candy, I'm not quite sure what they do for trick or treating because the candy bags they sell in the store do not seem to have individually wrapped treats. Lindsay bought some candy and is planning on putting them in ziplock bags to hand out in case any goblins come by the house tonight. Cavan was going to dress up in a tiger suit tonight but we may have to cancel because he has a little ear infection. We'll try to get pictures out when we can.

Last weekend I was invited to play in a friendly game of flag football that pitted some Microsofties against a selected few from Mærsk, a shipping company. Most people had never played before, not to mention even knowing what the rules are. But it was fun. I got bumped aroud a lot but managed to make a few good defensive plays. The Mærsk guys were just too physical and were able kept us out of the endzone. One of the guys on the other team was a rugby player and at times I think forgot he was playing "flag" football. I've never been hit by a truck but I think I came close to experiencing it on Sunday. X(

More cake please!

written by Tom

Interesting thing I’ve learned about Danes, especially at work, is that when it’s your birthday it is customary to provide cake for other people. In the US it’s usually done the other way around, and other people get the cake for you, if they remember. I like the Danish way better – there are less hurt feelings. :)

When I mentioned this to a friend, here's what he said:

"Oh then you would love my work place. We almost push people or the company into cake at any excuse. When newly employed you have to bring cake or breakfast (some bread and butter etc.) after three months when the trial period is over. Each birthday of course. Going on holiday. For unexpected big orders. When a house or a car is purchased. Or when you sell your house. Anniversary. etc."

Jazz in the city

written by Lindsay

Late last week, we were trying to figure out what we would do for fun over the weekend. Our options usually include staying home and cleaning the house, walking to a nearby playground, attempting to go shopping (although everything we find is too expensive and we can't bring ourselves to buy anything) or going "out" somewhere to explore. I thought it might be fun to find some live music, so that Cavan could see people playing instruments. He loves getting the guitars out at home to play with them, and always pretends the bass guitar is an upright bass. I wish I had a picture of him doing it, cause he actually has really good pretend technique. Anyway, Tom looked online at the Copenhagen This Week site, and we actually found that there would be a free kids' jazz event at a coffee shop downtown. So Saturday, after allowing Cavan a short nap, we headed out by bus and train into the city.

Cavan does really well on the train these days. We usually take along a snack, a couple of his little animals, and a car and he is pretty content to sit all the way there. Once we got to the main train station in Copenhagen, it was about a 5 minute walk to the coffee shop called PH-Cafeen. This place actually reminded me of the coffee places back in Seattle, which seem to be pretty rare here. Street cafes, where they serve not just coffee, but food and alcohol as well, are much more common.

In the back room of the coffee shop, we found the show just beginning: the jazz musicians wearing grey wigs, and the MC/singer dressed up as god knows what. I couldn't understand too much of what she was saying, but throughout the show she was shedding some kind of grey fuzz all over the place. Despite the odd costuming and rather depressing story line, the music was great. Tom got us some drinks and a candy bar to share, and we sat and enjoyed some jazz for about 45 minutes. At that time, Cavan told us, "All done!" We had noticed some other families with small children making their exit already, so we didn't feel too bad about leaving during the show. And when Cavan's done, he's done.

It was still early in the afternoon after the show, so we decided to wander around the neighborhood and see what we could see. We began heading west toward Vesterbro, uncertain of exactly where we were, since we had neglected to bring our map book. Much to our luck, we stumbled upon a huge playground, hidden behind a very old-looking city wall or gateway. It was bustling with activity, with families out enjoying the rather warm fall day. Cavan took his time scouting the place out before finally deciding on some equipment to play on.

Around 4:30 we decided to head out of the city. We took the train to Holte, a small town about a 10 minute bus ride away from our house. There is a rather small city center there, with a few restaurant options. So we decided to have dinner out. Cavan had such a long day on little sleep, but instead of getting cranky, he got completely silly. He provided some really interesting dinner entertainment for us, including the unforgettable moment where we asked Cavan if he wanted to "boogie" (to the music) and he said "yeah" and pointed up his nose. We had such a great day,

My first parent meeting in Danish

written by Lindsay

Cavan's day care had a "Parent Meeting" tonight, and I decided that I would attend. I knew it would be difficult to keep up, but I viewed it as an opportunity to hone my still shaky Danish skills. There are about 100 children in the whole day care, ages 1 1/2 to 6 - I would guess about half of the parents showed up. For the first 30 minutes or so we were all in one room, and the institution leader talked about the changes that have taken place in the organization of the day care over the past year. I could follow along on a very basic level, but most of it was over my head since they were talking about finances and allocation of resources (I assume).

The rest of the meeting we spent in smaller groups, according to our children's age groups. Maria, the pedagog in Cavan's room, led the discussion. She told us about the typical day for the children, and parents jumped in at times with suggestions for how things might run more smoothly. For the first hour, I felt like I was following along quite well. And then toward the end, everyone started talking faster and faster....more people talking at once...topics changing every few minutes...like any meeting, people go off on their tangents. There's only so much a brain can take, however, and I think mine shut down there temporarily.

I left the meeting feeling somewhat proud of myself. In just over 6 months, I have learned enough of this completely new foreign language to understand at least a little bit when people are talking at normal speed. And I also left fighting back tears. It is very hard work being a foreigner and quite depressing at times. You don't quite know what's going on, and once you figure it out, you don't know quite what to say, and then once you've formulated a thought in your head, the topic has already moved on to something else. I'm sure if I'd been attending this meeting in my native language, I would have had lots to say. But I sat there as silent as a rock, hoping no one would speak to me or ask me questions.

Of course, everyone here does speak at least a little English, and Cavan's pedagog (lead caregiver) Maria actually speaks it quite well. She came up to me after the meeting and gave me a hug and told me that she thought I was doing well, and to ask her if I ever don't understand what's going on. It's so helpful to have that support there, to have someone acknowledge that you might be confused. It's a steep learning curve no matter how you slice it, but people like Maria make it feel less impossible. We are really quite lucky.

A day at Bakken

(written by Lindsay)

Everyone I talk to says that this has been an unusually cool and wet summer for Denmark. It has rained more days than not, and I can only recall a handful of times that I have left the house without a jacket. It has definitely been dreary for us, considering we have just survived some of the craziest winter weather back in Seattle. This past weekend, however, we finally got a bit of a sun break, so we decided to spend that precious time outdoors.

A 15 minute bus ride and 10 minute journey on the train found us at Bakken, Denmark's oldest amusement park. The rides and games remind you more of your run of the mill county fair, but there is a certain charm and excitement to the place nonetheless. Admission to the park is free - a short walk through a forested area and you are there - but you pay for the rides and the games and the food. We bought a whole little booklet of tickets, and proceeded to scout out the Cavan-sized rides.

Cavan was fascinated with everything - the bumper cars, the balloons that other kids were carrying around, the umbrellas over the tables at a cafe. We probably could have had a perfectly amusing day just walking around and taking it all in. But of course we wanted to put our little boy on his first ever rides :) Most of them were built for adult and child to ride together, so Tom and I took turns taking him. The first ride, a bunch of "boats" going around a large elephant, was a little too fast and the elephant noises a little too scary. Cavan just looked bewildered when we got off. So then we tried something a little slower: the carousel. He loved it!



And the spinning ducks...cried when it was over.



The Oldtimer cars...screamed when it was over. Yeah, we had to do that one twice :)



At 6:00 we caught the train back to Vedbaek, but when we got to the station realized we'd have to wait 45 minutes for the next bus. So, we walked home. It was a 40 minute walk, but it was such a lovely evening to enjoy, picking flowers and talking to the sheep on our way. This is our life. It takes us forever to get where we're going, but I realized on the way home that night that I don't really have anywhere else to be. Maybe it's because we're living in a foreign country and don't have the same feeling of obligation to things as we did back home. Or maybe it's because the pace of things here (and without a car) is forcing us to slow down. Or both. Either way, I find it refreshing. Even when it's raining.

Biking around

On June 1st, we said goodbye to our apartment in Frederiksberg and moved to our permanent (well as permanent as it gets for me and Tom) rental house here in Trørød. We love the space, the neighborhood, and we love finally having our bikes! The community where we live is not really close to any major shopping areas, and without having a car here, our transportation options are either bike it or bus it. I definitely prefer biking. I have a child seat on my bike and Cavan just loves going places in it - he enjoys the process of getting all strapped in and will point to my seat and say "Mommy!" telling me that I should sit there so we can go! I also have a bike trailer to pull behind if I need to go on a bigger grocery shopping trip or to pull Cavan in once the weather gets colder. So far we haven't used it too much, but it's definitely a necessity.

When the weather is nice, biking is wonderful! We get to breath the fresh air, feel the blood pumping through our veins, and experience all of the new sights and smells at a close proximity. There's a road that we take from our little town of Trørød to the bigger town of Vedbæk where we can stop to see sheep graze out in the fields. There's really no stress about cars running you over because the whole infrastructure in Denmark is set up for bikers. In the picture here, you can see the very wide sidewalk on the left - the part that is asphalt is for bikers only. Unless you are on a very small and residential street, you most likely have your own bike lane.

There are times when our transportation situation can be a bit frustrating, however. Like today: this morning it was a little overcast, but it didn't feel like rain was headed our way, so I decided to bike with Cavan down to our friends' house in Hellerup, which is about 9 miles away. The ride there was lovely - a little path that ran alongside the train tracks, through a small forest. We biked through several small towns, past train stations, and after a few wrong turns finally arrived at our friends' house.

Then it started raining. Lightly at first, but as Cavan and Isabella played and had lunch, it got much heavier. Since biking home for an hour through the rain didn't seem like a good option, I decided we would take the train home (you can take bikes on the train). We got off the train at Vedbæk station and had to bike only about 12 minutes to get home....well by the time we made it here, we were soaked. We're talking I can see the color of my skin through my khaki capris, water dripping off my helmet, shoes are completely soaked. Cavan stayed a little drier as I block a lot of the oncoming rain for him, but his pants were pretty wet too. We walked in the door and just stripped down in the entry way. As yucky as it felt, though, we still had a good laugh about how wet we were. A few minutes and some dry jammies later, we were feeling better and ready for a nice long nap!

The good news is, there IS such a thing as rain gear, we just have to go out and buy it. They make rain coats and pants for kids and adults alike, which you can wear over your clothes. There are ponchos designed for bike riding that keep your legs dry. It's just like having windshield wipers on your car - as long as you're prepared, the weather really shouldn't stop you from going anywhere.

Now off I go, back into the rain to take Sasha for a walk :)

Karneval!

The weekend of Whitsunday (or Pentecost) is a weekend of celebration in Copenhagen. A three day festival kicks off Friday evening and lasts until late Sunday night. The occaision is marked with parades, music, dance, food, and games, all centering around a Brazilian Carnival-type theme. We were able to go today and we got a pretty good taste of the event, hearing lots of drumlines, scantily clad dancers, and good beer.

They had a diverse lineup of bands. The ones we saw included several amatuer drumlines, a samba group (lots of drums and dancers with feathers), as well as a Cuban rumba band. Cavan loved the Cuban band and was mesmerized by the twirling dancers that zoomed past him. When it was done, he kept asking for "More! More!"

Meeting people through our dog

As it turns out, the best way to have friendly conversation with people here in Copenhagen is to take our dog Sasha for a walk. There is a park a few blocks from our apartment which is unofficially a dog park - a big empty field lined with hedges where dogs young and old take their owners to socialize. Dogs are excellent at breaking the ice. As soon as we get to the park, I let Sasha off her leash and when other dogs are there, she quickly bounds over to greet them. The dogs end up romping around together, and us humans, for lack of anything else to do, begin talking to each other about our dogs. And other topics as well. For instance, the fact that we are all standing around in the middle of Copenhagen speaking English to each other is usually an entree into talking about where I come from and what I think about Denmark. And once that's been talked about, there's always the weather. And if nothing else, you can always talk about how silly and cute the dogs are. We're there often enough that people know Sasha by name, and Tom and I by association. It's not much, but it's the social outlet that we need, I think. Even having someone recognize your face (or your dog's face) in a foreign land helps it feel just a little bit more like home.

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!