its great to be home

First of all thank you to everyone for stopping by our blog. I can see on the stat page that several are coming by daily (viele aus Deutschland… Hallo!!), so this is a long overdue update about our new life in Denmark. I did enjoy a break from blogging though, and just taking in the whole new and familiar setting without having to think about how to explain it to others. The fact that someone follows this space and our journey, motivates me to keep writing, although I mainly do it to keep track of our path as we move along.

It’s already been a month, and we have adjusted comfortably into our new but unfortunately temporary housing that has a garden with a sandbox, an office and now our old, but beloved Nespresso machine from Vienna. The kids started preschool and daycare in the beginning of September, and are slowly getting used to new routines and new people. In the beginning Silja was so excited to be among others her age, and to be in a Danish-speaking school where she could effortlessly communicate and understand. And then there’s been a little bump, where she is missing her old friends and teachers, and is asking to go back to her old school in the morning when we get ready. She got a letter from her best friend Brielle the other day and was quick to make a drawing, and asked me to write “Dear Briellie, I miss you very very much. I know you are there, but you are just very far away from me now. My new school in fun, and I got a Tinker Bell pencil case and I made cupcakes with my mom...” I so want her to remember her English, because it really is the sweetest when she starts talking.

Coming home has been easy so far. I immediately feel like I fit in, and I can’t help but feel how incredibly easy everything is for me here (not always for my favorite Icelander though): Making appointments with the doctor, small talking with staff at the preschool, knowing the goods in the supermarket, and where to go for what; even the city is not unfamiliar. Overall it makes for a very smooth transition, and I’m happy to find the rude Danes I expected to meet, are friendly and talkative. (I suspect it might be different when you look different or talk a different language?) And finally it’s beyond amazing to have my dad call in the morning to ask if he can stop by for coffee in the afternoon (he’s an hour away) and to invite the whole family for a belated birthday celebration for Silja. It tops by far the mindset that both of us have seen a bit here and there that the way of doing things in Denmark is the only right way, which is honestly quite narrow-minded, but also understandable for a small but very proud nation. 

The container with our belongings arrived safely before us, and we have moved everything to a storage space, where it will stay until we move to more permanent housing. We are eager to find a place in our current neighborhood, so the kids won’t have to change school/daycare, and it can be a bit stressful to find something that fits into our family of four, although we are not particularly picky. I hope it works out soon. The family that owns this house will return a month earlier than expected, so we got until end of November to find a new and good place, which should be doable.

A couple of pictures from the past month and our new surroundings.

 We are almost living on the country side, although the city center is a 20 min bike ride away. I think I like it. I definitely like these hairy cows.

Getting used to new means of transportations. Bikes of course. We bought two electrical bikes from a French family who lived in the house before us, and they make biking so easy, especially with a big trailer in tow.

She's making crazy sandwiches that doesn't follow the standard rules for what usually goes together according to the unofficial Danish-open-faced-sandwich-"rules": leverpostej og spegepoelse med tomato.

Oversaet til dansk