Catching Up

Hi everyone,

Well I obviously haven’t blogged in awhile because life has been quite hectic.  We now have a walking toddler so things have gotten to be very busy.  Hopefully I can update you on the things that have been going on in the recent past.  Here goes:

In June and July we went back to the US for a month to visit family and friends.  It was really nice to be home and to see everyone after being gone for so long!  It was also nice to get to enjoy the things we missed such as chocolate chips, flavored coffee creamers, affordable clothing and food, delicious restaurants, etc.  We spent most of the time running from place to place and didn’t get half of the things done that we wanted to.   We tried to get in a visit to everyone but we just plain old ran out of time.  Sorry to those who didn’t get to see us…we’ll catch you next time!  I also didn’t get a chance to stop by the airport and see my old flying buddies.  I really wanted to go flying but it just didn’t work out with our schedule. 

The summer in Denmark was amazing this year.  All of the Danes (I’d like to clarify by saying it’s the ones my husband works with…I still have yet to befriend a Danish person) said they’ve not had a summer quite like it in a long time.  It was sunny and 70-75 degrees F every day.  The warmest day I remember seeing was 84 degrees F which was a bit warm without air conditioning.  When your average summertime high is 70 degrees there’s not much of a need for AC when you live next to the ocean.  We lived with the doors and windows open until just recently.  We tried to get out and enjoy the weather as much as possible while we could.  Now the weather has turned cooler but it’s still not terrible.  The only bad part about living by the ocean is that it tends to be windy.  Wintertime isn’t really that cold here but the wind and dampness really gets to you.

As the weather has turned to fall I find myself really homesick.  We plan on being home for Christmas (and if we’re lucky Thanksgiving too!) and so I’m very excited to go see everyone.  This past month has been tough as we have all been sick.  These European germs are tough….we find that we are catching new germs that we haven’t been exposed to before and as an adult they’re much harder to deal with than for a child.  Our little one had hand, foot and mouth disease and (of course) passed it on to us.  As adults it just plain sucks.  My husband had to stay home from work and work from home for a week and a half because his boss ordered him not to come into work and pass it along.  So anyway, we all have cabin fever pretty badly.  We hope to get to the Dyrehavn (deer park) this weekend and see the fall colors before it’s too late.  If we get there we will post pictures. 

I have been busy joining new groups and getting to know some new people.  Some of the women in the playgroup I’m part of have started going out for drinks and/or dinner once a month.  I have gone once so far and it has been a lot of fun.  It’s just nice to get out and have some adult time J  We also have started our own book club.  We all take turns hosting and the hostess picks the book we will read.  Anyone have any suggestions?? 

Several weeks ago we were able to go see the Maersk ship that has just been built and put into service.  Maersk is a Danish shipping and oil company.  This new ship is the biggest ship in the world (http://www.discovery.ca/episodeList.aspx?sid=13057).  It’s insanely huge….I can’t even describe it!  It holds 18,000 20 foot cargo containers and is 16 stories to the main deck.  They gave out free tickets to 49,000 people but we weren’t able to get any L  We did go see it twice just for kicks.  We actually saw it pull into the harbor one evening and it was amazing. 

My husband has taken a few work trips recently and took us with him.  We went to Stevanger, Norway first for a long weekend.  We have been to both Oslo and Stevanger in Norway and both are stunning.  Stevanger is on the ocean but has some smaller mountains nearby.  We were able to go on a fjord cruise and see Preikestolen (Pulpit rock) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preikestolen).  It was a 3 hour cruise but was great for us with a little one in tow.  Stevanger is a great town to bum around in for a few days.  We got to see cruise ships come and go as well.  Norway reminds me of Alaska….it’s absolutely stunning.  Anyone with Norwegian heritage should definitely go see it.

Fjord Cruise 

 This boat pulled in and had a staff that was parking it....someone is rich!

 Fjord cruise

 View from our hotel

 Jellyfish....don't fall in!

 Old town Stevanger.  People still live here but must keep it "historical" looking

The second trip we took was to Esbjerg, Denmark.  It was a 3 hour train ride west of Copenhagen to the mainland of Denmark.  Esbjerg is a shipping/oil town so it was a bit like going to Williston for the week.  While we were there I had a horrible bout of food poisoning and so I wasn’t able to really enjoy it was much as I could have.  It did have a nice shopping street and a great playground that had chickens (yes, it had a chicken coop with a hen, rooster and some chicks….so cool!) for our little one to play in.  We also went to the ocean in Esbjerg.  The beach was gorgeous there and almost untouched.  We were able to pick up seashells and walk along the water.  It was very chilly but fun.  The statues were a nice touch, too!

Last month we had book club.  My friend (who lives a few buildings down) and I went together.  It’s nice to have someone to walk with….I realize Copenhagen is safe but it’s dark and I just wanted some company J  After book club, one of the ladies offered us a ride home.  As we were driving home, I realized that it was the first time I’d been in a car (other than a taxi) in Copenhagen since we moved here.  My friend also told me she had the same experience.  It’s so strange not having a car but in some ways it can be nice.

Also last month my friend had a girls’ night at her house.  She is a really good cook and is the type to have the correct wine (and goblet) for every course.  She had a 3 course meal prepared for us and it was all absolutely amazing.  Of course after 3+ glasses of wine, anything would taste great J  Thankfully I got a ride home that night, too. 

I got to thinking the other day and I think I may have met people here from many different places.  Here’s a short list of interesting places that people are from:  Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Israel, Norway, Finland, Russia, Latvia, the UK (Scotland, Ireland and England), Canada and Australia to name a few.  Sorry if I forgot you….

Well, I’m going to wrap this up for now.  Hope you are all well and please let me know if you have any questions about anything I wrote J 

Here’s a link to something interesting….food for thought perhaps J
http://www.cphpost.dk/commentary/cph-post-voices/christian-values-time-earn-your-foreigners-denmark