Jonathan was offered a fantastic position at the same firm wherein he spent his final internship. It took awhile to work through, but we decided that the life we aspired towards was waiting for us in a foreign country. We sold everything in our place to cover the cost of moving, and flew out to start a new life in Copenhagen. Here are the realities of our aspirations so far, in delightful list form.
The Aspiration: We're going to live the healthy Danish Lifestyle! Denmark is known for happiness and healthiness. One of the big selling points for this European move was the idea of biking or taking transit everywhere. I had actually wanted to live car-free for awhile and we certainly weren't going to ship my Ford Focus across the Atlantic. Since we found shipping a bike on a plane was cheaper than buying a new one on arrival, we packed up the two we already owned and boarded them with our high ideas.
The Reality: In our first week here we had my mother-in-law visiting to help us settle in. We took the train everywhere during her visit, so we are fairly familiar with the lay of transit land. Sadly, the transit costs here are some of the highest in the world. Biking is easy in this flat country, but limits our search distance from work while finding housing. Neither of us was a bike commuter in Seattle, so it took awhile to get our asses used to bike seats. I've crashed twice so far, skinning my hands and bruising my legs and ego. At least we have amazing healthcare.
The Aspiration: The food will be better for us! Jonathan and I were genuinely excited to move to a country with a food pyramid based on science instead of lobbying. Having greater access to cheap, fresh food also made us feel dietary warm and fuzzies. With groceries on every corner, we'd never want for fresh veggies.
The Reality: I don't believe I've ever spent so much time in a grocery store. No preservatives means our produce doesn't last very long. Biking necessitates the need for small loads of groceries. Our current living situation leaves us without a freezer in our apartment. (We are borrowing the chest freezer in the hall for ice cream.) Everyday, I am in a convenience store, bodega, market or grocer, sometimes several if I can't find and ingredient; often twice a day if I run out of something I didn't realize I was low on.
The Aspiration: We'll be minimalists... I have a real hatred of being told I have too much stuff, which has led to some admittedly unhealthy household purging. This move was the absolute coup de gras against American consumerism. We arrived at the airport with 5 bags, 2 bikes and one rabbit. A few of our smaller items are due to arrive with traveling friends, but all our furniture, appliances, dishes were left behind. This has obviously created some interesting situations.
So far, we've stayed in places that are furnished. Once we find our own place, we are going to need some basics. My whole idea of basics has shifted since we landed. In Denmark, you really need a candle holder. The weather is shit, so everyone makes houses more comfortable via candles. We now own two tiny house-shaped candle holders. I must admit, it has improved our feelings about not having an actual house quite a lot. Other items of import since we landed include:
- water filter pitcher
- apple vinegar
- lotion
- cardboard
- yarn
- a screwdriver
The Aspiration: ...in a tiny house! Anyone who knows me knows I love Tiny Houses. Life in 100 square feet might be ridiculous for 2 adults and a rabbit, but we were doing quite well in 800, even with a roommate. As such, Jonathan and I were more than ready to move into a studio or share a 2 bedroom to keep the rent as low as possible. There is just one problem.
The Reality: There is no housing. I'm not saying there is no nice housing, nor am I saying there is no housing of a certain number of rooms, lacking insects or in a fancy neighborhood. I'm saying there is next to nothing of any size or quality available anywhere in the city or its outskirts.
There is a major housing shortage in Copenhagen. People who post rentals are instantly inundated with requests, closing the availability within several hours of making the home available. There are several reasons for this, including a strong sellers' market, and influx of people and, ironically, really good laws that protect tenants from sub-par housing and slumlords. There are no relatively low-cost rentals that can be cleaned up by a responsible tenant, as we found in Seattle; there is very little chance that we would be evicted if we were able to get into a home, even without paying rent for several months.
That's second point is the most inversely productive; because of the difficulty of evicting for non-payment, the deposits for move in are anywhere for 3-6 months, plus the initial month. We are finding apartments that might work for two adults, maybe with a spare room we could rent to another person, which have deposits in the same price range as a brand new Kia Sorrento. What we can afford by the month we can not afford at the time of move in. Thank God for the next point, or we'd be homeless right now.
The Aspiration: We will be in a country of kind people, the kind of people we want to be.
The Reality: This one we got right. The people here are insanely kind. Even at the government offices, the employees go out of their way to make everything as comfortable as possible. Could you imagine getting free coffee at the DMV? This country offers 5 years of free language lessons, healthcare, integration services for spouses, even cultural companions who can provide social interaction to newcomers.
As soon as we landed, we had a short-term rental via a lady who took pity on us for her Air BnB. We lived in a room meant for a single person for about a month, then moved into a guest house that one of the local Danes was kind enough to secure for us through a neighbor. (Tak, Mikela og Jonas!)
So here we are, in a beautiful country with the kindest of strangers. I think we are going to be just fine.
