Moving to Denmark: Preparing to go /Getting There

We`re moving to Denmark! That is something that I didn`t expect to say anytime soon. Not to say that this move came out of nowhere, but it wasn’t really planned.

Back in the end of August, my husband comes home from work and says that he wants to “look around” at other jobs. I, of course, told him to “go for it,” not knowing really if he were serious or what it might lead to. We lived in the U.S., where we met, had a house and family and where I was born and raised. Of course, I thought that Denmark might be an option, since my husband was originally from there and only had lived in the U.S. less than ten years. I don’t think I was really prepared for him to tell me that he had found a job where he knew he’d be happy. He applied for it that night. All this was less than ten hours from his week-long, business trip to India, which gave me time to process this IDEA alone and time to start preparing.

We lived in a house of 2400 sq ft, which wasn’t filled to the brim, but in my mind, was in serious need of a “thinning out.” I got busy at 8am that next morning after dropping my husband off for the airport bus. My two young sons (2 and 5) went upstairs to play in their playroom, while I started to go through their rooms for things that they had outgrown or didn’t need. I was determined to lessen the load if we were going to move. My parents helped by coming over and keeping the boys entertained, which was deeply appreciated.

That was pretty much my mind set for the next 4 months. What do we need? What can we get rid of? Believe me, this was a long-time coming. I WAS a bit of a hoarder and often saw myself in the people who were often on the TLC show “Hoarders: Buried Alive”. Though my house never got THAT bad, I knew that it could if I let it. I used a couple Jedi mind tricks on myself and often gave myself a pep talk saying that clutter was bad and simple-living was good. Heck! Didn’t I just spend most of the summer camping with very little to live off of? I could do this.

The camper! 🙁 I hadn’t thought much about the big things we’d have to part with, like my car, which I had hand-picked myself and bought with my own money. I also didn’t initially think of the camper, which we had just bought six months prior to the epiphany of moving. I remember that the day we bought that camper was the exact day our besties D and K were making their move from our town to Denmark. I remember thinking at that moment, “Not us! We’re here to stay! Let’s buy a camper and see the U.S.” Who knew!

Fast forward to the beginning of November, after months of waiting for a response, interviews and a rejection. We thought that maybe this wasn’t meant to be. Then, my husband got an email from someone in the same company saying that they had a position that might interest him. Wow! Another thing that we didn’t expect. Fast forward to the end of December when we were getting ready to spend two weeks in Denmark for Christmas. My husband had a second interview planned for two days after we arrived, which is also when I got to see this town alone for the first time as the boys stayed at their grandma’s 2 1/2 hours away. I walked around looking everything over. I visited the library and even checked out prices and food availability in one of the town’s grocery stores. He got the job!

You can imagine what a nice Christmas gift that was for my mother-in-law, whose only grandchildren were my children. After a night of getting the skinny from D and K at their new apartment not far from my mother-in-law’s, we were ready to head back to the U.S. to finalize this move.

January was a month of getting the ball rolling. I applied for my Visa to live in Denmark, and we also contacted movers and found a place to live in DK. It was an apartment we hadn’t seen in person beforehand, that was considerably smaller than our current home, but big enough for my visa to get approved. I also had to quit my job, which was difficult, since I was a high-school teacher. I was fond of my students, so the news was hard to deliver. I also had tons of stuff at school to go through. Imagine teaching for 13 years and being a pack rat! I was, however, very proud of how easy it was for me to let things go. I ended up gifting or tossing much of the stuff, which was helpful, but there was still lots I couldn’t part with. I had to work fast, since the movers were coming at the beginning of February and that is also when my last day would officially be.

Packing day wasn’t what we expected. With the added, unexpected presence of my sick 3 year old, we were overwhelmed. Yes, we still had a bit of stuff, and there were three different guys at first in three different rooms. We couldn’t watch their every move to make sure that what needed to go went and what needed to stay stayed. I know we should have organized better, but I think, even in that moment, we were still making decisions. Of course, there was also a bit of a language gap. A couple of the guys seemed to have English as their second language, which made communicating difficult, but not impossible. After telling them to pack certain things and to leave other things behind. We realized that some commands weren’t followed. They started at about 9am

and ended at about 7pm. I was trying to put my boys to bed on air mattresses in our bedroom when they were finishing. This was apparently when they decided to leave some things in the garage instead of putting them on the truck. 🙁 Dang it! Oh, well. Maybe it was divine intervention! 🙂 Lord knows I need some help with lessening my load! (Footnote: Yeah, our stuff didn’t fit into a 20sq ft container, like we had hoped. They ended up having to take the rest in the extra moving truck they brought with them. It would have to be repacked into a 40sq ft container at its final U.S. destination before being shipped off. Darn!)

That was a Monday. My husband had to finish the week at work, and my oldest son had to finish the week at school. I was so sad that he had to stop going to school. He loved kindergarten and his teacher and friends. I took cupcakes to his school for him to pass out on the last day, which was also the day of the Valentine party. I packed a small camera in his bag, and the teacher had the kids write him good-bye letters. It was a nice sendoff.

After a week of tying up loose ends and visiting family in another state, we were approaching moving day. Saying good-bye is never easy. You know in your heart that you’ll see these people again, and that good-bye isn’t forever. I have to say that some good-byes were harder than others. I hope they know I love them and will have them with me everyday! Whatever I do, I do with the thought of you. You are never away from me!

Luckily, I had bought a couple of extra large duffle bags on wheels before we left, because we didn’t have room for everything in our suitcases. Needless to say, we’ll come back for a few things when we visit. 🙂 Three days before leaving, my husband sold his car, and on the day we left, we sold our house! GOD IS GOOD!

Then it came. MOVING DAY!! It felt like a long-time coming, but then it also was so surreal actually to be moving. I kept saying things to my kids like,”today we are moving to our new home” or “we need to say good-bye to our house today”, etc. I knew that they wouldn’t be able to process what was going on, since they were so young, but I also wanted to remind myself what was happening. To “live in the moment” if you will. I had felt like a chicken, running around with its head cut off for days, maybe even weeks, and today was no different. I was the last one to go to our home to get the last bit of luggage. My husband as with the boys getting their hair cut. I took an extra moment or two to walk around and say good-bye to our first home, where we had our rehearsal dinner, where I brought my babies home, where we were a family. It was bittersweet. We truly loved that house, and now, it would be someone else’s. I hoped that they love the house as much as we did. What wonderful memories! Now, I had hope of making more memories in our new home in Denmark. Eyes now focused on the future!

We decided to stay overnight at a local hotel so that we didn’t need to worry about getting a ride to the bus. The bus would pick us up at the hotel. We were pleased to see that the only other people on the bus were my husband’s cowoker, his wife and child. They were going home to Brazil for a wedding. So many foreigners living abroad. I had no idea. Now, I would be one of them. Crazy! I guess I should have been one of them already. I mean, I was a foreign language teacher. I could have lived abroad when I was in college, but it never worked out. I guess I was finally getting my chance, but now, I would have to learn a new language instead of the two I already knew.

After a smooth trip to the airport, we walked right in and didn’t have to wait in line to check it. The easiest check in EVER! Of course, the line for security was long. That can’t ever be short, but it
wasn’t horrible. We took our time and got some falafels to share and walked to the gate. We were now 2 hours early. Granted, we left early to make sure we weren’t stressed and rushed. I have to say, though, that two hours went by fast, and I never once felt restless. The boys ran around a rather empty section of the airport, and after boarding we realized that our back section of the plane only had only ten people…including us! 🙂 The boys wanted to sit by the

window at take off, which we did, and then the most amazing thing happened! They passed out almost immediately! 🙂 They normally would wait until after getting a drink and supper, but they were out for the count and didn’t wake until a half an hour before landing. The flight was smooth. The airplane was extremely clean and new. The TVs were like Ipads, and each were for personal use, meaning that you could start and STOP the movies when you wanted. This was luxury. My husband and I both had a whole row to ourselves to sleep, which I actually did. I slept on a plane. It might have only been about 4 hours, but I slept! I remember smiling most of the time on the plane, feeling fantastic. No stress. I could get used to traveling like this. Christmas in February anyone?

Nearly empty plane means almost no wait for bags, which was wonderful and which made the fact that we needed two carts to haul our 5 large suitcases and 5 small carry-ons much easier! 🙂 (MOST LUGGAGE EVER!)  As we walked out of the baggage claim doors, we were walking into a new life, a life where my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and sister-in-law’s boyfriend awaited us waving both Danish and American flags. We made it! Now begins our new lives and MY NEW DANISH LIFE! Enjoy!