Week 2

Week 2 in Denmark was great, although Nick and I are having a bit of culture shock. 

Realization 1. Danes don't work much 
Ok, so we knew when we moved here that companies give 6 weeks of vacation and, on top of that, there are something like 18 paid holidays. We also knew that the workweek is officially 37 hours, but that includes paid lunch, so really more like 32 hours (not counting coffee breaks, morning snack or mid-afternoon snack). This is a large part of the reason we wanted to move here, not necessarily to work less, but to get a different perspective on life than the US's live-to-work mentality. And well, if we are honest, to work less (much less for "retired" Heather)! 

So far, in the 14 days we have been in Denmark, 10 have been weekdays and 4 of those weekdays have been holiday. First there was Ascension Day (Thursday, May 29) followed by another day off (just because Ascension Day is on a Thursday), then another Thursday off the following week, June 5, for "Grundiovsdag" the day the Danish constitution was signed back in 1849. This was followed by the Whit Monday, because of course, Pentecost should be celebrated for two days! Now, you all are probably saying "wow, rough life" and "how horrible for you" etc. To this I reply, this is why we moved!! On the other hand, we are still waiting for our apartment to be finished and we are trying to furnish it a bit, but when no one works and no stores are open, these become more difficult. 

Realization 2. EVERYTHING moves at a slower pace (see realization 1 for an explanation of why) 
It doesn't seem like time is ever of the essence. For example, our apartment was supposed to be ready for us to take over May 1, after being vacant for something like 4-5 months. During those several months though, somehow they have still not found the time to get everything fixed up and ready to go. About 3/4 of the painting is done, same with the required repairs. The contractor maybe finished yesterday. We were around until 4 and he still wasn't there when we left, but he did tell Nick he was planning on getting to it later in the day. And sometime in the next week or so the painter will be there to paint the trim and woodwork. Our landlord really has no concern that things are still incomplete and just says, "the Danes rarely work, what can I do?! I'm handling it, don't worry. We'll make it all right in the end." as if this explanation should be all we need to understand and patiently wait to move into our new home. 

Realization 3. Everyone plays a role in social responsibility
Nick recently (well beginning of last week and we still have not heard anything back) contacted the bank about getting an auto loan for that V40 we like so much. The bank requires you to provide them with your work contract and a detailed budget before they will talk about issuing any type of loan. Can you imagine US banks taking that type of role in our lives? Wonder what our housing market would look like if they did? 

Even our car plays a role in social responsibility! It warns you when you are speeding, and it reminds you to take a break (with a cute little coffee cup symbol) if it senses the car drifting more than normal or you have exceeded about an hour of driving without a stop. 

So now that the culture shock issues have been addressed, here's what we have been up to:
Nick worked and Heather played! Ok, Heather worked too; she just didn't get paid for it. Our air shipment was delivered Friday, so Heather went to the apartment and cleaned. Although "professional" cleaners were paid to come in, it doesn't seem they did anything besides possibly mop. Now, most of you probably know that both Nick and Heather are a bit anal about cleaning, perhaps even a touch OCD, but seriously, this place was not clean! Cabinets weren't wiped out and window sills were not dusted. Heather was up to the task though and got the kitchen and the entry way area knock out in a little over 5 hours. This included scrubbing the wardrobes inside and out, as well as all the kitchen cabinets and the baseboards. Feeling accomplished, Heather left to go pick up a very-stressed-out Nick from work. Seems that although Nick's working hours have changed, his workload has not. On top of that, those weeks of him not being able to work full-time because we were busy with moving are catching up too. 

To destress and stop Nick's brain from thinking about work, Nick and Heather decided to go shopping for some relaxing chairs to put on the balcony. We wanted something similar to the zero gravity chairs we used to have that did not make the trip overseas. Unfortunately, the store we wanted to go to was only open until 2pm on Friday (that's normal quitting time for Friday, but not normal closing time for stores). We tried a few other places but didn't find what we wanted on the chair-front. It was not a total bust though. We were successful at finding 3 of the 7 overhead lights we need for our apartment! (In Denmark apartments are typically only outfitted with bathroom lights and the tenant installs whatever other lighting they want.) Friday night ended with Nick's favorite, Chinese, and a promise to try again the following day. 

Examples of some of the lighting popular here

Saturday came along and was a beautiful day: warm and sunny with bright blue skies. We decided take Bella for a walk right after breakfast and set out from our hotel to explore the adjoining neighborhoods and nearby forested area. We walked past some beautiful homes before finding ourselves on a path that follows the river which runs through Odense. The trail took us through beautiful treed areas and a few parks, and along the Zoo where we saw zebras, ostriches (or emus, not sure which), lions, giraffes, etc. We enjoyed a 5-6 mile walk and Bella was quite tired upon arriving home. Unlike Bella, Nick and Heather were still energized and were determined to find some deck/balcony chairs. So, off we went again to search. We tried the store from Friday, and again it was closed. After that we tried a few other places and found similar chairs to what we wanted, but they were a bit too cheap and cheesy for us. We were successful at finding more overhead lights, bringing our total up to 5 out of 7. This time for the bedrooms! Saturday afternoon, we went to the apartment to unload our purchases and unpack some of the boxes from the air shipment before heading back to the hotel for a quiet evening. We grilled steak and sat out on the patio then turned in early for a good night sleep in preparation for the following day's adventure. 

mmm, steak...and salad
 with properly cupped tomatoes per Shelley's tutelage 

Sunday morning, Nick and Heather ventured off the island of Fyn to Jutland, the section of Denmark that is attached to Germany, to hike around Mols Bjerge National Park. It is 1 of 3 national parks in Denmark and was opened about 5 years ago. This day was interesting to say the least. After a bit over a 2 hour drive and one coffee break (the car said we should take a rest, and who can ignore an order to stop for a coffee), we followed the gps into the park. It directed us off onto a one-lane gravel road which we followed until we got to an intersection surrounded by fields with paths jutting off in all directions where we parked. We chose to take the uphill path following the road which lead to a beautiful overlook with a 360-degree view. 

Views from overlook

From there, we meandered along "wandering trails" through fields with grazing sheep and cows. 

The gates are angled to ensure they get closed

Wild violas along the path

After about an hour of wandering through field after field, watching the grasses dance in the wind, checking out some cool mounding moss, and identifying a wide variety of deciduous and evergreen trees, we decided to head back to the car. This decision made us come to the realization that we really had no idea where we were OR where we parked the car. Perhaps not the smartest thing we have done, but both Nick and Heather have a pretty good sense of direction so no worries, right?! Well, after about 2 more hours of walking around around trying to get back to the car, we started to worry. Then the cell phone battery died, and we were absolutely lost and definitely worried. This was followed by us cursing ourselves for being such idiots. In 3 hours, we had covered somewhere between 8 or 9 miles, much of if probably in a circle. A nice Dane offered us his map of the area. We were not convinced it would help given that we had no idea where we started or where we were on the map, but we gratefully took it and went in search of a high point. Once we established our location on the map and made our best guess at where we parked based on the trails we could remember, we headed out in that direction. About a 1/2 hour later we were certain we would not be finding the car without some divine intervention when we met a very nice couple on bicycles who were parked nearby and offered to drive us around in search of the car. We recalled to them everything we could remember and literally 10 minutes later, there was our beautiful gray Audi parked just where we had left it. After many thanks, we parted ways with the kind souls who had taken mercy on us and got in the car to go home. On the way home, we picked up some Vietnamese takeout. Not sure if it was because we walked like 10 miles and were starving or if it was legitimately good, but that was one of the best meals we have had since we arrived here. Sleep came easily that night and we woke up happily Monday to enjoy yet another day off. 

The carpenter was expected to be working at the apartment on Monday (gasp, working on a holiday?! This is virtually unheard of. The landlord had to double and triple check because he couldn't believe it). We wanted to make sure he fixed everything that needed fixing, so we headed over mid-morning. On the way, we found another amazement, the store we unsuccessfully tried to shop for our chairs at was open as well. After a short detour, we were the proud new owners of THE MOST RELAXING, COMFORTABLE CHAIRS EVER! While Nick put together the chairs, Heather took to cleaning a filthy bathroom. There was maybe a 1/2 inch of grossness underneath the tub that included razors, socks, dog bones, etc. To keep Heather from having to clean too much ickiness, Nick bought a new toilet seat (that's love!). After all that cleaning and installing a new toilet seat, Nick and Heather went out to find a coffee to bring back to the apartment to sit and relax on the balcony. What they found, in addition to coffee, was an ice cream shop right on our harbor which could either be very, very bad for us or very wonderful depending on how you look at it!

New chairs were well worth the effort to find.
Heather dubs them their best purchase yet! 

We wrapped up the long weekend, which happened to coincide with the end of Week 2, with dinner back at the house with one of Nick's colleagues. Dinner consisted of grilled pork topped with shallots sauteed in butter and rosemary, wine, and a couple of sides. Dessert, strawberries and creme-fresh-type topping concocted by Heather, completed the meal.