Week 6 began with Nick heading to Switzerland to work out of the company's Heerburgg office for three days. Heather had big plans for the week as well. Oh wait, she's unemployed. On Tuesday, Heather had an opportunity to tag along on a friend's trip to Germany to stock up on groceries and household items. Because tax in Germany is much lower, it is not uncommon for Danes to take a trip across the boarder to load up on goods, specifically electronics, candy, and liquor. Heather's friend, Michaela, kindly showed Heather around Flensberg. She showed her the locations of several good shops, grocery stores, pharmacy, hardware store, electronics store, etc. in case she needs go back by herself. She also took Heather to TK Maxx (TJ Maxx to you Americans). After getting the majority of items crossed off of their shopping lists, Heather and Michaela decided to duck out of the rain and enjoy lunch at a cafe near the center of the pedestrian shopping area. After relaxing for a bit, enjoying a coffee and waiting for the rain to subside, they were ready to power through the rest of their list. Running in and out of shops and weaving their way through the streets while staying under as many awnings as possible, they got everything crossed off without getting too drenched. With a full car, they headed back to Denmark late in the afternoon. Upon arrival back in Odense, Heather loaded up her car with her purchases of a new clothes drying rack, an iron, and a small suitcase for Nick to use on 2-day trips (which are the usual now that we've moved) and headed back to the apartment for her first night alone at the new home without her sweetie.
The following day brought excitement for Bella. She got to accompany Heather to the trash transfer site to unload some empty boxes, broken furniture, and some old blinds left by the previous tenant. After that they went to meet a new friend: the vet! Have no fear, nothing is wrong, we just wanted to meet the new doc before we needed to do so in an emergency, get some more medicine, and talk about what kinds of preventative treatments we need to give Bella. The best news of the day was that Bella doesn't need Heartguard anymore. Now this isn't good news because it's less expensive or because it is a pain to remember it once a month, it's good news because it means there are virtually no mosquitoes here to give her heart worm! What a very nice change from Illinois (or McCall)! Following the vet, Bella took Heather to explore the town and wander through the castle grounds. After Bella's tour, they went back to the apartment to organize some more.
Thursday brought another very unique Danish experience for Heather. Heather drove to the International Immigration office in Odense to register her address and pick out a doctor, thus completing the steps for her Danish Residency. Upon arrival, she was told that in addition to her residency permit, marriage license and lease, she also needed to have a copy of Nick's permit because her permit is dependent on his. She was sent packing without registering, but the silver lining was that she was told she could register in Nyborg. This meant she would not have to drive all the way back to Odense, through the construction AND the traffic associated with them shutting a major artery of the city down to turn it into a pedestrian zone. So, after collecting Nick's additional paperwork, Heather headed back to the government offices. This time, she was allowed to complete her paperwork and select a primary care doctor (choosing a doctor means looking at a list of names with no other information aside from their sex and picking one), but was told that her residency would not be completed until Nick signed a letter stating it is agreeable for Heather to live at their apartment. Even though Heather could prove she was Nick's wife (via a copy of their marriage certificate from the City and County of Denver) and her name is on the apartment lease along with Nick's, the government still apparently needs Nick to officially allow her to live in our home. The reason for this was explained to Heather that because she didn't have a job, her permit was reliant on Nick's permit and because she had no income, they needed to ensure Nick was willing to cover her expenses, such as housing. Our best guess is that this is due to Denmark's strict immigration policy along with their numerous "free social services." The government needs to ensure immigrants will not be a huge drain on their economy and their taxpayers. The day only got better from there though. Heather went grocery shopping for the following day's grilling festivities and Nick came home from Switzerland with a very full box of Swiss Truffles!
Independence Day for us Americans in Denmark was low key. Nick worked from home, partially because he just got back from a 3 day trip but mostly because our TV was getting delivered. Unless we paid extra to have an item delivered inside the home, deliveries come to the parking lot or the street outside the house. So when the delivery truck arrived, Nick went to the parking lot and brought the new TV upstairs. About that same time, we got a message that our dining table was ready to be picked up at the store in Odense. Good way to celebrate the 4th in my opinion! What American doesn't love getting new things (especially mondo TVs, hah)?! After his work day was over, (about 3pm an hour later than the official Danish hours,) Nick and Heather headed out to shop for an entertainment center and pick up the dining room table. We were successful at one and fell a bit short on the other. The table, no matter how we tried it would just not quite fit into the Volvo. We did find a suitable entertainment center and got it ordered, and, as a bonus, got a much needed coffee maker and an air-popper popcorn machine.
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| Yay!! Coffee |
On Saturday, after we enjoyed coffee from our new coffee maker, we had every intention getting our chores done in the morning and heading into town in the afternoon for a Renaissance-type festival, Danhof, happening at the castle. We (meaning Nick) successfully hung and wired our first light!
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| New electrical wiring scheme |
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| 1st light up in the new apartment |
After that, we went to his office to pick up the work van that would enable us to successfully get our table home. We had to fold down the passenger side seat in the front, but we got it in. Upon arriving home and getting all three boxes up into the apartment, we realized that one of the three boxes did not in fact belong to us, or to our table. So, back Nick went to the store to get the right box and then to the office to drop off the work truck in exchange for our car. By the time we had our table put together, the entire day was gone. Amazing how slow the day can seem to go when at work, but how quickly it goes over the weekend! We promised the next day we would go out and enjoy ourselves!
Sunday came and that's just what we did. After enjoying our morning coffee on the balcony, Nick, Heather and Bella set off for the market that was set up as part of Danehof. Danehof is a large festival held in Nyborg each year on the first weekend of July. The two-day event is a recreation of what the town was like during Danhoffet when the Danish king would meet with his parliament at the castle. This took place during the Middle Ages between the early 1200s to the mid 1400s. This meeting brought people throughout the country to Nyborg and activities such as jousting tournaments, markets, and other entertainment prevailed.
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| The market is set up just outside the church in the center of town |
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| Our little sanctuary |
Later in the afternoon, we headed back out to Danehof to take in some sort of knights' battle with 3 men on each team hitting each other with swords. We had very little clue what was going on or who won, but it was a beautiful warm day and we had fun.
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| A very unhappy, but CLEAN puppy! |
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