Sunday, March 30, 2014

Springtime in Aalborg.


I wasn't expecting the weather in Denmark to be all that great especially because I'm a big fan of sun and heat.  But since we've been here, I haven't had too much to complain about, and in fact, this weekend in Aalborg brought us sunny days and temperatures around 10-12 C (50-55 F).


So, of course, I took the opportunity to be outside as much as possible, and it was outside that I kept thinking "oh that kinda reminds me of Boulder".

Most obvious Boulder similarity... BIKES!
BIKES EVERYWHERE!
This should surprise no one because Denmark is known for its bike-friendly culture, and it has not disappointed.  The only thing I'm disappointed about is that my bike is still on a boat floating somewhere in the Atlantic, but one day soon, I can join the hordes of cyclists speeding around town.  Most of the residential streets around us look like the picture here with bike after bike parked outside the buildings.  But (this surprised me) these bikes aren't locked to anything!  At best, they may have a small locking mechanism on the back tire which I've read can be easily popped off with a screwdriver.  That's not to say that bike theft is uncommon in Denmark; apparently, it happens all the time.

Next Boulder similarity... runners everywhere.  Every time I go outside, I see people running.  On my street, at the waterfront, in the parks.  I've even started running again (it's a great way to get to know a city).  Maybe it's all the endorphins from running that makes the Danes so happy.

Well, it's the endorphins and probably the dogs.  Aalborg, like Boulder, loves dogs.  Just like I always see runners, I always see people walking their dogs.  However, I have noticed that Aalborg residents aren't as good about picking up their dogs' poop as Boulder residents are.


And, like Boulder, all of this biking and running and walking dogs preferably happens outside in the sunshine, of course.  Everybody and their mother (and their baby and their dog...) was just out taking a stroll this weekend.  It reminded me of a spring day on Pearl St.  Well, minus the Flatirons and the street performers and, ya know, people speaking English.

And one big difference from Boulder...there's water here!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Our new city.

When I last wrote, we had only been in Denmark about 4 days, and we had spent those days catching up on sleep, unpacking, and trying to navigate the Danish grocery store.  So when I last wrote, I didn't have too much to say about our new country, and the only pictures I could show were the ones I had taken of our little apartment.  But our little apartment basically looks like a dorm room (i.e. not that exciting), and I know what you really want to see is what it looks like outside the apartment.  I can hear you now... "Alana, it's great that you have place to live, but what I really want to know is: what the heck is Denmark like??"

Well, now that we've been here about 12 days (and I've remembered to bring our camera while exploring), I can actually show you around a little.

The apartment we're in now is in a great location.  It's an easy 20 minute walk or 5 minute bus ride to the city center.  So we walk down there a lot.

Our street


More of our neighborhood

Our neighborhood, looking towards the
city center








The Internet tells me that the city of Aalborg has about 100,000 people which makes it about the same size as Boulder.  But walking around here, it actually seems bigger and busier than that to me.  Even during the middle of the day on a Thursday, the main streets were packed with people.

In the city center

Algade, one of the main pedestrian shopping streets

The main landmark in the center of town is the white cathedral, Budolfi Kirke.  There's all the older buildings and cobblestone streets and open plazas you would expect in a European town.  There's even an old castle which now houses some of the city's administrative offices (can't say we have that in the US).









Aalborg is also right on the fjord.  So there's nice places to run or walk along the water, and apparently, in the summer, there's even a place to swim in the fjord.  (Although the air temperature doesn't get that warm here, so I'd imagine the water temperature is even colder.  But I guess this is Denmark not Hawaii.)

Walking by the fjord
(you can't see it, but it's to the left)

In front of the Utzon Center
(a building designed by the same guy, an Aalborg
native, who designed the Sydney Opera House





Looking towards the water




Since it's a university town, Aalborg has lots of young people, and therefore, lots of bars and restaurants.  One of David's Danish co-workers has been showing us around.

St. Patrick's Day at the Irish House
(Thanks for the photo, Bailey!)

AND since we live in Denmark now, we can go to places like this:

Bageri = Bakery!

Where the long line of people and the delicious smells coming out the door, tell you that it must be good.  I was told that the Danes make good pastries, so far, they haven't disappointed.  Maybe that's one of the reasons the people here are so happy... well, delicious pastries and 37 hour work weeks and 5 weeks vacation time.

Happy in Denmark :D
Come visit us!

Saturday, March 15, 2014

We live in Denmark now.

For a long time, it didn't really hit me that we were actually moving to Denmark.

Sure, David and I had talked a lot about moving overseas after finishing grad school, and I was excited when David interviewed for jobs outside the US, and I was VERY excited when he was actually offered the job in Denmark.

But even when he signed the job contract, it didn't hit me.
It didn't hit me when we started selling our furniture.
Didn't hit me when movers packed up and loaded the rest of our stuff in a giant shipping crate.

Bye stuff!
All the stuff going to Denmark.
Packages ready to go.



Even at our goodbye party, I had to remind myself that everyone was there...saying all this nice stuff about us...because we were moving OUT OF THE COUNTRY.  (Boulder friends, you guys are so great, and we miss you so much already!  Thank you for playing games about us, writing kind notes to us, helping us clean our apartment, loaning us a truck to move stuff, going to Stout Month with us, and showing us how awesome the past 6 years have been.  We love you all!)

And as we drove out of Boulder, it was sad and bittersweet and all those feelings you have when you leave somewhere you've been for a long time and leave people you really love, but I still couldn't believe that we were leaving Boulder because we were moving to Denmark.


Car packed full.
Bye Flatirons!



Bye Boulder!

Then, during the week we spent visiting family and telling everyone about Denmark (It's north of Germany and south of Norway.  The money is called kroner.  The weather is temperate.  The official language is Danish, but they speak English very well.), it kinda felt like we were just on vacation and would eventually go back to normal life in Boulder.

But then...on March 10, as I was packing my suitcases, it no longer seemed impossible.  I was packing these suitcases because I was getting on a plane to Denmark...TONIGHT!  

And it actually happened.  We live in Denmark now.  

To some degree, it doesn't seem all that different from just moving to another place in the US.  We're getting settled in our new place, locating the nearest grocery store, figuring out the bus routes.  But then, as we unpack suitcases in our little room, a commercial interrupts the music playing on Spotify, and the commercial is in Danish.  Velkommen til Danmark!


***

David's company found us the (very) small furnished apartment that we are living in now.  But the place is only temporary, and one of my top priorities here is finding us a permanent place.  Although small, the apartment is in a great location close to the city center and the fjord (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limfjord).  Hopefully, we will get some exploring in this weekend.

View from one direction.

View from the other direction.

View from the main room into the tiny
kitchen.  

There is one main room with a small table, some chairs, a
bookshelf, the bed, and two wardrobes.  The kitchen door
is to the left in this picture.
Bathroom is just off the kitchen.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

In Transit.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

It's the same feeling you get when you ride a roller coaster as you (ever so slowly) approach the top of the first hill. It's your first time on the ride, so you don't know how bad (or good) the drop is going to be. What you do know is that you signed up for it and you're well beyond the point of no return.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

It feels like a long time since we started prepping for a new beginning. Five weeks ago we signed the final contact with GomSpace. One month ago we were flying back from San Francisco after a whirlwind trip to deliver our residency visas. Ever since, we've been coordinating goodbye parties, packing & shipping, family visits, and flights.

At this point, we've gotten pretty tired of saying goodbye. Once we arrive, it will be nice to put "hello" back into practice. For now, we're in transit, in the odd space where neither is applicable.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

-David