1. Our Friends
This year was wonderful because we had a chance to further develop existing friendships with Niels Olof, Susanne, and Kaj, but we also got to experience the joy of making new friendships, especially with Katrine and her family, Anne Marit, Klaus, and their family, Martin and his family, Christina and her family, and with Stinne and her husband, Jesper. I am hopelessly far behind writing about the good times that we have had with all of these people. I intend to catch up and post pictures and info as time permits! Both L. and I feel that we had “the time of our lives" this year in Aarhus and that was in no small part due to these friends and the other amazing people we met this past year.
2. The Beautiful Surroundings
Denmark is a beautiful country. Lots of trees, lots of green grass, beautiful towns, ocean views (well, near the coast of course). There are forests to the south of Aarhus that are so lush, they have to be seen to be believed.
3. The Slower Pace
Life in the staes is frenetic. Its very easy to be sucked into the fast pace, always being busy, never having time for family, friends, or even quiet reflection about life. The opposite is true in Denmark. Its very easy to have a measured approach to life as most people work the same hours and full time work is considered 37 hours a week with 5-6 weeks of vacation each year, nearly all families have dinner together each night (when I tried to explain that having dinner together is a problem for a lot of families in the states, most Danes had trouble even understanding the concept!), and the stores close early, meaning that you can't push errands into the early and late evening as Americans often will. When we first arrived in Denmark, all of this grated against our American sensibilities… over the year we grew to love it, and L. and I are laying the foundation for a slower pace to our lives here in Boulder, using some of the habits and tricks we picked up over the past year.
4. Our Work
L. and I will always remember our time spent at DAIMI, the computer science department of the University of Aarhus. L. had an incredibly productive year working with Morten Kyng, Susanne Bødker, and their students. I got to “live a dream” and work with Kaj Grønbæk and Niels Olof Bouvin and their students. We picked up a trick or two learning from the work that goes on here and we were able to provide feedback and perhaps influence a project or two.
5. Bodøgården
We will never forget Bodøgården, the pre-school that Max and Lilja attended during our year in Denmark. The teachers were top notch and worked very hard to make sure that Max and Lilja smoothly integrated with the other children there. Throughout the year, they took the kids on field trips, to birthday parties, and to cultural events. They helped them make crafts and sing songs and gave them environment where it was okay to “just have fun” and “be a kid”!
It was amazing to watch Max pick up Danish over the year. Mette, in particular, worked hard with Max to teach him the language, going so far as to apply for funding to learn how to use a particular training program and then applying it with Max by working with him on a weekly basis. At first, Max had memorized phrases and simple words, then simple sentences, and then his skills in conversational Danish grew by leaps and bounds. I remember sitting next to Max as he watched a Christmas special and he looks up at L. and I and says “Good thing that some of this show is in English, so you can understand!” And, we had to say, “Max this whole show is in Danish…” More recently, Max's skill with Danish was such that any Dane could converse with him in Danish and they would look at us and say “He just understands everything…” and during our second to last week that we were in Denmark, Max helped me in a somewhat sticky situation. He and I were in the car and I was trying to turn right but the street was partially blocked by a road barrier. A policeman was standing in the middle of the street and so I rolled down my window to ask if it was okay to go around the barrier. The policeman starts yelling at me in Danish, and I didn't know what to do. I was about to go on, when Max says from the back seat, “He says you can turn right!”. So, Max could function as a translator by the time we left!
Max and Lilja grew quite attached to their friends and teachers at Bodøgården and we had several opportunities to thank the teachers before we left. I'll be posting pictures of Max and Lilja saying farewell to Bodøgården and the people there soon.
6. Our Apartment
After a year of living in our Apartment at Observatorievejen, it really started to feel like home. Upon reflection, this feeling grew out of the fact that the slower pace of life and the intense focus on family that Danish culture enables provide a lot of memories that are centered around your home. Our apartment was spacious (even by American standards), was well furnished, and was surrounded by beautiful gardens, trees, and fields (not to mention a horse track, an observatory, and a royal palace!).
7. Our Walks
From our apartment, we could walk to Tivoli, the Queen's Palace, the Botanical Gardens, Mindeparken (a large memorial park in honor of World War One), and the sea. When weather permitted, we would take walks with the kids to these locations. L. especially liked taking the kids to the botanical gardens, where she could let them run free without having to worry about cars or bikes. I enjoyed taking the kids to Tivoli, where we could easily spend a day riding the rides, playing minature golf, having lunch and ice cream, watching shows, and enjoying the obstacle course, the playgrounds, and the activities in Tivoli's water park. We had some great times!
8. The Sights
Over the year, we travelled to many beautiful and interesting places including Skagen, Copenhagen, Ribe, Esbjerg, and Fanø. We attended many interesting Danish cultural events, saw several interesting museums, saw the royal palace in Copenhagen and posed for pictures in front of the little mermaid. It was fun watching Max take all of this in and become more aware of the world around him. For instance, he is now completely comfortable with the idea that there are other countries in this world and that people speak different languages. Whereas if we had stayed in the states, he's understanding of these concepts would be much less concrete and he'd still be at the stage of just understanding that the United States consists of multiple states.
9. Downtown
We had some good times visiting the city center of Aarhus. We enjoyed the local sights, such as the Aros museum, city hall, the viking museum located underneath a bank, the train station, etc. But, we also enjoyed coming downtown for shopping on the pedestrian mall and at Bruun's Galleri. The kids and I enjoyed going to the local “D&D” stores, the Dragon's Lair and the Goblin's Gate. Max and I would pick up Duel Master and Pokemon trading cards (Max loves both of those games) and I would pick up a board game or two that I could play with Max (and sometimes Lilja). We enjoyed getting ice cream downtown and looking at the cathedral, or visiting Bo Bendixen's store. Aarhus has a lot to offer and while we didn't take advantage of everything, the city center was certainly an integral part of our Aarhus experience.
10. The Wonderful Bread
Last but not least, and this may sound a little strange, we are going to miss the wonderful bread and pasteries that are available in Danish bakeries (and heck even their supermarkets). The worst bread in Denmark is still ten times better than, say, an average quality bread here in the states. The best bread in Denmark is light years ahead of the best bread in the USA. (We won't even think about the worst bread in the states. This is a family blog after all.)
Thank you, Denmark, for an amazing year away from home! We will never forget it!
Ken
