People in Copenhagen

Well, its been one week and a day since we arrived in Copenhagen. We spent the day walking in Frederiksberg, a charming part of town full of gourmet food shops and tree-lined side streets. This also happens to be where I work. More on that later...

We walked for several hours and happened upon a wedding in what has to be one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen. It was as charming as could be. I wanted to take a picture but because the wedding party was out in front of the church, I thought we should keep our voyeurism to a minimum :)

I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you about the people of Copenhagen. Granted, we have only been here a week, but we've encountered a number of people. And, to no one's surprise, just like other large cities, there are people of all types in Copenhagen: fat, short, tall, thin, pretty, less-pretty, and everything in between. But, most Danes are quite beautiful and very stylish. For example, take the gentleman "enjoying" the fountain near our house. We were on our way to take care of our cell phone contracts and we discovered this spectacle. Evidently, some young male Danes like to down a few beers, don their best pink skirt, and entertain tourists by frolicking gleefully in a fountain. Just another day in Copenhagen!

Danes, at first, may appear less friendly than we are used to in America. You don't smile at strangers you encounter in the streets and if you accidentally bump someone in the store, you don't apologize or say excuse me. But, if you talk with a Dane you will immediately encounter their friendliness and willingness to help you. I am very impressed with how well most Danes speak English. In fact, today was the first time we had any difficulty trying to purchase anything because the clerk did not speak English.

Joel's colleagues have been very friendly. I met a few when I visited his office and they were very generous with their time and conversation. Pia, the centre secretary was especially helpful when she translated the washing machine manual for me! I am still not sure how to use the washer (it is brand new and quite sophisticated!) but that is another story. Simon, the student worker, helped us sign up for our Internet (the website is in Danish -- most websites have English versions) and explained how to get to IKEA by bus.

So, I guess you can say that we are getting by with a little help from our new friends.

I thought I would end this blog with a picture that is the classic picture of Copenhagen. Joel and I walked down to the canals two nights ago and it was a beautiful sight. The sun was just beginning to set (it was about 9:30 at night!) and the light really highlighted the colors of the buildings. Copenhagen is an amazing city!

Our flat in Copenhagen

We arrived in Copenhagen exactly one week ago today! It was a rather cloudy and chilly Friday afternoon. We managed to fit all our luggage in a taxi and we headed to our new flat! Thankfully the taxi driver knew our street and we arrived in no time. As we drove through the city we noticed these large trucks with open backs full of kids wearing what looked like sailor hats. The kids were yelling, singing, and blowing whistles. The trucks were decorated with tissue paper and signs. It was quite the site! The taxi driver explained that these kids had just completed the Danish version of high school. It was the tradition to drive around in these trucks -- and they did, all weekend long!

Well, we found our apartment (the picture to the right is our front door!) but our landlord's parents (who were supposed to meet us with the keys to the apartment -- our landlords are in Ghana) were no where to be found. Luckily our downstairs neighbor walked into the building about the time we arrived and she let us into the building. We found our flat on the 3rd floor (2nd floor for Danes) and decided to go ahead and move our luggage upstairs and wait until our landlord's parents arrive.

Once into the apartment we were immediately pleased with the amount of space. It is very large, especially for two people in the heart of the city. The flat seems well cared for and there are several new appliances including a new dishwasher, refrigerator, and washing machine! That made me very happy. The flat is modestly furnished (we quickly discovered that we needed to add a few things), but in really good shape. Given our last house... this was a dream. The flat has an odd layout -- you have to walk through the master and small bedroom to get to the bathroom. And, the second bedroom is too small to hold a desk and bed so we had to put Joel's desk in the living room. But, there is lots of space for visitors, especially if you don't mind sharing a bathroom!

Our flat is in a building built in 1772 and it is truly in the middle of the city center (see the picture on the upper-left). In fact, whenever we explain where we live to native Danes they always respond with astonishment. Joel's secretary and boss both (and independently) described our area as posh. We laugh because it was the cheapest we could find on the internet (okay... not *the* cheapest, but one of the cheapest that didn't have "shared facilities" or showers over the toilet). Our street is a small side-street off two larger streets. There are three pubs on our tiny street -- and yes, it is very loud, especially on the weekend. But, that is just part of living in the city. We heard some very interesting "singing" the other night, and of course, the truckloads of graduates (although, I think they are about done with their celebrating!).

We spent the past week unpacking and settling in. We've walked all over the city and are beginning to learn our way around. Copenhagen is not huge, but it is not as easy to navigate as New York... none of the streets are straight and they often change their name every block! Joel started work this week. He goes in mid-morning and usually stays until dinner. More on that in another blog. I'll write more later...

Catching up!

Well, I am way behind in my blogging… it has been a very busy couple of weeks. I will give you the rundown:

In my last blog we were in Denver celebrating the wedding of my friends Jason and Amber. From Denver, Joel and I flew to Austin for two very busy days of packing, last minute errands, and late night/early morning phone calls to Denmark (because of the time difference we had to call after 2am). We were still waiting for our visas to arrive so every night we stayed up until about 4 or 5 trying to track down our paperwork. In the end, it worked out – they sent an email to the Danish Consulate in New York City and had them finish the paperwork. Fortuitously, we were stopping in New York City to say good-bye to my sister, brother, and cousin before we left the country. Our time in Austin was hurried, and we left, of course, with a few loose ends, but my parents have been nice enough to take care of them for us – including selling our car! It was very hard to say good-bye to my parents, and yes, our dogs. It was very sad and stressful – we had a few last minute “weight” issues with the luggage and an unexpected flight schedule change, but we made it to New York City.

We had a great time in New York City. We stayed with my brother and my sister drove in from New Jersey as well. It was great to be together – just the kids in the City! Several of my brother’s friends live in his building – including Ronnie’s girlfriend Lori -- and we had a great time meeting them. They are all actors/dancers/musicians and they are a riot! As a big sister it was really nice to see my brother and sister doing so well. My brother and Lori’s apartment is beautiful – they have done a lot of work and it shows. The apartment is very comfortable and feels like home. Ronnie is very busy auditioning and he has had numerous callbacks. He also built a recording studio in his bedroom and does recordings for others; his new Apple computer will allow him to do even more sophisticated recordings. Lori is busy performing in Hair Spray. I am sorry we didn’t get to see Rochelle’s apartment again – I know she’s added several new pieces of furniture and done a lot to decorate the place.

We arrived in New York City late Thursday night and we out running our errands early Friday morning. Our first errand: the Danish Consulate to pick up our visas. Everything went very smoothly (it was almost too easy!) and after a few more errands (to the bank etc.) we were able to enjoy Friday afternoon. We stopped by my cousin Michelle’s apartment and played with her dog Pip. She has a great place just off Times Square. Joel and I also got haircuts – FINALLY! I got one of the best haircuts in my life and Joel got one of the worst! Everyone agreed – it was pretty bad. Ronnie worked on it a bit later that night, which helped. Thankfully it has grown out a bit and actually now looks really nice. Joel looked great for his first day of work!

After a weekend of fun we left NYC for England. I was to present at the Gender, Work, and Organization Conference at Keele University. We arrived with very little hassle and even found a place to store our extra luggage at the Manchester Airport (no hauling all our heavy luggage on the trains!). Thankfully I packed everything we would need for England in one small carryon bag -- I didn’t want to take any chances with our luggage being lost. And, it was good I did – one of our bags went to Paris instead of England. It took them so long to find it they just kept it at the airport for us to pick up when we left for Copenhagen. It actually worked out quite well for us!

So, England was beautiful – wonderful countryside and very friendly people. We were tired and went to bed early the first night (in separate rooms for the first night – than ran out of double rooms!). The next morning I noticed that my stomach hurt a bit, but I figured I was just tired and nervous about my presentation coming up later that day. Well, long story short, the nervous stomach turned out to be the stomach flu. I didn’t even make it to my presentation. I missed the entire conference. Joel moved us into our double room and that was where I stayed until we left for Copenhagen. Joel was able to track down some sprite and oatmeal cookies for me to eat at the very small and limited campus shop. He also managed to get us both back to the airport and on to Copenhagen. It wasn’t a fun flight – I don’t recommend traveling internationally with the stomach flu, but what could we do?

We FINALLY arrived in Copenhagen on Friday, June 29th. It was a cloudy and chilly afternoon, but we were here and that was the important thing. Our Copenhagen experience will be in the next blog…

They're Hitched!

Jason and Amber are husband and wife! Joel, my mother and I had the privilege of witnessing Jason and Amber exchange marriage vows Sunday, June 17th. The ceremony took place in a beautiful garden in Denver, Colorado -- in record heat! Even with the heat, their wedding was perfect. Their friends provided the music, the delicious home-brewed beer, and even served as the officiant at the ceremony!

It was lovely to see our old friends from Pennsylvania, including the Freelands (in the picture on the top) and Jason's parents.

Sunburn, Sharks, and Sad goodbyes

Well... our time at the beach house is over... on Saturday my mother, Joel and I traveled to Denver, Colorado to attend the wedding of my best friend, Jason Stevens. I am currently sitting in our hotel room in Denver -- the beautiful mountains in the not-so-far distance. I should probably be getting ready for the wedding, which begins in just a few hours. But, I thought I would take a minute to update our blog.

As our week at the beach house progressed more and more family members returned to their homes -- Rochelle and Dad left early Wednesday morning and Ronnie followed Thursday morning. The house became increasingly quiet. That said, several extended family members joined us on Friday for a swim and we celebrated my Uncle Lynn's 60th birthday!

We had a great time at the beach, although I did manage to sunburn my back. I had two layers of 50+ sunblock on, but I stayed out too long and in the heat of the day. I just couldn't help it. The weather was beautiful, the water warm, and my brother, sister, and I had a great time looking for shells. I was reminded of all the summers I spent at the beach... looking for shells, diving for sand dollars (we always returned them unharmed!), and body surfing. I think Joel enjoyed the water -- it is very different from California beaches. And, of course, being on the gulf side of Florida, there is no surf... just lots of gentle waves of warm water. But he enjoyed diving for sea treasures and swimming.

We had a bit of excitement in the water: my brother and cousin, Michelle spotted two small sharks swimming just a few feet from them (Ronnie and Michelle were out near the sand bar). We decided to come out of the water and go for a walk. It was low tide and the walk was beautiful -- a much better view of the sea life. In fact, there were several schools of fish trapped in the tidal pools! Several little children were catching the fish and throwing them to the seagulls.

Overall is was a wonderful week -- a beautiful way to honor the 60 years of my grandparent's marriage. We even managed to get a family portrait of all the extended family (my grandparents, their three daughters and their families) except for 1! Not bad for families always on the go... and spread out all over the country (and soon to be world!).

So... this is our last stop on the Robyn and Joel Magical Mystery Tour. We return to Austin tomorrow evening where we will spend 2 days repacking and taking care of all the little details (and there are LOTS of details!) associated with our move to Copenhagen (like tracking down our visas!!!). We leave the country in 8 days and my anxiety is increasing. I am very excited and happy. I am thrilled that Joel will finally have the opportunity to work with colleagues who truly understand and value his intellectual gifts. I am looking forward to meeting my Copenhagen colleagues, who have extended numerous expressions of welcome (and been very helpful with some of the details of moving!). There are just lots of details to take care of... and my "to do" list is growing larger and larger (and I keep checking things off!). It is always hard to say goodbye to our friends and family, but we are excited that many of you are already making plans to visit!

Well, I should get ready. I don't want to be late for the wedding! I will write more about the wedding... until later...

Relaxing at the beach...

We all gathered at a beach house in St. Petersberg beach to celebrate our grandparents' 60th Wedding Anniversary. My grandparents' actual anniversary was in December, but this was the first opportunity we could all get together. We've had a wonderful time meeting and playing with the triplets -- William, Caleb, and Jacob (Paul and Kelly's children) -- and celebrating their first birthday! We also got to spend a bit more time with Laura, Mike's new wife. The weather is beautiful and water warm and inviting. And, the best part... no sunburn (yet!).

Party in C-Bad!!!

Yep... we hosted our obligatory party at the Krueger's house. The usual gang (including Joel's family from AZ) was all there including Ted and Courtney who drove down from LA and Ryan and Geannie who brought little Ryan over (he was the hit of the party!). Joel used the Krueger's new grill to grill kabobs, which were a huge hit. Not a single kabob left! The evening ended with a trip to Travis's house to celebrate his roommate's (Bryan) 30th birthday.

TWO YEARS!

We can hardly believe it, but Joel and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on May 29th. We took Joel's parents to Vigalluci's for dinner -- it was a wonderful meal with an incredible view of the beach. Two years... it seems like we got married just yesterday and we feel like we've been married forever! Married life definitely agrees with us! (the picture is in front of the Krueger's fireplace after our meal!)

Family visit in Carlsbad!

We had a wonderful time visiting with Joel's family: Grandma Toben, Uncle Bill, cousin Lisa and her daughters Marissa and Lexi were able to visit from Tucson. They drove over on Thursday and stayed until Sunday morning. Grandma Toben still exceeds everyone's expectations -- her health continues to improve everyday. Marissa and Lexi were able to play with their cousins in San Diego and Uncle Bill got plenty of "beach time." This is a picture from Sunday morning -- apparently blue was the color of the day!