The honeymoon is over

We’re back on track in this Danish way of life,

For the last seven weeks we have hugged, kissed and embraced the life we knew. We have turned an empty house into a home with our things from storage and new favorites from New Jersey. We have devoured favorite foods, visited much loved people and places and are happy to be home.

Except, Torben is still in New Jersey. And we miss him. This old housewife is on her own for two more weeks and probably look desperate for company whenever I meet grownups. Starting work did help though and I really enjoy being back in the office and my field of student exchange.  What I had blissfully forgotten was spending more than two hours on transportation every day and trying to work the logistics of a full time job with kids, activities, getting organized in our house and just being alive.

The girls have been in school now for a month and are settling into friendships and new (old) ways of doing things. In particular they are enjoying a much larger level of independence and freedom and being able to transport themselves to school, activities and friends’ houses. At least 7 kilometers by bike every day – come rain or shine. Well done.

For the most part the girls are enjoying school and are falling into new teaching methods, new classes, new challenges and new fun experiences. For example Esther walks to a lake in the surrounding forest every Monday to learn about math, biology and teamwork with her classmates. As an added bonus they get exercise and let some steam out before returning to the classroom. One of her teachers told me (knowing Esther’s two years of not speaking in school) that she speaks all the time (!). While I am certainly happy to hear that, I am sending lots of warm thoughts to Mrs. Clark and Mrs. Andersen who struggled so hard to even get a tiny whisper.

With summer coming to an end and school starting again also for our American friends, we think even more about them and the life we left only a couple of months ago. We miss you guys!

It all made such perfect sense to choose the American bobble for a while. But the adventure is over. It is time to look ahead and enjoy this very good life we also have here. It is a time of transition. Which is something I happen to be very good at + it helps to have good people around you and cold IPAs in the fridge.