On the Go

I move around a lot. A few days a week, in Durham, where I have my 'own' place (and I love it), with all my bedding, most of my clothes, my own herbs and spices in the cupboard, and a stock pile of apple cider vinegar (not joking).

It used to bother me a lot, moving around so much. The day before I'd get a 'here we go again' sinking feeling and I wouldn't be able to live in the moment and just enjoy the experience of being where I was. Not looking to the past or anticipating an imagined future has been a really hard skill to develop, but I'm sort-of getting there.

Mostly it's just learned behaviour. What we repeatedly do, we become. Every five or six days, I take a plane and arrive in my new home, either at midday or at midnight. I spend a few days there, embrace whatever's going on there, then head off again. No mess, no fuss. To be honest, it took a few years to get comfortable with moving around so much. But I got there in the end.

The things I have learned so far:

Have less things

Having way less stuff means less stuff to lug around with you, less stuff to keep organised, less stuff to clutter your line of vision and make you miserable, less stuff to maintain (servicing the 'stuff' is a big part of many peoples' lives, they just don't know it)

Learn what works for you

What will make your travel and hometime your most efficient self? Learn through trial and error, and do that. I've got the timings of my train and plane down, a backpack for laptop and shoulder bag for clothes, and two simultaneous sets of cards, keys and life-admin things carefully managed so it's all where I need it when I need it. No sweat.

Don't have a lot of different types of clothes

I know 'capsule wardrobes' are a huge thing right now, and that's cool. But the logic of having less clothes, and having clothes that go with all your other clothes, is just sound logic. I think people can become a bit of a slave to the capsule wardrobe-anticipating the changeover, documenting it etc. The idea for me is to have a setup where I can think as little as possible about the clothes I will wear but know they are all adequate. 

Learn to take comfort in the simple things

You know what's beautiful? A fresh bunch of flowers, or a houseplant that requires minimal water (heathers are indestructible), a nice smell of essential oils and a cup of tea. I painted my walls white and just walking into my bright room makes me smile. Those are the things that keep you feeling ok.

Make the most of wherever you are

When I'm in Durham, there's not a lot to do I'm interested in, but there's a great folk music community, so I go to a lot of sessions. Not only am I learning loads of new tunes, but I'm meeting great people. I went to a session in someone's house last week and it was amazing-good tunes, great snacks, and a glass of Scotch to finish! Wherever you are, embrace it. Don't think of what might be or what you're missing somewhere else.

4 planes, 3 currencies & 3 sim cards

Last week was pretty hectic, as hectic weeks go. I had 4 days on the go at my housekeeping job, which is fairly tiring by anyone's standards. I'd finish each day absolutely covered in sweat from head to toe (it is very humid in Copenhagen these days, time pressures of the job and the non-breathable uniform aside), cycle the 8km home and basically sit in a vegetative state until I recovered the use of my limbs. The week stretched out in front of me with promise, and would include 4 flights, a trip to Durham to meet those working on my study and my future colleagues, and a trip home to Ireland to see the family, all my friends, and enjoy being back in Meath and Dublin again.

On Tuesday, I hurried to get finished with my work, raced home to get my stuff ready, then headed on over to the lovely CPH Lufthavn for my first of two BA flights of the evening. I was fairly excited to fly with British Airways because they still give out free snacks, and there ain't no snack like a free snack. I had a pretty miserable ham and cheese sandwich on stodgy flatbread and coffee, along with a cookie I brought myself in case BA did not bring their snack A-game.

This shocking sight greeted me, but luckily the weather in Durham was more to my liking. Sunshine, a cool breeze, all the things you don't expect when visiting the north of England. 

The 2 days in Durham were absolutely fantastic. My future colleagues are all incredibly focused, kind, and regard work-life balance as of the utmost importance, which is a huge deal for me (living in Denmark, you come to expect it, and having lived in London, know how sacred it really is). 

There was much coffee drinking, meeting and greeting, and fascinating discussions about the work to come and work those in the department have been involved in. I'm really excited to sink my teeth into PhD life in a couple of months! In case you needed photographic proof that Durham is beautiful, I have included some snippets as evidence.

I stayed at the Premier Inn in town, they were so full of northern charm, caring and friendly, such a shock to the system. Danes are incredibly polite, but this is a whole other ballgame. After a few hours of walking around the town, and a surprisingly emotional visit to the Cathedral (along with a scone and a lot of whipped cream and jam), I headed to Newcastle airport to get on the world's tiniest plane home to my family. I had the good fortune to sit next to an academic from Cork who gave me so much good advice on my PhD. It pays to chat to those sitting next to you!

 

And then before I knew it I was home to this little fellah, buckets of tea and as many free range eggs as I could muster (and I mustered a great deal). I'll make another post about my trip to Ireland, because I think this is quite long enough! Suffice to say: British Airways food-pretty bad. Durham-beautiful. Shifting from Kroner to Pounds to Euro and back to Kroner- mildly confusing. Life-very excited.

Three Months, 12 Weeks, or 133,920 minutes (approximately)

This week marked the three month-iversary of our arrival in Denmark. I thought, since I'm going back to London for the weekend and I have a few free hours until we leave for the airport, that I'd do a bit of a recap on how the move has been so far.

Weather

The weather, the rain, the occasional lovely days, the consistent wind, are pretty much as expected. When we first arrived I was absolutely chilled all of the time, but wool tights under trousers and water proof clothes make the difference.

The winter is generally colder and a lot snowier than Ireland or London, and that was a bit of a surprise (that snow storm in March was, too), but I mean, it's Europe, you won't get harsh extremes of either hot or cold, and that's why I like it so much. My pasty skin and inability to get warm need moderation.

Transport

I cycle everywhere. I got a nice bike, and we have a couple of spare cheap bikes too, so we're always sorted. I usually only lock my bike with the flimsy lock on the back wheel, and I use lights at night so the police don't fine me 1000dk.

There are cycle lanes everywhere in this country (well, in Zealand anyway), including one that is rumoured to go all the way from Copenhagen to Roskilde. There were perfect cycle lanes in random countryside areas on our way to the ferry, and everyone, toddlers to the elderly, cycle everywhere in this city.

I love cycling, I think it's great exercise, great for concentration and it's so very free, that I'm chuffed how easy it is to do it. If you do need to take a train or bus for some crazy reason, they're reasonably priced, very clean, very new, and also a lovely experience.

Culture

Danes seem to be a lovely bunch of people. They generally smile at you on the street, are courteous, and are always trying to chat to me (and I am always awkwardly apologising for not speaking Danish). Unfortunately living and studying with your partner is the ultimate deterrent for making friends, and I haven't had much expose to non school friend Danes, so so far I haven't made friends with any other than the ones in my class, and it's an English speaking class.

I was surprised, and possibly the thing I'm most disappointed in, is the lack of 'lagom'. I expected this concept to be as pervasive as I felt it was in Sweden. Instead, there is a finely gradiented, but noticeable and irrefutable class structure. I was also very suprised by the, well, heteronormativity, of this capital city.

I haven't seen many gay couples, or indeed, any non-traditional couples at all really, and this makes me a bit concerned. If I was to stay here, and settle, would I really want my child to one day grow up thinking 'normal' is straight, married or paired off, with at least one baby in tow?

Generally, though, the culture here is very pleasant. People are polite, services are organised and orderly, and business get back to you efficiently with a concise answer. I like it.

Money

Denmark is very expensive. A latte is 30k, that's twice what you might expect to pay in Dublin, and almost twice what you might pay in many places in London. Taxes are very high, and jobs for non-Danes are hard to attain.

On the plus side, you have very high basic wages, and excellent subsidies for students, parents, and every category of citizen imaginable. To come on holidays, yes, it is expensive, but for the relative quality of life, I think living here is affordable. You just might have to lay off the lattes like I did.

Language

I'm 5 weeks into my Danske classes, and I have just one thing to say about the Danish language:

In its' written form; makes sense, pronunciation and speaking to be understood; forget about it kid!

I don't know if I'll be able to hold a conversation any time soon, or ever actually be able to speak the damn language. I don't know if I'll need to in order to live here. All I know is, the fact that chokolade is pronounced 'choco-lale' is enough for me to run away and hide.


So there you have it, a recap on my major impressions of living in Copenhagen so far. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to make an omlette with some wild garlic we collected from the park today. Hej hej!

An unrelated image of the lake I sit by when I need a time out in school