So as life goes, it seems as though there was a warp in the space-time continuum, and in the blink of an eye the last few months have gone by. I had big plans to blog about our last few months in Japan BEFORE we left Tokyo, but things started rolling and didn't slow down this spring. Thus, I am dedicating the first week of June to "Japan Week", where I promise to tie up all of our Japanese adventures into a nice bow worthy of any good Yukata- so stay tuned for that!
In the meantime, however, we arrived safe and sound to Copenhagen, Denmark and are IN LOVE with living here so far!! I can tell only a couple of weeks in, that I will be brokenhearted when it is time to move. I'm in trouble now....
As I've done with our previous posts I wanted to make sure to document some of my initial thoughts and feelings of our new home. Here is a quick Top 5 Favorite Things so far.
1. It is green, gorgeous, and full of beautiful forests, lakes, beaches and front yards! Truly, it is one of the prettiest, and most pleasant places I have been to just drive around. It also really does have an incredibly "cozy" feel. We live out in the suburbs, and although we are truly very close to a major city- it feels like we all live in these little villages. The vast amounts of nature everywhere you look, does help with this I'm sure. But still, I am loving feeling like I'm in a cozy small town- but able to hop on the metro to visit city center in a snap!
2. The food is fantastic, and well- definitely European, which in my book equals delicious! The bakeries are delicious, with as you can imagine- incredible Danishes, croissants, and breads. There are also a whole slew of awesome restaurants that we keep hearing about. We haven't even scraped the surface, but you can sign me up for the
Confit sandwich any day of the week! Seriously, a place with food like this- is a winner in my book. Also, I am loving the fact that we get to keep the 7-11 Awesomeness that we loved in Japan! We thought it was gone forever, but it turns out that the Danes love 7-11 too! They don't have quite the same selection of yummy Asian food, but they are known for their bakery! Too funny! They seem to have a store at nearly every train entrance, and with such awesome Croissants (that rival French ones, for real-) and Peach Fanta- enough. said.
3. They ride their bikes everywhere, and I am in love with that. I simply can't wait for my pedal assist from Japan to arrive! It should be a short bike ride to the beach, to the store, to M's school, you name it! You can even take your bike on the metro here! So many amazing bike paths, and beautiful tree lined streets to enjoy!
4. I love that everyone speaks English. Now, I am hoping to learn some Danish- especially because we are loyal Churchgoers and this will be the first time we have to officially tackle Sundays in another language....but, nevertheless, purely for my convenience at this stage in the game of getting our house set up, it really has made things so much easier. I can't deny that it is kind of a big perk:)
5. Now this last one is hard to put into words. I've been people watching for days, and I think the thing that comes to mind the most is just the fact that "they get IT" here, and by IT I mean that all around, they seem to have a better sense of what's really important. They are incredibly serious about their work-life balance here. They take long vacations, they spend time outside and with their families on the weekends (as in things close by 3pm on Saturdays, and some things not even open on Sundays too), they never stay late at work, their children spend their entire childhoods outdoors, they exercise regularly, they have beautiful things and design which makes anyone happy and they keep things simple. They have friends and family over for meals and spend lots of good quality time around the table and in the home, and my most recent observation that I love is that they still read ACTUAL newspapers! There are newspapers for the day scattered all over the metro/trains. Someone will sit down read it, then leave it for the next person. I have hardly seen anyone staring down at their smartphones- and get this- if someone is actually using their phone- they are TALKING on it! I have heard way more people talking on their phones over the last week or two, than I have seen people totally plugged in and checked out while commuting. They just sit nicely and stare out the window if they aren't busy reading. So anyway, It has all just been very refreshing, and I am going to soak every ounce of it up that I can!
I'll leave you at that, but I promise there will be many Danish adventures to read about here in the near future. We are feeling SO incredibly blessed to have been assigned here, and know that this is where the Lord wants us to be right now. Can't wait to see what the future holds!
