Backbone

We've decided to move into a place that has a better social system than Canada, which we appreciate. Yet it's a also a country that does not welcome newcomers. Denmark is known politically and commonly as being a closed country. It is, in fact, the most closed country in all of europe to immigrants. I'm not an immigrant right now. That is yet to be seen. But having an english accent is enough to deter many people from welcoming me into their circles. I received many replies to my applications which stated that I could not work with them because I was not fluent. I work now in a Danish daycare and it is not simply because I knew a women who's daughter attends the daycare. It is also because my coworkers are fantastically patient! I am so grateful to their willingness to have me a part of their team!

The two biggest challenges that we've faced have been internal struggles that we've had to overcome. We've thought many times that we are in the same situation as when we were in Denmark. But that is no longer the case. In Canada, we depended heavily on our families (WE LOVE YOU!!!). I know that that's fine in many places, but, my god, we're heading towards 30yrs old and Dave was working under the table for his parents and I wasn't getting any work! Even if we weren't planning to move here, we probably still would be living with Mom (which was fun, it's true:). My question, after a while, became: "When are we going to grow up?"

Well, that's what we've been doing....growing our backbones. Here are two tough examples:

We were living out of the city, in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. We were living for free with a wonderful women in a big house filled with smoke. We were hunting for work but NOTHING had come through and we were becoming really desperate. Our moods were dropping day by day until Dave finally cracked. We bickered before he left to go to school. But he didn't go to school. Instead he went to the job centre and printed out resumes, which he took down to the tourist restauran district in the city. His plan was to go door to door to talk with the managers and see if he could find something. He stood on the corner that evening, peering at the people coming and going from the first restaurant that he planned to approach. He thought, "What the hell am I doing here?" He turned tail and ran into the closest dark corner that he could find, and he wept. He pulled out the mobile and began texting a message to me that went something like this: Heather, I tried, but I can't do it. We're going to have to go back because I faile-. Suddenly the phone shut down. When he saw the phone had stopped, he turned on his heels and walked into the restaurant and asked to talk to the manager. That was his first "interview" in Danish.

A month passed and we had found our own place to live, but we still had no work. Dave was going to another inverview. I had been applying online to many daycares, but to no avail. I realized that if I was going to find work, I had to take my resume to daycares, begining in our area and moving out from there. I was nervous but trying to get ready. David was ready and was about to head out the door. I clung to him and cried. I didn't want him to go. I didn't want to be alone. I did NOT want to print out my resume and head to those daycares. We prayed together and then Dave left to do what he had to do. It took me 3 more hours to build up my courage to walk out the door. But I did. I visited 2 daycares that day.

Well, most of you know by now that we both have work in excellent places. I'm in a danish daycare, improving my Danish day by day. David is now a physics, math, and IT teacher at the international school. Be both have fixed hours and in addition we do substitute work. As much as we miss everyone in Canada, we know that this decision was best for us. We're standing on our own and making it work. David is a teacher, which he would never be in Canada (unless he decided years down the road that he wanted to be) and I'm getting an opportunity to do the work that I love so dearly in a new country with different standards and methods.

Here is a word of advice to anyone who may be interested in working here for a while. Meet people who work here. Everyone here says that you just apply online or walk in to apply, but we've learned that it is mostly through networking that work is found.

Growing stronger,
Heather:)