There are two sides to my life right now. On one hand, I am super happy and excited about getting married to the fiance this summer. He really is my best friend and we have the best time together. But on the other hand, I am pretty sad and mad. I have been living in Copenhagen for a year and a half now and well, I am still unemployed. I really do like Copenhagen. It's a great place to live. However, I don't like Copenhagen when I'm not an actual part of society. I don't feel like a tourist but I also don't feel like I am a part of society here. I would say that I'm "integrating" pretty well. I've finished four out of five modules of Danish classes, I'm getting married to a Dane, and I come from a country and a culture that is quite similar to here. I've been applying to jobs every week and I often get the same reply. It is really discouraging when you so badly want to be a part of the society that you are living in and you are doing what you can to get there but nothing has worked out so far. Most days I am happy and I stay positive but some days are harder than others. I feel like I write a post like this every few months, and I guess I do this because every few months it really hits me again.
Besides this huge debbie downer of a post, there are some photos from my weekend! I did a little twist on my usual risotto recipe on Friday night. I added some lemon juice and lemons zest to the risotto and we finally tried eating
romanesco! Um, you need to try romanesco, it's so pretty and is like a broccoli and cauliflower hybrid! The fiance and I went to do a little wedding ring shopping on Saturday. It's fun to see what is out there and see what I can stack my engagement ring with. I think we know which rings we want to order! There was a little visit to good ol'
Joe and the Juice, my friend invited some of us girls over for a lovely brunch - they are some of the most supportive ladies I know here in Copenhagen, and well it started snowing Sunday afternoon and it hasn't stopped!
It's Monday, it's a new week, and life is still good.
You are still one of my favourite people! Plan the wedding as good as you can, because all of a sudden you will get a job and then you wont have time to plan at all!:)
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew a magical way to get you a job, I would do anything to help you because you are smart, so nice, and would be the best co-worker in the world! I wish I could work with you..:)
Lets skype when I get home!! Lots of love, Mari
aww, you are the best mari :) we seriously need to figure out a way to live in the same city one of these days! it'd be the best! talk to you on the weekend! love love love!
DeleteCopenhagen / Denmark is tough like that. Don't stop trying. One hint: It might be better if you take up Danish education / university / school whatever because the Danes appreciate Danish degree so much more than foreign degree.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment! I definitely won't stop trying. The funny thing is, I did my master's at Lund University in Sweden but it was a joint program with the University of Copenhagen. We had the same classmates, the same lecturers, we went back and forth between schools, so technically I do have a Danish degree. Oh life ;)
DeleteHi Karen..i sympathize with you wholeheartedly.. When the time is right job offers will be arriving and you will be so busy that you would wish you could rewind to this joyous and exciting period.. happy wedding planing ..
ReplyDeletethank you laning! i really appreciate your kind words! :)
DeleteI really do sympathise. I found work but it definitely wasn't an easy process. Always call for feedback as well. One of the companies who rejected my application said that I actually made it to the final 15 out of 200 applications but they could only take 8 through to interview, and others had more relevant experience. Soooo frustrating. Make sure you're exhausting every avenue too. I don't know which field you want to get into but LinkedIn group discussions can actually get you some good professional contacts. Keep talking to people about work, I believe that whenever you are talking you are networking - even if you are in an informal setting, you don't know what could come up :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely sympathise regarding the fitting in part too. Your situation right now nearly exactly describes the way I feel. I've been living in Copenhagen for 15 months, my Danish is nearly fluent (apparently) and yet I still feel like I'm lacking some sort of members only access code. It's not the fault of the Danes, my workplace or anything ... I guess it's just because I'm still not *quite* there with the language and still am unfamiliar with a few processes. It hit me hard over the holidays as I went back to the UK and London, where I lived near and in for most of my life, made me feel like a tourist. So I am in limbo. Does that sound similar to how you feel? I don't miss living in London and my quality of life is so much better here but I soooo get what you mean!
PS: I finally got to try Strangas, which I believe you blogged about a while ago, thank you so much for writing about it as I wouldn't have known about it otherwise .. best cheesecake in Copenhagen!
Thanks for your suggestions Nicola! :) It's alway so intimidating calling a potential employer! I need to get better at that for sure.
DeleteMy fiance and I went back to Vancouver to visit this summer and although I don't normally miss home, I got a taste of what it was like living there again. And it was pretty nice! Maybe because we were on vacation, but still...Normally I don't compare Vancouver to Copenhagen but I've found myself doing it a bit now. I so want to find a job and really start my life here in Denmark but it has taken me way longer than expected. And the longer it takes, the more I start to compare Copenhagen to Vancouver. And then Vancouver starts to look pretty attractive again. I have work experience there, there is no language barrier, quality of life there is good as well, etc. It's hard. There are good and bad sides to everything but we are committed to living in Copenhagen for a few years. I don't know if I feel like a tourist when I go home, I've always found it so nice to have a few places to call home :)
And yay! I'm so glad you liked Strangas! They really do have the best cakes in town!
I've been meaning to comment on this. I won't reiterate what I've said to you in person, but I know you know that I totally get it!! I think it's so important that we share this side of things as well, so thanks for blogging about it. You are the best!
ReplyDeleteThanks Elaina! I'm SOOOO glad I can talk to you about these things :)
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