Living in Denmark

For the past five years since we moved to Denmark, I have wanted to get out of here. My husband and I got so busy not liking Denmark and wanting to move that we didn't see what was good about Denmark.

So a few weeks ago, my husband got a job offer in the US. And then I got a promotion. It was decision time. My husband's offer was good but not great. My promotion was fabulous. We thought about my book career – no doubt if we move to the US the book career will be on better footing. But my book career could go down the drain no matter where I lived and it could be a success no matter where I lived.

So we started to make lists – pros and cons. I won't go into the gory details of the hours of stress and the nights of sleeplessness – but you won't believe it, I can hardly believe it myself, Denmark won.

My older son goes to a fabulous international school. And I do mean it's fabulous. He loves his school. My younger son goes to a fabulous kindergarten and actually has a little dance in the morning as we walk to the car. We get 32 vacation days – we usually go on three solid vacations a year. We're starting this year with Easter break in Greece and then in the summer we're fooling around with plans to Cape Cod, a villa in Tuscany, a resort in Malta. And then there will be Fall break in October; we're thinking we should go to...don't know where yet but we'll come up with something.

Sometime in May-June, my husband and I are planning a quick trip to Paris for our 10th wedding anniversary (yes, married for 10 years and we haven't killed each other yet).

There's something to be said for all the vacation we get here and how close everything is.

Sure, we cannot afford nice cars because we pay 200% in taxes on cars. And yes, because we live in the city, parking is always a delight. But we live in the city and the closest café is about two minutes away. Shopping of all kinds is 10 minutes away. Life is good. Life is easy. Life is hard work and long vacations.

And my kids have grandparents here who dote on them. And we have a great social circle and good friends – and satisfying jobs.

So we decided to stay. Of course, this doesn't mean that everytime the weather sucks (and it sucks a lot in Denmark) I won't wish we were in Sunny California – but it does mean that I can't blame my husband for us living in this pit of a country anymore. I have to take responsibility too. I have to admit – and this is a tough one – that I actually like living in Denmark. Whew! Took me five, nearly six years to figure that out.

P.s. I still hate the racism and the high taxes and the xenophopbia...