We made it to Copenhagen! Me, the Dane and the BBB. High fives all round!
BBB has been taking it all in her stride/roll. Although we've arrived from a very long hot New Zealand summer to 5 degrees which is proving a slight challenge for our Kiwi wardrobe.
Our first day in the big city was to register both myself and BBB with the Citizen Service (Borgerservice). You don't exist in Denmark unless you have registered (in person) with them and gained your all important CPR (Central Person's Register) number. And I mean you really do not exist. You can't open a bank account, sign up to a mobile phone contract, enrol in language schools, work, join a Mothers Group, get a Doctor. You can however still buy pastries. Thank goodness.
We joined three queues (two of which we were supposed to be in) and spent three hours there to eventually be told that the extension granted to me in New Zealand for my arrival into Denmark was only half actioned which means my Resident Permit had expired before I even arrived in the country. This has now become my problem to fix. So techincally speaking I currently do not exist in Denmark. The Danish Government did however kindly give BBB her CPR number. Bless them scooping up the NZ bred import as soon as she rolled over the border. I was considering asking them who came first, the chicken or the egg but decided better. The battle continues.
Danish Government (1) - the Kiwi (0)
Now back to the Prams. If you're not already aware the pram culture for babies in Denmark is quite different to New Zealand (& the rest of the world mind you). The Danes leave their prams outside on the streets for children and babies to sleep in. No biggie. Everyone does it. And I believe only 2 babies have every gone missing. One of which was because a Dad took the wrong pram home. Could happen to anyone right?
My beloved Nano Mountain Buggy is quite a lot smaller than many of the Danish prams (which are typically flat bed prams). It is also not as insulated as the Danish prams. We are therefore learning to walk faster.
Anyway...the photo...this is Eva hanging on a street in central Copenhagen while Jesper and I were having coffee down the road*
* We didn't really leave her on the street while we drank coffee. We're not stupid. Coffee is far too expensive in Denmark.
Top 3 learnings:
1. Before you join a long queue, ask what the queue is for.
2. If you give your partner your child's birth certificate then remember you did so. This will save many grey hairs trying to find it once arriving in a new country when partner denies he has it.
3. To increase your walking speed, buy a Mountain Buggy Nano.
