Den første uge

I survived my first week in Denmark! It has been a surprisingly relaxed and crisis free transition - much smoother than I had anticipated. Having lived through the frustrations of getting setup in a new country before (France '02) coming to Denmark has been a breath of fresh air. And given my track record of drama and issues over the past 2 months, I am still in awe at how simple and easy the process has been.

I began Tuesday morning by first coming into my new workplace, Reson A/S, in Slangerup, Denmark. After making small mods to my laptop and re-issuing my key card, I was set to go as far as new job matters. (Jorgen Krull extended my key pass until September 16th, 2019 and I told him that he has more faith for me staying in Denmark than I have in myself!) Next came breakfast in the canteen. There was a total spread of delicious dishes: eggs, bacon, sausage, breads and jams. The breakfast was a celebration of some major milestone that was met w/in the company but I like to think it was a “Welcome to Denmark, Shobs!” feast. Afterwards, Anette from HR took me to the police station in Roskilde, where we picked up my work/residence permit. We then headed to Frederikssund (soon to be my new hometown) and checked out my new apartment. Pictures of my new pad are found at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/shobhna.shastri/ApartmentInDenmark?authkey=yTCPH6F6mAM#
After conversing with my new landlord, who speaks great English by the way, we went to the Commun (Town hall) and requested a Danish Social Security (CPR) number. The CPR number is my ticket to everything in Denmark: bank account, salary, healthcare, etc. With the CPR in hand, we were able to go to the bank and open up a new checking account, which took all of 15 minutes. In half a day I was “Dane-d” and I’m still impressed with the efficiency of it all! The best part? Every person we encountered at every administrative desk was NICE! Let me repeat that. They were ALL NICE! I find it unbelievable that I didn’t get a single rolled eye, there were no big exasperated sighs, no person that seemed like they hated life or especially hated me for disrupting their day by walking into their office. Every individual did their job with a smile on their face – I’m starting to believe maybe Danes really are the happiest people on the earth. Amazing.

So there you have it, in half a day my administrative matters were taken care of. What have I been doing the rest of the time? Working, getting over jetlag, meeting people from RINC for dinner, and adapting to the cold climate (brrrrr). My time in Denmark is going to be a fun expedition that has already gotten off to a great start!