Thursday, August 7, 2008

Departure Day - 08-08-08

After a whirlwind 6 weeks of preparation for the move, the four of us will get on a plane Friday, to start the adventure of our lives. We will miss our Portland home, friends, family and all the beautiful, sweet life that comes with it, but are comforted by the fact that we will return and that with current technology will be able to stay in contact with everyone. I (Mary Jo) am launching myself into just such technology with this blog. I will try my best. Feel free to check in at any time. A few facts about where we are going:

1. Copenhagen proper has about 1.5 million people (like Portland). We live in Hellerup, just minutes north of downtown Copenhagen.
2. They speak Danish, use the Kroner money system and are considered a Scandinavian country (not European).
3. English is spoken as a second language and taught to children in schools. How fortunate for us! Maya and Molly will attend Copenhagen International School, a K-12 taught in English.
4. The country consists of up to 500 islands, some just little pieces of sand. We live on the most Eastern Island call "Zealand", which is just minutes by bridge to Sweden!
5. The weather is breezy and cooler than Portland, with less rain but more ice and snow.
6. The latitude is equal to Anchorage, AK, therefore summer days are long and winter days are very short. The country is very flat with the highest elevation only 500 feet!
7. It is a socialist country and, after finalizing paperwork, we will be residents - welcome to all the benefits of that country.
8. The people are friendly, crime is non-existent, mass transit and bikes everywhere, situated close to dozens of countries to visit and the city a beautiful mix of old-world charm and modern technology.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Good luck and God bless, Cohen family! What a great adventure - and, best of all, to be together for it! Keep in touch.
All our best - the Bremner Piggs

Michelle Rafter said...

Hi Joey:

Good luck with everything. We'll look forward to reading your adventures here. I don't use Blogger, but if you ever have questions about the software ask Kate, she uses the same service.

Jay's started a blog about our family too. I'll send you the link so you can see pictures.

We've loved our vacation here in the Washington Cascades. We've been hiking almost every day, mainly in what's called the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area; it reminds me a lot of the region around Mt. Hood, lots of forest, rivers and alpine lakes.

Looking forward to the next post.

Michelle

Mommad said...

Oh, we miss you so much already!!! It was a very uplifting and heartfelt farewell to you all. We know how honored we were to be part of the last goodbyes to all of you. Maddie held her strength till we got around the corner on to Oleson Rd and then there was a big burst of tears and sadness. We hope you're all settling in well and can't wait to hear how things are going. All our best!! The McCarter 4 missing the Cohen 4!! :-)

Unknown said...

Cherri Gallison

Thinking about you this eve and hoping you are all recovering from jet lag and having a great time getting settled. Sounded like you had a lot of shopping to do to fill the house with things to eat and sleep on once you got there.

I found it interesting to think of the climate as being like Anchorage. Dave is from there so he can relate.

Looking forward to hearing more. Take care.

Unknown said...

Mary Jo:

Got your email with your phone number. glad to see you are making progress. We think about you all frequently. Let us know when you have internet access and we'll see about the web cams, Skype, etc.
Love, Dad