Hejsan! Can’t believe I’ve been living in Europe for more than 3 years now! How time flies so fast… I have had lots of good and not-so-good experiences, but all of them have helped to mold me to who I am right now. I remember the first day I sat foot on this continent. It was April, early spring. I was wearing purple long sleeves with a white knitted jacket my sister gave me for a graduation gift, and faded jeans. It was starting to get warm for the locals, but for me, I felt like all the warmth in my body was squeezed out when I stepped out of Kastrup Airport.

I stayed with a lovely Danish family for 8 months in the countryside, in the rural town of Bjæverskov. “Skov” is Danish for  forest or woods. It lies about 10 kilometers from the city of Køge, and around 50 kms from Copenhagen. The house was surrounded by fields, and the bus station and supermarkets were around 2 kms away.

It was the first time I got exposed to Danish culture, most of which were quite shocking to a 23-year old from the Philippines without any prior international travel experience. I saw young children cursing, shouting and answering back to their parents and the elderly, of rude teenagers smoking after getting wasted, of love affairs amongst neighbors leading to divorce, of how the house across the street was not really your “neighbor”.. It just makes me smile now thinking how I was so naive then.

But I learned many good things living in Bjæverskov as well, things about the Danes, their culture and language, and their government. I also learned a lot about myself as someone who was trying to integrate in a foreign society. It has been a long process, and up to now when I no longer live in Denmark, I could say that I’m still learning. But thanks to Bjæverskov for giving me a headstart!

Sharing on this entry some of the photos I’ve taken while living in Bjæverskov, my first home in Denmark. The smell of grass fields and pine trees are kept within my memory, and I still recall the streets and the playgrounds. Oh, how I miss those public playgrounds scattered all over the town!

And here are the playgrounds:

It would probably be very nostalgic to go back and visit Bjæverskov. I even believed my host dad when he said there were wolves in the forest nearby. haha It’s nice, peaceful and quiet, to live in the countryside, but at that time, I preferred the city. Well, hej hej (goodbye) and thank you, Bjæverskov and the fields and the playgrounds and the good memories. Off to new chapters in my life. 🙂