Copenhagen
Well, we made this flight.
From the time we pulled in to Saint Louis' airport, I was somewhat sick with the feeling that I was about to leave everything behind. The feeling faded once we got moving, helped along the way by some interesting incidents. Of course, you have the typical TSA agents who hate the world and everyone in it. There's not much to write about there, but the strangest thing in the entire trip was the body scanner finding an "anomaly" in my groin, setting off an alarm (I assume because I'm a transgender woman? or maybe this happens to everyone?). I also, thankfully, got a free would-be $10 smoothie after the card reader broke. The flight across the Atlantic wasn't great. After much boredom, I decided to watch Back to the Future. Funny how I still remember almost every line from watching it as a kid. The movie felt like it flew by, compared to our actual flight.
After watching the kilometers tick down for about 5 hours I managed to take a nap. Andrei was unfortunately awake for the entire trip. The sunrise was a great relief, reassuring us we'd be landing in Europe soon.
All things considered, the trip wasn't bad. But I have to say, I don't know if it's just European domestic flights in general or if German airports are horrible, but each time I've had a transfer from a German airport, we suffer a short delay only to be crammed on a bus which then takes us to the plane.
Germany notes:
- German is very easy to read
- Very expensive cars at the airports
- Some Germans look especially German
Finally, Copenhagen. Our final destination. The airport was unfathomably nice, and so far, It's really great. Taxi was simple, getting stuff delivered was simple (it was too late to go ourselves, we wouldn't have made it). Overall, this is the European experience I've always wanted.
I wish I had more of an interest in Danish before, as I hadn't realized how interesting it is until coming here. There's something so exciting about being in a country whose language you aren't familiar with. Still, we can read a surprising amount of simple signs with our (also simple) Dutch skills.
Anyway, the Airbnb is quite nicer than expected. It's small, but it's perfect for what we need. Andrei actually found out today that there is a form we need to fill out online before we can get married. We'll do it first thing tomorrow... I'm really not looking forward to it.
Denmark Notes:
- Produce is sold quite differently here
- When you buy a pack of something at the store, such as water, it may be missing some bottles from people breaking it open and taking an individual item
- Speed is measured in farts (I really did try to be mature)
Now we just have to see where the rest of the journey takes us... That's not me being poetic or anything, the plans are incredibly vague. We are both pretty confident that we will be able to get married pretty easily.
Gaining residence in the Netherlands may be a different story.
But, no matter what, this opens the door.