Why Billund?

First I move from Brooklyn, population 2.5 million, to Kolding, population 63,583,and now we're moving to Billund, population 8,697... where to next?! Is there ANYWHERE less populated than Billund?

So, why you ask? Billund is where the LEGO offices and the LEGOLAND theme park are located. Kolding is about 40 km away from Billund, and since Emma was born Lars and I drive separately work everyday. Her daycare "mother" is only open until 4:15, and to get there on time to pick her up one of us has to leave work at 3:00. We've been taking turns working from 7-3 and 8-4 (depending on who has late meetings or conference calls). Luckily, LEGO is an incredibily family friendly company and no one has a problem with working around this schedule (provided our work gets done). But it's wearing on us.

There is nowhere in Billund that isn't a 15 minute drive to LEGO. We'll sell one of our cars and have an hour and a half more a day to spend with our little daughter. If we have some sunny days this summer, one of us could even drop her off and go to work on our bike.

The second busiest airport in Denmark is in Billund, with direct flights to London, Paris, Amsterdam, etc. -- which will be handy for vacations. We'll also be visting Lars' parents on many week-ends... and we're hoping that it's somewhat temporary. We still have our five (or is it four now?) year plan to move to the U.S. But in the meantime, we'll have more time with Emma and less stress in general.

Okay, who am I trying to convince?

For Sale

We are really doing it. We're selling our house and moving to Billund.

Danish politics... ??

I wanted to write something after reading this article on how non ethic Danes favor the opposition parties, but realized I had no idea how the Danish government works... or what the article actually means.

My husband sent me to Denmark.dk: Official website of Denmark - Government & Politics page:

"The political system of Denmark is a multi-party structure, where several parties are represented in the Parliament. Danish governments are most often minority administrations, governing with the aid of one or more supporting parties. This means that Danish politics are characterised by inter-party compromising. Since 1909 no single party has had the majority of parliamentary seats."

No single party has had the majority of parliment since 1909? That's very hard to fathom as an American. I'll have to read the entire web site before trying to blog about Danish politics again!