And just like that... a year has passed.

It's hard to believe that today makes a year I've moved to the wonderful city that is Copenhagen. I know I've been way too absent from the blog (who am I kidding? I knew this would eventually happen), but I couldn't let this day go by without writing about it.

After all, it was when my journey begun. I put my feet in danish soil for the first time on a cold breezy night, and I still remember how it felt. I was both scared to death and super excited to move here. I also recall thinking "Oh this is not that cold" and yes, even in the coldest days I've experienced, I still think it's not that bad. It's cold but it's survivable (if we talk about the wind, then that's a whole another story...). 

It was a really long day, and, needless to say, a though one. I couldn't stop crying when I said goodbye to my parents, even when I was already in the plane. Embarrassing? Maybe. But I'm also an only child so I'm very much attached to my family, so sue me. 
Gladly, I would soon meet a familiar face - a friend I already knew from Portugal - and that so kindly would let me live with her for the first 3 months of this adventure abroad. To her, I can only say a huge THANK YOU because if it wasn't for her, I might not have taken this step.

I still had a few days before I started my intern job, so of course I just went out and ventured all around town. I spend all those first days outside, and it was amazing - many hours enjoying my own company, taking pictures, and looking at everything with curious eyes. I was (and still am) amazed at how beautiful this city is. It didn't bother me at all to be alone. It was a fresh start for me, and that also meant getting used to not being with people all the time. I already knew I liked spending time by myself in Portugal, but here in Copenhagen, specially in the first weeks, I realised how much I love it. 

It didn't take long until I started making friends. Social media is an amazing thing and I used it a lot to meet new people. 
My first friend in Copenhagen was Tuni, a sweet girl who's still one of my best friends here. We started our friendship when I was still in Portugal, and decided to grab a coffee in a rainy afternoon, next to Tivoli. Hours and hours went by and we couldn't stop talking. At the end of the day, I knew we would become great friends.
Through Instagram, I met another amazing friend - Susana. She is also portuguese and I'm so glad we found each other because we have a lot of common and we always have so much fun together. She had moved to Copenhagen just a month earlier than me, also because of an internship. We instantly connected and started hanging out a lot.
The last people I want to write about are Pauline and Katie. I met these two sweet girls through a Facebook group called "International Girls in Copenhagen" (if you're a new gal in town, you should check it out, it's pretty cool). Pauline had commented or posted there, in sort of an "About me & Interests" style. She basically wrote about everything I love, and she seemed to be a lot into art like I am (I was right) - so I gave it a go and messaged her, in hopes of getting a "museum buddy". We met in a sunny afternoon and sat by The Lakes, coffee in hand, watching the sun go down. We clicked and once again, I hit the prize - we had a lot of similarities, specially in terms of personality and how we handle our artistic work (and all the frustrations that come with it). Katie was also in that group, organising this amazing drawing club I wanted to join, so we also met in person. Who would knew we would get so close? She is one of the funniest people I've met here, and a really good friend. Also, she's a super talented illustrator, which gives her "cool" points, for sure. 
To finish this one up, I really really want to thank all my friends that I met in Copenhagen, both the ones that I've connected with temporarily, and the ones with whom I still hang out today. You've been very important in this past year and you're all amazing people. As expats, we need to be there for each other, for the sake of our sanity. I know that my life here would've been a lot more difficult without you and your support. 
To my friends and family back home, thanks for listening and reading all my rants, frustrations and stories. You are still my rock. A sincere "thank you" is flying your way. 

I couldn't not mention a very special person I met this year, my boyfriend Emil. After a couple of failed Tinder dates (and yes, I know Tinder isn't exactly relationship oriented but I still had some hope), he came into my life in the most amazing way. I still can't believe in how lucky I am for having such a caring person by my side. I don't want to get too lame around here, but if you're reading this, thank you so much for everything. Your constant support means the world to me, specially in those times where everything seems to go wrong. 

My job situation here has never been optimal, and it's really hard to keep positive sometimes. It still isn't but I've been trying my best to turn things around, and have been given some cool opportunities. I'm sure that things will eventually come and I can't wait to have a more stable life, that enables me to relax and not think about the money I spend all the time, which is amazingly tiring. On a side note, it was in Denmark that I discovered what being a good working team is, the great relaxed Danish work atmosphere and that it's ok to leave work at 4 and not feel ashamed or guilty.  

Looking back, I feel very proud of what I was able to achieve in a year: I found a place of my own to live and exist, went through multiple jobs, started learning such a weird language as Danish (and I'm already in Module 3!), met wonderful human beings, networked a lot, volunteered a lot, and finally felt like I had done something important with my life.
Most of all, I went out of my way to get what I wanted, even if that meant jumping out of my comfort zone. I feel like a completely different person. As cliched as it is, I feel a lot stronger and more courageous than ever. 

This past year was completely crazy and I lived some of the most nerve-wrecking and stressful moments of my life. I also had a lot of new experiences, new feelings, and a lot of happy moments. 
If anyone who wants to move abroad is reading this, I can assure you your life will most likely take a 180º turn, and it will be scary, tearful, and hard. But you will also have so many worthy living experiences and learnings that will make up for all the bad... 
Looking back, I think this was the best decision I've made so far. Despite how much I miss my family and friends in Portugal (I miss you so so much), getting away was what I needed and a dream that became a reality a year ago. The twenty-third of February of 2016 will always mean a lot to me. 

Thanks for reading.

Inês

A letter to Copenhagen

Dear Copenhagen, 

My life has been a rollercoaster since we first met. Looking back, I think my adaptation was fast and slow at the same time. By "fast" I mean I had to basically adapt very quickly to living by myself for the first time and to every practical side of it. It was a huge step for me, specially being an only child who is very much attached to her parents. By "slow" I mean it was a slow process in terms of: making (good) friends, riding a bike everyday, language (this still applies, as my vocabulary boils down to "Hej", "Tak" and "Undskyld"). 

I'm still trying to figure out if you like me or dislike me. It seems like we have sort of a love-hate relationship. You've made me go through some of the happiest and saddest moments of my life. Moments where I felt like I was going to have a mental breakdown and felt like just giving up from everything (very stress and homesick induced), where you put so much on my plate that I didn't know what to do or where to turn... but you also made me feel so happy that my face hurt from smiling, and so amazed by your beauty that I almost felt like I was living in a dream or in a movie. 

I can't quantify how much you've made me grow and how stronger and proud of myself I feel after these first 5 months with you. At the most serious moments, even if I just felt like crying and running away from my problems, I kept going. There were times where problems were just piling up and nothing seemed to go right but I kept going. The love I feel for you keeps me going. This city and its people keeps me going. (I have to mention that I now have a group of friends that are a big big help and a big part of making my life here easier and better. I can't thank you enough). 

Like Morrissey, I've got a job, but then I felt miserable (and exhausted) so I quit my job. Started danish classes but had to quit (or let's say, interrupt) because it was all too much at the same time, with my internship (and working in a restaurant) and I couldn't keep up. All this while trying to find a new home, as my life wasn't already stressful enough. But I did it, and I found an amazing place to live by myself, despite this hectic house market you have. Then, when I least expected, you gave me love, something I had already given up on. And so many happy and dream-like moments followed. You gave me opportunities to grab and new friendships, nice events, parties, concerts, flea markets, festivals to volunteer in. Your cultural life is amazing. Coming from a small town, it's a breath of fresh air for me to live in such a rich and interesting capital, with so much to do. 

Right now, it seems like you hate me again. Is it because I was away for two weeks? I'm sorry, I needed a break and I was desperate to see my beloved family and friends again (if I think about it, it was the longest I was outside my country and far from my loved ones). It wasn't as enjoyable and long as I would have wanted, and it feels as strange to be back here as it was when I arrived in Portugal. I will be honest, I didn't want to go back to you so soon. I didn't want to go back to you without a prospect of a new job or a new home for the next few months, with a lot less money in my pocket, with most of my friends and my boyfriend away. I cried, I cried a lot. The future with you is so uncertain and that uncertainty makes me really scared. But here I am. And I'm starting to feel a little bit better, slowly. This past week was my first week being back at work on my internship and it was totally crazy, and totally busy. As the whole month of August will be. But I will manage it the best way I can. It's my last month and I need to leave a good impression and to leave this job on the right foot.   

Dear Copenhagen, I now consider you my second home and I don't want to leave you just yet. Please, will you give me a chance?

Until next time,

Inês

I'm not dead

I know, I know... shame on me. It's been way more than a month since I posted here. I wanted to do something for my one month anniversary in Denmark but I let it past, and then it was even more difficult to write something after that because my life is a little crazy. Then I thought: Well, what's the point now? Maybe because my past year was a really slow one (I was unemployed for months, so I didn't really do much and stayed at home a lot) but I'm finding it all a little bit overwhelming sometimes.

Anyways, I'm going to try and do a little recap of these past weeks:

• Got all my paperwork done, so I'm now a danish citizen! Juhuuu, as they say here. But what a pain in the ass it was. One, two, three visits to either the State Administration or the International House. Gladly all people were very helpful and nice. Next step now is getting a bank account. Any advice?

• I spent way too long without a danish number (and without any Internet out of the house, which was specially hard "work" wise - I work in social media guys, I have to be connected), so I took care of that and I'm now using a Lebara pre-paid card, which I think is the cheapest option. I REALLY need to upgrade my old iPhone 4 though, this piece of crap get's on my nerves everyday: apps crashing, slowness, and I doesn't install many apps because I don't even have iOS 8 with it. Booo.

• Got my first freelance job and it was a lot of fun to do, but it's also giving me headaches. Let's just say people are sneaky with payments, and I'm not the biggest fan of having to be running after them to get the money for the work I've done. Well, nobody is. It's very stressful.

• Looking for a paid job is also proving to be a arduous task, which I already expected. First, I either don't have the experience or I don't speak the language. Also, it's hard to find time to look for it since the workload on my internship is a little too much, but I'm handing CVs whenever I can. I want a part-time on the weekend or in the evenings, so I can start earning some money, so please, if you know of something, drop me an e-mail. Any advice is also helpful. Help a girl out!!

• Met some really amazing people, which I'm so happy for. Two of them I think I can already call friends. I think you know who you are. :)  

• I applied for danish classes this week... It's going to be so hard but I'm going to give it a shot. It's kind of annoying not getting what anyone says. You feel like an outcast. And I love learning new languages.

• I lived alone for some weeks and I think I'm doing and managing fine, which is a really good thing.

• Updates on the bike situation are BIG!! I just let go of fear and one day I biked to the beach. Now I bike to the supermarket, to the beach, and to work, sometimes. You have no idea what an accomplishment this is to me. I'm not sure if I will start biking everywhere, because I'm still so scared of the busy roads, but let's see.

• The hardest thing of all is how much I miss my family and friends... It's starting to really hurt, and I can't wait to see them again. Sometimes I have to hold my tears, when I see a picture of my parents. Days like Easter and today, Mother's Day, are specially hard to bear. Oh well, downsides of living abroad, right? You just have to keep living.

• Speaking about my hometown, I went to a portuguese lunch last week, for the celebration of our most important holiday, the 25th of April, and the restaurant was filled with portuguese flags and all the people were so nice and welcoming! Portuguese people are the best. One of the things I miss the most about Portugal. There's just a warmness in people you don't find in many places in the world.

• Lastly, I got accepted as a volunteer in the coolest cultural house here in Copenhagen, and that just gets me so so excited. Since I got here and knew about that space I knew I had to work there somehow. It's just the coolest thing ever, and I think it's going to be such an amazing experience for me. I just can't wait to start! So, you might see a familiar face if you pop up at the cinema's cafe at Huset KBH. :) 

I have so many things to show you in pictures and videos, but this post is just going to work like this. Sorry for being so long. Hope this is not too boring!

Until next time,
Inês

My birthday

My birthday this year was completely different from every other I've had so far. Apart from being in a totally different place, it was also the first time I spent it alone. Scary? Sad? No, not at all. It felt good, liberating and just plain awesome to have such a different day. Did I miss my family and friends? Absolutely. Although I was so busy all day I didn't even think too much about it, to be honest. I just really enjoyed my time alone, which is a thing I wish everyone would be able to do: just enjoying your own company. It's a thing I'm learning about myself: I really love spending time alone. Going for walks, going to the cinema, going shopping... You only ever get your time spent and managed as you really want to when you're by yourself. You get things done at your own pace, you go to places and do the things YOU like, without depending on anyone else's wishes. 

So yesterday I was given the day off (!!!) and I just hopped on a train to spend all my day at the Louisiana Museum of Art, in Humlebaek, just 30 minutes north of Copenhagen. Best decision ever, I had the greatest time doing one of my favorite things: looking at art! Just the place itself is worth a visit really. If you don't believe me, just look at the pictures below.

The weather was lovely, despite the cold.

Please go to their store and get lost. I think I might have spent too much time in it but I couldn't help it. And I'm a sucker for tote bags so I bought one as a little birthday present. Getting quite a collection of them actually...

Don't get me started on the sculpture garden... I can see myself spending a whole afternoon here doing a picnic and basking in the sunlight.

My yummy lunch by the sun.

It was so good to see the ocean again.

Spring is starting to show!

And now for some art:

These were part of a new exhibition called "Eye Attack", based on works between the 50's and the 60's of the so called Op Art (Optical Art) and Kinetic Art, ones that appeal to your senses and that are essentially sensorial and visual experiences. Amazing works from more than 40 artists! Just be aware you might feel a little dizzy because of the hypnotic effects... I didn't but I know people who did.

Dreaming of having a living room like this... :)

Some photos from the "Illumination" exhibition below:

Of course I had to take lots of self portraits here, how can you not? I REALLY wanted to see this is one more than any other piece in the museum. After losing the exibithion dedicated to the artist, with many more works, by just a couple of weeks, I felt really sad. But then I realized that one of her installations is still there in the museum's permament collection. So yay! 

If you don't know this installation, it is called Gleaming Lights of the Souls by the artist Yayoi Kusama. Simply outstanding. Google her work, it's brilliant. 

It was past 7 when I left this place, feeling as I needed to sleep 10 hours but also like I've just had one of the best birthdays in my life. And just before getting dark, I was greeted by this sky. A lovely end of the day. 

Bye Louisiana, see you very soon.

Inês