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FROM LOCAL TO FOREIGNER IN JUST TWENTY-FOUR HOURS Navigating the transition from local to foreigner, Keri Bloomfield shares with us the beginning of her expat journey in Denmark. PHOTOGRAPHS GOSIA KURZYK
I
IF YOU CAN REMEMBER the
1998 movie Sliding Doors then you’ll understand when I say it was a ‘Sliding Doors’ moment that brought me to Denmark. A seemingly small and insignificant decision to look right instead of left one night at a bar in New Zealand, was all that it took to begin my journey towards life in Denmark. I call it my ‘Mary’ moment.
LIFE BEFORE DENMARK Kiwis are typically well known for our love of travelling and exploring. It probably has something to do with the fact that as a country, we are at least 24 hours (give or take a few airport transit lounges) away from Europe. This unavoidable time investment only naturally grows our motivation to make the most of all opportunities to explore the ‘other side of the world’. So, as most New Zealanders in their twenties do, I headed to London for my OE (overseas experience) in 2001. After surviving two years living in London my parents were, I presume, relieved that I resisted any advances by British locals and had returned home single. I had avoided falling for a local and therefore relocating to the other side of the world. If you’re a parent, you’ll get this. You want your children to go forth and live their lives and be happy but in all reality, you’d really prefer it if they did that ‘just down the road’ and not on the other side of the world. It just makes everything a little bit easier. You can then probably imagine their ‘horror’ when a few years later I met a Dane in my hometown of Wellington, New Zealand. He had been cycling through New Zealand (of course he was) on a 3-month holiday and had chosen the same popular local bar and restaurant as I on that fateful night, to sample the local produce. Sitting at my table, I looked up from my
MARCH 2018 - WWW.THE-INTL.COM
menu and to the right I saw ‘the Dane’. Although, technically it was his pizza I saw first (I was hungry), but let’s not ruin a good story or the Dane’s ego, by going into too much detail. To cut a long story short, this was how I found myself in Denmark with a Dane and Dan-iwi.
THE FIRST YEAR – SURVIVAL Fast forward a few years of life together in New Zealand to 2016 when we arrived in Denmark with our 4-monthold daughter. For me, the first year was simply a year of survival. Although most things are when it comes to babies. But there’s nothing like a 17-hour flight then a 7-hour flight with a 4-month-old to really learn the meaning of survival. Moving countries isn’t easy. Even for the most robust of souls, it comes with many challenges. Every sense in your body becomes challenged. Especially in those first few days and months when everything is just so foreign. You can easily find yourself feeling like you are existing in a dark unknown tunnel trying to make sense of everything. Your surroundings, environment and even a new language. Two plane flights was all that it took for me to go from being a ‘local’ to a ‘foreigner’ and for the Dane to now be the local and have the undisputed advantage. In less than 24 hours the tables had been turned in our relationship. From the seemingly ‘easy’ tasks of supermarket shopping (if anyone else has tried buying milk and margarine on your first day in Denmark, you’ll know what I mean) to learning the language. Every moment became a test of not only my ability to adapt and sur-
TEXT KERI BLOOMFIELD