guest user
11/1/2001 13:25 EST
" Hi Jack, You actually have a number of topics here - but being a mother of 2 (a 9 yr. old and a 6 yr. old) who has been living in Copenhagen the last 7 years, I think I can ""assist"" you on most of them. Let''s take the grade school issue first: Once you and your children receive a CPR number, the equivalent to a Social Security number, you can pretty much enroll your children in any school. The forms are, however, in Danish so you will need some help filling these out. The first 3 years of public school - that is from kindergarten to 2nd grade - is focused on social interaction and learning by playing. A school day is only 4-5 hours long with the bulk of that focused on creative play. There are no report cards, no homework and no stress on the kids. Scholastic learning is very gradual and can seem slow in comparison to US standards. 3rd grade is when schooling really begins, while 2nd grade is something of a prepatory period for this cross-over. English is first taught in public schools in the 4th grade. There is offered a ""tutor"" for children with Danish as a second-language. In some cases, a school may have ""bridge"" classes. I have no experience with these options, but I do know that a majority of these students are of middle-eastern descent. This may or may not have a bearing on things. Nevertheless, language learning is usually a relatively quick process for young children. My son, who is now 9, began learning Danish at day-care. He was able to converse in Danish within 3 months of starting day-care. A classmate of his who came to Denmark from Estonia at kindergarten-age, was able to speak the language by the end of the school year without going to a special class or tutor (he was quite shy). All public schools have a after-school institution connected to them called fritidshjem. Some schools have an on-campus after-school program (called SFO). This is great if you work later than 12-1pm, which is more the norm than the exception. If the school uses a ""fritidshjem"" program, then kids from kindergarten to 2nd grade are escorted from school to another institution, where they really have the chance to play and be creative. No matter which after-school program you end up with, it is worth it because it is here that the kids really make friends. There are a number of private, non-international schools in the Copenhagen area, which may offer you a better teacher-student ratio, different curriculum and perhaps a higher percentage of foreign students. This could also be an option for you. Issue #2 - transportation: Do not worry about a car in central Copenhagen. It is faster and more convenient to use a bike. The bike path system here is fabulous, which makes biking also fairly safe. If you commute daily with a laptop and other gear it might pay to use the train and bus. Coverage by the public transportation system is good, but expect regular delays. You can bring your bike with you on the train for a nominal fee - outside of rush hour. Some companies/individuals tend to refer to any city or town somewhat in the general vicinity of Copenhagen as ""Copenhagen"" when speaking to foreigners. Sometimes the entire east coast of Zealand (the island on which Copenhagen is located), is referred to a ""Copenhagen"" for convenience sake. Therefore, let me say now that 15-20km away from downtown is the minimum distance in which rural areas start popping up and public transportation services start dwindling. Focusing again on central Copenhagen, I would say that the shopping possibilities are nearly endless and are usually well-placed. Grocery shopping can be a bit tiresome at times - refrigerators are, as a rule, small. This means no huge shopping tours, rather daily trips to the local market. As Christine said, you just need to be creative when transporting your goods. Cultural institutions, entertaiment, and nature spots can often easily be accessed with public transportation. If nothing else, taxis are readily attainable (less so on Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights). Issue #3 - Gyms: There is a cornucopia of gyms here in Copenhagen. Some are expensive, others really cheap. All have basically the same equipment, many of them with various fitness and aerobic classes. Most have business hours from 6:30am to 11pm (roughly). There is one located near Copenhagen City Hall, which I can''t remember the name of, that is open 24 hours a day. The most popular chain of fitness centers is ""Form and Fitness"", which has several locations in the greater Copenhagen area. There is one, called ""fitness.dk"", that offers babysitting. Fitness.dk was also where Mike Tyson trained when he was here recently to fight against a local boxer. Whew, I think I''ve hit all the points you brought up. I hope that it helps somehow. For more information, you can possibly contact the International Church of Copenhagen (in addition to AWC and Link as suggested by Christine). The church produces a handbook for newcomers to the Copenhagen area with a lot of practical information. Plus, it seems to be the meeting place for a number of expats (though I have never been there). If interested, the church office address is Gjoerlingsvej 10, 2900 Hellerup, Denmark. The telephone number is +45 31 62 47 85. You are also welcome to write to me at melanielaursen@hotmail.com if you have any other questions before or after your arrival to Denmark. If nothing else, I hope you and your daughter enjoy yourselves when you''re here. Sincerely, Melanie "
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