Today is Labor Day in the USA. Labor Day was a big part of the reasoning I chose this country as my new home. I arrived in New York in May of 1975, 28 years old and went straight to California’s warmth and sunshine; I have never regretted this decision and not ever felt tempted to return to live in Denmark or anywhere else. You may ask: How did Labor Day become one of the reasons you moved here? Let me explain.
I was 9 or 10 years old when I got hold of some American magazines. There were pictures of big “American” cars, beautiful homes, large layer-cakes with lots of frosting and other goodies that we didn’t have in Denmark at the time. To me it soon became The land of milk and honey (big cakes and automobiles). My thoughts about America got stronger over the next many years.
My newly started career in Denmark involved a lot of traveling in Europe. I have always enjoyed traveling in Europe; the variety of countries, the people and the languages are so excitingly different on so many levels. Through all that I always felt a common European spirit; back then I think I was the only one who felt that. The thought of not living in Denmark started brewing stronger. Don’t get me wrong, Denmark is a wonderful country and I really like my fellow Danes (okay, most of them), but I was never too wild about the weather. I wanted a lot of sun and the opportunity to work on my skin-cancer on a daily basis…
I was doing well and was comfortable, but the plans for my future evolved every day. Several countries were considered, most of them in the sun; Italy, Germany, South of France and as the oddball, England (it’s a soccer-thing). But then I started to look much further west and into my childhood dreams. I considered the options and made my decision. The next day I submitted my emigration application to the country named Disneyland. Guess what, surprisingly my request was denied; the explanation was that they already had two rodents living there. Beaten by Mickey and Minnie; how cruel is that?
With this slight set-back I then looked at the USA as a possibility. It was when I found some American calendars that I noticed one day each year was marked Labor Day. The lights came on and I didn’t understand how I could have missed it before. So the people of this country only worked one day a year? And they even had it marked on their calendars (obviously so nobody would show up late, I guessed.) These were definitely my kind of people – I immediately started to pack and off to America I went. It was a few years later that I figured out the truth, but at that time I had a great tan and was often asked if I was a true Californian. (I just answered yeah man; otherwise my cute Danish accent would have marked me a fake).
The accent bit is actually funny. Today I don’t give a hooters if anybody notices – really, but in the beginning it embarrassed the heck out of me when somebody asked where I was from. I’d stutter Denmark and they would then go on a tirade about how they knew all about Denmark through an uncle's mother's daughter's dog's cousin who had seen a picture of the Queen of Denmark in a magazine. After listening to that a million times I came up with a brilliant idea. When somebody asked me: where are you from with that heavy accent, foreigner? I would calmly smile and say Connecticut and nobody has responded to that one other than maybe huh? and perhaps where is that? And my all-time favorite bless you – go figure.
The accent bit is actually funny. Today I don’t give a hooters if anybody notices – really, but in the beginning it embarrassed the heck out of me when somebody asked where I was from. I’d stutter Denmark and they would then go on a tirade about how they knew all about Denmark through an uncle's mother's daughter's dog's cousin who had seen a picture of the Queen of Denmark in a magazine. After listening to that a million times I came up with a brilliant idea. When somebody asked me: where are you from with that heavy accent, foreigner? I would calmly smile and say Connecticut and nobody has responded to that one other than maybe huh? and perhaps where is that? And my all-time favorite bless you – go figure.
I have never regretted this move. The fact that I visit Denmark (and Sweden) often makes it easier, though it has never been hard to live here. What I miss the most is my family, especially on my wife’s side (Sweden). To be able to just pop by and have a cup of coffee and a chat; I do miss that. Though I talk with my Mother 4-5 times every week, I miss our hugs and the face-to-face. But I have a small family here, wife and kids, and I think we have a tighter than normal relationship due to the lack of being geographically closer with the rest. But then we have some great friends here and that makes up for a lot. Do you enjoy your family as much as you should? Please do; it’s priceless, but for the most a privilege we take for granted.
Of course it took time to adjust. I promised myself that if I didn’t speak and write English close to fluently within 2 years after my arrival, I would return to Denmark. I think I manage okay, thank you. Also within 2 years of arrival, if I couldn’t express myself at times using humor, I would head back to Denmark (Okay, so I’m still working on it; please be patient and give it a chance – it could happen and it's only been 36-plus years).
The land of milk and honey, layer-cakes and automobiles? Yeah, considering nobody’s perfect, this land is my home. And I can thank Labor Day, Mickey and Minnie for that, no matter how wrong my assumptions were at the time – talking about nobody’s perfect!
HAPPY LABOR DAY – it's nice with a day off, huh?
See you next week.
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