Our Aarhus Adventure

We finally found a place to plant our jumping bean.

Posted by Philip Morley on November 14th, 2016

Daisy is a kind of renewable source of energy and this creates problems.

You come out of the kitchen and there’s a body flying through the air.

Or she’s turned the sofa into a pommel horse.

Thank goodness Sarah found the Spring Centre.

It’s the other side of town to us now, which means a 730am start but it’s an amazing place when you get there.

A huge hall full of kids of all ages. From toddlers to young adults. All using fantastic equipment and having a standard of instruction that makes you wonder why Denmark isn’t an Olympic medal winning nation when it comes to gymnastics.

Bye bye car.

Posted by Philip Morley on November 8th, 2016

Our VW Passat was an excellent car and, apart from notching up the best part of 250,000 miles, it got us to Denmark safely.

Since we moved to Trøjborg it has been sitting on the street annoying the neighbours - parking is at a premium where we live.

So we eventually got around to selling it on eBay.

Some guy drove from Poland to pick it up. It was like saying goodbye to an old pal.

We now have bikes and buses.

Sign of the times.

Posted by Philip Morley on November 8th, 2016

Young love goes digital in the forest near our old apartment.

Daisy get's an X-Ray.

Posted by Philip Morley on November 8th, 2016

It’s a little while ago but following a gymnastics incident Daisy had to visit the hospital round the corner, where she was seen immediately. I just thought this was a great shot of the attention she was getting.

Another move. This time into the clouds.

Posted by Philip Morley on November 8th, 2016

We’ve been busy moving and so I have not been able to write for a while.

We’ve move apartment again. Right across the city, to a street called Ingerslevs Boulevard.

This is an amazing location. A huge, wide street where they have a street market twice a week, flanked by a huge church and a school.

School is a five minute walk away, meaning we get almost an extra hour in bed every day and we can play more of a part as parents.

The gym is a ten minute walk away. Same goes for the railway station.

All in all it is the best spot in town.

Just one problem.

Seventy-seven steps.

This is the fourth floor and the view is great. But what’s not great is getting used to the cardio-vascular training that’s involved in going up and down to the street.

No-one leaves the apartment empty handed.

You either take a bag of rubbish down or a bag of shopping up.

Moving in was made a lot easier with the help of a twenty five year old Romanian.

By complete coincidence, our French neighbours are parents from school, so we know where to go if we need a cup of sucre.

TEDx

Posted by Philip Morley on November 8th, 2016

The video will be available for you to watch soon but TEDx was amazing. Here are some shots from the day.

Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking.

Posted by Philip Morley on September 17th, 2016

I have been shy of mentioning it to all but a few but I am very fortunate to be one of the speakers at the first ever TEDx in Aarhus.

It will be common knowledge very soon as the publicity machine kicks in.

TED is a global phenomenon in case you’re unfamiliar. Talks of up to 18 minutes are filmed and put online.

Their intention is summed up in the line ‘Ideas worth sharing’.

TEDx is an independently organised event but the organisers have to stick to a strict code of conduct.

I was nominated as a speaker, which came as a huge surprise.

The over-arching topic is ‘To the moon and back’.

My sideline obsession is to do with all things infrastructural - the boring bits and pieces that make the world work.

So I chose to talk about the boring things that made the Space Shuttle work.

I submitted a video explaining what my talk would be about.

Then I was interviewed by curators.

Then, while we were on holiday, I got the call.

I’m now in the throes of the preparation for the Big Day, which is October 1st.

Yesterday was first rehearsal. It was in a lecture theatre at Aarhus Business School.

I had to perform in front of the TEDx team, including my personal curator.

They’re an amazing team and I’ve learned such a lot.

I stayed around to see most of my fellow speakers over a five hour period before my slot at 815pm.

I’m pleased to say the curators liked my talk and the feedback was warm and positive.

All the other speakers are either supremely academic or amazingly impressive in some way.

So I feel like the warm-up act.

One of my fellow speakers is a lovely young Michelin star chef who runs a restaurant just around the corner.

He’s Danish so I’m helping him polish his wonderful story about reaching for the stars.

Being part of TEDx is a huge privilege.

If you get it right, it can be a ticket to huge success.

I am pretending not to feel intimidated by the news that all 800 seats have been sold.

As the countdown begins, I am trying to make an effort to look after myself.

My speech lasts about 15 minutes and it needs to be learned off by heart.

No auto-cue. No slides. Just a plastic Lego model of the Shuttle.

Sarah takes to the high seas.

Posted by Philip Morley on September 17th, 2016

Sarah is really embracing the outdoor life, as the Danish summer slowly dies out.

There have been some stunning days here lately.

We are far too used to waking up with sunshine streaming through the blinds and going to bed with orange skies.

We’ve even had a couple of beach afternoons, down the hill at Dan Permanente, which will soon close its doors to non-nudists as it goes into the winter bathing club season.

Together with some mums from school, Sarah decided to give paddle boarding a try.

It turned out to be almost three hours paddling in our beautiful bay.

The water only becomes choppy when the water jet ferry leaves the main harbour down the coast, so conditions are usually idea.

They all loved it - English, Danish and Norwegians getting a great workout and learning a new skill.

Apparently, lesson two is booked.

Our year of living Danishly.

Posted by Philip Morley on August 28th, 2016

Yesterday, we all went to the Mayor’s expat reception, which was unexpectedly great. Not so much an event for newcomers but an opportunity for all the city’s expats to get together.

In an enclosed courtyard adjacent to the City Hall two or three hundred people from all over the world were treated to free hotdogs and Carlsberg on what was the hottest day of the year - 27 degrees.

Half way through the two hour slot, Mayor Jacob arrived to give a welcoming speech. He also posed for photographs with children.

It was one of those occasions when it felt completely okay to walk up to a stranger and say hello. We met a couple of parents from school and even a woman Daisy and I had seen on the bus many times.

Sarah and I got talking to an Irish couple with a new baby. After a few minutes it transpired that the mum knew of Sarah because she runs a child minding website we’d used.

It was all part of a lovely day in town, where the annual festival has kicked off. The whole of the city centre is covered in pop-up tents. Music blares out into the small hours. A lot of Tuborg is being consumed.

Today is less sunny after the storms last night, which is a shame because it’s a year since we arrived in Aarhus.

In some ways it seems like the twinkling of an eye but, on the other hand, we feel like we’ve done so much.

I think it’s fair to say that we know the city pretty well. We’re making friends, which is not that straightforward to do. The business is doing fine. We love where we live. And we love living in Aarhus, particularly at the moment when the weather is so pleasant.

Sarah and I have taken to going for a bike ride through the forest each morning after Daisy has gone to school. This takes us along the sea front, giving us views across the beautiful bay.

I think it’s fair to say we chose a brilliant place to live and it’s been a great year of adventure for us, which we look back on fondly.

More Lego...

Posted by Philip Morley on August 22nd, 2016

This weekend, Daisy went to Lego HQ in Billund to take part in some top secret filming for an internal video.

She was chosen with some of her fellow students from the international school.

What she was being filmed doing is all on the hush-hush. Not even Dad was allowed to know.

But she was rewarded with even more bricks.