Job hunting

Finding a good job is never easy but we are always looking for.
I updated my resume and I began my job hunting as soon as we had a place to stay.
I didn’t want to work as a waitress or a barmaid but I was willing to get a job no matter what.
I sent many applications by e-mail to look for a job in marketing, advertising, administrative but unfortunately as I don’t speak Danish I received many rejections.
Bruno printed my waitress resume and I went to restaurants bars and pubs because some of the people told me that for this I do not need to speak Danish.
I walked so much that I would get home with my feet swallowed.

The first days I didn’t had any positive replies and I must confess I was a little bid disappointed since I never had any problems getting a job no matter where.
Bruno was very supportive, always encouraging me, making me feel better we lifted each other up, we make a good team.
Bruno had 3 interviews for the same job with several managers from Scandinavia Filter queen and began working on the 15th of March.
I am very proud of my husband, he is always positive no matter what and this is one of the things I love about him.

He got the job and he had a work contract in less than 2 weeks this is quite an achievement. J

As soon as he had the work contract we applied for the residence permit.

This was our first step to integrate ourselves in Denmark.
I was surprised to see how well organized they were, it was completely different of Portugal.

The system is better because they do not have so many immigrants and they are better organized, it all worked out so smooth I couldn’t believe it.

We received a residence permit and a work permit for 5 years because the contract Bruno had was unlimited.

After that the second step was the social security number (CPR) without it we couldn’t do much.

I wanted to go to school to learn Danish and the course was free for the immigrants with CPR so I had to wait for it.

We applied for the CPR number witch was also a very fast process we received it in 10 days. It doesn’t seem much but for me it was an eternity.

I received an e-mail from one of the restaurants that I sent my resume telling me that they had an opening for a part time job.

I was interested of course everything is better than no job.

A place to stay

After a couple of days with the couch surfer we were lucky enough to find a place to stay.
We had 2 options a contact that my sister’s boyfriend gave us and a Danish guy that we met at the UI (a place where you can find the information you need when you are new in town).
The first guy was from Egypt, had a small room to rent in a 2 room apartment, the kitchen was very dirty but he seemed a nice person.
The Danish guy was very nice to us, Bruno heard the conversation he was having with the UI lady, he wanted to put an add for renting out 2 rooms.
Don that’s his name was kind enough to postpone putting any announce until we were able to see the house.
The next day was the last day we spent in the couch surfer’s house. We met Don at 18.00h and surprise... the first clean kitchen and house we saw so far.
We decided to rent the two rooms because the place was nice the price also and he only asked us a month deposit witch was great because we didn’t have a lot of money:).
We were lucky, we found a nice place to stay in the heart of the city. We went to bed that evening (we stayed in the same evening we saw the apartment) relived we had a place to stay, to settle down and start our new life in Copenhagen.
Now there was something missing: jobs for the two of us...

The beginning of our great adventure!!!

After we got married we decided to leave Portugal, Bruno did the research and Denmark was the chosen country to begin our new life.

The tragedy was when I gave the news to my parents. They came to Portugal to be with me and also to improve their lives and now I was leaving to a distant country...

It took my mum quite a while to get used to the idea but she did. We are very close so it was a big change for me but it wasn’t the first time and now I wasn’t alone anymore.

We said our goodbyes and left for Denmark. Many people told us that it would be difficult because in Denmark things are very different and that Copenhagen was one of the most expensive towns, that it would be difficult to find jobs…..that it was a crazy idea. I guess we are both a little bit crazy :): a Romanian marries a Portuguese and goes to live in Denmark.

I slept a lot because the highway is not very interesting to see for me.

The best part was that I got to see my sister after almost 3 years. She lives in Holland, Rotterdam.

It was very, very, very nice to see my sister, talk to her, try to recuperate a part of the time we have been separated.

She said I have to see your weeding ring again because I still can’t believe you got married, that we will never came back home to leave together…by the way you said you will never get married!

Well the time wasn’t enough I guess it will never be but it was the best part of the trip for me.

It was all so different from Portugal and Romania, the houses are different, and the people are taller blonder…

When we arrived in Denmark it was already dark so we didn’t see much.

The couch surfer was kind enough to receive us into her house but it was the rudest person I ever met but we had a place to spend a couple of days until we could find an apartment for us…

How I met Bruno

It was a day like any other day that I met the man that changed my life.
I was working in a decorating firm and at the same time in a restaurant called Mise en Scene.
One day we had problems with the computer and my boss said call the computer guy, his name is Bruno and his phone number is..., he will fix the problem.
So my colleague called him and asked him to came and fix our computers. He arrived early in the morning with a big smile and a smart ass attitude like he knew it all.
Well, what he didn’t know was that since he came in until he left he flirted with me: funny jokes, hidden looks, his eyes told me everything :).
As he was talking with me he says you know what would you like to have lunch with me?
At that time I thought: no I do not want anything to do with a work colleague and I told him no, it wasn’t a good idea. Then he had that sad pappy look that made me later change my mind.
We had lunch in a very nice restaurant. He made the typical questions: how long have you been in Portugal? How do you say thank you in Romanian, etc. The same questions everybody asks. I think I scared him because I said I will not teach him how to say anything in Romanian because he will not remember.
It was a regular date but I knew that I would see him again.
The next day i was still sleeping when I received a sms saying good morning in Romanian in the beginning I thought that it was my sister but it was the Portuguese guy I had lunch with the day before, it was a nice way to begin the day.

It all happened very fast. I never wanted to get married, and I use to say to my dad I will never get married, will never fall in love I am not interested.

Had to take back those words, because little by little, day by day, I felled more and more in love with him until one day I was certain that he was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life, to be the father of my children, to be by my side.

He makes me laugh, he is always there when I need someone to talk to, he is my best friend, my lover, my everything…

I never had someone like him in my life and I am greatfull that we found eachother.