vivi torontali

Not caught up? Read Episodes 1-9 here.

I can’t believe I made it to double digits! Welcome to Episode 10, looks like I’ve been in Denmark for a while now. So much has happened but so little at the same time. If you’ve been following along thus far, thank you. Now you get to hear the epic saga of my family hunting for beans. 

My mom has been wanting to make palóc leves, a Hungarian soup that requires vajbab, or wax beans. For some reason though, we can’t find these beans anywhere, and our only hope was to find it in a Euro deli or a Polish market. There are a few in Copenhagen, so we decided to take Nudli on a nice walk around the city while we tracked down these beans. That morning the weather was beautiful, but the moment we stepped off the train, we got a sudden downpour that never let up. What was supposed to be a 15 minute walk turned into an hour. We took shelter under any roof we could find, advancing a few steps whenever it looked like the rain was easing a bit. My dad and I were wearing windbreakers that we thought were waterproof– they were not. We got soaked to the bone, squishing water out of our shoes with every step we took. Nudli hates the rain so my mom was carrying him the whole time. He had the best jacket out of all of us and didn’t have to do any of the work. Everyone around us was having their own experience in the rain as well– a group of men with no jackets took shelter under the same roof as us, getting off their bikes and sipping on their beers while they waited. Dogs were being toweled off and workers were braving the storm on their bikes, barely able to see through the rain and wind. 

We eventually took shelter in the Polish market and thanked our lucky stars that we found the beans and our trip wasn’t in vain. We had to muster the bravery to walk another five minutes to the metro station before we could hope to get any drier. We looked like the most miserable people on the train, dripping water on the seats and the floor. We were welcomed home by a giant puddle that our dryer leaked onto the bathroom floor. Once we got that mess sorted out, we were able to take showers and get into sweatpants– everything we were looking forward to doing after the journey we endured. We even made our palóc leves, the best 4pm dinner we ever had.

In the midst of all our adventuring, we’ve also been making strides toward bettering our everyday lives. I mentioned in a previous blog post that my mom got a job interview at Uniqlo. The interview went well, it seemed that she was the most qualified candidate in the room. However, we went in to ask about the managers’ decision, and they informed us that she didn’t get the job. She believes there is some age discrimination at play since she was the oldest interviewee there and every worker we saw in the store was in their 20s. She also believes the universe doesn’t want her to stand on her broken foot for 10 hours a day working at a demanding pace, then have to do two hours of Danish classes immediately afterward. It’s ultimately Uniqlo’s loss, they’d only be so lucky to have my mother working at their store.

While we were ranting angrily about why they didn’t take her, my dad was at a job interview of his own. He found a faceless LinkedIn profile for an ornamental plastering company. He messaged them and they called back the next day asking him to come in for an interview. They offered him the job on the spot. He has 10 years of experience in this industry, having done this kind of work in his 20s. For him this is like riding a bike. Apparently there are only five ornamental plastering companies in all of Denmark. It’s a super easy commute to the studio, it’s a lot less physically demanding than his previous plastering work, and he’ll even have time to make it to Danish classes after the workday is done. For the rest of us this means we don’t have to worry too much about finances and my sister will be able to move in with us as soon as she sells her car and quits her job.

As for me, I still have no updates on the job front. I’m hoping for something soon, but until then the search continues. Most of my day is spent working on my table runner– it’s advancing quite quickly. If I remain unemployed, there’s a chance it’ll be done by Christmas. There’s not much else for me to do anyway, since I have no friends in the city and I find myself single once again. Luckily this time I wasn’t left heartbroken. I’ve been through so much worse, so I’m glad I’m only a little sad instead of very sad. We were generally incompatible, made worse by our situational incompatibility. Sometimes it doesn’t take long to find that the one you’re with is not the one you’re looking for. That being said, I thank him for everything he’s done for me this past month. 

There’s so much to celebrate: my dad’s new job, our soup, my progress in my creative pursuits, and the fact that my sister’s business is taking off and she can soon join us here. There are also things that keep us humbled and remind us that though we aren’t in hell anymore, our daily lives will never be perfect. This blog allows me to show off our triumphs and complain about our problems, but I know full well that some of my readers and a lot of other people have it so much worse than we do. Don’t take me too seriously, I’m just a girl. Also, if any of you know an eligible bachelor in the Copenhagen area who is clean, likes maps, plays music and will go on hikes with me, let me know. If not, just keep reading this blog and maybe I’ll have some exciting news one day.