cove61

My husband has been contacted by a company and they are asking him to move to Copenhagen. This would be a huge move for us as my kids have never lived anywhere else than the home we currently live in. They are 14, and 13.

we dont have much details yet but wondered what other think, what sort of wages should he be looking as as a min to have a good life there. He is currently on a really good wage here. what is the cost of housing (so far it seems expensive but i have no real idea)

How easy/hard is it to get schooling for two teens

It very early days we have very little details about what the company will and wont pay for but i thought we would ask anyway so see what others think of life there, as it may be harder to get my kids to agree to go.

any tips advice welcome

Yorkie_in_SD

We (myself, wife and 4- and 1.5-yr olds) just moved here in July (from SoCal, although I'm English, my wife German). The city is beautiful, quite compact and easily navigatable by public transport on the Metro, S-Tog train network and buses, although most get around by bike. People are also in general very friendly. We're living in Frederiksberg to the west of the city centre. Rents around the city for a 2-3-bedroom apartment are approx. 10,000-15,000 dkk/month with utilities on top. Amost everything is exceedingly expensive to us, cars especially so, carrying 180% tax. Although I don't know the situation for schooling of older kids, our children obtained daycare places within 10 weeks after arriving. Danish classes are also provided by the local Kommune although as almost everyone speaks English (and well!), you might find it difficult to find someone to practice your Danish with.

Paracletus

Don't forget the income tax levels either..

http://www.taxindenmark.com/article.31.html

Denmark is quite cruel on tax levels, even worse than Norway where I've recently moved. 25% vat on eating out, etc..

Maybe some useful info here..: http://www.ditdanmark.com/article.82.html

Tori-DK

Hi guys,

I will be moving to the Copenhagen area at Easter myself to join my Danish partner. I am bringing 2 kids, 11 & 13, with me.

I have just discovered this site, upto now I have been trawling the expat site in DK itself. That site has an international membership and as such there are a lot of Americans, some Indians and Africans etc. on it and I think their experience is slightly different from ours...we have free movement within europe for a start.

I can't comment on what life is going to be like there to start with as I havn't arrived myself, but one main issue that keeps coming up is the language barrier. Yes the Danes speak good english and are prepared to speak it to you but I get the feeling that they respect you more and are more likely to make friends if you learn Danish.

You will need to make yourself a support group, there is a good ex-pat group going like I said but it depends where in Denmark you will be based. I have a biased start as, like I said, my partner is Danish and his family are lovely so I have my own interpreter and language trainers outside of the course I will attend when I arrive. I have also got a copy of Rosetta Stone. I am getting quite good at pronouncing flyvemaskine!

The children are going to a Danish school as opposed to an international one as I see this move as permanent for us, but there are international schools in Copenhagen and other large cities/towns if its only a short contract your husband is taking.

I hope all the British ex-pats stay in touch on this site and I hope for a bright future for us all.