You must have a number!

Picture anything that you might do as a citizen rather than a tourist. You might want to get a cell phone or open a bank account. Some folks would like to buy a car or get a library card. "I would like to sell you that" says the vendor, but can I have your CPR number? This number is a bit like our SIN number but waaayyyy more intrusive. Mette still has a CPR number but it is inactive. You need to first go to the City Hall in your Kommune (District) to get one. No problem – we’ll be in and out, get to a cell phone store and purchase a phone and broadband access. Wait, we do have a problem: they will mail us the number when it is activated. We could get it by email, but you need a CPR number to get email access to city hall. So now we wait. In a week we should get our CPR number followed by phone and broadband. Oh, by the way, broadband wait time is 2 weeks. Yes, it does not matter if your house is already wired for internet. Two weeks is the wait time!

They really don’t want you to have a car. Yes, all the roads are paved and there are great highways and bridges snaking all over the countryside, but if you dare to get a car, they will come down on you like the old cannons of Helsingor on a smugglers ship sneaking through the Sound. First of all, you will need a CPR number. Then you will pay through the nose, then you will pay taxes, then you will pay a yearly tax, then you can get insurance (you will need a CPR number for that). Gas is $2.00 per liter. Ahh, now I see why there are so many bicycles!

Speaking of taxes, anyone with a screen who could potentially watch gov’t funded Dansk Radio (same as CBC but no commercials) will pay $200 per six months so DR can be paid for. This includes cell phone users because they can potentially watch DR.

But it is not all numbers and taxes. This morning I sit at my computer looking at the ochre walls and red tile roof of the house across from the thick hedge outside the dining room window. The sky is clear and sharp. Today we will take the kids to the school and get our bearings on the educational system. Tom’s first hockey practice is this afternoon and maybe an IKEA visit is in the books to stock up the kitchen. More updates later of course!

View of Fleming's house from our front window