11 days to go
Got my passport back today from the Royal Danish Consulate General in New York with a little note saying that my residence visa is still pending approval. Imagine if it was rejected! LOL
This morning Dave and I met with a CPA who specializes in international returns. Did you know that if you’re a US national, you are required to file a tax return in the USA, in addition to the one in your country of residence? I didn’t know that until we started this process of relocation. This sucks, of course. Who wants to file two tax returns? One is bad enough. Hopefully, we won’t owe anything in the US, but the rules for avoidance of double taxation are a bit convoluted (at least to me). Something involving 330 days of residence and limits on how much you make and what you have in the bank, and how you’re making your money etc. etc. (I think it’s pretty obvious I’m not an accountant)
We then tried to go to the bank and do some banking. We’re having a fence put in around our new place in Lyngby and we need to pay for it. So we ended up driving around all over the Eastside – like around some earthbound purgatory – looking for the right branch of our Credit Union (one that could not only make a wire transfer for us, but also take a bag of coins that I collected over the years).
BTW – I almost ran out of gas, but we still didn’t complete the transfer because once we found the right branch, we were told we needed a street address of the recipient (all we had is the bank info). So, back to the bank tomorrow!
Had dinner with my older daughter, Ellena. She’s bravely staying behind, because she’s an adult and doesn’t qualify for a Danish visa based on Dave’s employment. She is, however, working on gaining a Polish citizenship. This will grant her an EU status and give her access to all the amazing graduate schools in Europe.
It really sucks to leave her behind. Even temporarily. We’re planning frequent visits (both her visiting us and me visiting Seattle) in the coming months!
10 days to go
Trump pulled out of the Paris Accord today. I’ve been listening to the pro and con arguments and decided that fuck me if I’m not getting out of this country fast enough. I mean, our planet is screwed either way. But living in a carbon neutral city (by 2025) should soften the blow.
What else?
Dave went to the bank without me.
I finally finished the EIN application and made a trip to Staples to scan all the documents for the moving company. There was an Ulta nearby, so I went in and bought two big bottles of my new favorite shampoo. Oh god, what else can I not live without?
Had a nice dinner in our temporary home, at our friends Lisa and Micah’s house. It’s usually this wonderful chaos around here, with four dogs, four kids (or more, because other kids also come to visit) and four (and sometimes more) opinionated adults. It will be so weird going to Denmark, where we don’t know anyone…
Post-Amerikan 