3.18.2012



this song is just so Marc and my relationship right now. I would say "if we were getting married again..." but I think this is a bit more mature then we were then. From "more than words" to "I will carry you" - ok I feel a bit cheesy now...

3.15.2012

We have been living in our new house for almost two weeks. E is adjusting, but slowly. He is back to hating the baby toilet, even though he was actually peeing in it at the apartment. Today is the first day we have had night's sleep that could be considered typical in comparison to nights at the apartment. And, for the last few days E hasn't had any crazy out of control tantrums...sort of. I think it was just tiredness that had him screaming about things, and screaming more when I told him I didn't understand why he was upset.

What has really struck me lately is how privileged Marc and I are. I didn't know at the time that I picked majoring in Engineering, but it is one of the easiest careers to immigrate with. All you really need is a job in whatever country and you are welcome to stay for as long as you can stay employed.  You can't say that if your training is in journalism or teaching or biology etc. So as much as I dislike working as an engineer, it is nice to have the degree... especially when I don't actually have to be working. I don't know, but since moving, I really don't want a "real" job... anyway...

But our privilege really extends beyond the luck of picking a degree that opens the entire world to us. At the apartment, a couple from India live below us. They have a daughter who is maybe 6 or 8 months younger than Euan. I don't know them very well. But I do know that they live in their apartment with two other adults and they can only be in Denmark for two years. I was telling them about how we were moving and, the similarities and differences between our situations really jarred me. They could not do what Marc and I are doing. I don't know if they have family members helping them, like we do. If Marc and I were on our own we wouldn't be where we are. So we are blessed by that too.

Is it just an economic gap? the fact that our families have had three or four generations of prosperity to build a foundation on, where as their ancestors have not had as much time? I find it very striking that the place I was born, the place my parents were born and their parents etc., makes such a difference for my life today. I don't think I have had control over the majority of the variables that brought me here, to this life. Denmark does things differently than other countries, and I like it better. If it wasn't for a few happenstance decisions and a whole lot of situations that were set up looong before I was an idea, I would be in a place where I hated the system around me. I would feel depressed and helpless. Maybe I would be able to escape for a year or two, but, not forever. I can't see a difference between my situation, the system of variables that set me up to be where I am, and anyone else. It feels as ridiculous as racism to judge people who are not as well off as others; to say that they made choices that got them there. The majority of the choices that were made and got me where I am were not my choices, same for the neighbors below me, so how could it be different for anyone else. I just keep coming back to being thankful that I can hold the US at an arms length these days.
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