Living in Denmark for three years, Spanish teacher Michelle Jurcenko learned a lot about a world outside of her normal routine.

When her husband’s job was moved to Denmark, the whole family moved along with him. As Jurcenko was living in Denmark, she noticed how different life was from in the United States.

“It’s a lot safer [in Denmark], there are no worries about kids and staying safe on the streets during the day and at night,” Jurcenko said.

Knowing she would be there for awhile, Jurcenko took on the task of looking for a job that wasn’t full time, so she could still able to teach. During her years in Denmark, she was a long term substitute for kindergarten and 4th grade and also taught at a Kid’s International School.

“Teaching in Denmark made me appreciate the diversity of the different cultures and how kids learn differently, and how I can help them learn,” Jurcenko said.

As a first time resident of Denmark, Jurcenko had a lot to adjust to. She had difficulties finding her way around the grocery stores and learning all the new food Denmark had to offer. Jurcenko says she learned to be a better chef from all the different foods she was able to cook.

Denmark lives as a healthier country, something Jurcenko enjoyed. They don’t carry a lot of boxed food or processed food.

“Traveling around Europe was one of my favorite things to do when we lived in Denmark, whenever it would snow you’d never see the plows on the streets first, you’d always see them plowing the bike paths which seemed odd to me at the time, but people used bikes to go everywhere, and the weirdest thing we’ve ever seen on a bike is a mini fridge on the back,” Jurcenko said.

Sundays were considered “family day” in Denmark and Jurcenko took full advantage of that and spent as much time with her family as possible.

“Denmark is an extremely family oriented country, family came first and that’s something I loved, I wanted to take advantage of it and spend time with my family as much as possible, Stores were shut down on Sundays for family time and Sundays were meant for family,” Jurcenko said.

While Jurcenko was spending time with her immediate family, being away from extended family was hard on her, Jurcenko goes along to say.

“We visited family twice a year when we lived there, we came back during the summer on the kids break and during the winter,”  Jurcenko said.

Although Jurcenko and her family had to leave Denmark, they still like to keep in close contact with the friends they made while living there.