On the train to Copenhagen returning home from a week with my wife’s parents in Jylland, we sat facing backwards. Sometimes, it helps to face in the wrong direction. It becomes easier to see where you’ve been rather than glimpsing where you’ll be in a moment’s time.
I started thinking about 2018. A lot has happened since we celebrated New Years in Denmark at C&J’s home a year ago. We had no idea that we’d make this move this year. Oh sure, we contemplated making the move because neither of us is getting any younger. We talked about it but there were huge impediments. Denmark is a lovely place to be despite the cost of living here.
In our terms, that meant at least one of us needed to have a job to even consider moving here. Where and when was that likely to happen? So we put the thought out of our heads and on the wish shelf with the beach house, my sailboat, and less stress for both of us.
I knew my stress level was set to rise significantly in January. The faculty’s union contract at our college was due to expire at the end of March. As President of the Faculty Union, by last December I had selected my negotiating team and we had begun meeting to discuss strategy. The college had just been bought by a new group of owners about whom we knew little and the little we knew was all bad news.
January came and went without an offer to start negotiations. In February things got started. On the union front we met for the first time with management who stated that they expected the faculty to accept a 40% cut in wages and an increase in hours worked. We heard the first rumors that a job offer in Denmark might be forthcoming for my wife.
Negotiations dragged on. The faculty’s contract and Winter quarter expired. We agreed to work under the old contract and continue talking with management. My wife talked with members of the board of directors about the position. It was going to be another rescue job. She and I discussed the challenges and the fit. In the end, the difficulty of commuting between Philadelphia and New York, made the decision for us. Since the organization received public money, she would have to formally apply when the position was posted.
I’ve written about how we got here before so I won’t repeat that story here. Negotiations dragged on and on until management withdraw nearly all of its demands in mid-June and we reached a deal. The faculty ratified the contract unanimously. Spring quarter ended and I had three much needed weeks off before the start of Summer quarter in July to look forward to.
Then two weeks later as I was making some headway in my pressing need to clean out the house before September, management announced they planned to close the college at the end of December. I won’t bore you dear readers with all the insanity that transpired after that announcement. The only thing worth saying is that the foundation that bought the college is being investigated by 20 state attorney generals and the US Department of Education for fraud.
Last week, the college closed its doors for good after 40+ years of educating generations of artists, designers, filmmakers, animators, and chefs. As I look back and forward, I realize that I lost 80 colleagues. I’ve also lost some people in my life who can’t understand how to cope with me being a continent apart.
The ones I thought would have the most trouble with the distance have been very accepting. So you never know. Looking forward I am grateful for the friends I have here, the people I have met and the new life I am building in a country that can’t quite figure out how to spell words they way they are pronounced. So Cheers and Happy New Year or as the Danes say Skål og Godt Nytår! [pronounced: Scoal o god newdoor]
