Room-ing in Copenhagen

Exactly a week ago, I moved into this new room which I hope to call home for many many years to come. Or until someone asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. *cough *hint *wink

Joke aside, I have to expose how expensive this place is for me that the following meme is so true that it hurts to laugh.

Honestly.

It IS that expensive to live in Copenhagen.

I arrived in Copenhagen in late 2014 as a scholarship-recipient student. At that time, I managed to find a place in the outskirt of Copenhagen, or what they called, Greater Copenhagen. It was a nice and small-furnished room in Hellerup which was a good neighborhood to start a stay in Denmark. There, I paid 3500 danish kroner (dkk) each month. I share a bathroom and kitchen with a family of four and one other tenant-student. It was not an extremely big apartment, so taking shower should be in the afternoon and cooking should be before 18.00. I could use the laundry on sundays only. Also, I was not allowed to have an overnight guest. It does not sound really cool but it was perfect for me, since other fellow students had worst place or even had to stay in airbnb for some time. I lived there for 1 year because the landlady, Lotte, was super super nice. She would make me a cup of tea when she knew I was on my exam week. She, being danish, helped with lots of danish practicalities, how ways to go around, groceries, health care, etc. So, for new student, living a danish family in the beginning of your study is very recommended.

Then, I moved to Spain for my exchange semester where I had to let the room go. I came back to Denmark to write my thesis and moved into a different room with an old danish landlady, Ane. I lived with her for 3.5 years. She was an exceptional woman. I am so grateful to be able to live with her. We lived in Indre By (Inner City area) of Copenhagen where it borders with the eastern part of Copenhagen, Østerbro. The famous Copenhagen four lakes is just across the street and  The State’s Museum (Statens Museum af Kunst, SMK) is at the end of the street. It was in a perfect location. I got 2 big rooms, all furnished. I had my own entrance and toilet. I only needed to share the shower/bathtub and kitchen with her (only her), oh well, also with a cat, Muddi. I could wash my laundry for free, anytime it’s available. For all of that, I needed to pay 3500 dkk per month. Sadly, Ane decided to move to a smaller and more modern apartment where she could use lift. We lived on 3rd floor (4th floor in other country). And we needed to use the staircase. She had mentioned several times that her knees were hurting when she went down with heavy loads, such as cat’s basket, luggage, etc. And after 3.5 years of living there, we had to say goodbye to this wonderful place.

I was extremely shocked and stressed on looking for a new place to stay after living with Ane. Indre By and Østerbro by default was my ground zero search as I call it my hood. But everything there literally costs people a fortune. It’s insane how the prices are. So, I was broadening my search to the south, west, north west and in between. I ended up staying in Østerbro, just 1km away from where I lived with Ane, which I thought would be a perfect place to live. How wrong I was. My room is not so big but the entire apartment was big, spacious, well furnished and decorated. But Gabriella, the witch, would not allow me to go the kitchen after 20.00 for her privacy. The kitchen is located across her bedroom. The door to the kitchen was almost always closed with a piece of paper sticked on the door, in danish, which sadly I could understand, NO ENTRANCE after 20.00 or in the morning when the door is still closed. *eyelids closed* After some talks, she gave me a paper to write a schedule, of what time I would use the kitchen. And to top that out, when I asked her to “borrow” her dining room for my birthday lunch/dinner, she said No. It sounded so much better with a word “No”. She did not say no. She said that I could invite as many guests I want, as long as I could fit them IN my bedroom. Or I could borrow a small table from my NEIGHBOR. She is a horrible landlady. I paid 4500 dkk there. More than what I paid to Ane.  I decided to get the hell out from that place and moved into this new place, just a week ago.

This new place costs me 6000 dkk per month with 3 months deposit. I hope I could afford it. I have to. So far, I could sleep well. I have my own bathroom and a small tea kitchen. There is a nice balcony for summertime (if it ever arrives in Denmark). I will need to use the common laundry where I will need to pay. Anette, my new landlady, seems nice. I hope she will be nice to me. I pray that she is a nice person. I really hope to call this place a home for many many years to come. Or until someone asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. *grin