A Happy family in The Denmark

Luke Valentine and his family unit consider they have a superior life in Denmark. They moved from London to Copenhagen two years ago when Luke got a work in a Danish-based IT company.

35 year-old Luke Valentine is from England and he travel to Denmark two years ago with his French-Filipino wife and their two kids. He’s formerly a historian but has worked as a computer game producer for more than a few years: initial in Japan and London, and now in Copenhagen for IO Interactive, the company at the back of world-famous computer games such as Hitman and Mini Ninjas.

Luke does not shilly-shally to confess that both he and his family are very joyful in Denmark. Every morning, he bikes from the family’s home in the elegant Copenhagen neighborhood of Frederiksberg to IO Interactive’s headquarters on the harbor front – an evenly gorgeous part of Copenhagen.

“One of the astonishing things about moving here is that I can bike to work in 20 minutes and still live in a magnificent neighborhood. We would by no means have been able to afford comparable accommodation or location in London,” says Luke.

A Flat Place of Work Structure:

At IO Interactive, Luke works with 200 contemporaries from 24 dissimilar countries. The business language is English so it’s not a difficulty that Luke is not yet fluent in Danish. He spends his day organizing the production of fresh computer games, so he’s frequently in and out of meetings and on the phone.

But in spite of the international environment at work, Luke still believes the work culture at IO Interactive is very Danish. “Weigh against Japan and England, place of work culture is very flat here. Everyone chips in, people discuss lots – and they also have additional days off sick.”

Family Unit First:

When he worked in London and Japan, it was usual to end a Friday by meeting with contemporaries for a beer. In Copenhagen, for the most part of citizens hurry home to their families. But this Danish quality suits Luke, as he’s also eager to get home to his wife and kids, aged three and five.

His wife Isabelle Valentine is half French and half Filipino. She became adult in Canada and has an MBA in International Business – and even though she go after Luke to Copenhagen as his wife, she’s not been waste time.

IO Interactive has employed the company SpouseCare to assist the partners of international workers get a professional and social network, and perhaps a job. And Isabelle has actually benefited from their help.

Setting up an English kindergarten:

Realising a personal dream of hers, Isabelle has started her own company, importing English children’s books. She is also actively involved in a number of networks for female entrepreneurs. At the same time, Isabelle is working hard to find accommodation and funding for an English-language kindergarten based on Montessori principles – something that, according to Isabelle, is lacking in Copenhagen.

Luke and Isabelle’s daughter goes to a usual Danish kindergarten at the same time as their son attends a French-speaking classified school. And getting Danish friends has not been a difficulty. As Luke says, “Children are a first-class way of making new contacts.”