It's official!

Hello all,

I found out today that I have officially been accepted to Aarhus! Should be a few more weeks until I find out where I'm living.

Did you know that health care in Denmark is free? Technically I'll be a Danish resident for the time I spend there, and because I'm an exchange student, I'm covered under the Danish Health Security Act. That means that all health care is free. All I have to do is pick the general practitioner that I want to see when I get my Danish CPR number (similar to a social security number), and then I'm good to go. The insurance also covers me if I go on holiday to other countries in Europe, although I may have to pay upfront, I'll be reimbursed. How cool is that?!

Next step: apply for Danish residence

Just Getting Started

So I found out about 2 weeks ago that I was accepted to study abroad in Aarhus, Denmark this fall. I'll be leaving the US sometime around July 23 and will be in Denmark through December 21 or so. The goal is to be able to come home for Christmas

For those not familiar with Aarhus, it's the second largest city in Denmark, with approximately 1.2 million people living within the city and its metropolitan area. It's a port city surrounded by forest located on the Jutland peninsula. Aarhus is approximately a 3.5 hour drive from Copenhagen. You can also take a train, or drive part of the way and take a ferry. A flight from Copenhagen to Aarhus is about 45 minutes.

Aarhus is the oldest big city in Scandinavia, was originally a Viking settlement, and dates to before 770AD. There's a lot to do there, and I'm excited to be able to explore the city.

I'll be attending the University of Aarhus, which has more than 37,000 students and has about 1000 foreign students every semester. There's 8 individual faculties, which are similar to colleges here. I'm doing an exchange program, which means the tuition and housing costs will be comparable to what they are at K-State. I don't have an exact class schedule yet, but will probably be taking three or four classes in various subjects, hopefully including a Biology class. I also haven't heard back about where I'll be living. That will probably take a couple weeks.

The whole process is time consuming, includes a lot of paperwork, and definitely isn't easy. Next on my to-do list is complete my academic approval form, which is signed off by department heads before I leave so classes I take will transfer to K-State. Then I need to start the visa process, contact the Danish embassy to apply to live in Denmark since I'll be there more than 3 months, figure out how I can get prescription medicines and allergy shots while I'm there, figure out if I'll have a cell phone, then start figuring out what all I need to buy. Lots to do, but I know it will be more than worth it!