Thursday, May 13, 2010

9 weeks

9 weeks until I leave Kansas City for Copenhagen! I'm still not sure exactly how I'm going to get from Copenhagen to Aarhus but I think I'm going to take a train. There's trains that run every half hour or so from Copenhagen and it's not horribly expensive. That way I can see some of the country, plus I'm sure flying from Kansas City to Atlanta and then to Copenhagen will make me sick of sitting on a plane.

I got my Danish residence permit today. It's a sticker that goes in my passport. I can also work for 15 hours a week, but from what I understand, it's really difficult to get a job in Denmark if you don't speak Danish. My application got to New York on Monday afternoon and they mailed everything back and it came to Kansas City this morning. I was expecting it to take at least a month, not one day. At least I don't have to worry about not having my passport. I like their efficiency!

Let the countdown begin...

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Waiting Game

Just a quick update:

I mailed in my completed application for student residence today, much more expensive than I had planned on (about $230), but it'll make me a Danish resident! Now I just have to play the waiting game.. to the tune of about 2 months. I'll be in big trouble if it doesn't come before I leave July 19; I had to mail in my original passport.

I got my housing assignment earlier this week; it's in a student living complex (Vilhelm Kiers Kollegium) about 3km from campus, which isn't that bad at all. It's within walking distance (about 10 mins) from grocery stores, about 20 mins from a mall, and about 30 mins from campus. Rent is approximately $430 or DKK 2356 a month. I'll have my own room and bathroom and share a kitchen and tv/entertainment room with 14 other people on my floor. There's a total of 630 apartments in the complex, about 30 per building, and each building has 2 floors.

Thought I'd share a link to an episode of Oprah I watched a couple months ago. For the past 30 years, Danes have consistently been among of the happiest people in the world, and Oprah chose to profile them in her "Lives of Women Around the World" to find out why. I remember watching it, and telling myself someday I'd live in Denmark. Who knew it would actually happen!
There's also a neat video of Oprah touring a typical home in Copenhagen (link on page 2 of the article)
http://www.oprah.com/world/Inside-the-Lives-of-Women-Around-the-World/1


Less than 3 months to go!