Hej!
I thought I’d update all of you on my
life! It’s been about a month since I last posted (and it really doesn't seem
like it’s been that long), and I’ve been busy! I’ve really had a crazy last
week or so.
So, I missed about two and a half weeks of
school a while back because I had the flu, so I’ve been trying to catch up with
my schoolwork on top of studying for exams, which have already happened for
everyone else (mine are delayed), and doing exchange things. North Carolina
schools get out so early! In Massachusetts I would have school for another
month! So, really, I should be out of school, but I’m stuck doing work because
I got sick (great way to start my summer, huh?). As a result, I haven't had as much time to work on my Danish and other preparations as I would like.
Last Saturday, the 18th, I had my first
AFS orientation! Though I already knew a lot of what they told us (I’ve done a
LOT of research), it was still a lot of fun! And I loved meeting other AFSers. I talked to some currently hosted exchange students from Sweden, Norway, and
Finland, who told me about Denmark and life in Scandinavia. I also met some
great outgoing students going to all sorts of interesting places (Finland,
Austria, Argentina, Spain, India, and more) and some returnees (from Germany,
Indonesia, Turkey, Russia, France, and possibly
a couple more) who had interesting and useful insights. Overall, it was a lot
of fun!
From the orientation, I drove straight to
New York City! I’d never been to the city before, and it was so exciting! I had
half a day in the city Sunday and the morning on Monday and then I had my visa
appointment (yay!). I went to the Consulate General of Denmark in the afternoon, which
I thought was really interesting. It was very secure, with thick glass windows
to the people and doors that had to be buzzed open. We got there early, and a
couple people in front of me weren’t there, so we got helped early. I was
nervous that I might not have some of the paperwork, but everything was in
order and we were done pretty quickly. I got my fingerprints taken for the visa
(a first for me), which was interesting. And the amazing, wonderful,
super exciting thing is that I already have my approval! All of the info I
received from both the Danish Consulate/Immigration Service and AFS said that
it could take months to get approved, so it was absolutely
a pleasant surprise for me to open my e-mail on Friday and have an approval
letter from Denmark waiting for me! I don’t yet have the actual residence card,
but I’ll get it soon after I arrive in Denmark. No more worrying about my visa! Here’s a picture of the sign for the Consulate, just because it’s exciting:
On another note, the title to this post means (and this might be
wrong, but let’s hope it’s not!): “Updates on school, orientation, permit, and
Danish!” I’ve been working on my Danish language learning, and I think
it’s going well! I’ve gotten more
than the colors and numbers learned, anyway – I’m into some other adjectives,
nouns and some basic verbs. I’ve been using some great free online resources.
And what’s more, my mom met a woman who grew up in Denmark, and she said she’ll
help me with my Danish! I’m really excited, because I think that getting help
from a native speaker will be very useful. I want to have some sort of base to
go off of when I arrive. My phone is also set to Danish, which is helping me
with some basic things. Here are pictures of what the passcode screens look like
(with the lovely Danish flag, or Dannebrog, as my background – can you tell
I’m excited?), as well as the keyboard when I text (I can change it to an
American keyboard if I need to, though!). When I go on Danish websites now
(trying to find out any info about Denmark I can), I can pick out words here
and there, which is encouraging. But I still have a long way to go!
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| And a beautiful plant, too |
And I thought some of you would enjoy a (somewhat distorted, sorry) picture of the lobby of our beautiful hotel in Manhattan, the Roosevelt:
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| and another from above |
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| The date says søndag 26. maj, and the bottom says lås op. |
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| I love that the space bar is mellemrum! Extra letters are æ, ø, and å. New message is ny besked. |
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| Skriv adgangskode, nødopkald, and annuller |
Finally, I’d like to thank all my family
members and friends who have read this blog so far! I love to hear from you
all, and I’m so glad you’re all excited for me! Thank you for reading,
commenting, and sharing your thoughts with me and my mom. You’re all so great and
supportive!
I’ll probably write again fairly soon, but
until then, hej hej!
Love,
Rachel
P.S. - LESS THAN TEN WEEKS! (
