The Denmarkian in Daneland

As you can probably tell from the title, today I got a letter from my host family. :)

They wrote their own little sections under their name. It was just so sweet - there was even a section from Bosse (the family dog)!

Also, thank goodness, I found that my phone isn't locked. So that means I can just rock up to some mobile phone store in Denmark and buy a SIM card there, no problem. :)

And guess what! Exchange is in less than a month!

-Stella

I just called my host family. The phone reception was terrible, but I am really, really glad I will be living with the Munk family. My impression is that they are truly wonderful people!

This was how the conversation went:

Stella: Hej! Jeg hedder Stella, fra Australien!

Host far (father): ... ?

Stella (worried that she may have gotten the wrong phone number): Errr ... jeg hedder Stella. Jeg er en udvekslingsstudent fra Australien!

Host far: ... huh? Hvad?

- Silence -

Host far: OH! Stella! Wait for a minute ...

- Silence-

Host mor (mother): Hello?

Stella: Jeg hedder Stella, fra Australien.

Host mor: Oh hello Stella! We are very excited to meet you!

- Begin rather confusing conversation in which Stella asks about the name of their dog (of all things!) and many random outbursts of, "Sorry?", "Undskyld, the connection is terrible!" and "I'm so sorry! What did you say?" are prevalent -

Host mor: Would you like to talk to Julie?

Stella: Sure!

- Silence -

Julie: Hej?

Stella: Hej! Jeg hedder Stella.

Julie: Hello!

- Begin another rather confusing conversation in which many random outbursts of, "Sorry?", "Undskyld, the connection is terrible!" and "I'm so sorry! What did you say?" are prevalent -

Haha. Yes, it was a very, VERY confusing conversation.

And it probably doesn't look like it, but I feel like I got to know them quite well in that short amount of time. Not like their life stories or anything, but their general manner and such. It's going to be a good exchange. :)

Also, I talked for half a hour (the conversation with Julie finally ended when my host mor anxiously commented on how expensive it was to call long distance from Australia to Denmark), and I found out that I still had over 2 hours worth left of international calls!

Wow - I love this phone card!

-Stella

I just got the email from Sue.

Yes. THE email!

I am going to be living with a family in Nibe, Aalborg.
Nibe is an old fishing town in North Jutland with a population of about 4,700. It is characterised by old houses, winding lanes and cobblestone squares.

I will have four host siblings - one brother, and three sisters ... and they also have a pet labrador!

I wondered quite a bit about whether I'd be placed in a folkeskole (primary school going from kindergarten to year 10) or a gymnasium (secondary school which goes on for 3 years). So it turns out I'll be in a gymnasium! :)

Heads up Hasseris Gym! I'm coming your way. ;)

-Stella

Okay, okay. I admit it.

I have been tinkering around with blog templates again.

However, this time I did not screw anything up!

I deserve a cookie and a pat on the back. :)

The only thing is it won't let me change anything apart from the name of 'Kategorier' (Categories). I'm trying to get rid of the unsightly numbers next to each tag. There is a little box which says 'Show number of posts per label' which I unticked, but it's still like this [edit: resolved].

Oh well, I'll live.

Also, a few hours ago I received my Travelex cards in the mail, so it's all good now. :)
 ... although when I checked my Travelex account, I found that my last name had been spelt wrongly!

This post is starting to sound like a game of 'Kill the Duck,' except instead of a duck, it's my exchange.

-Stella

In one of my previous posts I wrote about how there was an apparent mix up in the cards and SEA had given me the wrong one.

It turns out that I was right - I've been told to destroy my other cards and they're sending me new ones.

Apparently the issue was labelled 'oops - Travelex card mixup' by SEA!

-Stella

Firstly, yes, I know I've already written twelve posts, including this one, before I have even landed on Danish soil.

Secondly, take it as a good thing. :)
It means I'd probably post up quite a lot when I'm actually over there!
Though I'm not sure whether the overexcitement really is needed.

However, it's sort of impossible not to feel excited about exchange! I shall just go with the flow - there isn't much use trying to quash the anticipation anyway. I'll just try not to write posts full of 'blah' (you know, the ones with heaps of words but no content) to save you some boredom.

I know, I'm a really nice person, right? ^^

Okay, so that this post doesn't turn into a 'blah post', I actually do have something to post here. Just read the title.

Twitter, yes.

Basically, I was bored and thought it would be a good idea to create a Twitter for my exchange.
I actually haven't created it yet ... but I have the window open right now.

It won't let me put /thedenmarkianindaneland as the URL. Bummer.

So I'm stuck with this one:

www.twitter.com/indaneland

Add me!

-Stella

Everyone with SEA gets a Cash Passport card, which is a pin-protected, prepaid currency card useful for travelling overseas with, as you don't need any cash and all you need to do is load it up and go to an ATM to use it and have money in local currency.

To confirm that you've received the card, you're supposed to fax a sheet to a number that they give you, and they will activate your card.

So that's what I did earlier this week, and yesterday I decided to ring them and check whether they had activated my card yet because I didn't receive any notice about it.

It turns out that I had been given the wrong card (hence the the reason why the system kept saying that my birthday was incorrect and that it wasn't what they had on file!) so I emailed Sue about this.

Hopefully it should clear up soon, as I'm leaving in en måned og elleve dage!

One month and eleven days!

It's so soon ...

-Stella