Pre-Departure Post #2

Hej!

So today I realized that I only have SIX weeks left before I leave for Denmark's capital! Throughout the last few weeks, I've received the pre-departure packet from DIS, gotten my Danish Residence permit from the Danish Consulate General in NYC, done a lot more research on Scandinavia, and even received an e-mail from my Danish visiting family! :)

In my last post, I described my classes and the study abroad program in general. Well, I also signed up for a few "adventure trips" - hiking/canoeing in Sweden & sailing along the Danish coast. I'm not really an outdoors kinda girl, but you only get so many opportunities in life - so why not? As for the visiting family, I highly recommend this option for anyone not living with a host family. This option allows you to spend your own time with a Danish family that's matched to your interests rather than living with them for 4 months and sharing their household 24/7. I won't receive my housing information until 10 days before my departure, but I'm pretty sure I got DIS Shared Housing (my first choice), so a visiting family will be a really good experience. Their e-mail was so cute and I can't wait to meet them. They love theatre and travelling so I'm pretty sure we will get along very well :)

The only major thing I'm concerned about is packing. I'm not the lightest packer because I tend to convince myself that I'll need everything I bring at least once, etc, etc. Today I went into my closet and looked at all of my shoes...... and well...... I kinda convinced myself I'll need to bring almost every pair. Yup, I have 6 weeks to get out of THAT dangerous mindset. Maybe I'll have my mom hide them so when the time comes I won't be able to find a few pairs :P I've decided on bringing two normal suitcases, a backpack (that holds my computer and such), and a decent-sized duffel bag. That's not too much is it? Generally when I go to school each semester I somehow take 4 suitcases, a backpack, a bigger duffel bag, AND my grandparents come down to bring stuff I left with them. In retrospect, I think I'll end up doing a very good packing job for Denmark!

Well, summer is halfway over. In the next six weeks I will have performed in a community musical (Cinderella! haha), gone on my annual beach trip (maybe Schlitterbahn too, yay!), and taken a one week vacation to D.C to visit some of my best friends. Hopefully I'll be able to get some good volunteer hours at the hospital, and make some money for the semester (Hey as Satine says in Moulin Rouge - A girl has got to eat! Or she'll end up on the street!). Bet you can't guess what my favorite movie is! ;)

Skaal!

Danielle