Two weeks and counting...

So I know it's been a super duper long time since I've posted last, and honestly I've kinda been putting it off! Soooo much has happened in the last two months. I had my goodbye party, I flew internationally for the first time, I arrived in Denmark, I've started school, and started my new life here. I'll try to remember every awesome detail for you though!

The Friday before I left, I had my goodbye party, it was so much fun and extremely sad at the same time! We ate lots of food, played frisbee and had a fire. It was great to just relax and talk, not necessarily just about exchange but other things too.

Miss you guys!! ):

The following week was crazy! Of course the procrastinator in my put of major packing until just a few days before I left. Saturday I finally made a list, Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday I started piling things into the living room, and Thursday I was finally packing bags! I finished packing around 9 o'clock that night, which was much earlier than I expected. I sat on the floor with my bags and breathed a sigh of relief, knowing I could start relaxing, that the craziness was over! Sleeping that night was basically impossible; my nerves were finally starting to catch up with me.

The morning of my flight was the weirdest thing ever. My family went out for breakfast and it was the most normal thing in the world. It was weird knowing the next time they at breakfast I wouldn't be there. The hour drive to Sea-Tac was really quiet, it seemed to go by in 5 minutes. I got all checked in at the airport and sat with my parents for about an hour. Saying goodbye to my family was probably the hardest thing I've done on this trip so far. I saw my Dad cry for the fourth time in my life. Just thinking about it right now makes me get a bit homesick... When I finally got to my gate, I was surprised to find two other exchange students from Alaska going to Denmark! This really helped the wait go by really fast as we talked and talked and talked and talked. My flight boarded at 11:45, but we ended up sitting on the runway for almost an hour and didn't take off till nearly 1. The nine hour flight was not very fun. The food wasn't good, I was shmooshed between two people, but I think I collectively slept for about 4 hours. The airport in Amsterdam was huge! In order to get through to my next flight, I had to go through security...AGAIN! Which was just overall kind of annoying, not really that big of deal I suppose. I had a 3 hour layover, so I took the opportunity to freshen up. The flight to Aalborg, while only an hour, seemed to take FOREVER! But I finally arrived. (:

Second host family, me, first host family (minus Emil).

I arrived in Aalborg at 1:35 in the afternoon, which was an amazing time of 4:35 am back home! Needless to say I went to bed at 8:30 that night and slept for a solid 14 hours. The spent following week I walking around Støvring with my host sister, getting the lay of the land. I went shopping in Aalborg with my host sister and a friend of hers. I went and visited a viking museum with my host family, and saw some viking graves. (Super creepy...) Tried some Danish candy, including salty licorice! Which is quite yummy if I do say so myself...

I met with the school rektor (principal) on the Friday before school started and got to tour the school. The first thing I noticed was how clean and well taken care of everything is. There isn't gum all over the ground outside, chairs aren't half broken, the students actually take care of their school! So by the time Tuesday rolled around, I was so excited to start and meet my class. If you haven't talked to me already, you need to know, I LOVE THE DANISH SCHOOL SYSTEM! Even though we move from classroom to classroom, we still stay with the same classmates all day. My class was so welcoming and nice. At first I was a bit confused as to why no one was really speaking to me, but as time went on, I found out it was because they were worried about their English not being "good enough." I keep telling them not to worry and that I can understand them just fine. (: My host sister is in the same class as me, so she translates every now and then so I can kinda understand what's going on. Getting used to having my schedule change every day, is going to take some getting used to.

So, if you couldn't tell, I'm doing super duper well! I love it here and I know I'm going to have the best year of my life. I can't wait to see what else is in store for me...

Vi ses!
Kelsea Jo <3

It's finally starting to feel real...

Up until this point, going to Denmark has felt like a far away dream. Up until this point my conversations followed the routine "I'm going to be an exchange student!" "Really? Where?" "Denmark!!" "Where in Denmark? When do you leave? What school will you go to? Who will you live with?" and it always ended with me saying, "I don't know." Well last Tuesday, that all changed when my district received my guarantee forms. Since I was on vacation, my district youth exchange chair was amazing enough to scan them all and e-mail them to me. It's no longer a dream.

In my previous post I let everyone know I'm going to district 1440. Now I know I'm being hosted by the Rebild Rotary Club. Rebild is a neat county that actually holds the the largest 4th of July celebration outside of the United States! How cool is that??? I'll be living in Støvring, Denmark, a small town of about 7,000 people. I've had a chance to e-mail back and forth with my first host family. I'll have a host sister about a year younger than me and a host brother who's just a few months older than my own brother!! (And of course I can't forget about my host cat, Sofus!)  They seem absolutely amazing and I really think I'm going to enjoy my time with them. My family lives about a 3 minute walk away from the school (Støvring Gymnasium) both my host sister and I will be attending. They told me that the school actually focuses on music quite a bit! I'm absolutely ecstatic about that, it couldn't be a better fit!!

The little flag with the "A" is Støvring. The red "X" is Copenhagen.

Here are the only pictures I could find of my school. My host family said they might be able to send me one!

So I finally can give my friends an actual answer when we have that conversation. I actually have an answer. It's not a dream anymore. There are actually people in Denmark who look forward to me coming now, and that just makes me want to fly over there tomorrow even more!

Where do I go from here? Well right now I'm waiting to receive my guarantee forms from my district. As soon as they come, I'll get my visa application sent off to the consulate in New York and then I'll buy my plane tickets. Everyone who said it starts happening fast is right. I found out that Denmark wants me there on the 6th or 7th of August. I have two weeks left at my job and four weeks total till I leave for Denmark. Oh my goodness!! My emotions range everywhere from excited to nervous to happy to sad. I love it.

Indtil næste gang mine venner!

Kelsea Jo

DISTRICT!!

So two weeks ago, I found out my district!! Finally!!! I'll be going to district 1440. 

As you can see, it's in northern Denmark. If you look on a globe you will see, I'll be really near to both Norway and Sweden. Since then I filled out my information to their online database. Hopefully I'll have access to that soon so I can start finding out more information!! I'm starting to get a wee bit nervous, but I know it will all work out in the long run...

Indtil næste gang mine venner!
Kelsea Jo