August 22, 2015 around 2:30 PM CST, I passed through security to board my flight to Aarhus. Not before they told me I wouldn’t be able to even get on the plane, however.
Back at the end of June, I drove to Houston to apply for my visa (mostly referenced to as a “residence permit” here in Denmark). However, it would take 2 - 3 months for the process to go through, so I would be entering Denmark initially just on my passport. Just on a passport, I would be able to stay 90 days without a visa and the way math works I would 100% get my residence permit before my “passport days” were over. Also, my return flight to Oklahoma for winter break is December 20th, more than 90 days from my departure day.
Unfortunately, all of this to say that because my visa hadn’t gone through before my flight, there was no way to prove that I would be out of the country within 90 days and they weren’t going to let me go to avoid the airline itself getting fined for my illegal residence in Denmark.
Spoiler alert: I made it to Denmark.
Once I got here, my Danish parents, Sarah and Asbjørn (they are not really my parents, just extremely caring and helpful) met me at a bus station in Aarhus and I stayed with them that night and enjoyed the spaghetti pizza I’ve come to love.
The next day (Monday) I got my keys into my kollegiet (dorm), Skjoldhøjkollegiet. The room was fully furnished, except for the most important item...a mattress. The furniture depot wouldn’t be open for me to get a bed until the next day, so I stayed with S/A again that night.
The end of my building at Skjoldhøj
Biking is a HUGE part of Danish culture, so I knew I definitely wanted to get a bike and Sarah took me to a used bike shop for a few reasons.
1. Cheaper
2. If something on the bike needs to be fixed, I’ll be able to bring it back to the shop for free repairs
There were only a few bikes for sale, but bike number 3 I tried ended up being the 1. Listening to Sarah’s sage Danish advice paid off in literally 10 seconds as the chain immediately broke and was replaced with a brand new chain for free.
Denmark gave me the biggest welcoming of all as on the way back to Sarah’s place we got caught in a torrential storm. Biking in such concentrated rain just felt like the first of many rites of passage to come.
The brief, yet strong rainstorm was actual tragedy (and a common occurrence)
Other rites of passages from the day:
-A visit to IKEA
-Getting my Danish phone number
-Liver pate
-Dying my hair blonde (I was honestly surprised my hair didn’t spontaneously change color upon entry into the country)
Tuesday morning, jet lag began to kick in as I woke up around 4.30 am and couldn’t go back to sleep. I biked home to Skjoldhøj from Sarah’s, moved my mattress in, and OFFICIALLY had a home in Denmark. Also, did I mention I share my apartment with 13 other people? Meaning that we all share a common room and kitchen. I share a bathroom with two other people, but I have my own bedroom.
Part of my beautiful bike ride home
The literal embodiment of Texas in a spice
The rooms don’t have A/C, only a radiator, so it gets kind of hot inside during the day, but I have a balcony and I just leave the balcony door open to let cool air in
We actually had to bleach my hair twice, because box dye red is apparently the hardest to get out of hair. Also, Kool-aid is now scientifically proven to not come out of hair even after two bleachings, hence the pink tips, so I would just be aware of that next time you enjoy a nice glass of it (Kool-aid, not bleach, of course).
The rest of the week has been a nice combination of meeting new people, trying new foods, exploring new places, and making Aarhus my new home.
A few of my observations of Denmark (perhaps Aarhus specifically):
-The water pressure in sinks are VERY HIGH. A little goes a long way. Sometimes literally, when you are washing dishes and forget that a 45 degree turn of the faucet would be equivalent to maybe 2 entire turns of a knob back in the US.
-The smells are different. I can’t explain this one in too much detail until technology allows me to share smells via wi-fi. It’s not necessarily better or worse...just different. I’m sorry that description is terrible.
-The Danes LOVE their 7-11′s. There’s a train station/mall where the entrance contains a McDonald’s and two 7-11′s. One on each side. Two completely separate stores.
-If you go out in all black, there is a 80-90% chance you will see somebody in the EXACT same outfit, right down to the same style Nike sneakers.
I’ve also officially received my residence permit via email since arriving in Denmark, so I am 100% allowed to live here now! I will also get access to free health care and other benefits that citizens of Denmark receive.
Thankfully, once getting here, the move-in process has been fairly painless. I’ll talk more about daily life in my next post. Class also starts on Tuesday, so I get to enjoy my summer for a couple more days :)
