My adventure in Chicago

(Written on October 27^th, in OHare Airport)

Before I could start my adventure in Denmark I first had to deal with all the weather and the ‘fun’ of flying through O’Hare. First adventure was leaving Des Moines; now this adventure was interesting and sad. It was interesting because I was supposed to fly out in the afternoon. But due to the weather my flight to OHare was delayed by almost two hours. When we finally left the airport I still had two hours to my connection in OHare to Copenhagen.

The first leg of my adventure to Denmark was also sad, because I had to say goodbye to the man I love. I knew as the day to my departure became closer that saying goodbye to my boyfriend would be hard. But when it came to really say goodbye it was so much harder than I thought. There were many tears from me and many hugs from him, but when it was time to go, I just had to give him one last hug and walk towards to the security without looking back. I know some people will think I am crazy for being so emotional about saying goodbye to him, but you have to understand we have been together for over seven years and the longest we were apart was 4 weeks. It could be three to four months till I get to hug him again. I am starting to feel more confident about not being able to really touch him though, because with the help of skype I can talk to him and even see him.

The second portion of my adventure occurred in Chicago OHare. When we landed in Chicago, there was another problem. No gates available for us to de-board the plane, we sat in that tin can of a plane for an extra 30 minutes. Then when we finally got off the plane I found out that my flight to Copenhagen is at the International terminal on the complete opposite side of the airport. Oh and its get better to get to the International terminal you actually have to leave security and then re-enter security at the terminal. So two other ladies and myself are running to the rail that takes us to the International terminal. We get there but we have to wait ten minutes for the train to get there. Once off the train we run to the security checkpoint where they tell us the gate is closed, we have to go back to the ticket counter.

To be honest I had never missed a flight like this before I had no idea what to do. Lucky the two other ladies travel around the world for their jobs so they were able to help me out a bit. I was able to get another flight for the following day but unfortunately it was not a straight flight to Copenhagen. I have to fly to Stockholm, Sweden then from Stockholm to Copenhagen. So basically I have to fly over Copenhagen and then back. Next was trying to get a hotel room, considering how many people had delayed, cancelled or missed their flights I figured there would not be much left. There were no rooms left in the Hilton next to the airport, but there was a room at a Ramada about 20 minutes away from the airport. At this point I do not care how far away I am from the airport, all I want is a good bed and shower.

After everything was said and done everything turned out ok. And I will land in Copenhagen October 28^th. I will keep you posted on all the details.

Thanks for all the love and support.

Leaving on a Jet Plane in 2 days

Wow time sure flies when you are having fun. If you call working on my thesis and conducting my final oral defense for my Masters fun. The good thing is that I passes my defense, of course there are many edits to conduct on my written thesis and I will continue working on that.

Right now I am packing and packing. I have discovered it is very hard to pack your life in two suitcases. The main thing is that I have to make sure both suit cases are of the appropriate size and do not weight more than 50 pounds. So I have to weight my cases, and the best way to do that is take the suit cases to the University Rec Center and weight both with the large scale in the women's looker room. Besides packing lots of clothes, I am packing shoes and other personal items. I am cramming as much as I can without going over my 50 pounds limit.

There has been one major change in my plans with Denmark. Originally my boyfriend was going to join me in Denmark in February 2011. However, he has decided to join me at a later date, probability sometime in 2012. I could tell when I told my mother this she was not pleased and before any one else gets upset about my boyfriend not joining me sooner. Let me tell you this, we talked about this for a long period of time. After talking to him, I am ok with his decision and that is all that matters. The fact that my boyfriend joins me later could actually work in my favor. This will give me more time to save money and find a bigger place. Because there is no way the both of us can live in a 420 square foot apartment.

Many people have asked what is the best way to contact me in Denmark. The best way is email, but I also have skype account and a web camera. If you do not have my email or skype name you can contact my boyfriend or my parents and they can give you my email or skype name.
If by any reason you need to contact me because of an emergency, you can contact my boyfriend or my parents. They have my emergency contact.

The most important thing to remember is that Denmark is & HOURS AHEAD of Central US. Meaning when it is noon in Central US, it is 7pm in Slagelse, Denmark. So if you email me I will respond when I can, however if you try to 'skype' me there might be a chance I will be sleeping or busy with other things.

So when is the best time to 'skype' me, the best times are listed below.
(Central US Time : Denmark Time)
2 am : 9 am
3 am : 10 am
4 am : 11 am
5 am : 12 am
6 am : 1 pm
7 am : 2 pm
8 am : 3 pm
9 am : 4 pm
10 am : 5 pm
11 am : 6 pm
Noon : 7 pm
1 pm : 8 pm
2 pm : 9 pm
There is no guarantee that I will be on skype at these times, while I am at work I could be in a meeting or just busy so I turned skype off. So honestly I think the best way to contact me is by email.

Well I need to get some sleep so that I can finish the rest of my packing and weight these suitcases Monday morning. Good night all and thank you for your love and support.

Nine Days

9 days and counting. On Oct 26th at 6pm I will be flying to Copenhagen.

I have finished my thesis and now my program of study committee (of 3 professors and a staff member) are marking my thesis in a sea of red. I have finished my presentation also, which has lots of pictures and a video in it. I present on Monday (tomorrow morning), after which my program of study committee will ask me questions and determine I get to pass or not. So yes, I am under a lot of stress. Everyone has been asking me when are you going to get a good night sleep, I reply with "On the plane to Denmark."

I still need to work on my packing. I can only take two suitcases of a certain size so I have to be picky as to what I pack. I have given many pieces of older clothing away and plan on buying a few more business causal clothing items. So I have to make room for all my clothes. I also plan to pack a few personal items, some small stuff animals, pictures, along with a few dvds that I can watch on my laptop.

Well I have to get back to working on my presentation. Wish me luck.

16 Days

I get on a plane in 16 days.

I am still working hard on my thesis right now, so this post is going to be short. I am hoping to have a garage sale on Oct 16 and 17, selling things that is just stuff that I have collected over the years.

The one thing that I have really noticed is that my boyfriend and I are spending as a lot of time together; I do not mind spending all this time with him. I think it has finally hit me and him that we will have to be apart for over three months. Of course we will be able to talk to each other via Skype etc, but after 6pm Oct 26 we will not be able to give each other a hug. I am hopefully that everything will work out ok and he will be able to join me in Denmark.

Well, I must get back to my thesis.

Thank you for all your love and support.

24 Days

Can you believe it I fly out in 24 days!!!!!!

I have been working on my budget for Denmark so I have been using my spare time (or just not working on my thesis) to look for food prices. It is a known fact that everything in EU is more expensive than US, but I really wanted to find out what I was getting into before I arrive. So I found on the Denmark.dk website a recent (August 2010) with basic food prices. After making the conversions here I what I have so far:

Apples -- $2 per pound

Beef -- $10 per pound

Bread -- $2 per loaf

Cheese -- $7 per pound

Eggs -- $5 For 10 eggs

Milk -- $2 per litre (about a 1/3 of a gallon)

I also wanted to look around for some interesting things to do and see in Denmark and I have come up a small list right now. But I promise you it will get much larger.

1) Copenhagen Jazz Festival

2) Just wonder around Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus

3) The Little Mermaid monument

4) Castles: Lerchenborg, Kragerup, Dragsholm any many more

5) Botanic Garden and Tivoli Gardens of Copenhagen

6) Amalienborg Palace (The Royal Palace)

7) Lousisian Museum of Modern Art

8) Sweden to Denmark bridge (Oresund Bridge)

What is the temperature like in Denmark?

A lot of people think I am moving to a colder area but actually I am moving to a warmer area. I am moving to a Temperate climate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers like of climate. So I am moving to a place that has similar weather when compared to Seattle, Washington.

Thank you again for all your love and support.