10 days to go!!

As the title says, I now have 10 days untill I leave Denmark and go to Salida. I am leaving on the 22nd of August at 9:55pm from Kastrup airport. Then I change planes in Paris and again in Atlanta. My final destination is Colorado Springs. I will arrive in Colorado around 7:40pm.  My hostfamily and I may get a hotelroom in Colorado Springs, and then go shopping for school supplies the next day. Since I have to be at the airport in Copenhagen two hours before take off, I will travel to Copenhagen the day before. On the 20th I will spend some time with my grandparents and say proper goodbye to them.

It's been a while since I last posted on here, mainly because I have been busy enjoying my last time here in Denmark and spending time with my family. But since last time I got my final vaccination and got checked for tuberculosis which, surprise surprise, I don't have ;D I also went to the American embassy and got my visa. I didn't take nearly as long as I was told it might, we were done within half an hour, but it was a bit scary with all the security. I went there with a group of other My Education students and it was nice to have someone to chat to, who are also going through this period of endless waiting. I got my visa about a week after I visited the embassy.

I've also held a birthday/goodbye party for my family (even though my birthday isn't untill the 18th, but I didn't know whether or not I would be home when we planned it) and it was a really nice day. It was good to see everyone and to say goodbye in a proper way. I got some much needed money (when is money not needed  ;D) and a new camera, which I am really excited about. It is a really good one too, so I can upload lots of good pictures on here  ;D

 It's kinda surreal that I am leaving in just 10 days. I'm starting to get a bit nervous, mostly about the trip over there, because I am scared that I will miss a plane or something like that. The realization that I am actually going to do this is also starting to hit me. I've noticed that I get more emotional about things than I normally would, but I guess nerves are pretty normal when you are about to leave everything you know for something completely new and unknown. I am still, however, very excited to see what the next 10 months will bring. I have just started packing my suitcase, and it is a lot harder than I thought it would be to pack everything on only 23 kg.

Untill next time, which will most likely be on the 21st. or 22nd.
Malene xoxo

My Education Meeting and Last day of school!!!! ;D

A lot has happened since I last wrote on here. The first thing is that I went to a meeting with My Education (picture above). At the meeting we were told a lot of practical stuff about the exchange program and such. I knew most of the stuff already, but it is always nice to hear those things again, so you are certain to remember them. We also talked to an American area rep, and she answered some of our questions. After the first half of the meeting, our parents left, and we were put into groups. Each group were given an retournee and they told us about their experiences and gave us some tips. It was really nice to hear from someone who had been away them selves. In the end we were given some cases to discuss in groups and then tell the others what we had discussed. All in all it was a good day, and it was especially nice to talk to all the other exchange students.

Another big thing that has happened is my last day of school!!! It was an awesome day and we all had a lot of fun.

We started the day at one of my classmates house where we had breakfast. After we were done eating we went to my school to throw caramels to the younger students. We were allowed to bring waterpistols to school, so once we had no more caramels to throw, we started shooting them with water instead. It was a very uneven fight, considering they didn't have any water to shoot at us, but hey - I spent 10 years in school, and there has to be some perks ;D Especially one of our teachers got soaked... It was very satisfying.
It is also a tradition for the graduating classes to do a sketch about our teachers. I think ours went really well, and it was fun to see the others;D

After school we went to Mindeparken (Rougly translated: the memory park) where we met up with all the other 9th graders in all of Aarhus. The weather was perfect and we had a really good time just hanging out with everyone.

My class spent the evening at one of our classmates house, where we ate pizza and hungout. We talked, played games, went down to the beach and just had a really nice evening together as a class. Then we went to a party for all of my schools 9th grade, and it was good to end this day together rather than in three different places.
I had a really good day, and I am going to miss all of my classmates and friends from school. But I can also feel August coming closer and closer, and even though I don't know when I am leaving yet -  I am getting more and more exited to leave for Salida ;D

I am technically done with school. I only have two oral exams left and then graduation!

Here are some videos symbolising my last school year:

At the start of my last school year I was like:

For the final weeks of the school year I was like:

 (the overall feeling of being sad because thing are ending, obviously not the part about people dying ;D)

 

And then on the last day of school I was like:



 

And now I'm like: 

I would like to take this time to acknowledge the fact that we live in a world where you can find a harry potter inspired song for every situation. It makes a PotterHead (Harry potter fan) like me very happy ;D

And now some photos from my last day of school:

Me and my best friend Laura ;D

Me as a vampire

Me after the waterfight with our teachers

 

The waterfight

My friends and I in our costumes (at least some of us were)

Alsmost my entire class in their cool costumes

HOST FAMILY!!!!!

Remember how I wrote that my school needed to write some info on my math ed for a school in the US? well it worked because at noon last Friday My Education called me and said that I had gotten a host family!!!!

I am going to Salida, Colorado! It's a small town with about 5,500 citizens. The school is called Salida High School and has about 350 students, so it's not very big either. From what I've read, it seems like Salida has a great sense of community, and that is something I have hoped to experience. I am also really happy that the school doesn't have like 3000 students, because this way I won't just be another kid in the crowd ;D
The nature in Salida is absolutely beautiful, and I predict many photos of it ;D 

the high school

My host family consists of mom Christi, dad Jeff and their two daughters Riley and Audrey. Riley is 6 and Audrey is 4, so I am going get 2 new little sisters ;D Christi works as a teacher and Jeff is a head mechanic. They have 3 cats, fish and chickens. They seem to be a bit more outdoorsy than me, but that probably won't hurt me ;D

I talked to Christi on the phone last Saturday. I was really nervous when I called them, but I didn't need to be. Christi sounded really nice and excited to hear from me. She said that they were all looking forward to see me, and then she asked some questions about whether or not I was okay with younger sibling, a small town etc. which I have absolutely no problem with (I have small siblings myself) She also said that they were planning a vacation to Maine in August, and asked if I wanted to come, which I of course said yes to ;D

overall I had a really good weekend, and it is nice to finally have an answer to questions such as "where are you going", "when are you going" and "Who is you hostfamily". I don't have the date for my flight yet, but school starts August 19th, so somewhere around that date. It was also really nice talking to Christi, it made me a lot less nervous, and now I am just excited! ;D

- Malene XD

A year ago today

2 days ago it was a year since I went to the USA for the first time! I was in NY and Orlando with my mom, and it was soo great... I can't wait to experience more of that country!
Today it is a year ago since I met Nick Jonas in NY, and since I am a huge fan, I think that deserves a little notion on here ;D

- Malene

Host Family?

So yesterday I was looking on World Heritage site trying to find myself again, but this time I couldn't find myself under the tags I could before. The weird thing was that the other girls who were on the tag, were still there, so I started wondering if it meant something. And I guess I was right!

Today My Education called me and said that there was a family who wanted me, but the school wanted to know what kind of math education I had. In the USA they split it up, but in Denmark we have it all in one class, so I guess they need to know that I've had the kind they offer? or I don't know why, but Marianne from My Education said, they needed a written statement from my school saying which kind of math I've had.

I've just called my school, and they can have the statement ready on Friday, and now I am just hoping that everything goes okay, because if it does, then I think I have a family!!! I haven't gotten any info on them, World Heritage just wrote that they needed the statement... I am sooo excited and nervous, and hopefully there will be a new post with same title minus the ? very soon!

Until next time ;D
-Malene

A fitting picture ;D

Saw this picture and thought I'd share it ;D

Update

Some time ago I took the dreaded SLEP-test, and I can tell you; it is not that bad. It was actually really easy, and nothing compared to the danish afgangs prøve ting ;D I also got the results and I (thankfully, since I thought it was very easy) did very well. The highest score you can get is 67 and I got 66, so I feel good about it. 

I should have gotten my polio and some-other-weird-word-I-don't-remember vaccination today, but since I'm sick (:'C) we had to postpone... Again. So instead I decided to do a bit more research on World Heritage, and I went to heir website. They have a page where you can see a sort of preview version of the exchange students letter and I found myself! ;D It was a bit weird to see it on a website like that, but still pretty exciting to know that people can find me, and choose me ;D I can't wait till someone picks me, I am not very patient with these things.

I am also busy doing research on Denmark, so I can answer all the questions I am likely to get about my country ;D

-Malene ;D

p.s. Just saw that the headline was the same as the last one... hmm.. something tells me I am not very good at making these things up ;D