Meet the (host) Fam

T-minus 24 hours until I leave for Dulles Airport to begin my journey to Denmark. I know I've been pretty bad about posts this summer, both in quality and quantity, but for the next few months, I hope to be more regular in updating this thing with my adventures in the land of blond hair and blue eyes. With things all finally falling into place, I should start off this new chapter with something that will play a huge role for my experience abroad - my host family.

Yup, I decided to forgo dorm or "Kollegium" housing for a host family. If I'm going to be so far away from home, I would feel more comfortable with some sort of family structure for my semester abroad. So some details, I'll be living in Roskilde, Denmark which is a suburb of Copenhagen with the family of Rune and Anne. They're a middle aged couple who have two grown children of their own that are going to school in Copenhagen as well. Rune, the husband, is second in command at an insurance company, while Anne works with helping to organize the Danish seafaring and fishing industries. I'll be the first student they will be hosting. Roskilde is about a 30 minute train ride from Copenhagen which I will be taking almost every day for classes. The family has been travelling all summer, going to Dubai, recently leaving Bali, Indonesia, and is currently in Singapore. They have a holiday home in Southern Denmark near Germany as well where they also hope to take me to some time in the autumn.

As a family, they are all very active and enjoy running and walking, competing in a few events throughout the year. They also like to stay aware of the world around them, being interested in healthy and good food, politics, culture, music, nature, news, and events. They hope to show me the traditional Danish lifestyle while also having me help improve their English at home, though they at least write it very well already.

To say I'm excited would be an understatement, but to say I'm hella nervous wouldn't be too far off either. Almost all of my stuff is packed, but I still need to swing by the campus bookstore tomorrow to pick up a gift for the family, and I need to get all my paperwork all set. Apart from that, I'm enjoying one last home cooked meal, playing with my overgrown puppy a few more times, and hitting the gym one more time before shipping off.

I can't believe this is actually happening. Damn.

JP

Also, from my last post, this guy will hopefully start playing a bigger role in my life soon, probably more so when I get back, but he should have a reference name. We'll call him Brandon. And yes, I really am going to miss him.