Alright finally my blog will have some interesting entries from today onwards. Actually I still find it hard to believe that I am actually at the other side of the Earth away from my family and friends. Maybe it's cos of the power of technology that makes me able to still connect to people and even see them around. Well I guess I will slowly adapt and learn to survive on my own from today onwards. The worse is yet to come. I still got to learn to cook myself!
Thanks to everyone who came to send me off last night, and thanks for all the farewell gifts given to me. I think if it wasnt late at night and I was feeling quite tired that time, I might have teared. It really wasnt easy to leave my parents and say bye to them, but I was glad that it turned out alright for me. The plane ride was quite boring and I didnt have much chance to talk, except to the air stewardess when i told her what food I wanted. Managed to watch Iron Man 2 and Green Zone, and the rest of the time I was in between sleeping and stoning.
Copenhagen airport is quite new and I was surprised by the speed and efficiency of the airport personnel. I think this is one of the fastest I have seen other than Singapore's, and it's quite amazing considering that locals and foreigners all queued at the same lanes and I waited for less than 10minutes before it was my turn.
Esben, my Danish mentor, came to pick me and I am really glad that things turned out fine. Surprisingly I didnt have much difficulties talking to him and he was actually quite a nice and friendly person. My first time spending long hours one-to-one with a Caucasian and I think I did pretty well.
Today hasnt been quite smooth-sailing for me. I wanted to open a bank account but was told that I needed my Danish CPR number, it's something like our IC number. And I couldnt get my CPR number cos my visa only starts on the 15th August. This means that I have to draw out money and keep with me and I cant deposit into a local bank till 1 week later. And I cant see a doctor yet cos I need the CPR number! My student card sort of got lost so I cant get my student card yet. I was glad that Esben willingly followed me and brought me around. I dont think I could have managed without him today.
Think i am having a minor jet lag now. Shall sleep earlier tonight. Hope tomorrow will be a better day!
Oh by the way the time here is 6 hours slower than Singapore. So it's around 5.17pm here and 11.17pm at Singapore. Oh and I just discovered Danish dont use bolsters! I only see pillows around!!!
CONTINUATION FROM JUST NOW...
And so I thought today will be almost over after I pick my exchange partner up from the airport. It turned out that she brought 3 pieces of luggage so we had a hard time dragging the luggage everywhere we went when we were searching for her apartment. When we finally reached after around 1 hour of searching, we realised that she was actually supposed to collect her keys from the International Office before moving in. Luckily for her there was this Norwegian family who just happened to come into the gate of the place. They lent her the phone for her to call the International Office, and then offered to lend her their computer to search for a nearby hotel so that she has a place to stay over tonight. After searching for some time the Norwegian family decided to offer her a place to stay in their apartment for tonight before she gets the keys. I was quite surprised that they actually offered her a place to stay in even though this was the first time they actually met. I dont think Singaporeans will ever render such help in these situations. I realised that a lot of Danish people look hostile when you walk past them, but when you actually ask them for help they can really go out of their way to help you. The Norwegian family even gave my exchange partner a set of their apartment keys, and told her that she can return them the keys after she has gotten her keys.
I am really amazed by the things that happened today, and the people I have met today. I am sure more things will happen over the next few months, but I doubt I will be typing so much every day. Esben invited me to his band performance tomorrow night. Shall go there if nothing crops up.
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