Keeping in Touch

Many friends and family members have wondered about keeping in touch with us while we're in Denmark, so here's a quick guide.

Mail

I sent most of you postcards with our new address (since this is a public blog, I won't post it here). I've since received a bunch of requests to explain the address, so I'll do that here for you. Also, the way I typed it on the post card is exactly how you'll address an envelope, so no need to remember, just copy what I gave you. :)

Addresses in Denmark follow this basic pattern:

[Street Name] [House Number]

[Post code] [Municipality]

[Country]

The street name is usually like "Lyndbyvej" or "Carl Ploughs Vej" and the house number is typically pretty short (i.e. single or double digits). The house number sometimes includes a letter after the number, which is the result of an original plot of land being split into multiple plots.

The post code is similar to a zip code in the U.S. For example, the post code for Birkerød where we live is 3460. In Danish addresses, it comes before the name of the municipality (like a town or city). Finally, the country goes at the bottom (if you're sending mail from abroad).

I hope that clears it up for everyone!

You can send letters or cards just as you would in the U.S. - you just need to use an international stamp instead of a regular postage stamp. The cost of an international stamp is $1.50 and they are round instead of rectangular. You can buy them at the post office or at USPS.com.

In regard to shipping packages, that will depend on the weight and volume of the box and how quickly you want it to arrive. If you can measure and weigh the package at home, you can use those numbers to calculate shipping from FedEx, UPS, or USPS on their websites. If you can't measure/weigh at home, you can just take it to the post office (or FedEx or UPS store or The Postal Annex or similar) and ask for the best rate.

Texting/Messaging

At the time of this post, Zac and I still both have our U.S. phone numbers. To reduce the cost of international charges (for ALK), we try to keep data usage turned off. That means we can't text or call or search the internet or anything when we aren't connected to wi-fi.

When we are connected to wi-fi, we can receive SMS text messages, FaceTime phone calls, etc., but since you don't know when we are connected and when we aren't, you aren't guaranteed to get ahold of us. Further, when we get our Danish numbers, our U.S. numbers won't belong to us anymore. If you call or text international phone numbers, there may be a significant fee associated with that on your bill.

We don't want anyone (us or you) to incur a cost for keeping in touch. Once we get our Danish numbers, the best way to communicate will be through apps like Messenger, WhatsApp, Snapchat, etc. You'll be able to text/call/video call us using your data plan or wi-fi with no additional cost, and we'll be able to text/call/video call you using our Danish data plans or Wi-Fi with no additional cost. On the other hand, if we were to use standard texting or phone calls from your U.S. number to our Danish number (and vice-versa), international rates would apply and it would get expensive.

Bottom line: For now, you can contact us however you normally do, but please start getting used to the idea that you'll have to use an app in the near future so we don't all have to pay a lot of money to stay in touch.

Email

Our email addresses are not changing, so if you have them, keep using them. :)

Blog Comments

If you've had trouble leaving a comment on a blog post, it may be the result of your browser settings. To be able to comment, you may have to go into the settings on your browser under privacy (or similar) and allow cookies and cross-site tracking for blogger.com. Once you update your settings, you'll have to log out of your Google account and then log back in and then you should be able to leave comments using your Google username. You can also post anonymously or add your name manually when posting if you don't have a Google account.

* * *

All right, I hope you found something useful in there. :) We love hearing from you all, so please let me know sooner than later if you're confused. We'll try hard to make the transition easy on everyone.