When going to a foreign country, one can expect certain things to be different. For instance  food, language and clothing styles, but it is the small, unexpected parts of life that can prove to be a challenge.

The first thing to know about phone plans in Europe is they are ridiculously expensive.Buying and using a cell phone was not something I expected to be categorized in the challenging group.

I was happy to oblige when I was told the International Semester program at the Danish School of Journalism requires that everyone have a cell phone, or mobile as they call it here, in order to arrange and conduct interviews with sources.

It seemed pretty simple: go to cell phone company store, buy phone plan, use phone.

But, as with everything in a foreign country, I had many other things to do besides remembering my passport and residency card.

The first thing to know about phone plans in Europe is they are ridiculously expensive. You would never know that by looking at all the people using their phones.

Danes even text or call while riding their bicycles.

Not only are the plans expensive but they also come with very few minutes. For about $40, the plan from Sonofon included only 124 minutes for talking, plus a connection fee every time you dial, and 500 text messages a month.

No free nights and weekends, even in Denmark, or free calling to people on your network.

Because minutes are so expensive, most people in the international program text when trying to get together with each other instead of having to waste their minutes and pay the connection fee.

It became a puzzle every time I went to text. Could I use peeps, l8er or even LOL?As an experienced "texter" I felt at home with my cell phone in hand as I began to add contacts from school and make plans for my evenings. This included my usual way of shorthand language in order to communicate on the go and during lectures from under the table.

But I soon realized that not even texting is a sacred, intercontinental language between English speaking countries, let alone other countries.

I sometimes received text messages with a jumble of letters, which meant nothing to me or common phrases like 'sweet as' from a New Zealander, which just doesn't translate.

It became a puzzle every time I went to text. Could I use peeps, l8er or even LOL?

Never sure, I began the long process of tiring out my fingers by always spelling my words out in order to make sure messages were clear for what ever nationality was going to be receiving it.

No, "c u @ Kvickly," for me.

Other times I would ask after the text message if I could abbreviate certain phrases for the next time the subject came up.

Since then we have had multiple funny conversations about our different texting languages and phrases people use in our countries while walking to school.

It is funny how something as simple as trying send messages through cell phones could make people feel so separate from each other at first. But it is also able to bring people together from all different cultures.

TTYL.