Dan was surprised to be called from the bench to replace the injured Brendan Laney in a reshuffle of the Scotland backs in Saturday's Six Nations opener against Wales.
"Everything has happened really quickly. It is just huge for me - unbelievable. I knew of Matt back in Australia when he was coaching New South Wales but I never had any personal contact with him," said Dan.
"That had to wait until I got over to Scotland last summer when I joined Glasgow. I was aware and proud of my Scots ancestry, which came through my maternal grandad from Kilbirnie in Ayrshire, and had been looking at my chances of playing over here.
"Glasgow were the first to get in touch with me, which was great because I felt they were my family's local team.
"But I never imagined for a minute that linking up with Glasgow would lead to an international cap less than six months later.
"My mum Marilyn is over from Oz at just the right time, along with my girlfriend, and we all went to grandad's home town for a look around a couple of weeks ago.
"It was a special feeling to be there, but we don't think there are any relatives still living there, so it looks as if I'm the last Kilbirnie Parks in Scotland.
"I am utterly proud to be in Scotland and to be part of the Scotland squad. Until last weekend, the biggest games I had been involved in were in the Celtic League for Glasgow and some NSW B matches. That shows how enormous a step up it was."
Dan is settling in well at Glasgow and has even become acquainted with the traditional east-west rivalry. "Last week was the first time I had seen Edinburgh - it was very nice, but not a patch on Glasgow!"