As my "Months in Denmark Ratio" approaches 7:4 (as in four months left!) and my return is coming closer to realization, I'm beginning to think about all the things I will miss about Denmark :'( - that post will come but it's not something I want to think too much about just yet!
but at the same time, there's really no place like home and there are many things I am looking forward to returning to! I thought while I'm in the position to appreciate, I would write a list of all those things I miss about Canada.
1. THE ONES I LOVE. I honestly don't know how people survived youth exchange before the invention of Skype. And even then, nothing beats a hug.
2. Mountains! Big landscape. Denmark's highest natural point is 170m above sea level, and the hill I live on in Canada is 244m high. The largest lake in Denmark is 40km2, and Okanagan Lake is 351km2.
3. Driving my car, mostly for the fun of actually driving, because otherwise I'm all over public transport ;) Also if I was a Danish teen I would have already been on roadtrips with my friends to Sweden and Germany by now, but the Danes just don't do it that way and I think one in my class has a car because it's so expensive! And not as necessary.
4. Taking a bath! I haven't had a bath in 7 months.. And it's just so nice on cold days and when you are sick or stressed, ahhh. Even if it's 40 degrees when I come home, I plan on havin me a nice bath.
5. Starbucks! They don't have Starbucks in Denmark, or Sweden either, EXCEPT in the Copenhagen Airport where the lattes are going for $10 and they don't even taste the same.
6. While we're at it, Tim Hortons. Good ol' Canadian Timmie's. Soup, sandwiches and IceCaps at prices unheard of in Denmark.
7. Cinnzeo and the free samples.
8. Baking Soda. They just don't bake with baking soda in Denmark, if you looked hard enough you could find something called Natron, but overall NONE of the North American recipes I have attempted to make have quite turned out.
9. A tobacco free environment, cause smoking just ain't so cool in Canada. It's like a social thing for the Danes, an excuse to stand around and talk and consequently probably 75% of my class smokes.
10. Being able to participate in class discussions. Now that I can understand more Danish and follow the discussion in class it is even more frustrating that I can't casually throw my opinion in there. I am so excited for University!
11. Hockey! And it's not like I was hockey-crazy at home either, but sometimes you just want to throw on the game while you're doing your homework and whatnot, but it's never on here! Sometimes important games are aired live at around 3am but I'm not THAT dedicated.
12. Being able to practice my french by reading the back of the cereal box. I miss my bilingual country! However now I can practice my Danish by reading the box, and also Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish.
14. Poutine, mmmm.
15. It being acceptable to wear Lululemon pants when you're not working out. You know sometimes you're just having one of those days and you would much prefer to be wearing Lycra? That's just not allowed in Denmark.
16. Costco. Everything you're looking for - supersized, but mostly just browsing the books, waiting in a really long line, and who could forget, samples.
17. Soy Milk, of course Denmark has soy milk, I just don't drink it as much..
18. Clean Streets, no grafitti. I think overall Canada is relatively very clean? At least what I've seen. Copenhagen, while I love it, has a much dirtier vibe to me, and while I can appreciated the beautiful works of streetart, it's the little tags everywhere that bother me. And the strong smell of urine at Nørreport Station.
19. Moxie's White Chocolate Brownie!
20. George Strombolopolous. He just feels very Canadian...And the CBC.
21. THE REAL CANADIAN SUPER STORE, Joe Clothing.
22. The Coquihalla Highway. Now that I think about it, I am very fond of that drive! It is just so engrained into my life and it's a beautiful showcase of the Canadian landscape. I would even tell tourists to BC to make that drive, just forthehalibut!
23. Toilets with water in them. Toilets in Denmark have about 10cm of water in them.
24. Not thoroughly rinsing my dishes. It may just be the two host families I've stayed with, but they have to wash and scrub clean all their dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. I mean, isn't that what dishwashers are for? They could save all that water that is waster and put it in the toilets, just sayin'.
25. People saying sorry and excuse me all the time. Some may argue Canadians say sorry too much, but I think it's cute in that awkward, apologetic way.
26. Good sushi for cheap. I've had good sushi in Denmark, but it costs like $25-$30, whereas in Canada I could grab a Dynamite Roll for like $7!
27. Cookie Dough and Marble Slab Ice Cream.
I don't miss free drink refills, but I'd just like to mention that they would NEVER happen in Denmark.
28. Late opening hours! It was kind of a shock when I got here that everything closed so early and it definitely threw a kink in my plans several times. Most grocery stores close at 8, things close at around 2 on Saturday, and the world shuts down Sunday.
29. Wrapzone. If you can't tell I'm a little hungry..
30. Oprah's FINAL SEASON! This better come out in full on DVD because it's been a hard year without my girl.
31. Saying Hi on the street. You know how when you are walking and you pass someone so you smile and say "Hello"? That's weird here, instead you just look ahead/down/away..
For starters..
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Rotex Roundup
Sarah McCurrach
Sponsor: Kelowna, BC, Kelowna Downtown Club
Host: Herlev , Denmark, Herlev Rotary Club
Since first arriving in Denmark 192 days ago, I have already seen one of my lifelong dreams realized - to find a home in another country across the world. While in that sense, life in Denmark has become second (or maybe I should say first) nature and rewardingly normal, it has also been the most unique, eye-opening and personally altering experiences of my life so far. Already I find it incredibly exciting to realize all of the insight I’ve gained in the past six months, learning things about myself, my country and the world around me, that would have never been possible without such an extreme change of surroundings. There have without a doubt been high points and, just like life anywhere in the world, on exchange I’ve experienced some lower points, but any aspects of my year that have not been picture perfect are in no way disappointing, and are, in fact, exactly what I signed up for!
One of the biggest challenges of the first half of my year has of course been learning Danish, and I know they probably say this about every language, but I really believe it is one of the hardest languages to learn! Perhaps the reason for my frustration was that I had heard from rebounds and in general that it is quite possible to become fluent in a language within 3-5 months, and at 3 I was definitely far from fluent! However now around my 6 month mark I am beginning to think of myself more and more as fluent in Danish, although still not quite where I’d hoped to be. As outbounds, they can’t tell you enough how crucial language is, and every one who goes out will learn that to be true. Even if it is easy to get by in English as it is in Denmark, nearly everything improves in relation to how well you speak the language and what you gain from the exchange is an entirely different experience. So as a piece of advice to next year’s outbounds, I would say not only do your best to prepare beforehand, but when you are in your country make sure that you are actively seeking to learn the language. I see many exchange students expecting to soak it up eventually just from living here, but in my experience it’s necessary to constantly work for it, always listening, picking up and writing down new words. Sometimes it can be very frustrating, especially during the first few months, but every little bit of improvement I can sense is incredibly rewarding!
Of all the times this year, I expected Christmas to be when I would feel the most homesick but I didn’t actually, and I had a really cozy danish holiday season, complete with a Christmas celebration on the 24th, singing around the tree, hidden almonds in rice pudding and lots and lots of food. Honestly, I couldn’t say that I’ve been homesick at all this year, because in being so far away from those I love I think I’ve learned that true relationships exist outside the realm of time and distance. Oh and Skype helps too! If I’ve ever had feelings of discontentment, it hasn’t been a longing for my life at home, but a desire to build a richer life here in Denmark, and as Rotary says, “If it is to be, it’s up to me.” So I’ve been working to make my time in Denmark everything I had imagined it would be, finding ways to make school more exciting, to meet as many people as I can and to always say yes to every opportunity that comes my way. With less than five months left (I can hardly believe it!) I am committed more than ever to make this final half amazing, and for the most part, that just means living every day to the fullest!
There is so much advice I could offer next year’s outbounds, I bet I could go on for days, but the thing of it is that although you receive a lot of great advice as an exchange student, you don’t really understand it until you’ve experienced it for yourself. Then you realize that everything you’ve been told is so very true. With that in mind, I would advise next year’s outbounds to listen carefully at all their orientations, but most importantly to, on exchange, be aware of how much your different experiences are really teaching you. If you take a little time every so often to do some self-reflection, I think it will help you get much more out of your year. Perhaps most of all, enjoy yourself! I can tell you now but once again it’s not possible to fully understand until you’ve experienced it for yourself, that your exchange really will be one of the best years of your life, for so many more reasons than you could imagine.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Glædelig Jul!
I know I've mentioned it before, multiple times probably, but I must stress the extent to which "Hygge" is a priority in Denmark in a way you don't typically see in North America, and there may not be a better example of quality Danish hygge than during the holiday season.
My first and foremost wish for Christmas in Denmark was snow! Seeing as how in the past century they had something like 9 White Christmases, I was legitimately worried for myself. As I anticipated the holidays to be the hardest time to be away from home, having a grey, rainy Christmas would just be the missed bus on a bad day. HOWEVER, luckily for me, this year we had (as you may have heard new reports about Europe on) one of the highest early snowfalls on record, so that starting around mid-November the snow came and just kept coming. Perrrfect.
Now, despite growing up in Canada and living in my igloo and what not, I must admit that I actually didn't know snow, at least not on a first name basis. Here in Denmark, without the luxury of a car, I am walking, biking, bussing and taking the train in order to get where I will and so nowI think you could say I have become MUCH more familiar with the snow, ...and the wind, ...and the cold. Sometimes standing on a platform waiting for a train that had an indefinite arrival time for almost two hours, I would just about reconsider my opinion on snow, but no - at Christmas time, it's all worth it.
One of the things about Denmark is that all of the popular shopping destinations are outside, on charming cobble-stone pedestrian streets. While they do have malls, the concept has never faired so well because such monstrous buildings can never quite capture the character of the street shops. This scene, I'm sure you can imagine, is especially quaint in the December month - when all such lanes are lined with festive lights and bustling with Christmas (or maybe I should say Jul?) shoppers. Add the smell of roasting almonds, the sound of an old church bell ringing, and a light snowfall dusting the ground, and you've got yourself one hyggelig experience!
The seasonal celebrations started early when on the first of the month I attended a Jultræfest (Christmas Party) at my host sister's children's club. It was pretty much the entire celebration of Jul in an evening, but also some of the girls performed a Santa Lucia (which I guess is more of a Swedish tradition) and it was really neat to see them all in white, holding their candles and singing. The sweetest thing was dancing around the tree with all the excited little kids!
The next day I attended a Crazy Christmas Cabaret performance with my Rotary Club. This is an annual show written and put on by an English actress who long ago moved to Denmark, and while I thought it was kind of crude, it seems to be somewhat of a tradition for a lot of people! The funniest thing was the lady as a recurring character of hers, a little Danish doctor, who plays up on some of the stereotypes and throws in some Danglish for the amusement of the audience.
Speaking of which there's this funny little TV show on during the holidays, it is an old Julkalendar - which is an advent calendar of daily TV episodes (these are usually on every year for kids,) but I guess this one is just The Classic. The whole show is done by the same three guys and all of the jokes play off of
a.) the accent/dialect of people from the section of Denmark called Jutland
b.) The demeanor of a Copenhagener in comparison and
c.) The nissemænd who speak a mixture of English and Danish,
needless to say C was the most entertaining aspect for me, here's a little clip that most of you will probably find weird because it is too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXcPrbgPH1s
During the second weekend I went to visit Erin in Odense, where she hosted a Christmas baking party for like ten exchange students. It's always so nice to hang out with other exchange students, but especially my gal pal Erin who is also from Kamloops and from my Rotary District back home. This little baking party idea however was not so relaxing because there were ten of us, only a few of which actually did much of the work, and after a longggg day we had made about, I don't know, 300 COOKIES?! Literally. That's how many we made. So after we were completely exhausted and malnourished (did I mention we baked for 8 hours while running on four hours sleep?) it was safe to say it'd be a while before the next baking extravaganza..
Besides my White Christmas, I also had another holiday wish come true this season and that was to see a real live boys choir in a church! My Rotary Counsellor (who is basically taking me anywhere I wish to go, I am so thankful to him!) took me to see the Copenhagen Boy's Choir at a smaller church, where they sung a medley of seasonal songs.. including some english ones! Some of the boys were also very good, but mainly it was the whole movie vibe I enjoyed. :)
The next night was my Rotary Club's Jule Middag (dinner) which actually began in the local church with a traditional "Nine Readings" (apparently this is an English tradition). Either way it was very charming because of the church itself - [shown below, thanks to google images ;)] and outside spotlights shone on the building, making it very lovely indeed. Afterwards was a traditional dinner (First course: dark bread with pickled herring, schnapps to drink. Second course: MEAT MEAT MEAT .. all sorts of strange meats, with some red beet salad, and Dessert: Risalamande.) I was not such a big fan of the schnapps or the BLOOD PUDDING, but I do like pickled herring, especially in curry sauce. We also had the usual speeches/toasts, where I got a book of Hans Christian Andersen fairytales and some Danish folk CDs, and then there was an incredibly awkward singing of Silent Night, done for my sake which was so sweet, but painful nonetheless..
After I had started my Christmas Countdown with something like 60 days to go, (SPEAKING OF WHICH I HAVE BEEN IN DENMARK 183 DAYS, AND I HAVE 153 DAYS LEFT,wow.)
it was finally the big day! Typically on the 23rd or close to Jul, families eat a dinner of "risengrød," which is a very sweet rice dish, however not quite rice pudding, and this is eaten with butter, sugar, and cinnamon with a drink of Jul Øl - a mix between pop and beer, without alcohol and popular for the kids. If they're feeling traditional, the risengrød is cooked first on the stove and is finished cooking in the bed, wrapped in a duvet. My last host family did it this way, and it's seriously practical! I guess the idea behind having risengrød on the 23rd is to make a lot so it can then be turned into tomorrow night's dessert - Risalamande! This night being...
JUL AFTEN!
In Denmark they celebrate Jul on the 24th, while the 25th and 26th are called First and Second Christmas Day (I only learned this year that boxing day is not in the US also?!)
So all in all, it was rather strange to have a shift in the order of things for Christmas. We spent the first half of the day sleeping late, eating breakfast and relaxing, and then moved into preparing for dinner, always a substantial task.
(Also! Normally in Denmark the Christmas tree is put up on the 23rd, sometimes decorated by say, the dad, as a surprise for the rest of the family, and almost always a real tree, lit by real fire burning candles. I guess because I kept asking when they planned on putting the tree up, my host family took it as a hint and so on the 14th when my counsellor came by he thought it was pretty weird like, "Why do you have your tree up already?.." so I realized it was basically for my sake, no complaints!)
After a lot of hard work we sat down to a lovely jul middag of turkey and stuffing (the tradition is actually to eat duck or sometimes pork roast, but my family prefers turkey, thankfully for me.) butter roasted potatoes, brown sugar potatoes, and a waldorf salad of apples, grapes, pecans and whipped cream. Overall it felt rather short on vegetables but also delicious. Next on the agenda was one of the cutest parts of the evening: where we held hands and sang danish songs, dancing around the christmas tree. The fact that we barely knew the words or could sing the songs just added to the charm and it was really sweet. I should also mention that Christmas consisted of my host mom and dad, their two daughters - a 25 year old living in London, and a 22 year old in the area, and my host dad's father who is quite literally a reincarnation of the old man in the beginning of The Aristocats, if you can recall.
After this we sat down to open presents, a process which went much quicker than at home because everyone opened a gift at once and it was much more casual. I was really lucky to receive a hair straightener, slippers, pajamas, lotions, etc.! As well I was overjoyed to get so many Christmas cards from home, thanks to everyone! And some nice care packages from home and my Rotary club in Kelowna! Talk about spoiled.
Finally after our gifts were opened (The gifts I bought for my host family members were all hits!) we sat down to dessert, Risalamande (French: ris à la mande, or rice pudding with hacked almonds eaten with cherry sauce, yummm.) The fun part about this tradition is that whoever finds the full almond in theirs gets a gift! However in our house everyone just so happened to find an almond in theirs, that's what my host mom is like. Completely stuffed, we settled down to watch 101 Dalmations, and called it a night. [Actually, we may have played trivial pursuit at some point in there, the days just blend together ;)]
Of course just before dinner I skyped in to my family Christmas in Kelowna, which I guess you could say was a little strange. I had thought Christmas would be the most likely time for homesickness, but I can't say that I was. I mean, I would have loved to be there, but I could easily accept the fact that I was not, and I went into Christmas in Denmark with no expectations, so it was very nice. That being said, I really love Christmas at home, I think holding it from the morning on is more exciting, and I just love the way my family does things! So the holidays next year are going to be that much more special. :)
OH, and if I thought I had eaten a lot on the 24th, it was simply not so. Because the next day we had plenty of leftovers, but most notably on the 26th we attended a traditional Julefrokost (Christmas Lunch) with about 15 relatives in a big old house, where they decided not to turn the heat on, leaving it a TOUCH chilly, but that was compensated for by the tendency of overindulgent feasting to cause your heart to beat and your temperature to rise. This was essentially the menu:
First Course: Dark bread, french bread, tuna salad, pickled herring, salmon (they always eat it basically raw,) prawn salad
Second Course: Dark bread, french bread, meatballs, roast beef, liverpaste with bacon, porkroast, rolled spiced pork, a bit of pickles and beet salad
Third Course: French bread, cheese, grapes
Tea, Coffee, Cookies
Basically, it's a good thing I stopped being a vegetarian for the year.
We ended the day with a gift exchange game where every time you roll a six you get to take or steal a gift, so sometimes people end up with 4 gifts when the time runs out, but I'm guessing it's custom to deal them out so everyone gets one anyway.
Post jul I enjoyed my vacation, did a little sales shopping, hung out with my friend before he returned to Australia, and celebrated New Years with some friends, getting sushi and watching the fireworks in the city square of Copenhagen!
I was so excited when it occurred to me the other day: last year in the months of January, February, March I was in Canada, Los Angeles, and Hawaii. And this year I am in Denmark, Sweden and Ireland. I have such a wonderful life! And I am so thankful for the chance to do all of this.
Now I'm going to take a wild guess that only my parents actually read this whole thing, love you guys! I honestly have no idea how I can ramble on so long. I think it's because I don't have to do homework or something..
My first and foremost wish for Christmas in Denmark was snow! Seeing as how in the past century they had something like 9 White Christmases, I was legitimately worried for myself. As I anticipated the holidays to be the hardest time to be away from home, having a grey, rainy Christmas would just be the missed bus on a bad day. HOWEVER, luckily for me, this year we had (as you may have heard new reports about Europe on) one of the highest early snowfalls on record, so that starting around mid-November the snow came and just kept coming. Perrrfect.
Now, despite growing up in Canada and living in my igloo and what not, I must admit that I actually didn't know snow, at least not on a first name basis. Here in Denmark, without the luxury of a car, I am walking, biking, bussing and taking the train in order to get where I will and so nowI think you could say I have become MUCH more familiar with the snow, ...and the wind, ...and the cold. Sometimes standing on a platform waiting for a train that had an indefinite arrival time for almost two hours, I would just about reconsider my opinion on snow, but no - at Christmas time, it's all worth it.
 |
| Backyard |
One of the things about Denmark is that all of the popular shopping destinations are outside, on charming cobble-stone pedestrian streets. While they do have malls, the concept has never faired so well because such monstrous buildings can never quite capture the character of the street shops. This scene, I'm sure you can imagine, is especially quaint in the December month - when all such lanes are lined with festive lights and bustling with Christmas (or maybe I should say Jul?) shoppers. Add the smell of roasting almonds, the sound of an old church bell ringing, and a light snowfall dusting the ground, and you've got yourself one hyggelig experience!
 |
| Strøget - Copenhagen's Famous Pedestrian Street and My Favourite Place to Shop |
The seasonal celebrations started early when on the first of the month I attended a Jultræfest (Christmas Party) at my host sister's children's club. It was pretty much the entire celebration of Jul in an evening, but also some of the girls performed a Santa Lucia (which I guess is more of a Swedish tradition) and it was really neat to see them all in white, holding their candles and singing. The sweetest thing was dancing around the tree with all the excited little kids!
The next day I attended a Crazy Christmas Cabaret performance with my Rotary Club. This is an annual show written and put on by an English actress who long ago moved to Denmark, and while I thought it was kind of crude, it seems to be somewhat of a tradition for a lot of people! The funniest thing was the lady as a recurring character of hers, a little Danish doctor, who plays up on some of the stereotypes and throws in some Danglish for the amusement of the audience.
Speaking of which there's this funny little TV show on during the holidays, it is an old Julkalendar - which is an advent calendar of daily TV episodes (these are usually on every year for kids,) but I guess this one is just The Classic. The whole show is done by the same three guys and all of the jokes play off of
a.) the accent/dialect of people from the section of Denmark called Jutland
b.) The demeanor of a Copenhagener in comparison and
c.) The nissemænd who speak a mixture of English and Danish,
needless to say C was the most entertaining aspect for me, here's a little clip that most of you will probably find weird because it is too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXcPrbgPH1s
During the second weekend I went to visit Erin in Odense, where she hosted a Christmas baking party for like ten exchange students. It's always so nice to hang out with other exchange students, but especially my gal pal Erin who is also from Kamloops and from my Rotary District back home. This little baking party idea however was not so relaxing because there were ten of us, only a few of which actually did much of the work, and after a longggg day we had made about, I don't know, 300 COOKIES?! Literally. That's how many we made. So after we were completely exhausted and malnourished (did I mention we baked for 8 hours while running on four hours sleep?) it was safe to say it'd be a while before the next baking extravaganza..
Besides my White Christmas, I also had another holiday wish come true this season and that was to see a real live boys choir in a church! My Rotary Counsellor (who is basically taking me anywhere I wish to go, I am so thankful to him!) took me to see the Copenhagen Boy's Choir at a smaller church, where they sung a medley of seasonal songs.. including some english ones! Some of the boys were also very good, but mainly it was the whole movie vibe I enjoyed. :)
 |
| Up Next: Boys Choir |
The next night was my Rotary Club's Jule Middag (dinner) which actually began in the local church with a traditional "Nine Readings" (apparently this is an English tradition). Either way it was very charming because of the church itself - [shown below, thanks to google images ;)] and outside spotlights shone on the building, making it very lovely indeed. Afterwards was a traditional dinner (First course: dark bread with pickled herring, schnapps to drink. Second course: MEAT MEAT MEAT .. all sorts of strange meats, with some red beet salad, and Dessert: Risalamande.) I was not such a big fan of the schnapps or the BLOOD PUDDING, but I do like pickled herring, especially in curry sauce. We also had the usual speeches/toasts, where I got a book of Hans Christian Andersen fairytales and some Danish folk CDs, and then there was an incredibly awkward singing of Silent Night, done for my sake which was so sweet, but painful nonetheless..
After I had started my Christmas Countdown with something like 60 days to go, (SPEAKING OF WHICH I HAVE BEEN IN DENMARK 183 DAYS, AND I HAVE 153 DAYS LEFT,wow.)
it was finally the big day! Typically on the 23rd or close to Jul, families eat a dinner of "risengrød," which is a very sweet rice dish, however not quite rice pudding, and this is eaten with butter, sugar, and cinnamon with a drink of Jul Øl - a mix between pop and beer, without alcohol and popular for the kids. If they're feeling traditional, the risengrød is cooked first on the stove and is finished cooking in the bed, wrapped in a duvet. My last host family did it this way, and it's seriously practical! I guess the idea behind having risengrød on the 23rd is to make a lot so it can then be turned into tomorrow night's dessert - Risalamande! This night being...
JUL AFTEN!
In Denmark they celebrate Jul on the 24th, while the 25th and 26th are called First and Second Christmas Day (I only learned this year that boxing day is not in the US also?!)
So all in all, it was rather strange to have a shift in the order of things for Christmas. We spent the first half of the day sleeping late, eating breakfast and relaxing, and then moved into preparing for dinner, always a substantial task.
(Also! Normally in Denmark the Christmas tree is put up on the 23rd, sometimes decorated by say, the dad, as a surprise for the rest of the family, and almost always a real tree, lit by real fire burning candles. I guess because I kept asking when they planned on putting the tree up, my host family took it as a hint and so on the 14th when my counsellor came by he thought it was pretty weird like, "Why do you have your tree up already?.." so I realized it was basically for my sake, no complaints!)
After a lot of hard work we sat down to a lovely jul middag of turkey and stuffing (the tradition is actually to eat duck or sometimes pork roast, but my family prefers turkey, thankfully for me.) butter roasted potatoes, brown sugar potatoes, and a waldorf salad of apples, grapes, pecans and whipped cream. Overall it felt rather short on vegetables but also delicious. Next on the agenda was one of the cutest parts of the evening: where we held hands and sang danish songs, dancing around the christmas tree. The fact that we barely knew the words or could sing the songs just added to the charm and it was really sweet. I should also mention that Christmas consisted of my host mom and dad, their two daughters - a 25 year old living in London, and a 22 year old in the area, and my host dad's father who is quite literally a reincarnation of the old man in the beginning of The Aristocats, if you can recall.
After this we sat down to open presents, a process which went much quicker than at home because everyone opened a gift at once and it was much more casual. I was really lucky to receive a hair straightener, slippers, pajamas, lotions, etc.! As well I was overjoyed to get so many Christmas cards from home, thanks to everyone! And some nice care packages from home and my Rotary club in Kelowna! Talk about spoiled.
Finally after our gifts were opened (The gifts I bought for my host family members were all hits!) we sat down to dessert, Risalamande (French: ris à la mande, or rice pudding with hacked almonds eaten with cherry sauce, yummm.) The fun part about this tradition is that whoever finds the full almond in theirs gets a gift! However in our house everyone just so happened to find an almond in theirs, that's what my host mom is like. Completely stuffed, we settled down to watch 101 Dalmations, and called it a night. [Actually, we may have played trivial pursuit at some point in there, the days just blend together ;)]
Of course just before dinner I skyped in to my family Christmas in Kelowna, which I guess you could say was a little strange. I had thought Christmas would be the most likely time for homesickness, but I can't say that I was. I mean, I would have loved to be there, but I could easily accept the fact that I was not, and I went into Christmas in Denmark with no expectations, so it was very nice. That being said, I really love Christmas at home, I think holding it from the morning on is more exciting, and I just love the way my family does things! So the holidays next year are going to be that much more special. :)
 |
| We went for a walk on the 25th. |
First Course: Dark bread, french bread, tuna salad, pickled herring, salmon (they always eat it basically raw,) prawn salad
Second Course: Dark bread, french bread, meatballs, roast beef, liverpaste with bacon, porkroast, rolled spiced pork, a bit of pickles and beet salad
Third Course: French bread, cheese, grapes
Tea, Coffee, Cookies
Basically, it's a good thing I stopped being a vegetarian for the year.
We ended the day with a gift exchange game where every time you roll a six you get to take or steal a gift, so sometimes people end up with 4 gifts when the time runs out, but I'm guessing it's custom to deal them out so everyone gets one anyway.
Post jul I enjoyed my vacation, did a little sales shopping, hung out with my friend before he returned to Australia, and celebrated New Years with some friends, getting sushi and watching the fireworks in the city square of Copenhagen!
I was so excited when it occurred to me the other day: last year in the months of January, February, March I was in Canada, Los Angeles, and Hawaii. And this year I am in Denmark, Sweden and Ireland. I have such a wonderful life! And I am so thankful for the chance to do all of this.
Now I'm going to take a wild guess that only my parents actually read this whole thing, love you guys! I honestly have no idea how I can ramble on so long. I think it's because I don't have to do homework or something..
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Hvad laver du?
I suppose many people might be wondering; what is it I do exactly?? Well that's a very good question!
In many ways, I do a lot of the things I did at home, except maybe a little less homework and a little more madly flipping through a dictionary. But besides the everyday, I am of course trying to take advantage of every opportunity possible to me! After all, I'm only here for one year, and I want to see all that Denmark has to offer. This is something I plan on taking home with me actually, replacing the words one with one-hundred and Denmark with The World. It may seems obvious of course, but I think when we get into our daily routine we forget that we will only have one life to see this world and we better get checking things off the Bucket List!
So using my handy little iCal as somewhat of a diary, I've recorded all the notable things I have done in the past four months and now I would like to give you an idea. Some may be more exciting that others but they have all been good memories and together they are adding up a wonderful year.
August, September, Oktober, November: A Compilation
- biked into København
- saw the Worlds Greatest Catwalk at CPH Fashion Festival
- cheered on triathletes (8.5 + hours! insanity.)
- enjoyed cover band - The Abbatizers, in the rain!
- made a GIANT black forest cake
- saw up-and-coming band, The Striving Vines
- went to Århus Modern Art Museum, twice.
- attended several exchange student get togethers of ~200 crazy young people.
- toured through an incredibly peaceful/futuristic inflatable "building" made by Air Architects; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTwmRYtlCps
- seen Tivoli decked out for Summer, Halloween and Christmas
- dined at a $500 meal of 6
- watched Midsomer Murders nearly every Saturday
- learned at three separate Danish courses (still working on it!)
- watched Harry Potters 1-6
- saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in Denmark AND Sweden (cried both times)
- listened to 600 people chew popcorn in the biggest movie theatre in Denmark
- attended 4 birthdays
- skyped people in 4+ countries
- tried to learn French and Danish simultaneously. SO CONFUSING
- biked 30 km in one trip!
- mastered public transit (nearly.)
- payed a $150 fine for not having the proper ticket
- paid a brief visit to Canada, aka the embassy
- learned how to eat everything with a fork and knife at all times, even hamburgers
- cooked some excellent impromptu pad thai, among many other new dishes
- attended my first baptism
- went to Voice '10, a concert at Tivoli with absolutely every big name in Danish popular music
- saw Scottish folk band, The McCalmans
- made apple juice with freshly picked fruit from the neighbours tree
- went to both a Glamrock and Rave themed school party, saw the biggest drunken chaos I never thought possible in a school, with teachers selling the alcohol
- loaned books and CDs from the library downtown Copenhagen
- woke up in bed with a spider the size of my palm, NO JOKE.
- roasted bread dough on a stick
- saw Bob Dylan's paintings on display
- broke an expensive wineglass
- visited several museums and art galleries (ancient greek/roman art, french paintings, mummies, oh my!)
- ate a Kazakstan style feast
- had dinner guests from Miami
- toured Denmark's oldest city (traces found from permanent settlements circa year 710)
- went to IKEA! with a whole new understanding of Scandinavian design
- spent time in Christiana: free town, almost a country in itself: when you exit the sign says, "You are now returning to the EU"
- went bowling, played dismally
- played piano in a school concert!
- created in 3 hours then performed a dance for 300 people to It's a Hard Knock Life..
- went to the most expensive Starbucks in the world ($10 latte, whatsup!) and the only one in Scandinavia, in the CPH airport
- hung out with two other Canadians from Kamloops, first in CPH, then in Sweden!
- joined the gym!
- spent four hours of my Saturday travelling to and from the mall. but happy to have SNOW! :)
- paid for a veryyy expensive haircut - $$$ what else is new
- packed up all my things and moved families!
- went to the dentist
- tried deer, among others
- ate a whole pizza!
- held hands and danced around the Christmas tree singing "Nu' det jul igen"
- saw a Santa Lucia
AMONG OTHERS :)
Congratulations if you read the whole list!
Writing it I couldn't help but smile to myself thinking about how lovely my life is :)
And I would encourage others to do something similar! Because it's so nice to
appreciate everything we've done in our lives, it only takes a minute to realize how lucky we are.
So until next time, MUCH LOVE!
In many ways, I do a lot of the things I did at home, except maybe a little less homework and a little more madly flipping through a dictionary. But besides the everyday, I am of course trying to take advantage of every opportunity possible to me! After all, I'm only here for one year, and I want to see all that Denmark has to offer. This is something I plan on taking home with me actually, replacing the words one with one-hundred and Denmark with The World. It may seems obvious of course, but I think when we get into our daily routine we forget that we will only have one life to see this world and we better get checking things off the Bucket List!
So using my handy little iCal as somewhat of a diary, I've recorded all the notable things I have done in the past four months and now I would like to give you an idea. Some may be more exciting that others but they have all been good memories and together they are adding up a wonderful year.
August, September, Oktober, November: A Compilation
- biked into København
- saw the Worlds Greatest Catwalk at CPH Fashion Festival
- cheered on triathletes (8.5 + hours! insanity.)
- enjoyed cover band - The Abbatizers, in the rain!
- made a GIANT black forest cake
- saw up-and-coming band, The Striving Vines
- went to Århus Modern Art Museum, twice.
- attended several exchange student get togethers of ~200 crazy young people.
- toured through an incredibly peaceful/futuristic inflatable "building" made by Air Architects; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTwmRYtlCps
- seen Tivoli decked out for Summer, Halloween and Christmas
- dined at a $500 meal of 6
- watched Midsomer Murders nearly every Saturday
- learned at three separate Danish courses (still working on it!)
- watched Harry Potters 1-6
- saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in Denmark AND Sweden (cried both times)
- listened to 600 people chew popcorn in the biggest movie theatre in Denmark
- attended 4 birthdays
- skyped people in 4+ countries
- tried to learn French and Danish simultaneously. SO CONFUSING
- biked 30 km in one trip!
- mastered public transit (nearly.)
- payed a $150 fine for not having the proper ticket
- paid a brief visit to Canada, aka the embassy
- learned how to eat everything with a fork and knife at all times, even hamburgers
- cooked some excellent impromptu pad thai, among many other new dishes
- attended my first baptism
- went to Voice '10, a concert at Tivoli with absolutely every big name in Danish popular music
- saw Scottish folk band, The McCalmans
- made apple juice with freshly picked fruit from the neighbours tree
- went to both a Glamrock and Rave themed school party, saw the biggest drunken chaos I never thought possible in a school, with teachers selling the alcohol
- loaned books and CDs from the library downtown Copenhagen
- woke up in bed with a spider the size of my palm, NO JOKE.
- roasted bread dough on a stick
- saw Bob Dylan's paintings on display
- broke an expensive wineglass
- visited several museums and art galleries (ancient greek/roman art, french paintings, mummies, oh my!)
- ate a Kazakstan style feast
- had dinner guests from Miami
- toured Denmark's oldest city (traces found from permanent settlements circa year 710)
- went to IKEA! with a whole new understanding of Scandinavian design
- spent time in Christiana: free town, almost a country in itself: when you exit the sign says, "You are now returning to the EU"
- went bowling, played dismally
- played piano in a school concert!
- created in 3 hours then performed a dance for 300 people to It's a Hard Knock Life..
- went to the most expensive Starbucks in the world ($10 latte, whatsup!) and the only one in Scandinavia, in the CPH airport
- hung out with two other Canadians from Kamloops, first in CPH, then in Sweden!
- joined the gym!
- spent four hours of my Saturday travelling to and from the mall. but happy to have SNOW! :)
- paid for a veryyy expensive haircut - $$$ what else is new
- packed up all my things and moved families!
- went to the dentist
- tried deer, among others
- ate a whole pizza!
- held hands and danced around the Christmas tree singing "Nu' det jul igen"
- saw a Santa Lucia
AMONG OTHERS :)
Congratulations if you read the whole list!
Writing it I couldn't help but smile to myself thinking about how lovely my life is :)
And I would encourage others to do something similar! Because it's so nice to
appreciate everything we've done in our lives, it only takes a minute to realize how lucky we are.
So until next time, MUCH LOVE!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Tak for i dag!
I can't really believe it; I have been in Denmark for three months! The first two months felt like the unfolded pretty slowly with lots of new things entering my life at a steady pace, and on October first I thought, wow two months. And now it's November. And I don't really know what happened to that third month. At this point I can foresee that the rest of the year is going to absolutely fly by, and I think this is because - life is normal. It's just like my life would disappear before my eyes back in Canada, like grade 12 for example, felt like one stressful deadline after another until suddenly I was walking across the stage in cap and gown wondering what happened to my high school years. I remember it was during one of the last few days of school, as my mom can attest ;), I woke up from a nap and just started bawling! I couldn't believe this period in my life was coming to an end and all of a sudden I felt an enormous sadness for how much I would miss it and all the people who had surrounded me for so many years. This mini meltdown came as quite a shock to me, as I hadn't realized how much I actually enjoyed high school and suddenly it was all over.
THIS, is not something I want to happen with my year in Denmark, or the rest of my life for that matter. Already I can see myself becoming lost in the day to day, and in a foreign country! But now that Denmark feels like home, my days have began to melt together and I think I may have lost touch with what I want from this year. Just last weekend we had a Rotary Get-Together with all the exchange students in the country, including the "Oldies" whom we hadn't gotten together with before. These students, Australians and Brazilians who have been here since January, have only two months left in Denmark and by the end of the weekend they were pretty emotional about having to leave and saying goodbye to one another. I might not even be an Oldie yet but already I feel nervous about when that time will come for me! And like I said, I can tell it's fast approaching. Just like high school, I know I will look back on this year and think what an amazing experience it was and reminisce on all my fond memories, grateful to have had such an opportunity, but I don't want it to be another one of those things I don't appreciate until the chance has past.
So that is my goal. To live this year, and my life, as if I was looking back on it. To not get caught up in the inconsequential and menial activities that take up way too much of my time, but to live each day with the big picture in mind, because as John Lennon says, "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." Well I know I can be pretty good at planning, but right now, I'd really like to improve upon living. I know that the rest of my exchange will go very quickly and I aim to be grateful for every moment I have!
xxoo Sarah.
THIS, is not something I want to happen with my year in Denmark, or the rest of my life for that matter. Already I can see myself becoming lost in the day to day, and in a foreign country! But now that Denmark feels like home, my days have began to melt together and I think I may have lost touch with what I want from this year. Just last weekend we had a Rotary Get-Together with all the exchange students in the country, including the "Oldies" whom we hadn't gotten together with before. These students, Australians and Brazilians who have been here since January, have only two months left in Denmark and by the end of the weekend they were pretty emotional about having to leave and saying goodbye to one another. I might not even be an Oldie yet but already I feel nervous about when that time will come for me! And like I said, I can tell it's fast approaching. Just like high school, I know I will look back on this year and think what an amazing experience it was and reminisce on all my fond memories, grateful to have had such an opportunity, but I don't want it to be another one of those things I don't appreciate until the chance has past.
So that is my goal. To live this year, and my life, as if I was looking back on it. To not get caught up in the inconsequential and menial activities that take up way too much of my time, but to live each day with the big picture in mind, because as John Lennon says, "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." Well I know I can be pretty good at planning, but right now, I'd really like to improve upon living. I know that the rest of my exchange will go very quickly and I aim to be grateful for every moment I have!
xxoo Sarah.
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| Fish for Lunch :) |
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| The Summer House |
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| The North Sea |
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| Fanø, an island we visited. |
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