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| A Church in Jylland (The Penisula) |
So here it is, October 3rd 2010 - two months in and 9 months in this beautiful little country to go! As you can probably imagine, A LOT has happened since my last (and only) post and I will be sure to update you on all of it. But first I'd just like to mention I am having the most hyggelig* autumn season so far.
IE: Yesterday, having had my school temafest the night before (theme party, glamrock) I was taking it easy, helped gather apples from the neighbours garden because she has way more than she could ever use and went with my family to the community "square" where some local couple who have a juice press brought it out for some good old fashioned community juice making. It was like a mini market with a man selling some fresh apples and pumpkins, a beer selling tent and a crepe van and, some shows were put on my local cheerleaders and a square dancing club. I even had a whole conversation with a native dane without them realizing I wasn't from Denmark! It went something like this...
Organic wool wearing 3 year old: Hej! Hvad hedder du?
Me: Hvad?
Him: Hvad hedder du?
Me: Jeg hedder Sarah.
Him: Ah.
So we made some fresh juice and ate some crepes, det var dejligt. And today we turned that juice into hot cider and ate it by the fireplace with apple pie! Very hyggelig*.
BUT TO FILL YOU IN!
Since my last post my life has become pretty standard, but always interesting nonetheless! The major regulating factor is that I now attend school five days a week and yep, you guessed it, the classes are in Danish. So considering that I don't actually speak Danish (though I'm trying!) there isn't a whole lot I'm capable of doing in class and that can make for a fairly boring time...
My Classes Are:
- History
- Social Science
- Ancient Civilizations
- Natural Geography
- Danish
- English
- PE
- Religion
- French
- Music
All in all, these are typically the subjects I am interested in, however the only classes I actually participate in are English, French and Music. That's fine with me though, because it really lightens the work load! Not that there is much homework actually.. From what I've observed in my class at least, gymnasium is not very vigorous. The class is in an uproar if they are assigned a bit of reading or a powerpoint which actually makes me feel grateful for the education I received in Canada, however I don't want to generalize as my class could be an exception.
Actually, my class is a bit exceptional because they are the music class, which makes them very interesting I think! Picture Dazed and Confused if you will. Really only half of the class is in music and the other half is some other discipline because it's a mixed class, (Yes we are with the same people for basically all of our classes.) but everyone is very nice and I really hope I can become good friends with them. So far my class has been very kind and welcoming but there is still the barrier with language there and I wouldn't say I have become good friends with them yet. On top of that they told me they are very close, so they could understand if I feel like it's a bit hard to break in, but I think that can be a positive thing when I finally do get really close with the class. One of the biggest things of course, is learning Danish.
Ohhhh, it's a hard language. Definitely not in the sense of grammar and syntax because it is rather similar to English in it's rules and often simpler. Therefore reading and writing comes very fast in my opinion. No it's difficult first of all in trying to make sense of the big indistinct blurb someone has just said to you by differentiating one word from the next, but that's nothing on trying to make the sounds yourself. As an English speaker it is especially difficult I think, because the sounds in English are so sharp and contrasting whereas Danish sounds more like a gag reflex. (And that's not too be rude!) The Danish know their language is difficult and they fully confess to "eating their words," so that the theoretical pronunciation and common pronunciation are much different.
Oftentimes when I say something in Danish and someone understands me I am really surprised, like "Actually?! Those were words I just said?" because it can definitely feel like one big debilitated tongue.
Yet despite the challenges there are sometimes it is incredibly exciting to notice progress and I only wish I could learn faster! It is just so tempting to take the easy way out by speaking English, when something feels urgent or I don't want to be a burden on the other person. However I know this is important and so I'm making a promise right now to practice my online lessons daily if I can and to insist on speaking more Danish at home!
Oh and I thought it would probably be a good idea to add some photos for those of you non-Facebookers:)
Last night my little host sister, Dina (12), and I made dinner for the family, HOMEMADE SUSHI :) We had some close calls but all in all it turned out really good! Then afterwards we watched Slumdog Millionaire and had ourselves a rigtig hyggelig aften.
Haha so funny story, I was supposed to post this a week ago and here we are.. but I honestly do want to blog more to inform you all as well as create memories for myself! So from now on, I will do my best to get something out there! :)
*hyggelig, adjective of the Danish word hygge, summed up by wikipedia:
"Hygge"
One of the fundamental aspects of Danish culture is "hygge", which, although translated as "coziness" is more akin to "tranquility". Hygge is a complete absence of anything annoying, irritating, or emotionally overwhelming, and the presence of and pleasure from comforting, gentle, and soothing things. Hygge is often associated with family and close friends. Christmas time when loved ones sit close together with candles lit on a cold rainy night is "hygge", as is grilling a pølse (Danish sausage) on a long summer evening. These examples, although they do not precisely define "hygge", can give an English speaker an idea of a deeply valued traditional concept of Danish culture.[
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