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.
 |
| Fish for Lunch :) |
 |
| The Summer House |
 |
| The North Sea |
 |
| Fanø, an island we visited. |
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Vil du taler langsommere?
 |
| 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.[
Friday, August 13, 2010
Velkommen til Danmark!
Hej everyone!
So I've been in Denmark for almost two weeks now and I figured it's about time to get a blog up and running to keep everyone (or whoever's interested..) in Canada informed on what I get up to over here. (And that way instead of writing twenty emails, I only write one!)
It's hard to believe that just twelve days ago I was at my house in Kelowna, but even harder to imagine that I won't be there again for another eleven months! Saying goodbye was definitely not easy and I know I will (and I do!) miss all my friends and family over the next year. But as they say, your year in Rotary Youth Exchange will be "The Best Year of Your Life" and I want to make sure I have the greatest year possible! So if you find I fall behind in keeping in touch, just know that I am having fun, fully immersed in my Danish life and that I love you all!
Of course I am thinking of everyone from home always and I plan to update my blog every two weeks! (We'll see how that goes..)
So, My First Two Weeks in Denmark
For my flight over I had the pleasure of flying first class. I don't know how that happened but thank you Rotary!
Good Things About Flying Firstclass:
So I've been in Denmark for almost two weeks now and I figured it's about time to get a blog up and running to keep everyone (or whoever's interested..) in Canada informed on what I get up to over here. (And that way instead of writing twenty emails, I only write one!)
It's hard to believe that just twelve days ago I was at my house in Kelowna, but even harder to imagine that I won't be there again for another eleven months! Saying goodbye was definitely not easy and I know I will (and I do!) miss all my friends and family over the next year. But as they say, your year in Rotary Youth Exchange will be "The Best Year of Your Life" and I want to make sure I have the greatest year possible! So if you find I fall behind in keeping in touch, just know that I am having fun, fully immersed in my Danish life and that I love you all!
Of course I am thinking of everyone from home always and I plan to update my blog every two weeks! (We'll see how that goes..)
So, My First Two Weeks in Denmark
For my flight over I had the pleasure of flying first class. I don't know how that happened but thank you Rotary!
Good Things About Flying Firstclass:
- When you have an airport layover you can relax in the lounge and help yourself to complimentary food, beverages, WiFi and more!
- Leg Room!
- Overnight flights come with an amenity kit with: socks, lip chap, toothbrush and paste, etc.
- 3 Menus to choose from. (I selected the crab-avacado salad, beef filet with roasted vegetables, and chocolate mousse for dessert!)
Nicest Airport: Keflavik International, Iceland
Most Unnecessary Airport Aids:
- Five thousand printouts of the airport layout from different angles. (Thanks anyways Mom!)
- Sea-Tac airport help stations with attendants who don't speak English.
With all my first class luxury, the flight over didn't feel long at all and before I knew it, I was in Copenhagen!
People I've Stayed With Here in Denmark:
- Anker Tvermosegaard and his wife Gudrun - 1 night
- The first day I was picked up from the airport by my Rotary Club Counsellor and his wife, whom I spent my first night in Denmark with. They both speak nearly perfect English (She speaks 5 languages actually..) and so they were able to give my tons of information on just about everything. They were very knowledgable and provided the perfect introduction to Denmark!
- Bjarne and Birthe Karlsson - 4 nights
- Next I moved in with another Rotarian, Bjarne and his wife Birthe. Their apartment is right downtown Copenhagen and walking distance from just about everything you'd want to see! As well, for one night we stayed at the Sommer Hus, where they live for 6 months of the year, which is north of the city by a beach town. It was great driving to and from the summer house because I got to see the Danish countryside and it was a beautiful drive.
- The Ingemann's - My first host family!
- Finally at the end of the week I moved in with my first host family and getting to unpack my suitcases was probably the best thing to ever happen to me. I'm now living in a nice family home in the suburb, Brønshøj, just a twenty minute train ride from downtown Copenhagen. (And that's a fact because I've done it!) My family consists of Dad, Jens, Mom, Helle, Anna (18) and Dina (12). Right away I'm like part of the family! Oh and we have a cat named Mees. The Ingemann's are very active, they bike everywhere and love to swim and travel, and the eat so well! I think while I live here I will learn to cook because it seems like one of their favourite things to do together as a family.
So far everyone I have stayed with have been so kind and welcoming! Since arriving in Denmark I think I have felt pretty at home where ever I've been. And already I have seen so much!
The Sights I've Soaked In:
- Roskilde -
- A quaint city with a famous music festival. Anker took me the first day after getting my social security card. We went to the Domkirke, a big, beautiful church full of buried royals!
- The Viking Ship Museum -
- After the church, Anker and I went to this museum situated on a bay where they found actual viking ships in the water.
- Tivoli -
- I didn't actually ride the rides, but I went for dinner my first night with the Karlssons and we met their grown son Rasmus and his gf, Charlotte. The dinner was excellent! Not to mention super expensive... And Tivoli was so charming at night with all the lights. It's true Danish style: smallscale and charming.
- Tisvildeleje -
- At the summer house, Birthe and I took the bikes down a bike path through the woods to the beach town of Tisvildeleje where we had ice cream. The Danes really love to be outside and everyone was so blond and tan! And I set my feet in the Baltic for the first time :)
- Downtown Copenhagen - Birthe and I walked from the apartment all over downtown.
- Christiansborg-
- Where parliament is.
- Strøget -
- The longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe where I could potentially spend A LOT of money.
- Nyhavn -
- The famous Danish harbour full of colourful buildings and bustling with people.
- The Canals -
- We took a Canal boat tour through the water around downtown and explored all the areas situated on the water. Many important buildings like the theatre, the opera house, and the library are on the water because it's so beautiful.
- Amalienborg -
- The last day with Birthe, we went to the palace which is comprised of four buildings I think? And one of these buildings which had not been updated since 1936 was recently renovated for the Crown Prince, Frederik, and his Australian wife, Mary to move into. So for a limited time only, the palace was open to the public to see the renovations (sans furniture) and we went on the last day! It was the longest line (The Royal Family is pretty popular I think.) but it was really cool to see! One of the major changes was to introduce modern art into the palace to demonstrate the connection between art and architecture, so while the structure of the building was your typical old palace detail, there were all sorts of modern murals and art pieces by Danish artists throughout which was really interesting.
It was quite a busy first week. Thankfully jet lag didn't prove to be a huge problem but I do sleep very soundly! Apparently the other night the fire alarm went off and it's right outside my bedroom. The whole family came downstairs and I had nooo idea..
And already I have experience a lot of independence.
Some Adventures on My Own:
- Shopping in Strøget while Bjarne and Birthe were at work.
- Taking the train into Copenhagen for my first meeting with exchange students.
- Meeting up with my friend and fellow exchanger Erin from Kamloops.
- Biking to my school to see how long it would take, got a little lost mind you.. but all in all it's a nice ride!
So for the most part this past week I have been living the everyday life of my family, which has been equally nice. Everything from grocery shopping to gardening, swimming at the beach and the pool, making dinner, going to Dina's sailing lessons and watching Bridget Jones' Diary..
Now because everyone is at school and work during the day, I can't wait for school to start! And then IntroCamp for a week with all the exchange students in Denmark, which I think will be quite similar to summer camp, but with Danish lessons :)
So bye for now! I'll will try again in two weeks? Apparently I had a lot to say so I think next time will be shorter..
Kram!
Sarah
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)