The hardest part of blogging, is finding a way to start each blog post. So in saying that, I began my bog post and got that out of the way.(Nifty, am I right?) Well the past two weeks have been full of fun experiences and stories, that I am happy to share with you. Last weekend, I had a rotary get together with my district. We went to Kalundborg for the weekend and slept at the school. I had the chance to meet more exchange students from Australia and New Zealand. We went on a long bike ride along the coast, or as we called it, tour de Kalundborg. For some reason, my bike was slower than the rest of the group, and I knew I was peddling just as fast as the others, and I thought it was just because I was just in the wrong gear or something. During the last kilometer, we discovered that I had a flat tire. THE ENTIRE TIME. I wasn't even mad though in the end, because I was just so greatful to de-tatch myself from that torture device that I guess some people call a bike "seat". Let's just say that bikes and I aren't really on friendly terms at the moment. We finished the bike ride off with a barbeque and a walk to the light house, it was beautiful, but I might have enjoyed it a bit more, if I could have stopped thinking about how I might never have children because of that bike seat. Moving on from that, later that night we had a suit and tie dinner with rotary, and they gave us punch with dry ice, and we all felt pretty cool, until we remembered we were at a party with a lot of Rotarians. After the dinner party, the Danish band move out came and gave us a concert. They were great, but it was awkward at times, because there was only about 40 of us, and when half of the exchange students trickle away from the dance, floor, it just gets uncomfortable. I never leave dance floors when there is a live band because I feel guilty. at one point there was literally only five of us on the dance floor. It was interesting. there is no way to hide what a bad dancer you are when there is only five of you. but the awkwardness doesn't stop there. There was a Danish song that they sang, where the chorus went "oooohhh ayyyyyy" and the lead singer would go to up to usand have us sing ooooohhhh ayyyy in the mic, and the lead singer came up to me and put that stupid mic up in my face, and the noise that came out of mouth could only be likend to a goat in labor with triplets. Following that was the awkward eye contact with the lead singer, as he tried processing the sound he just heard. I quickly escaped the dance floor, laughing like a crazy person. I'm not even embarrassed. I may have lost a little bit of my dignity on the dance floor, but I had fun doing it, and I made others laugh. No regrets.
On Wednesday, Bibi, Astrid and Nadia took me to the cafe to get a giant plate of these FANTASTIC fries. They eat fries with mayonnaise here, which I though would be weird, but it was actually delicious. I bought a bottle of Denmarks famous, Cocio, and chugged it, because why not. Apparently laughing when someone burps is universal, not just an American thing. Well, most of America, my mom never laughed when I burped. I wonder why. Anyways, after I chugged the chocolate milk, I began burping, which caused quite the fit of laughter among my friends. we legitimately laughed to the point of tears for about Ten minutes. The cafe employees were mocking us.
On Friday night I went to My rotary counselors house for dinner. She has two sons, a 21 year old, and a 17 year, and a 14 year old daughter. And the boys both had their girlfriends over, so it was a big group. It was super fun, because Pernilles family is really funny, and they loved teaching me to say....certain things..... we ate dinner and ice cream, and then we watched America's Funniest Home Videos, and they had put bowls full of Danish candy on the table for us to eat. Oh and then we watched a Danish police show, which as entertaining for e, because nothing bad ever really happens in Denmark. The crime rates are very low, so a lot of what the show consisted of was dorks on scooter going 30 kilometers faster than they were allowed. They have made plans to take me to Roskide, a big city with viking ships. Oh and tragic news about vikings, their helmets never actually had horns on them. My whole life is a lie.
Saturday, Bodil and I went on the train to København (Copenhagen) and explored. On the train, there was this older lady sitting in the seats next to us, and she just casually pulled out a cucumber, cutting board and knife (which was illegal) and just began chopping away. I thought she was just going to eat the cucumber, but oh no, she then pulled out cilantro, a head of lettuce, and a salad bowl. A BIG salad bowl. Grandmas can get away with anything. Anyways, we arrived in Copenhagen, and we took a taxi to Nyboder, the area where all of the famous colorful buildings are. We took an hour long tour in a boat through all the canals in Copenhagen. we saw the Opera house, many old, grand, European style churches, the queens home, and several other buildings. I have a deep love for European architecture. There is so much history in all of the old buildings here, that we simply don't have in the U.S. I have seen so many buildings and castles built from 1500-1850's, and I am constantly in awe. I'm kind of a history junkie, so that might be why I love it. After the boat tour, we explored the many, MANY streets of Copenhagen. I felt like I couldn't to cobblestone streets, because I was just floating along with the sea of people. We went into this mall, that only had designer brands, so the cheapest thing there was about 600 kroner. You would have to sell your firstborn child to buy a scarf there. I'm okay with my old navy and target brand clothing. Then we wandered from shop to shop, and I ended up spending 300 kroner on a hat. I don't know why, but I felt compelled to buy a hat for that much, but I did. I ate ''the Best burger'' for lunch at a famous restraunt in Nyhavn. I saw the Parliment building, and several statues. Copenhagen is a Beautiful city, and I would live there if I could. Well that it for now. comment Below if you have any questions (:
Next post I might talk a little bit about what it is like living in Europe during the refugee Crisis.
Monday, September 21, 2015
Monday, September 7, 2015
1 month
Hello everybody! I'm beginning to realize why so many exchange students struggle to keep up with their blog. So much happens, its so hard to keep track of. I'll start with last weekend. My host mom set a play date up for me and my host brother with some kids from Johannes shooting club, Anne and mads. They came over and we all ate cake in the garden, and then we drove the Quad around and gave them a tour of the property. I also learned to play a traditional Danish game called Kubb, and the object is to knock over wooden blocks with sticks. Then they stayed over for dinner, and we ate lamb. And then I had my first taste of the very traditional danish dessert, Rødgrød med flød (which also doubles as a tongue twister for English speakers).The next day my host mom took me to this viking museum, and showed me the sight where one of the largest viking halls in denmark was located, right on lake Tissø. Later that day Anne invited me to go to their family barbeque, and to the beach afterwards. I was confused why anyone would go swimming in the ocean so late, but as we all shuffled out of the car, I began to understand. It was sunset when we arrived, and it was so peaceful and beautiful. We all dived right into the very cold water (comparable to Oregon water) But swimming in the ocean in Denmark is a completely different experience from ''swimming'' at the beach in Oregon. There aren't waves and the water is crystal clear. So I was able to swim really far out, and enjoy the sunset as it dipped below the horizon. After we finished swimming we walked down the docks and looked at all of the sail boats. We headed back that night and I got home around 10:00, and I still had to pack because I was leaving for intro camp in bjerringborg at 8:00 the next morning.
Intro Camp
It was incredible. My week consisted of hanging out with exchange students from all over the world for a week, and experiencing Denmark. I had Danish lessons for 6 hours everyday. That seems like a lot, but actually it was nice to have a proper Danish, lesson, because so far, my Danish has all been self taught, so its very flawed. We had lots of workshops at night to keep us busy, for example there was a Michael Jackson choir, Phillipino stick fighting, Salsa workshop, yoga etc. etc. Oh and yes, I took part in the Philipino stick fighting. I have achieved my dream of becoming a ninja master. One night we had a concert, and the up and coming Danish rock band Velvet Volume played for us, and the last night we had a dance party. I look like a dying beluga whale when I dance, so thankfully my friends taught me a few moves. Oh and can I just say, South Americans will beat you in a dance off EVERY time. I don't care if you are Micheal Jacksons secret love child. South Americans, they can dance like nobodies business. Moving on from that, one day they let all 165 of us go to the local grocery to buy candy. I hate lines and competition when it comes to food, so I led the herd of exchange students to the store, and stayed ahead of the pack. I raced in and garabbed all the chocolate I could get find, and raced through the line. I ended up buying 118 kroner worth of chocolate. I regret nothing. The best part of intro camp was going to Århus, the second biggest city in Denmark. We went on a tour of the coolest museum I have ever been in, ARoS Art museum. It has Nine levels, and it is set up so that you are starting in hell, level 9 in the basement, and walking up to heaven, the rainbow window circle at the top, where you can see the city in all of the colors of the rainbow, and the view is incredible. In hell, there were these rooms with mirrors on all the walls, so you just see your self go on forever. It was pretty genius, at least in my opinion. There was also this statue of this child, squatting. I am about as tall as his knee. The boy looks so real and life like, its insane. I posted a picture on face book of the boy so you could see. If you want to look it up, search ''ARoS Dreng''. I think one of my favorite rooms in the museum was this fog room, with al the colors of the rainbow, but you would wander around the room not seeing anyone, even though they were three feet away from you. As you would walk into a different color of fog, you would be blind for a little bit while your eyes adjusted. I took a video of it but I realized all you see is color, so it would not be nearly as cool for someone to watch. I walked into the walls several times. If you ever find yourself in Denmark, I highly suggest you go to ARoS Kunstmuseum. After the museum, my friends and I wandered down the shopping district in Århus, and got some Chinese food for lunch with the old Australian exchange students( the Australians have been here since January, so they are given the name of oldie.) We visited this old church and several cool shops, and we got some Ben and Jerry's Ice cream(ice cream is a necessity). These were just the highlights of intro camp, but really the best time I had was hanging out and singing Whitney Huston and eating chocolate and swapping embarrasing (fart related) stories with some amazing people. Its crazy how you can be thrown together with a bunch of crazy teenager, all struggling to learn an impossible language and integrate into Danish culture, and you find some of your greatest friends in just a week. I sometimes grumpily talk about how annoying people(in general) can be, but really I love people. We are all so different, and see the world so differently, and we live very different lives, yet we share so much in common. When you look past the stereo types and what you thought you knew about a person, or what your country tells you to think about someone, you see a human being, same as you. You see that they have a passions and feelings or opinions you never expected, or stories that make you chuckle, or amaze you. Humans are pretty incredible, and exchange has taught to appreciate people more, and how unique all of our lives are.
Moving on from that tangent...
The next week, my host mom took me to Carmels, a cafe in Slagelse, and I got a heaping plate of curry pasta with bacon, it was as fabulous as it sounds, and learned the hard way that take home boxes aren't a thing in Denmark. Its tragic really. They don't know what they are missing out on. I also had my first tennis practice last Monday. I have never played before, but I kicked butt. It may be because I was playing wíth 10 year olds, but I think I'm on my way to being in the Olypmics. I know, I'm so humble. All jokes aside, My coach wants to move me up to the more advanced class, which is pretty exciting, because really I have not 1 athletic bone in my body. Hopefully my coach doesn't figure that out. Anyways, exciting news, I had my First sleep over last Friday, and I even set it up myself. Bibi came over and we watched High School Musical 3 sing along, and ate a whole box of Flødeboller (no regrets) and it was super hyggeligt.
Oh one last thing, I need help thinking of some American food to make for my family. Got any Ideas? Comment below.(Something other than burgers and pizza)
Intro Camp
It was incredible. My week consisted of hanging out with exchange students from all over the world for a week, and experiencing Denmark. I had Danish lessons for 6 hours everyday. That seems like a lot, but actually it was nice to have a proper Danish, lesson, because so far, my Danish has all been self taught, so its very flawed. We had lots of workshops at night to keep us busy, for example there was a Michael Jackson choir, Phillipino stick fighting, Salsa workshop, yoga etc. etc. Oh and yes, I took part in the Philipino stick fighting. I have achieved my dream of becoming a ninja master. One night we had a concert, and the up and coming Danish rock band Velvet Volume played for us, and the last night we had a dance party. I look like a dying beluga whale when I dance, so thankfully my friends taught me a few moves. Oh and can I just say, South Americans will beat you in a dance off EVERY time. I don't care if you are Micheal Jacksons secret love child. South Americans, they can dance like nobodies business. Moving on from that, one day they let all 165 of us go to the local grocery to buy candy. I hate lines and competition when it comes to food, so I led the herd of exchange students to the store, and stayed ahead of the pack. I raced in and garabbed all the chocolate I could get find, and raced through the line. I ended up buying 118 kroner worth of chocolate. I regret nothing. The best part of intro camp was going to Århus, the second biggest city in Denmark. We went on a tour of the coolest museum I have ever been in, ARoS Art museum. It has Nine levels, and it is set up so that you are starting in hell, level 9 in the basement, and walking up to heaven, the rainbow window circle at the top, where you can see the city in all of the colors of the rainbow, and the view is incredible. In hell, there were these rooms with mirrors on all the walls, so you just see your self go on forever. It was pretty genius, at least in my opinion. There was also this statue of this child, squatting. I am about as tall as his knee. The boy looks so real and life like, its insane. I posted a picture on face book of the boy so you could see. If you want to look it up, search ''ARoS Dreng''. I think one of my favorite rooms in the museum was this fog room, with al the colors of the rainbow, but you would wander around the room not seeing anyone, even though they were three feet away from you. As you would walk into a different color of fog, you would be blind for a little bit while your eyes adjusted. I took a video of it but I realized all you see is color, so it would not be nearly as cool for someone to watch. I walked into the walls several times. If you ever find yourself in Denmark, I highly suggest you go to ARoS Kunstmuseum. After the museum, my friends and I wandered down the shopping district in Århus, and got some Chinese food for lunch with the old Australian exchange students( the Australians have been here since January, so they are given the name of oldie.) We visited this old church and several cool shops, and we got some Ben and Jerry's Ice cream(ice cream is a necessity). These were just the highlights of intro camp, but really the best time I had was hanging out and singing Whitney Huston and eating chocolate and swapping embarrasing (fart related) stories with some amazing people. Its crazy how you can be thrown together with a bunch of crazy teenager, all struggling to learn an impossible language and integrate into Danish culture, and you find some of your greatest friends in just a week. I sometimes grumpily talk about how annoying people(in general) can be, but really I love people. We are all so different, and see the world so differently, and we live very different lives, yet we share so much in common. When you look past the stereo types and what you thought you knew about a person, or what your country tells you to think about someone, you see a human being, same as you. You see that they have a passions and feelings or opinions you never expected, or stories that make you chuckle, or amaze you. Humans are pretty incredible, and exchange has taught to appreciate people more, and how unique all of our lives are.
Moving on from that tangent...
The next week, my host mom took me to Carmels, a cafe in Slagelse, and I got a heaping plate of curry pasta with bacon, it was as fabulous as it sounds, and learned the hard way that take home boxes aren't a thing in Denmark. Its tragic really. They don't know what they are missing out on. I also had my first tennis practice last Monday. I have never played before, but I kicked butt. It may be because I was playing wíth 10 year olds, but I think I'm on my way to being in the Olypmics. I know, I'm so humble. All jokes aside, My coach wants to move me up to the more advanced class, which is pretty exciting, because really I have not 1 athletic bone in my body. Hopefully my coach doesn't figure that out. Anyways, exciting news, I had my First sleep over last Friday, and I even set it up myself. Bibi came over and we watched High School Musical 3 sing along, and ate a whole box of Flødeboller (no regrets) and it was super hyggeligt.
Oh one last thing, I need help thinking of some American food to make for my family. Got any Ideas? Comment below.(Something other than burgers and pizza)
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