More Danish Traditions

Living with a host family in Denmark is just wonderful. It is a totally different way to see a country as you are involved in the happenings of every day life. You become part of the family, and celebrate with them on events and occasions such as birthdays, easter and even holidays. You also learn a lot about the culture from the 'inside' and learn rituals, family recipes and everything else involved in family history. I am totally loving this experience and think that it is one of the greatest advantages about Rotary Youth Exchange. On the weekend, I got to share a family experience with my little host brother Carl.

Okay, so in Denmark at the moment, so many young children are being 'conformated' and holding either conformation or nonformation parties for their family and friends. From what I understand though, this is not the traditional catholic ritual ceremony that occurs in Australia at the age of 10 years. It has similarities- such as the white dress and the heavy family involvement. however in Denmark, it parraells more of a coming of age party. The conformee is viewed as an adult by society and many parents choose to hold 'adult parties' for them. I got to experience this Danish tradition on the weekend, and I was even lucky enough to go to both a conformation and a nonformation!

So, the conformation party was held on Saturday night. This was the lovely Frida's party. She lives in the same common housing project as my host family. The party was just beautiful, all of the table decorations were tasteful and so beautifully done. The napkins were somehow carved into a flower looking shape and there were green and pink things decorated around the common house. It was so beautiful! Frida of course wore a white dress, and had been conformated  at Himmelev church (the local church from the area). The guests were her closest friends and family members and it was just such a hyggelit afternoon. The more I experience danish culture, the more I begin to understand the definition of hygge... and it is probs one of my most favourite things about Denmark (aside from the røgbrød mmmm lækker). The food served was also just delicious. A Danish prawn cocktail and salmon for entre... followed by a delicious dinner main course of roast beef or lamb, vegetables, potatoes of course and then dessert was a delicious chocolate cake. All was prepared by a chef! Talk about luxury. There were also lots of speeches, from both Frida and her parents. I could understand most... and they were just so soooo sweet. There was also a quiz held on Frida (I think thats a tradition... at every party i've been to, there has been a quiz on the person the party is being held for) and there was also a lot of song singing. Her uncle played her a song, and everyone sung the lyrics. It was so lovely! There was also a lot of 'skulls' (note not the danish spelling, but it sounds like skull which is fitting, as it is the danish word for cheers). There was some dancing after and I had a really lovely night just talking with Birka (who also lives in my cohousing project) It was super super hyggelit and it seemed like Frida had a wonderful evening :D which was the main thing. I am very lucky to have been involved in her special day!

It was quite funny though, as the first night that I arrived with my host family I went to a birthday party for Frida and her Dad. So the same guests that were at that party, were also at Frida's conformation. They were amazed at how much Danish i could actually talk... and I am even surprising myself. Sometimes I don't even know where it comes from! It's amazing how much 3 months has helped!  

The next morning was my little host brothers special day! There was a lot of preparations to be done... Mette, Carl and I had been busily baking cupcakes on Saturday and there was still a few that needed to be made on Sunday. Also the icing... so we made cupcakes, icing and just prepared the last minuet things for Carls special day! Then at 10, we all went into the common house to set up for the big day. Carl's theme was orange table cloths, orange serviettes and thai food for lunch (mmmmm yum!) So Mette had bought some things to make a centre piece out of and so it had a thai feel. We put the table cloths on, set the table, made flower arrangements, iced cakes and made sure that everything was in order. We then all had showers and got ready to greet Carl's guests. They all arrived at 1pm and Carl was so happy :) you could just tell that he was having a good time. There were a lot of people... i think around 48! Most were family and some of Carl's friends were also there. I met so many different people and shook so many different hands. Annanya (my favourite indian oldie, who is also on exchange with rotary) also came along for Carl's special day so it was so lovely to see her again! After the welcome drinks, we all sat down for a thai feast! Mette and Thomas then said their speech and we ate some more food. This was followed by Carl's speech that was soooo soooo sweet! You could just tell by his little beaming face that he was having a good day. Then dessert- which was fruit salad and ice cream... megger delicious! Oscar then gave his speech which was also sweet and then cupcakes were served. Like Frida's conformation, Carl's nonformation also was super hyggelit. I was so surprised at how many people were there and I spoke to so many of them... in danish too ;). One family had even lived in Sydney and had studied at Sydney Uni! I couldn't believe it. So many people are interested in Australia over here and have either been, are planning to go, or hope that they will get there one day! It was good to talk to her though about Australia, and she asked me questions on things like the difference between the Australian and danish school systems... very interesting! She also told me that Aarhus in Jetland holds Sculptures by the Sea once every two years! I am defiantly planning to go :D Princess Mary even makes it out there... however unfortunately i am on euro tour for the opening day so i dont think i will get to see her! But over all, Carl's nonformation was super nice and I had a super nice day. I am so lucky to have experienced this from the 'inside' and be involved in all the planning, the stress (or lack of) and then finally see how happy he was on the end day! It was super special. 

(note the difference, nonformation is where they don't have a church service before.. it is more like a coming of age party) 

The plans for this week:

-School, language school, gym sessions, runs (or maybe power walks ;) ), schools gala (like formal), maybe a trip to copenhagen this afternoon and somehow ill fit sleep in there too!

ps: EURO TOUR IS IN TWO WEEKS

which also means that i have two weeks left of school before two months summer vacation

Being an exchange student ROCKS! 

Miss you Australia!! 

Lest We Forget

ANZAC day is a very significant date on the Aussie calendar each year. The 25th of April marks the day where all Australian and New Zealanders stop to remember all those men and women who died serving our countries. It is a very special day that brings together the people of Australia and New Zealand. Most towns around Australia hold marches, where schools, soldiers, soldiers families and other organisations march through the main street. It has a really wonderful atmosphere. There are also Dawn Services and midday services following the march, where wreaths are laid in memory of all those who died. Poems, odes and songs are sung and the last post is played. This song is a very powerful one that can still give me goosebumps. ANZAC day has always been special to me, and so I was thrilled when I could celebrate it right here in Denmark. 

I did a little googling when I was bored in class one day and came across the Australian embassy website which had the details for a little service held at the ambassadors residence. So I asked around, and organised a tiny group of exchange students to attend. And yesterday was the big day. So at 9:30, I caught the train into Copenhagen armed with a map, trying to find the Ambassador's residence... I met up with fellow Aussie Laura and from there we attempted to tackle the Danish metro with great success! We got a little carried away with talking though and nearly missed our stop! But we eventually made it with time to spare! We waited for Georgia and Kate to arrive and from there we legged it through the ritzy part of Copenhagen, to the Australian Ambassador's house. I was so proud of us that we actually made it..(thanks to a Danish lady checking her mail box that pointed us in the right direction). We were greeted by a smiling Aussie with a super cool name (Sarah of course) and hearing the Aussie accent was just wonderful. So we walked around to the backyard where the service was being held. It had a really cute set up- the flags and of course just so many Aussies! Hearing the accent and listening to a conversation that you could understand every single word to was just AWESOME and something that made me feel very home on ANZAC day! Even hearing the presence of the slang integrated into conversation was just wonderful... the words up there was of course 'mate'.

The service began at 10:00 sharp, and followed a similar structure to those at home. There were wreath laying by other countries (which was pretty cool) and the last post was played where everyone observed a minutes silence. There was a really special atmosphere in the crowd, and it was a reminder that no matter where you are in the world, Aussie's will gather together to commemorate this very special day. Hearing the Aussie national anthem made me feel right at home although it did feel a little strange to be singing in Denmark. But it was very special and I will always remember this particular ANZAC day! I'm really glad that I found out about the service! There were light refreshments served at the end of the service which was AMAZING! We ate ACTUAL Aussie food!! Sausage rolls, laminations and ANZAC biscuits were served for the occasion. It was so nice just being in the company of other Aussies on the day! It was a very enjoyable morning that I throughly enjoyed! I'm really glad that I was able to do something for ANZAC day in Denmark! 

After the service, Georgia, Laura, Kate and I decided to spend the rest of the day in Copenhagen! So we were Aussie tourists for the day. Our first stop was of course the Little Mermaid which I have become a regular at now ;) third time visit i think- and many many more to come. We then walked around Copenhagen to get to Mary's palace! I was the tour guide for the day as I now know my way around Copenhagen! It's pretty cool and I have been in there so much these last few weeks. I love living so close! We then stopped in Nyhavn and met up with another Aussie exchange student. We just sat by the water, people watching and just talking about random things in general. We then had a caffein recharge with an iced coffee and were ready to hit up the shopping street. This was of course without a visit to the Disney store where we bought some Copenhagen badges for our blazers and other souvenir shops. We then said goodbye to Kate and Georgia and Laura and I stayed in Copenhagen buying some essential items for our Euro tour. A shop had 50% off EVERYTHING so we went to town! It was such a lovely afternoon though, just roaming the shopping street and enjoying each others company! We went home at around 7 and I crashed into bed. I have had such a busy weekend!

Mary, Tivoli and Berlin baby

This blog post is rather belated and so I do have to apologise. I have been so busy lately that finding time to write a blog has been rather difficult..... Butttt given that I am now sitting in Danish class whilst my class work on their assignment (which i do not have to do) I now have the perfect opportunity to write away....

So... Last Tuesday I went into Copenhagen with two of my friends from school to celebrate the Queen's birthday. At 12:00, the Queen along with the Danish royal family step onto the palace balcony to wave at all of the Danes gathered below. It was really special being in the crowd at the palace, waving the little danish flags at the beaming queen who was smiling down on all of her adoring subjects. It was something that I will remember for the rest of my life. Mary also made an appearance which i was rather excited about. I made sure I had my Aussie flag with me to wave just for her! My two friends from school helped me hold up my huge Aussie flag and we are convinced that Mary saw it in the crowd, smiled, laughed and waved at us. Direct eye contact was made. Needles to say my life is now complete... and I can go back to Australia proudly saying that I did indeed see Princess Mary. 

After our little Royal adventure, we ventured off through Copenhagen to Tivoli. Tivoli is one of the most magical places that i have ever experienced. There is such a wonderful atmosphere of fun, music and just pure awesomeness. Needles to say, it is now one of my favourite places in Copenhagen!! So we spent the afternoon eating ice cream, taking some rides and just enjoying the beautiful gardens that are in Tivoli. There wasn't many people there which was awesome as it meant that the ques for the rides were really short! I tried almosttttt everything.. There were cool rides like the giant swinging chairs that are similar to the ones at the Easter Show however these ones were higher and so you could have a beautiful view of Copenhagen! There were of course roller coasters, boat rides and other tummy turning fun that I thoroughly enjoyed. I had a magical day and I was so glad that I got to share it with two of my class mates :) We caught the train back home and were sooooo exhausted that we all crashed. The tiredness may have also been from the fact that we stayed up a little late on Monday night watching High School Musical in Danish and yes, Zac Efron is still cute with a Danish accent! 

The rest of last week was spent in between school, danish lessons, gym classes and relaxing under the sun reading a book!! Although I did spend one afternoon cleaning the school.....and making pavlovas with Isa and Mel :) 

The weather though is finally starting to get warmer here and Spring in DK is awesome. All of the flowers are starting to bloom and I love it! I also managed to get sunburnt on the weekend... never thought that would happen here!

So anyways, a new week has begun and I have rather an exciting start to it! On Sunday night, I flew out of Copenhagen airport (all by myself!) and landed in Berlin. The flight was only 45 mins, I could not believe how quickly it went! I traveled to Berlin to visit Chris, Sal and the kids aka my uncle, aunty and cousions! It was so so lovely to see them again and hearing the Aussie accent was very welcoming! Meeting them at the airport was also so easy, as they were on a flight with the same company as me, and our flights pretty much landed at the same time! So all ran smoothly through the airport. We chatted in the taxi on the way to our hotel and I loved hearing about their stories from their massive adventure around Europe. Being in the company of my family again though was so lovely. We eventually arrived at the Holiday Inn in Berlin, found our rooms and went to bed. Of course bedtime was delayed by a little malteaser party that was had in the room of Will, Meggie and myself :) 

We all woke up on Monday morning feeling refreshed and ready to see the sights of Berlin. The weather was in our favour, and there clear blue skies with no wind. Perfect conditions for us to tackle pretty much every single tourist site, in the space of one day! A buffet breakfast began our morning. We all consumed bread..bread... and more bread (i kid :P). Will is now a huge fan of Danish pollys chocolate (which is like this bar of chocolate that you put on toast and it like melts into the bread- like nutella but so much better.. it is DELICIOUS). We then ventured down to the Berlin metro and tried to navigate our way successfully to our first stop of the day- the one and only Reichstag. Having studied Modern history for the HSC last year, I am rather farmiliar with all of the events that happened in Germany from 1933-1942. All of those sleepless nights consuming coffee and memorising dates seemed worth it when I was in the very place where it all happened. The Reichstag was a very impressive building and I loved being there and walking around it. So many historical turning points have happened on those very steps so it was so special to be there, experiencing the building for myself! The memorial park to the gypsies who died as a result of Hitler's racial policy was also something quite special. It was positioned in a park, right within eye shot of the Fuher. It was a very interesting concept that I really enjoyed seeing. We were then off to our next stop; The Brandberg Gate. This was such a beautiful thing to experience and it was made even better with a Starbucks coffee (my first real coffee in three months!!!!)  The Brandberg gate though was probably one of my favourite things in Berlin! So after this and a much needed kaffeen recharge we continued on our quest through Berlin... We ticked off all the main sights and of course a Geocash for Sal! We came across a beautiful old church which we decided to investigate. It was absoloutley beautiful inside ... like most of the other churches in Europe.. It has a wonderful view at the top of the church where you had a view of the entire Berlin. We then went to East Berlin (through a rather interesting area... maybe like Kings Cross) to get to the beginning of the Berlin wall. This was amazing to see and witness the extent of the size and how a town was literally cut in half. The paintings along the wall were also really cool and politically interesting. It was my second favourite part of Berlin. I also loved the fact that there was a line of bricks that ran through the city and stood in the place of where the wall once was. Of course we ventured off to see Checkpoint Charlie and took many touristy pictures along the way. We also stopped at the place where Hitler's bunker once stood and saw the memorial to the Jewish people who were subject to Hitler's racial policy. There was something so beautiful in these grey unmarked, unnamed,  different size blocks that stood in memory of the millions killed. It was very special to have been there and seen it for myself. I think that it is such a beautiful thing for the government to have done!

After our little tour, we were feeling rather exhausted but had to have some German food for dinner! There was a little German restraunt right across from our hotel which catered for Uncle Chris's desire for a German sasuage (the german accent actually convinced two waitresses that we were german LOL). So Chris ate his sasuage, Will had some sort of meatballs and I along with James, Will, Matt and Sal ate a German schnitzel (my first in three months). It was absoloutley delicious and we had a really lovely dinner just sitting around and talking. I dont think that I have ever laughed so much in my entire life! But i loved seeing Chris, Sal and the kids. It was so lovely! We finished off our day with some apple struddle which was equally if not more delicious than the schnitzel! No malteaser party happened that night as we were all so exhausted and crashed into bed. 

On Sunday morning, we were all eager to finish off our little tour through Berlin. We had big plans for the day and were feeling super confident as Chris had finally mastered the German metro- we were pratically locals walking around with his German accent. These plans however were put on halt as we had to wash some clothes. The laundramat was quite a treck away (you would think that the hotel service had a washing machine!) So off we went on the German subway to find a laundrymatt.... We eventually did thanks to the guidance of a sweet little old lady. This place was also a little dodgy and had the vibes of like Bankstown or something... We thought we would be able to drop off the clothes and go, however this was not the case and we had to wash them ourselves. So we put the load on and headed to mcdonalds... which lacked in size, tea and also wifi... it was a very interesting experiance to say the least!  We eventually headed back to collect and dry the clothes. We had plans to leave them and go however this was again put on halt as Uncle Chris managed to get the clothes stuck in a machine that we thought was a spin dryer....... it was one of the funniest things ever! We ended up getting the clothes out after turning off the machine... but not understanding german directions made this task quite difficult. So we waited for the clothes to dry and it ended up being a hilarious morning! I was in stitches just thinking about the funniness of it all... the fact that we were stuck in a laundrymat with clothes stuck in a machine that we had no idea a) what it was or b) how to use it. needles to say it was an adventure that i will remember for a very long time. Defiantley a story to tell the grandkids!

So after we had seen the laundrymat walls for quite some time, we got back on track with our plans for the day. Hiring bikes though wasn't as easy as we had hoped so we ended up walking a little bit back to the Jewish museum where we found some and got to cycle through the Tear Garden which is located near the Brandeberg Gate. It was so awesome riding through this beautiful garden. Some of the spring flowers were out and there was beautiful statues positioned throughout. It really was so special! So we spent about an hour doing that before heading back to our hotel room to collect our bags and say a final farewell to Berlin. We hoped on the metro for the last time and headed to the airport where i had to say a sad goodbye to chris, sal and the kids. It was so great to be able to catch up with them! and see berlin with them :) I had an awesome time!

After saying goodbye to them all, I headed through border security and waited for my flight to board. I managed not to get lost, find my gate and make it home safety. Mission accomplished!

The week is coming to a close and I have many more plans to fulfil. Each day is jammed packed with exciting danish adventures! So tomorrow, I am going into the Australian embassy in CPH with other Australian exchange students for the ANZAC service... On Friday I am going for an adventure with Christina to either Sweden or Hamlet's castle! Then on Saturday I have a conformation and on Sunday it is my host brothers conformation! So much to do, so little time!

Until the next time im bored in class feeling like writing an update, vi ses!  

cultured folk!

I have been a rather busy exchange student during the last week. So many new things to try, new people to meet, activities to observe and new information to consume. This week, the focus of my Danish adventures was cultural activities! And, the more I learn about the Danish culture, the more I love it!! 

So last Thursday night, two of my friends from school invited me to watch their gymnastics team train :) (Hej Christina ;) ) t Gymnastics, as I have already attempted to explain, is pretty big in Denmark and I would assume that one in two people has tried it in their life. It is not the gymnastics that we have in Australia though. It lacks the glittery tight costumes and the unusual mind blowing flexibility. So I was quite surprised when I went to watch their training as it was not what I had expected. Watching their class actually reminded me of a dance class in Australia... just like being back in the Uniting Church Hall at Rebecca's Dance Studio. The class had a very similar structure;  warm up, corner work, and choreographed dances. The only difference was that there was one routine with a ball, and that there was another team training around them doing flips on the springboard (typical gymnastics right).  It had a relaxed atmosphere and it made me miss dancing. Their dances were really really fun and well choreographed and I enjoyed watching them! I had a really fun night :) I love the gymnastics in Denmark. I think that it is awesome and I was so glad that I got to see one of their training sessions! I am even considering joining a team, I just have to consider how much of a commitment I can make as I am a rather busy little exchange student :) Of course, after watching gymnastics training we made a quick maccas stop. I managed to order in Danish without the lady switching automatically into English (slight victory dance in my head). It was actually my first trip to Maccas in Denmark. And of course, this American money chewing family restaurant was almost identical to those in Australia, except that you could order carrots instead of french fries with your meals. The Danes seem to love carrots.... :) 

On Friday, one of my friends from school invited me to her house for dinner. She and her mum love the Danish royal family, and they had a collection of royal magazines from various events, so I was able to study up on the Danish royal family. The magazines were just beautiful and so special! The first was from Mary's wedding. Seeing her long train took me back to when I was a little girl, sitting at home watching, amazed, as an Aussie girl married a prince and turned into a princess. Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected to end up in the same land as her.. one catch though- im an aussie girl without a handsome prince. After the marriage, we moved onto the next milestone- the birth of her four beautiful children and also the christenings of each. So special! It was cool to see the Danish magazine and be able to read and understand some! Then of course, there was the other prince (who is sadly taken). This was Fred's brother, who i actually didn't know existed! We browsed through magazines from his two weddings, and also from the birth of his children and the christenings. After we had finished, I was surprised at how much I had learnt! This was a very important lesson also as I am heading into Copenhagen to see the royal family wave on the balcony for the Queen's birthday! I can now proudly say that i will know the names of every single person standing there and a little bit about their history! It was really hyggelit and I had a wonderful time at her house :) I love the Danish royal family, probably as much as some Danes!

Saturday was also a busy fun filled day! I met up with my Aussie friend Lauren from Holbeck in Copenhagen. We caught the train in together and caught up on whats been happening over the last month. We shared our excitement for Euro Tour (which is now less than a month away) and just chatted about our every day life. It was so nice to be with someone who is experiencing the same things as I am! So once arriving at Copenhagen Central Station, we strolled through the city streets and admired the gates to Tivoli which is now open. It looks so much fun and I can not wait to go there! We eventually found ourselves at the shopping street and began our little shopping spree. We picked up a few essential items, and then met up with Darcie from Aalborg, who is another fellow Aussie Rotary exchange student. It was so good to see her again too and we sat in Burger King for like an hour just talking about our exchange and our experiences, both the good and the bad. We, along with our credit cards were rather tired at the end of the day and took a much needed break at Paradis. Which is the most amazing ice cream shop in the world.. It lacks the mixings from cold rock, and doesn't look as cool as yogurt land, but it is just plain home made ice cream which is so heavenly and creamy that i will have withdrawls when I go back to Australia... We went back to my house very very tired and Lauren and I crashed and put on our matching onesies ready for a girls night! Of course popcorn and faxi kondi were involved and we decided to watch Nynne, which is like the Danish Bridget Jones (I actually love it). It was a lot of fun and we stayed up into the late hours of the morning. It was a real girly night! 

We woke up late on Sunday morning, and looked outside and decided against going to the Roskilde fjord for a picnic. So instead, we went into Cafe Vivaldi in Roskilde town for some nachos :) Then the weather seemed to turn nice so we went to the Fjord in the afternoon taking a walk through the park in Roskilde. It is so so sooo beautiful! I have only ever seen it from my bus window, but actually being in the park was beautiful. And because it is spring now, all of the flowers are begining to bloom so there was a beautiful rainbow of purple, yellow and white flowers everywhere. It was just magical. I love Spring in Denmark! After our little adventure to see the viking boats we walked back up the hill huffing and puffing, and reality sunk in...... our new layer of exchange fat has deprived us of our fitness and summer bodies. NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Anyways, we continued walking to the station and sat talking while we waited for Lauren't train to come. We said our goodbyes, (but not forever because EURO TOUR!!!!!) and i caught the bus home!

My host mum, host brother and his best friend then took me to the circus :) This circus was in Roskilde and was deemed to be Denmark's best circus. I felt like a little kid again walking around the circus tent with starry eyes and the smell reminded me of the Camden Show. We bought our tickets, and then went to Mcdonalds for icecream as we had an hour to kill. Mcdonald's in Denmark has carrots as fries, but they also have delicious cornetto mcflurrys which are gods gift to the world. THEY WERE SOOOOO GOOD OH MY GOODNESS! Anyway, after eating some ice cream we then drove back to the circus. It was in the same place that the Roskilde Festival is held so it was quite a large area and I also got to explore a little part of the town that I had only seen from the highway. We took our seats and listened to the circus music that was playing and the excitement of the light flashing little kids created a sweet atmosphere for a Sunday afternoon. The actual circus was awesome. They had a lot to offer- elephants, horses, dogs and even cats?! My favourite act however was the clown who was extreemly talented at engaging the audience. The costumes were awesome and some of the tricks were pretty impressive. It was a very fun afternoon! 

So I was quite exhausted after the last four days! So an early night was had for me last night. 

My plans for this week are rather awesome (if i do say so myself) 

Tonight, two of my friends from school are sleeping over 

Tomorrow, I am going into Copenhagen with my host mum and two friends to see princess mary (well, technically the queen... and technically it will be from a distance but mary will be there). It is the Queen;s birthday and it is a tradition for Danish people to go to her palace and wave the danish flag. I am very much looking forward to it. It will be an experience! After, we have plans to go to Tivoli! i am so excited!!!!!!!!! 

Then I have an ordinary week of school, language school and probably a few trips to the gym

On Saturday however, it is my host mums birthday :) yay more danish traditions!

Then on Sunday night, I am flying to Berlin to meet chris, sal and the kids. SO EXCITED FOR BERLIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vi ses venner 

xxx

Note; i apologise if this blog makes no sense what so ever.. my english are not good ;) haha just kidding but it is seriously declining as my danish skills 'improve'. Hopefully i will be able to piece together a sentence when i get home.

Thanks for the Easter Eggs Nanna and Pa xxx 

Cadbury easter fix! Thanks to all of my beautiful family. 

Feeling like a kindergarten. My bed time reading 

The sunsets in Denmark are so soooooo beautiful! 

musicals, tea, cake, food and movies...

As I settle into my every day routine here in Denmark, I find that I am becoming more and more busy. My social life has suddenly expanded beyond the walls of school, the gym and Danish school as the weather has started to dramatically improve. I can not believe that it's April already! 

Okay, so on Friday, I went into Copenhagen with my third host family to see Shrek the Musical. I was so excited for it as being a musical buff, I knew most of the songs and had been hoping for quite some time, that it would one day come down from the big lights of Broadway and settle into the Lyric Theatre in Sydney. So never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would have been sitting in a theatre in Copenhagen on opening night watching this very musical. It was unreal and the show was just as amazing as it looked in the youtube videos that I have watched. Being in Denmark though, the show was in Danish and so were the songs, but I didn't mind and was actually able to understand some of what was being said on stage. I suppose that knowing the story quite well was a big help! But the lights, songs, actors, costumes and stage setting were all amazing (dont worry, I won't write a review in the same format as my HSC major work haha). I had a really really wonderful evening and it was so nice to see my third host family again :) I can not wait to stay with them in October!

On Saturday, I woke up with a little bit of a cold (the joys of living in a cold country) so unfortunately I had to postpone my second host dads offer to go kayaking on the lake! He instead invited me over for a hot cup of tea which was really nice and I had a really wonderful afternoon, just chatting with my host dad and host sister. Of course, I made a cake to take over as in Denmark you can not have a hot cup of tea without freshly baked cake! It was a really nice afternoon! 

On Sunday, more food was involved. I went to the 50th birthday brunch for a neighbour who lives in Trekronerbro with my host family. I love Danish birthdays. No matter how big, or how small there is just something so special about them! There were about 82 people at the brunch and there was so sooo much food. Danish brunches are probablly the greatest thing ever. So many pancakes, cakes, museli, yougart and strange foerign food that the Australian pallet takes a very nice liking to! At the brunch, there were lots of speeches, and the birthday boys family friends played instruments for him. It was so sweet! The common house had been decorated beautifully with candles and flowers. It was so nice and lovely. I had a really enjoyable time. I also got to see Teresa and Aleksander again (who we went skiing with). I had a really really nice chat to Teresa, and we went to the movies later to see 'The Host'. So I can now officially tick 'going to a danish cinema' off my to do list. The Host is quite a well made film and I really recommend seeing it. 

Yesterday I had a super short day at school and because I finished so early, me and my Brazilian oldie decided to celebrate and do something. We decided to see the film 'The Great and Almighty Oz'. There was a very special circumstance yesterday which needed to be solved with a little Ben and Jerry's ice-cream. How American of us. But it was a really nice afternoon and the movie is amazing! I really recommend seeing it. (yes i did go to the cinema twice in the last two days #exchangestudentlife!)

So after the cinemas, I went to the gym with my host mum to do a 'Body Flow' class and i then did 30 mins of swimming. It was really good and I felt a lot better after some exercise. My oldie and I have vowed not to eat anything unhealthy before Euro Tour..... I wonder how long it is going to last..... ;) 

The plans for this afternoon; go to language school, go home, maybe do a Zumba class and sleep. Sounds pretty average hey! But the next few weeks are going to be anything but average because in less than 2 weeks I will be on a plane to Berlin to see Chris, Sal and the kids. It will be so good to see some family members again! and I can not wait to see Berlin!!!!! 

My weekends are now jam packed as well! This weekend my friend from Holbeck is coming to visit and we are probably going into Copenhagen to meet up with Darcie :) It will be so good to see her again and I'm really looking forward to it. We have to make plans for a few music festivals coming up!

One can conclude that April is a month filled with trips to Tivoli, conformations, parties, travelling and really really nice weather :) 

Exciting times ahead!

Promise I'll write again soon 

My bucket list....

This year, I am ticking off the number one point on my bucket list- to live in another country for a year and travel the world. I feel very very privileged to have been given this opportunity at such a young age. Travelling is the greatest thing ever and has been a life long dream of mine, ever since I was a little girl. 

In 2009, I came back from Japan knowing that I would apply for Rotary Youth Exchange in 2012. I had the travel bug, and was ready to see the world. However these dreams were a little too ambitious for a 15 year old working off $50 a week so I put my dreams aside and saved every penny I could get my hands on until I finished school. If anything, I have my 2009 self to thank for pursuing this dream, and for any readers out there who are thinking about applying for exchange I would say (if you are prepared to gain A LOT OF WEIGHT) without no hesitations to START FILLING IN THE APPLICATION FORM! I have only been here for two and a half months, but I am already having the best year of my life. Waking up every morning knowing that I am living in Europe is enough to put a smile on my face every morning! 

So anyway, there is a purpose behind this very random blog entry. I have decided to continue my bucket list, as before leaving australia it was two things long

1) go on exchange

2) visit paris

As both are being currently completed, i decided to add a whole bunch of random things to it that i hope to one day achieve. Some of them i understand are a long shot (such as disneyland) but one can always dream... and i have learnt this year that dreams really do come true, because I am currently living mine, 

Aussie alpine adventures

As an Australian, I have grown up with the idea that long car trips are just a factor of life.... Living in one of the top 10 biggest countries in the world means that I have a lot to explore, and with a geography teacher as a Dad, I get to travel to some pretty cool places... So for me, a long car trip is a walk in the park, as I have grown up in the backseat of the car, travelling regularly to my beloved Stuart's Point... six hours in the car, sometimes longer depending on the traffic. This year though, my beloved Stuart's was a little too far away, and I was lucky enough to trade sand for snow and my boogie for a pair of skis.... and let me tell you something, SKIING IS THE GREATEST THING EVER!!!!! 

So last Saturday, I jumped out of bed at 3:45am and sleep walked to the car ready to begin our skiing vacation!  My eyes were slowly dropping within about 30 mins into the trip... in fact just as we crossed a bridge with the sign 'WELCOME TO SWEDEN'...Yes thats right I did just say that I was in another country in the space of 30 minuets. Europe's geography is mind blowing and as an Aussie I suppose that it is hard for me to wrap my head around! So anyway, I slept through most of Sweden and woke just as we were passing Oslo in Norway (which is the capital). There wasn't much sightseeing to be done as it was mostly highway, but I enjoyed just soaking up the fact that I had traveled through three countries in the space of six hours..... mind blowing! So anyways, the car trip was fairly uneventful except we had a nice toilet break at a place called 'Balle Land' which i later found out translates to 'having sex land'... now thats something that you do not see every day. I must admit though that I missed seeing the randomly placed RTA stop revive survive centres.. although the pit toilets were in full swing! So I was kind of at home. 

In total the car journey took around 10 hours.... (Australia we wouldn't even be in Queensland yet!) The drive up through Trysil Mountain was beautiful! Exactly like a Winter wonderland... Beautiful snow covered terrain and CHRISTMAS TREES EVERYWHERE!!!!!! The monstrous moutian that greeted us on arrival was gigantic, and never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I would actually skii down it! My nerves for the week were in over drive at this point. 

After driving through Trysil and finding our house, we unpacked and got settled in. There were nine of us all together- my host family and three of their family friends who live in the same place as we do. There was a girl who was 14 and I got on with her really well. Kinda like having Hannie back (who i miss so much!) Anyway, me and Teresa had a little movie night where we ate junk food and watched Pitch Perfect. It was super hyggelit and I really enjoyed her company. 

Anyways, I need to pace myself, I'm only on day one! Okay, so after getting settled in, we ventured down to get our skiing equipment. The mix of Norwegian, Danish and Swedish language was cool to listen to! Swedish to me sounds like Italian for some unknown reason.  So ready and equipped with our equipment, we ventured back to our house for a rest afternoon. The view from our house was just beautiful and at night, it was simply stunning to look over the valley at the lights from the houses on the other side, which glowed and twinkled in the distance. Truly breathtaking! But i loved the view and I had never seen anything like it! That night, we watched the movie 'the life of pye' and then went to bed, resting up for what was going to be a very long and tiring week! 

Woke up the next morning to have a breakfast of freshly made balle's (my favourite- i know i was complaining about the amount of bread intake in my last post but im starting to love it!) Then, i very nervously put my skiis on for the first time....

Now, to be perfectly honest with you, I was so nervous about skiing (not so much as my mum, but still). For those of you who know me, I am a very clumbsy person and have the gift of being able to trip over my own feet so one could easily imagine how I would come home with my foot in plaster. On the first day, I felt like a broken bone was inevitable. I was terrified on skis and longed for the familiar comfort of wearing flip flops and swimmers at Grassy Head Beach.. My self esteem also got a work out as there were little Norwegians and Swedes skiing past me on the baby hill. To be honest, I thought that the baby hill would be the only place in Trysil I got to explore for the week as my legs were quite literally shaking and it seemed that my body would never have the ability to successfully ski without falling over. It was quite embarrassing as when I fell, I couldn't even get back up again. I had these strange long things attached to my feet which also couldn't move because of these hard skii boots (seeing me walk in them was the funniest thing ever) and I remember remarking 'my body is built for the beach! not the alps!'. I threw in the towel for a little after lunch and read a book, relaxing with a cup of tea and enjoying the beautiful view from our hutte. I did brave the baby hill one last time on the first day and this time only fell twice. So one can assume that some progress was made. 

On Monday, I woke up early ready for my ski school lesson. I hoped to be joined by other people of the same ability to redeem my self esteem levels. However, when skiing in Scandinavia, one can not expect that, as these people were born with olympic professional skiing abilities. And as an aussie, I lack that qualification... There were three danes, one german and an american in my class. Turns out that they had all skied before and so their abilities  succeeded mine by a long shot. My stomach did backflips and I began to literally fear for my life when my ski instructor told the class to attempt the jumps in the fun park. Ummmmm I thought this was a beginner class?! None the less, my skiing didn't really improve and my self esteem levels only declined as I ran straight into a figurine (used for learning to  turning whey you are like 5 years old) HOW EMBARRASSING! I felt like attaching an Australian flag to my jacket just to justify my inability to ski. My skiing instructor was really sweet though and suggested that I would enjoy myself more if I changed to private lessons, and thats exactly what I did! So that afternoon, I decided to relax and watch the Hunger Games with Teresa. 

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday saw a huge improvement in my skiing abilities. With the help of my super nice Swedish instructor Jonas, my confidence built and I stopped falling over so much. After the first lesson, I was so proud of myself as I had conquered the baby hill and began adventuring the blue hills. Yes, I did actually catch a chairlift up to the top of the mountain (who would have thought). The views were just spectacular and once I got the hang of skiing, I fell in love. The Kooks song seaside was revived to skiing. Suddenly, any thoughts about a broken bone left my mind and I began to relax (and attempt to turn). There was something magical about skiing down the mountains, with a beautiful view of the Norwegian alps in front of you. I had to pinch myself... i couldn't believe that firstly i was skiing standing up straight, and secondly that I was in Norway. To make the scene even more perfect, the sun shone every single day. It even reached a very warm 10 degrees... Mother nature sometimes... just can not beat it. (the sun shone so much that the dreaded Aussie sunglass tan returned.. just like being at Stuart's.) So my book lay forgotten in the house and I began to go skiing at every given opportunity. My boots began to feel comftorable, and skiing underwear was my new bikini. By Thursday (my last lesson) I was ready to conquer the world (well...... maybe just the blue hills). I even went back to the jumps and attempted them. For me that was the icing on the cake. When I first put my skiis on, the jumps seemed like one opportunity to break every bone in my body.. however I went over them with ease and LOVED every moment. It wasn't Grassy Head beach and it wasn't my boogie but it had the same feeling. That night I went to bed feeling very proud of myself! 

The next morning I didn't have a skiing lesson so I went back to the baby hill to practice my 'skills' or 'lack of' if we are comparing to the Norwegians and Swedes. Then, I went exploring the mountain with my host parents. It was AWESOME and I felt comftorable going down the blue hills. It wasn't rapid fast, but I managed.... I have a very good breaking technique to say the least. Went to bed feeling VERY exhausted.. especially because I had gone down a red hill and nearly pooped my pants. It was a little too much for me, so I ended going down on my bum (just like sand dunes right?!) 

Saturday was our last official day skiing in Norway. By then, I was really sad to say goodbye. I am in love with skiing and plan on going when I get back to Australia (of course it won't be as awesome but still...). I had a really good time in Norway!! So at 3pm, we said goodbye to beautiful Trysil and i gave my skiis up for what hopefully wont be the last time. We then traveled home back to Denmark. I said goodbye to the snow as Denmark has finally FINALLY got some sun!!!!!! Now wrap your head around this australia. I skiied in Norway in the morning, ate dinner in Sweden andddddd went to bed in Denmark... so within the space of a day, I had been in three countries. HOW CRAZY IS THAT! 

Now for all of those at home who don't believe that I had the ability to ski, please see the attached link. Yes it is me in the green jacket and YES i am going over jumps that are close in size to those at Elderslie's BMX track.... and i did manage to make it back in one piece. ENJOY! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSJAmTbY2SU

Sledding down the hill outside out hutte (i love living in the snow) 

The beautiful view from outside out hutte 

ME ON THE ALPS (one of the rare occasions that i was standing up... i kid :P) 

ON TOP OF THE WORLD (i was quite scared...) 

How beautiful is this view? 

Our hyggelit house :)