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!!
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