Diaries of a Dane: Time...

Time is a very precious thing....I have always known this I suppose but this is becoming clearer whilst I am on exchange. I mean, I can not believe how fast time is passing... It's May already!!! Wasn't it just yesterday that I was at Sydney Airport?! When i look back on the past three and a half months, it feels like i've been here for a lifetime. I know I keep saying this, but the people i've met, the places i've seen and the friendships that I have made have made Denmark seem like a home away from home.....

Time..... is moving so quickly. I now have my return date home (which is kind of scary) and I am about to embark on my Euro Tour which I was hearing about this time last year. My excitement levels are through the roof and packing is my main priority at the moment. So much to do still with not so much time!

Time.... has transformed the beautiful snowy winter wonderland into an amazing green coloured country side. Spring is in full swing now. Flowers are blooming everywhere and the browny bushes with no leaves are starting to turn green. It is just beautiful and the sunsets are just unreal

Time... is changing here in Denmark... It now gets dark at around 10pm which is very very strange for me. Needles to say though, it provides me with the perfect opportunity to make the most of my days. I celebrated this change in time, on Saturday night with my host family number one, and number two, and also my councilor. We went to an old abandoned mansion in Skibby. This old house was used in the 1700's (so i was just chilling in a house that was older than my own country). It was set up in the origional condition and on the last 'dark night' they have a celebration where actors come in and dress up in the way that they dressed. There was a couple who did the traditional dances in the room where it actually took place, there was a lady who talked about dinner edicate and of course there was a cook who served beer and wine at the end of the evening. The old mansion was pretty cool... It did have a haunted feeling though and some of the wallpaper was falling off the walls. There is an old story that the wife of the house murdered her husband as he was having affairs in Copenhagen. Standing in the room where it suppodsily happened some 400 years ago wasn't THAT scary (although my heart was racing a million miles an hour)... This esculated when I saw a mannequin of the supposed 'wife' lingering in the closet. Quite some prank!

Time.... has made the Danish weather bearable now. Yesterday I consumed a number of ice creams because it was just so so hot.... and it was only 18 degrees. I can imagine many of you laughing at the fact that I was sweating on an 18 degree day. I seems that living in the cold has changed my weather tolerance so I have no idea how I will survive the 40 degree days! I even manage to get sunburnt somehow?! This beautiful weather though has lead me to embark on a lot of activities outside of the house. On the weekend, I went to Mons Kilnt, which is like the danish seaside. It was soooo beautiful and as my lungs filled with the smell of the seaside, I felt at home. This beach is pretty special, as it is a chalk beach. So instead of having sand dunes, the beach has HUGE chalk cliffs... That was an amazing site to see and the fact that the sun was shining made the whole scenery more beautiful. It was strange though, being at a beach with black stones... I did miss the beautiful sand but the beach was just so stunning. We took a walk through the forrest (and up the millions of stairs) and it was just such a nice and lovely day. I love Mons Kilnt and was a little bummed that the water was in the minus temperatures otherwise I would have gone in for a dip...

Time... Four times to tivoli in one week. Must be a new record! Yes, I kid you not, I was in that fun filled action park 4 times last week. Three times with my good Aussie pal Beth and one time with my host family to see the Danish band LOVE SHOP! Okay, so i ventured into Tivoli last monday as I finished school early. A quick stop in Nyhavn to pick up Beth and her lovely parents and we were off on our adventure. I acted as their tour guide, and despite a slight glitch in the Copenhagen metro, i managed to navigate us to Tivoli.... Beth and I then ran off like little kids, riding all the rides that our stomach would allow... We bought candy floss, ice cream and popcorn and ran around crazily for the afternoon... we even managed to get stuck on a ride and make friends with the girl working on it, who laughed when she saw us the following 2 days that we were there. We are now best friends.... its funny though because she thinks we are danish, so sometimes beth and i have no idea what she is saying to us... we just smile and nod...

I went home quite late on Monday night... so late in fact that Beth left her hotel key in my bag! So back to Copenhagen I went on Tuesday after my danish school. Our Tivoli adventure this time was sadly short lived but did include a few turns on our favourite rides; the train rollercoaster, the swings and of course the giant drop!

Wednesday and Thursday were normal days... but Friday I was back in Tivoli again. This time though with my host family. Carl my little host brother and I went on some rides while we waited for Mette's sister Mia to arrive. She along with her two girls came to join in the fun. So we rode roller coasters, ate ice cream and candy floss until 10pm when Tivoli transformed into a concert filled with a fantastic atmosphere. The chosen band of the night was Loveshop... an oldish danish band check out one of their good hits http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KHfC660zuo They were awesome though and we headed home at around 11pm because we were all so exhausted after a very very busy day! Saturday was filled with the trip to the beach and then the cultural castle experience but then Sunday I was up and back at Tivoli again. This time I met up with Beth (again) haha and her lovely exchange student friend from Germany. We followed a similiar pattern from our last few visits but at 2pm we flocked to a stage to see Beth's band play! This was so awesome and Tivoli had a magical atmosphere in the sunshine and amid the music. It was awesome and I can not wait to go back there more in the summer time and just sit in the beautiful gardens soaking up the fact that I'm in Copenhagen! (yes- i love tivoli)

Time.... is moving so slowly now that I am sitting in a boring maths class.. but today is not that bad because I finish school at 11:30 WIN! So... my plans for the day include going Euro Tour shopping with my Brazilian oldie and then having coffee with my councillor

As for tomorrow and friday I'M FREE FROM SCHOOL! So, I'm doing sightseeing with my host family on Thursday, and also Friday and then going to a party with my friends from school on Friday night. Then Saturday we are off to Jetland (not how you spell it... but how you say it in english ;)) My host parents have a conformation to go to so me and my host brother get to spend the day in Legoland I AM SO EXCITED! And then on Sunday I'm going into Copenhagen to buy some last minuet things for Euro Tour before finally getting some time to successfully pack (hopefully) and depending on how all that goes.. I think I'll be stuck packing on Monday morning too!

Until then,

VI SES VENNER!

(for those non familiar with the danish lingo- it means see you friends)