Well Australia... it seems like a lot is happening down under. Julia is out of the game and Krudd has once again risen from the ashes in an attempt to swift the Labour party out for a win in the upcoming federal election. Parliament decided to enter turmoil when channel nine were trying to broadcast origin. So all was happening today, although not so much on origin because New South Wales obviously need to hit the how to play footy books again. I watched all of this unfold on my newsfeed. In a matter of maybe 10 minuets, it was completly dominated by Julia vs Kevin feuds, and then there were those footy nuts who were totally dedicated to ensuring that NSW got a victory... of which was unsuccessful. So Australia has been quite a happening place! But while all of this was unfolding down under, I was having my own party in DK.
So I have been relativley busy during the last week. I have had things on every single day and I now find myself tired, worn out and watching the chick flick 'The Ugly Truth'. To a dane, this is a hyggelit night in. The danish summer has delivered fine movie watching night weather and I plan on making the most of this! Anyway!
So since my last blog update I have moved in with my wonderful second host family. My new host family live so close to town... like 10 minuets on a bicycle (so now im a true dane cause i bike everywhere). They also live right on Roskilde Fjord, which means that I can go swimming and out on the boat which has proven to be so much fun. The fjord is relativley warm which i find it hard to believe considering it was frozen four months ago. Although, there are A LOT of jelly fish lurking in the water... of the non poisiousness kind which is strange for me just to jump in and feel the squishy delightful creatures touching and swimming around me. Kinda gross but i think im used to it now! So... Im settled in and loving living where i live.
Since moving in, I have been into the full swing of family life and have enjoyed various danish traditions with my second host family. On Sunday, it was St Hansens Day in Denmark which is the longest day of the year. This is a traditional medieval day I suppose, as it is customary to have a bon fire and burn a witch.... With my second host family, we had a small party with family. It was so lovely and so hyggelit. We had a BBQ.. or a 'grill' as the danes called it, and watched the beautiful sunset over the Fjord. It was wonderful and it was really cool to experiance this danish tradition! It is also weird for me to see light shining through my window at 11:30pm at night.... danish summer- gotto love it!
I am also now technically on summer vacation as in Denmark at the moment there is something called læseferrie (reading vacation) where all of the students have time off to read and study for their exams. Well being an exchange student sure has its perks as i dont have to do any exams- yipee so ive been enjoying my time off and so have many other exchange students which is awesome as ive been able to catch up with a few of them! Last week I was in Copenhagen three times. The first was so that i could catch up with my friend Laura who lives about 1 hour from me. We spent the day soaking up the sun in Nyhavn, eating fresh strawberries and of course shopping in the really really awesome sales!! The second time was with my friend Jayanna who lives in Jetland. I haven't seen her since introcamp 5 months ago, so it was so nice to catch up especially cause she was my roommate! It was cool to hear each others experiances and chat a little about what we have been up to! That was a great day! and it was also spent in Nyhavn because the weather was picture perfect! 23 degrees however it felt like 30! Dont know how i am going to come back and readjust to 40 degrees.... aw man.
The third reason was for a Thirty Seconds to Mars concert which was AWESOME! This concert was part of the Fredag's Rock in Tivoli (of course). I went with my really really good friends from Euro Tour- Kathleen and Laura. We spent the day in Tivoli going on all of the scary rides and eating all of the carnival food. It was so so lovely and it was even better to reminice about Euro tour together because we had some of the group back together! We also met up with another exchange student Gaby who lives in Copenhagen... We had a lovely catch up in a cute coffee shop in Tivoli which had really good coffee that i was really enjoying until i spilt it all over my pants...... So.... Thirty Seconds to Mars turned out to be absoloutley AWESOME and im so soooo glad that i was able to go and see them! I defiantley am a fan of their music :)
On Monday and Tuesday, I was able to experiance two danish traditions with my lovely third host family. The first was a danish graduation party for someone has finished with high school... i got to see two of those actually :) and the second was a special one as it was a 25 years wedding anniversary. This was so cool and so different to what usually happens in Australia.
So.. the first. The graduation party. This party is filled with traditions that mostly revolve around a special hat. This hat looks like a sailor hat and once you finish your last exam, you get one to wear around all day. There are so many traditions surrounding this.... for example it is lucky if you and your friends bite it. You also have to write your final grade in the centre of the hat and people write messages on the inside. The love of your life is supposed to write their name in the circle in the middle of the hat and then people can write 'secret messages' in the brim... Then of course cause it is denmark there are many traditions that revolve around beer. For example, if you drink a whole slab of beet in one night you can a square into the brim of the hat.... and if you end up at the hospital with your stomach pumped then the black rim comes off as a sign of pride. I got to write in one of the hats which was really cool :)
so the parties that i went to were really hyggelit and nice. They weren't very formal... they just had good company and good food. It was cool to see. At one of the parties i met an aussie couple from Tassie! WHAT A SMALL WORLD! It was so strange for me to hear the accent again!
After these two parties, me and my third host family drove for half an hour in the car to prepare for the 25th wedding annaversary. This is a pretty big event in Denmark that involves a lot of preparation the night before. It is traditional in Denmark to make a flower arch over the door of the couple who are having the annaversary. This is made by the family of the couple, and the couple are not allowed to be involved in the preperations. I was lucky enough to be involved in the making process, so making the flower boquets was so much fun and putting up the danish flag everywhere was really special. So that night we got home quite late and went straight to bed for the next morning we had to be up at 5 30am to prepare for the big day ahead.
So.. it is traditional in denmark for a 25th wedding annaversary to begin very early. Trumpet players come to wake the couple up andddddd family and friends gather outside the house to sing until the couple 'wake up' and come out and stand under the arch. This was really really cool to see and witness as we have nothing like it in Australia. I love this tradition and actually wish that our silver wedding annaversaries were more like the danes. So, after the singing and early wake up call the couple holds a morning coffee and brunch ceremony with the people who gathered to wake them up. It is traditional here for them to dance the bridal waltz and socalise with the guests. So after this, we then drove back to Roskilde slept for three or so hours and prepared for the formal part of the evening. This was similiar to other danish parties that I have been to in that there were many speeches and many songs. It was a very formal evening, where everyone wore fine clothes. It was really really special and I am so lucky that I got to see this special danish tradition! Who knows maybe ill even bring it back to Australia- especially the trumpet players... look out mum and dad!
So thats the latest from the land of DK. The next few weeks are filled with plans and my social calendar is slowly filling up. The sun is shining, strawberries are in season and i no longer look like an albino. HAPPY DAYS!
write soon
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