My blog this time feels a little more like a diary then it does a blog this time... Maybe it's because I'm not writing it at school during maths... Hmmmm. Regardless, like last time, time is flying and I'm making the most of every day.
Since my last mini blog post, I've been to the oldest amusement park in the world, biked about 30km, visited my second host fam and been in another country #europeanlife.
But first and foremost I have to tell you about Bakken, a hyggeligt amusement park that lies in the centre of Copenhagen which happens to be older than australia. First of all... What, second of all its kinda cool rights.bakken is really different to tivoli because it is in the middle of a forest and has a lot more rides. It's more of an amusement park, so think maybe Luna Park but older, and a thousand times better. Bakken was a really hyggeligt afternoon. We tried all the rides (including the haunted house which was one of the most horrific experiences of my life) and of course the oldest roller coaster in the world. I had a great evening with my third host family.
On Sunday, I saw my second host family and spent the day with them on Roskilde Fjord. We ate brunch, biked through the beautiful danish countryside to get fresh strawberries, had a mini boat tour on the fjord and ate a lot of food. It was a really hyggeligt day.
Yesterday was Monday, and I spent it in Sweden-just casually! I went with Laura, my australian friend who I met last time I was here. We spent the day strolling the streets of Malmö, shopping and enjoying the beautiful cobble stoned streets. It was a really nice day. We even managed ton eb upturned and found a castle in Malmö. All in all a successful day.
As for today, I've spent the morning watching danish disney Chanel which is actually really great, then I'm going into town to meet two of my friends from gymnasium.
So I have four days left in denmark- most of which will be spent seeing people, buying last min things, eating ice cream and just really enjoying bring back home.
See you Sunday night y'all xxx
Tuesday, 21 July 2015
Saturday, 18 July 2015
Busy little bee
Another quick update from the land of the Vikings.
So my time in Denmark hasn't really been dedicated to sightseeing, touristy moments… It's been more about seeing people and catching up with all my Danish ‘family’ and friends. Maybe that's why I feel at home, and why nothing about this ‘holiday’ feels like a holiday. It just feels like I've settled back into every day life. A feeling that is really hard to explain back home. I haven't even used my SLR camera!
On Sunday, I had brunch with my Third host family to welcome back my host sister from Columbia. It's so nice having her home again because the house just didn't feel right without her. It's also strange seeing her home, because it brings back so many memories from when I came home. It was a really hyggeligt morning and so great to hear about Columbia! After brunch, my councilor Esben and his wife Anita picked me up for the day. They took me to a place that is kind of like Soverign hill, just near the town of Holbæk. It shows what life was like in denmark from a time that is much older than australia. It was so interesting and the buildings were just beautiful. They had an old farm house, supermarket, garage and bakery (which was just like the QVB tea room without the big chandelier)-it was gorgeous! We ate lunch, Frikadeller of course and ended the afternoon with cake. Then we went back to their house, which is situated in the most gorgeous location overlooking a forest and a lake. The temperature was a warm and toasty 20 degrees, which called for a dip in their pool. It was a lovely afternoon, drinking champagne, eating dark chocolate and sitting back, relaxing and enjoying the beautiful view. We then ate dinner which was a three course meal of delicious food, and then sat down to watch a movie. A danish crime thriller that followed on from a movie that I saw when I was here last. It was so good.
The next morning I awoke to a table filled with home made bread…. How I have missed denmark! After a delicious breakfast, I was ready for the day ahead of shopping with my friend Cecille from school. She lives really close to Esben, so it worked out that I could meet her on the bus. We then took the train into Copenhagen where we started on the shopping street – which I know like the back of my hand. We had a nice day strolling through the streets and picking up some great bargains. We ate lunch at my favourite kebab shop in Nyhavn and bought some danish strawberries to eat at home. All in all a great day.
On Tuesday, I was also in copenhagen with Lara- who would have thought that a girl I went to primary school with would love denmark as much as I did. We had a nice morning in Copenhagen and ate some traditional danish food for lunch. It was delicious. Of course we ate ice cream after. Then I met up with Laura, my friend from exchange when I was here, and we soaked up the sun, then visited the little mermaid and princess Mary. It was really strange being at Amalingborg again, because the queens castle was being renovated! So it looked completely different. It was a really nice day.
On Wednesday,, I caught up with anna, the exchange student who stayed with my family when I was in Denmark. We went to the danish coast, and the most beautiful place called Møns Klint. We walked through the forest, down all the stairs admiring the beautiful view. All up there are 994 steps! After our climb, we drove through the beautiful, luscious green country side to a famous dairy farm that has møns is, which is made on the premises and tastes delicious. Of course anna and I had to have four- chocolate, caramel macaron. Baileys and Møns speciality. Delicious! It was a great day.
On Thursday I saw my friend from gymnasium, Christine, and we went to Helsingør which is at the top of Zealand (I think)… Anyway it defiantly borders Sweden because you can literally see Sweden and its within swimming distance which for an australian is absoloutely crazy!! Whilst we were in Helsingør we went to Hamlets Castle which had changed a little bit since I had been there, we had a really fun day being tourist because Christine has never been there! We then ate dinner at a hyggeligt restaurant. It was a really great day.
Yesterday, which was Friday, I went down to my third host families summer house for some hygge and of course ice cream. We had a nice time playing lots of games.
Today I'm off to the amusement park Bakken which I'm so excited about!
As for the rest of the week, I have no idea. But this time in a week I'll be on a plane home- crazy how time is flying by!!
So my time in Denmark hasn't really been dedicated to sightseeing, touristy moments… It's been more about seeing people and catching up with all my Danish ‘family’ and friends. Maybe that's why I feel at home, and why nothing about this ‘holiday’ feels like a holiday. It just feels like I've settled back into every day life. A feeling that is really hard to explain back home. I haven't even used my SLR camera!
On Sunday, I had brunch with my Third host family to welcome back my host sister from Columbia. It's so nice having her home again because the house just didn't feel right without her. It's also strange seeing her home, because it brings back so many memories from when I came home. It was a really hyggeligt morning and so great to hear about Columbia! After brunch, my councilor Esben and his wife Anita picked me up for the day. They took me to a place that is kind of like Soverign hill, just near the town of Holbæk. It shows what life was like in denmark from a time that is much older than australia. It was so interesting and the buildings were just beautiful. They had an old farm house, supermarket, garage and bakery (which was just like the QVB tea room without the big chandelier)-it was gorgeous! We ate lunch, Frikadeller of course and ended the afternoon with cake. Then we went back to their house, which is situated in the most gorgeous location overlooking a forest and a lake. The temperature was a warm and toasty 20 degrees, which called for a dip in their pool. It was a lovely afternoon, drinking champagne, eating dark chocolate and sitting back, relaxing and enjoying the beautiful view. We then ate dinner which was a three course meal of delicious food, and then sat down to watch a movie. A danish crime thriller that followed on from a movie that I saw when I was here last. It was so good.
The next morning I awoke to a table filled with home made bread…. How I have missed denmark! After a delicious breakfast, I was ready for the day ahead of shopping with my friend Cecille from school. She lives really close to Esben, so it worked out that I could meet her on the bus. We then took the train into Copenhagen where we started on the shopping street – which I know like the back of my hand. We had a nice day strolling through the streets and picking up some great bargains. We ate lunch at my favourite kebab shop in Nyhavn and bought some danish strawberries to eat at home. All in all a great day.
On Tuesday, I was also in copenhagen with Lara- who would have thought that a girl I went to primary school with would love denmark as much as I did. We had a nice morning in Copenhagen and ate some traditional danish food for lunch. It was delicious. Of course we ate ice cream after. Then I met up with Laura, my friend from exchange when I was here, and we soaked up the sun, then visited the little mermaid and princess Mary. It was really strange being at Amalingborg again, because the queens castle was being renovated! So it looked completely different. It was a really nice day.
On Wednesday,, I caught up with anna, the exchange student who stayed with my family when I was in Denmark. We went to the danish coast, and the most beautiful place called Møns Klint. We walked through the forest, down all the stairs admiring the beautiful view. All up there are 994 steps! After our climb, we drove through the beautiful, luscious green country side to a famous dairy farm that has møns is, which is made on the premises and tastes delicious. Of course anna and I had to have four- chocolate, caramel macaron. Baileys and Møns speciality. Delicious! It was a great day.
On Thursday I saw my friend from gymnasium, Christine, and we went to Helsingør which is at the top of Zealand (I think)… Anyway it defiantly borders Sweden because you can literally see Sweden and its within swimming distance which for an australian is absoloutely crazy!! Whilst we were in Helsingør we went to Hamlets Castle which had changed a little bit since I had been there, we had a really fun day being tourist because Christine has never been there! We then ate dinner at a hyggeligt restaurant. It was a really great day.
Yesterday, which was Friday, I went down to my third host families summer house for some hygge and of course ice cream. We had a nice time playing lots of games.
Today I'm off to the amusement park Bakken which I'm so excited about!
As for the rest of the week, I have no idea. But this time in a week I'll be on a plane home- crazy how time is flying by!!
Saturday, 11 July 2015
Tivoli
I can't actually believe that it has taken me three weeks to visit my favourite place in the world - Tivoli! The amusement park in the heart of copenhagen that captured my heart. It was just as I remembererd it, as hyggeligt as ever. I went to Tivoli with three of my danish friends: Cecillie, Simon and Karoline. Cecillie and Simon spent the day with me going on all the rides and eating all the amusement park food that you could think of. Karoline met us in there later to see Fredags Rock- where the Danish artist Mads Langer was playing. It was a really fun day. And Mads Langer was perfect, he really has an amazing voice and I wish that his songs were on the radio in Australia! Simon, Cecillie and I tried most of the rides in Tivoli and had a really fun time.
Before Tivoli, I spent the morning with my first host mum Mette. We went up the round tower in Copenhagen, strolled through the shopping street and ate lunch in Tivoli. It was really hyggeligt. It was also the last time that I would see Mette because they are now in France on summer holiday.
The day before, my first host family and I went to the art museum Lousianna. It's a museum filled with modern art and this time it featured an expedition on Africa, and had various art works and media that showed how people in Africa lived. It was really interesting, and the museum is amazing. It's set up so well so that it has various interactive stations. It's also set in the most beautiful location in denmark, really close to the ocean and you can actually even see Sweden. It was a really nice afternoon/ evening and we ate dinner over looking the sea.
Today, my host sister Julia came home from Columbia and we went and picked her up from the airport. It bought back so many memories from the time that I came home from exchange. It was really good to see her again and we ate lots of danish food.
Sorry this blog post isn't my best piece of writing- my brain is fried from speaking danish 24-7.
See you in 2 weeks Sydney!
Thursday, 9 July 2015
rock on roskilde
Roskilde Festival-a one way ticket that will have you diving straight back into the Danish culture. It's a place where literally anything goes. Roskilde is a place where the usual shy Danes stand at the basins offering soap and shampoo to total strangers, it's a place where it's totally normal to wake up to Harry Potter themed music at 5am in the morning, it's also totally normal to play beer bowling at all hours of the day and lay out in the sun with a warm cola in your hand for breakfast, it's a place where it's okay to have a shower in baby wipes every morning and a place where it's totally okay to smell like beer and cigarettes because the 100,000 other people smell exactly the same way. Roskilde festival is a world of its own- with food that tickles your Tuborg filled stomach fancy at 2am in the morning and music to suit all tastes with the likes of Paul Mcartney and Disclosure taking to the stage this year. Roskilde is something that everyone needs to experience in their lives…. Because there really is nothing better than the feeling you get standing at a concert on orange stage with a Tuborg in your hand- that special orange feeling.
For those regulars who have followed my love affair with the land of the Vikings, you already know that back in 2013 I went to the festival. I wasn't allowed to camp however due to rotary rules, and instead cycled back home every night to my second host families house with my exchange pal Lauren. Back in 2013, I experience the orange feeling and it was pretty spectacular. This year though was really different and I fell in love with Roskilde even more because I was able to camp with my class and experience what some would call the full festival experience.
The Roskilde saga began on Friday the 26th of June. After I had been up to my old school to see the official graduation ceremony with my class, I was picked up by my friend Emilie’s dad bearing all my luggage for the week and dropped off at the festival site- which wasn't yet open. Part of the full Roskilde experience is camping out in line for the best camping spot. So that's what we did along with majority of my class camp (all up there was about 22 of us). And we waited, froze, got rained on, used a giant tarp as a shelter, got rained on some more and froze even more. Not much sleep was had that night…. But it was an experience. The next morning we did some more waiting, and a lot of standing up and being trampled on because everyone wants to get a good camping spot. Then at 4pm the race begins and the annual Roskilde run takes place. It is literally chaos, with people running left, right and centre. Before running in, I asked my friends if they had a plan…. Their reply was bare løbe... Which in danish means just run… So that's literally what I did. With my friend Emilie’s beside me I thought that I had it easy because we could see each other.. Boy did that plan epically fail as everyone became absorbed into a mass crowd frantically running through the camping grounds. With the L tower in sight I just ran along with everyone… And then realised that it probably wasn't the smartest idea because I couldn't see anyone from my class. So with a phone in hand I called everyone- with no response and realised that they were all in the same boat as me. But I managed to run into everyone at the same time, and so the frantic setting up of tents began. I lived in a tent with my two friends, Karoline P and Emilie. Between the three of us, we aren't really seasoned campers. We fit into the glamping category. So putting up the tent was hilarious, as we didn't really have any idea what we were doing. Denmark also put on a show deciding to rain just as we put our tents up. But after the struggle, as tempers were running high after an evening of no sleep ‘vores plads er lort venner’, we eventually settled into our camping place near the L tower, christened the ground with a game of beer bowling and waited for the rain to go away…. Consumed a gourmet burger and went to sleep- at a very ungodly hour of the morning.
And so then began the real Roskilde festival. Thankfully the sun came out the next morning at 5am when myself and Emilie had to fix our tent which decided to collapse on us during the middle of the night, told you we were ‘glampers’ But so began Sunday at the Roskilde Festival, with a sweet Harry Potter tune blasting from our 16 year old neighbours camp…. The day literally consisted of beer bowling, sitting in a camping stool, applying sunscreen, downing another Somersby, eating more burgers and chips, listening to music, hygge and then at about 10pm, full gas is given and the music gets louder and the beer consumption doubles.. Time to get our boogie on at our camp and pump up the music. I can't remember which night it was, but everyone was in bed except for the boys and we all woke up to this really weird ducky duck music and 20 total strangers with the boys in our class dancing the new morning away… That ladies and gentlemen is Roskilde festival for you. I could go on and on about the countless stories and memories that were made at our beloved campsite and L tower… But I think that this blog post would exceed the limit. All I can tell you is that the warmup days at Roskilde consisted of limited amount of sleep, three showers and lots of 2am burgers…
Then Wednesday rolled around, and the first night of the music began. To have a break from the festival world and be reminded that there is in fact a world that exists outside of the festival, all my class went to the local Chinese restaurant where we had a buffet dinner and enjoyed the luxury of a real toilet. It was a nice hyggeligt afternoon. Thennnn back to the dust and dirt of our camp to see Pharell Williams play on orange stage…. Now Pharell’s hit happy was fantastic- don't get me wrong it was awesome dancing in a mosh of people that could fill the capacity of the MCG. But as for the rest of the hour …. Well Pharell babe I think you need to get your places right…. Roskilde is not in fact Copenhagen... I was kind of disappointed by his concert.. I feel like he could have given it more gas. I was not disappointed however by the band Muse. Their concert was wicked and they gave sooo much gas and had the whole crowd enjoying themselves. I only knew two of their songs, but it didn't really matter. I was in the company of three major muse fans who danced and jumped their way through the hour and a half concert. Muse I can safely say that I am a fan. Up next on the music agenda was Florence and the Machine- a top contender for my favourite concerts at Roskilde. Her voice literally gave me goosebumps. It was a really chill concert and you've got the love was 1000 times better live. the DJs Disclosure also didn't disappoint and it as defiantly a dance party on orange. This was also up there with my favourite concerts because it was just so fun. The Norwegian DJ Kygo who is so hot right now in Australia with his song firestorm also pumped the stage at 2am in the morning… There was so many people and all of my class went to the concert but only four of us remained to see the rest. It was worth being squashed up to hundreds of people and he did not disappoint. I also better mention the sweet Marie Key- the Danish artist who I am s big fan of. You could just genuinely tell that she was having the time of her life onstage and it was a joy to watch. Nikki Minage also graced the stage in her gigantic stilettos and crazy costumes, looking down at a crowd who hadn't showered in a good few days.. At least Nikki wasn't off with the starships though because she knew exactly where she was in the world…. Something that perhaps Pharell could learn from. And then the legend Paul Mcartney who I saw only half of due to extreme exhaustion.Four days of major headliners and artists from around the world. A short snippet of the music side… But Roskilde festival as I learnt this year is so much more than just the music. At the start of the week, one of the boys in my class said that he goes to the festival just to be together in the camp….. And at the start of the week I just looked at him because I did not understand at all what he meant. Now that the festival has come to a close, I can honestly say that I totally understand just going to the festival to have a good time with your friends. The music is honestly just a bonus. I had one of the best weeks ever and have many many stories to tell that may not be best to share in this forum…..
The festival officially finished for me on Monday, when I went to work with my first host family just like I did last time I was at the festival. If you volunteer at the festival ,you get an armband so basically you get to go for the labour you volunteer instead of paying for the actual ticket. A pretty good deal. For our work, we had to take down a Kvickly stall and take up all the floorboards, wash the cash registers and pack everything together. Not too bad. My friend Cecilie was also there, and we visited our camp at the end, and there was not much that remained. We also managed to find a good tent that Cecilie can use next year and maybe me if I'm there again next year :)
So today is now Wednesday which means I have about two and a half weeks left in Denmark. At the moment I am visiting my first host family which is really great. Yesterday we went out for a sailing tour on Roskilde fjord and enjoyed the Danish summer rain. Now that the festival is over, I can plan my time a bit better and try and fit and see everyone that I need to whilst I'm here :)
Until next time
Xxx
For those regulars who have followed my love affair with the land of the Vikings, you already know that back in 2013 I went to the festival. I wasn't allowed to camp however due to rotary rules, and instead cycled back home every night to my second host families house with my exchange pal Lauren. Back in 2013, I experience the orange feeling and it was pretty spectacular. This year though was really different and I fell in love with Roskilde even more because I was able to camp with my class and experience what some would call the full festival experience.
The Roskilde saga began on Friday the 26th of June. After I had been up to my old school to see the official graduation ceremony with my class, I was picked up by my friend Emilie’s dad bearing all my luggage for the week and dropped off at the festival site- which wasn't yet open. Part of the full Roskilde experience is camping out in line for the best camping spot. So that's what we did along with majority of my class camp (all up there was about 22 of us). And we waited, froze, got rained on, used a giant tarp as a shelter, got rained on some more and froze even more. Not much sleep was had that night…. But it was an experience. The next morning we did some more waiting, and a lot of standing up and being trampled on because everyone wants to get a good camping spot. Then at 4pm the race begins and the annual Roskilde run takes place. It is literally chaos, with people running left, right and centre. Before running in, I asked my friends if they had a plan…. Their reply was bare løbe... Which in danish means just run… So that's literally what I did. With my friend Emilie’s beside me I thought that I had it easy because we could see each other.. Boy did that plan epically fail as everyone became absorbed into a mass crowd frantically running through the camping grounds. With the L tower in sight I just ran along with everyone… And then realised that it probably wasn't the smartest idea because I couldn't see anyone from my class. So with a phone in hand I called everyone- with no response and realised that they were all in the same boat as me. But I managed to run into everyone at the same time, and so the frantic setting up of tents began. I lived in a tent with my two friends, Karoline P and Emilie. Between the three of us, we aren't really seasoned campers. We fit into the glamping category. So putting up the tent was hilarious, as we didn't really have any idea what we were doing. Denmark also put on a show deciding to rain just as we put our tents up. But after the struggle, as tempers were running high after an evening of no sleep ‘vores plads er lort venner’, we eventually settled into our camping place near the L tower, christened the ground with a game of beer bowling and waited for the rain to go away…. Consumed a gourmet burger and went to sleep- at a very ungodly hour of the morning.
And so then began the real Roskilde festival. Thankfully the sun came out the next morning at 5am when myself and Emilie had to fix our tent which decided to collapse on us during the middle of the night, told you we were ‘glampers’ But so began Sunday at the Roskilde Festival, with a sweet Harry Potter tune blasting from our 16 year old neighbours camp…. The day literally consisted of beer bowling, sitting in a camping stool, applying sunscreen, downing another Somersby, eating more burgers and chips, listening to music, hygge and then at about 10pm, full gas is given and the music gets louder and the beer consumption doubles.. Time to get our boogie on at our camp and pump up the music. I can't remember which night it was, but everyone was in bed except for the boys and we all woke up to this really weird ducky duck music and 20 total strangers with the boys in our class dancing the new morning away… That ladies and gentlemen is Roskilde festival for you. I could go on and on about the countless stories and memories that were made at our beloved campsite and L tower… But I think that this blog post would exceed the limit. All I can tell you is that the warmup days at Roskilde consisted of limited amount of sleep, three showers and lots of 2am burgers…
Then Wednesday rolled around, and the first night of the music began. To have a break from the festival world and be reminded that there is in fact a world that exists outside of the festival, all my class went to the local Chinese restaurant where we had a buffet dinner and enjoyed the luxury of a real toilet. It was a nice hyggeligt afternoon. Thennnn back to the dust and dirt of our camp to see Pharell Williams play on orange stage…. Now Pharell’s hit happy was fantastic- don't get me wrong it was awesome dancing in a mosh of people that could fill the capacity of the MCG. But as for the rest of the hour …. Well Pharell babe I think you need to get your places right…. Roskilde is not in fact Copenhagen... I was kind of disappointed by his concert.. I feel like he could have given it more gas. I was not disappointed however by the band Muse. Their concert was wicked and they gave sooo much gas and had the whole crowd enjoying themselves. I only knew two of their songs, but it didn't really matter. I was in the company of three major muse fans who danced and jumped their way through the hour and a half concert. Muse I can safely say that I am a fan. Up next on the music agenda was Florence and the Machine- a top contender for my favourite concerts at Roskilde. Her voice literally gave me goosebumps. It was a really chill concert and you've got the love was 1000 times better live. the DJs Disclosure also didn't disappoint and it as defiantly a dance party on orange. This was also up there with my favourite concerts because it was just so fun. The Norwegian DJ Kygo who is so hot right now in Australia with his song firestorm also pumped the stage at 2am in the morning… There was so many people and all of my class went to the concert but only four of us remained to see the rest. It was worth being squashed up to hundreds of people and he did not disappoint. I also better mention the sweet Marie Key- the Danish artist who I am s big fan of. You could just genuinely tell that she was having the time of her life onstage and it was a joy to watch. Nikki Minage also graced the stage in her gigantic stilettos and crazy costumes, looking down at a crowd who hadn't showered in a good few days.. At least Nikki wasn't off with the starships though because she knew exactly where she was in the world…. Something that perhaps Pharell could learn from. And then the legend Paul Mcartney who I saw only half of due to extreme exhaustion.Four days of major headliners and artists from around the world. A short snippet of the music side… But Roskilde festival as I learnt this year is so much more than just the music. At the start of the week, one of the boys in my class said that he goes to the festival just to be together in the camp….. And at the start of the week I just looked at him because I did not understand at all what he meant. Now that the festival has come to a close, I can honestly say that I totally understand just going to the festival to have a good time with your friends. The music is honestly just a bonus. I had one of the best weeks ever and have many many stories to tell that may not be best to share in this forum…..
The festival officially finished for me on Monday, when I went to work with my first host family just like I did last time I was at the festival. If you volunteer at the festival ,you get an armband so basically you get to go for the labour you volunteer instead of paying for the actual ticket. A pretty good deal. For our work, we had to take down a Kvickly stall and take up all the floorboards, wash the cash registers and pack everything together. Not too bad. My friend Cecilie was also there, and we visited our camp at the end, and there was not much that remained. We also managed to find a good tent that Cecilie can use next year and maybe me if I'm there again next year :)
So today is now Wednesday which means I have about two and a half weeks left in Denmark. At the moment I am visiting my first host family which is really great. Yesterday we went out for a sailing tour on Roskilde fjord and enjoyed the Danish summer rain. Now that the festival is over, I can plan my time a bit better and try and fit and see everyone that I need to whilst I'm here :)
Until next time
Xxx
Thursday, 25 June 2015
Fest Fest
well just like exchange, time is passing at an unbelievably fast pace... Maybe it's the danish air? But whatever it is I know that the next four weeks are going to fly by and I have to make the most of every day...and that's exactly what I have been doing!
So since I last wrote, I have eaten heaps of ice cream, biked too many kilometres and seen nearly everyone I know in Denmark-including Anna, the exchange student who lived with my parents whilst I was in Denmark. It was so nice to see her again and also kind of strange because it feels like yesterday that she was in Australia.
On Tuesday I went to Copenhagen... And it felt amazing to be back strolling the cobble stone shopping street and exploring the side streets that hold hidden gems of the city. Of course I had to visit Nyhavn, the coloured lined house street that is my favourite place in the whole world. A danish hot dog and ice cream were also consumed because when in Copenhagen you must do as the Danes do. Tuesday was also Sankt Hans aften, which is a traditional celebration in Denmark to get the witches or spirits away. It's traditional to light a fire with a witch at the top... And all hedges must be trimmed before. Roskilde holds a community fire in the park, and we went down to see that... They had singers, and it was a beautiful afternoon with a gorgeous sunset. However the fire didn't light... :( as an australian though it was kind of strange to see people walking through a park with fire sticks..... Bush fire hazard anyone?
Yesterday I went to my gymnasium- Katderalskole, to see some of my danish friends graduate. It's sooooo different from what'd have in Australia. In Denmark, students have exams all alone... Some are speaking ones and others are writing. On your last exam, your family comes to your classroom and waits for you to finish.... They have a red rose, champagne and a special type of cak. Once you finish your last exam, you have to wait for your result... 12 is the best. Then you get your hat, and go and hygge wit your family drinking champagne and eating a cake at school. It is a really cool tradition. Another is a studentergilde, which is a little party that you hold with your family and friends. I went to two yesterday and they were so nice. I also spoke at my rotary club in danish and told them about what I've been up to since I've come home. Then I went to dance bar with my class where we danced the night away and I, so danish if I do say so myself, biked home.
Which brings us to today and the long awaited vogntur..... Then roskilde festival starts TOMORROW.... I'm sleeping in the que... It's gonna be an experience !
So since I last wrote, I have eaten heaps of ice cream, biked too many kilometres and seen nearly everyone I know in Denmark-including Anna, the exchange student who lived with my parents whilst I was in Denmark. It was so nice to see her again and also kind of strange because it feels like yesterday that she was in Australia.
On Tuesday I went to Copenhagen... And it felt amazing to be back strolling the cobble stone shopping street and exploring the side streets that hold hidden gems of the city. Of course I had to visit Nyhavn, the coloured lined house street that is my favourite place in the whole world. A danish hot dog and ice cream were also consumed because when in Copenhagen you must do as the Danes do. Tuesday was also Sankt Hans aften, which is a traditional celebration in Denmark to get the witches or spirits away. It's traditional to light a fire with a witch at the top... And all hedges must be trimmed before. Roskilde holds a community fire in the park, and we went down to see that... They had singers, and it was a beautiful afternoon with a gorgeous sunset. However the fire didn't light... :( as an australian though it was kind of strange to see people walking through a park with fire sticks..... Bush fire hazard anyone?
Yesterday I went to my gymnasium- Katderalskole, to see some of my danish friends graduate. It's sooooo different from what'd have in Australia. In Denmark, students have exams all alone... Some are speaking ones and others are writing. On your last exam, your family comes to your classroom and waits for you to finish.... They have a red rose, champagne and a special type of cak. Once you finish your last exam, you have to wait for your result... 12 is the best. Then you get your hat, and go and hygge wit your family drinking champagne and eating a cake at school. It is a really cool tradition. Another is a studentergilde, which is a little party that you hold with your family and friends. I went to two yesterday and they were so nice. I also spoke at my rotary club in danish and told them about what I've been up to since I've come home. Then I went to dance bar with my class where we danced the night away and I, so danish if I do say so myself, biked home.
Which brings us to today and the long awaited vogntur..... Then roskilde festival starts TOMORROW.... I'm sleeping in the que... It's gonna be an experience !
Sunday, 21 June 2015
The long awaited return
We'll I've talked about it, dreamt about it, saved for it and eagerly awaited it for a year and a half... And now it's finally here- my eagerly awaited, long anticipated return to Denmark. And let me tell you, it feels bloody good to be back 'home'...
So I arrived in Copenhagen at 6:25am on Saturday morning. 22 hours on a plane... Sitting, catching up on movies, trying to figure out how the Turkish woman sitting next to me was going to get her Australian lime tree all the way home, running frantically through Singapores massive never ending airport, feared missing plane, arrived out of breath, catching up on lost breath whilst waiting one hour for plane, teaching old guy how to use wifi, waiting, sitting, stretching, boarding, not sleeping, making friends with the two stem cell scientists from Singapore, eating, sleeping, anticipating, watching the map, cringing 8 hours...7.......6.......5.......4......3....2...1
Note to self: be aware of the time in Singapore upon landing to save frantic running...
Finally landing... And so my adventure began and with a quick stretch of the legs, I was ready for more waiting, more sitting and bag collecting. But this time instead of running frantically, I could walk at ease... Being back in a country where I could understand the language, read the signs and enjoy the Carlsberg sponsored sign 'welcome to the worlds happiest nation'- I was finally 'hjem'
And so I walked through the airport doors and was greeted with a sea of Danish flags from my third host parents and a little surprise.... Three of my danish friends were there too! It was soo nice to see them and a little surreal because maybe it was a little bit of jet lagged brain but it felt like a dream! Driving to roskilde also fels like this.. Driving on the wrong side of the road didn't even seem that strange! I was surrounded by so much familiarity that it feels like I have never left.
Arriving so early in the morning meant that I had a full day in denmark. I resisted the temptation to sleep and instead hit the shops (surprise) and went to Rosilde Havn with Paige, th australian exchange student who is currently being hosted by my third host family. We got some Paradis, aka the worlds best ice cream and soaked up the sun wearing teeshirt on an 18 degree day (i think it's actually warmer in Australia right now). Then we came home and celebrated my host sisters boyfriends birthday complete with games, cards and Tuborg.
Yesterday was another sunny day spent at an old town kind of like Soverign Hill in a town called Lejre. People pay to live like the Vikings for a week and wear all th clothes from a time that is wayyyyyy older than Australia. It was interesting to see the houses and what life in denmark looked like in the old days. The history loving buff is baccccccccccccck. Then Paige and I walked through roskilde, bought some fresh strawberries and sat by the harbour listening to music and sharing exchange stories. It was hyggeligt. Frikadeller and of course potatoes was a good way to end my second day in Denmark. Yesterday was also the longest day of the year in demmark so the run set at about 11.....
And so begins day number three. Depending on the weather a Copenhagen trip may be on the cards... We'll see!
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
hej igen venner
So, I've been doing some serious i miss Denmark google stalking of all kinds, and amazingly my blog comes up in some of the search engines! Can not believe it.
So for the people who have randomly stumbled across my blog- welcome! And for those regulars who popped in weekly to see what was the latest from the land of the Danes, sorry for neglecting my blog. Rest assured that there will be diariesofadane#2 when I make my return next summer!
BUT ANYWAY
For those who are reading this blog that stumbled across it because they are thinking about going on exchange to Denmark, my advice to you is DO IT
and for those randoms out there... you should also read this article..
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ailbhemalone/45-reasons-everyone-should-live-abroad-once
As for me? Life is going splendidly and I'm loving my university degree. I think about my exchange every single day, and every time I see a photo, or get a message from an exchange friend, danish or international, my heart sinks. A recent easter package from my first host family totally made my year. Danish easter eggs and candy were very welcomed in my potato deprived australian diet.
But anyways, before I ramble away random thoughts, i'll say adios amigos
See you in July Roskilde 2015, here I come
much love
So for the people who have randomly stumbled across my blog- welcome! And for those regulars who popped in weekly to see what was the latest from the land of the Danes, sorry for neglecting my blog. Rest assured that there will be diariesofadane#2 when I make my return next summer!
BUT ANYWAY
For those who are reading this blog that stumbled across it because they are thinking about going on exchange to Denmark, my advice to you is DO IT
and for those randoms out there... you should also read this article..
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ailbhemalone/45-reasons-everyone-should-live-abroad-once
As for me? Life is going splendidly and I'm loving my university degree. I think about my exchange every single day, and every time I see a photo, or get a message from an exchange friend, danish or international, my heart sinks. A recent easter package from my first host family totally made my year. Danish easter eggs and candy were very welcomed in my potato deprived australian diet.
But anyways, before I ramble away random thoughts, i'll say adios amigos
See you in July Roskilde 2015, here I come
much love
Friday, 31 January 2014
jeg savner Danmark
For dem det kan taler Dansk, og forstå det godt, jeg vil første siger at jeg savner din dejligt land SÅ meget. Min hjærte ligger i Danmark og altid vil (jeg tror at det er ikke helt rigtig, men håber at du vil hvad jeg mener). Danmark er mit andre land, og jeg savner det alt for meget. Det er så mærkligt at jeg kan ikke bare cykle mere, eller ikke bare tage en tur til kph eller spise rugbrød :( jeg savner dansk mad rigtig meget.
Hvis der er nogle fra min søde klasse, 2R, det laser min blog i Englesk timmer... eller mathma, venner altså jeg savner jer så meget!
Men jeg tror at jeg skal skifte til englesk nu... så mest kan godt forstå hvad jeg skriver.
So tomorrow officially marks three week since I have left Denmark... yes THREE! That is so scary, time is continuing to fly right before me and I honestly thought that it would slow down since leaving. but it really hasn't. I mean its only a matter of weeks before I am off to begin my university degree! That is kind of scary to think about! But anyway, things are good at home... its nice to be home in a familiar surrounding where not much has changed apart from the car my family own and the place of everything in the kitchen. Sometimes I find myself confused about what language to speak, and often think in Danish and say random words in sentences. I miss speaking it every day... a lot more than I thought I would.
Another thing I miss is defiantley the weather. It is SO hot in Australia right now. Like in the high thirties most days.. and for a danish adapted weather person it is SO hard to come home and have to adapt to these conditions again. And yes Denmark I am so jealous of your snow right now... It came ONE DAY AFTER I LEFT. I mean seriously. Jeg vil gerne laver snemanden!
So enjoy it for me! I also miss biking... and have often found myself saying it would just be so much easier if I could bike. I actually went to bike to my friends house today, before turing around after the bike failed... so I resorted to the aussie way of walking. And oh boy do I miss danish food, especially the rye bread- but the lack of potatos in my diet now is doing me the world of good! I also miss all my host famalies, Roskilde and my class... It is so weird just not being able to see them every day... and so hard being on the other side of the world. I really miss that!
I just miss Denmark in general! And it was so so hard to say goodbye. The last week was a total blur... really.
On Monday the 6th of January, I went back to school for a normal day. That was nice after the christmas holidays to see everyone again. It was really strange to be back, and think that I would be leaving at the end of the week. Now that I actually speak Danish it just felt like I was a normal student at RKS. I actually really miss gymnasium even though I did little work... maybe that is the part I miss? haha anyway. It was a hyggeligt day with my friends.
On Tuesday, I didn't go to school because I went into Copenhagen for the last time with my roomie from intro camp, a girl called Jayanna who lives on the other side of Denmark. I don't get to see her very much so it was really nice to catch up and talk about our feelings on leaving. We did all the touristy things in Copenhagen... basically saw the whole city in one day! We started off at Rosenborg Slot which is where the queens jewles are. This castle is SO stunning and I love it so much. We just walked around the castle as we had both been in there before. We then walked through the Kogens Havn which is in my opinion one of the most beautiful parks in Copenhagen. It is STUNNING no matter what the season. This took us to our next stop- the big three; Nyhavn, Mary's Palace and the Little Mermaid.
We spent AGES at the little mermaid, perfecting our last minuet tourist photos. I have to say that I have become so fond of this little lady. She really is so beautiful and I know its not much of an icon, but she suits Copenhagen perfectly.
For me, it was probably the most difficult to say goodbye to Nyhavn. This place is home to some of my most favourite memories of exchange throughout every season. I fell in love with the little coloured houses, the cafes, the cannal tours and just the hyggeligt lighting at night. It is such a picturesque spot and I can hardly wait to go back there!
Being exchange students, Jayanna and I were SO excited to find out that the queen of Denmark was making a tour around Copenhagen on the royal carriage... So we basically stalked the heck out of any official looking person, until we stumbled across the royal guard of horses. I dont even know how, but somehow we took the biggest short cut ever and cut off about 1km of walking and an hours walking time... If only we had of stumbled upon that earlier on in our exchange! Anyway, we found the royal guard and were so excited because we thought that the queen was there.... but she wasn't we had JUST missed her- damn it! But it wasn't that bad. I mean, we were standing outside Danish parliment building witnessing the Royal guard on their horses all dressed up which only happens once a year so it was pretty special. and great to see especially on our last visit!
Tivoli was shut much to my disappointment, but we did buy our last minuet souviners and make the most of our last stroll along the longest shopping street in Europe.. So sad to say goodbye to this place as well! We ended the day by buying a danish pastry from Laugekage hus- a really REALY nice bakery with the most delicious cakes. Jayanna had a strawberry tart and I had a cinamon scroll which is a Danish speciality. We then took the train home and as usual, I biked home from the station...
Wednesday was devoted to packing and stressing over my final Rotary presentation which was that night. My presentation was done in front of my whole rotary club and all of my host famalies were invited and all attended which was so nice. My friend Cecilie from my class was also there, which was so nice and she helped me relax a little. I was allowed to speak for 20 mins and I did this ALL IN DANISH! Okay, so lets be honest... this time last year I thought I would NEVER be able to speak danish let alone speak in front of 50 people in danish!
I was so so nervous, but really happy with the way that things went. I spoke about my experience in Roskilde, travelling, what I had learnt on exchange, all about my class, what I had learnt from each host family and what I am going to do now that I am back home. I also showed a video that I had made about my year in Roskilde. I got a lot of positive feedback also which I was so happy about! It was actually hard to say goodbye to my Rotary club. They have been so so good to me throughout the year and I was so glad that I was put in that club. They are all so sweet and all showed an interest in my year and what I was doing and how I was progressing with the language. It is strange that I won't ever go to one of their meetings at Hotel Prisden again.. I miss them!
Thursday was spent at school. Just a regular day. I finished my packing so that I would be free on Friday to say my final goodbyes and to enjoy my last day in Denmark!
Friday was one of the hardest most emotional days that I have EVER had to deal with in my life (and thats coming from someone who sat the HSC!) I went to school, and saw my Brazilian newbie Fernanda for the last time. We both had free time, so we went over to the supermarket, ate my last actual Danish pastry and talked. It was so nice but so hard to say goodbye to her! Then the goodbyes came in my class... Last lesson with my class was so strange.. It did not feel like it was happening at all! My class all wanted to see the video that I had made and before putting it on I said a little speech to my class, but kind of failed to find the right words as I just burst into tears... and a lot of my class were crying when I showed my video IT WAS JUST TOO SAD. Then I hugged all of them, said tak for nu and vi ses. Then some of my friends stayed after school because it was Fredags Cafe- which would be my first and final one ever. Fredags cafe are really unique in Denmark. Some Fridays after school, beer is served for the price of just $1! WHAT! It was really nice that this Danish tradition was on my last day. So I stayed for a while, and just enjoyed the company of some of my nearest and dearest Danish friends. I then got home from school and helped my host family set up for a dinner with all of my host famalies and two councilors. This was SUCH a nice evening.. and again strange to say goodbye to them all. We had danish smørbrød with cheese and sat around talking. It was nice to be with all the people in Denmark who had made my year so special. I gave my final hugs then went to sleep in my bed for the last time in Denmark.
Saturday was a blur. I flew from Copenhagen airport at 2pm.... The space in between that time involved eating Danish bolle for the last time, taking all the stuff out of my room, checking in, praying my baggage wasn't over weight, saying goodbye, crying a lot, a lot more crying and finally getting on the plane for the 23 hour plane trip home... What a day!
The airport was really hard, but a lot harder than I anticipated. I thought back to last year when I fought back the tears saying goodbye to my family at Sydney airport, and realised that it was a completly different thing to be saying goodbye to Denmark and my danish family and friends. because my family in Australia will ALWAYS be there and I was always going to go home back into their loving and caring arms. I know that i WILL go back to Denmark at some point in time (hopefully a year and a half) but I am not certain when i will see the people who have become such an important part of my life again. So fighting back so many years, I said goodbye to my third host family and my first host family who also came which was so so nice. I then had to say goodbye to some of my best danish friends- Karoline, Karoline, Simon, Kristine and Christina. It was so hard to hug them all one last time and I was pratically loud crying going up the elevators waving at their faces savouring those last moments!
I was greeted by a similiar crowd of emotional aussies in their badge covered blazers, hugged it out and hopped on the plane. I held my breath as we departed and reality really hit... exchange was over.
So now, I find myself home, missing Denmark a lot, and feeling that I should write one more blog post for old time sake. Rest assured that diaries of a dane will make a return, as I know that I will have many more adventures in Denmark to come in the future.
Until then, tak for nu og vi ses igen snart
Thursday, 9 January 2014
The final Diary
This blog post is very overdue, my apologies but in between surviving the amount of food consumed at Danish christmas, trying to pack a year into my 20kg suitcase, setting off fireworks, cooking Australian food and saying goodbye to people I love, I seem to have neglected my little blog. So I can hopefully cram everything I have been up to in this blog post. A whole 2 weeks worth!
So christmas has been and gone. There are no longer christmas trees in the streets, no more christmas songs on the radio and all signs of christmas have been put away until next year. But the christmas I experienced this year was very different to those that I am used to, and it is one that I will always remember.
As I have probably written in previous blogs, December in Denmark is totally devoted to christmas related activities. Wether it is picking a christmas tree from the forest (which i forgot to write about in my last blog post) attending a julefrokost, eating, christmas shopping, baking more cookies to eat, attending church, Tivoli tours or just hyggeing, December is a really special month in Denmark. And christmas was just the same.
I have been to my fair share of julefrokosts, with my class (which was by far the funnest) held on our last day of school. We all slept over at my friends house and went to school together the next day. It is a night that I won't forget in a hurry. And I have also been to one with my Rotary club which was also really nice. Before hand, we went to church, sang some songs and then went to hotel prisden (where our meetings are held) to eat more food and hygge. It was a really fun morning.
I have also been to church at christmas time both with my school and with my host dad. My school holds a christmas service on our last day of school in the big famous church in my town. It was really really special to be in there and so hyggeligt. The next church service i went too was on the 24th in the morning. It is so cool to sit in the domkirken. I love it so much. There were christmas trees (of the real kind) and it had such a nice atmosphere. My host sister from number two family also sang so it was nice to see her before christmas!
I am so used to having christmas on the 25th.. Waking up in the morning to open presents with my siblings and then hoping in the car hoping to avoid traffic to drive an hour to my mum and dads parents. This year christmas felt completly strange, because it was held on the 24th... in the evening. This was weird, because when does Santa come? Well in Denmark, Danish kids actually enjoy a live santa visit! Pretty cool. So anyway, christmas this year was at my host famalies house so in the day, the kitchen smelt SO amazing as my host mum cooked all the danish christmas food. Then, after all showering, and decorating the christmas tree (A REAL LIVE ONE) we were ready for our guests. Juleaften was shared with my host mums brother , his three girls, his wife and their dad (so my host grandpa) It was a really hyggeligt night. We all sat around at the dinner table eating and eating and eating. My favourite Danish christmas good is brown potatoes which are sugar covered potatos. THEY TASTE SO AMAZING! and it is one of the many things that i will be bringing home with me. Nanna expect them to be on the table next christmas. After eating the main meal, we ate dessert which is one of the best things about danish christmas. It is called Ris-ala-mand. This is like rice porridge, but sweetened and throughout it are little almonds. There is one whole almond in the grol and the person who gets it wins a prize. But if you get the almond, you have to wait until the whole bowl is finished before you say anything, otherwise it is no fun! I didnt get the nut unfortuantley, but it was a lot of fun. Andddd so after eating our weight in food, we moved to the christmas tree. This was a whole new world for me because Danes have many traditions surrounding it. To start with, there are actual live candles on the christmas tree that are lit on christmas eve. This was so cool, although i was a little scared because its a live tree, with candles in the middle of a house. The second tradition is to hold hands and sing traditional christmas songs around the christmas tree. This was cool to be apart of! We sang songs like little child in bethlam and ones that we dont have in English. Then we danced around the house singing "nu det jule i gen" which means now it is christmas again. We danced around the whole house through bedrooms and even went outside. It was crazy! And finally after all that, we sit around the christmas tree and opened presents. I got some really nice things, from my family back home in Australia and my host famalies in Denmark. They are all things that will remind me of my magical danish christmas. After it was about midnight, and we sat around with tea and chocolate. Then, went to bed.
And that was danish christmas.... day one
Day two occurs on Australian christmas day with another jule frokost. Of course, there is a lot of food involved. A traditional danish jule frokost consists of: lots of rye bread, herring, prawns, more sea food, schnaps, liver paste and frikerdellers (meat ball things). It was interesting to try of course, but I am not the greatest fan of herring. We ate this traditional food on the 25th with my host mums dad. We held it together with the same people that we were with on christmas eve. It was really hyggeligt and once again we ate so much food. We went for a long walk, and then played a game called packalej, which i am not sure if i have explained before, but basically it is a game that involves some fun gifts and a dice. If you roll a 6, you can take a gift from the middle of the table until they have all gone. Then a watch is started and you continue to play but instead of taking a gift from the middle of the table, you take a gift from someone else. When the stopwatch stops, you get to open all of the presents that you have. It is a lot of fun, and is played to most julefrokosts. It was a hyggeligt day.
And finally day three consisted of us sleeping a little longer and relaxing. Which is Australian boxing day.
When comparing Australian and Danish christmas, they are both very very different. I really love December in Denmark, but I love that christmas in australia is for the whole day. I suppose maybe it would have been different if there had of been snow. But Danish christmas is something that I will always remember.
And the next few days followed by as normal went into Tivoli a lot to see the fireworks, and it is sad to say that I have now been there for my last time :( until next time we meet Tivoli! And then before I knew it it was NEW YEARS EVE.
NEW YEARS EVE is also filled with many traditions that we do not have in Australia. New Years Eve was again held at my host famalie shouse, so the day was spent making food, cleaning and setting the table. and covering the house in confetti from head to toe which was a lot of fun. We got all dressed up in high heels and dresses and were ready for our guests. New Years Eve also consists of food (surprise) but it is really good food, of the three course kind. We had delicious food! After eating, we went outside to let off fireworks in the front garden NO KIDDING! This was so strange for me because it is illegal to do it in Australia. But it was so much fun and I wish that we could do it in Australia. I was a little worried at first, but i ended loving setting them off legally! Denmark has some pretty cool traditions. After fireworks, I went to a party with my host brother which was really fun. Safe to say that I have enjoyed a Danish new years.
The first few days of 2014 have been a blur. My life has consisted of packing, unpacking, taking things out, weighing, crying, taking more clothes out, putting more in the pile I have to wear home and repeat. Packing a life into a suitcase is by no means easy, and it is really difficult as there is so many things that I want to take home with me. So many memories, places, people that I wish I could take, actually I just wish that I could take the whole Denmark home with me. The countdown is now just 2 days!
I have had to say my fair share of goodbyes and the really hard ones began when I said goodbye to Lauren. We sat Frost på Dansk which i Frozen in English. It is based on a H C Anderson story and I really reccomend seeing it. Although I cant see it in English anymore, because it is just so good in Danish!
On the 3rd of January I also had a hard goodbye when I invited all of the girls from my class over for an Australian dinner. This was so hyggeligt. I made an aussie meat pie, damper and of course pavlova. We also ate tim tams and they tried vegiemite which was the funniest thing i have ever seen in my life. I gave them all a little koala and kangaroo so that they can remember me and all the strange animals living in the land down under. They also gave me a really nice ring, with a four leaf clover so that I can wear it for luck. It actually bought me to tears. Saying goodbye to some of them was really hard. But they liked aussie food and we all had a nice night sitting around talking and enjoying each others company.
After, we went into town with some of the boys from my class. This was also really fun.
Sade to say that I will miss my class so so so much! I have been so lucky to have been placed with them. They have been so welcoming and nice. I know that I have friends for life.
I am now back at school a little on and off. On Monday, I was there for the full day and in the afternoon, I went to Jensens Beefhouse with Simon and Karoline. This was a tradition we had when I first came and we bought all you can eat ice cream and sat there talking and laughing. We reminiced that last time we were here, I did not know a word of Danish... How is that only a year ago? It was so hyggeligt! and I will miss them both so so so much.
Tuesday I was in Copenhagen for my last time with my roomie from intro camp Jayanna. This trip was really fun and we managed to tick off all the touristy things in Copenhagen. Starting off at Rosenborgs Castle, taking a tour through to the Little Mermaide, having a mini photo shoot there and enjoying the lack of tourists, then on to say our final goodbye to Princess Mary, moving on to my little kebab shop in Nyhavn then doing stroget and picking up some final souvineers. We were pretty tired by the time we hopped on the train! We also managed to pick up some Danish pastries on the way, i Mean gotto make the most of them whilst we can! It was a really great day, but I have to admit, it was a little hard to say goodbye to the places that I have enjoyed so many wonderful memories. On Wednesday which is yesterday, I packed my room almost completely up, cancelled my bank account, and did some other things around town. During the evening though, I gave my final speech to Rotary. This was for around 15 minuets in Danish. I was a little nervous, and a year ago I though I could have never spoken danish infront of 50 people for 15 mins. But they seemed to like it and understand what I said. All of my host famalies were there which was really really nice, and one of my friends from school whose Dad is in Rotary was also there. It kinda made me feel a little nervous that she was also there, so that was really nice. So things went well and I am really happy with how it went. In my presentation, I spoke about my experiences in the year, what I have learnt from all my host famalies, my class, my travels and what I plan to do after. I will also have to do the same for my Rotary Club when I come home. It was a really hyggeligt night and I do really love my Rotary Club. They are all so so sweet and I have been so blessed to have been placed in the club.
And so today is Thursday. Tonights plans are final pack so that I can just enjoy my last day in Denmark with no stress. I plan on going to school tomorrow to say my final goodbyes to my class, then going to something that is called Fredags Cafe which is a special Danish thing. It should be fun. Then, I will go home and greet all of my host famalies who are coming over to say final goodbye.
Thennnn Saturday ill hold my breath as they weigh my suitcase and say vi ses to the country where I have enjoyed the greatest year of my life.
See you very soon Australia.
I can not believe it!
The first few days of 2014 have been a blur. My life has consisted of packing, unpacking, taking things out, weighing, crying, taking more clothes out, putting more in the pile I have to wear home and repeat. Packing a life into a suitcase is by no means easy, and it is really difficult as there is so many things that I want to take home with me. So many memories, places, people that I wish I could take, actually I just wish that I could take the whole Denmark home with me. The countdown is now just 2 days!
I have had to say my fair share of goodbyes and the really hard ones began when I said goodbye to Lauren. We sat Frost på Dansk which i Frozen in English. It is based on a H C Anderson story and I really reccomend seeing it. Although I cant see it in English anymore, because it is just so good in Danish!
On the 3rd of January I also had a hard goodbye when I invited all of the girls from my class over for an Australian dinner. This was so hyggeligt. I made an aussie meat pie, damper and of course pavlova. We also ate tim tams and they tried vegiemite which was the funniest thing i have ever seen in my life. I gave them all a little koala and kangaroo so that they can remember me and all the strange animals living in the land down under. They also gave me a really nice ring, with a four leaf clover so that I can wear it for luck. It actually bought me to tears. Saying goodbye to some of them was really hard. But they liked aussie food and we all had a nice night sitting around talking and enjoying each others company.
After, we went into town with some of the boys from my class. This was also really fun.
Sade to say that I will miss my class so so so much! I have been so lucky to have been placed with them. They have been so welcoming and nice. I know that I have friends for life.
I am now back at school a little on and off. On Monday, I was there for the full day and in the afternoon, I went to Jensens Beefhouse with Simon and Karoline. This was a tradition we had when I first came and we bought all you can eat ice cream and sat there talking and laughing. We reminiced that last time we were here, I did not know a word of Danish... How is that only a year ago? It was so hyggeligt! and I will miss them both so so so much.
Tuesday I was in Copenhagen for my last time with my roomie from intro camp Jayanna. This trip was really fun and we managed to tick off all the touristy things in Copenhagen. Starting off at Rosenborgs Castle, taking a tour through to the Little Mermaide, having a mini photo shoot there and enjoying the lack of tourists, then on to say our final goodbye to Princess Mary, moving on to my little kebab shop in Nyhavn then doing stroget and picking up some final souvineers. We were pretty tired by the time we hopped on the train! We also managed to pick up some Danish pastries on the way, i Mean gotto make the most of them whilst we can! It was a really great day, but I have to admit, it was a little hard to say goodbye to the places that I have enjoyed so many wonderful memories. On Wednesday which is yesterday, I packed my room almost completely up, cancelled my bank account, and did some other things around town. During the evening though, I gave my final speech to Rotary. This was for around 15 minuets in Danish. I was a little nervous, and a year ago I though I could have never spoken danish infront of 50 people for 15 mins. But they seemed to like it and understand what I said. All of my host famalies were there which was really really nice, and one of my friends from school whose Dad is in Rotary was also there. It kinda made me feel a little nervous that she was also there, so that was really nice. So things went well and I am really happy with how it went. In my presentation, I spoke about my experiences in the year, what I have learnt from all my host famalies, my class, my travels and what I plan to do after. I will also have to do the same for my Rotary Club when I come home. It was a really hyggeligt night and I do really love my Rotary Club. They are all so so sweet and I have been so blessed to have been placed in the club.
And so today is Thursday. Tonights plans are final pack so that I can just enjoy my last day in Denmark with no stress. I plan on going to school tomorrow to say my final goodbyes to my class, then going to something that is called Fredags Cafe which is a special Danish thing. It should be fun. Then, I will go home and greet all of my host famalies who are coming over to say final goodbye.
Thennnn Saturday ill hold my breath as they weigh my suitcase and say vi ses to the country where I have enjoyed the greatest year of my life.
See you very soon Australia.
I can not believe it!
Thursday, 19 December 2013
christmas baking and other christmas traditions
A lot of people have told me that Danes eat a lot at christmas time. I suppose people would say that about us Aussies too, because who doesn't over induldge on fresh prawns by the pool on christmas day. But when this was told to me, I never actually thought it meant eating for the whole december month. But I'm not complaining because it tastes really good, and I will defiantley be bringing some tasty recipies home for you all to try!
So last Friday night, I had a break from the christmas stuff and had a hygge night with some of the girls in my class. After school, we all went christmas shopping in Roskilde which was really nice, and I am now finished with my shopping, for both my Australian family and Danish families! We then caught the bus together out to where my friend lives, which is about 30 minuets out of town. I suppose it is the equivolent of living in Warragamba and going to Elderslie every day. She lives on a farm with horses which was cool to see. We all made dinner together, sat around painting nails for 2 hours and before we knew it, it was 11pm and we hadn't even put on a movie yet. We ended up watching My best friends girl, which was surprisingly good and then crashing at 1am in the morning. We were all a little tired the next day as we didnt really sleep much, but it was a really nice and fun evening!
I went home quite early for a Saturday morning and got a message that my friend Beth who lives in Horsens was in town, so I quickly got on my bike, and rode in to see her. This was just a quick little catchup, but I am so glad that I got to see her. I met her host family and we drank hot chocolate on the cold morning in Roskilde. After our little catch up, I rode home and began to bake christmas cakes with my host sisters. This was the preparation day, so we just made all the dough that we needed, as it had to set over night.
The next morning, we had a big day in the kitchen and I think in total we made around 7 or 8 different styles of cakes. My favourite are pebber nodder and brun cage which translates to brown cookies. They taste like christmas and I will defiantley be taking the recipies home with me so that I can make them every single christmas! We also made a gingerbread house, which was different for me as I am always used to just buying it in a box and decorating it so that was also really cool. We were all exhausted after baking so much and went to bed pretty early.
Then Monday came round and I began my last well not really official whole week of school here in Denmark. This is pretty scary to think about. After the christmas holidays (which start tomorrow), I have a week left of school but that is my last week in Denmark so I think that I will only go for the first 3 days or so. It is really strange to think that I will never go to Danish gymnasium again, when it has become just like normal for me now!
Anyways, as well as school, I have also been so busy with other things throughout the week.
On Monday, after school, I went into Copenhagen to see my friends from Odense who were there for the day. They were in Tivoli, and since I have a Tivoli card, I decided that I could just meet them in there. That was so much fun although I felt kinda ill after going on the plane 3 times. One of which was backwards and since it was so cold you couldn't really breath. My aussie friends Kate, Kathleen and Tristain were there with their language school, so i also got to meet a French exchange student who they were with. He loved tivoli as much as me, i think he is my new best friend.
On Tuesday, I had my last ever danish language school lesson. Its so crazy and I am slowly coming to a blog post that will detail 'this was my last.....'. This party was so much fun and hyggelit. Everyone bought a dish from their own country to share. I made lamingtons and the other aussie girl in my class made ANZAC cookies which i loved so much. The latin americans also loved her anzac cookies and asked me for the recipie of laming tons- cant beat aussie food!
There was also sushi, and a range of south american dishes that tasted SO amazing. It was really fun to have everyone introduce a special dish from their country and everything tasted amazing!
At this party I also gave a presentation on Australia in Danish. I was quite proud of myself as 11 months ago I never thought that was possible. yes by the way today i have been in denmark for 11 months! whatttt?!?!?!
On Wednesday, which was yesterday, my Rotary club had their julefrokost (christmas lunch) You may have to become farmiliar with that word if you are an active reader as I am going to be attending a lot of these in the coming week! Before the lunch, my councilor and his wife picked me and my host sister up. She was also invited as she will be going on exchange next year, and be sponsored by my club. Anyways, before the lunch we attended a church service, which is something that I have ALWAYS wanted to do in Denmark. This was really cool, and the church was so beautiful. We sang traditional songs that apparently i have to learn by christmas eve, and then we went to Hotel Prinsden (where our meetings are usually held) for our christmas lunch. This lunch was HUGE and I ate so much. There were 4 courses and it was a very traditional lunch.
The first course was herring and rye bread (not too keen on the herring but ate it anyways)
The second was a crumbed fish on rye bread that tastes SO good
The third was a pork sasuage and potato dish thing with apple that is very traditional
and the fourth was rice-ala-mand (cant spell it, but thats what it sounds like)
This dessert is one of the BEST things about Danish christmas and I love it so much. It is basically this goey sweet rice stuff with a cherry sauce on top and throughout it you find chopped up almonds. In this dish, there is one whole almond, and the winner of that gets a prize. But if you get the almond, you have to keep it quiet and not tell anyone before everyone has eaten the whole bowl. It is a fun tradition and I can not imagine christmas without rice-ala-mand! So family, be prepared to taste it when I get home.
It was really nice to meet some more Rotarians at the christmas lunch also. It was very hyggelit and I had a fun time.
This was the final rotary meeting for 2013, and the first for 2014 is me making my presentation on my year in Denmark. This will go for around 30 minuets and will be in total danish. A little nervous, but it is a good thing that I have almost finished it!
And today is the last official day of school for 2013. Then 2 weeks holiday and then one more week in Denmark and exchange. WHAT!
As my year comes to an end, I find that my social calendar is very full and hard to squeeze last minuet things into.
Tonight, I have a jule frokost with my class which should be fun. I have heard SO much about last years, so I am really looking forward to it.
On Friday, I have to go to school to have a little meeting with all the exchange students at my school as a little farewell thing.
On Saturday, I have a julefrokost with my host famalies friends
Sunday is a little up in the air as I dont know what I am doing at this stage
Monday is the day before christmas, so who knows what will be happening
and Tuesday is christmas eve. WHATTTTTTT!
Wednesday is christmas in Australia and i imagine that your preperations are fully under way. I just wanted to thank everyone who has sent me a package or a card. I have appreciated it so much and am looking forward to opening them all on the 25th!
Time is flying! But I am continuing to enjoy my stay.
Can't believe it has been 11 months since I have been home, and only another 24 until I am back there again! Two people from my winter team have already departed Denmark, and my time will come soon. I am looking forward to seeing everyone home, but am not really looking forward to saying goodbye to all the friends and families here.
So last Friday night, I had a break from the christmas stuff and had a hygge night with some of the girls in my class. After school, we all went christmas shopping in Roskilde which was really nice, and I am now finished with my shopping, for both my Australian family and Danish families! We then caught the bus together out to where my friend lives, which is about 30 minuets out of town. I suppose it is the equivolent of living in Warragamba and going to Elderslie every day. She lives on a farm with horses which was cool to see. We all made dinner together, sat around painting nails for 2 hours and before we knew it, it was 11pm and we hadn't even put on a movie yet. We ended up watching My best friends girl, which was surprisingly good and then crashing at 1am in the morning. We were all a little tired the next day as we didnt really sleep much, but it was a really nice and fun evening!
I went home quite early for a Saturday morning and got a message that my friend Beth who lives in Horsens was in town, so I quickly got on my bike, and rode in to see her. This was just a quick little catchup, but I am so glad that I got to see her. I met her host family and we drank hot chocolate on the cold morning in Roskilde. After our little catch up, I rode home and began to bake christmas cakes with my host sisters. This was the preparation day, so we just made all the dough that we needed, as it had to set over night.
The next morning, we had a big day in the kitchen and I think in total we made around 7 or 8 different styles of cakes. My favourite are pebber nodder and brun cage which translates to brown cookies. They taste like christmas and I will defiantley be taking the recipies home with me so that I can make them every single christmas! We also made a gingerbread house, which was different for me as I am always used to just buying it in a box and decorating it so that was also really cool. We were all exhausted after baking so much and went to bed pretty early.
Then Monday came round and I began my last well not really official whole week of school here in Denmark. This is pretty scary to think about. After the christmas holidays (which start tomorrow), I have a week left of school but that is my last week in Denmark so I think that I will only go for the first 3 days or so. It is really strange to think that I will never go to Danish gymnasium again, when it has become just like normal for me now!
Anyways, as well as school, I have also been so busy with other things throughout the week.
On Monday, after school, I went into Copenhagen to see my friends from Odense who were there for the day. They were in Tivoli, and since I have a Tivoli card, I decided that I could just meet them in there. That was so much fun although I felt kinda ill after going on the plane 3 times. One of which was backwards and since it was so cold you couldn't really breath. My aussie friends Kate, Kathleen and Tristain were there with their language school, so i also got to meet a French exchange student who they were with. He loved tivoli as much as me, i think he is my new best friend.
On Tuesday, I had my last ever danish language school lesson. Its so crazy and I am slowly coming to a blog post that will detail 'this was my last.....'. This party was so much fun and hyggelit. Everyone bought a dish from their own country to share. I made lamingtons and the other aussie girl in my class made ANZAC cookies which i loved so much. The latin americans also loved her anzac cookies and asked me for the recipie of laming tons- cant beat aussie food!
There was also sushi, and a range of south american dishes that tasted SO amazing. It was really fun to have everyone introduce a special dish from their country and everything tasted amazing!
At this party I also gave a presentation on Australia in Danish. I was quite proud of myself as 11 months ago I never thought that was possible. yes by the way today i have been in denmark for 11 months! whatttt?!?!?!
On Wednesday, which was yesterday, my Rotary club had their julefrokost (christmas lunch) You may have to become farmiliar with that word if you are an active reader as I am going to be attending a lot of these in the coming week! Before the lunch, my councilor and his wife picked me and my host sister up. She was also invited as she will be going on exchange next year, and be sponsored by my club. Anyways, before the lunch we attended a church service, which is something that I have ALWAYS wanted to do in Denmark. This was really cool, and the church was so beautiful. We sang traditional songs that apparently i have to learn by christmas eve, and then we went to Hotel Prinsden (where our meetings are usually held) for our christmas lunch. This lunch was HUGE and I ate so much. There were 4 courses and it was a very traditional lunch.
The first course was herring and rye bread (not too keen on the herring but ate it anyways)
The second was a crumbed fish on rye bread that tastes SO good
The third was a pork sasuage and potato dish thing with apple that is very traditional
and the fourth was rice-ala-mand (cant spell it, but thats what it sounds like)
This dessert is one of the BEST things about Danish christmas and I love it so much. It is basically this goey sweet rice stuff with a cherry sauce on top and throughout it you find chopped up almonds. In this dish, there is one whole almond, and the winner of that gets a prize. But if you get the almond, you have to keep it quiet and not tell anyone before everyone has eaten the whole bowl. It is a fun tradition and I can not imagine christmas without rice-ala-mand! So family, be prepared to taste it when I get home.
It was really nice to meet some more Rotarians at the christmas lunch also. It was very hyggelit and I had a fun time.
This was the final rotary meeting for 2013, and the first for 2014 is me making my presentation on my year in Denmark. This will go for around 30 minuets and will be in total danish. A little nervous, but it is a good thing that I have almost finished it!
And today is the last official day of school for 2013. Then 2 weeks holiday and then one more week in Denmark and exchange. WHAT!
As my year comes to an end, I find that my social calendar is very full and hard to squeeze last minuet things into.
Tonight, I have a jule frokost with my class which should be fun. I have heard SO much about last years, so I am really looking forward to it.
On Friday, I have to go to school to have a little meeting with all the exchange students at my school as a little farewell thing.
On Saturday, I have a julefrokost with my host famalies friends
Sunday is a little up in the air as I dont know what I am doing at this stage
Monday is the day before christmas, so who knows what will be happening
and Tuesday is christmas eve. WHATTTTTTT!
Wednesday is christmas in Australia and i imagine that your preperations are fully under way. I just wanted to thank everyone who has sent me a package or a card. I have appreciated it so much and am looking forward to opening them all on the 25th!
Time is flying! But I am continuing to enjoy my stay.
Can't believe it has been 11 months since I have been home, and only another 24 until I am back there again! Two people from my winter team have already departed Denmark, and my time will come soon. I am looking forward to seeing everyone home, but am not really looking forward to saying goodbye to all the friends and families here.
Sunday, 15 December 2013
Hygge
Hygge; the danish word that I can no longer just translate to 'cozy'
It means SO much more to me than that.... here is a little video explaining its true definition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLFUgEiEzs8&sns=fb
It is one of the things that I will miss about Denmark.
It means SO much more to me than that.... here is a little video explaining its true definition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLFUgEiEzs8&sns=fb
It is one of the things that I will miss about Denmark.
Thursday, 12 December 2013
another weekend another adventure
Today is the 11th of December 2013... An insignificant day to most, but to me the 11th will always be of some importance. For the past nine months, it has been a date that is approaching too quickly... Australia is getting closer and closer everyday.
When people ask me how I feel about going home, and I reply that I am not really sure, they seem confused and don't really understand my point of view. "Don't you want to see your family?" some say and when I reply "of course", they seem even more confused. I think that my feelings towards my home date are something that only exchange students can understand, and relate too. Of course you want to go home, but at the same time you will never have this life again. I won't just be able to go into Copenhagen whenever I want, or be with my class throughout those 8am-4pm school days. Life is going to be completely different, because I am no longer the 17 year old girl who left Australia. I always wonder if people will remember me, and if the friendships I shared with many before I left will remain the same. Only time will tell... and the waiting game is down to a month.
But before I bore you with my sentimental and pointless thought stream, I promise you that this blog has a purpose. Like always, my weekend was jam packed with christmas related activities. I was even lucky enough to enjoy a little snow.
On Friday night, I headed into Copenhagen with two of my best australian girlfriends, Laura and Georgia. This may of been the last time that we were in Copenhagen together. We met two other exchange students in Copenhagen, from America and one from Canada. We had a really nice night together, buying our last souviners, and admiring the damage that storm Bodil caused in Nyhavn (check out my pictures!) crazyyyyyy. It felt like christmas as we strolled through the christmas market, and drank hot chocolate and ate danish gingerbread. It was magical, especially when it began snowing. Unfortunately, this wasn't really snow, but rather hail but to us Aussies, it didn't matter at all. It was a wonderful night in Copenhagen :) That night, Georgia slept over and we watched Mean Girls. It was really nice to catch up with her one last time before we head home!
The next morning, after eating breakfast Georgia headed home, and I got ready to go into Copenhagen again with my councillor and his wife. We went into Copenhagen to see the Danish Royal Ballet present the Nutcracker. I was so excited, as I love the nutcracker so much! It was held in the old theatre in Copenhagen, where I saw Romeo and Juliette earlier in the year. It was such a magical ballet. The costumes were amazing, the dancers phenomenal and the overall concept that the director and art designer had taken on were truly magnificent. The overall props were amazing. In the centre there was a huge christmas tree, and then when the room went into growing mode, it appeared as if it had grown 100 feet. It was a wonderful production and I wish i could see it again and again!
After seeing the nutcracker, we walked through the shopping street to Tivoli, where we ate dinner. It was so hyggelit to be in Tivoli again, and we walked around the park for a little bit looking at the lights and christmas decorations. There was still a little bit of snow left over from the night before, which adde to the magic of the setting! At one point, it was announced that there would be a show and it was on the nutcracker, and the water fountains came to life with lights and music from the Nutcracker. It was really cool to see.
We ate a feast for dinner at a restaurant that overlooked the Moscow tower in the middle of Tivoli. We ate entrée, main course and dessert, so I was very full by the time we caught the train home! It was a wonderful night, and I would like to thank Esben and Anita once more. I had a wonderful time.
The next morning, after eating breakfast Georgia headed home, and I got ready to go into Copenhagen again with my councillor and his wife. We went into Copenhagen to see the Danish Royal Ballet present the Nutcracker. I was so excited, as I love the nutcracker so much! It was held in the old theatre in Copenhagen, where I saw Romeo and Juliette earlier in the year. It was such a magical ballet. The costumes were amazing, the dancers phenomenal and the overall concept that the director and art designer had taken on were truly magnificent. The overall props were amazing. In the centre there was a huge christmas tree, and then when the room went into growing mode, it appeared as if it had grown 100 feet. It was a wonderful production and I wish i could see it again and again!
After seeing the nutcracker, we walked through the shopping street to Tivoli, where we ate dinner. It was so hyggelit to be in Tivoli again, and we walked around the park for a little bit looking at the lights and christmas decorations. There was still a little bit of snow left over from the night before, which adde to the magic of the setting! At one point, it was announced that there would be a show and it was on the nutcracker, and the water fountains came to life with lights and music from the Nutcracker. It was really cool to see.
We ate a feast for dinner at a restaurant that overlooked the Moscow tower in the middle of Tivoli. We ate entrée, main course and dessert, so I was very full by the time we caught the train home! It was a wonderful night, and I would like to thank Esben and Anita once more. I had a wonderful time.
The next morning, I helped get ready for some of my host famalies friends to come over for the day. Every year they have a tradition where they are together for christmas to eat some danish christmas treats. It wasn't a lunch nor a dinner... more like an afternoon tea or in Danish 'hygge'. It was nice, and it was the first time that i tasted many of the traditional christmas sweets. The first one was Æbleskiver.. can't really describe it so here is a picture. Æbleskiver translates to Apple skewer in English.. Not really sure why since they don't resemble a skewer at all.
So it was a really good weekend! This week, I have been watching Tvilinger og Julemand every night
They taste AMAZING especially when they are freshly made. Æbleskiver's are traditionally served with a special danish christmas drink called Glogg kinda pronounced like 'Gluk'. I have heard a lot about this drink as there are some people who do not like it at all. Traditionally, it is made with hot red wine, and a whole range of mixed fruits but time time, my host parents used a different recipie and i LOVED it! I am even taking it home with me to Australia! Glogg looks like this:
So it was a really good weekend! This week, I have been watching Tvilinger og Julemand every night
Don't actually know what i will do with myself when the program comes to an end. I really like the idea of the christmas calendar, and think that it is something that we could defiantly introduce in Australia! I have also been watching Denmark play in the handball tournament that is in Serbia at the moment. I was also pretty proud to say that Australia had a team... until I saw them play. If Australia and Denmark ever verse each other, I come from Denmark! Sorry Australia!
And now today is Thursday, and I am in the last two peroids of the day. Pretty strange to think that I only have a week of school left forever in Denmark. Its strange to think that I wont be in my class every day.... I really can not understand that at all!
Anyways, this weekend I am quite busy. Tomorrow night I am having a movie night with some girls in my class which should be fun, then Saturday and Sunday is totally dedicated to christmas, and the making of christmas cakes! I am looking forward to that and will hopefully pick up some recipies so that I can create a danish christmas next year.
Then next week will be a total blur with all the plans I have
Tuesday- christmas afternoon with language class (last class ever)
Wednesday- Rotary club christmas lunch
Thursday- christmas dinner with my class
Friday- official last school day
Saturday- christmas lunch
Sunday- prehaps another christmas lunch
And this resembles my social calendar for the rest of my time left here. So many people to see, so many things to do, NOT ENOUGH TIME
Seriously Denmark I just want time to slow down. and a little bit of snow. Is that too much to ask for?!
Wednesday, 4 December 2013
it's beginning to look a lot like christmas
Having a European christmas is something that I have always wanted to experience. I have only ever seen what it would be like in movies as the snowy covered christmas trees, the magical lights and the concept of a cold christmas is very very far away from the Australian christmas that I enjoy every year around a swimming pool. Whilst I am yet to see a real snow covered christmas tree, European christmas is everything I thought it would be, and so so much more.
In Denmark, I think December would have to be one of the biggest months of the year. Christmas is in full swing, and they do not hold back to show their love of the festive season. Around almost every town, there are special lights that light up at night, well rather afternoon because it is dark now at 4 30pm. There are also other decorations that add to the feel and get everyone in the festival season. At 7 30 every night, a show called 'julekalendar' (christmas calendar) comes on and famalies all around Denmark tune in to see it. I am actually enjoying it. Here is a short add, sorry its in danish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CiO8SUUb7E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CiO8SUUb7E
In my town now, there is are two REAL christmas trees that are yet to be decorated with decorations. There are people wearing santa hats, and I have an excuse to wear cute christmas socks and sweaters. Quite a change from the Aussie attire of thongs and a singlet!! There are christmas lunches in nearly every weekend, and time is now dedicated to making decorations, christmas cakes, staying warm and counting down the days til the 24th, not the 25th!
Some traditions mirror those in Australia. For example, most kids have an advent calendar which for those who have been deprived throughout their childhood, is a calendar where every day in December, you get a chocolate, like a countdown. This year, I received one as a gift from my host family on the first day of advent which is something that we do not have in Australia. In Denmark, it is actually a tradition to get a christmas present every Sunday in December. Why, I have no idea, but it is a tradition that I think Australia would like a lot! It is called 'advents gaver' which translates to an advent present. Pretty cool tradition!
I have also enjoyed seeing Copenhagen at christmas. Last Tuesday, I had an early day from school so I met my friend Lauren in there. We had some souvenirs to buy, and we admired Copenhagen in the festive season. Along the shopping street, there were decorations that were really magical, and made the dark day seem okay. We strolled along strøget (shopping street) and came across a christmas market that had stalls made out of wooden houses. It was something quite special and I really hope it snows before I go home so that I can see it in the snow!
Shopping street in Copenhagen
Lauren at the christmas markets we found
WITH A SNOW MAN!
One of the fanciest hotels in Copenhagen. The stage is set up to look like the nutcracker. really beautiful!
After collecting what we needed, and feeling more like tourists than we ever have before, we headed for Tivoli. How do I even begin to explain Tivoli's beautifulness or magicalness. It truly was soooo wonderful and I thought that it couldn't get any better! The theme was Russian, so in the middle of the park, there is a tower that resembles Moscow. The colours are so wonderful. Lauren and I arrived there in the late afternoon, to see the lights being turned on at night. Amazing doesn't quite cut it. Hopefully these pictures will do it justice.
TIVOLI! Hard to believe that just 2 weeks before, it was decked out in so many pumpkins!
The main entrance
MOSCOW tower!
During the day
and during the night
TIVOLI! so magical
Tivoli om aften
How can you not love this?!
Lauren and I enjoyed some christmas food from the little market stalls that are set up around Tivoli, we also visited Santa Clause and admired the reindeers that were nearby where he was sitting (ACTUAL REINDEERS!) It was a really wonderful day that totally got me into the Christmas spirit and ready for the days that would follow.
On Wednesday after school, my host family and I drove the 6 hours to Berlin! If someone asks me if i have ever been there, I can say that I have been there 3 times, in the space of one year. Pretty crazy! The three times i have been there though, I have traveled there a different way. In April when I met chris and sal, i flew, for Euro tour back in May, we drove through Jutland (an island of denmark) andddd for this tour, we drove to the border, caught the ferry and drove the rest of the way. It was my first time on a ferry of that kind... where you drive your car on and sit on the top deck. It was around a 45 minuet tour, and the sea was pretty rocky! There was a border shop on board, where you can buy things like makeup and perfume cheap. Then we finally reached land- in the space of just under two hours I was in a different country. Europe's geography continues to amaze me. We arrived, and drove straight to the border shop which is something that I have always wanted to see. This is basically a four leveled store, where you can buy cheap food, fizzy drink and alcohol. It was HUGE!
After this, we continued to drive the rest of the way which was about 3-4 hours. We arrived quite late at night and went to bed, ready for our first day in Berlin!
We woke up the next morning and after eating breakfast, we walked down the shopping street in Berlin which was close to where we were staying. Along the way we came across what would be the first of many christmas markets. It was so beautiful with all the lights that lined the streets and the little wooden houses. It was like from a scene out from a movie. The first day consisted of christmas markets and a lot of walking. We saw some of Berlins sights along the way.
The next three days that followed continued in a similar pattern.
We managed to tick off some of Berlin's major attractions- Brandenburg gate, the Reichstag, berlin tower, berlin wall (but a part that I have never been to before), berlin dome and Charlottenburg Palace (which I had also never been in before). Another attraction was of the restaurant kind. Being on euro tour, I only ever ate fried chicken served by our hostels.... and never managed to try one of Berlin's famous curry wursts- which i found out actually taste okay! On one of the nights in Berlin, my host family and I ate out at a blind restaurant. This was really cool, as it is a restaurant where blind people are the waiters. It is completely black inside so you literally can not see anything at all! It is quite difficult to eat, and you actually have no idea what you are eating, you just pick a type of meat you want to eat before you go in. We were guided to our table by our waitress, through the pitch black. We had no idea what the restaurant looked like on the inside, and it was so strange and quite funny to sit in the dark eating your dinner. It was a really cool experience. Another place we visited was called 'Das klo' which translates to the loo'. This place had so much character, there was a toilet at the end of our table and when you opened the lid, there was a little surprise that looked real. The dj of the night found out I was from Australia, and played 'down under' as we sat down. He then proceeded to ask me if i had tried german tomato sauce, and then squirted a bottle in my face that looked like ketchup but was actually just red string. It was a really fun night, and I recommend the place to anyone in Berlin. You are guaranteed to have a fun night that you won't forget in a hurry!
I really love snowmen
Everything is dedicated to christmas in berlin- even buildings...
Display in a shop similiar to Myer or DJs
At night!
Check point Charlie
Brandenburg Gate- for the third time ;)
Beautiful Christmas tree at a christmas market
Palace exploring
Berlin Tower
Beautiful Christmas market in Berlin!
The main reason we were in Berlin though was for the christmas markets and they were really something special. The whole of Berlin seemed to be dedicated to christmas. We went to a shopping centre and the whole place was lined with christmas trees and christmas lights. It was quite a sight!
It was a really nice tour to Berlin and I had a wonderful time exploring the city for the third time!
And now December is in full swing- where has this year gone?! Before I know it it will be new years! Just 38 days to go, and I plan on making the most of them. This week, I don't have too many plans, except for Rotary, then maybe just a trip to Copenhagen to buy some last minuet things and then on Saturday a trip to the Ballet with my councilor and his wife which I am very much looking forward to and on Sunday, I have a christmas thing with my host family. The rest of my time here is just going to pass by before i know it! But I did manage to achieve one of my biggest aims for the school year; a 12 in English! (which is the equivalent to over 90 )
For anyone having a bad day, check out this link.... another reason why I love Denmark so much
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