So this is Christmas

Sadly, no snow has fallen and I can't count this year as being the one where I got the long awaited 'white christmas' - just an excuse to return to Europe or head over to America. However, culturally - I am certainly satisfied with the Danish christmas and all of its splendid traditions. So where to start?

Gløgg

Well for starters, they celebrate it on the night of the 24th and I'm not sure if its the same in every family but on that day, we head to our local church where I assume we'll sing some songs, maybe hear the nativity story, and after, head to a nearby city to eat and open presents with some of my host mum's family. The tree for us doesn't go up til the 23rd.  The 25th is a more relaxed, eat leftovers, hang out with some more family time, or in my case, finish the rest of my packing, say my goodbyes and get ready to head home.

The tree outside Copenhagen city hall

chillin with my homie

Food wise - ah. so so good. and the best part of their christmas meals is its not like in Australia, where maybe we'll have the roast ham on the 25th and only on the 25th, they have what I like to think of as trial runs. I've already chowed down at least 5 christmas dinners and with each one, I realise how great christmas traditions can be. For the most part, they have roast pork with crackly, or turkey or geese, with gravy, brown potatoes ( potatoes cooked in a sugar butter mix so they become all crunchy) red cabbage stuff (not sure what it is in english but tastes good) and dessert follows, being a dish called risalamande which is creamed rice, with whipped cream and chopped almonds and a cherry sauce for dressing - the first time I ate it, I really had no idea what I was eating but it has since become a favourite. It's also tradition to put a whole almond in the middle and who ever gets it, wins the 'almond gift'. This dish often begins as being risengrød - rice porridge or simply, non sweet creamed rice eaten with a stick of butter and cinnamon sugar as a main meal - that did take me a bit by suprise.

one of the christmas stalls in Axeltorv in Copenhagen

Decorations at Illums Bolighus

A paper star that my host mum made

Also in the lead up to christmas, æbleskriver are devoured - they're basically balls of cooked dough which you dip in jam and icing sugar - simply, but delectable. One of the drinks is gløgg which I think, not fully sure, is the equivalent of mulled wine - so when drinking it, I imagine myself to be in the Tudor times, chugging down warm wine on a cold winter evening - everything always end back up at England in my world :p but gløgg is warmed red wine with some essences and spices, with some berries and nuts at the bottom such as dried rasins and almonds etc. The first time I had it, not knowing that you could eat the bottom stuff and thinking it was like tea leaves, chucked it out every so sadly. It has a sort of sourish taste, not as smooth as I expected, but still a new and ok experience.

Some elves that I made from an advent gift from my host mum

They go nuts with decorations here - that or Australia doesn't really do anything for christmas - mind you, its a bit harder to get into the spirit when its so warm - Danish people seem shocked when I say we might have  BBQ, and just chill and maybe head down to the beach - seems unfathomable although I have noticed, and perhaps it is the background I come from, there is more emphasis on the reason for christmas and the nativity story, and a bit more carolling. Still decorations - well, one thing is the amounts of candles - most people have a kalender lys counting down the days til Christmas (when I say christmas, think 24th, not 25th) and on the 4 sundays before Jul (christmas is too long - danish wins) one candle is lit, and added too every following sunday. Its also popular to set a candle in clay, and decorate it with pine leaves and dried orange, or cinnamon sticks, or baubles etc - its usual to sit down for an evening with the family and go all out with decorations. Also, lots of little trinkits put up all over the place - especially elves everwhere!  I've realised when thinking about Jul in Oz, we really don't include elves in decorations or anything - they're simply santa's slaves.

Lights from Tivoli

Advent candles

Caroler's in Copenhagen

There is also a TV tradition here called Julekalender - every year it runs - a series from the first til 24th in which a story about a group of people is told, obviously to do with christmas. There was one series ( a new one made every couple of years or else reruns) in which english and danish were mixed, or rather english words subbed in for danish ones - with the danish sentance structure. I've seen a couple of episodes of that series and found it quite hard to understand although one saying 'Because you are the one with the biggest tænder and the grimmest tøj' seems to be repeated quite a bit (tænder = teeth, grimmest tøj = ugly clothes) for some reason. Anyway the new series is a bit fun, about an evil ghost that wants to inhabit a humans body - probably better suited to Dr who.

My Kalender lys

Jul decorations

So thats the most part of christmas however in my next post, I'll have to tell you about all the christmas proceedings. For now, getting ready to go home and the horrid saying goodbye part comes - and also a wedding, for which I feel no part of - being on the other side of the world doesn't prepare you mentally for such an event oddly enough - guess the two days I have prior to the wedding will have to suffice.

Sugar Roasted almonds could not be a more delectable treat

 To all a Merry Christmas, Happy new year and to a wonderful and ever growing family of Austins, vi ses in one week! 

Typical Denmark - make everything out of Lego :)

I've started saying goodbye.

The first time I uttered those words was a week ago to another exchange student, but I know it's not the last time we meet and living in the same country helps. I've been so preoccupied thinking about the wedding, and seeing my parents, and getting enrolled in uni, and thinking about the future, that I've forgotten to live the now.

But I've started saying goodbye to Danish people and realised just how mind numbingly sad the next week and a half will be. I do feel myself closing up - putting emotions in the back corner and going through everything very clinically - chucking out clothes, organising flight itinary, getting bits and bobs into my suitcase and working out what I want to wear for a 2 day flight - and yet it hadn't hit that this is it - the end. I think its my defense mechanism to dealing with the change that lies ahead, and just how emotional it will be.

The night before leaving Adelaide, I set out my plane clothes, had a quite stressful dinner with the family, took photo's, packed my suitcase at 2am, slept like a log, showered, ate brekkie, made it to the airport in time (for once), had that last coffee with the fam, did a bit more rushing - without once actually realising it would be a year before I was back. But then it got to the point of picking up my bag - and boy did it hit! that last hug from the family and bam, this was it - I thought after 6 years of planning exchange, this wouldn't be hard - I would have steeled myself for it. I was very wrong. I remember standing there wondering why on earth I was doing this - a year was so long, and things were going so well - I was so happy, like I was on top of the world - but no matter how sad and scary the prospect of exchange was, I would be back, and hopefully all my family would be there at the airport - so this time, the goodbye's have become that much harder.

I won't be back to Denmark in a year. I have no idea if I'll see any of these people again, have that last hug or do any of the stuff that has finally become a part of my life, in the place that has now become my home. Even now, it feels surreal beyond belief and every now and then, when I have to say goodbye, it will no doubt hit again but it doesn't stick that in 2 weeks, I'll be in my other home. So taking that train from Fredericia - my bet is - that'll be it. The moment it hits home that my year is over - I want to be able to ready myself for that change, and painful moment - but I can't. I don't know how I'll react or how to deal with it. Or if it will ever feel like my year here was real - it feels dream like now, and I imagine once in Australia, it will only feel more so.

So, very sarcastically, the fun begins - and I will have to say that final 'Vi ses' to the people who have become my family, kept me sane, listened to me, taken my mind of home and simply accepted me and opened their hearts to me. This, above all things, scares me - and I come from a land of snakes, sharks, spiders and to many poisonous critters. Go figure.

The home stretch part 2

Galla 2011

Plenty of beer and whatnot was drunken by a) the parents and b)
the teachers :p

Being at the back of the line had its perks.

For my third time, I had the task of getting ready for my formal/prom/Galla. It was just that this time, it was a bit more complicated, and much more enjoyable. The way its done in Dk is that all the senior's dance a special Danish dance called Lancier. We practiced for a week leading up to the night and I gotta say, not the easiest thing. Despite having done dancing with Mr Davis during Prep school, learning the Macarena, U.G.L.Y and the Nutbush don't prepare one for Lancier. I was patnered with the other Aussie, Maddy, who is sufficiantly taller than me. Problem no. 1 - I was not going to wear heels for 30 minutes while dancing. I care not if they say beauty is pain - Blisters and I don't have a good relationship.

Getting ready with Jeanette

So, practicing was fun, the first time was predominantly Maddy and I giggling our way while we fumbled with every step but it eventually got to the point where we could manage most of the steps, without ruining everone else's dance steps. You stand in a  group of 8 - 1 pair on each side of a square facing each other. In the whole dance, I think there are about 9 steps but we only learnt 4 of them which took about 20 to 30 minutes. We decided we wouldn't get a set in stone quadrille (the square formation) until the very end as a way to meet other people from third grade - worked pretty well, met some rad folks. In every step, one part plays the male and one the female however due to the uneven ratio of girls and boys, many girls were partnered together so I took the female part, thinking that the male would usually be taller anyway. It's not very hard to be taller than me.

Pasta time

With some of the beautiful girls from my class

The night came, and after spending a couple of hours getting ready with Jeanette, we headed out to din dins at an Italian restuarant - getting there in my sufficiantly shorter dress as compared to every female with beautiful floor length almost wedding gown dresses was a little bit of 'oops, should've gone for a gown' moment but hey, it was pretty cool to admire all the other cool dresses. We took cars, no overpriced limo's this time, to the school where we mingled a bit before getting into out lines and heading into the school gym where we did a march for what seemed like 20 minutes in which pairs would join up and walk the court and then meet with another 4 and walk and then split up and yada yada - slightly confusing.

Maddy and I just followed in the hope that we were getting it right. We eventually got into our groups of 8, after I briefly had to bend down and do up Maddy's sandals when they came undone much to the amusement of people sitting about 50 cm away. The dance mostly went good, with a couple of giggles and wrong turns - not all our fault :P although when my shoe came off half way when we were skipping around each other, progression was lost and we stumbled our way back to our partners in time for the next step. At the end, we all marched out again and ended up on the upper level of the school while parents and family looked on.

The rest of the night consisted of mingling, meeting new people and just chilling out, which was ever so hyggelit. Regardless of having been a part of the organisation team for my year 12 formal, this was so much more fun - we didn't spend the entire evening standing in line for pictures, or being slightly bored, we has a stack of fun, learnt a new dance, met new people and loved the experience. Australian formals could learn something. It was also a great time to spend with my class, especially the time getting ready with Jeanette - you know the word hyggelit - it is just so perfect for so many instances!

My host parents, Sanne and Ole

With Maddy, my equally clumsy and fun dance
partner

Rotary at Carlsburg (Didn't take any photo's - sorry folks)

I don't go to every Rotary meeting as it falls on the same day as scouts but my counsellor suggested I attend this one - so I did. And I must say, it was a bit fun. The majority of the meetings are held in a small restaurant down town where a guest speaker talks on something relevant to Fredericia, or sport, or education, or infanstructure but this time, it was a trip to the Carlsburg Brewery in Fredericia, in fact the only one in DK. This company has beer and what not all over the world and if you look back in some of the Friends episodes, Joey has a box sitting on his fridge - lame that I know that.

But anyway, rocked up, got a free sandwich (My life revolves a bit too heavily around food - especially as christmas gets close!!) and while all the Rotarian men stocked up on open bar Tuborg Jul brew, most of the females stuck to water and soda. A little fact that amused me a bit :)

So Carlsburg is pretty famous and loving dot points as I do, here you go :

• The factory is as big as 108 footy fields
• They get 5000 calls a day
• It's the 4th biggest company in the world
• Began in 1847, which I will forever associate with Pulteney Grammar, the same year school was opened :p
• They make all of DK's coke, sprite, fanta, nestea, sommersby, eve and cocio (or at least bottle it all there)
• Over the last 20 years, beer has lost a third of its ground to wine
• The warehouse pallets are 40 m high, with 18 cranes in each bay (70,000 pallets in all)
• Beer takes 3 weeks to make, soda only 3 hours (seeing its just syrup and water) 

So those facts are all very random but I think the funniest thing is that even though all this is made in Fredericia and you would expect it to be cheaper, its still cheaper to drive down to Germany to buy it .I love Europe. 

 Holbæk GTG

With Jacquie (WA) and Ellie (QLD)

A couple of weekends back, I went to the final get to gether for the oldies and newbies ( January and August exchange students) in Holbæk over on the Copenhagen island - Sjællend.  We rocked up at about 4pm on the Friday after a fairly long train trip (actually only about 2 hours but that seems like a long time for me now - Australian time will be a bit of a surprise) We got signed in, officially welcomed and so began the start of the end. The gathering was run by Rotex people (former exchange students) so it was pretty casual and relaxed. Just right. For the most part, we sat around and talked, or danced, and maybe, just maybe some sleep would slip in. The first night a sort of youngish band played, and the most crucial point of me telling you this was that the bass player looked like one of the Wealey twins so I referred to him as Fred and after getting his guitar pick, just like a little tween, stuck it in my journal under ' Fred Weasley' yep, thats my lame lame life.

Onsie time - childish may it be, they are fantastic to wear

The Saturday was a trip into Holbæk, nothing struck me as totally different but we did get a very nice, and expensive cup of coffee and chill at a cute little cafe with a lot of the Aussie girls, so that was ever so sweet. And seeing a lot of the Jul decorations are starting to appear, it was nice to go and look at them ( Also forgot to mention that the Friday was J-Day - a very big tradition in DK that we unfortunatly missed so Ellie and I made up for it on the walk home ;p )

More chilling and whatnot, a soccer game and then dress up party. This was the fun part in my opinion. Myself and 2 other friends had ordered onsies online from a company in Norway and they hadn't arrived by the day before so we were pretty worried that they wouldn't be here in time which would be unfortunate due to the cost but as it happens, we got them by the friday and had them in our hot little hands for the party. The onsie is split in 2 - quite literally, a zip seperates the whole thing, and we all got two colors on ours. Mine is a tad to tall for me, like most stuff :s but they are incredibly comfortable and the best thing I've slept in - I'm considering having it on for the plane home :D

This dog seemed like a mini horse - seriously, who breeds
dogs to be so massive?

During that night, we also had a bit of a skit show - the Aussie's danced Nutbush, South Americans with their dances, some songs, one cover of Laura Marling (!) and some more dancing as the night wore on. The next day was a bit odd. Brekkie as normal but then they got all the oldie's up on stage together and played music - of course 'I'm leaving on a jet plane' was played, but it was a bit odd, most people ended up crying but myself and a couple of others just sort of tootled around, if people wanted a hug then sweet, whatever, and I realise I sound a bit heartless in saying this, I just wasn't so sad. Of course it sucks that many of those people I'll never see, but we at least come from the same country. I'm far more worried about leaving my Danish friends than anything else - it's them who I've spent the year with, so I figure I'll save my energy for that - and just to reassure people, most likely mum, I do still feel emotions - I'm not totally cold :p

Aussies, Argentinian and South American doing the oldies proud

I dont think I've talked about this before but for brekkie, its
tradition to have bread rolls that specifically have a hard crust
(and taste brilliant) and on top, you can chuck cheese and jam,
or what you will - but among the common toppings, this is one of the
best - thin layers of chocolate that you squish on the bread and munch
down, filling your stomach with sweet goodness. 

So that was the GTG - pushed the nail in a bit further that I'm coming up to the end, and this year that had been in the making since year 6, is almost over. I thought which I struggle to comprehend. Just part of the whole parcel I guess.




So not much more now - most of my weekends are filling, and I fortunatly don't have long left at school! For the second time in my life, I say in happiness that I've almost finished school. phew. I'm certainly a bit more ready to get cracking at Uni and all that entails. 

The home stretch part 1

I don't know what quote would be appropriate  here so for once, you shall go without. This is all me. Except for that Alice in Wonderland picture - it appropriately describes my emotions.


I have had a rather busy time since my last blog but before I tell you of the adventures of Galla and all that entailed, the last moments with other exchange students, visits to universties and breweries and scouting adventures, I'll have you know that I will, in 5 weeks, be taking the train to København and flying out of this land. Away from the place that become a sort of home, that had been a dream from year 6, and be arriving into the next chapter. This thought scares me more than I would like to know and to a degree, I dread what lies ahead.

Just randomly, how awesome is this cake!

This year has not always been easy and truthfully, the thought of being with mum and dad again is incredibly exciting, and of course being with the bro's, having a new sister and all that entails with a wedding. But (there is always a 'but') this year,while completely different to what I expected, has been a fantastic opportunity. 


Perhaps I am being premature in my writing of this, but going home is always on my mind and too an extent somewhat dreaded, and as much as I try and forget that number of 35 days, its determined to stick in my brain, on its continual countdown. The thing is, in 5 weeks, I have to go through another massive change of re-entering Australian  culture, and life post exchange. And many people say, that this next shock, is often harder than the shock of starting exchange, and I guess it's because I know what to expect. 


When I first arrived in Denmark, I had all this new stuff to learn, new people to meet, new food to try, new places to explore - but now I know what to expect in Australia, I know in a couple of months, I'll be taking the same 864 bus down Glen Osmond road, getting off at Pulteney St and walking to Uni - and this freaks me out, its not such a new adventure, and I know what is round the corner. Of course I'll meet new people and experience new things, but in general, life will most likely resume it's normal pattern - so my new aim is to always have another adventure waiting.


Hopefully I'll be able to get my P's quickly and get a car, the taste of independance (or travel bug at least) has arrived at my doorstep and the best way to deal with it I think, will be to drive to new places, explore Australia and see everything it has to offer. Money wise...well, I'll deal with that somewhat influential issue later :)


And the thought of (You know, I was always told to never start a sentance with 'and' - my grammar  (which has never been tops) is constantly slipping away - not so good for an arts degree) saying goodbye to everyone here, not knowing when or if I will see them again, and not being here for their big events like graduation,  not such a pleasant thought as it happens. But its all part and parcel of exchange so I just have a massive learning curve ahead. 


So to those in Australia, I apologise for my potential moodiness when I come home, in advance. I have no clue as to how I'll react when it hits home, that I am home for good.But then again, home has sort of changed. SA has been a great place to grow up, but it can't always been home, so one day, I will again make a home, maybe in another state or hopefully country, so no doubt this feeling is perhaps more temporary than anything else. I ramble far too much.


But for now, enough on the weirdness that is the end of exchange. As I said, life here is getting busy. While many people say the time goes fast at the end of exchange, it's gone at a pretty normal pace for me but I like that, it allows me to enjoy the last parts.

Had some fun in history watching Ferris Bueller and found this nifty little quote 

Scouts - halloween party, jul tur 

The ever so creative Jul træ

I don't think I've written about Scouts very much, so here goes. My first host dad organised for me to meet with the local groups leaders which was back in March or there abouts, and so I headed to troupe meetings as a sort of leader (My potential here is majorly limited due to lack of communication skills, which is a bit frustrating) The troupe is from about 11 years to 15 ish with a couple of leaders and they meet every Thursday night. Even though I often struggle as to how to help out, not always being up to speed with everything, and also not being knowledgable on things like knots - simple, but seemingly important, it feels incredibly comfortable. Being able to get outside or learning practical skills, I sort of feel like a member of the Venture Club again, or Guides for that matter - a community of people, keen to ensure that scouting values are passed on, and who enjoy chilling out, and providing opportunities for young folk to run around, eat too much sugar, and importantly get into nature. So, my time at Scouts has been pretty good and on top of that, I've been able to meet new people, and make new friends - it sounds like something a year 6 kid would say, but all the same, making new friends is a pretty nifty feeling.


So we had a Halloween party a while back, in which I dressed in a witch (called 'Heks' på dansk) and helped the little cubs and beaver scouts make ghosts out of half a banana dipped in coconut with colored icing for eyes, spiders out of marshmellows and licorice, orange lanterns (which just don't work well - to much mess, but smell good) and attempted communication with them. I think one of the most encouraging moments was when a couple of the little girls said they thought I spoke good danish - pure lies of course, but ahh, I was a big ball of warm fuzziness until the next kid, when speaking to me said 'Hvad' (what) 50 million times :p

The girl in pink told me that I had a nice name. nawwww. Ball of
fuzziness right there. 

Just recently, in fact today, we had a Christmas camp up to a place called Houns Odde - a big scouting campsite about half way between my city and the next big one, Kolding. We (leaders and oldest troupe) headed down Friday evening and unpacked, went through the program and went out to the troupe who were sleeping a little way off in open huts - so I've still avoided having to sleep in minus degrees outside. The next day, after the troupe arrived back at base, the little chaps came around 10.30 and we got cracking with activities - I was on 'Build a christmas tree' along with the 'make christmas decorations' with one of my scout friends. 

Nom nom nom 

So one kid got some branches, tied em to a big branch and there it was - a very leaveless tree. It was then decorated with finger knitting, popcorn and paper on thred and various bits and bobs - the most inventive tree I've seen for a while :D The day was pretty cool - the kids went around to all the stations making decorations or crafty things (The theme was that this chap called Jørgen had taken over christmas and just wanted to make chips but the kids had to prove that christmas was the way to go - as much as I'm not a kid anymore, I did think it was very cute)


The evening bought a typical Danish dinner which I'll talk about in another blog and afterwards, cloth wrapped on a stick and  doused in oil was lit (called 'Fakla') and we all went for a wee little walk down to the water with Julmand (Santa) and Jørgen had a little dialecty part before we all went back up to the main area to dance around the christmas tree, holding hands and singing christmas songs - in danish. 

Walking with  the lanterns - always had to watch where
they were being waved :p

Santa and the tree

Of course, this presented a little problem for me, not even knowing the scout songs in danish, let alone some new ones but it was all very cute and hyggelit (at one point Santa's reindeer (a Russian terrier dressed with some red stuff) got loose so santa waddled off trying to catch her) 


For a late dessert we ate 'isalamande' - typically around Jul in Denmark, there is a dish called risalamande with is sort of similair to creamed rice, but tradition goes that an almond is always hidden in it, and who ever finds it, gets the present. So for this dish, it was icecream with an almond  hidden in it, with cherry sauce. And who finds the almond but me - gah, admittedly I try my darndest not drawing attention to myself, my danish being so rubbish ( although I have been told I sound a little like Mary - always a nice thing to hear :D) so I went up and collected the present that I had wrapped the day before :P

The next day, parentals arrived to do activities with their kids while I went and helped with lunch prep and all that jazz, before finally being finished by 1ish when we began pack down. For the first time, I don't get to be one of the campers, who doesn't worry about organisation or any of that, but simply comes and goes whenever. It was a tiring, but satisfying lesson to learn.


So thats a bit about Scouts, perhaps when I get home, I look into a local troupe to get involved with - it's a pretty decent organisation to say the least.


I figured seeing the length of this blog, I'll chuck the other stuff into a new one for your reading convenience :)

I think one of the best things about riding everywhere
is that you get to experience beautiful moments like this,
while your fingers freeze, and Noah and the Whale blast into your ears.

Nature is ridiculously stunning

What are things like in Denmark - or at least a bit different from the Aussie way of things.

Fredericia is the 7th largest city in DK supposedly and I guess it has round about the same amount of stores as most of Mt Barker. The set out is that of a grid, similair to Adelaide but is surrounded by hills and moats with the only entrances being through the city gates. It is an old military city which explains the canons on top of the hills. The big military base is a 5 minute drive from the main city. There is not a particular main shopping street but a couple of sectioned off areas (which electronic up, down poles which many people know the code for - bit of a funny story here, a friend and I were waiting to eat at a famous Danish eatery called Jensens Bøfhus, and were sitting on the poles till they studdenly disappeared and we were sitting on air, and very quickley the ground. We glanced over to see some people cackling away at our misfortune and sore behind...)
My school lies outside the main city but is within walking distance so thats a bit of a plus. Oh and the Bibliotek (Library) is ever so swell - very good music selection and Harry Potter in english - I was set for the year :D

I thought I'd include this to show the mix in products - Maddy
next between the alcohol isle and the baby food :D

Shopping

Fakta, Netto, Fotex - for me, these are the main places to buy a) too much chocolate or b) too many tubes of pringles - and ever now and then some yoghurt to convince myself that I'm eating healthy. Netto and Fakta are the more cheaper options which accounts for lack of some products however even though Fotex has nicely displayed shelves, self checkout machines and is generally a k-mart and coles mixed together, it can be a bit to expensive to fund the lifestyle of an exchange student :D so Netto it usually is. There are also a couple of German  stores such as Aldi and the like but I'm not very well acquainted with them. There is also a superstore called Bilka where you can buy any and every thing. I think the best thing about all of these stores is the pick n mix lolly unit- gah! so swell... and yet so bad. Clothes wise, aside from op shops and the like, H&M is pretty good - it's all over Europe and I believe the US but sadly hasn't hit Australia yet - they have a lot of clothes and usually a lot of sales - I really do seem like a bit of a stinge :p but hey, I'm just the exchange kid

Matas is your basic makeup, perfume, Terry whites minus the pharmacy part - thats saved for the apotek which is simply medicine's and the like.
There are also the homeware stores that have most types of Danish design including my two favourites - Bodum and Georg Jensen- mind you, Georg Jensen is to say the least, expensive...but pretty.





Transport
So the best form of transport to get from city to city is train! Obviously I can't drive, and petrol is too expensive so that cancels that plan (not that it ever was one) cycling really only works within Fredericia and if I want to cycle over to Middlefart which is a very beautiful town - there's this Danish word called 'Hygge' and while there is no direct translation, it sort of means comfortable and cosy and usually applied to situations with other humans, but I think that Middlefart is a very Hyggelit city - it has the small town feel, but has a modern shore front and there is also a castle/old royal residence on the tip, surrounded by beautiful green deer parks!

So thats cycling. Now the train system. Very efficant and on time but expensive - the shortest fare I've paid for a one way ride is 38 kr, approximatly $8 which compared to the $2 bus fare at home, is a bit more annoying. And as for buses, no matter how short the ride, the fare is about $4 - obviously it sounds like I'm being ever so stingy, but as an exchange student, money must be spent on the right things (usually chocolate) - and if I can cycle, it makes more sense - hoewever come winter and snow, my attitude towards the 5km ride to school may change!

School
School here is a tad more complicated than the Aussie system - everyone goes to folkeskole which is primary and middle school mashed together and once  you've finished, you can go onto do grade 10, go on exchange, have a year off and earn money, go to another type of school for a year where you sometime's board, or go straight onto the next education step, which is either gymnasium (if you want to head to university and become a lawyer, doctor, scientist etc) or there is business school for all things financial and moneyish, or a technical school sort of like Tafe.

So I'm at the gymnasium which is pretty much yr 10 to 12. I've completed half of grade 2 (yr 11 equivalent) from January til May and have begun the yr 12 section in August (grade 3) and I definitely like being top of the school again - not that you really notice it heaps as an exchange kid. but still.
At the gymnasium, you take subjects on a A, B, or C level - C level is one year, B, 2 yrs and A, 3 yrs. Within each grade, you have a certain line - my line is biology, maths and physcology - I however had the chance to drop maths after half a year - and I certainly took it! I now get to do English on the advanced level - and don't get the top grade - another fail on the governments side of not teaching us grammar.

There are no school sport teams which sort of sucks - I've realised that it was a key way of getting to know kids from other grades and be involved in team sports, rather than individual fitness training. The same goes for debating and music teams - if you're in the music class, then you can join in the choir and if your a very good sport player, there are some teams you can join, but for something for fun, its not that simple.


Weather


Unfortunatly summer this year was a bit of a let down - for the last couple of years, they've had heat waves here which would've been awesome after the normal cold but it wasnt to be - every now and then we had a warm day or week but I've found myself missing the heat of the Aussie sun when you can feel it burn - a little bit odd, I won't deny it. Its now autumn which means rain, and a bit more rain, and then bucketloads. I'm excited for snow simply because it means less rain. But going to bed while the rain rattles the window, or standing in front of the wood burner with the dog is every so hyggelit.

Obviously the weather is all opposite to Australia so I'll hopefully be having my first white christmas although the idea of a BBQ on the beach for christmas is an odd thought for the Danes. and the greyness, oh the greyness - currently looking from the window in my bio class out to a very very grey sky - in which I'll have to cycle my silly bike home....joy of joys :s Snow, its not to bad, beautiful when it falls, frustrating when you attempt to maintain your balance on your bike and have to layer on every piece of clothing in the cupboard.

Admittedly the weather here has been a bit odd of late, which is fine by me, as there has been much sun and not much rain  which makes it swell for walks, knitting in the sun while listening to Beirut, Charlottle Gainsbourg, Bell and Sebastian and The Kooks, or starting Lord of the Rings (I say this after commenting on the buckets of rain - silly Hannah, silly.)

Free time

home no. 2 - about 5 kms from school

This I have a lot of - all the time. Unfortunatly they don't have school sport clubs like we do in Australia, nor things like debating and singing so that was a bit of a bummer but I will maybe go into the musical choir for a month just for fun. So aside from that, I do a lot of reading and I'm quite happy with all the books I've gotten through, my old english teacher would've been proud :) I also write a lot in my journal, going walking whilst listening to music or podcasts, or at the moment, the audiobook of Pilgrims progress and every now and then, go to the gym which is quite overpriced but some of the classes are pretty fun, although I still havn't gotten around to giving zumba a crack.

I'm also a scouts leader so every Thursday night, I go and help out - which doesn't really involve much, learning how to tie knots, sharpen knives etc. I also, oddly have learnt how to knit so if I'm slightly bored at the TV because the Danish or occasional German program is beyond my knowledge, I knit. So far a normal size scarf has taken about 3 months (not even finished yet) while my host mum sits there and whips up a poncho in 3 days...my skills need to improve a bit.

Mico and I på tur

Sometimes the weekends involve trips to other towns to catch up with other exchange students, or a movie at the Biographen, the occasional party, dinner at my counsellors or a movie with the host fam. Summer holidays were pretty painful, so much time with not knowing what to do was a bit frustrating, especially when you're so close to all of these amazing countries but you can't travel out of Denmark - definitely had a few frustrating moments there, but none the less, I survived and came out the other side, mostly unscathed. Every now and then I head on down to a Rotary meeting for a couple of hours, or grab a coffee in town with friends.


So in all, thats life for the moment. I'm soon approaching the 2 month mark which is odd. Talking to other people who are about to start exchange throws me a bit, and the prospect of reverse culture shock and all the returning home entails, hits me every night just before I sleep - by the time going home comes, I think my nerves, and sanity will be in tatters. But thats exchange, learning to adapt and cope with the situation - all part of the parcel.

To Dad, Happy fathers day and happy birthday - Your present still sits on my window sill but it will be sent...soon :P and I love you to the moon and back!! xx

To every one else, especially those in Australia-I now get jealous that the sun is starting to shine over there - when it gets to 35 degrees, think of me probably cycling to school in the snow :D

Farvel for now.

In a moment of downheartedness

You want to know the beautiful thing about christian fellowship? It is this.

You're thousands of kilometres away from home, from everything you've known and loved, you are no longer surrounded by christians who will help you in your journey, keep you accountable, pop over for a cuppa and just chat, you are suddenly with people who have so many different beliefs and walks of life and you try the best you can to keep up with daily readings, even when you hit the very dry moments of ' the descendants of ..... were.....,.....,......,....' and so forth, and you try to listen to the sermons from home, but after a while, it becomes harder to keep up, and easier to become lazy with everything regarding your faith. and you start to feel guilty for missing a reading, or discouraged.

And then out of the blue, a friend of your parents, who lives all the way over in Glasgow, who you have met only once (because lets face it, you don't remember the people you met as a baby) sends you DVD'S on 'The amazing features of Grace' signing off with ' You are in my prayers every day' - and suddenly you feel reinvigorated, encouraged to knock through the negative barrier that you built in your head because someone out there has remembered you, and know's when a bit of encouragment is necessary, and you see God working in your life yet again.

So, I think I'll write one of my favourite passages. I used this in my final art project, because during Dad's sickness, it seemed very applicable, and it's truth has not become any less important over the last year.

'Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possible dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us'

Romans 5: 1-8

So, to those who think its odd that I would write on this, it is not odd. Perhaps it is normal to have these quite large moments of doubt, but the small acknowledgments of God's awesomeness are incredibly encouraging.

Thats all for now folks.

Beautiful Iceland

'And God saw that it was good' - Genesis

Admittedly the first time that I've used a verse to begin a blog but in the case of Iceland, I honestly think it would've been one of those places where God went to town on creation, not that he didn't love creating creation anyway, but the beauty was so breathtaking that you can't help but admire the splendour.

The trip was Wednesday to Wednesday, with my class and both biology and danish teacher - the bio teacher is a little funny - not only does she speak to me in english, when I do understand some danish, she speaks very slowly as if I don't understand my mother tongue, and questioned me as to if in Australia, we know who Charles Darwin is.... yup, as it happens, we're not too behind the times. Still, just another odd memory to add to the exchange book.

The Blue Lagoon

We left pretty early in the morning and got into the capital, Reykjavik around midday where we then headed of to the Blue Lagoon which is a geothermal pool about 40 minutes from the airport. The temperature in the water is max 39 degrees and is refreshed every 40 hours - it is also a beautiful pale blue cloudy color that smells every so slightly like rotten eggs due to the CuSO4 - ain't that just dandy, I havn't forgotten all my year 12 chem lessons (unless thats wrong in which case - awkward..., nah actually not really considering the amount of other errors I make in my blog) anyway on with the show. The water is filled with many a mineral, silica and algae which all contribute somehow to 'exfoliating and deep-cleansing effects' and 'reduce UV degredation of collagen in the skin and stimulate natural collagen production' - truthfully there wasn't enough sun to do any damage/ any sun at all so we've got that one covered.

So the experience was very cool. We spent about 4 hours in the water, just relaxing - we had to have a shower before hand so we would'nt introduce any bacteria into the water I guess. It wasn't very deep - maybe a metre, but the one pool itself is relativly large and there are steam rooms, sauna's (beats me what the difference is?) around the edges as well as a waterfall that is strong enough to give a pleasant back massage.  Twas lovely indeed. There were also tubs of white silica around the place which you ut on your face until it drys - or for some, they coat their whole bald skalp with it and come out looking like a ghost - guess they're trying to encourage regrowth or something :P anyway, at one stage, being in excess of this gloop, my friend and I slathered it on our arms and necks as well, and attempted to let it dry - not very easy when you're too short to be able to comfortable put your arms out because the seat is to low...sigh...

But it was a great couple of hours, with some slight drizzle, as the steam rose from the spa and the nearby mountain/hill (my perception of height is a bit distorted after spending so long in such a flat country) overshadowed us! I also met two Melbournites while in the steam room - they could'nt have had a stronger aussie accent if they tried. Turned out one of them had lived at Modbury heights and knew Eynsebury college - but you'll here more on these very odd random encounters.

The Golden Circle

On our second day, we headed out in the bus with an Icelandic tour guide, who spoke danish, to visit three very famous sights, well at least in the south of Iceland. The first was Thingvellir - which , is basically just a big open plain area, with a lake in the middle, and small cliffs overshadow parts of the plain and in the distance, larger mountain ranges can be seen. After looking at a crack where Iceland is pushed apart by 2 cm a year, effectivly 'growing' the country, we headed down to the lower levels where we could see where the old Icelandic parliament ( called the 'Althing')  met and lived while laws were made and so forth. In the distance was a beautiful little church and some quaint houses - If I could live anywhere, it'd make my top 5. It is hard to describe the beauty, the lush fields, the small waterfalls and ponds and the overshadowing rock formations but if you have ever been to NZ, I imagine some of the scenery to be similair. Just before we boarded the bus, we saw a little pond with the clearest teal water, and the was money sparkling on the bottom of the floor which made all the water shimmer! I can imagine it being a beautiful place to swim.

The gap where Iceland is pushed apart

Sparkly 

The beautiful houses and church

So after the delightful time at Thingvellir, we headed onto the Geysir's which as the name tells, are a bunch of Geysirs (Hot water that boils up and shoots in a stream) So this place smelt dreadful! The rotten egg smell mixed with steam was a bad bad mix - its like having at least 10 fart bombs in a very small steamy space but the geysirs themself were pretty and the water was a beautiful hot Aussie sky blue color and very clear. The first one we walked to was to old to no longer be active but its neighbour would shoot every 5 - 10 minutes. It was here, while waiting that I again heard that glorious Aussie accent and turned around, smack bang into a Adelaide crows scarf - Joy of  joys, I was with fellow South Aussies - we chatted for a bit - these two couples were on a cruise and in Iceland for 2 days with the next stop being NYC - however our conversation was brought to a close after the geysir suddenly went up and rained down on an unsuspected, non rain jacket hooded Hannah - yay for smelling like rotten eggs. Sarcasm should be noted. But it was lovely talking with them - they were the first SA people I've met this year, aside from my two friends and brother!

Following a picnic lunch in the forest, we then took the bus to Gulfoss - a very splendiforous waterfall that lies very close to a glacier - the first I ever saw. This waterfall is as beautiful as McKenzie falls in VIC but 10+ times bigger, and you can go and stand 5 metres from the water edge - it was very impressive to say the least.

We spent about 30 minutes down there, climbing the rocks, taking pictures and in general, being very touristy. Admittedly I find waterfalls one of those places that of course are incredibly stunning, but after 30 minutes, the water doesn't change direction, a dragon won't come crawling out and you realise that while you could sit and relax in front of it for hours, nothing will change, you you trump up back to the bus - I think perhaps I'm a tad impatient....

On the bus rides from place to place, there was little to do but listen to Sigur Ros, a fantastic Icelandic band that make very different music, and admire the green rocky outcrops, silhouettes of mountains, and various lakes and rivers winding through the countryside. It made me realise how much I miss going into the bush and camping, when you see nature that pure.

South Coast

Another day we headed out to the South coast to see some of the sights and yet again, saw two new waterfalls.  At the second one, two friends and myself attempted to get one of those jumpy photo's and only managed it after 30 or so tries - I think we're a bit uncoordinated :) We also went past the Volcano that erupted last year and sent all that ash into the air that stopped airtraffic for a while. There is a family who have a dairy farm directly below the mountain (as its normally a glacier) and during the eruption, had to be evactuated and when they returned, found the farm to be covered in 5 cm of ash - luckily enough they're managed to get the farm back to working order but I think its a bit like, at home we live in constant fear of a bushfire, they live in constant fear of a volcano blowing its top. We watched a doco that her and her husband had made with footage of the ash descending and don't get me wrong, would've sucked to be in that situation but it looked so cool. There was this one photo of a man standing in the middle of a road and the black cloud was covering half of the photo and coming closer to his car - natural disasters are obviously destructive and whatnot but at the same time, you can't deny their mighty awesomeness.

The dairy farm below the volcano

We finally got our photo!

Camilla, Jeanette, Jesmin, Sabina and myself - my wonderful
roomates and friends from London and Iceland

Glacier

The glacier was much dirtier that I expected

We also went to a beach with rather than sand, tiny, very smooth black rocks - it was pouring down with rain, but in the grey smog, you could make out some rock formations lying in the distance and see the seagulls circling above the cliff (no matter where you go in the world, I think seagulls are always as annoying as ever) Admittedly I probably should not have taken my camera out - it required some recovery time later on from the water but at least it survived that experience. Still it was a beautiful beach, and we sheltered for a bit under the very odd rock formation cave - all the rocks were rectangular cubes stacked alongside one another.

Chill time

Both days when we were out in the country were very rainy, but fortunatly on the day that we explored Reykjavik central, it was nice and sunny. The weather makes such a difference and I'm no so sure that we appreciate it enough in Australia. But none the less, the city is very small but has a very camperish atmosphere and there are travellers everywhere. It also had some of the coolest little flea markets and 2nd hand vintage shops I've ever seen as well as a brilliant cafe that sell the most amazing chai latte - I consumed at least 5 over my time there! It took about an hour to get from one end of the main st to the other side - looking in shops included. There are a lot of Icelandic wool products there seeing its so famous but I actually thought it felt pretty scratchy - not the nicest wool to wear.

Waiting to take off

One of the first churches in Iceland

The money thing is a bit different - 10 AUS$ = 1,000 IS krona
so I felt pretty rich :D

A viking ship in Reykjavik

The Opera house

We went to this art museum that had a expo with cameras and this one,
after 5 or so minutes, would have a replay of where you moved so as you can
see, I'm doubled

Any town with a Haberdashery is immediatly

Hallgrims church

Just the best chai latte...ever

We also went to the Volcanic studying uni and heard a prof. speak on the eruption last year, which didn't help me much as she spoke very fast danish - I ended up, not on purpose of course, sleeping except I was also doing that head nodding thing - just a bit embarrasing. We also visited Hallgrim's church which was very beautiful - it overlooks Reykjavik and when we went up the tower, there was a superb view over the whole city.

 In the evenings, after one of the class groups had all made dinner for us ( I was going to make a Pavalova but no oven would create a problematic situation) we headed down to the local pool, which included 4 geothermal pools from 38 degrees to 44. I found that I could stay in the 44 degrees for maybe a minute and a half if I stayed completely still and at that time, the tingly feeling in my arms and legs had just turned to numbness - a very long dip in the cold pool was neccesary afterwards. 

Wool covered bike and tree

Why I now believe the world to be a very small place - On my second night there, having already met the blokes from Melbourne and cruise people from Adelaide, I went down to the social room in the hostel we were staying in to the sound of more Aussie accent - turns out these two guys were from Adelaide and travelling around the world on their gap year, and we had a mutual friend - in a place like Iceland, thats pretty random!!

Our trip to a viking museum - the saga history in Iceland is very
interesting, well worth a read

With Jesmin on our last night

So, thats pretty much my Iceland trip - there was a lot of free time to sit and relax - I did find Heinz baked bean, Betty Crocker cakes and cadbury chocolate so that was a bit of a silver lining - but it was ever so swell to have the time with my class to chill and enjoy the beauty of Iceland. 

Hopefully, I'll start doing blogs a bit more regularly but I make no promise - always got to have a disclaimer in place :D I only have 3 months left of my year, which is very weird but I think as this weather continues its slide into winter, I'll be ready for the aussie summer!