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.