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