A Little Update

Hey everyone!

            So another month has past and it has been just as exciting, if not more than the others. I have to say March was an extremely busy month and has left me needing some rest and some quality time with the host fam, but no worries, I’m taking it easy for the next couple of weeks. Not only has this month been busy, but it has also been a little emotional. I have passed my hundred-days-left mark and it’s like I’m on a high speed train towards my return date, which in my opinion is terrifying. I honestly feel like just last month I was traveling to Copenhagen for the first time and just getting used to the train system. Yet here I am, having been to four other countries and having had experiences that I could never have had if I didn’t take that leap of faith eight months ago.

            This month alone, I have moved to my last host family, had my crazy sister visit me, went to Barcelona with my class, and had my last Rotary Get Together with all of the exchange students in Denmark. Needless to say it has been an emotional rollercoaster, filled with hellos, goodbyes, and see ya laters. I never expected to have made so many friendships and grown so close to so many people, let alone have so many friends from all over the world. I know that this past weekend with all of the exchange students won’t be the last time I’m with some of them, and I also know it won’t be my last teary goodbye but it was the best weekend of my life.

            I have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming weeks, like my parents visiting, Eurotour, and a lot of traveling through Denmark, and I am going to try my hardest to make the most of every single day, but it will be difficult, knowing that I have to leave. I can’t possibly explain how much this year has changed me and opened my eyes, and I hope that all of the future exchange students see all the beauty in this country that I have.

            Alright, enough with the emotional stuff, I will talk to all of you next time and wish everyone a happy Easter if I don’t talk to you before then!

Vi ses!

...Elephant...Party??

So upon much request (ahem brother...), I have finally gotten around to this lovely post about my recent visit to my friend Mary in Germany.

The journey started with me waking up at 6 am, dead tired after an awesome night with some of my friends, and heading home only to climb into a car for about 6 hours. Super fun... luckily for me, sleeping in the car has never been an issue for me, so I was able to catch up on some z's on the way. My host family dropped me off at Mary's host house in Bremerhaven, Germany, which is close to Bremer, Germany. Now Mary had told me that the first night I was there, we would be going to an "elephant party". Me being the proper exchange student, went into the situation with a completely open mind and didn't ask any questions, I was willing to roll with whatever social gathering I was thrown into. 

So after meeting some of the other nearby exchange students (which is always a fun experience), and making some real mexican tacos (delicious!), we headed out to catch a train to this mysterious party. Once we reached Bremer, we had a short walk and I started to notice a fairly large group blocking the sidewalk ahead of us. As we got closer, I heard the crazy mix of languages and intense latin music that seems to accompany exchange students where ever they go. That was when I saw the giant elephant statue with white writing all over it. This was the elephant part of the party. Mary later explained to me that the writing on the elephant is from past exchange students, both rotary and other organizations. She also told me, that the elephant was a perfect spot for a chill get together, where people can talk, dance, and listen to music without having to spend any money, which is always a touchy subject for exchange students. 

That night was one of the best nights of 2014 so far, I met so many people, a lot of whom knew some exchange student that was in Denmark. I was asked numerous times if I was a newbie, but even though I wasn't I was still treated with the same excitement as an actual newbie. For some reason, being surrounded by a bunch of people who have been through the same things that you have, including stumbling through a language, trying to make friends with the natives, and leaving your home for the unknown, is strangely comforting. Being there with the most outgoing and interesting people made me forget about the cold and being tired. Instead I was surrounded by my own little culture of exchange students, a group of people that will accept whoever you are and go with whatever you throw at them and make it some hilarious and amazing experience. 

So I thought that this elephant party was going to be some weird german thing that was somehow fun at the same time, but instead it was the most wonderful heartwarming night that I could have the opportunity to be apart of. One of these days I'll write some super heart-felt post about what it's like to be an exchange student, but for right now, I'll leave you'll with a picture of the statue that was host to this awesome night. 

Vi ses!

Disclaimer

Kasper likes snow, he asked me to post this.

How to be a Dane

So I thought it was about time that I gave a lesson in the ways in which someone becomes a proper Dane. I'm not talking about getting a residency permit and all of the lovely free benefits that go along with it. I'm talking about literally making it seem like you were born and raised in this little country. This will include how Danes look and how they act

First step: Appearance

Let's start with hair, most danes have some shade of blonde hair, occasionally you will encounter a Dane with natural brown or red hair, but it is rare. For the girls, hairstyles consist of basic haircuts, focussing on have long hair that is either tied up in a bun that will add 5 inches to your height, or else left loose in a fresh out of bed-maybe I brushed it sort of way. For girls, the goal is to spend at most maybe two minutes on your hair, and to use nothing more than some stay in conditioner.

For the guys, you must spend at least 20 minutes doing your hair. You will have some sort of short hair cut, usually with the sides shaved and some crazy awesome hair flowing on top. You will have about 7 different hair products that you will use on a daily basis, and there is a good chance you will have to learn how to use a hair dryer, it is a necessity to achieve the proper amount of awesomeness.

Next Step! Clothing! If you have any color in your closet, put it all in a bag and set it on fire. You will not need any brightly colored clothing anymore. If you do have any colors, they will be a nice dark army green or an extremely dark navy blue, if you really want to push your luck, you can try for a dark maroon or burnt red, but that is seriously pushing it. Your best friend will become your pair of black skinny jeans (girls aim for that high waist). For shirts, think layering, big bulky sweaters, and some very chic looking black jackets (blazers, biker jackets, structure wool). The colors you have to choose from include grey, dark grey, white, and of course black. The most important thing when dressing is your scarf. Never leave the house without a large and in charge scarf to nuzzle your nose in and protect against the vicious wind. The ideal outfit would include black skinnies, a tucked in black long sleeve shirt, an awesome black jacket, and a gray heavy knit infinity scarf.

Now onto shoes. In Denmark, you ride your bike or walk everywhere on cobblestone clad streets, so screw flats and those uncomfortable heels, your will be wearing some sort of sneakers or booties. The brands include Keds, Converse, Adidas, Nike, and Vans. If you are wearing boots, they will be combat boots or wedged lace up booties. Boys, you have the freedom to wear any type of shoe you want, shoe style is pretty universal for boys.

Last step of appearance is your body. Danes have viking blood, so they are naturally tall and ripped. They exercise maybe once a week, and eat whatever the heck they want. If you want to compete with that you have to make it a daily habit to work out for about 2 hours. This is the land of the tall and lean, and there is no way to forget it.

Second step: Behavior and Attitude

Danes are quiet and shy, they keep to themselves and have a high respect for personal space and privacy. When in public, it is important that you look completely unapproachable and always have on your Ice Queen face. But be prepared to drop it on a dime and smile like crazy when someone talks to you. If you can muster up the courage to speak to a Dane, they are the kindest, warmest, and most welcoming people around. Even better, they are brutally honest, to everyone, so if you want a true opinion with no sugar coating, then ask a Dane.

All of this, however, is to be ignored when you are drunk. Throw all caution to the wind and dance like a freak while doing whatever the hell you feel like doing at the time. If you want to climb on a roof, go for it. If you want to walk down some public streets, have no fear, you can be as drunk as a skunk at almost any age in public and no one will care, just don't throw up on anything.

So there you have it! If you can master all of this then you can officially pull of being a Dane. Good luck, it isn't easy at first, but it is doable!

This Whole Christmas Thing...

Glædelig Jul og godt Nytår alle sammen!! (Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone)
So I thought I should probably tell everyone that I am indeed still alive and fill everyone in on the phenomenon that is Danish Christmas! Woooooo!

For starters, Danish Christmas is designed to have you eat so much that you don't need to eat again for another month, it is both disgusting an delightful all at the same time. For example, in the traditional Danish Julefrokost (Christmas Lunch), there are 6 courses, with about 15 minutes in between, which is just enough time for your stomach to make room for the next course. The first course includes the lovely Danish rye bread (of course), pickled and smoked fish (my favorite is the smoked salmon), fried white fish, remolade, and eggs. Yummy. The second course include bread, again, cold cuts, eggs, butter, cucumber, and liver patte (disgusting). After that you get a course of potatoes, cabbage, duck, fleskinstein (pork with a crisp finish), and "brown sauce". Then, after a short break that is filled with singing, dancing, and drinking, you have the cheese course, which is filled with many different types of cheese, crackers, and bread. This course is followed by a long break because the next round requires a very roomy stomach. This 5th course is called risalamande, which is a Danish dessert consisting of rice pudding with almonds, covered by a warm cherry sauce. But, there is a catch, in the whole batch of risalamande, there is hidden one whole almond, and the person who finds the almond wins a prize. Sometimes you get a kind winner, who pops the almond out upon discovery and stops you from overstuffing yourself, but other times you get a little devil of a winner who hides it until all of the pudding is gone and everyone is moaning because of their over full stomachs. From this you have a couple of hours playing games, exchanging gifts and causing all kinds of trouble before the coffee and cake is served, with the intent to sober everyone up enough to head on home.

So as you can see, the need to eat is destroyed and you are ready to hibernate for the month of January.

Another interesting thing about Danish Christmas is their gift exchange game which is just too long to spell and kinda looks like a keyboard crashed into a wall. Imagine pronouncing such a mess, here's a hint, you can't, not even the Danes can. This game is played by rolling dice, in hopes that you land a six. So, everyone sits at a table, and there can be multiple dice rounding the table. For every six, you collect a present and set it in front of you. Once all of the presents are taken, the stealing round begins. For this round, a timer is set and every time you roll a six, you can steal from one of the other players. By the end, everyone secretly hates each other for stealing their gifts and the amount of gifts ranging from person to person is big. After the stealing round, everyone unwraps their gifts and laughs at the hilarity that is inside. One time I got a CPR training mask, another time I got a couple of bars of soap and some chocolate.

The last Danish I will tell you about takes place on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve, the whole family dresses up and has a dinner resembling the Julefrokost. After dinner you have some lovely dancing and singing around the Christmas tree, with the last song requiring everyone to run crazily around the house. After dancing and singing, it is present opening time. It was strange opening presents the night before Christmas, I mean Santa must get pretty annoyed having to deliver presents a day early to just one country of only 5 million people, but like a good mystical fairytale man, he follows through. While all of this is going on, there are about 50 candles lit, along with a fire, so by the time presents are done, you are exhausted from lack of oxygen due to the fire hazard that is the house.

So, as you can see, Danish Christmas is insane and overwhelming, I love it don't get me wrong, but it is definitely not something for the weak hearted. This New Year, I will be celebrating in the great white north that is Norway. I will freeze, but I will have fun adding another country to my belt and acting like the proper snow bunny that I am (kinda, not really). Here's a fun fact about the Danes, they literally jump off of furniture when the clock strikes twelve. Nope no kissing or banging pots and pans, but jumping. Off of furniture. Screaming like some kind of Viking warrior. I swear, these people are almost as crazy as I am.

Well, that's all for now kids. I'll talk to you'll again when I am back from Norway and safe inside Danish boarders.

Vi ses!

Becca

Moved In!

Hey everyone!

So I just wanted to tell everyone that I am safely moved in and loving my new house. The best thing about it? The shower. Yes, the shower is a normal shower with a shower curtain and a raised ledge, so there is no water spraying all over the place or any of the awful squiggying that I used to have to do. No more getting the entire bathroom wet when I shower or letting in the freezing cold air when I shower. This shower with it's lovely shower curtain is a proper shower, a shower that traps all of the steam and stays all toasty warm and heavenly. Needless to say, I appreciate this very much, but that is enough ranting about showers.

Another really awesome thing that my new family has is chickens!!! My host dad keeps chickens and every morning walks out to the chicken coup in the freezing cold to take care of his adorable little chickens. The result of this is an endless supply of fresh eggs which are delicious and lovely. Although I will miss my little trips to the little egg vending machine that the local organic chicken coup has, I like being able to walk downstair and have a fresh egg for breakfast. 

Other than the chickens and the shower, my house is pretty much the same as before. Everything is designed to be functional and cozy at the same time, and luckily for me. Both of my host families have lived abroad and have embraced the large American leather couch idea. Also, they know what I am feeling. Everywhere I go in Give I feel welcome and in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am so grateful to have the honor of meeting the people I have met. I miss my old host family, and I will stay in touch with them for the rest of my life, but I look forward to getting to know my new host family. We already have a lot of plans and it is clear that they intend to keep me busy over the holiday season. 

So for now, that's all that has been happening over here in the land of the Vikings. So I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and ask that everyone eats a lot of turkey and pie for me. Until next time!

Vi Ses!

Danes and Snow

Today was a monumental day, it snowed today!!! Whenever this happens back in the mitten, I am excited and everyone around me is happy and cheery and full of winter-wonderland spirit. But not here. Nope. Danes hate the snow. All of my classmates and teachers are complaining and cursing the snow. I walk into to class, all happy and rosy cheeked from the cold and then I see my classmates. All staring out the window swearing under their breath and looking all grumpy. When I ask why everyone is so upset, they say because of the f**king snow. I really don't understand the hatred on snow here. Everything is even more gorgeous (didn't think this was possible), and it feels more normal to be snuggled up at 4:00 in the afternoon by a fire while its dark outside.

Meanwhile, when I see all of the South American exchangers, they come running up to me speaking rapid Spanglish and screaming about the snow. This is a little more excitement than I was expecting, but I welcome it. Especially considering none of them have ever seen snow before.

I know this is an extremely short post and isn't about anything particularly important, but I just felt the need to express my feelings about proper reactions to snow on the interweb. If someone has a problem with my expression, well tough nuggets, deal with it. I'll be sure to update everyone about my move and tell about my new host family soon.

Vi Ses!