My year in Denmark!

Six Months Later

2011-12-13T21:13:00.001-08:00

So it’s been nearly six months. And what a fast six months it’s been. I still feel a pull in my chest when I think about Denmark, but I can go days now without thinking about my exchange. A lot of times it doesn’t feel real, the people and the experiences are just figments of my imagination. I don’t look through my pictures as often anymore, my scrapbooks and journals are long since packed away. I am fully immersed in my life in Canada. I like to think that I’ve done a good job of moving on.

However, while I think I am finally in a place where I can say that I have moved on, I know that I will never move past Denmark. Because, how can I? My exchange is in the past, but the people I love will never be behind me.

To my host families, I know I am horrible at emailing. I told myself I wouldn’t be, but I am. But you wouldn’t believe how often I talk about you all. I cannot drink tea without thinking of my first host family. I don’t think I even drank tea that often in Denmark, but I now associate tea with a cozy evening with my first family. I’ll be talking, and I’ll hear myself saying, “My host mom this,” or “My counsellor that,” People ask me if I miss you guys, and I can never make them understand just how profound that yes that I reply with is.

I found that I had to distance myself though. Hanging on to something that is over was too sad. I aspire to reach a place in my life where I can look back on it all and smile, and be content. Right now I run between each extreme, wrapping myself in my flag looking at pictures and crying, or pretending that Denmark never happened. And in finding the happy medium, I feel like I have lost contact with the people from my exchange. I get so caught up in trying to remind myself that the experiences are over, that I need to remember that the people are still there, and we can still be a part of each others lives. My new years resolution for 2012 is to keep in better contact with everyone, because I don't think you will ever understand how much you all mean to me, and how sad it makes me to think of how long it's been since I've seen or spoken to most of you. This goes for my friends and my host families and everyone else from my exchange life.

But it doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten, or don’t love and miss you all. It doesn’t mean that at all.

While all of you are moving on with your lives, I am too. But life back in Canada is not what I had thought. I was honest in my blog all throughout my year, so I suppose I will be as well now.

Sometimes things happen in life that are so beyond your control. Sometimes things take over you to the point where you have lost all sense of what makes you, you. That’s what I am struggling with right now. I have lost myself and I don’t know how to get myself back.

I joined swim team at school because I wanted desperately to be in the yearbook, and swim team is the only school team that allows everyone on, no matter their ability. You’d be amazed just how calming it is to be under water. And I’m skiing again, which feels amazing. The kids I work with are so adorable, and it’s so fun for me to see their love for skiing develop.

The next few years are uncertain right now. Plans are changing and things aren’t the same anymore. And as someone who craves control over her life, the uncertainty is brutal.

I am at a new school, trying to recreate myself, although that is proving difficult. Moving schools, I've learnt, just like travelling far from home, does not change who you are. Where ever I go, there I am.

Sometimes keeping quiet and just blending in is the best way. I don't always need to be talking, just listening is okay now too. I still have the eye of an exchange student, seeing things in ways that my peers don’t. Sometimes I like to pretend that I’m just a tourist in the this city, another one of the inbounds, and that I’ll be going home to Denmark next summer.

People ask me if I knew way back then where I would be right now, what I would be facing, and the challenges I would be dealing with, if I would still have gone. At first I had to think really hard about it, if it was all worth it, but now I answer with a yes before they even finish the question.

You see, sometimes it’s so easy to just see the negatives. The words don’t exist to explain how amazing my year was. How much I learnt and how much I grew. I was profoundly happy in Denmark, but below all of that, there was something buried. I’ve rewritten this paragraph over and over because I feel like I either give out too much information, or nothing at all. But I realized now that I am writing this blog mostly for myself, and therefore I don’t owe this post anything more than just saying that something happened in Denmark. Unless you are my family, host or Canadian, or my closest friends, then what happened is irrelevant. I am including this paragraph only as explanation for why I currently have such mixed feelings towards Denmark, and why life back home is so complicated.

While I am not going to say anymore, I do feel the need to say that it was in no way related to my host families or Rotary, and I get really defensive when thats the first thing people assume. But I have to remember that while yes, one really bad thing happened, hundreds of amazing things happened, and I can never forget that.

But despite all of that, I wouldn’t have stayed back in Canada. I wouldn’t have given up the experience that I had. I would never in a million years have given up meeting my host families and amazing friends. Sometimes I have to convince myself harder, but I know that it was worth it.

It’s easy to blame Denmark for all of this. It’s easy to say that I wish I had never gone. And maybe it’s true, maybe life would be easier now if I hadn’t. But I can’t help but think about everything I would have missed out on, and to think that there’s no way I can ever wish it away.

I left a part of me in Denmark, but I know that while I can’t see it today, and I might not be able to see it tomorrow, that all of the stuff I gained makes up for it. And maybe one day I'll realize that I did not in fact lose anything in Denmark, and that I came out of everything a stronger person. It's hard to see clearly now, but I have to believe that I'm going to come out of this not only okay, but better than I was before.

Because, this too shall pass. And once it does, I will once again be left with the amazing memories from what I still do believe was the best year of my life. Six months later it's still obvious that the friends I had in Denmark were the best friends I will ever have. The days and nights we spent together were some of the best in my life.

Despite all of this though, I do feel the need to add that generally speaking, I am doing well. School is hard, but I love it. I have some really good friends, and it's exciting to finally be grade 12 -- top of the school. I love being involved in school teams and clubs like swimming and other volunteer opportunities around the school. And despite being at a new school, I am so grateful that I am still close with all of my friends from before exchange. I like working again and earning money, and I love the freedom of being home and not having to feel guilty about hiding in my room, or going out with friends. I got my graduation photos taken last week, which I have to admit was beyond exciting. I felt SO grown up in my cap and gown. You'd think that all of these setbacks would have convinced me to take an extra year to graduate, but no sir! I am as determined as ever to walk the stage in May. I have my gown ordered and everything.

I still have my hedgehog, Chompy, and I love him to bits.

Last month I visited Emma and her family in Boston for Thanksgiving, and it was so amazing to see her again! I swear it was like we had never been apart. It proved to me that we really will be best friends forever! (Corny enough?)

So while yes, I am facing some pretty major challenges in my life, there are also good things. They may be small, but they motivate me to keep chugging through.

My exchange is long over, but life is still going on.

I learnt a lot, and I still am.

The Pursuit of Happiness

2011-08-20T17:38:00.000-07:00

The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. ~Author unknown, commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin

I meant to write this a long time ago, and then I decided I wasn’t going to write it at all, and now I’ve decided that it doesn’t feel right to leave my blog “incomplete” so I will write this post, then lay my blog to rest.

Before I left, and even throughout my year, I got asked a lot why I chose Denmark. Most of the time I half laughed, and said, “Well, it’s the happiest country in the world.” And then left it at that. But the reasons behind my choice were so much bigger, and many times throughout my year I questioned my reasoning, but now, after being home nearly two months, I think I’ve come to peace with everything.

I chose Denmark because yes, it is the happiest country the world. But even bigger than that, I was so curious how they could possibly be happy living in small houses and driving fuel efficient cars and paying so much for everything. I wanted to find out what exactly makes a country happy. At the time of country selection, in January 2010, I was also itching for more than what I had. I went to a very small high school where most of the kids were pretty conservative, and I wanted more. So when I heard how much freedom Danish teenagers had, that appealed to me in a really big way. The Danish culture seemed like one I could see myself fitting into.

So what does make Denmark the happiest country in the world? I can’t officially answer that, but I can give my opinion. And because I’m sure some people won’t agree with me, I will clarify that again. It is my opinion based on what I observed and experienced throughout my year. Nobody has to agree with what I write.

Danes are content. They are not greedy, they are not always wishing for more. Most of them are very happy with the lives they have. In Canada, the wealthy have huge houses and fancy cars, the middle class have average houses in nice neighborhoods and drive one or two practical cars, and the lower class live in smaller houses in less desirable areas and maybe drive one lower end car. In Denmark, you can’t really look at someones house and car and immediately tell how much they make. Of course there are exceptions, but for the most part, everyone lives on basically the same level. This eliminates a lot of the competition and stress that North Americans face.

Imagine, if you weren’t always wishing for a better paying job, or a nicer house, or a fancier car, would you be happier?

Something I figured out about half way through the year though, is that while Danes are happy people, if you took a group of North Americans and plopped them down in Denmark, I don’t think they would be as happy. I imagine my family of four living in my last host families apartment. We would literally tear each other apart. Sharing one bathroom, Jackson and I sharing a bedroom, a kitchen the barely fits three people. Many Canadians are spoiled with the amount of space we have per person, and if we were all of a sudden crammed so close together, I don’t see us being as content as the Danes are. Even for me, I did not particularly enjoy living in such close quarters, and I had to keep reminding myself, “This is part of the experience, in three months you will be back in your own house where you have the entire basement to yourself.” Yes, this sounds bratty and spoiled, but it is how I’ve been raised. And it is how I hope to raise my kids if I am able to do so. I love my family, but I could never live somewhere where we are always running into each other. I’d feel like I couldn’t breath. But I guess this is one the reasons why Canadian’s are not as happy as Danes.

Another big thing, is that Danes are basically taken care of. They pay very high taxes, but they have free health care, university is free, and the elderly are taken care of. It’s not like here, where the rich are taken care of, and the poor are on their own. In Denmark people don’t have to stress about money in the same way we do here.

Furthermore, on the note of not stressing, Denmark is not nearly as competitive as Canada. Danish kids do not have to compete with their peers to get into university. And even more, Danes do not know the stress of figuring out a way to pay for university. Higher education is a given for them, and sitting here as a soon-to-be grade 12 who’s mind is full of getting into and then paying for university, if I didn’t have that stress, I can say I would be a much happier person.

Happiness is not shown in the way I imagined it would be, and I think you have to spend a fair amount of time in Denmark to really see it. Danes are really people, they have problems, they have bad days, and don’t get my wrong, they certainly do have stresses in their lives. But this being said, even with all of the day to day problems they might have, I do believe that it can be argued that they live better lives than we do here. But again, how happy you are in Denmark depends on how you’ve been raised and what you value in life.

Basically, in conclusion, I did see a bit of what makes them so happy, and I have learnt a fair bit about how I can live a “happier” life, but a lot of what I saw I cannot apply to my life here in Canada. Sadly it just doesn’t work like that. I am still doomed to suffer the same stressed and worries and that everyone before me did, but I least I know what a simpler life looks like, and am confident that if I choose to be happy, then despite all of the bumps in the road, then I will be happy.

My second “pull” to Denmark, was the freedom. And that did not disappoint. I loved being treated like an adult. I loved how adults talked to me like I was an equal. In North American adults talk down to kids, whether they notice it or not. I also loved how 16 year olds pretty much had the same freedom as 18 year olds. I could go out to bars in Copenhagen and come strolling in a sunrise and no one ever said anything. It was a great way to live. I also loved the trust people had in me. I loved that at school parties were are allowed to drink and they trusted us not abuse the privilege, and for the most part no one did. It is something that would just not work in Canada.

I went to Denmark in the pursuit of happiness, and maybe I didn't find it in the way that I thought I would, but I certainly did find it in all the friends I made, and the families I lived with, and the amazing life that I was so lucky to live. The happiness I felt in Denmark was something I had never felt in Canada. It was a cozy content-ness. I found happiness in drinking tea with my host family, sitting in the park with my friends, watching movies with Simone, hugs from my Danish mom and counsellor. I discovered happiness in the the warmth of the sun after 5 long months of darkness, and looking over the ocean at the coast of Sweden. At going to Rotary meetings and the days I spent with Candice. It was the little things that made me happy, and I hope I can continue living like that, finding happiness and content-ness in the little things in life. It is just an amazing way to live. You see things in such a different light when you are not constantly wanting more, and you take notice in all of the little, but still amazing, things in your life.

Denmark is an amazing country, and despite some of the parts of the culture that I didn’t like, I overall fell in love with the country. I would go back in a heartbeat. And I plan to, someday.

So what is next for me? I start school in a little under two weeks. I have decided to start at a new school for Grade 12, for a variety of reasons. I’m hoping to graduate in June, but there is the chance it won’t happen until next December. Who knows, and ultimately, who cares.

As for travel, who knows? Exchange was such a huge part of my life for so many years now, and now that it’s over and done with, I’m not entirely sure what to do next. I want to go back to Denmark at some point. I’m hoping to au pair there next year, if I finish school in time. I fell in love with the country and most of the culture and just in general with the Danish way of life, not to mention I love my Danish family so much, and I miss them more than I ever thought I could miss someone I’d only know for eleven months. I miss my counsellor and her no bullshit advice and awesome personality. And I miss all of my friends and the amazing times we had together. It took traveling half way around the world to find what I always felt was missing, and to meet people who I connected to in such a deep way.

This adventure is over now though, and it’s time to focus on my next task, nailing Grade 12.

And then who knows. Maybe in the Spring I will do a post about where I am then. University? Traveling? Au pairing? Or something entirely different?

I’m off to Boston in November to visit Emma, and then I can only hope that next fall is Denmark.

So now I am ready to officially put this piece of exchange to rest. Thanks so much to everyone who followed my journey, and if you have any questions or anything, please feel free to email me. princessdaisy@shaw.ca

If you are my Danish family or friends reading this, please know I love you so much and miss you so much and hope that you stay a part of my life forever. You guys mean far too much to me to ever lose.

If you are an exchange student, have the time of your life. Exchange will change you in ways you can’t even imagine.

And if you are someone else, thanks for following my adventure and I hope you maybe learnt a bit about Denmark through my posts.

Lots of love from somewhere between Canada and Denmark,

Andrea.

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.

2011-07-10T14:51:00.000-07:00

“We can never turn back the pages of time, though we may wish to relive a happy moment, or say goodbye just one last time, we never can, because the sands of time continue to fall, and we can’t turn the hourglass over.” — Unknown

So I’m home now, right back in the exact same place where I was last summer, and the summer before that, and all the summers before that. It’s weird, being home. Leaving Denmark was just the hardest thing. My first host mom, my counsellor, four of my friends, and of course my last host mom and Emma were there.

From the second we walked into the airport, everything was CHAOS. There were so many people, the lines were insane and there was no room to navigate all of my stuff. I had done self check in the night before, so I could go right into the baggage drop line, but Emma couldn’t. My host mom went off with Emma, and I went by myself. Things had been a bit tense at home that morning, so I was already a huge ball of stress, not to mention I was a mere hour away from saying goodbye to my Danish life.

I had my awesome friends there though to help me figure things out, which made it a bit better. My counsellor saved the day when she showed up too. She was super calm and took over everything. The line to drop my baggage was so long, and then I finally get to the front, and the SAS Bitch was like, you have too many suitcases. So sue me, I had three suitcases. Did she not realize I wasn’t just going on a two week holiday?? I had my whole life in those suitcases! Obviously she didn’t care though, because she sent us away and told us to get it town to two bags and my backpack. Again, thank God for my counsellor, because I was freaking out all over again. I opened my smallest suitcase and threw all of the contents into my two bigger ones, and then Susanne packed it nicely so it all fit. I did have to part with some of my food and a few shirts, but in the moment I didn’t care at all, I just wanted it to be over.

So then I had two 32 kilo suitcases, when I am only allowed one 23 kilo suitcase. I had come into the day expecting to pay 300kr in extra bags, so when she was all like, ‘That’ll be 750kr,’ I was not prepared. Susanne was awesome and covered it, and then I payed her back with all of the cash I did have on me. I definitely hadn’t wanted to spend that much on bags, but I didn’t want to waste my last few minutes with everyone arguing with the airline lady. I just wanted to be with the people I loved for one last time.

We all met up at the Starbucks, and that was when it started to sink in. It was over. The best year of my life, over. I had said a lot of hard goodbyes already. Saying goodbye to Simone the night before had been so hard. She is one of my best friends, and even more, she’s the sister I had always wished I’d had. And I didn’t want to leave. Her, or anybody for that matter. I didn’t want to leave my amazing life.

But standing there in the airport, it hit me, that was what I was doing. I wasn’t at the airport to see off a friend like I had numerous times in the past few weeks, I was there because it was my turn.

We didn’t have a lot of time, so the hugs started right away. Both Susanne’s gave me letters to read on the plane. The first person I hugged was counsellor Susanne. She has been in my life the longest, and she has been the one who has been there the entire year. Whenever I was sad or needed help or anything, she was the one I went to. I feel like in my first family I had a really good relationship with my host mom, if I was sad or just needed to talk or whatever, I felt totally comfortable going to her, but even though I loved my other three host moms too, I didn’t feel the same way, so once I left my first family, my counsellor was the one I went to. So hugging her, everything just flashed through my mind. My first day, driving with her home from the airport, in September talking about school, all of the times we talked throughout November when I needed to move families early because of the cats, when I went over around Christmas, and tried Risengrøl for the first time, and I was so surprised when she told me that’s what they left for Santa. And there is so much more that unless I write a novel, won’t fit into this post. I couldn’t find the words to thank her enough.

And then next was my first host mom Susanne. She is a second mom to me, but saying goodbye to her was a million times harder than it had been to say goodbye to my mom last summer, because I don’t know when I’ll be back in Denmark, and even when I am, I will never truly get to be back. I remember when I first got to Denmark, and was homesick, she would give the best hugs. And even after I moved families, whenever I saw her, I’d get a legitimate mom hug, and ask any exchange student, there’s not a lot of things better than that. And then in the airport I just couldn’t admit that this was the last time I would hug her for I don’t know how long. It was just, I don’t even know, so heartbreaking.

I said goodbye to Charlotte next, and I don’t even think either of us knew what to say. It just didn’t feel real that this was the end. I had talked to Julie for months before I came to Denmark and she left to Australia, and it was just to crazy that now it was goodbye.

And then I had to go back to counsellor Susanne one more time. She gave me some final words of advice, and then I had to go. My friends ignored the passengers only line, and went right up to security with me, but for my host moms and Susanne, that was it. We went up the escalators and I looked back and they were all waving and I just wanted to turn around and run back to them and beg them to keep me, but I just had to give one last wave, and then look forward, and just keep walking.

(Me and my counsellor, Susanne)

(Me and my first host mom, Susanne)

(My first host mom, my last host mom, me and Susanne)

All year it had been me, Claude, Emily and Chelsea. We had always gone out together, had sleepovers together, shopped together, pretty much everything. So saying goodbye to Emily was especially sad. And my newbie Bec, who even though I’ve only known her 6 weeks, I love so much. And Laura, my first Australian friend, and Brittany who I had some seriously awesome times with on Eurotour, and the weeks after. Saying goodbye to my friends was so hard. They were the people who made year so much fun. They were the ones who I had the craziest times with, and who I could tell anything to, because they all just got it. They were the ones who I’d have sleepovers with and we’d lay awake in the dark just talking about all of the amazing things we want to do with our lives.

I’d been in that spot near the security area so many times, but I’d always been the one waving off the person who actually walked down the hall. The end of that hall had always been some elusive unknown that back in January when I said goodbye to Hannah, I couldn’t wait to experience, but then in June seeing off Nova and Chelsea, I had no desire to go down that hall. But that day, it was my turn, and as much I didn’t want to, I had to give my final hugs and then keep walking forward.

Luckily I had Emma with me, which softened the blow of leaving Denmark. We sat on the plane together, watching our home, and our exchange year, disappear beneath the clouds.

(Emma and I on the plane to Frankfurt)

In Frankfurt I walked Emma as far as I could to her gate. We hit a road block though, at passport control. I wasn’t leaving from the same area as her, so I couldn’t enter into her section. So in front of passport control was where our journey together ended. I suppose it’s fitting, our time together ended just as awkwardly as it had begun. We sat down, not talking, refusing to admit what was about to happen. It wasn’t until they made an announcement that her plane was boarding that we looked at each other, and then stood up and hugged. I can’t explain how hard it was to say goodbye to Emma. I have never had a friend as amazing as her. Someone who is so much like me, and I can just be totally myself around. There is no way my year would have been as amazing without my monthly visits to or from Emma. So saying goodbye, and knowing that this stage of our friendship was forever over, was horrible. Now it’s down to visiting her maybe once or twice a year, maybe less as life goes on. And of course we will skype and email and call each other. I know we will be best friends forever. There’s no way that I can let a friend that amazing slip away. Watching her walk through passport control, and me standing there crying, just sucked so much. I don’t understand how a year can be over. It was just last week we were starving at introcamp, sitting in her room not talking to anyone, and now we were saying goodbye. This part of exchange makes all of the other hard times seem like nothing.

When I was in Denmark, I thought there wasn’t a worse feeling than homesickness. I thought being away from Canada was the hardest thing. But now that I’m back in Canada, I realized the homesickness I felt in Denmark was nothing compared to the homesickness I have now for Denmark.

It also wasn’t until I was back in Canada, and found myself referring to Denmark as home, (as in, “Wow, only three dollars for this coffee? At home I would have payed ten!”) that I realized how much Denmark feels like home. The life I had there, the people in it, the things I did and the places I went, it just all felt so right. I love the way Danes are, I love the way they think. I love what it was like to live there. The only thing keeping me from quitting school and going back there right now, is knowing that the life I lived was not a true Danish one. I lived the amazing carefree life of an exchange student. I know that truly living in Denmark is nothing like the life I lived there, but that doesn’t make me miss it any less.

Being back in Canada is nice though. To be back in my house, in my room, in a kitchen full of my favorite foods. My first night home, one my best friends came over, and we sat in my room and she filled me in on everything. And hearing her talk about everyone was like pulling a familiar wool blanket around myself. It didn’t feel totally right, but at the same time it gave me this warm and secure, and kind of comforting, feeling. I hadn’t left Denmark to come back to nothing. I had left Denmark to come back to a lot. I didn’t leave my friends to come home and be friendless; I have amazing friends here. Saturday night two of my best friends, Maddie and Emily, threw me an amazing welcome home party. We all hung out and had dinner at Emily’s house, and then we drove to another friends house and chilled in his hot tub and I had a slurpee and Timmies and it felt so normal. Like I had never been away.

(Yay Slurpee!!)

(Yay Timmies!!)

Being home, with my family and friends, and being back in school, and just being back in my life, I just can’t believe a year can go by that fast. There were weeks that dragged on, but sitting here now, it truly feels like the blink of an eye.

The first few days at home were so hard. I was busy with friends, which was so nice to be back with them. But it was hard to be away from Denmark. I couldn’t think about it without tearing up. And then I started school two days after I got home. I wasn’t over the jet lag and I was so tried, and so sad about being home, and everything just felt wrong. But somehow, every day it gets better. And I can see that maybe it’s good how busy I am. My Canadian life is in full swing. I went out Friday with my friends, and last night I babysat for the family I’ve babysat for since I was 12. Everything is back to normal. And that makes it a lot easier to be back. I still miss Denmark like I don’t think anyone understands, and it still takes massive willpower not to pick up the phone every day and call my host family and counsellor and friends.

But I need to remember that I can’t keep looking over my shoulder. Just like in the airport, when I had to keep walking forward, it’s the same now.

Instead of looking back and wishing I could go back in time to be back with my host families, I need to find a way for them to fit in with my life now, and in the future. I know they will be in my life forever. I know that at my wedding, Simone and Emma will be two of my bridesmaids. I know I will never lose any of my Danish family or friends. I’ve been emailing with Susanne, and one of the things she wrote in one of the emails was, “...but I know we will keep in touch the rest of our lives and that sure is a good thing to remember.” And that’s true. Just because I’m back in Canada doesn’t mean I’ve lost anybody. I love them so much, and just because I won’t see them very often doesn’t mean I’ll ever love them any less.

My year in Denmark was amazing. It was nothing I expected it to be, and everything I needed it to be. I would go back and live it over in a heartbeat. I did so many amazing things, and met so many incredible people, and I learnt so much about myself. And just because I’m home doesn’t mean I’m done. I’m going to use everything about this year to help me to continue growing and changing as a person. Denmark will forever be a part of me. I still can’t believe it is over. I no longer can use the excuse, “But I’m an exchange student!” Being an exchange student is an amazing thing. If you’ve followed my blog throughout the year, you know it’s not always easy. But I can safely say, it’s a million percent worth it.

Now I’m moving on with my life post Denmark. I am busy with summer school and my friends and being a mother to my new baby, Chompy the hedgehog. For some reason, all throughout my year, I had a weird obsession with hedgehogs, so right when I came home, I went out and bought my very own pet hedgie. My life is building up around me, and everything is falling intro place. Everyday it gets a bit easier to be back, but that doesn’t mean that Denmark is ever far from my mind, or that I can’t wait to one day go back.

(Chompy!)

I’m planning to do one more post within the week, just doing a bit of a comparison on Denmark and Canada, because now that I’m back I can see everything with a bit more perspective.

This post was really hard to write, because it was kind of the first time I’ve really sat down and admitted that it’s over.

Thanks for reading though. I’ve loved keeping this blog, and it always makes me so happy to see my page hits go up.

It feels weird to not sign this, Love from Denmark, so instead I will sign it, Love to Denmark, the amazing country and all of the incredible people in it, particularly the ones who played a huge part in my year and who are forever in my heart.

Tusind tak!

Andrea

'Twas the night before departure...again...

2011-06-30T16:09:00.001-07:00

We laughed until we had to cry, we loved right down to our last goodbye, but over the years we'll smile and recall, for just one moment - we had it all.

So here I am, eleven months later, the night before departure. This time is so different than last time though.This time around, what waits on the other side of the flight is not unknown, it’s what I’ve always known, except I know it won’t be the same.

This past week has flown by. I’ve hung out with friends, packed up my room, said goodbyes, and started to get ready to part with this life.

Emma is with me, which is the way the end of my year should be. She’s my best friend, and I am so glad we are leaving this year together. We’ve been busy, shopping for Danish food, seeing Copenhagen and figuring out exactly how to cope with the year we waited forever for coming to an end.

Tonight was the hardest goodbye so far, to my first family. We had dinner with them, and it was so normal. It felt like any other time I was with them. But then the evening came to a close, and that’s when I had to do what I had been dreading, say goodbye. I know it’s not goodbye, because I love them way too much to not have them stay a part of my life. But I don’t know when I will be back, and I don’t know what it will be like to visit. It won’t be the same, and that’s so scary.

This year has been everything and nothing like I imagined. I have grown up in so many ways, and I see things so differently now. I’m not the same person I was when I left Canada.

I’m really sorry I can’t write more clearly. I don’t want to go home. I can’t actually explain how much it hurts to have to leave the life I worked so hard to build for myself here. I don’t want it to end.

Tomorrow is going to break my heart. My counsellor and my first host mom and current host mom and a few friends will be there, and Emma who I’m flying out with. I leave the house in less than six hours.

Thank you so much to everyone who made this year possible for me. It doesn’t feel real that it’s over. I want to stay in my perfect little Danish bubble.

I don’t want to leave my Danish family. I don’t want another exchange student to come to my club here. I don’t want to leave.

But sometimes life sucks and we have to do what we don’t want to. Including leaving the best year of our lives behind. I know I have many more adventures ahead, but at the moment it breaks my heart to leave this one behind.

I love Denmark and everyone in my life here so much.

But now it’s time to say goodbye to my family to go back to my family and leave home to go home.

Tusind tak Danmark for en FANTASTISK år, og vi ses igen snart.

Talk to you from the otherside of the pond,

Andrea

The best of the best

2011-06-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why itis here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.

There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

-Douglas Adams

Wow so another busy week has FLOWN by and now I sit here with 5, yes, only 5 days left in Denmark. I am bumming my host sister’s computer, so I don’t have time to write a big long update, but I will give you all a quick update of how things have been the past week and a half.

I’d heard from many people that the last few weeks your exchange are some of the best out of the whole year, and I hadn’t really gotten it until now, but it is really true!

I have been out almost every single day since Eurotour. Since the last time I updated I went to Simone’s going away/16^th birthday party, which was really fun! I still think it’s so crazy how there can be fifty teenagers outside drinking and going crazy and my host parents are sitting just inside. I’m going to miss Danish parties so much! I slept over that night, and then the next day I just spent the day with my first family. We did normal things like grocery shopping and cleaning the house, but it was my last time properly spending the day with them, so I was just so happy to be there.

Then last Saturday my friend Sophie who just got back from her exchange year in the US slept over, and then in the morning we made American pancakes. I had seen Sophie once when I first arrived in Denmark before she left on her exchange, so it was really cool to see her now, and the end of our years. It makes the past ten months seem like the blink of an eye.

(Sophie and our American pancakes)

On Monday I went over to Candice’s for a visit. This was one of the last times I’m going to get to see her, and it was so nice to just see her and visit. This whole year she has always been there and I’ve always loved being with her and her family. Sometimes I can’t believe that eleven months ago everyone who makes up my life here were only strangers. It feels like I’ve known them forever.

Tuesday I met with Susanne in the morning, and then spent the rest of the day and evening with my third family. In the afternoon it was just Carina and I, and we hung out and talked and just caught up. She leaves on her exchange to the US in less than two months, so we have tons to talk about. And then my host parents came home and we all had dinner together. That was the last time I would get to see them this year, and they were the first major goodbye I had to say. It was so weird leaving, because who knows what I will be like next time I see them. I’ll probably be done high school, maybe even already in university. This was the last time seeing them as exchange student me. Next time I’ll be someone totally different.

Wednesday a group of us hung out in Copenhagen for the day just shopping and eating and all the stuff we always do. It is just so surreal that this is all coming to an end. It’s all so normal and I’m in such a routine, and I am not even a little bit ready for things to change.

(Doing what we always do, sitting in McDonalds doing nothing for hours on end.)

Wednesday night was mine and Chelsea’s last school party. I thought it would be wild fun, but it ended up just being so sad. Chelsea and I sat there and looked around the school and thought of all the crazy (and even boring day to day) stuff that has happened here, and the fact that we would never be coming back was just so, so sad. And then she started crying, which of course made me cry, and from there I just couldn’t stop.

(Me and Chelsea in front of the school.)

Weather wise, I was dressed horrifically inappropriate. I was wearing tiny shorts and a t-shirt and little flats, and it was ten degrees and POURING rain. I didn’t have a jacket or anything, and we were supposed to walk home. (In my defence, when we left the house the weather was nice.) So we took the train to Taastrup station, but it was the worse rainfall I had ever seen. Within minutes the streets were flooded and I was so cold I couldn’t stop shaking. Chelsea called her host mom, who is my counsellor, to pick us up. And when she gets to the station she takes one look at me and gives me this look of, ‘Have you not learnt.’ All year she has been telling me to dress warm, and I’ll be like, no, it’s cool, I’m from Canada, I can handle this. But I never account for the wind, and I am ALWAYS cold, but then I never remember that for the next time. So again, she looks at me and is like, ‘Where on earth is your jacket?’ And of course I have to answer with, ‘I got this, I’m from Canada.’ It just seemed weirdly appropriate that the year would end the same way it started, with Susanne telling me to dress warm, me not listening, and then in the end she gets to say I told you so.

And then Thursday I spent the day with my newbie, Laura. I went to her house and we hung out and watched movies. She is so sweet, and I love spending time with her. And then in the evening we went to this carnival for Saint Hans. Here is the wikipedia article explaining what it is exactly:

In Denmark, the solstitial celebration is called Sankt Hans aften ("St. John's Eve"). It was an official holiday until 1770, and in accordance with the Danish tradition of celebrating a holiday on the evening before the actual day, it takes place on the evening of 23 June. It is the day where the medieval wise men and women (the doctors of that time) would gather special herbs that they needed for the rest of the year to cure people.

It has been celebrated since the times of the Vikings by visiting healing water wells and making a large bonfire to ward away evil spirits. Today the water well tradition is gone. Bonfires on the beach, speeches, picnics and songs are traditional, although bonfires are built in many other places where beaches may not be close by (i.e. on the shores of lakes and other waterways, parks, etc.) In the 1920s a tradition of putting a witch made of straw and cloth (probably made by the elder women of the familythe bonfire emerged as a remembrance of the church's witch burnings from 1540 to 1693. This burning sends the "witch" away to Bloksbjerg, the Brocken mountain in the Harz region of Germany where the great witch gathering was thought to be held on this day. Some Danes regard the symbolic witch burning as inappropriate.

In 1885 Holger Drachmann wrote a midsommervise (Midsummer hymn) called "Vi elsker vort land..." ("We Love Our Country") that is sung with a melody composed by P.E. Lange-Müller at every bonfire on this evening.

It was a really cool thing to experience. We didn’t go crazy and stay out all night partying, but it was cool just to see everything.

(The bonfire before, you can see the witch on top ready to be burned.)

(The bonfire all lit up and the witch burning!)

Friday my first host sister had her graduation wagon ride. Danes love to party. Like, love love love it, so of course graduating gymnasium calls for a party, or perhaps twenty five? It is the coolest, most fun looking tradition; each 3^rd year class from every gymnasium gets a wagon type thing attached to a truck and it’s decorated and then they drive around to each person’s house where the person’s family puts out food and drinks and stuff. It looks like so much fun, and I was so glad I got see it, even though of course I wish I could have experienced it on the wagon!

(These are what the wagons look like, but each one is decorated differently.)

And then today was our going away day. It wasn’t Rotary official or anything, but a big group of us met in Copenhagen and went shopping and then in the evening we went for dinner. And while we were walking around so many of the graduation wagons from all the different schools drove by, and the kids were on them drinking and screaming and singing, and the driver is blaring the horn, and the cars around are also honking, and it’s one of those things where everyone seems so happy, and you can’t help but smile. Today was also our last day hanging out as a group. It’s always been our thing, meeting in Copenhagen and just doing nothing. And today was the last time we would ever do it as a big group. It didn’t feel like it though, it feels like next Saturday I’ll be right back in the same park with the same people do the same nothingness for hours on end. The fact that I won’t be in Denmark on Saturday is something that I refuse to admit.

(Me and my newbies -- Bec, Jess me and Brittany.)

(All of us hanging out in Copenhagen. I love these people so so much.)

I have started packing. Or rather, I decided I would start packing, then I dumped everything on my bedroom floor, and that was it. That was on Thursday. I have not touched anything since then. All of the things in my bedroom make up my life, and going through it all and trying to pack it away is so hard. Both because it’s sad, and because I have SO much stuff!

I have only five very busy days left though. And Tuesday morning Emma arrives, so really it’s only 2 days to get packed. And I know they are going to fly.

Everything is so perfect right now. I have had non stop plans for almost three weeks. I am so happy. But I’m not living a sustainable life right now. As much fun as it is to shop and eat and sit in parks and talk for hours on end and spend money left and right, I know it’s not something I can keep up forever. I wish I could, so badly. The past three weeks have been some of the best of my entire life, and it’s so hard to think that it’s over. Nova goes home Monday, and Chelsea on Tuesday. And then it’s my turn on Friday.

And then I don’t know what.

Kærlig fra Danmark,

Andrea

This other time, in Denmark...

2011-06-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

How is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person? ~François Duc de La Rochefoucauld

I feel like yesterday’s post was too sad, and I really didn’t mean to make anyone feel bad. I guess it was just the first time it really hit me that I’m almost going home, and I was feeling really really sad. But I got a good night sleep and am feeling a lot better, so I’ve decided to write a fun post today.

A few months back I did a post called, This one time in Denmark, about all the quirky little things that make Denmark, Denmark. Well, since then I have expanded my list, so this post will part two of that post.

Money: When I first got here Danish money confused me so much! They have 50 øre coins, which are worth 9 Canadian cents, are pretty much useless. A 1 kroner coin is 18 cents, and can buy you…uh, nothing! A 2 kr coin is 37 cents, and that plus a 1kr coin can you a small pack of Moam candy. 5kr coins are worth 94 cents and can again, buy you nothing. 10kr is $1.87, and with that you can buy a cinnamon bun in my schools canteen. Or you can buy a hamburger off the 10kr menu at McDonalds. 20kr coins are worth $3.75, and you can buy a small bag of candy. And when I say small, I mean, SMALL. Now we move into bills. 50kr bills are worth $9.37, and this is roughly what I would hand over for a coffee and a muffin. Or in many cases, just the coffee. 100kr bills are worth $18.74. Sometimes if I’m lucky I can buy two shirts at H&M with this. Although more times than not it only buys me one. There are also 200 and 500 bills. And maybe 1000, but I don’t know. Let’s be honest, I never have more than 100kr cash on me. In fact, at the moment, I have an amazing 2 and half kroner in my wallet. Having coins be worth “so much” confused me at first. One of my first days I bought ice cream for me and Simone, and I payed with a 100kr bill. The guy gave me back a handful of coins, and I was so sure he ripped me off, and I went and made Simone count it for me. Now though, Danish money is so normal. I can recognize the difference between a 1, 2 and 5kr coin right away.

Bikes: For many people, bikes are a primary means of transportation here. Especially for kids under 18. At my school in Canada, the parking lot was full of cars and the bike racks maybe had one or two bikes. Here though, the parking lot has a handful of cars, but the bike racks are ALWAYS full

(My school's bike racks)

(Even in the middle of winter they still all ride their bikes!)

Slut: Is the Danish for ‘end.’ So sometimes when a sale is ending at a store, there will be a sign in the window saying SLUT or SLUTTER. Or at the end of movies or presentations, it will say Slut. I don’t know why I felt the need to include this, but I guess it’s because it makes me giggle. Still. Eleven months later.

Co-ed Bathrooms: In a lot of places, including my school, bathrooms are open to both genders. So sometimes it can be kind of weird to walk into the bathroom and then see a guy walk out of the stall. It used to scare me at first that I went into the wrong bathroom.

Little kids on busses alone: Denmark doesn’t have school busses, so if a kid lives too far from their school to bike, or if the weather is bad, they will take the bus. Alone. And I’m talking kids under the age of ten. They look so mature, standing at the bus stop with their Spiderman or Barbie backpack, getting on the bus and buying a ticket, then sitting down. And even more than their maturity, they aren’t scared. It’s not like at home where putting your seven year old alone on a city bus is just ASKING for them to be kidnapped. It’s just a normal thing, like young kids walking or riding their bikes alone. People feel safe here, and I think that’s one of the things that make them happy.

Having elbows on the table: Is not considered rude here. The first time I saw it I was waiting for someone to say something, but slowly I began to notice that it’s okay. So if when I get home and I’m slouching all over the table, please give me a break. I’ve picked up some bad habits. Although, a funny thing is that Danes are SO polite when it comes to using forks and knives and all of that, so I think it’s so funny that they are so relaxed about leaning on the table.

I used to rave about how amazing the Danish transportation system was: But I’ve come to realize it has its issues. While the trains and busses make it so easy to get anywhere, they often seem to be running late…Lateness aside, I am still in love with the train systems. Whether I'm going two hours to Jutland, or 20 minutes to school, I always love being on the trains.

Sundays: I think it’s funny how for not being a religious country, everything shuts down on Sundays. Pretty much nothing at all is open. And even Monday-Saturday, everything is closed by 6, and even grocery stores aren’t open past 7 or 8. Definitely looking forward to 24 hour Wal Mart!

(The grocery store near my house. Monday-Friday it's open until 8, Saturdays until 7, and oh, what's that, no Sundays?)

So I think those are all for now. I hope this helped to lighten the mood after my last post.

Also sometime over the next few weeks before I leave I really want to sit down and write a reflection on Denmark being the happiest country in the world. That was a major reason why I wanted Denmark in the first place, so I feel like it only makes sense that now that I have been here for a year, to talk about, from an outsider’s perspective, the Danes and happiness.

Kærlig fra Danmark,

Andrea

Nearing the End

2011-06-15T15:15:00.001-07:00

Since coming back from Eurotour my life has been go go go. I know it’s a good thing though, because I don’t want to spend my last three and a half weeks after eurotour at home, bored.

The week after Eurotour I met up with two friends from Canada and Australia who was in Copenhagen for the day on their Eurotour. I only had a few hours with them, but it was really nice to catch up.

I also went to Bakken, the oldest amusement park in the world. For real, you can google it! I went with Emily, Claude, Janhavi and the Danish girl who just returned from her year in India. It was really interested to talk to a rebound, and to hear what the first few days home are like. I hadn’t been to Bakken yet this year, so it was really cool to finally get to go.

Last Friday my newbie Bec and I went out during the day to this foot spa where fish eat at your dead skin. The idea is gross, but it felt really cool. I got really close to Bec on Eurotour, so it was really nice to spend the day with her. And then we went and got hot dogs and chocolate milk and just sat at Nyhavn and talked.

In the evening Nova met up with us, and the three of us had a hygge night at my house. We just chilled and talked and it was a really cozy night. With so little time left, I love spending time with my friends.

Saturday morning was Janhavi’s going away brunch. All of her families and friends were there, and I think it was a really nice way to say goodbye.

Sunday evening Nova and I decided to meet up at a café and work on our Rotary speeches, but we ended up running into some other exchange students, so needless to say no work got done.

On Monday, Emily, Maria (the girl who was in India), Janhavi and I met up at a park near Nørreport and we smoked water pipe and lay out in the sun and of course did some more talking. It was so interesting to hear what India was like. It sounds so amazing. Monday was also the last time I would get to see Janhavi. She left back to India today, which is so sad. So far I’ve had 5 friends go home, and every few days that number goes up.

Yesterday I sat myself down and wrote out my farewell speech for Rotary. I never imagined it would be so hard to write. Not because it’s in Danish, although that did add to it, but simply because it involved looking back over my whole year, and at everything I have done and seen and all of the amazing people I have met. Thinking about my first few days in Denmark, and how excited by every little thing I was, and then thinking that now I’m sitting here, 11 months later, on the other end of all the newness and excitement, is…weird

Last night I went over to my first family’s house and spent the night with Simone and Therese. Simone went over my speech and made all of the necessary corrections. I know I’ve said it a hundred times over, but I love being at their house so much. It just feels so normal.

Today Simone and I spent the day together in Copenhagen. It was so nice to have a day just the two of us and she was nice enough to let me ramble on about the silly thoughts running through my head. She is also nearing her departure date for her exchange, so we have so much to talk about. I think today was the last one on one time I’ll really get to spend with her, and it was so perfect. We shopped and got cupcakes and it was just a really cozy day.

And then tonight was the dreaded speech. My third host mom and host sister were there, as well as my current host mom, and Chelsea. My first host parents are in Berlin, and Candice was sick, so I was sad that they couldn’t be there.

I think it went really well. I was nervous speaking Danish, but once I got going I feel like I did pretty well. At least well enough that they understood what I was saying, which if you’ve ever tried speaking Danish you’ll know is an accomplishment. I’m not going to post my whole speech, since it was in Danish, but I did do the end part, the thank you’s in English, just because to me it felt more honest. I felt like if I did it in Danish it wouldn’t have as much emotion. So here is the ending of the speech:

Throughout my year I have kept a blog for my family and friends back home, and while preparing this presentation I looked back over some of my earliest posts, and on the night before I left to Denmark I wrote an entry about all the emotions that came with leaving Canada, and one of the sentences I wrote just reminded me how far I’ve come this year.

“At this moment, it’s impossible for me to know what my life will be like 48 hours from now. I don’t really know my host family besides a few emails; I don’t know who my friends will be. In this moment, the next year is a big question mark; a bunch of unknowns.”

And now here I stand, at the other end of all of the unknowns. That host family I didn’t know, it now breaks my heart to have to leave them. Those friends that weren’t in my life yet, are now like a big family to me.

There are no more question marks. Everything has come together, and having made it through all of the ups and the downs and the tears and the laughter, now it’s time to say goodbye.

I can’t even express how grateful I am to everyone who made my year so amazing. To all of my host families, for opening their homes and hearts to me, to Candice for being an amazing support and a really great friend to me, to Susanne for everything she has done. I could not have asked for a more amazing counsellor, and I am so grateful to her for taking such good care of me, and always just, being there. And of course, to all of you. I feel so lucky to have been placed in such a great Rotary club. You have treated me so amazing, and I am so grateful for everything you have done for me. Thank you so much for everything, This has truly been the best year of my life.

I did pretty well on the crying front. I made it up until, ‘There are no more questions,’ which was when my voice got shaky. I didn’t start crying until after, when Susanne hugged me and I sat down at my table and realized that I just made my farewell speech. Maybe I still have two weeks, but I just made the speech about my year, which means that if I summed up my whole year, it must be over. At least all of the big things. I still have two more weeks, but all of the big things that made up this year, host families, school, friends, trips; those are over. All that remains are last times and sad goodbyes.

It’s really hard to put into words how I’m feeling right now. I feel like I’m caught in a heavy current and I can’t get my footing.

I’m so scared I’ve disappointed people, especially Susanne. I think she thought I was going to be really good at Danish, and I’m scared that she’s disappointed that I’m not better than I am. Or all the problems that I’ve had with school this year. Sometimes it’s easy to forget all of the stuff I’ve accomplished this year when thinking about what I haven’t, but I just don’t want to let anyone down.

There’s so much hard stuff that comes with accepting that the year is over. I feel like I don’t have a lot of people to talk to at the moment who totally get it. Even my parents, who throughout the year I’ve talked on a weekly basis, I don't want to call them. I’ve exchanged a few notes with my mom on facebook, but to be honest I have no intention of calling them again before I go home. They don’t understand, and I don’t want to listen to them pretend to understand or to try to be sympathetic. They don’t know what to say at the moment. (I really hope you guys don't take this the wrong way mom and dad, I still love you and can't wait to see you!)

I have two weeks left in Denmark. I have lots of amazing plans between now and then, and I know I will spend a lot of the next two weeks being happy, but mixed in with all of the fun, are some hard goodbyes. I’m saying goodbye to Candice on Monday, to my third family Tuesday, to my class on Wednesday, and then the week after I say goodbye to Nova and Chelsea, to my second family, and then my last night I have to say goodbye to my first family.

So thrown into all the happiness is some major sadness. And I’m so scared. I’m scared to say goodbye and I’m scared to go home. I don’t know how Denmark is going to fit into my life once I’m back.

So there’s just so much going on right now. I’m so glad I have the other exchange students who totally understand and who know that nothing can be said to make it okay. Because it’s not okay. I’m not okay. I know that one day I will be, but at the moment I’m not. It’s not fair, it took me seven months to find my place here and be truly happy, and now it’s being ripped away from me. How can it possibly be okay when in just over two weeks, this life will be gone?

Tomorrow I will start going through my stuff to see what needs to be given away, and what I will keep. I know once I start packing then it really truly is the end, so I refuse to pull out my suitcases. I will stick to sorting for as long as humanly possible.

I promise I will make some happier posts between now and then. But please bare with me, this emotional rambling is more for my sake than anyone else’s.

I’m all out of words and energy, so here is where I leave you.

Andrea.

Eurotour!

2011-06-12T16:28:00.001-07:00

I met a lot of people in Europe. I even encountered myself. - James Baldwin

Sorry this is coming a week late, but finally I am sitting down to write all about EUROTOUR!! It truly was the most amazing trip I have ever been on! I wasn’t super excited going into it, simply because I didn’t want to face that the end of my year is almost here, but oh my gosh it ended up just being the best time ever.

I don’t want to bore you with an entire novel, so I will do a quick summery of each country we stopped in.

We left Denmark bright and early on the 20^th and headed to Berlin via an awesome ferry with cheap candy. We stopped for a picnic lunch and the atmosphere was just crazy with excitement. We finally made it to our hostel where we got our rooms and then had dinner as a whole group. The plan was to go on an evening tour as a whole group, but it started raining so our guide told us we could go on our own. A large group of us tried to find our way into downtown, but we only ended up making it two stations before we gave up and just wandered around. We bought some snacks and walked around and it was a lot of fun and a really great start to our trip.

The next day we saw Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin wall, and then we had a picnic lunch (…again) and then after a short bus tour, we were free. There was a tourist shop at the Berlin wall where you could get awesome passport stamps, but Nova, Jenny and I didn’t have our passports, so we decided to go back to the hostel and then find our way back to the wall. I’m not going to write out the entire events of the day, but basically: enter 3 different trains, 2 hours of walking, and roughly 5 general hours of being lost. We did make it in the end, but boy was it a production. The three of us went for dinner and got bubble tea, and then after walking around a bit more we made our way back to the hostel.

Despite the frustration of being lost and walking way too far, it was an amazing first day of Eurotour and made me so excited for what was to come.

The next day we left bright and early on our way to Prague. We stopped at the concentration camp, Terezin, which was something I will never forget. I have learnt about the holocaust my whole life, but to actually be where it happened, and to see up close where they were forced to stay, was something I can’t even put into words.

Our first night in Prague I went with Hillary and Laura into town and we just walked around and explored the area. One of the cool things about this trip was that it gave us all a chance to meet and hang out with people outside of our regular group.

The next day we did some sightseeing as a group, and then in afternoon Nova and I split off and went for lunch and then the two of us went and found a hair salon and we got our hair cut!! Getting a haircut in Denmark is ridiculously expensive, so I haven’t gotten one all year, so to finally get my hair done was soo fantastic! The lady spoke not a single word of English, so it didn’t exactly turn out how I had wanted, but I’m still happy!

(Awkward haircut...)

After Prague came Vienna, which was gorgeous. The first night we went to this garden where we walked around for a bit, and then headed to the hotel. The hotel was really far out, so once we were there we had to stay in for the night. We all hung around outside, and I spent a good chunk of the night with a group of Canadian girls. Again, it was great to get to know a new group of people.

Day two in Vienna followed the same pattern of sightseeing in the morning, although we didn’t see much except the Spanish riding school. And then in the afternoon we were free. I really wanted to see the Sigmund Froid museum, but we weren’t able to find it. We did get to do some shopping though, and then in the evening Nova, Brittany and I went to the huge ferris wheel and got to see the sun set on the whole city. I was doubly excited because one of the amazing race challenges took place on that ferris wheel!!

(Me, Nova and Brittany on the ferris wheel!)

Italy came next; We started with Lido de Jesolo where we had a day to lie on the beautiful beach, and then Venice where we got to do a gondola tour (among other things of course) which was really exciting, and then a stop in Verona where we saw Juliette’s balcony, and the fourth night was in San Remo. We didn’t do much there besides sleep, but it was a really gorgeous area.

(Venice)

Next along the way was France. Nice was absolutely GORGEOUS and I got to experience a very…typical European beach. We spent two nights in Avignon where we got to see proper castles like you see in fairy tales. Everything was so fast paced, but there was a moment in Avignon where I stood and looked out at one of the castles in the distance and thought about how insanely cool it is that I am here, in Europe, looking at castles that have been there for, in comparison to my life, ever.

(Swimming in Nice)

Our third last city was the city of cities, the city I have been excited to see since…ever. Paris!! And let me say it did not disappoint! I got to walk the Champs Elysees, climb up the Arc de Triomphe, see Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame, walk around the Louvre and of course, I got to climb the Eiffel tower! (Twice!) I could go on for hours and hours about Paris, but let me just summarize by saying that it was, hands down, my favourite city, and I would go back in a heartbeat.

(At the very top of the Eiffel tower!)

Brussels was next, and while we didn’t see anything besides the Grand Place and Manneken Pis , it was a really special city for me because I got to meet up with my friend Ammie, who is an exchange student from Calgary in Belgium. It was so good to catch up with her and she took me for Belgian fries and waffles, and introduced me to amazing Belgian beer (or if you are a Rotarian, some amazing Belgian soda) and it was just really really nice to spend time with her.

(Me, Ammie and my amazing Belgian waffle!)

Somehow, like everything else in life, we found ourselves at the end. Amsterdam was our last stop, and wow was it different! We walked through the red light district, which was an…experience. I couldn’t help but look at those women, some who only looked a year or two older than me, and wonder what is running through their head. Maybe it’s my tendency to over think everything, but I found the whole thing really interestingly weird.

Our last day was a 12 hour drive back to Denmark, the last two hours of which were spent sobbing. After we got off the bus, we wouldn’t see a lot of these people again, and it was an unwelcome wakeup call that no matter how much we deny it, this is it, this whole crazy rollercoaster is coming to an end. I really hope this doesn’t sound bad, but I didn’t really cry nearly as hard for my family and friends in Canada as I did for the people on that bus. Because I knew I was coming back. But hugging these people, some of whom I’ve only been close with for a few weeks, and knowing that there’s a chance I’ll never see them again, is something so heartbreaking that I don’t think you can understand unless you’ve been there. The number of ‘I’ll see you again! I promise!’’s and ‘Don’t worry, I’ll see you before we go home!’’s made my heart hurt, because even as the words came out of my mouth, I knew they weren’t true.

There’s a lot of people I will see again in my life, but there’s also the ones who although I love them, I know it’s just not realistic. And I hate that.

And in the back of my mind as I sat there crying with 75 of the most amazing people, I couldn’t help but wonder, if it’s like this now, how horrible will it be when it’s Emma or Simone that I’m hugging? If I’m this sad over people I’ve known for three weeks, then what will it be like with my first host family? With my host mom now? With Susanne? With all of the other people who have played a huge part in my year.

So that was it, Eurotour. One of the best 18 days of my exchange, if not of my life. I did and saw so much and I know that I didn’t even begin to cover it in this post.

I have been looking forward to Eurotour since before I even came to Denmark, and it did not by any means disappoint me. Every day was something new and I am so grateful that I was able to go on the trip and it is something that I will never forget. So to my parents, thank you so much! I don’t think you guys understand how much this whole experience, not just Eurotour, but everything, has meant to me, and I am eternally grateful to you guys for giving me and supporting me throughout this whole experience.

Here are the links to see all of my pictures from the trip!

Part 1: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1954163246103.109736.1003336365&l=d86f912e49

Part 2: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1954294769391.109746.1003336365&l=428c55c46a

Part 3: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1954460693539.109751.1003336365&l=836ea7006b

The week since I’ve been back has been crazy, and next week looks like it will be the same, so hopefully I can update about all of my recent happenings soon!

Lots of Love!

Andrea

Goodbye School...HELLO SUMMER!

2011-05-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

“If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.” – Orson Welles

Hi again!

I don’t know where the week and a half have gone since the last time I wrote, but here I find myself at the end of one of my less favourite parts of my year...school.

I remember sitting in my classroom back in September and looking at my day planner and counting how many school weeks I had left. Seven weeks until fall break, I told myself, and then only ten until Christmas, you can make it until Christmas! And now here I am… I did what at times I thought I wouldn’t be able to… I survived a year at a Danish gymnasium. Okay, maybe survived is a little dramatic, but it was a lot harder than I had thought. And maybe I didn’t make any lifelong best friends, but sitting here looking back on the past ten months and everything that has happened, I realize that I did meet a lot of really nice people, and I got to walk a mile in their shoes and see what it is like to be a teenager in Denmark.

It’s really easy to sit here and feel sorry for myself and think, ‘Oh poor me, it was so hard, no one wanted to be my friend, it was such a waste of time!’ But what would that accomplish? As much as I love to whine, I know it would only make me feel bad.

So I am making the decision to look back and think about the GOOD things that have happened school wise this year.

All of the school parties of course:

Introfest and Gala were my favourite parties. Introfest was my first glimpse of how crazy Danish teenagers are. I warmed up with some girls in my class, and her mom drove us to the school and were sitting in the back seat drinking, and her mom didn’t care at all. And then of course how the school sold alcohol. It was so crazy, and totally not a night I’ll soon forget. And Gala was a great chance to bond with my class, we all ate dinner together and did class awards and it was a really nice chance to get to know everyone. The other parties were all great too, but those two really stood out.

Field trips: I didn’t go on a lot of field trips, but the ones I did go on were so great. In Canada to go on a field trip you need your parents to sign like nine hundred forms, but in Denmark, you need nothing. Teenagers here are completely treated like adults, and pretty much the teachers just told us where to meet and when, and that was it. I love having independence, and having the teachers trust us that much.

Independence: It took me a while to get used to it, but I have learnt to love the amount of independence we are given in the Danish school system. If you aren’t in class, no one calls home. It’s your job to be in school, not your teachers or parents’ job to make sure you get there. And there aren’t morning announcements or anything; it’s up to you to know what is going on and to be on top of things. In the Danish gymnasium you are basically treated as an adult, and I love that.

STUDY TOUR! In the 2^nd year of gymnasium you get to go on a trip with your class to somewhere in Europe, Asia or North America. My class went to Istanbul, and like I’ve said before, it was amazing! I love how Danes are so close to the rest of the Europe, and how easily they can travel. I don’t think they know how lucky they are, but I’m so glad that I was able to participate on the trip and see a different part of Europe.

Overall though, looking back on everything, even though it didn’t go perfect, I’m really content, and I feel like that’s a good place to be. No regrets, no resentments, no whines. I learnt a lot about Denmark, Danes and of course myself. I got to see a lot of amazing things and meet a lot of really cool people, and at the end of the day I’ve had an amazing experience, and I really can’t complain.

My last day of school went really well. I baked Nestle chocolate chip cookies for my class, and brought them a whole bunch of Canada goodies and got them to all sign my flag, and I feel like it was a really nice ending to the year.

(Some of the kids in my class writing on my flag)

(Me and some of the girls in my class)

(My class! 1.w!)

And now that chapter of my exchange is over, and I’m moving onto the part of the year that I have been looking forward to the most: EUROTOUR!!! We leave tomorrow and our first stop is Berlin, and then Prague and then I think Venice. After that I’m not totally sure where we head onto next, but I know it will be amazing!!

I hope everyone is doing well, and I will update with a big post when I get home!

Lots of Love,

Andrea

(In case anyone cares what my room looks like. I was packing for eurotour, and figured I would start getting stuff ready for home. This is barely half of my stuff. Packing for home is going to be impossible.)

The beginning of the end

2011-05-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

When you’re drowning, you don’t say “I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,” you just scream. -John Lennon

Again, sorry for the ridiculously late post, but I’ve been so busy…

The day after I got home from Istanbul I went to visit Emma for five days. We hadn’t seen each other since March, so it was so great to see her again. We did our usual, lying in bed and eating, and then taking a nap, and then waking up to eat. However, this time we also managed to venture out of the house. We went to a party with some of her friends from school (hooray we were SOCIAL!) and we went to this cool zoo where you drive around in your car and the animals come up to you! And we also went to Aarhus. Going to Aahrus was more an act of closure than anything else. Back in August at out introcamp we took a day trip to Aahrus, and while everyone else explored the city, Emma and I sat in McDonalds and contemplated running away from introcamp. Yes, we actually sat there planning our escape instead of taking in the city. Anywhoo, we went back to that same McDonalds, and sat at (possibly) the same table and basically just talked about how fast the year went. Last time I sat in that restaurant I had my whole year ahead of me, and now I was there to say goodbye.

(At the awesome zoo)

(At the McDonalds where it all started)

Leaving Emma’s time was also very different. This visit to Emma was my last for this year. Throughout the year Emma and I have consistently seen each other almost every month. So many times we were sitting on skype, planning our next visit, looking at train tickets, bitching about prices, and then booking the ticket. It was just a part of my year, visiting Emma, or her visiting me. But now an era has ended, and it’s actually really sad. I will never in my life book another ticket to Horsens to visit her. I will never get on a train only to find out it’s the wrong train and then have to call her to tell her I’m lost and late. I’ll never sit there and watch the city to turn into miles and miles of nothing. When I got on the train home, a chapter of my exchange was closed. And that’s when it first hit me that this is the beginning of the end. Doors are closing. Next time I see Emma will be a few days before we go home. We fly out of Copenhagen together, so as of now the plan is for her to come spend the last few days with me, and then we will go to the airport together. I can’t even comprehend that.

After I got back from Emma’s, I had a two day turn around before MY MOM GOT HERE!!

Last summer you couldn’t have a found a kid more excited to start her year. If you asked me if I thought I would be homesick, I’d have said no way. But for anyone who’s followed me all year, things did not go as I had thought. This year has been infinitely more difficult than I had ever imagined it would be. I missed home so badly that at some points it hurt. Looking back it wasn’t even so much that I was homesick for Canada, I was just to desperate to feel comfortable. To be able to be 100% me. There’s not a lot of people who will love you unconditionally, and when you’re away from those people, you really have to always be on your best behavior. You have to smile when you want to cry. You agree when you think the other person is ridiculously wrong. You have to go to museums when you want to lie in your room and shut out the world. So getting to escape all of that and to be with my mom again was so, so amazing.

(Reunited!)

We went for dinner our first night and gaah I just can’t even begin to explain how HAPPY I was to be sitting across from my mom, eating and talking and just being with her. And of course the best part was getting to hug her, finally.

The whole week was so go-go-go, but hopefully I can remember most of what we did. Saturday we got up and went to a café for breakfast and then headed to the shopping street near my house. Pedestrian streets are so common here and it’s a great way to get to shop AND enjoy the sun. We just walked around and I showed her all of my stores and where me and my friends go, and we went up and saw Nyhavn and then we went back to the station to catch a train out to Roskilde to visit my second family.

Nina (my host mom) and Maria (my host sister) met us at the station, and then the four of us went to Roskilde Cathedral, a church where all of Denmark’s Kings and Queens are buried. I had been there before, but it never ceases to amaze me to be standing in a church full of coffins older than the country I come from.

After that, we went to the Viking Ship Museum, and walked around outside looking at the boats and stuff. I was so happy that my mom was finally getting to meet all of the people who’ve made up my year. It was kind of surreal for my two worlds to be coming together.

We went back to their house and had a really nice dinner, and just talked and my mom got to know them and it was a really nice evening. I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with that family because of their cats, but I wish I had because they are so nice, and so easy to be with.

Sunday was a very touristy day. We did the canal tours, and then we got a map and found our way to the Little Mermaid and then to the castle where the Queen and the crown Prince and Princess and their four kids live. Walking and finding our way around took a long time, so by the time we were done with that, it was already dinner time, so the rest of the stuff I wanted to show her would have to wait.

(The little Mermaid)

Monday we started the morning off by having breakfast with my favorite Rotarian, Candice. She has been a big part of my year, and I just love her and her husband and their new baby, so I was so glad that it worked out for my mom to meet them. After that we went to my third family’s house for lunch. I hadn’t seen them since I moved out, so it was nice to catch up and everything, and of course for my mom to meet them!

Monday evening I took my mom to Christiana, and we walked around there and then made our way home for dinner. Christiana is so unique and weird and I always love walking around in there.

Tuesday we spent the entire day with my first family, which was so great. It’s no secret I love spending time with them, and getting to be with them AND my mom was just totally ace. We had lunch at their house, and then me, my mom, Susanne and Simone went to the beach near their house. Last time I had been there was my very first night, and it was weird to be back 9 months later. I frolicked around in the water while everyone else stayed on the beach. I love how clear the water is and how sandy and perfect the floor is and I couldn’t help but splash around. Once dinner time rolled around, counselor Susanne and her family also joined us, so my mom got to meet Chelsea (who is being hosted by Susanne) too, which was awesome.

(My amazing first family)

Wednesday we went to Tivoli with my current host mom and siblings. There is this one ride that goes through a bunch of H. C. Anderson stories and I am just IN LOVE with it. We did it twice, but I could have just ridden it over and over and gotten lost in the fairy tales. But alas we could not do that, because we had Rotary. Susanne had given us a pass, but I still wanted to go and for my mom to meet everyone. Looking back I don’t exactly know WHY I wanted to go so badly, but at the time it felt like we should.

And then somehow, like with this whole year, we found ourselves at the end. Thursday was our last full day together, and we spent it in Sweden. We went for a really nice dinner together, which was so great. And then the next morning we got on a train and then way too soon, she was gone.

Being back with my mom made the past nine months seem like no time. It was as if everything sped by, and then all of a sudden it all came to a dead stop. It made this year seem so ridiculously short and at the same time it made it feel like a lifetime. Hearing my mom talk about home made me realize that just like my family wasn’t an immediate part of this year for me, I wasn’t a part of their year either. This just made me think about how once I return home I’m not going to be a part of my host families lives, which circles around to my (hopefully irrational) fear that once I leave they’re all just going to forget about me. I don’t think the people in my life here know how much I love them. And the thought of another student coming in and taking my place hurts more than anyone who’s not an exchange student can understand. I love my host families so much, and I know that I will never ever forget them, but I can’t say the same for them. Another student is going to come in, and then I’ll just become a memory. Someone they once hosted. Obviously I hope I’m more than that to them, but thinking about it scares me. Before I came to Denmark I was scared my friends would forget about me. But I knew I would be back. This time I don’t. And even if I visit, I will never be ‘back.’ I’m going to do everything I can though to stay in touch. Email, letters, pictures, whatnot. I want them to be a part of my life forever, no matter how far away I am.

Now my mom has been gone for a week, and it’s hard to find my place. Things are different now. Before my mom came I was in a perfect, indefinite, world. And now I am just reminded of how soon this whole crazy adventure is going to end. And the worst part? I’m actually excited to be back home. (Note: this does NOT NOT NOT mean I am excited to leave Denmark.) How horrible is that, I have only 8 weeks left, and I’m…excited? But it’s true. I am very ready to make the absolute most of the time I left here, and I intend to have the most kick ass last months ever, but what waits for me at the end of those two months is too great not be excited for. My life.

I’m excited to go home and take everything that has happened this year and use it to make myself a better person. I am excited to see my friends and go to school and apply to university and get my life started. If there’s anything I’ve learnt this year, it’s that there is so much out there. So many places, people, opportunities, adventures, and I’m so excited to go out and find it all. Leaving Denmark is going to break my heart, but I cant’t stay here no matter how much I want to. My life here has an expiry date, and I just have to hope that I’ve left my mark so that even once I’m gone, a part of me will stick around here.

Sorry for this novel, but there is so much going on in my head. Time is a’tickin and it’s scaring the shit outta me.

Lots of love,

Andrea

Istanbul!

2011-04-21T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hi again!

This past week I was in Istanbul with my school, and basically it was the most AMAZING week ever. I was really nervous that I would sort of be on my own, but that wasn't the case at all. The girls were all so friendly, and it was just such a great week, I don't think it could have gone better.

We landed in Istanbul and the second we left the airport we were all hit with a major wave of culture shock. It started when we were trying to buy tickets for the metro, and no one knew how the machines worked and it was all in Turkish and no one spoke English to help us. That was a major thing that I never experienced in Denmark, the lack of English, and boy let me tell you it's hard. But we figured it out and made our way towards the hotel. We were walking from the metro station to the hotel and saw this little street fair type thing, and stopped to take pictures, and that was when we had our first encounters with Turkish men. 90% of my class is blonde haired and blue eyed, and the men just like flocked over to us. Even I was getting comments, and I have dark hair and eyes. It was a little bit creepy because they were a lot older, and saying things like, "How are you? You look really good." And then they'd ramble on in Turkish. Really different from Denmark.

Istanbul looks so different from Denmark too. Denmark is very cute and organized and very well put together. Istanbul was totally opposite. The buildings weren't in great shape and there were random signs and posters everywhere, and people on the street trying to sell us stuff and tons of little markets and stuff like that. And don't even get me started on the driving! Red lights and traffic lanes mean nothing to them! Traffic was crazy and people were honking like crazy. And busses and taxis just stopped wherever they felt like it, they didn't bother pulling over to the side of the road to let people in, they just stopped in the middle of traffic for you.

(People all over the streets selling knock-offs)

(View outside the hotel window)

Once we got settled in the hotel, we went to dinner as a class. Everyone was in really high spirits and we were having a lot of fun together. We went to this little restaurant near our hotel, and the waiters were all super friendly and the food was soooo cheap!! Like 30TL for a full meal and drink, which I think is about $5.00. It was a much welcome break from Denmark's overpriced food.

After dinner everyone started to go their own ways. That was super different from Canadian school trips. When my grade 9 class went to Washington DC we had a strict curfew and couldn't even leave our hotel room after 10pm. Here though we could do whatever we want. A group of girls went out drinking in the city, and the rest of us went to this little cafe near the hotel. We drank Turkish coffee and ate baklava and smoked water pipe, and it was a really awesome way to start the trip. It was so layed back and even though I'm not in their class, I really felt like part of the group, which I was really happy for.

Tuesday morning our first stop was a private high school where we got to see up close what Turkish teenagers and schools are like. Turks are such friendly people, and they were so welcoming to us. We got a tour of the school and got to make candles in the chemistry class, and then we got split into groups of four and got to sit in on an actual class. I think it kind of opened everyone's eyes as to hard it is to sit there and not understand anything. I'm so glad that we got to go to the school and see up close what Turkish teenagers are like. It's amazing how different people from different countries really are. I know that sounds kind of like, duh, but I think it's kind of cool how depending on where you grow up, your personality is so drastically affected.

(The class we visited)

After lunch we went to a panorama museum, which was really interesting. To be honest I don't totally know exactly what we were looking at, but it was something about how Istanbul was conquered (I think...) Regardless it was really cool to see. And after that we got to go to the grand bazaar, which is one of the things I was most excited for. It was so insane but so so cool. Everyone in the stand were calling out to us to come into their stalls, and some of the things they said were so funny. "You look like a next top model!" "You're so beautiful, let me show you X item!" Stuff like that. Some of the stuff for sale was actually really cool. I bought some little purses and pants and apple tea and some other little things that I can't remember off the top of my head. It was really fun to bargain with them and see how cheap I could get stuff for. I think I did pretty good, to be honest.

(The panorama museum)

(The Grand Bazaar)

For dinner on Tuesday I just went with two other girls, Ana, the exchange student from Brazil, and her best friend Stephanie. It's amazing how friendly the waiters are. Not that Danish waiters are rude, but the ones in Turkey went out of their way to be friendly. I felt really bad because it never even crossed my mind to tip him. In Denmark you don't tip anyone, but thinking about it I think we should have tipped him. But I guess it's too late to do much now. Tuesday night we did the same thing as Monday night, going to the cafe, and it was really cozy. Wednesday morning we walked all the way from the hotel to the Greek Orthodox Church, and trust me it was far. But it was totally okay because we got to see up close how beautiful Istanbul really is. The streets and buildings were just so different from anything I had ever seen before, and I felt like I couldn't get enough of it. After getting to see three totally different countries, I'm starting to realize just how much there is out there, and I want to see as much as I can. I love getting to see other countries and I hope that throughout my life I can see as much as possible.

(Group photo outside the Greek Orthodox Church)

The Church was really pretty, but we sort of got stuck in the middle of this service, and we ended up having to sit through this whole hour long service thing that no one understood a word of. It was cool for about ten minutes, and then people started to doze off. I was sitting by the door and there was this wicked cold breeze, so I couldn't fall into a deep sleep, but I was close.

We went for lunch next at the sketchiest place ever. It wasn't even a real restaurant, it was like a little room with some tables and a stove where they cooked the weirdest food. And we couldn't even choose what we wanted, they just sort of gave it to us. Definitely an experience. We didn't die though, so I guess it wasn't too bad. After we ate we headed to the Bulgarian church, was was really pretty. There was no service this time, so we just went in, looked around, then were done. Our next stop was a mosque, and along the way this awesome car like pulled up next to us and they were playing music and had a camera guy with them, and a bunch of the girls in my class started dancing with them. They told us they wanted to use us in a TV show, so I think a few girls got their phone number, but I don't think anything ever came of it. It was really funny though

(The guys playing music in the car)

Finally after a coffee stop we made it to the Mosque. We all had to cover our heads and then we could go in. I've never been in a Mosque before, but it was really interesting to see all of the people on the floor praying. That's another thing I found so cool about Istanbul, the prayer call. Five times a day you can hear people being called to the Mosque to pray. It sort of sounds like singing, and coming from a non religious home and host country, it was really interesting to experience a culture so dominated by religion.

(Me in the Mosque)

Wednesday evening we went to a shopping street called Taxim square. We went by taxi which was an adventure in and of itself. 4 seatbelts? So what, lets fit nine people in and not buckle up and have our taxi driver drive around like a mad man. I was almost sure we were going to die, but our driver was actually really good, and got us there in one piece (and for only $5.00). The shopping street reminded me a lot of the pedestrian streets in Copenhagen. It wasn't like the bazaar, it was a lot more high class with regular stores and set prices and no people trying to convince you to buy from them. And the best part was that we found a "cheap" Starbucks!! There is only one Starbucks in Denmark and it's so overpriced, like, $10 for a frappachino. This one was the same price as back home, which after nine months of Danish prices is wicked cheap, so of course I made the girls stop so I could buy one.

(Taxim Square)

(Me and Jane in front of Starbucks)

Thursday was our last full day, and we started off by going to another Mosque. I can't remember what it was called, but we got a tour around and one of the priests talked to us and we got to hear a lot about different Mosque's and we were able to ask our questions. The girls in the class have been learning about Islam all year, but for me this was all new, so it was a lot to take in all at once and I didn't totally understand everything, but it was really interesting to hear about. By the time we were done it was pouring rain, which sucked. The other days were all really nice, and it's definitely a lot less enjoyable to walk around in the rain. We got to see the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sophia, and then we went to look at another museum. It was so cold though that a group of us ended up bailing out and just going back to the grand bazaar. I bought some cute tea glasses to give as gifts, and I even bought my own mini water pipe. I don't have a huge interest in smoking it, but it is really cool looking with Turkish designs, and it's pretty small, so I think it will be a cool souvenir from the trip.

(The Blue Mosque)

Since Thursday was our last day, our teachers took us out for dinner which was really nice. I had such an amazing week and all of the girls were so sweet, and it was nice to end it together. After dinner almost everyone headed to the cafe we went to the first two nights. This is another very...different thing about Danish school trips. As if going out drinking isn't weird enough, try adding going out drinking with your teacher! Yeah, just a tab bit different from home. It was really fun though, and such a great way to end an amazing week! We stayed there until the cafe closed, and then some people headed out to go clubbing, and the rest of us headed to the hotel bar. It was such a fun night, and everyone was in such a great mood and just having fun. We ended up staying there drinking with our teacher until nearly 6am. I don't think that's a night I'll ever forget. It was so much fun!

(Us with our teacher in the hotel bar)

And then Friday was home time. I wasn't nearly ready for the week to be over, and being back in Denmark was weird. We were waiting for out bags and it just hit me how long I'd been here, and how fast it's gone. I remember waiting for my bags back when I first got here as though it was yesterday, and now to be in the same spot but with only two months left it just so...wrong. This year isn't ever supposed to end.

So yeah, that was my trip to Istanbul. Even though I was a little nervous, it ended up being one of the most amazing weeks out of this year, and I'm so glad I was able to go. Thank you so much to my amazing Rotary club who made this amazing week possible! I am so grateful that I was able to participate in such an amazing trip!!

And as I write this I'm on the train back from visiting Emma, but I think I shall save that for my next blog post because this one seems long enough!

Sorry it was so long, but it was a really packed week!

Andrea

ps. Here is the public link of the facebook album with more pictures: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.1848402682155.100219.1003336365&l=a66b8ef1db

Gala, Skagen og dejlig sol!

2011-04-10T15:36:00.000-07:00

If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.

Sorry I haven't written in a while, but I have been so busy! Things here have picked up SO much in the past few weeks, and I am the happiest and busiest I have been since I got here I think. Life is just so amazing at the moment, and I never want to come down from this happiness high! I haven't written a real update in a while, but hopefully I can remember everything I've done since then.

The weekend of March 25-27 I had two friends stay over with me, Nova and Emily. Normally on the weekends we go out into the city, but that weekend we decided to just have a girly weekend, and we watched movies and did facials and talked and it was really nice. Saturday during the day it was pretty nice out, so we walked around the city and had lunch, and then went back to my house for dinner and quiet night in. I love living right in Copenhagen, because it's so easy (and cheap!) for me to get around, not to mention how amazingly gorgeous it is!

(Thomas, Me, Nova, Emily and Claude out for lunch in Copenhagen)

Sunday the 27th I made the long trip out to Hillerød to meet up with the Danish girl who will be coming to district 5360 (my home district) next year. Her name is Helene, and she is really nice, and her family has hosted a bunch of students, so it was really easy to feel at home there. We started off the afternoon going to the big castle in Hillerød, which was amazing to see. You know you've been living in Europe too long when walking around thousand year old castles is a normal way to spend your Sunday... After that we walked back to her house and I met her family and we just talked and I told her a bit about Alberta and answered her questions, and then I stayed over for dinner. It was a really awesome day, and she had these two awesome huge dogs that I just fell in love with. They were so friendly and cute, and they made me miss my dog back home! Next year she'll be living almost two hours from me, but I still hope to meet up with her at some point and we can eat Danish food and have a big Denmark fest!

(Me in front of the castle in Hillerød)

School is pretty blah. The end of the school year is so close now, that I've just given up stressing over school, because it's clear to see that it's a lost cause. I still go of course, but I'm not bending over backwards to find my place anymore, it's more a matter of just smiling and getting through it. However, Friday was my schools Gala, and it was actually so much more fun than I had expected. I didn't really know to what to think going in, but it ended up being a great night with my class. I started off the night by going over to Chelsea's house and getting dressed with her, and then her host dad drove us to the school. For dinner we had like class pot luck, and it was a really nice time to spent with my class not in a formal setting. We just ate and talked and had class awards, and everything went really well. After the dinner part, we all went and did this old Danish dance called the lancier. The past few weeks we had been learning it in gym class, and it was funny to see the whole school doing it.

Here is a youtube link to what the first part looks like, so you can get an idea. There's five parts in total.

(Me and Chelsea all glammed up for the Gala)

(Me with some of my classmates)

Once that was over, the regular dance started, and for that I hung mostly out with Chelsea. I also stayed over the night at her house because early Saturday a Rotarian from her club and his wife picked us up to take us to Skagen. Skagen is a little city at the very top of Denmark, which is famous for it's art museum and for where two different oceans meet.

It's about a five hour drive from Taastrup, so as soon as we got there we went for lunch. Another thing Skagen is famous for is the seafood. The entire lunch menu was fish, and as someone who doesn't eat seafood, it didn't take me long to choose the one safety food off the menu which was just a chicken club. The whole time while we ate and I watched Chelsea eat her shrimp with the eyes still attached, I counted my blessings that I wasn't placed there.

After we ate we took this little bus up to Grenen, which is the the northmost tip of Jutland, and where the two seas, Skagerrak and Kattegat meet. It was windy and cold, but because Chelsea and I posses the Danish Viking spirit, and because neither of us knew when we'd be back, we braved the elements and rolled up our pants and went and stood between the two oceans. Our feet were freezing, but we were both really happy.

(Me and Chelsea standing between the two oceans)

On our way back to our hotel we stopped at this buried church. Skagen is really windy and really sandy, and over time the sand moved and slowly buried this church, and now all that's left is the tower. At first I thought the tower was the church, but then the Rotarian we were with explained that we were standing on the church; the sand had packed down enough that it was like solid ground.

(The tower of the Church)

It was getting pretty cold, and we were all a bit tired, so we headed back to the hotel. And oh my God what an amazing hotel it was. It was mediterranean theme, and soo awesome. And the best part was the amazing pool! It had a huge water slide and just looked so amazing! Neither of us had bathing suits though, so we decided to go walk around town and see if we could find cheap ones. Back home stores are open until at least eight on Saturday nights, but here everything SHUTS DOWN at four. No joke, it was a ghost town. We did find a cheap grocery store that was still open, but there wasn't really much else to do.

(The amazing pool at the hotel!)

(6 o`clock at night and not a person in sight)

We met back up at the hotel for dinner, which was so delicious. I swear I've never eaten so good or felt so full in my life as I did that weekend. So much good food! Eating out in Denmark is so expensive, so it was a really nice treat for us. As the night drew to a close, Chelsea and I decided that the pool was simply too amazing to pass up, bathing suit of no. So we went up to our room and put on t-shirts and proudly marched down to the pool in our t-shirts and underwear. We didn't even care how weird we looked because we had so much fun!

Sunday morning the amazing food continued, both with a breakfast buffet, and then a few hours later a huge lunch. For real I felt like I had gained 5 kilos, and I didn't think I would ever be able to eat. Somehow though I managed to waddle my way to the Skagen Art Museum. Skagen is famous for it's art because apperantly the light is special here, so people loved to paint here. The museum was really interesting though, and the art was very good. I couldn't see any difference in light, but I suppose I just don't have that artists eye.

That was where out weekend came to a close, and we made our way back home. It was late by the time we finally made it to Taastrup, so I spent the night over with Chelsea and then went with her to school Monday morning. Chelsea is so nice, and is so easy to be around. I'm so glad that she goes to my school and that I always have someone to talk to and we can relate to each other, and it was really nice to get to spend such a great weekend with her.

That week was pretty quiet. I got really sick Monday night, so Tuesday and Wednesday I just spent in bed. Being sick in Denmark is so hard because they don't have any over the counter meds to ease the pain, so my poor body actually has to work to get better.

Thursday I went to school for the last time over the next three weeks, and then Friday I had off, so Charlotte and I ran some errands, and then Chelsea came over and we made brownies. The weather here is getting so nice, and I can just feel my mood lifting. The atmosphere in Copenhagen is amazing, and I feel so lucky to be here! Saturday afternoon I met up with two other exchange students, Dia and Sarah, and we went shopping around Copenhagen and made a stop at the american food store, which I'm always happy for. Shopping in malls here isn't really popular, it's all about pedestrian streets, so we could shop and be out in the sun. Best of both worlds.

After we parted ways I headed out to my first family's house to spend the night with them. Like I've said before, I always feel at home the second I walk in the door, and I love spending time with them. We had dinner and then Simone and had a Twilight movie night. We had been talking about doing this forever, so I'm so happy we actually did, and that it wasn't one of those things that never end up happening.

Today was so hot, and I spent most of the day with them as well. Susanne, Simone and I drove into Copenhagen with the intention of going to the zoo, but it was so crowded, so instead we went into this park and just enjoyed the sun, and then drove back home and ate bagel sandwhiches and Simone and I fell alseep in the yard, it was so warm and sunny. I really hope this weather sticks around, because it's so much easier to be happy when the sun is shining.

And now I'm last minute packing because tomorrow morning I leave for Istanbul, Turkey. I am going with my first class, the one I moved out of in November, so I am a little bit nervous, but I just hope that if I'm outgoing and friendly that things will be okay. I can speak much better Danish now, so I'm hoping maybe that will help.Either way, I'm really looking forward to seeing a new country and culture, and I'm sure I'll have loads of fun.

So I will try to update soon after I return home on Friday!

Kærlig fra Danmark,

Andrea

Dear Andrea's of the Past.

2011-03-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

If I could give some advice to the Andrea’s of the past, and even to the Andrea of the present, this is what it would be.

---

Dear May 2010 Andrea,

You just received your host families and this is finally all starting feel real. Your brand new red blazer is hanging on the back of your door as a constant reminder of the year ahead of you. There’s a countdown on your computer telling you the number of days, hours, minutes and even seconds until you leave.

Basically your every thought is consumed by Denmark. But what about Canada? Why don’t you slow down and take a look around and think about how much you are going to miss everything? You should have enjoyed your last months at home instead of counting them away. Obviously you had a lot to be excited for, but did it ever cross your mind that you were going to miss what you had?

You don’t know it yet, but you have an incredible year ahead of you. It’s almost frustrating how little of a clue you have about what your life will be like. You’re going to grow up more than you can even imagine. You’re going to have some of your lowest lows and some of your highest highs. None of this is even entering your mind though. You’re lost in your day dreams of what your life is going to be like. You didn’t listen to Rotary and you had expectations. In many ways they were beyond exceeded. That email you got from those random people? They feel like family now. Those other people in the Denmark 2010-11 Facebook group? They’re your lifeline. Your support group. You don’t know what you’re going to do when you have to leave them. That city that you spent hours googling? It’s where a part of you will always stay. But on the other hand you're also going to be let down, and it’s going to be hard. That school you were so excited to go to? It’s not like you thought it would be. That language you were so sure you could master? You won’t. It’s not going to matter though, because the good so much outweighs the bad.

Be excited for Denmark, because it’s going to be so great, but don’t forget to enjoy Canada too.

(And PS. I know you think you’re going to be done English 20 by mid June. But just so you know, you won’t be even close.)

Love March 2011 Andrea

---

Dear August 2010 Andrea

You’ve been in Denmark only a few weeks, and you’ve seen and done so much and met so many amazing people, and this is just the start. I know it’s a shock being so far from home, but trust me when I tell you that you didn’t make a mistake. Denmark is where you’re supposed to be. I know it’s just hitting you that this will be harder than you thought, but it gets so much better. This country is amazing, and although 11 months seems like a lifetime right now, soon enough you’ll be willing to give anything to have that much time left.

Be outgoing. Take pictures of everything. Soak up every last moment because soon enough all of the things that seem so weird will be so normal.

Stop thinking about Canada. Stop talking to people in Canada. Denmark is your new home. Spend as much time with your host family as possible because although I know it doesn’t feel like it, these first three months are going to fly, so make the most of every day you have with them.

Realize that things aren’t like you imagined, but embrace it. This is going to be the most amazing year, whether it feels like it or not. You are going to gain new families, and so many new friends. You are going to get to see so many different views on life, and so many amazing cities. Be excited. You have to much to look forward to.

Love March 2011 Andrea

---

Dear March 2011 Andrea,

I know this year has flown by faster than you ever ever everrrr thought it would. And I know that the rest of your time will go by even faster. But don’t think about it. Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be amazing. Yeah, there’s so much to look forward do. But pleaseee don’t forget about the present. Learn from your mistakes. You were so excited to come to Denmark that you forgot about Canada. PLEASE do NOT do that again. Because this time, when you board that plane, it’s over. Like, done deal for real never getting it back over. So don’t waste even a second of your time wanting to be back in Canada, no matter how hard it is.

Take in everything. Spend as much time with everyone. I know three months seems like a long time, but we all know it’s really not. This is it, the time to fully live it up. And it’s not enough to write it in this blog; Actually get off your ass and do it. It’s right outside your window, so embrace it while you still have it, because I can guarantee that three months from now you’d give up your major organs to have it all back.

Love Andrea of the future.

Min Danske Fødselsdag!

2011-03-20T15:41:00.001-07:00

I’ve been meaning all week to sit down and write this, but like always I kept on getting distracted.

Last Friday was “my Danish birthday” (that’s what the title of this post says.) Getting to turn seventeen abroad was really special, and it really was an amazing birthday. Friday morning my host mom came into my room bright and early and woke me up with breakfast in bed (how sweet is that?) and she gave me my gifts. My big gift was tickets to go see Mamma Mia, which I was soooo excited about, because I’ve wanted to see it since I heard it was coming to Denmark. It’s my favorite musical, and I thought it would be really cool to get to see it in Danish.

Friday evening Charlotte and I went for dinner and then went to see Mamma Mia. It was really really good, and I was so excited because I understood almost the entire thing. I’m finally at the point now where I really have a good understanding of Danish, which is awesome, but it just sucks that it’s happening so close to the end of the year.

Because we live right in Copenhagen, we take our bikes everywhere, and it was really cool to bike home after the show, and see the city from a whole different view. I didn’t realize how little you really see when you are driving, but getting to bike through Copenhagen at night was gorgeous, and it was one of those, ‘I’m so lucky to be here,’ moments. And then I got to end off the night talking to my family, which is always really nice.

Saturday morning I met Claude in Nørreport and we were going to take the metro to the airport to meet Emily who was coming back from her class trip to New York, but we were running late and ended up missing her, so pretty much we just went to the airport, contemplated buying $10 starbucks, decided against it, then went home.

Saturday night I was having a birthday dinner, so after I got back from the airport, Charlotte and I went grocery shopping. All of the food I made was American food, so shopping was a bit tough. It gets frustrating shopping in a foreign store for American food. Stuff that we think is normal in Canada is near impossible to find here.

The night went really well. There was five of us in total, me, Emily, Claude, Laura and Simone, and it was a really cozy night. We made fettuccine alfredo, caesar salad and garlic bread and just sat around and talked and then my host mom made me a homemade danish lagkage, which was so nice. (Lagkage is a danish layer cake.) After dinner and cake we went into the city and met up with some of Simone’s friends and it was just a really nice night and such a great way to spend my birthday.

(Simone, me, Emily, Claude and Laura)

(Lagkage!)

Sunday was Rotex, which is when all of the inbounds and outbounds in my district meet up for some sort of event. This time it was a food day, where all of the inbounds brought food from their home countries and all of the outbounds brought food from their host countries. I love rotex and catching up with people who I don’t get to see a lot. Exchange students really do have this special like, bond, and whenever we’re together it just feels so natural, like it does with people back home. I know I say it a lot, but I’m so lucky to have the other exchange students.

(Me, Nova and Chelsea at Rotex)

This week was pretty quiet. I’m all settled in now with Charlotte and I am really happy here. It still hasn’t totally hit me that this is my last family. It makes my stomach twist to think of how fast this year has gone. Here are some pictures of where I’m living right now. It’s so beyond amazing.

(My street!)

(The view from the end of the street)

(This is what I see everyday on my way to school)

Wednesday at Rotary my Rotary club sang happy birthday to me in Danish, and they gave me a really nice gift, a big book of H. C. Anderson stories in Danish, with the audio version on a CD too. It was exactly what I wanted, so I was really excited. And I feel like every week when I get up to talk, my danish gets better and better. And one of the rotarians came up to me after and told me that they all love me, which made me really really happy. I really do have the most amazing club.

Friday after school I went home with Chelsea and we made lagkage! (You can never have enough of that stuff.) We didn’t have any particular reason to bake one, but it was more just to celebrate being here, and having made it through the cold, hard winter and everything.

(Our fantastic lagkage!)

And then last night Chelsea, Claude and I slept over at Emily’s. I love just having nights in sometimes. Obviously I love going into the city, but sometimes you just need a chill night.

I love how busy I am now, I finally have really found my place here, and it seems like my calendar is full from now until pretty much when I go home. This is the shitty part about exchange, it takes so long to really get the hang of things and feel at home and just when you’re like, ‘Yeah, I can see myself living here,’ it’s time to go.

This year has been such a roller coaster, but sitting here and thinking back on it all, I wouldn’t change anything. (Except school, that I would gladly change in a heartbeat. It’s really sad that I never found a place in my class. It’s embarrassing and frustrating not having Danish friends, and I really really want to be friend with the girls in my class) But overall, I’m really happy with where I sit right now, and although it hasn’t always been easy, the hard stuff has really made me appreciate how great things are going now, and I just hope it keeps up.

It’s 11.34 and I’m falling asleep, so this is where I’m going to bid you farewell.

Kærlig fra Danmark,

Andrea

Sidste Familie!

2011-03-10T03:29:00.000-08:00

"I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself." ~Maya Angelou

My first host dad’s car parallel parks itself. He just presses a button, lets go of the wheel, and the car does all of the work. How nice would be if life were like that, if something else could take care of the hard things while you just sat back?

As nice as that would be though, it would also be a bit boring. If your car always parks itself, then you’ll never get the satisfaction of learning to do it on your own. Am I making sense? Probably not, so to make it simple: Dealing with the tough stuff makes the good stuff even better.

Everyone says that the second half of the year is the best part, and I can see now that’s pretty true. The winter was hard because it was so dark and there wasn’t much to do and I just missed home so much, but in the past few weeks things have slowly been turning around, and now I’m just like a huge bundle of optimism!

Last Thursday Emma came and visited me, which always means a good time. Her piano teacher from back home is on tour around Europe, and he was playing Friday night in Copenhagen and he gave us tickets. I’m not really a huge jazz person, but Emma is my best friend so of course I would go with her. The whole experience was probably the most grown up thing I’ve ever done. We dressed up all classy (I even wore a blazer!) and then all by ourselves we found our way to where the concert hall was. I think it was the first time the two of us have done something without messing it up. And the music was actually really good. It’s not something I would normally listen to, but it was kind of relaxing to just sit there and listen to the music and just...be. And then after the show we snuck backstage so that Emma could see her old teacher and the guy he was playing with. They are such amazing musicians, and it makes me wish I hadn’t given up on every musical thing I tried when I was younger.

(I don't have normal looking pictures of us -- but trust me when I say we were classy ladies)

Saturday afternoon Emma headed home and I went over to my first family’s house. I love visiting them so much, and I love how even though I haven’t lived there in four months, as soon as I walk in I right away feel at home. That night we went to see We Will Rock You, and woooow it was soooo good! I actually don’t even have the words to describe how much I enjoyed it. It was the UK cast, so they all had wicked cool accents, and the music was really good, and the lead actor was really hot. Overall it was a really fun night!

And then Sunday was moving day! If you aren’t, or haven’t been, an exchange student, then it might be hard for you to know what it’s like to try to become a part of someone else’s family. Sometimes it happens, and sometimes it just doesn’t. And with Rotary, where you have 3-4 families, the honest truth is that you won’t connect to all of your families in the same way. Anyone who read my Three Months in Denmark post knows how heartbreaking it was to leave my first family. I just connected with them so well, and I really felt like a family member. I didn’t talk much about leaving my second family, but leaving them was sad on a different level. My second family was so different from anything I had ever known, and at first it came as a bit of a shock. The sad thing with them was that just as I was beginning to feel at home, I had to leave because of the cats.

And then there was my third family. My third family was really nice, but I just couldn’t find my place in their family. With my first family, I remember feeling at home right from day one. Of course it took a while for them to feel like my family, but I was never not at home with them. Becoming a part of someone else’s family is hard, but once you’re in, I think you’re ultimately in for life. Obviously not on the same level as the rest of the family, but with my first family, I feel like I will always sort of be an honorary family member. I honestly feel like ten years could pass, and then if I saw them again it would feel like I had never left them. With my third family though, I sort of felt like an observer. I don’t feel like I have that same family connection, and it’s frustrating to figure out why.

It is scary just jumping into someone else’s life, and if the host family isn’t there to catch you, then it’s nearly impossible to make the leap. My first family understood how I was feeling; they had hosted before, and Therese had gone on her own exchange, so they really knew how to make me feel at home. But my third family was a first time host family, and to be honest, I don’t think they know very much about what it’s like to be an exchange student, or at least that’s the impression I got.

Having a host mom who acts like your mom makes things a lot easier. My first host mom gave me a hug every night before bed, and it’s little things like that that just made me feel so at home. I know that I shouldn’t compare families, because the point of living with multiple families is to experience something different, but I can’t help it. When one thing works better than another, it’s human nature to want to know why. Even after three months with my third family, I just couldn’t make the connection. My host mom was really really nice, but she never felt like my mom. I couldn’t come to her crying like I could with Susanne or my mom at home. Asking a stranger for a hug when you’re sad is scary, and I liked that I never had to ask my first host mom, she just knew if I was sad, and that’s something that I really missed when I left that family. I also did more things with my first family. Just small things like going grocery shopping, or if my host mom was going to pick someone up, I’d come along for the ride, and some evenings my mom and I would watch TV together, and it was things like that that made me feel close to her.

But just because I didn’t feel as close to my third family doesn’t mean that I didn’t learn a whole lot from them. Observing someones family for three months can teach you a lot. They spent all of their time together, and although that’s not something that works for me, it’s got me thinking that maybe my family at home could spend a bit more time together. I like having my room and spending time alone in there just talking to my friends, or watching TV, or reading or whatever, but I think once I get home I will make an effort to spend more time with my family.

Anyways, Sunday I moved to my new family. Leaving was sad, but in a different way. It was more like, sentimentally sad. (Is that the right word?) As in, another stage of my exchange is over, and even though I didn’t fit in perfectly, I still had a lot of good times with the family, and I was used to living there. They did a lot of really nice things for me, and took me to see a lot of places and of course I am very grateful to them for opening their home to me, and in those three months I really feel like I learnt a lot, so also for that I am very grateful to them. I hope to keep in touch with them, because they really are nice people who played a big part in my year.

(7 months worth of stuff)

This move was really exciting though because I was finally moving to Julie’s family!! Julie is the 2010/11 outbound from my host club, and we talked a lot last year when she was still in Denmark and I was still in Canada, and I have been looking forward to living with her family for a long time now! Of course, Julie is in Australia, so sadly I’m not living with her, but her family was the first one I knew about, and that’s a really special thing, the first person from your host country to contact you.

Her family is really sweet though! I’m living with her mom, Charlotte, and her little brother and sister, Aksel and Marie, who are 12, and so far I’m really happy. They live right in the center of Copenhagen, which is SO beyond amazing, I can’t even describe it. The buildings are all hundreds of years old and it’s so gorgeous and I’m also right in the middle of everything. It’s the perfect place to finish my year. And I already really love my host mom. She understands what a roller coaster this whole thing is, and she’s super, like, motherly and I just think that it’s going to be a really good fit. Sunday Charlotte, Aksel and I went skating, and then Monday afternoon we went for a walk to Nyhavn (the colorful harbor) and then yesterday we went to the library and I got some kids books and movies in Danish to help me practice, and then we went to this cute little cafe and we sat outside in the sun and it was so great! I’m really really happy! And my birthday is on Friday! So overall this week has just been really awesome. I’m really determined to just enjoy every second I have here and to really make the most of the time I have left and to not let a single experience slip away.

(Me and my new host mom)

I’m sorry this was so long, but there was so much to say and a lot of it was really hard to find the right wording for, but I hope some of it made sense and that you got a little glimpse into the confused mind of an exchange student who just wants to find her place. And if it seemed confusing or scrambled to you, well, just be glad you aren’t actually inside my head.

Så, farvel for now!

Andrea

Vinterferie

2011-02-28T03:51:00.000-08:00

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ~St. Augustine

This past week, week 8, was winter break. I have two things to say about this sentence. First, it bugs me how they count in weeks here. Whenever I ask when something is, the answer is always given to me in weeks. As in: “When is spring break?” “Week 15.” Like, that means nothing me to me. Do they expect me to get out my calendar and manually count out 15 weeks to find the date? And secondly, I love how many school breaks we get here. Fall break, Christmas break, Winter break, Spring break, and of course Summer break. Canada should take some lessons.

My break actually started a week early because I got a wicked bad cold or something and felt so gross and Europeans don’t have strong over the counter cold and flu medication like we have in Canada, so my body actually had to *gasp* fight it on it’s own.

February 19th my host family took me skiing in Sweden! In Canada I ski at least once a week, so going almost the entire winter without skiing has been wicked hard. I’ve pretty much told anyone who will listen how badly I wanted to go skiing, so I guess my host family got tired of my begging and they finally took me! It was so amazing, I can’t even describe it. It’s amazing how some things feel exactly the same no matter where you are. The hill was very small, but it didn’t matter. Just being on skies made me so happy. Even though it’s been almost 9 months since the last time I’d skied, it felt like it had been only yesterday and I felt like I was back home. Being back on skies was just the pick-me-up I needed, and it put me in such a good mood.

(Me and my host sister, Carina)

Monday through Saturday I was with my second family at their summer house. It was really nice to spend the week with them because my time with them was really cut short, so it’s nice that I got another chance to be with them. And boy did we keep busy the whole week! We went to a reptile zoo where I got to hold a baby crocodile and a huge snake. The crocodile was cute, but the snake...not so much. I didn’t freak out though, so I’m proud.

We also went to the ocean and walked along the beach. I love living so close to the ocean, and even though it’s really cold, it was still really beautiful! We did a lot more over the week, but those were kind of the highlights. We also went to this restaurant to watch some soccer game, but Maria and I got a bit bored so we just got ice cream instead. I guess I’ll never be a big sports fan.

(Me and Maria)

I guess I just don’t have much to say at the moment. I’m feeling pretty...content. Well actually, I’m feeling really tired. I got up this morning at 7 to skype with my mom, but I only lasted about 3 minutes before falling back asleep. I should probably practice getting up early because when I move families I will have to be on the train by 7.12, which means my ass has to be on my bike seat by no later than 7.03. Yeah. We’ll see how that goes...

I have a whole bunch of ideas for blogs, so hopefully March will be a very blog filled month.

Kærlighed fra Danmark!

Andrea

Happy Days!

2011-02-18T04:48:00.000-08:00

It might not seem like it, but it takes mad willpower to sit down and write out a full blog post. And I have finally sat my self down and told my self I cannot log back onto facebook until I’ve written another blog.

I forgot to mention it in my last post, but February 1st was my six month mark! Yes, that’s right, I have been in Denmark half a year! (Well, by now it’s almost seven months...but whatever.) To celebrate, Chelsea and I went to the South African/British food store in Copenhagen. We had come across it a few weeks ago, but it was never open. I walked in and I was just running around like a little kid, and I wanted to buy everything! I did manage to only buy what I thought was absolutley necessary... Dr Pepper and Betty Crocker! (And canned spaghetti and skittles.) I have been craving Dr Pepper since I got here, and it was so exciting to finally buy some, even though it was like, 30kr (5 dollars).

So anyway, back to the present. Or actually, no, back to last week. Last Wednesday (February 9th) was the most perfect Spring day ever. The sun was shining, the weather was in nearing double digits, and it was just one of those days that would be a crime to waste. So Emily, Claude and I, along with some of the South American’s, met up in Copenhagen to just take advantage of this perfect day. First we sat in a cute little cafe and drank coffee. (How European are we!) And then we went to this gorgeous little park and just sat around and really just enjoyed the fact that we’re in Denmark, surrounded by so much beauty.

(How can you not just be so happy when you standing in front of buildings like this?)

(Me and Claude in the park. It was warm, but not warm enough for no jackets, sadly.)

While we were sitting there, we heard this parade-ish music, so we ran over to the street, and it was the changing of the guards, or something like that. It was really cool! Here’s the video, in case you’re interested!

That night, after Rotary, Susanne and I went to visit Candice, an American who now lives in Denmark. She had her baby on January 24h, an adorable little girl, and I was so excited to finally see her! I’ve been pretty close with Candice since I got here, since she was an exchange student in Denmark in 93/94, so we have lots to talk about and she always has good advice.

Last weekend, Friday afternoon until Sunday night, I was with the other exchange students. Friday night Claude and I slept over at Emily’s. We were going to go bowling, but it was so expensive, so instead we baked cookies and had a mini party at her house. I love going out, but I also love spending nights in too. It feels so normal to just be hanging out with them, baking cookies and dancing around her kitchen. Saturday afternoon Claude and I walked around Hellerup, one of the riches areas in Denmark. The houses were all just stunning. They aren’t like the huge modern mansions you see in Calgary, they are more like these old European houses with amazing designs and just, I can’t even describe it, so here’s pictures:

(Denmark is really big on wind energy, which would make sense considering how windy it is here)

We finished off our walk at the beach, (yes, not only are these houses gorgeous, they are also beachfront). And if anyone is interested, these houses go for between 1.3 and 1.7 million dollars.

Saturday night I slept over at Claude’s, and we just had a Disney movie night. It was a nice change from what we normally do on the weekends, but it’s nice to spend like one on one time with people, rather than shouting over the music when we go out.

Sunday morning I went back home, and my newbie, Laura came over. Newbies are the Winer 2011 arrivals, and it was really cool to finally meet her. It made me realize how long I’ve been here, and how far I’ve really come since I walked off the plane 202 days ago. She was really sweet, and we made awesome snickerdoodle cookies!

Sunday night I started to feel kind of sick, and Monday morning I woke up feeling half dead, so I spent a few days in bed catching up on old TV shows and enjoying a nice break from school. I still have a bit of a cold, but I’m at least up and running. Winter break is next week (Yeah, in Denmark there’s Christmas break AND winter break!) and I’m really excited. Tomorrow we are going skiing in Sweden, and Monday-Saturday I will be with my second family at their summerhouse.

So that’s kind of it for the past week and a half! Except for being sick, it was so great, and has sort of renewed my love for Denmark.

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the cold! There’s a bit of frost on the ground, but I’m still optimistic for Spring!

Kærlighed fra Danmark!

Andrea!

And ps, if you want to leave a comment, that would be much appreciated! I love hearing what people think!

Carpe Diem

2011-02-07T02:43:00.000-08:00

“Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.”

-Oprah Winfrey

I’m sitting in class right now and my school’s wi-fi isn’t working and I think it’s safe to say that I’m having a minor panic attack. In Danish Gymnasiums it’s totally normal to be on your computer while the teacher is teaching, which works out very well for me. But today there is no internet and I don’t know what to do with myself, so I decided to update this.

Last weekend I went up to Horsens to visit Emma! Wednesday night Emma called me and told me that she was really sick, and that it was still okay if I came, but that she wouldn’t be able to pick me up from the train station. So she explained the busses to me, and told me exactly what to do and I left the house Thursday confident that I knew what I was doing. The only catch was that the bus only runs once and hour, and it left eight minutes after my train arrived, so I didn’t have much turn around time. And of course, when I got to Høje-Taastrup Station, I see that my train is 14 minutes delayed. I really didn’t want to miss the bus, so I just got on the first train that came through. I made sure it stopped in Horsens, so I figured I was all good. The guy came around to check tickets and told me that I was on the wrong train, and apperantly you can’t just get on any old train. This was the express train, and my ticket was just for a standard train. I played the stupid foreigner though, and he didn’t give me a ticket or kick me off.

Finally I made it to Horsens, and after a short phone call to Emma asking where exactly the bus picked me up, and I made it on my bus and arrived in Brædstrup (Where Emma lives) all in one piece. She was pretty sick so we had a really quiet afternoon. We just leyed around and watched movies and slept, but this was totally fine by me. My host family pretty much tells me on an hourly basis that I sleep too much and that I’m too lazy, and they don’t seem to understand how exhausting it actually is to be an exchange student, and how much I sometimes just want to take a break and sleep or watch movies on my own or whatever. So being able to just spend a whole weekend doing nothing was actually really great. Thursday night we watched The Exorcism of Emily Rose with Emma’s host sister, which was really fun. I love watching horror movies. Simone and I used to watch them all the time, but Carina isn’t as interested, so it was nice to have someone to watch some with.

Friday morning I woke up and had a craving for Risengrød, which is like a rice pudding that you put cinnamon on top of. It’s so amazingly good! So I walked down to the store near Emma’s house and bought a box, and then we made it. It was supposed to only take half an hour, but it ended up taking over an hour to cook properly. But it doesn’t even matter because it turned out great and totally satisfied my craving.

(Risengrød--One of my favourite Danish foods.)

Saturday we decided that we wanted Mexican food, so Emma and I went and bought beans and cheese and chips and we made nachos and been and cheese burritos. It wasn’t the same as Taco Bell, but it was close enough.

Sunday, Emma, me and her host parents went for a walk around this lake near her house. We had pretty much spent the whole weekend lying around, so it was nice to get out and actually see the sun. The part of Denmark that Emma lives in is so geographically different from where I live, and it’s really beautiful. There are rolling rills and open farms and it’s so quiet. I love living near Copenhagen, but sometimes it’s nice to escape and get away from the big city.

And then after our walk, they took us to a chicken farm where they get fresh eggs from. Emma and I were like little kids looking at the chickens and imitating the noises that the roosters made. (Okay, well that one was just me. But it was funny to see the roosters freaking out trying to find out where the noise was coming from.) And there was also the cutest dogs ever!!

(How cute is that dog? I mean like for real <3)

And then all too soon the weekend ended and I had to go home. It always sucks having to go back home after spending the weekend with my friends, but hopefully I’ll see her again soon.

Monday I started on a volleyball team, which I really like. It’s so nice to be doing team sports again, and I definitely need the exercise. I played volleyball a bit at school last year, so I know the basics, and hopefully by June I’ll be pretty good. I play every Monday and Thursday, so I’m pretty busy now. Monday is volleyball, Tuesday is language school, Wednesday is Rotary, Thursday is language school AND volleyball and then Friday and Saturdays I try to be out with my friends. But being busy is good because it doesn’t give me much time to miss home.

And then this weekend I spent with some of my friends who live near me. Saturday night we went out, and then a few of us slept over at Emily’s house, and then because it was the first Sunday of the month, the trains were free and the stores were all open, so we spent the day in Copenhagen, which was a lot of fun. I love the other exchange students in my district, and because we are are the Copenhagen district, we are known as the party district, so our Eurotour bus is going to be so much fun! It sucks that I won’t get to be with Emma for Eurotour (she’s in another district), but I will still have a great time with all of my friends near here.

(Me and some of the other awesome exchangers.)

The weather is warming up, and I’m ignoring everyone who tells me that it’s going to snow again, and I’m choosing to prepare for Spring. The only sad thing about winter ending is that Spring is my last season in Denmark. Time is going way to fast, and I’m tying my best to hold onto every second, but it seems to be slipping by faster and faster.

I have another blog post in the making, so expect that sometime this week!

Kærlighed fra Danmark

Andrea

And p.s. I added a flag counter, so now I can see where in the world people are reading from!

This one time, in Denmark...

2011-01-24T01:49:00.001-08:00

Blockbusters smell the same all over the world. True story.

I have Rotary meetings at 5pm on Wednesdays, and when I take the bus I can either get there with 5 minutes to spare, or with 25. Back in the summer the busses were really reliable, but lately with all of the snow and such, sometimes they run a little bit late, so last Wednesday I took the early bus, and of course it came early, so I got to the station almost half an hour early. The hotel is a three minute walk from the station, but I didn’t want to be the first one to show up, so instead I walked around the main street for a bit. It was pretty cold, so I went into the first store that caught my eye, which just so happened to be Blockbuster. And as soon as I walked in, it was like I was right back in Canada. The movie selection was very small, and the movie backs were all in Danish, but overall it was almost exactly the same.

Right now I’m at my family’s summerhouse in a small town about an hour from Taastrup. There isn’t internet, so this won’t be posted until Sunday, but right now it’s Saturday and I’m sitting on the couch in the living room, a fire roaring in the fire place, and candles as our main light source. It’s just my host mom, Carina and me here, which is really nice and quiet. And with no internet, it’s a really good chance to just relax.

After 24 hours though, relaxation is turning into restlessness, so I thought it would be a good chance to sit down and write another blog post. One of my new years resolutions was to update this thing more often, so hopefully I can to stick to this.

This blog is going to focus on the small quirks that make Denmark unique from Canada. Things that at first were strange, but now make up the small parts of daily life here.

Breakfast food. Eggs? Bacon? Hash browns? Try chocolate, bread, cheese and meat. When I first got here Danish breakfast just didn’t do it for me. The first morning at intro camp when we walked into the dining hall, I was all geared up for the breakfast regulars, and was really disappointed when I saw the buffet. The idea of having bread and salami for breakfast wasn’t super appealing. And the over load of chocolate was a little bit overwhelming. (Even for me!)

But now I don’t even flinch as I grab two rolls, one with butter and salami or ham or something, and the other with nutella or pålægschokolade.(Shown in the picture on the left.) In fact, it’s something I look forward to now. I love Danish brunches.

On weekday mornings they have the regular cereal and whatever, but when it comes to family brunch, they focus on the lunch side, rather than the breakfast side, like we do in Canada. I think it’ll be fun when I get home to have a big danish style brunch and see what people think about it.

Stop lights, stop signs, crossing the street etc. I was with some of my classmates once in Copenhagen, and it was around midnight and the roads were dead. As in, there wasn’t a single car in a ten kilometer radius. The ‘don’t walk’ sign was flashing, but I still stepped into the road. And oh my goodness all hell broke loose. “Andrea! Stop! You’re going to get hit! You’re going to die!” Did I mention there were NO CARS anywhere? Back in Canada my friends and I went off campus every day for lunch, and we always took the ‘walk’ and ‘don’t walk’ signs as more of suggestions. As in, it’s telling us not to walk, and there is a bus approaching, but let’s still cross the street at a snails pace. But cars in Canada stop for you. Cars in Europe do not. Even if it looks like they’re about to stop, they don’t. Sometimes when I’m bored I’ll play the ‘can I get across the street before the car gets to me’ game. It’s a risky little game, but it gives me a nice rush.

And on the topic of the ‘walk’ and ‘don’t walk’ signals, in Canada, as soon as the light turns red, the ‘walk’ signs comes on, even if no one pressed the button. (You know the button you press a million

times because it only makes sense that the more times you press it the faster it will turn?) Well, in Denmark, the ‘walk’ sign won’t come on unless someone specifically pressed the button. Once, when I first got here, I was riding my bike into town, and it had been raining and the area surrounding the button was flooded, so I didn’t bother to press it. And the traffic light turned red, but the ‘walk’ sign never came on. And I couldn’t figure out why. I think I sat there for a good ten minutes, confused, before I just crossed the street and hoped I wouldn’t get hit. And then stop signs. They don’t have thered stop signs here. They have little arrows on the street that tell the cars to stop. And it still confuses me. The big red STOP signs are so obvious, but these little arrows on

the street are so easy to miss. And also, cars here don’t stop until the last possible second. So I’ll be on my bike just riding along, and I’ll be sure that I have the right of way, but that car is cutting it awfully close, and then I get all nervous and at the last second we both stop and I end up looking stupid. And my bike is from the dinosaur age, so when I stop it makes a horrible squeaking noise and all but falls apart, so people stare, which makes the situation even worse. But I mean, you don’t wear helmets here, so getting hit by a car is not something that I’d like to try.

Lunch. My first week in Denmark one of the Rotarians took me out for the day, and for lunch we had typical Danish smørrebrød.

Pronunciation? Stuff your mouth with oatmeal or a potato and that’ll be your best bet at saying it even remotely right. It’s pretty much an open faced sandwich on a very dark rye type bread called rugbrød. Again, at first I was craving good old fashioned sandwiches with two pieces of toast and normal meat and lettuce. But now I’ve grown to really like these very danish lunches. Before I came to Denmark people told me that Danes LOVE liver paste, and I was sure that it had to be gross. But now, “leverpastej and rugbrød” is my favorite lunch. It’s funny how your eating habits can change so drastically so fast!

Bikes. I don’t have too much to say on this topic besides these are a year-round-any-weather-any-temperature mode of transportation. After out first major snowfall when I figured people would put the bike away for the winter and start taking the busses. I was wrong. People ride through snowbanks here. They do not quit! It’s insane! And it’s not like they have hardcore mountain bikes either, they ride these cute little old fashioned one gear bikes. These things would never survive in Calgary with all of the hills. One of these days I will take a picture of the bike parking lot at my school. There are at least 20 times as many bikes as cars.

Moam and Chocolate Milk. Moam is almost like starburst, and it’s the cheapest candy you can get

here, and therefore is my favorite. And chocolate milk. Oh my goodness Denmark has the worlds best chocolate milk. Matilde and Cocio make the best chocolate milk I have ever had. (And on the topic of milk, Denmark has amazing milk! At home I never really liked milk, but here it’s almost sweet, and I really like it. And I think it’s thicker or something, because at home I hated skim or 1% milk because it was too watery, but here I only drink 0,5% or 1%, and anything higher than that is cream.)

TV. TV itself is the same in Denmark, but the big difference is that censoring is foreign concept here. Everything goes. TDC is a phone company here, and here are a couple of examples of their commercials that are played on a regular basis. My first night I was watching TV with my host mom and one of these commercials came on and I was like, this would never happen at home...

So I think that’s all for now. I hope you had fun seeing some of the quirky things that make Denmark so special. There are lots more, and I'll keep a list and do another post like this sometime.

Have a good week!

Halfway!

2011-01-17T02:20:00.001-08:00

"Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footsteps on the moon." -Paul Brandt

So Friday was kind of a big deal on my calendar. It was my 167th day in Denmark. And from Friday, I had 167 days left. Yes, I am officially half way. I don’t know how you are supposed to feel when you are halfway through the year you’ve been waiting forever for. I spent almost four years thinking about going on exchange, and googling it and imagining myself being that awesome foreign kid. But now that I’m here, actually living it, I have this horrible sinking feeling that time is going too fast, and that really, really scares me.

The night before I left, I started my post with this quote:

“Just remember, the same as a spectacular Vogue magazine, remember that no matter how close you follow the jumps: Continued on page whatever. No matter how careful you are, there's going to be the sense you missed something, the collapsed feeling under your skin that you didn't experience it all. There's that fallen heart feeling that you rushed right through the moments where you should've been paying attention. Well, get used to that feeling. That's how your whole life will feel some day. This is all practice. None of this matters. We're just warming up.”

And it’s so true. Half of my time in Denmark is over, and that’s time that I will never get back. So much has happened in the past five and a half months. When I think of who I was when I stepped off the plane, when I think of my first few days, how in awe of everything I was, I can’t believe how far I’ve come. There are days when I question what I’m doing here, when I sit and think, what have I really accomplished? But then I’ll have a moment where it’s all just...worth it.

My counsellor told me that starting in the New Year I would have to get up and talk a little about my week to everyone, in Danish, and this past Wednesday was the first meeting of the new year. The whole time while we were eating I was so nervous, and I kept thinking like what if I don’t know what to say, or what if I forget a word or something. (Somewhere between my house and the hotel I lost my little piece of paper with what I wanted to say, so I kind of just had to free talk.) So I got up and starting talking, and the words just came. I talked about my trip to see Emma, and New Year’s Eve, and school and language school and it just felt so natural. Of course I’ve spoken Danish before, but never in front of thirty adults. And then after when people came up and told me how good I sounded, it just kind of reminded me why I’m doing this. Getting up and speaking in front of a group in English is a little nerve-wracking, but I feel like if I can do it in Danish, then I will never be nervous about doing it in English again.

There’s that age old analogy where the glass can either be half empty or half full. Halfway through my year, I’m not even close to where I thought I would be, and where some of my friends are. I thought I would be so much better at Danish by now. Considering I’ve only been learning it for 5 and a half months, and considering how hard of a language it is to learn, I’m doing okay, but I’m not fluent or anything. Sometimes I’ll be really proud of myself for understanding something, but then I’ll take a second look and wonder how much a regular english speaker would understand just by picking out familiar words. Reading and writing Danish is actually very easy, but speaking it and understanding it is tough, because nothing sounds like you think it would. Take the word fun, sjovt. It is pronounced ‘show.’ You wouldn’t guess that just by looking, would you? Danish is one of the languages where you actually don’t pronounce half of the letters in the word, which can be tricky. But I figure, if I’m at this point after 5 and a half months, hopefully I’ll be close to conversational by the time I go home. So yeah, that’s the language. I’m gonna think of that glass as half full.

School. Danish school has overall not been a fantastic experience. And that is mainly because I am SO bored. All the time. Danish school is not fun. In Canada we have cool projects, and group work, and class discussions, and it’s actually pretty fun. In the Danish Gymnasium, you just sit and take notes while the teachers talk. And you have no relationship with your teachers here. At home my teachers would always talk about their kids, or their lives, or whatever. I felt like I knew my teachers, and here they are just that, teachers. You have no relationship on the personal level like you would in Canada. And I miss how in Canada, school is a big part of your life. There are sports teams and clubs and committees and all sorts of things to be involved in besides just class, and here they don’t have any of that. There are two things though that I like better here though: The canteen food and the school parties. So I guess this glass is sort of half empty, but talking to other exchange students, I think it’s a general consensus that school sucks. And not just in Denmark, but pretty much all around the world.

Friends. At home I had really good friends in school, and also really good friends out of school. Here though, I only have the exchange students. I’ve tried and tried to get close to my classmates, but while I am friendly with them all, I wouldn’t by any means call any of them good friends. As in, while we say good morning to each other, and sometime’s have a short conversation, I don’t think they will miss me once I’m gone. At school I am just an exchange student, not part of the class. I wish I was better at Danish so that I could participate more, but I’m not, and there’s only so much I can do. But I have the other exchange students near me, and I’m really close with them and we go out together and always have a lot of fun. I know that I will be life long friends with some of them, and I know I’m lucky to have them. So I guess that glass isn’t half full or half empty, it’s just...half.

On Friday all my oldies (Aussie’s) went home, and we took them to airport and basically it was probably the most heartbreaking thing ever. Seeing Hannah walk through security, and not knowing when or if I will see her again was so sad, but it was a wake up call that my time is fast ending. When I first got here Hannah was just half way through, and she told us that we better be at the airport to see her off when she left, and I was just like, yeah yeah, that’s ages away. But it wasn’t. While there are some days and weeks that seem to last forever, overall the first half of my exchange has flown by. I have done and seen so many incredible things over the past six months, and I have met so many new people and I have gained an understanding of a new language and culture and while I have had my downs, over all the past half a year has been so amazing. I just want to soak up as much of Denmark as I can, and knowing that the rest of my year is going to go fast is scary, because I want to do everything.

On Saturday night I went out with three friends into Copenhagen, and we had planned just to go to a disco or something, but we couldn’t get into any of our regular places. It was pouring rain and we were soaked to the bone, and debated just calling it a night, but then we stopped and thought about it, and decided that how many chances will be get to wander around Copenhagen all night, and in the rain no less. So we just walked and walked up and down little side streets, finding stores that we wanted to come back to, and ducking into restaurants every once and while to regain feeling in our toes. It was one of those night that was fun because of the people you’re with, and it was definitely one of those nights that made me re fall in love with Denmark. I’m so lucky to be in such an amazing country with such an amazing group of people. I love the other exchange students, and I know once I’m back home I’m going to miss our exchange student nights out like crazy.

(Note how wet my jeans are... it was raining really hard)

(Chelsea, Nova and me)

The Newbies all arrived today, and my news feed on facebook is full of their first day impressions, and it brings me back to my first week. The cool houses, the weird 24 hour clocks, the open fields, the new people, all of that. My life here is so normal now, but I guess that within itself is really cool. I’ve created a life for my self in Denmark. I have family and friends here, I know my way around now like the back of my hand. And while it’s not always easy, Denmark is normal, and I think that’s really cool.

Today it’s warm, 6 degrees. It’s the nicest it’s been in like three months. The snow is mostly melted, and it’s the perfect weather just to enjoy being outside. It’s not going to last long, but I’m going to make the most of it while it’s here, and I guess that’s how I feel about the rest of my exchange as well. I have a lot to look forward to, and I know that the next 5 months will be amazing.

Not too much is really happening now, so I don’t know when I’ll post again, but it should be in the next few weeks.

Love from Denmark,

Andrea

December in Denmark!

2011-01-03T13:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I thought it was finally time that I sat down and updated this thing. Yet ANOTHER month has come and gone, which is terrifying, seeing as the months come and go at an alarmingly fast rate. This month however has been crazy, and frankly I’m glad that it’s almost over, (just because I need a rest!) even though it means I’m another month closer to having to leave. With the end of another month has also come the end of the year. 2010 has been the longest, and yet fastest year ever. There were days when I first got to Denmark where I didn’t know how I could possibly make it until next summer, so instead I told myself just to focus on making it until Christmas, and then after that it would all be smooth sailing. At the time Christmas was five months, and at the time what seemed like a lifetime, away, but alas, those five months passed, and now here I am. Only nine days away from being half way. Eeek!

Before I talk about the holidays though, I should start at the beginning of the month. Last time I updated I was living with my second family, but sadly I had to leave them early, so on December 4th I moved in with a new family. My second family was really nice, but they had two cats, and I have a bad cat allergy, so it just wasn’t working. They were really fun and I liked them a lot and tried my best to make it work, but breathing is kind of one those things that is necessary, and that just wasn’t happening. So now I am living with a new family, and I can breath again. I have two host siblings, a 15 year old sister and a 11 year old brother. And after four peaceful months of living with just sisters, I forgot what younger brothers can be like... but they are both really nice, and I think it’s going to work out well with them. I still miss my first family like crazy though, and have visited and slept over numerous times since I’ve moved, so hopefully I will keep in good contact with them for a long time. I think I was lucky to just connect so well with them.

Adjusting to a new family is hard, no matter how many times you do it. In my first family, Simone and I were very similar, and had a lot of the same habits and did a lot of the same things, so I found it very easy to fit in right away there. With the other two families, more work on my part had to be done. After 16 and a half years it can be hard to change. In Canada I slept in the basement, which was underground, and my window was this tiny little slit that didn’t really let much light in. And it was cold. So that’s what I like my room to be like now, dark and cold. I never pull my blinds up, my heat is always on low, and every day my hosties come home to find me under the covers asleep, or watching a movie, in the cold and dark. And I’m perfectly content like that, but I think that they don’t like it so much. After spending all day at school with an ‘I’m soo happy’ smile plastered on my face, I want to come home and spend some time in my cave where I can make whatever pouty scowely faces I want. But anyways, this is something that was an issue in my both my second and current family, and my counsellor and I talked about it, and I am working to find the balance of cave time and social activity. Anyways, I don’t know why I wrote that whole novel, but I guess I just want to admit that as much as I like to believe that I am, I know that I’m not perfect. I’m close, but not quite there yet. Exchange students like to believe that they are God's gifts to their host families, but really we know that we are not. We have our flaws too. And it just so happens that sleeping is mine...

But anyways, this family is very nice. Their daughter is an outbound next year, so it’s kind of fun to impart some of my wisdom on her. Even though I’m sure to her it’s just ‘blah blah blah’ because that’s all I heard last year when the inbounds tried to give me advice. And I am incredibly grateful to them for taking me in on no notice. Carina and Sebastian have to share a room so that I can have my own, which is so nice cause I know I would NEVER share my room with Jackson. I’d sooner let him sleep in the dog’s kennel than in my room. But wait, no. That was the old, 2010, Andrea speaking. The new 2011 Andrea is a more kind, giving person, and would gladly let her brother sleep on her floor.

December was also full of christmas lunches, and I swear I’m never going to eat again! Danish people eat SO MUCH during the holidays. I’m sure I gained like twenty pounds. School finished on the 16th, and that night there was a big party at my school. No matter how many school parties I go to, they always shock me with what we are allowed to do. Westmount dances just don’t compare.

I don’t even actually remember all of what I did over the break, it all just blurs together. A few times I went out with other exchange students, and I spent the 20th and 21st with my next host family. In that family I will have my host mom, Charlotte, and two little host siblings, Aksel and Marie, who are eleven year old twins. I had such a nice time with them. Monday we went to Tivoli (a really beautiful amusement park in the center of Copenhagen) and then I slept over with them. We had dinner and watched movies and it was super cozy. The oldest daughter, Julie, is on exchange in Australia, but I’ve been skyping with her since April, so it will be very fun to live with her family. Sadly I won’t get to meet her this time around, but I know I’ll be back in the future, and I will meet her at some point. Tuesday morning Aksel and Marie left to Sweden, so it was just Charlotte and I. We went to a cafe for breakfast and we walked around and talked and it was really nice to get to know her. She will be my last family, from March until June, when I go home.

(Me and my future host siblings at Tivoli)

(We walked across the frozen water and found that someone had written Merry Christmas)

On the 23rd we (my host family and me) left to the old city of Rebe, where my host dads family lives, and where we were going to spend Christmas. We went just across the border to Germany on the Friday, where I hit the absolute jackpot. Denmark has a sugar tax, so anything with sugar is really expensive, but in Germany it’s much cheaper, so I pigged right out and bough enough candy to probably last me the year. Just what I need to add to my twenty pounds of holiday fat. Yum.

And then Christmas! Danish Christmas is really something else. They do all of the celebrating on Christmas eve, and it’s really special. We have a huge family dinner, and then we dance around the christmas tree and sing songs and then open presents. The whole time we were dancing I couldn’t stop smiling. It was one of those moments where it’s just like, ‘I’m really in Denmark. Celebrating a Danish Christmas. So cool!”

(My host mom, my host grandma and me)

(Me and my host sister in front of the Christmas tree)

Christmas day was a little less ‘cool’ and lot more ‘something is missing.’ At home in Canada we celebrate on Christmas day, and we have a really nice family day, with presents in the morning, and a really nice Christmas dinner at my Grandma’s with all of the right foods, and it’s really nice. Here, Christmas day was kind of...too normal. Normal routine, normal foods, etc, and I really missed home. That shows how much of a roller coaster this is. Friday I can’t stop smiling and Saturday I have to work to just fake a smile. But once I talked to other exchange students, and realized I wasn’t the only homesick one, I felt a lot better. And then Sunday we came home, and I got to skype home, and my parents opened the gifts I had sent. (How lucky are my parents to have such an awesome child?)

And then Sunday like half an hour after I got home one of the other exchangers invited me out, and then I spent the night with her, and in the morning we made a big American breakfast, and it was great!

And then New Years!! New Years was one of those nights that I wanted to be special. I wanted it to be something that I would really remember, and I wanted to spend it with someone special. So, who better to go celebrate with than my bestie Emma?! Seriously, I love that kid, and I was so excited to get to bring in 2011 with her!

I left Wednesday morning and stayed until Saturday night. I hadn’t seen her in like a month and a half, so it was really fun to be reunited. We did what Emma and Andrea always do...lie in bed and eat. And then for New Year’s eve we first had a really nice dinner, and then watched the Queen make her speech. And then people started coming over and the party really started. Danish New Years in crazy! Everyone was just having fun and it was really cool. And then at midnight the fireworks started, and went on until like 6am, and then went all day Saturday and even some on Sunday.

And then Sunday night I returned home, and today was back to school. I’ve kind of given up hope on ever really liking school here, but what doesn’t kill you just makes you stronger. And school here really makes me appreciate school back home. I miss Westmount a lot, and while I used to be so excited to be leaving it, now I find my self wanting to go back there for grade 12. Good friends like I have there are hard to come by, and I think it would be just stupid to leave them and start over yet again when I have my life built up there. Once a Westmount kid, always a Westmount kid.

But that’s ages away. I still have just under six months here, and I’m going to live it up as best as I can. The Australians are all going home next week, which is weird cause I remember when I just got here and they were halfway, and I know that the second half of my exchange is going to fly, and soon I’ll be in their shoes packing my bags and planning going away parties, and I don’t want to have any regrets. So that’s my new years resolution in 2011, make the best of every situation, take advantage of every opportunity, and when I’m sitting on that plane five and half months from now, I want to be able to feel a sense of accomplishment, and I want to know that I did the best that I could while I was here.

So I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays, and I hope 2011 brings everyone happiness and health.

Kærlighed fra Danmark

PS. Here is a video about my first four months in Denmark! Enjoy!