Wednesday, December 14, 2011

My mom told me I needed to update everyone....

Hej alle,
It seems to have become somewhat of a habit now for the last few posts that I have been apologizing for not writing for awhile, but here it is again, sorry, but this month has been so busy so far!

I have lots to write about, so let me try and make it as short as possible, which we all know won't be very short!

On November 27th I moved to my new family, which is in a town called Gamborg, but technically I live on a small island named Svinø. The town has around 170 people and my island has I think around 6 houses, so I'm in an even smaller town than Morud! I am definitely getting a different idea of what a small town is considering I used to think of Petaluma as a small town! Oh before I forget here's a bit about my family: I live with the Vrængmose Vangsted family. There is the dad, Brian, mom, Jette, and my 2 siblings, Mie (17) and Jonas (20). We have 2 cats, one which has taken to me quite well which can be a tad annoying when it crawls on my lap while I'm doing homework or writing letters.

It was pretty sad for me moving for a variety of reasons. First of all I really enjoyed living with the Jørgensens and I will miss them since I won't be able to see them as much. I want to thank them again so much for all that they did for me and how much they helped during my first few months here. I know and hope we will stay in contact long after I leave Denmark!
Another reason it was sad was it just makes me realize how fast this year is going. I mean I have been gone from home for 130 days, which is really hard to believe. I have been here more than 4 months. I have met so many people and been to a lot of new places. It is just hard to grasp and with moving it just made me have to confront and actually realize that 1/3 of my year is done.
What really got me emotional was when Jytte said that is must be hard moving all the time and for me having lived in the same house all my life and gone to the same schools, it is definitely something difficult to get used to. Just packing up everything you own to go to an unknown place. It also just makes me realize if it's this hard moving 20 minutes away after 4 months here, just how hard it will be moving back to Petaluma after a year here.
Well let's get this back to a happier place now! So I moved all my many bags and suitcases of belongings ( I figured why try and pack it all small when I'm going to just unpack it again), so I had quite a few bags and what not.


ok back to the update!
That day I worked on unpacking mostly and then we went into Middelfart (10 minute drive away) and saw the Christmas decorations since it was the first day of advent (advent here is you get a present either every day of December until the 24th or some families do it that when the kids are older they get one larger present every Sunday of Advent. My first family was very nice and gave me 4 for the weeks I wouldn't be with them. The first day I got a nice owl necklace, some candy, and a book on how to make these Danish heart decorations.
We walked on the shopping street and then went to Hindsgavl castle, also in Middelfart, to see the flower decorations since my host mom is a florist and used to work there. We ate some Christmas desserts and drank gløgg, which is warm, mulled with some raisins and nuts in it.

æbleskiver and gløgg

everything I have accumulated

tree lighting ceremony and my host sister Mie

Mayor of Middelfart


Then we went home and I finished unpacking the rest.
Here are the rest of the highlights from the end of November/beginning of December:

That Monday (11/28) was just a normal school day. I now take a different bus to school, which only takes 20 minutes and is a 10 minute walk from my house.
After school Alicia, Paulina (Chilean exchange student in my class), and 3 other girls practiced our African dance for gym class because we need to perform it this Friday, which should be interesting to say the least.

Nov. 30- I didn't have the first 2 classes, so I was all excited to sleep in and then go to the next 2 classes, but whoops I slept through my alarm and woke up 6 minutes before needing to be at the bus, and since the busses are usually a few minutes late I ran there trying to make it, but I didn't, so I got 2 more classes off! Then I didn't have language school, so instead I just took the bus and hung out with some of the exchange students from my school.
That night my family presented me with the Christmas advent calendar which is this really tall doll with 24 little presents tied to it! It was really nice and is now hanging on the back of my door in my room and I get  to open one every day!

my new family

risengrød

Christmas calendar



Dec. 1- I went to school and then Alicia was moving that day to Gamborg also, so I went to her family's house and helped her finish packing. I also got my 2nd lovely package from my family, which was filled with some American foods I was missing! I shared some with Nora (Austria) and Alicia and then we kinda lounged for awhile until we needed to leave to Gamborg, then we rushed and packed really fast. That night I went over to Alicia's after dinner and I can already tell it will be really nice living so close ( a 5 minute walk if I go fast). It will be really good during those times when there is nothing to do at home or with friends from school.

Dec 2.- There was a Fredags Cafe after school so Nora and I went together and Martin (from my class) taught us how to make the Christmas hearts, which was very nice of him!
Then Nora, Katharina (Germany), Alicia, and I went to Odense for the rest of the day to shop since the stores were open late. I only bought one shirt and then we ate at McDonald's since it's cheap and we are poor exchange students. It was a nice evening, just shopping and seeing Odense all decorated for Christmas. I slept at Alicia's that night because the next day we went to Copenhagen!

Katharina (Germany), Nora (Austria), Alicia,and me in Odense


Dec. 3- Alicia's previous host family (Lis and Jens) kindly took us with them  to Copenhagen and Alicia and I spent the morning shopping (I only bought 2 things) and then went to Tivoli to see the Christmas decorations. It was nice in Tivoli, but pretty cold. We just walked around and took some pictures. We also sat with the Julemand (Santa Claus) and took a picture. Then we took the train to  Lyngby to meet up with Lis and her daughter who lives there and we had a nice dinner of sushi. Then we went and picked up Jens from his party and drove home. We got home kinda late so we just stayed up for awhile watching tv and then fell asleep.
Yeah this store had some not so American foods haha- things I don't even think we have in America, but there were some things that were so tempting to buy, but I resisted the urge to buy a $5 snapple. 

waiting to see Julemand (santa claus)

In Tivoli

Tivoli

Tivoli

Tivoli


The next day we just relaxed because my host parents and Jonas were also recovering from a party at Brian's work.

Dec. 5- School, then that night Alicia, Mie, Jette, Morten (Alicia's host father), and I went to Middelfart Interwheel (the wives and daughters of Rotarians club) and Alicia, Mie, and I gave short speeches in Danish about our time here and a bit about home and for Mie about Australia. Then there was a long meeting with the woman reading a long book in Danish, going over notes from other surrounding Interwheel clubs. At one point they said something about an exchange student named Francisco and Alicia and I started laughing so hard even though it wasn't very funny because we are friends with him and it was just so random that his name was mentioned. I'm sure all the woman thought we were crazy. Then we got to play bingo and win prizes. I won first and chose and got a box of chocolates. then we ate risalamande which is like rice pudding and is very popular around Christmas time. The tradition is that whoever finds the whole almond in their portion is supposed to keep it a secret until all the risalamande is gone and then that person wins a prize. Coincidentally Alicia and I both won this one also and we won candles.


Dec. 6- We were doing this thing called AT, which is like 2 subjects combined and then the kids do a presentation on it. It's somewhat hard to explain, but it was for 4 whole schools days this week and was very boring for me.

Dec. 7- So since AT was really boring and I couldn't do anything the previous day Brian let me skip school, so Alicia came over we ate a nice breakfast together and watched the Amazing Race from in Denmark, which was kinda funny because they were all pronouncing all the names really funny. Then we had language class. I made macaroni and cheese that night for my family and it turned out really well for my first time making it all on my own and only my second time in my life. That night I went to Alicia's to work on our Danish homework, but that didn't turn out so well, we just ended up bugging her host brother while he was skyping with his brother who is in Brazil on exchange.
macaroni and cheese and garlic bread



Dec. 8- So I got to school and it turns out the teacher had canceled the first 2 classes, so Paulina and I just worked on finishing the Danish homework. Then we had language school where we actually accomplished a lot more than usual.

Dec. 9- We did our AT presentation and I said the conclusion in Danish. Then I went shopping with a girl from my class (Sara) to buy winter shoes, which didn't take too long to find a pair I liked!
Then I waited at the train station for Alicia, Emily (from USA), and Nora because were going to a party for the exchange students that are leaving soon since they came last January. there were A LOT of exchange students in Odense that night and it was a really fun night and good to see lots of people. There were mostly Brazilians since those are some of the ones going home soon, but it was a really good time with lots of fun people. I took the train home at 4 in the morning and then slept for 6 hours until it was time to get ready to go out with my family.On the way home it was the first time I had seen snow on the ground here, it was only a little bit and it melted, but still it was snow!

Some nice winter shoes huh?

Just kidding I got much more practical shoes than these. 



Dec 10- It is a tradition in this family that usually Brian's mom takes all the old enough cousins out shopping to buy X-Mas presents for their parents and to a Christmas play in Odense, but this year she couldn't, so Brian took us instead. There were 5 cousins I got to meet and then Mie, me, and Brian, since Jonas couldn't come. We went to a mall in Odense and went around helping the younger ones find their presents. The cousins were all very nice and one had been an exchange student in the US a few years ago. We then went to McDonald's for lunch (geez I have eaten way more McDonalds here in the past 4 months than I have in the past 3 years at home combined I think). I think that was the most I have ever seen spent at McDonalds, close to $100 for lunch haha.
Then we went to the play and I saw most of the first half and understood somewhat what was going one, but then the second half was really confusing and I was really tired, so I napped a tad during that one. Then we went back to Brian's mom's house and had pizza and watched the Christmas calendar on tv. Then we went home and watched a movie on tv and then I went to bed and slept for a nice, long time.


Dec 11- Jette, Brian, and I went for a walk around Gamborg, so I could see the area which was nice. Then I went home and cleaned my room and relaxed the rest of the day since I was still tired from the weekend. We also baked some Christmas cookies, which turned out pretty good! One was pebernødder and the other I can't remember the name of.

pebernødder


Dec 12-
Brian had to drive up north Jutland for work, so he invited me along. We left pretty early (7, so maybe not THAT early, but still it is for me) and started the 3.5 hour drive to a town called Thisted. We stopped at a place along the way in Jelling, which has 2 large stones with writing in Runes (the viking's writing) and was the first place Denmark was mentioned in writing I think. There were also these 2 huge mounds that were burial grounds for vikings and apparently they form a ship shape somehow.
Then we kept driving and tried to find a coffee shop somewhere, but of course in Denmark nothing opens until later and even though it was like 9:30, no shops were open. Finally we got to Thisted and found a cafe where we could have hot chocolate, which was very nice. Then Brian went to his meeting and I stayed at the cafe for awhile and then walked around the town of Thisted a bit.
Then Brian, his coworker, and I went for lunch and then Brian and I were on our way again. We stopped in Klitmoller, which is usually a really good surfing spot, but the wind was coming the wrong way, so there weren't very big waves. Then we started driving home and took a ferry for 10 minutes and then drove home. I slept most of the way, but it was a nice trip getting to see more of Northern Denmark and the differences from Fyn.
rocks in Jelling



Thisted

Klitmoller


Dec 13- It was Alicia's and my first day at the børnehaven (pretty much day care) where we had decided to volunteer. It was a bit tricky at first since the kids were pretty shy and they knew we didn't speak much Danish, but after a little while they became comfortable and we could do some basic talking with them. Luckily we were doing art projects together, so we could use our hands to show things we couldn't explain. I think this will be a fun thing to do and learn some more Danish, since the kids never laugh when we mess up.
Then I went to Kolding with Jette and Mie to go Christmas shopping. It was a nice day and we got a bit of the X-mas shopping done!

Dec 14- We had a language school party for Christmas, which was pretty fun. We played Bingo in Danish and won little prizes. We also ate æbelskiver. Then we exchanged gifts in the German game we were playing called Engel Bengel (pretty much secret santa). Overall it was a nice day.
Then we baked more Christmas desserts- this time with lots of marzipan.
The whole class!


Dec 15- We had language school again, but it was pretty much just talking since it was the last time we would all be there since Paulina (from Chile) and Gustavo (Brazil) are going home in the next 2 weeks. We also had two picture frames for them with a class photo.

That night Alicia, Jette, Mie, Morten (Alicia's host dad), and Frederik (Alicia's host brother), and I all went to the church in Gamborg for the Lucia ceremony. It was a short church ceremony where we sang, and the little kids walked in with their candles and white dresses and Lucia with a candle crown on. Then we went to the Forsamlinghus (community center) and had æbleskiver with a lot of people from Gamborg.

Dec 16- In gym class we had been working on a dance unit and the exchange students were all in the same group (Alicia, Paulina, and me) with 3 other girls, who we didn't know too well. And the dance the other girls chose was African dancing, but we hadn't gotten much practice or prepared much and then that day Alicia and another girl were sick and another just didn't show up. So it was Paulina, another girl, and me doing the African dance. let's just say it was extremely embarrassing.
Then after school I went to Odense to see my neighbor from home, Tanja, who was an exchange student in Denmark 7  years ago and was here visiting her host families. It was good to see someone from home and just talk about the differences between exchange then and now.
Then I went to Alicia's house for awhile and we were supposed to just have a girls night, watching Mean Girls and eating American/Canadian junk, but her host brother and his friends enjoy bothering us, so that plan didn't work too well, but it was a fun night anyways.
Tanja and I


Dec 17- Jette and Brian were having a party for their friends from University that day. There were around 17 of us in total. There was one other girl my age and her name was Nina coincidentally enough. We had a big, long lunch. and then later we spent almost 2.5 hours with everyone going around the table saying the important things that had happened since they last saw each other since they only see each other 2 times a year. Then us younger people just watched a movie and tv shows, while the adults went downstairs to party. It was a nice day, but I was very tired by the end of it.


Dec 18- We had a lazy day once everyone left while Brian and Jette went to get Christmas presents. Then Mie, Brian, Jette, and I went to get the Christmas tree, which only took 5 minutes. It was good just to relax after the party the day before.


So there is the long awaited/needed update. I am sorry it is SO long, but it needed to be done!

I can't believe it is almost Christmas- 5 days for me! There is no snow unfortunately and there will only be snow on Christmas if some miracle happens :(.

And here is a nice photo of the view from my house! It was a really sunny, nice day, which doesn't happen very often this time of year and the past few weeks have been pretty dark and grey.


Farvel for nu, and the next blog post will be a nice jolly holiday one!
Nina















Sunday, November 20, 2011

I know, I know, I've been slacking

Hej alle!
I know I am slowly getting slower at putting these blog posts up, but hey at least they are still being put up at all!
and yes I know I promised to put pictures on photobucket, but it takes SO long, but hopefully soon I will find enough motivation to do that.

Now time for what everyone actually comes here for! To see what I have been doing! At least I think that's why you guys read this?
So in my last blog I left you around November 4th. As I mentioned I had a Rotary get together in Holbæk, which is a town on Sjælland.
It was for all of the exchange students, newbies and oldies. In case you aren't familiar with all this exchange student lingo, I am a newbie and the people who came in December/January of last year are oldies since they will be leaving in December/January of this year. We hadn't met most of the oldies, so it was fun to meet some new people, but I also feel like we all already had our groups of friends and people to talk to, so I didn't meet as many oldies as I would have liked, but hey at least I met a few cool Australians, Brazilians, a South African, and New Zealanders.
Friday (nov. 4th) Alicia and I took the train together from Odense, but the train was pretty late because of some issue, so we missed our 2nd train, but that was fine because we met up with some other exchangies in the Roskilde train station and had another train like 20 minutes later that we could take. On this 2nd train there were a bunch of Brazilians and other South Americans, and one poor American left in all the craziness of Spanish and Portuguese. We all also kind of dominated the sitting area with our bags and things, but no one seemed to mind and they were all a bit interested in us since they kept looking at us.
Then we arrived in Holbæk and there were LOTS more exchange students there waiting to get on the bus to take us to the school we would be staying at. We took a city bus and in total there were only 2 Danish people on the whole bus, the driver and the Rotex helping us. Then we got to the school and had to wait in a not so organized line to get signed in and it took awhile because people kept distracting the person signing us in.
It was nice that at this weekend we could choose where to sleep. There were I think maybe 6 or so rooms and you could just put your stuff in any of them.
That night we just ate pizza, had a disco, and talked with each other since most of us hadn't seen each other since Intro Camp. I think I got to sleep around 3:30 that night.

The next day we had breakfast of what else, but Bread as it seems we always eat a lot of at Rotary events. Then we had a couple hours to explore Holbæk on our own, which was pretty fun. I went off with Kirsten (from Canada), Marisa (from USA) and we went shopping a bit, then walked by the water and took pictures and then through a park, where I made them take lots of pictures of me, and them since I was the only one not used to a "real" fall where the leaves all change colors.




Then we came back and had lunch. Then it was time for activities. There was pumpkin carving on the schedule along with some sports, but since Simran (India) had never carved a pumpkin we all wanted to do that, but we later learned the people who had promised us the pumpkins couldn't deliver them anymore for some reason, so we just watched the soccer game for a bit and then went inside since it was so cold.

That night we had a Halloween party and my costume was a California girl. And no I didn't just wear my regular clothes and say I was that, I wore a California t-shirt, shorts, flip flops, the California flag as a cape, and sunglasses to compete the look.
We had a dinner that night and it was fun with everyone dressed up, with some being more creative than others. Rotary was there for dinner and our show. People that wanted to had signed up for different acts for our entertainment. A bunch of us from the US were going to sing Party in the USA, but then people slowly started backing out and we never really practiced, so we just decided not to do it. The rest of the performances were singing, a dance battle between Latinos and Brazilians (that was really fun and funny), an Australian dance, a slideshow for the oldies since they will be leaving soon, and some more. They also had a battle of the countries in singing our national anthem as fast as we could and as much as we could in 30 seconds. Let's just say America did not do so well.  It's hard to sing it to a different tune and really fast when most of us barely know all the words to it, but it was still hilarious.



Then we had another disco that night and could just hang out and talk also.  I did a mix of both, but somehow I ended up at 5:30 still talking with 4 other exchange students, then I realized I really should get some sleep, so we all went and passed out. People kind of just slept wherever they wanted, so there were people all over couches and the ground and in the hallways, pretty much anywhere you could find a semi comfortable spot.

Sunday we were woken up and had to pack all our stuff before we got breakfast. Then there was a few goodbye songs for the oldies and it was pretty sad watching them all and realizing that would be us in some months. It's really scary how fast the time is going and I don't really like to think how many months I have been here or how many I have left.

Sunday I came home and just relaxed and then Monday I got to stay home from school because my host parents couldn't really drive me there or pick me up, so that was nice to get some extra sleep after only have 8 for the whole weekend.
All of the exchange students


Tuesday and Thursday I am kind of having trouble remembering what I did, but I don't think there was anything too special.
Wednesday was a day called Operation Dagsværk, where we had the day off from school and if you wanted you could raise money for building schools ( I think) in Peru. I went to Odense for the day with 4 girls from my class and we sold cake. In total we made over $100 US dollars on just selling the cake for 90 cents each piece. It was a nice day and I liked being able to bond a bit more with people from my class. Then after that I went to a girl's house who is in my class and we watched a movie and I talked to her parent's a bit in Danish. Then we went to another girl in my class's house to have dinner with 7 other people from my class. It was really tasty and a nice end to a good day.

I found this sign- apparently California has special chicken

The dinner with some kids from my class


Friday we had a Gymnasium Party that night, so I got ready at my house and then went to a girl in my class's house for the pre-party. The gym party was all right, but there was some Danish rappers that weren't very good especially since I couldn't understand them. Then Alicia came home to my house for the weekend.
Saturday we woke up nice and late and then went shopping Odense with another exchange student from our school, Katharina from Germany. It was nice and I bought a couple of things, but we kinda forgot that stores close around 3 or 4 on Saturdays, so we had to finish earlier than we planned. It's so weird having Saturday be a short shopping day where back home that's one of the bigger shopping days. We ate at McDonald's because Alicia wanted it and it's cheap, but she had fun saying the American (me) was in her natural habitat and finally at home.


That night we ate dinner with my family and then watched movies and ate junk food.
Sunday we made an American breakfast for my family, consisting of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. It turned out pretty well and I have now made pancakes twice in my life all on my own!
Then we spent the rest of Sunday being lazy and taking pictures outside again because of the beautiful fall leaves and my obsession with them.

Monday nothing really happened.
Tuesday one of the exchange students I had become friends with was sent home, which was a sad day for all of the exchange students and we tried to support him the best we could.

Wednesday: Alicia and I were supposed to go see Twilight: Breaking Dawn with the boy who got sent home, but since we had already bought our tickets we still went. Before that though Alica, Nora (from Austria), and I went to Alicia's house to get her things for the movie and somehow we just ended up lying on the floor in her laundry room because the floor was warm and heated and we were freezing from our walk home. Then we went to a restaurant called Asia with Gustavo (from Brazil) since he is going home in December since he's been here since January. Also, I kinda made them go since I was really wanting Chinese/Japanese food. It was pretty good and definitely filled my craving for Asian food for awhile.
Then Alicia and I went to the movie. It was in English with Danish subtitles and at one point the subtitles said "hjem i fart" or something like that which really just has to do with home and speed, but Alicia and I had both been reading the subtitles at the point and started laughing because to us it was funny, but of course no one else found that phrase funny.

Thursday my Mormor (host -mother's mom) picked me up from the bus station and we went to her house and had tea and bread which she had made. It was really good! And then we went to her friend's shop where he fixes clocks and it was actually pretty cool seeing all of those really old clocks. Some were around 300 years old and one even had it's original paint. Then I saw the daycare where my Mormor works sometimes and it was pretty much the same as an American daycare, but it was nice to see. Then I went home and had the usual Thursday night pizza with my family.





Friday I deleted my English essay by accident, so I had to rewrite it all since it was due that night. That was not so fun, because then I got writer's block on what to write about since I couldn't remember my other one very much. Then I watched most of the 2nd part of the last Harry Potter movie with my family. Yes, Katie I actually watched Harry Potter. I didn't really know what was happening though because I haven't seen most of them.


Saturday I slept kinda late since I was really tired. Then later that day my host mom and I started on Thanksgiving dinner. We made the cranberry sauce and pumpkin (butternut squash instead- we couldn't find pumpkin) pie. Then my host mom made some caramels, which tasted really good!
That night we watched the last episode of Bingo Banko for this season and then 2 movies. I was kinda proud of myself for staying up to 12:30 since I usually go to bed fairly early here, but it may be because I had slept until 11:15....

Sunday I woke up at a bit more of a reasonable time and had breakfast with my family. Then I just kinda hung our for the day until it was time to start making Thanksgiving dinner. I made the stuffing and then my host mom made the mashed potatoes, turkey, green beans, and gravy. I invited 3 girls from my class to come celebrate with us. It was a very nice, hyggeligt night and all the food tasted almost as it should! The pie was a bit thinner than usual, but it was fine still and I'm pretty proud of making a butternut squash pie all the way from scratch, since they don't sell cans of filling here. Before dinner started I had everyone say what they were thankful for, which was nice and heartwarming haha. Overall it was a good night and I'm glad I got to have Thanksgiving in Denmark (even if it was a few days early). And to all you people from my Thanksgiving back home who may or may not be reading this: I wore my 25th Annual shirt in the spirit of Thanksgiving! And I hope Thanksgiving is good for everyone this year!!






Now highlights from this last week:
Monday I brought more pumpkin pie into class to share with my class and most seemed to like it!

Thursday I went to downtown Middelfart after school and finally got my NEM ID, which means I can finally get my bus card, which gives me free train rides on Fyn also! Then I went home and watched some of the Macy's Day parade online, which was really nice. That night I skyped with my mom and dad and sister and it was nice to see and talk to them for a while since I have only skyped with them each once since I have been here.

Friday we had gym class and we are working on making dances in groups to perform in a few weeks to our class. The group all the exchange students were put in (Alicia, Paulina, and I), is doing African dancing, which should be interesting to do in front of 2 classes. Then that night I watched a Christmas movie with my family and started packing since I move on Sunday.

Saturday: Today I woke up at 5:45 to skype with my whole family that was at my parent's house and it was nice and kinda funny to see them all trying to skype! Then I went back to sleep because in my opinion there is not much of a reason to be up that early on a Saturday. Then today I finished packing and took some pictures of Morud before I move tomorrow.




To end this post I want to put what I'm thankful for: I'm so thankful for all of the wonderful people I have met so far, and the wonderful experiences I have had. I am thankful for my family and friends back home who have supported me through this and encouraged me to go on exchange! I will see you all before I know it! All in all I am thankful for where I am right now.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! ( a few days late)

Farvel for nu,
Nina

(and if you want to see the pictures bigger just click on them!)



Monday, November 7, 2011

What I've been up to these last few weeks!

Hej!
So I figured it was time to tell everyone what I have been up to these past couple of weeks since I haven't done a post in a little while.
As I said in my last blog I was on holiday for a week from school and I will just go over the main highlights of the week!
Wednesday (10/19) my host parents didn't have work, so we took a trip to the west coast of Jutland. It was very windy and we could pretty much be held up by the wind. The water was nice to see and it was a good day to be there since the weather was a bit wilder because then we got to see the waves. It was somewhat similar to Northern California beaches, but way windier! We also drove through the military base and saw the tanks and trucks returning from practice. Then we went to a small town called Ribe where we ate lunch in a small restaurant that was really just an old house turned into a restaurant. There were I think just 2 different small rooms with tables, so it was very hyggelig (Danish word with no direct translation just cozy, nice as the closest translations). We then went to Ribe Domkirke (Ribe Cathedral), which is very old and famous. It was a beautiful church with a big organ. Then it started raining, so we ran to the car. Then we went to a town and saw a lighthouse and the levee where they had some poles that showed how high the water had gotten during different storms. Then it was off to just past the border into Germany to buy candy, soda, and beer since it is much cheaper in Germany. We stocked up and then headed back to Morud.







Thursday (10/20) was I finally got to go to the foreign service registration place to fill out the papers for my Danish CPR number since my visa paperwork finally came!! Then it was Chris' 12th birthday. We went go karting and then out to dinner at an American restaurant called Bones. During go karting I kind of crashed into the barrier walls a bit, but I was fine it just took a few minutes to get the kart out, but I promised my family I drove much better in a real car. Then I just sort of took it easy driving for the rest of the time we had go karting, so I came in last place, but that's fine with me since I don't want any broken bones! Then we had dinner. It was a really good ribs place. They had a bottle of California wine on the table, co of course that was the wine my host parents had to have ;). Then we went to a candy shop and then headed home where we watched a movie. It was a really nice and fun day.




Saturday (10/22) my whole family came over for Chris' birthday breakfast. There was some of Jytte's family and some of Niels' family. It was nice to meet everyone and we had a delicious breakfast. I had peanut butter on one of my pieces of bread and that started quite the discussion about peanut butter. Then some of the daring family members decided to try it, but no one liked it, they were all pretty grossed out haha.
We watched Bingo Banko also and I was only 4 away from winning, which was pretty close for us, but maybe next time!!



Sunday I can't really remember if I did anything too exciting, but I don't think so.

Then Monday (10/24) I only had 2 classes in the morning, so Jytte and I decided it was kind of pointless for me to get up at 6:30 to go to school for an hour and a half and then have to wait 3 hours for the first bus, so I got to stay home and just sleep and relax, which was nice.

Tuesday (10/25) I had my last soccer practice. It was pretty fun, we just played a mini game the whole time and then some tv station came to film us playing because the town I play in, Veflinge, has to close it's elementary school, so for some reason they are making a video about it and our soccer team got to be in it. Then we had a dinner with the team where we ate burritos (they call them Mexican pancakes here) and played a foosball tournament. It was a  fun way to end the season, but I'm sad I won't be able to see the team very often once I move to Gamborg in around a month.

Then on Thursday (10/27) Alicia and I did our presentation in Danish class on the psychiatric hospital and it went pretty good. Then Alicia and I had decided to carve pumpkins, so I slept at her house that night also. We walked to her new host familie's house with 2 pumpkins, our back packs, and my bag of gym clothes and sleepover stuff, so we must have looked pretty funny. Cadu (from Brazil) also came with us since he is living in Middelfart right now. We had a fun day just hanging out and laughing a lot. We had a delicious dinner with Alicia's host parents who are really funny and nice.  Alicia and my first 4 classes had all been canceled for the next day, so we got to sleep in, which was really nice. Then we made pancakes from scratch while listening to some Danish and Disney music. We also worked on our pancake flipping (without a spatula) techniques, which was really funny and entertaining even though the pancakes got a bit destroyed from being flipped over and over again. Then we went to school to 2 hours and the day was done! Then I went back to Alicia's house and we hung out until her host parents were home. They brought us to a bigger town called Kolding, where we went shopping, but Alicia and I were just feeling really poor and everything was so expensive, so we only bought one pair of shoes each. It was a fun, yet depressing shopping trip just because shops are SO expensive. The cheaper option is H & M, but even that is more expensive than H & M back home. Then I came home to Morud  and it was nice to be home again. We just watched a movie and then I went to sleep!



Saturday (10/29)- My host parents had a party to go to, so Chris and I were home the day, but Jytte's mom and her friend came over for dinner, which was really good and we mostly talked in Danish, so that felt good how much I could understand. Then Chris and I watched Bingo Banko and fell asleep on the couch until my host parents got home.

Monday (10/31) I gave a presentation in Chris' class. He's in 6th grade here and I just spent the whole day at his school. I told about California, the United States, and they asked me LOTS of questions, which were fun to answer and I made brownies for them which they seemed to love. It was interesting just to see how an elementary school is here in Denmark. Then I went to a Rotary meeting that night.



Tuesday: (11/1) I went to the movies that night with Jytte and Chris to see the newest Tin Tin movie in 3D and it was really fun. It was my first time at a Danish movie theater and they are a bit different than American theaters. First of all you get assigned seats (you can decide whether you like the one's they offer you or not), but you have seats you have to sit it. Then you go in and buy food and you just grab what you want, like popcorn is already served in bags and there is no butter popcorn :(, just extremely salty popcorn. It was a fun night even though we got back a bit late.

Wed (11/2): That night I had a Spanish class field trip to a city called Kolding which is on Jutland. it was to go see a movie about abortion and the laws regarding it in Nicaragua. I went there with 2 girl from my class and the Spanish teacher drove us since we live the farthest from school I think and he had room. The first hour and a half was a lecture in Danish on what we were going to see and then there were 3 questions asked (one by a boy in my class named Martin who I know might read this- thanks for continuing my boredom ;) ) and he spent like 10 minutes answering each one, so I was a tad annoyed/bored during that part. Then the movie came and I wasn't sure what language to expect, but it ended up being in Spanish with Danish subtitles and they talked really fast, so I was a bit lost the whole time and I ended up falling asleep for some of it. To my defense I was really tired also, but that was not my favorite movie for sure. Then I got back at 11, which is the latest I have stayed up in awhile. Yes, I know I am like an old lady here, but I get so exhausted every night and my family tends to go to bed earlyish, so hey why not get more sleep?

Thursday (11/3)- I went to soccer. I thought I had gone to the last outdoor practice, but they won their school team soccer game, so they needed to keep practicing. It was good to see them all again and it was a nice practice. Then at the end they completely surprised me with a t-shirt with a picture of the team and I <3 VM Pigerne (Veflinge-Morud girls) on it. I almost cried because it was so sweet. They really made my first months great and fun even though I was pretty new to soccer. They helped me a lot and taught me lots of Danish. I met some of the sweetest people and I hope I will still be able to see them once I move, which is coming so soon!

Friday: I got to leave early from school (missed history- YES!) because I had to go home and pack and then go to the Odense train station to go to the Holbæk for a Rotary get together for the weekend.
I wil write a short post about the weekend late this week since I think and I know all of you do too that this post is WAY too long.


Well there's what I have done! I hope I remembered everything that was important!
Farvel for nu,
Nina