All good things come to an end.

Hej alle,
So I am sitting here and it is now technically the morning of my flight. I can't even believe how fast this year has gone. I have experienced so much and learned  a lot about myself, cultures, and so much more. I have done more things than I can imagine in a year, seen more places. This year has been one the the hardest, but also the best year of my life. Denmark has become a second home to me that I know I will be back to visit one day. There is so much I will miss.
I'll miss:
the green landscapes

Odense

quiet streets
quaint houses
the exchange students I am so lucky to be friends with
the Danes I can now call my friends
nights out in town
speaking Danish
language school class
bus rides
train rides
the lightness in summer
my freedom here
being asked to say rød grød med fløde
Danish food (frikedella, flæskestej, rugbrød, remoulade, koldskål, and much more)
Danish parties
flags everywhere for celebration
all the cute, little old traditions
Danish music
Dancing around the Christmas tree
the golden fields at spring time
being able to travel across the country in less than 6 hours

 

going swimming in freezing cold water simply because I don't  know when I'll do it again
ridiculously priced Baresso coffee
french fries in Kvickly with Alicia and Nora
my host families
sitting by the water

being able to call my best friends whenever I wanted because we were all in denmark
quiet walks
forgetting what time it is because it's so light out
having almost no homework
the good summer day weather
the funny old drunk men at the train station
the way everyone knows each other in some way or another or has mutual friends
running into exchange students everywhere I go
going to preschool
getting so excited over a sunny day
2c (my class)
seeing castles
Rotary
Being an exchange student.


Those are only some of the many things i will miss. My Danish life has been amazing and I am so sad it is coming to an end. So much has changed this year that I can't even begin to wrap my mind around it. In 32.5 hours I should be back in California. That is the weirdest feeling ever and it still doesn't feel real. This year has been more than I ever wanted and I am so thankful for it. Thank you to everyone who helped me through it and who read my blog throughout the year. Thank you to everyone I've met and I will never forget this year and what it's taught me. I got the best life experiences any 16-17 year old could ask for. I traveled to 11 different countries this year, learned a new language, made best friends, made friends from all over the world, gained family, and learned about myself.
Denmark will always have a place in my heart. <3

Tusind tak for alt Danmark! Jeg kommer til at savner dig rigtig meget. Tusind tak til alle mennesker jeg har mødt og har hjulpet mig. Det har være den bedste år i mit liv og jeg kan ikke tænke over hvordan det er færdig. Jeg elsker dig, Danmark og du er altid i mit hjerte.


farvel for nu,
Nina

Euro tour and the month of June-so busy I can't remember what I have done half the time

Hej alle,
So clearly I did not do well with that one last update promised before euro tour, but just be glad you are getting an update before I travel home because it is insanely busy right now. I mean EVERY single day has one thing planned on it at least and there are so many more things I want to do.

So I'm just gonna go really quickly over what I have been up to and whatnot since last update.

Eurotour: summary:  18 days, 8 countries, 50 exchange students in red sweatshirts, 4 adults, 1 bus. So pretty much it was crazy.
We were in Berlin,Germany where we saw the Holocaust memorial, saw the Berlin wall, went on a 6 man bike, and enjoyed the city.

We stopped at Theresienstadt- a concentration/work camp. It was interesting to see.

We were in Prague, Czech Republic where we saw the old castle and Royal Palace and saw a water/lights show.

We went to Vienna, Austria. I ate wiener schnitzel, saw a beautiful colorful church, went to an art museum, broke my camera, and rode on the world's oldest ferris wheel. We saw Schönbrunn Palace and another castle.

We went to Lido di Jesolo, Italy near Venice. I bought a new camera, we soaked up the sun, swam, got a little tan, walked the streets of Venice, ate pasta, ate pizza, ate gelato, went to Milano and saw glass blowing, went for a long walk on the beach at sunset, met Rotary exchange students on their Euro Tour from Germany, and played sports on the beach.

We were in San Remo, Italy for one night where  we walked on the beach and relaxed.

We were in Monaco for a few hours where we saw Formula 1/ Grand Prix racing, saw expensive cars, went wading in the beautiful blue water, saw the castle, and overall enjoyed the rich life.

We were then in Avignon, France. We ate macaroons and croissants, we saw one of the famous bridges in Avignon, went swimming/wading under the bridge, saw St. Pierre Church, and finally did laundry!

We went to Paris, France. We went on a night time boat tour, I slept in a room with 12 other girls, we saw the Eiffel Tower lit up, Alicia and I climbed the Eiffel Tower (the line was shorter to climb, than to take the elevator-1.5 hour wait for elevator-no wait for climbing), we saw Notre Dame, we took an enormous amount of photos in front of the Eiffel Tower, I kissed 3 of my good friends in front of the Eiffel Tower, we got lost on the Metro and ended up on the outskirts of Paris, we went to the Louvre- saw Mona Lisa and were about as excited as we should have been, got French perfume, we locked 3 locks on the lock bridge between 10 of us close friends, we ate French Onion soup, I ate escargot,  we figured out the metro, we sat under the Eiffel tower and just relaxed, and I ran into my aunt and uncle randomly at a cafe IN PARIS- what are the odds, and I an amazing day alone in Paris with one of my best friends.

We went to Brussels, Belgium- we saw the Einstein atom statue, walked around the town, were disappointed by the peeing boy statue, ate mussels and french fries, ate Belan waffles, ate belgian chocolate sitting in a square in Brussels.

We went to Amsterdam. We went on a canal tour and walked the streets smelling pot everywhere.
We slept just outside of Amsterdam. We met some German kids on a study trip. We had a great last night at the hotel. We signed flags, shared memories, took pictures, and enjoyed our last moments together.

Euro Tour was the best trip of my life. We took thousands on pictures (I personally took 1,700), played guitar/sang, played cards on the bus, became better friends with each other, ate abnormal amounts of haribo, pringles, and bread, didn't sleep much, and spent lots of money. It is hard to describe something that was so amazing, but it is definitely the best trip of my life and I am so happy I got to share it with the people I did.

Now for after I got back from Euro Tour:

-I went to a class party the day I got back from Euro Tour- so I was exhausted and it was so weird but also nice to speak Danish again.

-Went to Humlemagasinets gardens and saw all the figures of previous royalty of Denmark.\

-Took a Spanish years test at school.

-Met Isabel's (from California) parents and celebrated our friend Francisco's birthday.

-Saw the Queen of Denmark in Middelfart in the POURING RAIN.

-Went to our last G2G in Haderslev. It was a great ending. we had a tour of the town, went to a meeting with the mayor, and painted some pictures for the Rotary district conference. We also played sports and enjoyed our last time together.

-I slept at my friend Iago's (from Brazil) house with Shirley from South Africa and just rested after another weekend of no sleep.

-Hung out with some Brazilians for the last time.

-Had a sleepover at our friend Lulu's house since she was leaving soon and ate a whole cake pretty fast.

-Slept at Nora's house a few times. Enjoying our last few times of us all together sitting in her bed.

-I went to Copenhagen for a big exchange student goodbye party. So I shopped, met up with lots of people, and saw the last things I wanted to see in Copenhagen.

-I went to Bakken with Tina, Benjamin, and Jared. It's the world's oldest amusement park and we had a great day with good weather luckily.

-I went and stayed with Jaz one last time and we went to Frederiksborg castle and watched the Denmark Germany soccer game in the Europe Finals-Denmark lost.

-I spent the day in Copenhagen with Anthony (from Canada), and Martha (from Mexico), and Pia,and Guadalupe (both from Argentina). Then I met up with Linea (exchange student to California last year).

-Got together with my class for one last party. They were celebrating being done with school and especially their math exams, so they burned their papers. I also learned some more Danish summer games.

-Planned a surprise birthday party for Alicia that throughly surprised her and gave her a great day that she will never forget.

-Went to a 18th birthday party for a girl in my class and had a good time seeing some people from my class and people I have kinda known all year.

-Went to Mie's 18th birthday party at my 2nd host family's house.

-Made rice crispies for Tina's work since they thought they were the weirdest thing when they heard about them.

-Went to a Rotary meeting.

-Spent the day with Nora, Ruby, Nok Nahm, and Alicia as our last time all together before leaving.

-Went to Haderslev for our friend Emily's rotary graduation party. And went swimming the next morning with her host mom.

-Went to Kolding and shopped with Alicia and Martha and saw Koldinghus (a castle).

-Went to Vejle to visit a bunch of people there and see them for their graduation.

-Said goodbye to Nora which was hard/weird to do.

-Went to Jonas' graduation party.


As you can see it has been simply crazy the last few weeks. Literally every day has something I have/want to do. It's a weird emotional time right now for a lot of reasons and I'm trying to deal with it all. I just want to have a good last 10 days here in Denmark and spend time with the people who mean so much to me.

I will try and do one more post before I leave, but we'll see.

farvel for nu,
Nina