Hyggeligt

Hey everyone! It has been a long time again so I'm sorry for that. But I have a lot to tell you all too. The word "hyggelidt" that I named this post is a Danish word that doesn't translate to English. The closest translation would probably mean cozy, fun, or nice but in Danish it can be more then that. It is a lifestyle. The danish life is "hyggelidt" they always lite candles, they eat cake, and drink tea. It can't get much cozier then that. Anyways, around this time of year Denmark is very hyggelidt. As the days are getting shorter and the darkness is coming sooner more candles are being lit, more people are cuddling up on the couch, and most importantly more food is being eaten! Nowadays the darkness comes at around 4:30 maybe and it doesn't get light until around 7:15 in the morning, and they will continue to get shorter and shorter throughout these next few months until spring when we will finally get an abundance of light. The darkness may sound bad but as I was saying, Danish people make the most of it. All the towns around me, including Copenhagen, are getting decorated with Christmas lights and everywhere you go there are candles burning and hot tea being served. As for the food, it is awesome! Danish people are known to eat a lot around Christmas, whether it is the delicious Christmas cookies everyone buys called Pedder Nodder (I think I am addicted) or the traditional Danish dinners like Flæskesteg (consisting of roasted pork with a crackling around it and served with potatoes and a brown gravy), it is all good. Though I'm not much of a slab of meat kinda person I have enjoyed all the traditional Danish meals I've had here and look forward to bringing the recipes back to the USA. I look forward to Christmas here, though I will miss my family a lot. I also am a little sad I won't be home for Thanksgiving which is just around the corner. I can only imagine the mix of delicious dishes my Dad will cook up this year. Lucky for me I will be creating a mini Thanksgiving though on Wednesday for my host family, it won't consist of much but at least I will have Pumpkin Pie and Mashed Potatoes! Well anyways, I have been quite busy recently. Before I wrote about going to a water park called Lalandia, that was a ton of fun! We just stayed for the weekend but we all had a great time and there was wonderful company. Of course the waterpark wasn't quite as big as Raging Waters or something of the sort but it was nice and there was a lot of sweet families there. The next weekend was my Rotary Get Together weekend. That was so awesome! It was so great to see all my Rotary friends again and meet new people as well. We enjoyed good food and even had a DJ and live band at night as well as a costume party due to the fact that it was around Halloween. The weekend after that was my trip to Oslo! It was so much fun. We took a boat over night on Saturday and arrived in Oslo Sunday morning with 7 hours to explore the city. The only problem was that it was a bit rainy actually and we had a hard time finding shops that were open on Sunday. In Denmark and Norway the idea to stay open for even a bit on Sunday is new to them, but more and more shops are doing it now. We ended up finding some cool places though and got to see the Royal Palace and the beautiful Opera House. After the Opera House we tried to find some place to get a hot chocolate but weirdly enough we couldn't find anywhere! We ended up just grabbing some tea, but the warmth was nice after a long day in the cold! Last weekend (Nov 16-18) was the weekend I moved in with my new host family. I moved in midday on Saturday and my old host family and new one had some tea and treats together. It was sad saying goodbye to my first host family, my host mother and I were almost brought to tears, but I know I can see them and visit them whenever I want and nowhere in Denmark is far away so I know I will stay in touch. My new host family is really great, they have two kids: the daughter, Lise (20) and the son, Johan (16). They are both beyond sweet and so far we have got along super great. The host mother and father: Mogens (father) and Janne (mother) are very nice as well and they both work in Copenhagen. I am enjoying myself so much here already and I am all moved into my new room now. I will keep updating on how it is here when I get more adjusted though. Well this friday is my Gala, which is kind of the equivalent of prom so I am very excited. I got a dress for it and I will get ready and have dinner with some Danish friends from my class before. There is not much else going on with me. I hope everyone is doing well and hopefully someone at least still reads my blog every once and while even though I am so bad at updating! Sending love and Danish hyggelidt.

It has been forever!

Wow, I am so sorry folks that I haven't posted in a month. With adjusting to this country and making friends, I am becoming busy constantly. The past month has been absolutely wonderful. I have done soo much and now I feel ever more like a dane. The most important things to cover is what I have been up to recently I think. The past week was our October vacation (kind of the equivalent of Thanksgiving break). At the beginning of the week I was able to go on a small trip with my host family. We got to go to the island of Jutland and stay with my host moms mother. A very sweet lady, but she doesn't speak much english. We had dinner with my host mom's sister and her husband one night too and it was a very nice time. It has become very normal for me over here to have a glass of wine with dinner. My host parents and whichever hosts of dinner generally offer it. I think it will be very strange going home and not being able to casually enjoy a glass of wine at dinner. Anyways, after spending a day or two with my host grandma, we went to the north-east part of Jutland and stayed in a beach side apartment with another family that was friends with my host family. They had three kids who were 14, 16, and 9 so we had a good time. It was too bad though because it was very rainy so we spent a lot of the time drinking tea and playing board games. I got home from Jutland mid week and was able to enjoy some days relaxing and was actually able to go to a couple of parties. I made a very good danish friend name Karoline who lives right down the street from my house and I was actually able to spend a day at her school before break, so that I was able to experience a different danish school then just mine. It was fun and I was invited to a party with her class, which we went too over the week and it was very fun. I enjoyed the break a ton and loved being able to sleep in. Today is my first day back in school and believe me, it was hard to get up this morning. It's almost always difficult to go to school knowing that I already graduated back home and that my grades don't count at all. But on the other hand, school is fun and I get to socialize with more danish people too. Another interesting thing that happened in the past month is that I was actually able to get a visit from a good friend in California that is living in London this year. Flights from London to Copenhagen are very cheap and she came for just a weekend. We had a great time and ended up exploring Copenhagen a lot. We went to a couple art museums which were very great and we also went to all the pretty sights in Copenhagen. I try to go into Copenhagen a lot because I think its such a interesting and cultural city. Theres so much stuff I want to do and haven't done. I hope that by the time I leave Denmark, I'll be an expert on Copenhagen, but I definitely still have a ways to go since when I usually go to Copenhagen, it is for something and not just too explore. The next weeks will be very busy also, I have got a lot on my plate. Every Tuesday and Thursday I am still learning Danish (although we dont learn much in those classes) and this weekend I will be spending the weekend a ways south of Copenhagen at a water park called Lalandia. Its a tradition for my host family to go there and they always go with my host grandparents (on my host dad side) and my  host uncle and aunt and their two young kids. I think it sounds like a fun time, and hopefully the whole park is inside or else we would all be pretty cold I think. It is getting absolutely beautiful in Denmark by the way. I think there are definitely some pictures to come of the autumn leaves. Most trees are yellow and orange now and there are just shedding their leaves. We all know its going to be winter pretty soon, but I am very excited. I think winter in Denmark sounds pretty great. The months of January and December are very traditional months and they are said to be filled with candles, tea, and delicious food. I think I will enjoy Christmas here very much. In the past month I have been able to have dinner with both of my next two families so finally I have seen my next houses and my next rooms. They both have really nice houses and my rooms are nice too. They also both live fairly close to the train stations so transportation will be easy. Well the weekend after Lalandia I will actually be having a Rotary weekend. It's called a Get Together or G2G. We will spend the weekend staying the night at a high school and hanging out with alll of the exchange students in Denmark. I think it sounds like a pretty great time, I am really looking forward to it. The weekend after that (10th of November) I am even busy also. I will be going with my second host sister (Lise - 19) and two other exchange students on a one night boat cruise over to Oslo, Norway. I can't wait for that because I am so excited to see Norway. Since I am part Norwegian I think it will be cool to see where my ancestors came from and of course just be able to say that I have been to Norway. In mid November I will actually be switching to my next host family also and I think with all the things that are going on in the next three weeks, it will come faster then ever. It's really hard to believe that I have already been here for more then two and a half months. Where has the time gone? But at least I really feel at home here. I wonder how it will be to switch to my next host family and start all over again having to make myself comfortable and too adjust. Part of me is scared to switch but part of me is very excited, I think I will really enjoy my time there. So there it is, all that I have yet to do soon and all I have been doing. I am pretty tired being back in school right now, but I think soon I will readjust to the school schedule. I hope this is enough of an update for all of you and I'm sorry again that it has been so long. Much love, Zoe

Getting Colder In Denmark

Hi, sorry I haven't posted in so long. Everyday is a busy day as an exchange student. I'm not sure why that is but I feel like exchange students are constantly feeling three things: hungry, tired, and confused. Even though those three feelings we are always having fun. My past two weeks have been a lot of fun. I was able to hang out with some exchange friends and some Danish classmates over the weekends and I had great times. Last weekend my host parents ended up spending a weekend in Rome due to my host Moms job and so I stayed with my host Grandparents, which was very nice actually! Usually older people don't speak good English in Denmark but for some reason my host Grandparents on my host Dad's side are very very good at it. We had traditional danish meals. They usually consist of a meat, potatoes, and some kind of veggie (carrots, tomatoes, or cucumbers are common). We also went to a Viking Museum in a town called Roskilde. It was very nice and super interesting. There were boat remains from ages ago that were actually used by the Vikings and a lot of cool life-sized models of boats that we got to check out. After the museum, we went to the most beautiful cathedral. It was up on top of a hill, but sadly they were having a service so we didn't get to see inside.

School has been a lot of fun. I am able to participate in most of my classes and a lot of my teachers give me specific assignments that focus on the US and Denmark, so that is very appreciated. I am looking forward to taking the class trip that I will take with my class in March! We will be going to Manchester, England. I think that will be a lot of fun. This weekend I also have plans to go enjoy a weekend with my host Mom on the opposite side of Denmark. We are going to Denmark's biggest island thats called Jutland. We will be visiting my host Grandmother on Friday and then spending Saturday and Sunday in a town called Aalborg shopping and seeing some of my host Mom's old friends. I think it will be a very good time and if I am lucky one of my exchange friends that lives near Aalborg will come and go shopping with us. I am definitely looking forward to the weekend. Today I will go to Language School in about 20 minutes and we will probably study vocabulary and grammar. I am learning some Danish definitely and at this point I can understand simple Danish. So at least that is a start. I am looking forward to everything that Denmark will bring me. I miss everyone back home, but I love my life here. Hope everyone is well. Knus (like hugs in Danish).

A quick hello.

Hello my loved ones, right now I am sitting in school. One might think it's odd that I'm on the computer but actually its very normal over here in Denmark. EVERYONE brings their computers to school and the teachers expect the students too and base some of the lessons around them. I would be paying attention but I am in the class that the school counselor told me "was pointless to take", I am in Danish, but as our english classes back home, they aren't learning basic Danish of course but analyzing complex text and things of the sort. This is all very difficult given that my Danish is still at a very low level. I am proud to say though that I am picking it up. My host family is really really great and we always practice and speak in Danish. I am picking up a lot of regular day phrases such as "How was your day?", "Good night", "Please pass the..", even if it is not much it's definitely stuff that I will need to know to because fluent in Danish like I hope. I have been having language school after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays too which is very fun. We have a big group of exchange students from the area all together in one class and we are always joking around and having a good time, while of course studying a ton of Danish. I will definitely try hard to know as much Danish as possible before I come home because it is really important to me that as well as completely giving myself to the Danish culture, I learn the language. I have been enjoying myself in Denmark a lot and I have more or less moved on from missing Intro-Camp and gotten used to the regular life in Hillerod again. I do miss my friends from camp a lot still though but we have been able to keep in touch and I even get to see some of them in Copenhagen this weekend. Well I should probably keep it short, so I hope to hear from all of you soon! Much love.

Intro Camp!

Wow! I have been so busy recently. So I am very sorry to all my fans (haha) for not posting for a week or so. I went to the party at my school and it was very fun. All my classmates were very friendly and the party was fun, a lot of dancing. It was different because there was beer being served there, at a school event, so strange! Over all I had a very good time though. After the party I had a few difficulties because I was told to take the train home but I didn't know it wasn't running because of track maintenance so I ended up waiting there for two hours and then eventually calling my host family and taking a bus home, so it all worked out in the end. The next day I had a block party in my neighborhood and I had one of my exchange student friends named Alicia come over and we made mac and cheese for it together as an American dish. Yum! It was great to taste some American comfort food. We then when and spent the night at her house, by Copenhagen, and in the morning got on the bus to go to Intro Camp. Intro camp was a camp where we studied Danish and met all the new Rotary exchange students from all over Denmark. We were 150 exchange students in total and we were from all over the world, from Brazil to USA. It was so amazing being able to meet and stay with all these people who were going through exactly through what I am going through. We stayed in something like a boarding school and we each had a dorm with a roommate or two. My roommate ended up being one of my closest friends by the end of the week. Her name is Carmen and she is from Ithica, New York, we got along very very well and I loved rooming with her. I also made a ton of other friends from all over (theres some pictures on my Facebook). We studied six hours of Danish a day and did a ton of fun other things like played pool, swam, cards, a talent show, a live band, and a dance. It was such a great experience and it really was one of the best weeks of my life! We also went into the city of Aarhus one of the days, which is the second biggest city in Denmark, and went to an incredible museum and downtown to shop! I had a truly amazing time. I was a little sad to be leaving but I am happy to be back in my home in Denmark and back with my host family. I had regular school today which went ok, I was still pretty exhausted from Intro Camp because I got back yesterday and it was a long week of studying, fun, and waking up early. I will from now on just keep trying to get into a very normal routine and make friends at school, I have made some, but no close ones yet. I think it is definitely a lot easier to make friends with other exchange students but I definitely wanna have good danish friends too. I love to Danish culture and I am looking forward to truly becoming a Dane. A month has gone by now and it doesn't really seem like it. In some ways it seems like its been forever but in most it feels like it was just yesterday that I got here. Well now I will go run, I have been trying to keep in good shape and eat right, its working pretty well too! Sorry it took so long to post! Hope everyone is good. Much love from Denmark.

Busy Busy

Hi everyone. I have been busy with school and other fun things. The goodbye party for my host sister was a success and I got to meet some of her friends and also some of my host parents friends. I also got to meet my host mom's sister and her two sons (one is 18) who stayed with us for a day traveling from the other side of Denmark to say goodbye to Josefine. After the party we were all tired so we spend Saturday just relaxing. On Sunday it was Josefine's last day and we asked her what she wanted to do and surprisingly she said she just wanted to stay home and say goodbye to the house and her own area. I understand that though. My last night in my own bed was kind of emotional too. But since it was such a nice day on Sunday my host mom and host brother took me to the beach for an hour or two. I actually got some suntanning in.. not that the danish sun is very strong, there was some clouds too. That night we went out to Chinese with my host fathers parents for Josefines last meal. It was pretty good and almost like the Chinese restaurants in the US but this restaurant also was serving sushi and french fries in their buffet. It was pretty odd. That night, or I should say morning, Josefine was taking off from the Copenhagen airport at 4:45 am. We had to be at the airport at 3 am and so we ended up leaving for the airport at 2 am. It was a long night since we didn't get home until around 6 am. I was supposed to go to school at 8 but my host family understand that I would be way too tired to function so they let me sleep in until 11. Anyways my host sister got off well and she has arrived safe in Arizona, so good luck to her! I'm sure she will have a great exchange. The past few days in school have been good. I am definitely getting more adjusted to the Danish school system which is a relief because at first it was hard to figure out. Now I have been able to make my way to my classes and make some friends. The class I'm in is very nice and the teachers and students are both friendly. This Friday there is a party at the school, but parties at their school are MUCH different then in the US. Beer is served and the kids drink with there teachers. It is very hard to get my head around so I will be interested to see how that turns out. Next week I have to go to Intro Camp for all the Rotary exchange students in Denmark. I think its going to be over 125 students so it will be packed. We will be staying in a old school (with rooms for sleeping thankfully) in a town about 4 hours away from me. About as far as you can get in Denmark. I am very much looking forward to Intro Camp, I heard it's a blast and they will teach us a lot of Danish there. I have also started Danish lessons. I have only had one so far but we only learned our birthdays, introductions, and some numbers, which of course are useful things to have. I can't wait until I can maintain a conversation in Danish. I will definitely try to learn as much as I can. Right now I just got home from school and had a snack and I will go for a run pretty soon now. I hope everyone is great!

School in Denmark

Hey guys, sorry it has taken my so long to write another post but I have been busy. In the past few days a lot of things have been happening. Two days ago I got to go and hang out with another exchange student from Oregon in Copenhagen. We walked around and got dinner and surprisingly we were fast friends, it seems like if you are going through the exact same thing you never run out of things to talk about. It was really nice getting to hang out with someone that was going through what I was going through. The next day was my first day of school, yesterday. I arrived at school and someone was there to take me to my class. I was put in the 2nd grade in the Gymnasium. The only have three grades all together and most of the people in my class are about my age. There is also another exchange student from USA in my class. It's been very nice to have her there because it we can figure things out together then. The class I'm in pretty much sticks together the whole day and we have block periods usually, about 2 hours of each subject. The school is very nice but it is hard to be inside all day especially when you can't understand anything the teacher is saying. I am trying to learn though. The kids in my class are fairly friendly.. some more then others but again that's when it is nice to have another exchange student in my class. Don't worry we are very social with the class when we are together, we don't just hang out alone. The first day was pretty good, but very overwhelming, and after words someone from my class invited us (me and the other exchange student Jessica) to go to the beach with them. We said yes and it was very fun but a very short trip. The second day of school, today, was a little more relaxed but still a little hard. I enjoyed myself though and I just got home from taking the train to my town after school. Tonight my host sister, who is going to Arizona on exchange on Monday, is throwing a goodbye party. Many neighbors will come and friends and family. I am excited about that, and I can't wait to meet every one. Well just a short update. Hope everyone is well.

Fun fun fun

Tivoli was great, it is an old amusement park in the middle of Copenhagen and it's so beautiful. There was a ton of fun rides that we went on such as a fast roller coaster called the Demon, and one that moved us all around and got me unfortunately nauseous, called the Monsoon. When the lights came on after dark, it was transformed into a beautiful wonderland. There were so many lights that came on and we walked past a lake with a lit up boat in it and there was lanterns hanging down from the trees. It was definitely a good time for my host siblings and I. We rode almost all the rides (there wasn't too many) and got some dinner of burgers and some dessert of yummy dessert that had all sorts of candy in it, yum. We ended up leaving the park at around 11:30 and it took us another 40 minutes to get home on the train so it was a late night, but it was a lot of fun. Today I had a lazy morning with my host sister and then finally decided to go for a run, luckily its getting easier to run around the lake in my town so hopefully that means I'm getting in better shape then I was. I plan to keep up working out, lets hope it last! Then my host parents came home and they had brought my host grandma called Mar Mar, which means mother's mother, home to stay with us for a few days. She is very sweet and doesn't know much english at all, which is good because then I am learning more danish. My danish is surprisingly improving, maybe not so much with me talking, but at least more with me understanding. We had a good dinner of steak and salad and potatoes and now I am just updating my blog. I am pretty tired from yesterday in Tivoli so I may just have an early night tonight. I am supposed to be starting school on Thursday but I have to go to a meeting at my school on Wednesday to confirm that I will not be starting later! I hope that isn't the case, I don't know why it would be. Nevertheless I am very excited to start! More later. Farvel!

Tea and Tivoli

Hello once again. It has been about a day since I've posted so I will get you all caught up on what I have been doing. When I posted last I was about to go to my counselors house for dinner. That was a very nice time, he picked me up at my house and brought me to his and I got to meet his family, he has two daughters that are 11 and 13 and a lovely wife. They made a delicious dinner that consisted of lasagna (not very danish) and salmon and a salad. Very good and we ate outside since it was a beautiful day. After dinner we had tea and chocolate and talked for a while and briefly watched the Olympics. Denmark has only won 9 medals! Oh no! After dinner I came home to my house and had some more tea with my host family and discussed music, traveling, and the differences between our countries. One of the most interesting differences is the way that Denmark's government uses there taxes. Each family must pay taxes that go to letting EVERYONE in Denmark have a free education (university included), free health care, and many other things including giving money and support to the poor. If you are homeless in Denmark and you have been born there the government will give you food, a house, and a job. So basically, if you are homeless in Denmark you are choosing to live that way. A very interesting idea. Well the day after dinner, yesterday, I got up semi late and hung around with my host sister and her friend and watched some movies that we had rented. I started to feel sick later in the day with a bad headache, stomachache, and fever but I had planned to go to a very nice art museum called Luisiana with my host mom so I just drank a lot of water and was on my way. The museum was beautiful, located right on the ocean with lovely view! It consisted of all kinds of art from sculptures to photography and paintings. It was mostly modern art and was very interesting to look at. I enjoyed that trip very much. Today I am watching Tin Tin with my host sister right now and of course drinking tea, which I do verryyyyy often in Denmark. Good thing I love tea. After we finish this movie we are going to go to a very old and beautiful amusement park in the middle of Copenhagen, its called Tivoli. It was actually Walt Disneys inspiration for Disneyland I have heard. So I am very much looking forward to that. I will let you all know how it goes over there. I have been having a very good time and I feel like a Dane already. Hope everyone back home in the US is doing great. Sending love!

The Trust System

This is just a quick thought I had and wanted to share with everyone. Something I have learned and admired here is Denmark's use of the trust system. The other day I took my first train ride as we went to Copenhagen. The process of getting on the train is quite easy. One would buy a small card and put it into a machine and the machine would print a date on it and a time and then the person would take their card back. No people involved and no crazy gates that you have to open. When I was on the train I realized that no one had come to check that we got our cards stamped (the way of knowing we paid) and I turned to my host sister and asked if that was normal. She said yes and that they rarely come and check your cards. I was surprised to hear that. I guess they can trust the trust system more then anywhere in the U.S. would, my thought was that most people would not pay if that was the case in the U.S. It was strange to me, the next thing I noticed was just a few minutes ago when I was walking by my local shopping center and saw about 20 or 30 bikes placed against the wall or in the bike racks. I looked for locks and them and noticed that there were none, on any of them! Such a weird idea, I feel like everyone back home would be so scared that their bikes would get stolen, and I'm sure some would. I guess no one in Denmark thinks that way.. it is a little bit refreshing knowing that a society is based around something like that. Well, I have to go to dinner now, my counselor is going to pick me up any second now.

Little Notebook

Hello all, I have been having a very good time! Yesterday was very nice, it was a slow day and very windy outside so my siblings and I just hung out in the house for a while. I then decided to take another run and it was very nice, other then the wind that was almost blowing me over. After that my host sister and I went into town and met up with one of her friends name Sophie. We all went out to eat, the place we went had Gyros, but they call them Kebabs. It was pretty yummy. I tried for the first time ordering in Danish, it was a little embarrassing but I'm glad I am trying! I then decided that I should go buy some things I needed and hadn't picked up yet. While I was in the market I decided to by a small journal to carry around with me just in case I wanted to write stuff down while I was out. Especially phrases I was learning. I already started writing in it and I think it will be very helpful. While we were out, we talked about the differences in teenage life from Europe to the US, they were surprised that I had a curfew of 1 am most of High school. They actually thought it was pretty funny. Shows how different the teenage culture is over here. I then ate dinner with my host dad at home, everyone else had eaten and after that he invited me to watch the soccer (or fodbold) game between Denmark and Belgium. Denmark won (sorry Favi) and it was great to watch a soccer game because I hadn't in a while. My host brother plays soccer and loves it so I am excited to go to his games. My host mom said it was cool to have a girl in the house that like soccer because neither her or Josefine enjoy soccer too much.

Well tonight I have plans to go for dinner at my counselor, Carsten's, house and he has two young daughters, so I look forward to meeting them and his wife. At dinner we will also talk about the things I need for my residency permit and what I  am interested in school so that they can tell my school. I am excited about that. But for now I think I will go have some breakfast. More later!

Visit to Copenhagen and Rotary!

Hey! Yesterday I went to my first Rotary meeting here, it's actually quite different. There is not one woman in my Rotary club and all the men are older, probably around 60. It was kind of surprising at first, but all the members were very friendly and introduced themselves. I went with my host sister and host father and I had to introduce and say some things about myself. It went very well I think. The rest of the meeting was interesting because I couldn't understand anything! Oh well, I am learning fast. I then came home and had some tea and hung out with my family. Today I went to Copenhagen with my host siblings (my parents are at work). We took the train and it was my first time on public transportation here. Im glad to say it is very easy to use and very comfortable. I look forward to using that train again, I think I will have to because I will have to take the train to school, which is one town over (Allerod). Once we got to Copenhagen my host siblings wanted to eat at subway. Subway is exactly the same in Denmark except for that a medium size soda here is a small size in USA and you cant refill in Denmark. I told my sister that everything is bigger in USA and she was amazed that they let you refill drinks in USA, they never let you in Denmark. After that, we went to a tower that over looks the city. It was quite a trek to the top but we made it and enjoyed the view (there is a picture attatched). We then walked through the shopping streets of  Copenhagen and to the entrance of the Copenhagen canal. It was very beautiful with all different boats and a bunch of different colored buildings. We decided to take a boat tour because Copenhagen has many canals throughout it. At the beginning of the tour it started raining very hard and we got ponchos to put on but it was very funny because we were out in the middle of the water with tons of rain and wind, it died away soon though and we got to see many things like the royal mansion and H.C. Anderson's house (the man who wrote many tales such as the Little Mermaid). We decided to head back to Hillerod (our town) after. I guess that my host family lives so close to Copenhagen that they don't have to spend all day there, just a few hours. Well I just got home and I had a lot of fun. Tonight we plan to watch Pirates of the Carribean, I'm excited because I love that movie. Right now I will upload some more pictures. More later!

Adjusting to Denmark

Hello all. I am sitting on my couch in my living room on a fairly rainy day in Denmark. Surprisingly, I am very much enjoying the rain. I think its slightly comforting, it reminds me of home. Yesterday, my host parents and my host brother took me for a drive out to the coast. My host sister couldn't come do to having to prepare for her own exchange, she is leaving to go to Arizona on Rotary exchange on August 20th. The beach was about 20 minutes away and was very lovely. We ended up going to three different   beaches in two different towns, which were all very beautiful with clear water and usually clear skies. Between beaches we got big ice creams and a topping on them called Guf, made out of egg whites and sugar (probably some other things too). It was very different but delicious. We then returned and had a great dinner and played Badmitton. It was a great day and I felt a little more adjusted to Denmark. This morning my parents had to work, it was their first day, so my siblings and I got up lazily, had breakfast and went into town to buy tea! I've been having a lot of fun, and I think I am over the jet lag as well. Well, more later. Hope everyone is doing well.

2nd Day in Denmark

Hey! I'm finally in Denmark and it is the beginning of my second day. Yesterday (and the night before) were long with all of my flights and adjusting to the time zone. I set off from San Francisco on a 10 hour flight to Amsterdam, luckily there were two other Rotary Exchange Students on the flight so I got to have some company. When we landed in Amsterdam we stuck together and went to our gate (we were all going to Denmark) and at the gate found another 3 Rotary Exchange Students. It was awesome to be able to have so many people there that were going through the same thing as I was. The flight from Amsterdam to Copenhagen was short and when I got there I was greeted enthusiastically by my first host family and my counselor. We then left the airport and went to my new home. Hillerod is 30 minutes away drive from Copenhagen. My host family consists of the mother, Hanne, the father, Flemming, the daughter, Josefine (16 I think), and the son, Kristoffer (10 I think). They are all very friendly and worked hard to make me feel at home. Their house is an old house that is almost 100 years old and has red brick on the outside and wood floors in the inside. The staircases are very steep here and I have to climb one to get to the room I am sharing with Josefine, so I will have to get used to that.

Well, when we first got back to the house there was some traditional Danish bread and cakes waiting for us. They were homemade and delicious. After the snack I unpacked and had just enough room for everything. Then we went for a walk around town and the lake around town. We also walked by the castle they have in their town, it is very famous and is from the 1500s. It was very beautiful. I think I may have gotten bit by maybe mosquitos because I have a few bites even though I don't think my host family has any (maybe they like american blood). We then had dinner of salmon, potatoes, and hot dogs (they like to end each meal with a hot dog or sausage, I think my dad would enjoy that). We had a yummy dessert of strawberries and cream then I hit the hay since I was exhausted at that point. Today we had a lovely breakfast and we are going to go to the beach. I will post again well I can. Good Aften (good afternoon) from Denmark!

WOW!

Hey everyone, the time has finally come. I am sitting in the Bay Area getting excited (and nervous) to leave. I will be leaving for Denmark in just a matter of hours from the San Francisco airport. My flight goes from San Francisco to Amsterdam (with a 3 hour layover) and then to Copenhagen where I hopefully will be picked up by my host family! I justttt finished packing last night with a little help from my mom, Aidan, and a very good friend Liz, who is the mother of Favi, who is in Belgium this year. I am taking a full 50 pound suitcase, a carry on, and a big backpack. I probably am bringing to much but even with what I am bringing I left more then half of my clothes at home. I will be arriving in Copenhagen at 1:45 pm  their time, but to us thats about 4:45 am (I'm guessing I'll be very tired at that point).

I've been pretty held together for my previous good byes, but I have a feeling I will shed some tears at this next one, lets hope I don't freak anyone out in the airport though. I will be leaving very soon now, I just wanted to do one last post where I am in the U.S.A. From now on I think my posts will be a tad bit different, given all the new things that will be happening around me. I will try to keep my blog as updated as possible though. Farvel (goodbye) from me now. I'll be in touch.

Hey everyone, its already June 5th, and my departure date is coming up. I'm leaving for Denmark on August 3rd or 4th. I have about 2 more months in the states and the realization that I'm leaving for a year is really hitting me. I am so excited, but also, I will admit, a little scared. I have talked to all of my host families and I know what town I'm living in and what school I'm going to (its Allerod Gymnasium, it shows up on google). I am really looking forward to my next adventure in life. I graduate on the 15th of June, and thats crazy as well. The past four years of high school have felt like a breeze. I plan to spend my summer before I set off for Denmark with my friends and family. I also want to appreciate all the things I wont have there, like the beautiful landscapes of Northern California. I am trying to understand and learn some Danish but let me tell you, it's a very hard language. Well thats pretty much all for now, I am looking forward to my departure date and the time I can spend in Denmark making friends, experiencing the culture, and learning all kinds of new things.

First Post!

Hey everyone, it's only in late April right now but I just wanna let everyone know what this blog is all about and what I know so far. Again, I am going to spend next year (2012-13) in Allerod, Denmark. I am doing this exchange through a program called Rotary Youth Exchange. Its a competitive program, but now that I have gotten in and am officially sponsored, I know I am in good hands. With Rotary Youth Exchange I will have 3 host families next year rather then one, each for about 3 and 1/2  months. I know that I am attending a school called Allerod Gymnasium and it has about 650 students. Allerod itself is a small town, only about 24,000 people, but coming from the small town of Arcata I don't think the small size will bother me. Allerod is located on the island of Zealand in Denmark. It is only about 20 miles away from Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark. I am leaving for Denmark around the 3rd of August and staying there from 10 months to a year. I will be updating my blog as often as possible and posting pictures that I take from my exchange as well. I can't wait to arrive and begin my new adventure.