Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Spørgsmål

Obviously throughout my exchange I have received various questions regarding my thoughts on Denmark and the differences, as well as questions about the American system and stereotypes. Over the past week, it has felt like I have been bombarded with copious amounts of questions that I haven't thought out a definite answer for. Therefore, this blogpost is dedicated to trying to sort out my mental confusion and answer these questions.

Q: What is your favorite thing about Denmark?
I don't have one specific thing; and for the most part, I love everything. I would have to say that one of my favorite things is that there is cake everywhere you go. It is inescapable. My waist isn't very thankful, but I am. I love that Denmark gets a large chunk of its energy from solar and wind power. This means that there are windmills everywhere; they even have windmill farms a few kilometers just off the coast. I love how there is a mixture of old and new architecture everywhere. I love taking trains (not so much busses). I love the people. They may come off as cold, but once getting to know them, they are the nicest people you will ever meet (especially Rikke).

Q: Is there anything you don't like about Denmark?
I don't like the copious number of people my age who smoke cigarettes. Unlike in the United States, it is legal to smoke indoors, with discretion of the business. It feels like I can't go anywhere without coming back smelling like a bowling alley before smoking indoors was prohibited.

Q: What do you think about Danish food?
A typical Danish meal consists of white meat, vegetables and potatoes. After the first few weeks, I was ready to never see a potato again. Luckily, the host family I am with right now has sworn off potatoes so for the next few months I get to avoid those balls of carbs. Other than the potatoes and while I do crave dark meat, I love Danish food. My favorites are frikkadella and Danish hot dogs. I also love the fresh, homemade bread. I am not quite sure how I ever survived on the the white "junk food" bread that we eat in the US. I am also concerned about what I am going to do without remoulade (Danish yellow mayo mixed with deliciousness along with other stuff).

Q: What are weird things Danes do?
They gasp to let you know they are listening. At first, I was really taken aback by it; I constantly felt like they were trying to interject a comment or were shocked by what I was saying, but now I am so used to it I hardly even notice anymore. They also clap in unison instead of everyone clapping at their own rhythm. One of my friends described it as "cult like" but I don't think it is that bad.

Q:Has living in Denmark changed your views of the United States?
Anyone who has ever lived abroad will tell you that they see their nation completely differently. Being here, I have realized that the majority of the things happening in the US (school shootings, paying for healthcare, gun laws, ect.) are not happening in any other developed nation. It is astonishing how far behind we are. I still love my country and I am proud to be an American, but we need reform and we need it now.

Q:What do you miss most from home?
I miss my car and the food. If I had a car here and was able to drive freely, I would truly be unstoppable. I am also really craving Hogan Brothers and a big burrito from Chipotle. I miss all of you guys too but I think I would be happier to see a steaming bowl of beer cheese soup and a hoagie (only joking).

Those are all the questions I can think of so if you have more feel free to contact me. Other than that the past few weeks have been me doing little things. Claire slept over Saturday night and my host family made us Vietnamese spring rolls and homemade ice cream. Probably the best ice cream I have every had. The next morning we went to the Welcome Meeting to properly greet the newbie. It was a repeat of our Welcome Meeting so reviewing the rules, learning about sailing trip, then being left to do whatever we wanted. I also got confirmation that I have been approved to go to London with my class. I am so excited for this trip! We get a lot of free time in the evenings so a group of us bought tickets to see West Ham play Chelsea! SO EXCITED.
Vi ses!

Magnus og jeg.


My beautiful little fjord.


Velkomme møde.


Check out those blazers.


Thursday, January 15, 2015

Changes

So much has happened over the past week that it is hard to recall every little thing. For starters, the oldies have officially returned home and I took as many opportunities as I could to say goodbye. I spent the day in Aalborg last Tuesday wandering between different coffee shops and McDonalds (now Maccas because I have picked up some Australian slang). I had the intention of saying goodbye then, but I ended up going back to Aalborg on Friday, spending the night in Aars with Grace and Caitlin, then saying goodbye just before the oldies walked through security at the airport. By the time I left, my face was bright red and streaked with tears. The ride home I was left wondering where all the time has gone. Not only have a reached my five month mark but sometime in the next ten days I hit the halfway point (I still need to book my return ticket so I am not sure which day exactly). It is crazy to think that in two days, I will officially be an oldie.

Sunday, I switched host families! I would like to give a huge thank you to the Byrith family for hosting me for the past five months. I have a lot of memories of you guys and I am very grateful for everything you have done for me. My new host family lives in Løgstrup, which is about fifteen kilometers outside of Viborg. The house is beautiful! It was built in the 1950's and has a huge yard, next to a fjord. My new host family consists of my host dad Micheal, host mom Maria, nine month old host brother Magnus, and my host sister Emilie who lives with her mom in Holstebro. Being the youngest in my family, I have never been around small children but I can tell you that all of my preconceptions about babies smelling or crying far too often have been proven wrong. I love Magnus and it is nice to have someone to play with everyday.

Something I haven't touched on in a while is my Danish; it is still coming along. My new host family is working with me to improve it, even if it is more tedious for them. I went to a Rotary meeting and I understood everything that was said (besides the two or three minutes I was day dreaming about American food). I am not sure whether that was because the presenter had a powerpoint so I could read along with him speaking, or if I already knew some of the information as it was about Space X and the journey to Mars, or if it was because I could understand. Regardless, it was the most interesting Rotary meeting I have been to so far.

A few months ago, my class had a project called AT where we made a video about Domestic Violence. The video has since been entered into a competition where my class can win a fair share of money. I would greatly appreciate it if you could click "like" or "synes godt om" at the bottom of the linked page. Also feel free to watch the video, although I have to warn you that my acting skills are not up to par.
http://www.familievold.dk/forslag/af-mathias-mille-martin-m-og-rikke-fra-2-y-paa-viborg-katedralskole/?portfolioID=3473

Tusind tak og vi ses!

Look us up on iTunes.


Vi ses - never goodbye.


Kiss and Goodbye outside of the airport.


I have acquired a ridiculous amount of stuff.


Magnus!

Monday, January 5, 2015

Juleferie

Two weeks off calls for a lot excitement and a lot of naps. Now that is Monday morning and I am sitting in my biology class, I want nothing more than to be curled up in bed taking a nap. However, because I have been forced to stay awake through the next four classes, I will entertain myself by recounting my tales from the break.

Jule (Christmas):It didn't feel like Christmas when I woke up on the 24th to the sun shining, blue skies, and green grass. Regardless, the day passed with the normal anxiousness and boredom as it would in the US. I tried to eat as little as possible to save room for dinner and I played 500 with my host siblings. For dinner we had traditional dansk julemad (Danish Christmas food). We ate duck, flæskesteg, normal potatoes, and mini potatoes in a sugary sauce. For dessert, we ate risalamande and Rasmus found the almond. Dinner was cleaned up and everyone was put into a different room while my host dad lit the candles on the tree. It was terrifying. I kept glancing over and wondering how the room hadn't been engulfed in flames yet. Keeping a very close eye on the tree, my host family and I danced around it while singing Christmas songs. We did four or five and then called it quits to open presents. We finished around 10:30 and by then everyone was exhausted.

The 25th, I woke up and you could say it was a Christmas miracle; a blanket of dense, white snow had covered everything in sight. Snow covered Minnesota is nothing compared to snow covered Denmark. The snow here is much more dense so it sticks to everything. I felt as if I was in a winter wonderland. Unfortunately, before New Years, all the snow was gone.
Awkward family photo.


Christmas tree in the morning and at night with lit candles.


SNE!

Nytår (New Years):I have a hard time celebrating the passing of another day when my time here is so limited but regardless, I had a good New Years. While I do wish I could have spent the night with some of my better friends, I made the most of it. At six, the Danish Queen gave her annual speech wishing everyone a good year. After that, I wished my host parents a good night and they walked over to our neighbors. An hour later, I was in a taxi on my way to Lorenzo's house. I watched while they set off fireworks and eventually we watched this five minute clip called "The 90th Birthday" or something like that. Being the only year that I will get to see it, I was very intrigued but everyone else in the room was talking or quoting the clip. At midnight, we walked down to the lake and the fireworks were magical. Take any image or memory of fourth of July fireworks and throw it out the window. Essentially, the entire lake was lighting off fireworks so just imagine a circle of fireworks firing simultaneously. The circle of glorious explosions lasted for about half an hour and then died down to random bursts of fireworks that continued throughout the night. The pictures I captured do not adequately depict the magic of them so you are going to have to use your imagination.

I stayed at Lorenzo's so the next morning as I was walking through town to the bus stop, it looked like a deserted war zone. Trash and the remnants of fireworks were strewed throughout the streets and at one point, I saw a bike lodged in the high branches of a tree. The sky was a cloudy gray and very few cars passed me in my twenty minutes of walking. It was an extraordinary feeling to be the only one witnessing the destruction the night caused and to be one of the few that were awake before the majority of the country.

Goodbyes:It hasn't actually hit me that on Saturday some of my best friends will be flying home and I don't know the next time I will see them. To make the most of our last few days together, a group of about twenty of us met up in Aarhus for a day of hygge. We spent the day bouncing around the shops in Aarhus, drinking coffee in Baresso, and running around ARoS. While we were "celebrating" a sad occasion, it was one of the happiest days of my exchange. Afterwards, my main group of friends broke off and had a sleepover in Grenå. We spent the night signing each others books and flags, playing paranoia, and eating two minute noodles. Yesterday, we had the Farvel Get Together and the atmosphere of the entire day was surprisingly positive. Essentially, they put us in a room for a six hours with the notion of us finding our own things to do. The first hour or so we were behaved, but as the day wore on, dancing progressed and sliding across the floor on bean bag chairs emerged. Goodbyes were rushed but I am heading up to Aalborg tomorrow so I will have a full day to say make a meaningful goodbye.
Hygge in Baresso.


Americans.
In between the big events, I saw Exodus and The Hobbit, I shot a gun for the first time, I restarted Dexter and am currently working my way through season two, I went ice skating in Aalborg with the most horrible skates, I went to another Julefrokost, and took far too many naps. I enjoyed this break very much and am not looking forward to having to get up before ten for the rest of the week.

Successfully hit a can from 15 feet away!