Scatterbrained

My thoughts in this blogpost are completely scattered so bear with me!

Friendsgiving: Or as we were saying while cooking "No Judgement Thanksgiving." Basically, a mixed group of Australians and Americans got together to celebrate Thanksgiving. Overall, there were very few things that tasted like they belonged on a thanksgiving plate. We had lemon chicken, meatballs with tomato sauce, mashed potatoes with leeks and bacon, yams with marshmallows, stuffing that was basically cut up bread and chicken broth, garlic corn and peas, apple snicker salad, and pecan pie.

Pole Dancing: No, you did not read that wrong, and yes I did go to a pole dancing class. I went with my host sister to this class called 'Pole Intro' but it was far from an introductory class. The three other girls in the class had obviously gone before, so Signe and I looked a little out of place. At one point in the class, I was hanging upside down on the pole. It was marvelous. However, any desire to become an erotic dancer has been utterly crushed.

Ferguson: My first night in Denmark was the night that Mike Brown was shot and killed. It wasn't until social media completely exploded the night after the Grand Jury's decision, that I began to follow what was happening. It is so confusing and frustrating to have to form an opinion about such an emotionally charged topic, without discussion and only information you can find on the internet. I kept seeing so many posts saying "this is the right side of history" or "if you burn a flag, you're on the same level as a terrorist." While those are both extreme examples, I ended up getting very emotional. Do I believe that Mike Brown should have died? No. Do I believe that Officer Wilson should have been indicted? Yes. Is violence and rioting the answer? No and it never will be. To make change, you cannot fight fire with fire. If you look at the Civil Rights Movement, Doctor Martin Luther King Junior led protests, boycotts, and other acts of civil disobedience and found change. Inequality is present, but setting fire to buildings is not going to solve anything.

Elvis Presley: I spent actual Thanksgiving learning about the one and only, Elvis Presley. The upcoming president for my Rotary club took me to the Graceland, Randers. It is the only authorized replica of the house in Memphis,TN. It was a little overwhelming with all the information that was presented, but I had so much fun. Afterwards, we went to the American Diner in the museum. I had my first cheeseburger since coming to Denmark and it was delicious. Unfortunately, it was an American sized burger so I didn't finish it, and couldn't get a box to take the rest home.

Julefrokost: Directly translated "Christmas Lunch," I have been to two in the past week and a half. The first was right after Friendsgiving. I went to the Julefrokost that Claire's host family was having. It was a very hygge night and for the first time, I was in bed before midnight when hanging out with exchange students. The second one was with my class; which was also very fun and hygge. At one point, I was teaching them the dance to Lepo Lepo (Portuguese song) and then a little while later I was laughing while I watched my classmates play darts.

Triple Digits

I have officially reached triple digits! Today is my hundredth day in Denmark and my time here is rushing by. I am halfway through November and I am still unsure of where October went. I mentioned earlier that I wouldn't make note of numerical days in Denmark, but it is difficult to ignore the copious posts from other exchange students who are counting. Today is also significant because it marks my transition into speaking only Danish. Setting this goal was fairly unrealistic, but I have gotten into the habit of repeating what people say in English, to have clarity, then trying to reply. My replies are very slow and laced with English words, but this is far better than what I was expecting of myself. Although it will be hard, the more I force myself to speak Danish, the better I will get and the more I will learn. This is just the little tiny snowball gaining momentum as it rushes down the hill.

My blog may make it seem like my life is chalked full of adventure and sometimes it is, but truthfully, the majority of my time is spent doing nothing. Most days I come home from school, watch National Geographic and eat bread with cream cheese. It took me a few months to accept this, but now I am completely content sitting in my room, being warm under blankets. Having been someone that was constantly busy, planning my life in three day blocks, this lack of responsibility has morphed from a debilitating reminder of homesickness, to one of my favorite things about Denmark. I am no longer under pressure, or deadlines. I don't do homework or take tests. I don't have a job. Instead, I have the freedom to fill my schedule with taking Zumba classes at the gym, get coffee with a classmate, or go to the library to find a new book.

I went on a mini adventure to Hjørring this weekend. I went with Claire to her host grandpa's and brother's birthday party. I overindulged in cake and tried duck for the first time. I also got a lot of Danish practice with the little kids. Afterwards, we went back to her host family's summerhouse. They had an indoor pool, jacuzzi, and sauna that we took full advantage of. Sunday morning we went for a walk to the beach. This is where the real adventure comes in; it honestly felt like we were walking through something in the Lord of the Rings. The true distance to the beach was probably about a quarter mile, but because of these sand hills, covered with brush, our total journey was over a mile. It was also the first time I saw the North Atlantic without there being land near it. It was just open sea until North America. The waves were ginormous and the wind coming off of the ocean was chilly. I was absolutely mesmerized. I don't know how I am going to go back to the United States and have the ocean be thousands of miles away.

As a general update about Denmark, the descent into winter has started with darkness. The sun rises after I have gotten to school and sets before four in the afternoon. This has been very confusing for my biological clock, and I have gone to sleep at nine countless days in a row. However, we have yet to have snow! There has been a lot of rain, but I don't think that we have gotten under 40 degrees yet. I never thought I would miss snow, but looking out and seeing white was always an indication of the holiday season approaching. Now the only cues I am getting are invitations to Christmas lunches on Facebook and seeing red and green fill the stores. My Christmas wish, from all of you reading this, is handwritten letters, and maybe some peanut butter.

Vi ses!

I miss seeing this on the way to school.

Claire and I playing Headbandz with the kids.

The Lord of The Rings.

North Atlantic.

The Map

I have this map of Denmark, and after I visit a city, I make a box around it to signify that I have been there. The past few weeks, I have crossed off more cities than I can count. The most recent are Ebeltoft and København (Copenhagen). I went to Ebeltoft this past weekend to spend the night at a summerhouse with a few of my exchange student friends. Ebeltoft is on the Jutland but on the eastern coast so it is a very beautiful town. Unfortunately, I missed my bus so by the time I made it there, my friends had already seen the town and were waiting for me to head back to the summerhouse. However, I did get to see other coastal towns from the bus window and they were beautiful. I tried to take pictures, but as my iPhone camera is not superior and I was moving, none of them turned out well. I also realized that I still haven't gotten used to seeing the ocean. Before coming to Denmark, I could count the number of times I had seen the ocean on one hand. Now if I travel an hour in any direction I find it right in front of me. I have this tendency to stare at it and think about its magnitude and power. I often think of the quote "if you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss will gaze into you." This normally reminds me that staring for extended periods of time into the blue horizon may be a little weird so I advert my eyes to something else.

At 5:30 on Tuesday morning, Christian, Claire and I took off for KBH. Christian had a meeting so he invited us along for the day. The four hour car ride was essentially silent, as Claire and I slept the majority of the way. We were dropped off just a few meters from the Little Mermaid. Thinking that it would be a big, lovely sculpture, with a beautiful, Ocean background, I was utterly disappointed. While the statue is beautiful, it isn't extraordinary and is quite small. The background consisted of little small stretch of water and then factories on the opposite shore. We spent a few minutes here than continued on our way. Because we didn't have any true objectives, besides finding a cafe to have breakfast in, we spent the majority of our day getting blissfully lost and taking pictures. We made our way back to the meeting point around 2:30 and were shortly on our way to avoid rush hour. My first trip to KBH probably wasn't spent in the best way possible, but I saw a lot of the city and had a great day.

As a quick update on a few posts back where I wrote about the things I was struggling with, I am still petrified of switching to only Danish in ten short days, but I keep reminding myself that it is going to have to be done eventually, and my progress in Danish has come a long way. As for lack of excitement, I can say that overall my last few weeks have been pretty exciting. I had full weeks and weekends and now it is nice to have a few days to just lay on the couch. Lastly, my homesickness has essentially vanished. I miss home, but I love my life here in Denmark and I wouldn't trade that for the world.

Shoutout to Rikke, my Danish classmate, because she told me that if I mentioned her in my blog, she might actually read it. Also, she's not weird.

"At rejse er at leve"
'To travel is to live"

The Summerhouse Crew, minus Cal and Didi.

Bus ride home from Ebeltoft.

The Little Mermaid.

Nyhavn. 

Part of the Happy Wall.

And you wonder why we come back fat.