Now the countdown really begins. Exchange has absolutely flown by, but at the same time it doesn’t really even feel like I’m on exchange anymore. It’s my life and just normal days here so at the same time it feels like I’ve always been in Denmark. Similar to the last month leading up to leaving NZ, it’s now hitting me that yes, I’m on exchange and it is coming to an end in just over a month. I thought all the months leading up to now had been busy but November has proved me wrong. I have been so busy doing anything and everything in all the spare time I have. At least once or twice a week I am in Aarhus after school and spending the afternoon/ evening with my exchange friends just eating and talking about everything. I have become super close to my newbies which is really nice because I’m now getting the feeling back that I had with my oldies and I thought that would never happen. On the 6th, I went back to my first host family after school and had a catch up and ate dinner with them which was really nice considering I hadn’t been there since I left back in April. We played a lot of games of sequence and drank a lot of coffee, both of which were traditions and our family time when I stayed with them so I really enjoyed it. The day after, I met my friends in Aarhus during the day because I didn’t have school and then met with my dad’s mum to go shopping, spend some time together and then to eat dinner. It was a really nice day. Then it was friday and I had Gymfest, the theme for this one was “Underground/ hip-hop” which was really fun to dress up as. We had a forfest (pre party) where we celebrated one of my classmates birthdays. That weekend, I travelled to Odense where I met my 3 best friends (Zara, Alanna and Lexie) to celebrate Alanna’s 18th birthday. We arrived around 3pm where we would begin to eat dinner! Her host dad is a professional chef so he had prepared an 8 course degustation for us. It was absolutely incredible! My favourite dish was with pulled quail paired with quail eggs (fried and boiled) and roasted cauliflower. We finished dinner around 5:30 and all the other guests arrived at 6 and the party started. It was a great week. The next week was a bit quieter. I went to Aarhus once to meet my group and then I was sick for about 3 days. On the weekend I took a trip to Kolding where I went to Zara’s house with Alanna, Lexie and another Australian called Sophie. Here we celebrated Zara’s 17th birthday in a relaxed girls weekend way. The next week I was in Aarhus twice and I got to meet some exchange students from AFS which is a different exchange organisation. They’re also really cool people. On Tuesday, I did my final presentation at Rotary in Danish about my year in Denmark and how it has changed me. It ended in a huge thank you and many many tears. I really love my host club and they love me too so it was a bit of an emotional night for me. In the weekend, I went to Løkken with my host family from Friday to Sunday where we just relaxed and played card games and had a walk along the beach. It was really cool because there are so many old German war bunkers that are lying all over the beach so all of us kids did our exploring and climbing in and on top of all of these. It was nice to be exploring again, something that’s not so common here in Denmark haha. Now it’s the last week of November and it has been a bit of an emotional week. On Tuesday I was in Horsens after school just watching a movie with some exchange students at one of their houses. With all the rain we have been having it is basically all we can do when we aren’t inside Burger King or Maccas eating haha. Wednesday was really fun but really emotional because I went to Aarhus to spend the day with one of my best friends from Argentina. He is like the brother I never had and we are super close but this was the last day I could see him to say goodbye. He leaves on Sunday and we both have too many plans to be able to see each other another day. On Sunday went going to a Christmas concert with my dad’s dad so I wasn't able to see him off at the airport which is really sad. On the other hand, the concert was absolutely incredible! We saw Stig Rossen live which was amazing for me because I have been listening to him every Christmas for god knows how many years. So to see him live was a dream come true. And to top it off I got to talk with him, hug him and get a photo with him after the concert as well. It was the perfect weekend and the perfect way to begin December. Friday I had a sleepover with one of my best Danish friends, Emma, and watched Christmas movies and ate Christmas cookies, yummmm.
I have a feeling December is going to be a really emotional roller coaster month with doing many things for the last time and buying things to take home. But also the excitement of Christmas and being able to see my family soon. It's a really big conflict of emotion and it's really hard to control or handle sometimes, so lets see what happens...
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October has been an emotional month with some sad goodbyes/ see you laters but also many many fun activities! I began the month with a family trip to Ebeltoft where we stayed from Friday night to Sunday morning. I got to meet so many more people on John’s side of the family which was really nice. We played board games, went for walks, played a game called rundbold which is similar to baseball, and made something called snobrød. Snobrød is basically bread dough that you twist around a stick and cook it over the embers of a fire. You then fill it with jam and enjoy, it was a really cool experience. It was a great weekend because I spent a lot of time playing with Jacob, my little host brother. We climbed trees and ran all around the place haha. As we left Ebeltoft, we also went and explored this huge ship called Fregatten Jutland. It’s one of the world’s largest wooden ships and it’s absolutely beautiful! The following weekend I went to a town called Struer with my 3 best friends from my class. We stayed in the summerhouse of my friend Emma’s Uncle which was so cosy! The first night we went to a spa and spent 3 hours there making sure we used every spa and sauna in the establishment haha. I haven’t felt so relaxed all year so it was really lovely just to relax and talk for so long. The other days were also spent relaxing, playing cards, cooking, and lots of talking! It was a fantastic weekend and I got to know them even better. This week was Efterårsferie (Autumn break) and I spent a couple days out shopping with my host cousin Nikoline and another girl called Anni from my school. On Thursday, we held a farewell dinner where everyone from Mette and John’s family was invited (the people I got to know really well). It was so nice but really emotional because they have come to be my family here so it was almost like leaving my family in NZ except I can still visit them in my last couple months. Friday was my last day with them. Mette, Jacob, Mette’s mum and I all went to a place called Leo’s Legeland which is similar to Chipmunks in NZ. It was so much fun and I definitely used up a lot of energy chasing Jacob everywhere haha. We then made a visit to IKEA right next door where we had lunch and looked around the store because I hadn’t been there before. After this, we headed home and I spent the afternoon packing. We ended the day by having Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner and watching a movie together. After dinner Mette and John gave me a gift which was a photo book with all the things we had been doing together. Understandably it made me very emotional haha. Saturday came around and then I was moving family. We all ate brunch together at my new house and I said my goodbyes. I’ve been with them for about a week now and it’s great. They’re so nice and my host dad Brian reminds me so much of my own dad. We are constantly laughing which is so nice and within 3 days of me being there we already had inside jokes hahaha. I have 2 host siblings; Madeline (17) who went on exchange to Australia and Bastian her younger brother (15). I also have 2 half host sibling but they live with their mum most of the time so I haven’t met them yet. This weekend just gone (25-27) I had a Rotary get together in Holbæk where I got to meet every exchange student in Denmark with Rotary. It was so cool and we partied both nights all night long. I made some really good friends and caught up with the friends I hadn’t seen in such a long time. For example, there were a group I hadn’t seen since intro camp all the way back in January. There were a few activities we could participate in like Pumpkin carving, watching a movie or playing soccer but most of the time we just spent talking and enjoying the time together. We had a costume party on Saturday night and Zara, Alanna, Lexie and I all dressed as nuns! It was so fun. There was also like a cultural performance we all had to do that represented our country. Me and the other two girls from NZ sang 3 Maori songs; Tutira Mai, Te Aroha and E Papa. I was so nervous because we were only 3 people on stage but it was alright because we had each other and just had fun. It was really cool to watch all the other performances and how they represented their countries. They varied from dances to songs, plays or even just speaking about the special things in their country. That night we had live music and then a DJ which provided for a long and extremely fun night. Sunday morning was tear filled as we all had to say goodbye to each other. It was the saddest for us (the Winter team) because this is most likely the last time we will see each other again. One of the Argentinian’s (Damian) is leaving on Wednesday and he is a close friend to us all so it was really hard. We are an extremely close group, more like a family, because we have been through a lot together and we were each others constant apart from school. We understand each other so it was hard to say goodbye. It also brought around the reality that we only have 2 months left which is crazy! I have so many plans coming up and I just know time will fly by.
September has been a roller coaster month for me with a couple of really low lows. I’m going to start with those to get them out of the way and to move on to the rest of the month where the good stuff happened. So my month began by waking up really early one morning in something called sleep paralysis. This is not a fun experience at all and is extremely terrifying. In case you don’t know what it is, it's when your mind wakes up before your body I guess, and you’re paralysed, unable to move anything or talk, and for me even breathing was difficult. You feel so helpless because you can’t do anything and panic really sets in when you try and yell for help and no sound comes out. I was quite rattled for that day. One week later, one of my Farfars (my dad’s step dad) passed away and I attended his funeral on the 12th of September. This was one of the toughest times for me because I lost a family member. I needed to be strong to support my Farmor (Dad’s mum), my aunt and my cousin who knew him a lot better than I did. It was so hard to see them in so much pain as well as having to deal with my own emotions as well. I have never wanted to see my dad more than in this moment so for a few days I was also dealing with some homesickness. The closer this year is coming to an end the more homesick I become which I believe is very normal but it still sucks.
Sadness and low points aside, I had a really good month. The first Friday of September I attended a fredags cafe which is just sitting at school with friends and having a great time. After this my class held a party and I went to that as well. It was really nice because all of my close friends from class weren’t at this party so it gave me the opportunity to talk with and get to know my other classmates. I’m now not afraid to go to a party when my friends won’t be there because I had a really good time with the others. Even surprised them with my danish that had improved over summer break. That weekend my real Uncle and Aunt from Horsens picked me up and we went to Copenhagen where one of my cousins was having a name giving ceremony. It was so nice to see all of my family again. We ate a lot of food and socialised the whole day. I also stayed and had dinner once all the guests had left so it was really nice. The next Friday, my school had a Gymfest which is a party at school. This time the theme was rainbow so there was lots of colour everywhere which was really funny to see because Danes mostly always dress in black. There were also meanings to the colours you wore; for example, green was single and ready to mingle, blue was cheap and easy, yellow was it's complicated, red was taken, and there were a couple others as well. It was a really cool party and I had a lot of fun. Saturday and Sunday I was in Odense with my best friends Zara, Lexie and Alanna and we met some newbies. Like all of our meet ups we just talked, ate and listened to music. Zara, Lexie and I stayed at Alanna's house and had a really nice sleepover and ate pancakes in the morning <3. On the 19th, I went to a citizen help centre, I’m not too sure what it’s called in English but in Danish it’s the Borgerservice. I had applied for my citizenship back on the 10th and they told me it was accepted, so now I am officially a danish citizen! This was really exciting because then in the same day I ordered a danish passport which has now arrived. Having a danish passport is a huge advantage because it opens up all of Europe to me for travel or even future places to live and work. It also means I can come in and out of Denmark a lot easier in the future so I’m extremely happy. The 20-21st, I was in a town called Holstebro for my friend Beatriz’s 18th birthday. She is from Brazil and the other people there were all Brazilian newbies and one Argentinian oldie like myself. It was really nice to be invited and I had a great time! All of the people were so nice and I got a chance to practice a little danish with her danish friends. The following weekend my host family and I went to Skagen and stayed. It is a really beautiful place and I loved seeing where the 2 seas meet as well as the few bunkers scattered over the beach. We had a lot of fun walking around and jumping all around the sand dunes like the big children we are haha. Our nights were spent chatting and playing board games which was so lovely. It was a great way to conclude September. This month has shown me the important things exchange has taught me. One of these being that exchange has given me a lot of strength emotionally with all the different challenges we face here. I could really see this when my dads step dad passed away because I while it was an emotional time for me, I remained strong and was able to support my family as well in this tough time. Strength isn’t always about putting a brave face on though, and I have also learned that strength can also come from recognising when you aren’t okay or admitting when you’re upset. Recognising it can help you move past everything and that is where the strength comes from… overcoming and growing as a person. To me it’s one of the most important things I have learnt so far. Sorry for my posts being delayed recently. As the last stretch of this is here, my time is also being stretched with everything going on. But regardless, I hope you enjoy this entry and look forward to Octobers! Sending all my love... Hey everyone! It's been a while since I updated and just wanted to say I haven't forgotten but I have been healing and focusing on myself for a little and sadly I put the blog aside for a while. I've been doing a lot of things but emotionally it's been a bit of a roller coaster the past couple months. With all my oldies leaving who were as close to me as family, it took a long time to get used to them not being around. Once I got over that bump in the road, homesickness set in and it wasn't a particularly fun experience. But I have powered through to the other side and I'm trying to use writing as a bit of therapy. Without further interference, here is my blog entry for July and August combined.
July At the start of the month I had a girls night with Zara, Lexie and Fernanda for us to say goodbye to Fer. We got her cake and choccy milk to send her off which tasted really good haha. On the 4th Fernanda and 2 of my other best friends, Gaston and Asael, finished their exchanges and left Denmark. I went to the airport to say goodbye to Asael because the other 2 left from Copenhagen. That day was also the day my host family left for their 2 week holiday to Madagascar. This was the beginning of a very rough month for me. Basically all of my exchange friends and my family was now out of the country and my normal support network was broken. This depression stage of exchange didn’t really hit me for a few days. I spent 2 days with Torben and Ulla who I stayed with for 5 days in the winter holiday while I was with my first host family, so it was nice to catch up again. I then spent the next 2 days with my counsellor and she took me to Jelling stones as a day trip. We saw the church, the stones and went through the museum as well. I really enjoyed staying with her and her family because I felt normal again and forgot about everything for a short while. On the 8th I was taken to Randers where I stayed with my Farfar for one night. The next day we drove to Copenhagen to stay with my Uncle, aunt and 2 cousins for a week. We got hop on and hop off boat tickets in Nyhavn that worked for 48 hours and went to the Queen’s residence and the Little Mermaid the first day. The next day I went to the Copenhagen zoo with Farfar for a few hours which was really nice. We then met his wife and my little cousin and then took the hop on hop off to Streetfood. Another day I went into the city with Farfar's wife and just did some shopping on the shopping street. We bumped into Mack (another exchange student) while we were there so he came and spent a couple hours at our place. It was so much fun but even though we did many things and I was with my real danish family I didn’t feel myself. I was quiet and for those of you who know me, know that’s abnormal haha. I didn’t really understand what was wrong with me but all I can describe it as, is feeling empty, numb and having no idea what to do with myself. I thought I might feel sad but as dramatic as it may sound I just felt nothing. I called Zara and Lexie and it helped me feel better, I miss them so much but I’ll see them soon. We got back to Randers on the 15th and I stayed until the 17th. I spent my time building a puzzle and I went and saw Grace for a few hours. I also got to go to Randers Regnskov (rainforest) so that was pretty cool. Randers Regnskov is basically two domes containing rainforest and of course animals. It's different to a zoo because all of these animals have free roam of the domes (apart from the dangerous ones) which are quite big, so it's less confining for the animal, which I really like. On the 17th I went and stayed with my dad’s mum in Aarhus which was really nice. We went to Løkken to visit more family and also to Herning where we visited my Aunt and cousin. With my Aunt and cousin we went to a place called Hvide Sande where we had lunch and played around down by the water before getting ice cream. It was so nice to see them but especially hard to see my cousin considering she is an extremely close replica of my sister. On the 20th, everything got a bit better because my host family was back and I was home again with my family. I missed them so much and it’s something I was very grateful to be feeling because this place is home for me and I know not many people get this feeling. I’m still not fully myself but I’m getting there slowly. My host mum and host brother went camping with my younger host cousin and my host mums mum so they were there for about a week. I had a few days by myself to relax and just enjoy being back home. On the 23rd my friend Grace came over to stay and we relaxed and talked and just enjoyed having some company. We also visited my host family camping and had some fun down there. A couple days later I spent the day with John (my host dad) and we had lunch at his mum’s before getting the boat and sailing to a place called Saksild. Saksild Strand is not too far from where my first host family lives and is known to be one of the best beaches in Denmark. Here we met Mette’s (my host mum’s) sister and her daughter. We ate ice cream, talked and swam. John and I, along with another friend of his and his children, took the boat to an island where we had dinner. It was probably the best day I had since they came back. The next day John and I had a day together and we decided to go to some high ropes in Vejle. It was insanely fun and some parts were really difficult but I definitely want to go there again. This month has taught me the value of time. Time to heal, time to myself, time to reflect and also that time is valuable. That even though I need time to recover and move on, time shouldn’t be wasted. I have had an amazing experience with all my oldies and now suddenly I am one. Rather than being caught up on how much I miss them, I should be looking forward to all the new exchange students coming that rely on our experience and knowledge. Exchange has given me so many things to be grateful for. I could list them all but I’m afraid we’d be here all day. It’s helped me realise all of the smaller things that mean a lot. Like I’m grateful that my family in NZ has encouraged me to go on exchange. I’m grateful for the exchange students staying in my real family that temporarily fill in the hole that’s missing. I’m grateful for both my sponsor and host rotary clubs who without them I wouldn’t be here. I’m grateful for the music I hear that holds so many memories. I’m grateful to myself for getting me here, supporting myself, choosing to leave everything I knew behind and being so open to everything. It’s given me the opportunity to make so many friends and memories which I am most grateful for... August August has been an amazing month and a lot of fun. Like most months it’s had it’s downs but it was a lot more positive than last month. The 2nd was Lexie's birthday but we celebrated at the end of July but I'm going to put her party in this section haha. There was a small group of us girls that stayed at her house and we played some card games, ate cake, listened to music and then had a bonfire at night and roasted marshmallows. It was very hyggeligt and fun. I started the month out attending what is called a Byfest (town party) that ran over 4 days, Thursday(1st) to Sunday(4th). It was so much fun because each night there was different bands playing around the town, all 80s music. During the day, my host family and I would have lunch and hang out with family friends and other family and it was very hyggeligt! Then at night we would go out to the music tents and dance and sing and have a good time meeting everyone there. The best night was the last night, Saturday. The tent we were at had the best music both Danish and English and really good company. Then the week after, Thursday to Sunday again, I went to a festival called Smukfest with my host family. It was absolutely incredible! I got to see Lukas Graham, Years and Years, Nik & Jay, Clean Bandit, Clavin Harris and a danish band called TV2. Lukas Graham and Calvin Harris were by far my favourite and it was so crazy I got to see them live..What an experience. The festival was in a town called Skanderborg and it was set up in a forest which was so beautiful. There were fairy lights everywhere many different stages spread out so multiple artists could play at once, many food stalls and even a lake you could swim in. My friend Lexie joined me and we had such a good time, I definitely want to go again. I actually ran into my uncle from Copenhagen while I was there, which was really funny. After an eventful 2 weeks, it was time to start school again. It was so weird to be back because I hadn’t been since the middle of May when Eurotour started. Seeing everyone again was really nice and I got a warm welcome back which was really sweet. My classes this year are pretty good. I still have English, Spanish, History, Maths, PE with all the same teachers but now instead of biology I have physics and instead of social studies I have Latin. I understand absolutely nothing of physics and Latin but I participate in all the other classes now that I understand some of the things so it’s really nice to be included. Now understanding most danish it’s allowed me to talk to some of my other classmates because they feel more comfortable now. Most of the time it’s not in Danish but they know they can speak to me in Danish and I can understand which is really nice! But being back wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. A lot of the stuff they talk about in class I still don’t understand because it isn’t subjects or words that are used in normal everyday conversation. This sometimes still leaves me confused and clueless like the last time I was here. The most challenging time for me in school is Spanish because I get so frustrated. I have wanted to learn it for so long and I pay attention but I don’t understand anything because all I can do is think of it in Dansih because it’s how my mind is programmed to think now. It’s always been fun and fine when I’ve had one language to focus on but now I’m learning Spanish on top of still learning Danish it’s so confusing and frustrating. I’m trying to remain positive and stay present but it’s definitely a struggle. On a lighter note, the first weekend after being at school, I went to a streetfood festival in Aarhus and had my friend Maria sleep over at my house which was the best because I haven't seen her in 7 months! For those of you who don't know who Maria is, she is my Danish friend that I met in NZ while she was on her exchange. So it was really good to see her again and catch up as much as possible. This weekend just gone I went to a meet up in Vejle where I got to meet some newbies which was really cool. So far we have a good group and I’ve made some potentially really good friends. Naturally, it isn’t the same as it was with our oldies and I think we all think that it’s weird not to have them around but we are all fully embracing being oldies now. It feels really nice to be the ones the newbies come to for help and advice and to be able to show them around. This weekend coming, I’m going to a concert in Vejle with my friend Lexie because she has a spare ticket so I think that will be fun. It's crazy to think I will be leaving this place in about 4 months and that in 1 month I will be moving host family. Having been with this family for so long its strange to think I won't be living with them for the rest of my time or that I won't have Christmas with them. But as I spoke about it last month, I'll just have to use my time wisely.. Sending all my love... xx It’s so hard to believe I’m nearly halfway through my exchange, it’s kind of like a dream to me. Like every month, June has been a busy month for me and I have had so much fun! I’ve been to a lot of exchange student meetups now that I’m off school and they’re all starting to leave. It’s a weird feeling to have started my journey with all of these people and made the best friends and now suddenly half of them aren’t in Denmark anymore. On the 4th of July, 3 of my best friends leave and I really don’t know how I’m going to handle that.
On a lighter note, June has been one of the best months I’ve had so far. I started out by getting back from Eurotour on the 1st which was really sad and the goodbyes were hard. Then it was followed up by a few meetups with my friends in Aarhus. On the 5th it was my host cousins 5th birthday party which we spent at their house. I met up with John Fothergill on the 7th which was really nice. We ate breakfast together and talked for a while before I was on my way to Vejle for yet another meetup. The next day my host mum's niece, Amalie, and I went to a family get together that happens once a year for Mette’s side of the family. There was a lot of food and cake and rain. That evening I also attended a birthday party in Horsens for my friend Asael. The day after I went to Randers to celebrate my Dad’s Dad’s wife’s birthday and I stayed overnight. It was so nice to see them again, especially my little cousins. This was where I met 2 of my youngest cousins I hadn’t met before; 3 year old and a 5 month old. 11th of June it was my 18th Birthday party which I celebrated with my exchange and school friends. It was so much fun and there was a lot of music and dancing. 14th I went to Horsens and spent the day with an exchange student and 3 of his Danish friends which was very relaxing. We were at the beach all day and then we played cards and ate pizza later on. Then it was my birthday, 16th of June. I had all of my danish family over and we had lunch and afternoon tea together. It was so nice to see my real family and host family all together, it’s one of the days I’ll never forget. I also received tickets to go to the Stig Rossen Christmas Concert in December with my Dad’s Dad which has always been a dream of mine and something I had saved up to pay to go while I am here. The next day I went to Silkeborg for another meetup where we swam in the lake and played music as usual. June 19th I was in vejle for another meetup where we sunbathed and swam and danced, you know, the usual. 20th - 23rd of June I was in ROME!!! I spent the best 4 days ever in Rome with my host family which was just amazing and a dream come true. We saw the Colosseum, Pantheon, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps, Catacombs, a Bone Temple, the St Clement Basilica and we rowed a boat around in the Villa Borghese (a big park). 25th I went to Vejle beach with my Australian girls and we had a girls day chatting, sunbathing and eating. The next day I went all the way down to Middelfart where I attended a goodbye party for 2 exchange students which was really fun. 29th I went to Aarhus for a meetup and to say a final goodbye to some exchange students. Then in the evening I was with my host family and some of their family at a Volbeat concert in Aarhus (a Danish rock band). It was a super cool experience and I had a lot of fun. Highs of this month are basically everywhere. It has been an extremely busy month spent with a lot of friends and lots of sunshine. If I had to pick it would definitely be Rome because it’s been at the top of my travel bucket list for a number of years now. Also my birthday party and receiving the tickets to Stig Rossen. Lows would have to be all the goodbyes I’ve had to do. The hardest was to say goodbye to my best guy friend Vittorio who I couldn’t see off in the airport because he left the same day as I went to Rome. It was a tough plane ride and morning for me. Im also struggling with the fact in 3 days (4th July) I will be saying goodbye to my best friend from the oldies, Fernanda. We are like sisters and have spent so much time and have so many memories, it’s going to be a really hard day. Best wishes from Denmark xx Well this entry has been a long time coming, sorry for the wait but as you are all aware, my life never stops being busy. So without further ado, here's what I got up to on Eurotour...
Day one was pretty uneventful but at the same time a lot of fun. Most of the day was spent picking everyone up from the meeting points and then driving for about 6 hours straight. We somehow ended up having a car crash occur right in front of us so that delayed us a little and provided a bit of entertainment. We had speakers on the bus and played music all day long which we obviously sang along to. Day two was more interesting. Our guide took us to where the Berlin wall used to run through the city and gave us some information on the history of the wall. We then had a bit of free time to walk around that area and go up a tower to look at the view before the bus took us to the East Side Gallery where we spent some time there taking photos. It rained heavily all day which was super annoying but we had a lot of fun nonetheless. From here, we got driven to the Holocaust Memorial where we then could walk around the city as we pleased. Every place we get free time we have to be at least 3 people together at all times so we all just kind of split into little or big groups and walked around. The group I was with decided we would walk back to the hotel and look at things along the way. So we did, and it took us 2 hours! Straight walking for 2 hours all wet from the rain, certainly an experience that's for sure haha. Day three we said goodbye to Berlin and Hello to Prague. On the way to Prague we had a 3 hour stop in Dresden which everybody loved. It is such a beautiful city with old churches and a really cute market. After lunch in Dresden we hit the road again for another couple hours until we reached the Theresienstadt Camp/ Ghetto which is a prison they used during World War II and a bit before. It was really cool but at the same time super depressing. I think the hardest thing to deal with was that we were walking the same ground a thousands of Jews had previously walked on and were gathered in rooms where they used to sleep, shower and be left to die in. To think about the history of it and the fact we were there to see it as a tourist attraction made a few of us a bit uncomfortable and upset. There was one room that had signatures covering the walls and ceiling of all the people that had been in there and I couldn't bare it. After this we had another 1.5 hours of driving, which was pretty silent after that, until we reached out hotel. Day four was one of the best days out of all of Eurotour. We took a bus, train and then a tram to get into Prague from our hotel. The guide took us around a bit of the city to see the president's castle, St Vitus Cathedral and over the Charles Bridge. From here we had free time for the whole day until 7pm! The group naturally split into smaller groups and I ended up being the only non-Spanish speaker in my group. It was fantastic because I love the language and the music and everyone I was with I was pretty good friends with. For lunch we found a cute little place where we had Goulash (of course immersing ourselves in the local food :P), and once our stomachs were full, we began our adventure! We walked back to Charles bridge and took lots of photos of course, but then we found a spot where we decided we would play music and just dance on the bridge. It was so much fun! There were some people that joined in and others that filmed us and it was absolutely incredible and a moment I will never forget. We then had to meet at 3pm so they could do a role check and I ended up changing groups. So Leo and I went to do some shopping and the people we were meant to meet stood us up. Therefore, we decided to get a chimney ice cream thing and ended up meeting Vitto and Antar so we spent the rest of the day wandering around together and finished with having a drink at the hard rock cafe. Day five brought us Vienna, also a great day and place and another highlight of eurotour. We spent most of the day in the Schonbrunn Palace which was absolutely stunning! It had huge gardens that had really old fountains and archways which was great for our daily photo dose haha. Like usual we had free time in here so we naturally split into groups and my group actually ran into a Danish family while we were there so that was really cool. The best part of the day was at the end we had half an hour until we needed to meet at the bus and there was a huge old building at the top of this big hill and I was like well, I'm going up and one of the other said he'll come with me. So we were running to get up this hill, take some photos and get back down and through the park back to the bus again. We met our bus chaperones on the way and they didn't think we could do it, but we did it anyway and made it back to the bus with 5 minutes to spare. 100% worth it because the view was amazing! After we had dinner at a Greek restaurant, we had free time until 10 pm so I ended up in a group of six and we walked through the city and followed the music we could hear all the way to this street party which was so cool! It was by like this huge palace like thing and on our way back to the hotel we found a huge church that was stunning at night. Day six was also spent in Vienna where our guide took us coincidentally to all the places my group had been last night. I found it do funny but it's always good to see things in different light. We also went to the Hundertwasser House which is a really cool and colourful building that has rooftop gardens. Once again we had more free time which my group basically spent shopping and we found a cute place to have Old Viennese Cake and Apple Strudel because once again, you have to try the local food :P. That night we went back to the Schonbrunn Palace for the classical concert/ opera which our chaperones surprised us with tickets to! We all dressed up really fancy and took photos and enjoyed it. The palace was stunning inside and it was an incredible experience. Huge thank you to Rotary for paying for all 49 of our tickets it is appreciated so much and we really enjoyed it. Day seven let us nap on the bus and wake up in ITALY!! We arrived in Lido De Jesolo to like one of the best hotels, well my room anyway. Our room had the best view, looking right over the ocean and you could easily fit thirty people on our balcony. Once we had dinner (tortellini - Pia, I know you're out there somewhere ;P), nearly everyone headed straight to the beach and we went swimming!! It was so cold but once you're under it was fine. To warm ourselves up afterwards we did some dancing (as per usual) and the headed in for a bit of an early night. Day eight a boat took us from Lido to Venice! Absolutely stunning day sitting at around 28 degrees and blue blue skies. After being told the meeting point and the time to be there we had a whole day to roam around as we pleased. Everyone went on the gondolas first because our guide managed to get the price a bit lower because we were there so early so it ended up only costing us about 20 euros each person. 5 people in one gondola and half an hour to cruise through the canals, it was amazing! We walked around and found some delicious and cheap pasta for lunch before heading to the St Mark's Basilica which was stunning. We also went to the top of a tower which had a 360 view over all Venice. It was truely beautiful. After a bit of shopping and a tiramisu break before heading back to the boat to Lido. The boat ride back was also a highlight (basically all of Italy was a highlight) because we played music and danced on the top deck while the sun was out and the wind rushed through our hair. One of the best feelings in the world, being surrounded by all of your best friends, dancing, singing, sun on your skin and just love being bounced around to every single person. It's almost impossible to describe and it's a feeling I get a lot but can never get used to. Back at the hotel our chaperones tell us they have booked us a table at a karaoke bar in one on the nearby hotels and what an incredible night. Ice cream and getting to do what we do most - dance and sing. Quite a few tears were shed as songs came on where the words hit us all, or just the overwhelming happiness we got from being with each other. Day nine had us all lying in the sun and swimming all day long. We spent the whole day tanning, eating ice cream, swimming and some even hired paddle boards and a pedal boat! Our chaperones bought us Pizza and water and gelato on behalf of Rotary so yet again I say thank you, it was enjoyed and eaten very quickly haha. That night my room had an early night because we were exhausted. Day ten was stressful because despite the early night everyone in my room (4 people including myself) slept past our alarms we set for 6 am. Instead, we woke up at 7:30 and we were meant to be getting on the bus at 7:45. We hadn't packed our stuff and we weren't dressed and we were on the 6th floor with an elevator that could only take 2 people with their suitcases down at a time. I have never in my life gotten ready so fast. I was one of the tidiest in my room so I managed to run down the stairs with my stuff and then run back up to help the others. I ran so fast that I beat our guide to the third floor by taking the stairs even though he took the elevator and we started at the same time. With that start to the morning, we were pretty awake for the ride to Verona. We spent the day there and just walked around the city, saw Romeo and Juliet's balcony and ate a lot of food. From Verona we drove some more and stayed in a little placed called Mondovi which was just for the night, nothing important there. Day eleven we had a day stop in Nice! Yes that's right, we are now in France. Nice was nice :P we spent the day walking around and started by burning some calories before lunch by walking up a million stairs to get an amazing view. Totally worth it. After losing calories we put it all back on with lunch because because we finished with a crepe haha. Did some more walking around and saw a fountain before heading back to the bus for the rest of our journey to Avignon. Once in Avignon, we settled in to our hotel the best we could (probably the worst hotel of the trip) and then we walking into the town and saw the old Pope's building and had ice cream and went back again. Going back to why it was the worst hotel, the bedding wasn't that clean, the rooms were tiny and there was only 2 showers and 2 toilets per floor and we were 20 people per floor. I'm probably slightly overreacting just because all of the other hotels were really nice haha. On the plus side, this hotel had a pool so, compromise. Day twelve like nearly every other day had stunning weather. Blue skies, 29 degrees and a trip to Pont du Gard in Nimes. We spent 2 hours here and went swimming and tanning in the water that runs underneath this beautiful bridge. Then we had a picnic lunch back at the bus before heading back to the hotel and had the rest of the day free. Some of us went into town and the rest stayed at the hotel by the pool. Day thirteen was a tough day, we had like 12 hours of driving to do and I got quite homesick on the bus. The scenery reminded me on NZ and I never travel without my family so I guess it kind of just hit me while a lot of people were sleeping. It didn't help I was away from my host family because they help me forget I'm away from home so I also really missed them. But, we made it to Paris and I was cheered up almost instantly. Our hotel was fantastic with really comfy beds and after dinner we went on a boat ride through Paris where we watched the sunset and the Eiffel Tower sparkle. It was a magical night which we finished with crepes. Day fourteen we had the morning free until 12:45. Our guide to us to the Louvre but sadly we couldn't go in because it was closed as it was Monday. Took some cool photos anyway and also with Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel which is the smallest Arc out of the three. My group wandered around that area and got sandwiches to eat by the canal which was really lovely. We also went to the lock bridge and took some photos there. The rest of the day we spent at Disneyland. I was really really tired this day and was feeling a little homesick again because the last time I was in Paris it was with my family and in most of the park I just saw them. There were two times we could go back to the hotel, 8 pm or 11 pm and there was no way I was staying until 11. I was tired, sad and don't like rollercoasters anyway so I went home at 8 which was great. I had a really long shower and then listened to some music and called my beautiful girls Zara and Lexie who were on bus two for some well needed therapy and love haha. Day fifteen the whole day was ours. We could choose when to wake up and what to do and where to go. We were given a day pass for the metro which meant Paris was in the palm of our hands. Half of the group went with our guide to a Palace just outside of Paris so the ones left sorted into groups and started our adventures. I started out in a group of 7 girls and we saw the Arc du Triomphe and some other really cool places. We then headed back into central Paris where we saw the wall of Love and Sacre Coeur. Me and this other girl who I became extremely close to, Isadora, messaged the chaperones and asked if it was okay if we walked around just the two of us which they said was fine. So we headed off and got some ice cream on the way to buy dinner. We were tired off all the pizza and pasta and Chinese food and fast food so we bought fresh strawberries and apricots and some sandwiches and sat in front of the Eiffel Tower having a picnic. From there we all met by the Eiffel Tower at 7 pm where we were told we are going to the very top of the Eiffel Tower, tickets covered by Rotary. It was absolutely breathtaking, I can't express my gratitude enough. Thank you a million times for giving us the opportunity of a lifetime to see this. Day sixteen we travelled to the land of waffles and chocolate. BRUSSELS!! We spent about 4 hours there and the guide took us to see Manneken Pis which was not what I expected to see at all. It was so small! After this Rotary paid for us all to have a waffle which was unbelievably good and extremely filling. So my group and I decided to work it off by walking to all the chocolate shops haha. I then got to meet up and see the wonderful Ella who lives in Brussels. I missed her so much and it was the best to see her again! We got pita pockets for lunch and then she showed us around in the little time we had left. It was an amazing day trip. From Brussels we travelled to Amsterdam. Our hotel was about 1 hours drive from Amsterdam so we just spent the evening in the hotel. Day seventeen we drove into Amsterdam where we had a guided boat ride through all the canals. We then had free time the rest of the day and my group went and had a massive lunch to celebrate the last proper day of eurotour. The next stop for us was the Red Light District and then we were too tired to do anything else. We bought stroopwafels and went to Primark just to relax a little. This night was the hardest night I've ever had to deal with and I've never cried so much in my life. We gave a canvas photo of the chaperones with us and we all signed the back as a gift to say thank you for everything and for being amazing. We all signed each others flags and held each other tight. This last night was the realisation it's all coming to an end, for all of my oldies anyway. But for me it meant saying goodbye to half the bus. It also hit me, nearly all of my best friends will soon not be in Denmark with me anymore and it's sad and it hurts. I love these guys so much and they have become such a big part of my life and who I am. It's going to be weird without them and really hard for a while but it is something I am so grateful to be feeling. Without going on exchange and having this amazing opportunity, I would never have met these people and I wouldn't have an international family like I know I have now. It's something I don't mind hurting for because I know I'll see them again. Day eighteen, the last day. A lot of sleeping and a bit of music later we were back in Denmark. It was the night before all over again because now people start leaving the bus. You could see how much we all meant to each other from the big smiles and tear stained faces sitting in each seat. Standing at the front, looking back at everyone I had not only spend the past 18 days with but also the last 4.5 months of my exchange with. I knew right then that this was exactly what I needed and exactly where I belonged. I found myself a lot more on this trip and learned a lot more about who I am as a person with the help of my beautiful friends/family. You'll all forever be in my heart. Thank you for the best 18 days, all the laughs, support and love you have given me. I love you all so much and until we meet again, vi ses, hasta luego, see you later... May has been a fun filled month for me. I have just come back from my Eurotour which lasted 18 days from the 15th of May to the 1st of June, so most of my month has consisted of travelling around Europe with 48 other exchange students. Before eurotour I was still doing quite a lot of activities as usual. I had my first Fredag’s cafe at my school on the 3rd which was very interesting to experience, it was a sports day at the same time so there were people running marathons and finishing in the Fredags cafe. There were a lot of games and music but to me the Gymfests are a lot more fun. It was also Martin's (my Uncle's) birthday so I went to Horsens to celebrate with them. I stayed the night and I got to see my Dad's dad and his wife as well so it was a lot of fun! That weekend I went to Koldingfjord Hotel where I had a family get together with all of John’s family which happens once every year. It was so much fun and it’s such a beautiful area. We came back on the Sunday and I went straight into Aarhus to meet Ella who is also from New Zealand. She lives in Aalborg which is quite far away so I don’t see her much. Other exchange students came as well and we hung out by Dokk1 which is like the harbour for Aarhus. Sadly Ella couldn't join us there because she needed to head home again. The next day was my Mum’s birthday so I called her which was really nice. The day after that it was my host mum’s birthday so I didn’t go to rotary that night so I could spend the evening celebrating with her. I gave her a set of paua shell earrings which she loved! That friday I finished school really early so I went into Aarhus and met with my Farmor for lunch which was so nice. We also did some shopping and she drove me back to Odder and had dinner with my host family and I. Then it was suddenly the weekend again. I went to Vejle where I was going to spend time with Zara and Lexie until 2pm when there was a big get together we were going to, but a couple other people came early so we took the bus together to the beach we were meeting at. Then when we arrived there were already 13 people there and running at me yelling HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I was so confused because it wasn’t my birthday so I was like haha funny joke, nice to see you guys and they were like, no it’s a surprise party we bought you a cake and everything! It made me so happy because Zara and Lexie had organised it so that all of my oldies could come to my birthday before they left back to their countries after eurotour. So they sang happy birthday in Danish and Spanish and English and then in true Mexican style, the cake got smashed in my face. It was such an amazing day. All of the other people arrived for the get together after and we stayed at the beach all day singing and dancing and it was blue skies so everyone was happy! I stayed at Lexie’s house that night and the next day we went for a walk around the forest near her where there was an abandoned mansion and a swing. Then it was my last two days of school and I went to Den Gamle By with my class the last day which was nice. Then Eurotour started. Eurotour is going to have it's own separate post so I'll finish May here. My highlight was definitely the surprise party, it was very fun and unexpected as well. I cannot thank the people who came enough, it means the world to me, I love you guys.
3 and a half months in, making it 1/4 of the way through my exchange. As always I’ve kept myself nice and busy this month and with the Easter holidays it was easier to make lots of plans. I moved host family this month and it couldn’t have gone any better. This family feels like home to me and reminds me so much of my own family back home. I have a younger brother Jacob who has just turned 5 on the 18th and then my host parents, Mette and John. We live on the only hill in my town with one of the best views as well as being close to the local supermarket which is great. Writing this, I’ve only been with them for 2 weeks but it feels like longer because we are just so comfortable already. We have so many plans together and I cannot wait. 1-2 months ago Mette messaged me asking to reserve the dates 20-23rd of June for a surprise activity so naturally I did. When I moved in they told me “Hey remember those dates that you reserved for the surprise? Yea well we are taking you to Rome!” I nearly died of excitement and almost cried at how special this is for me. I mentioned to them Rome was on top of my travel bucket list and they wanted to help give me that experience as well as have a family trip. I couldn’t be more grateful. They have also got tickets for the Skanderborg festival in August for me to go AND bring a friend so I have lots of exciting things coming up in the near future. I also have Eurotour coming up in 16 days which I cannot wait for! Upcoming events aside, lets get to what I’ve been doing the past month.
I started out April with one of my classmates, Emma, coming to my house. We ate pineapple and walked to the beach. She stayed for dinner and it was so nice! We just talked and caught up with each other. Went to Aros Art Museum with my art class the next day and finished at 2:30 so I messaged Fernanda and we hung out in the city with another exchange student, Julia, from another program and we ate chips and salsa and drank smoothies and chocolate milk. I then went home and attended a rotary meeting where we went to the restaurant in Norsminde. It was lovely because I got to see Torben and Ulla and talk to my third/ last host family which had been a while. The next night I went to the Salsa night in Vejle with Anne my first host mum which was so much freaking fun! We got free cake after as well hahaha. Most of the steps I knew already but it was so nice to dance with a partner compared to practicing by myself in front of a mirror haha. Mau (the exchange student that organised it all) ended up raising 10,000 kr for this guy to go to the Paralympics in 2020 which was amazing. On the Friday of the first week I had my last gymfest for this school year. I got ready and hung out with a few of the girls in my class and ate pizza before our forfest. We then walked to the forfest and spent about an hour there which was fun. The Gymfest was themed Hawaiian Grillfest which was cool because everyone wore flowery shirts and leis but the school wasn't decorated much which was a shame. But the night was so much fun. I danced for 4 and a half hours straight and sung until I lost my voice. Most of the songs they played I knew very well and were English so it made it easier to scream my lungs out haha. The night finished at 12:30 and I didn’t get to sleep until 1:30. Started the next day bright and early and woke up at 7 to pack my things for the weekend. I headed to Kolding where I met my best friends Lexie and Zara. Later we met up with about 10 other exchange students and had a mini get together. We danced and sang and talked and soaked up all the sun. Lexie, Zara and I went back to Zara’s house for dinner and to sleep. We woke up at 7 again because no one could sleep and decided to go on an early morning walk to the estuary before breakfast. We then went to the mall and I got a t-shirt and then another exchange student picked us up and we went back to his place and ate strawberries haha. It was a very eventful and fun weekend. This next week was my last week with my first host family so I spent most of my time at home when I wasn't at school. On the Tuesday I had a Rotary meeting where we played bingo. I nearly won multiple times but obviously that doesn’t count. One of the Rotarians won like 4 times so he gave me his chocolate Easter basket which was so sweet of him. That Friday I went to Aarhus with Lexie and met Fernanda. We had a girls night and watched Mamma Mia and Happy Feet 2 and talked and ate food. Anne and Anders picked me up in the morning and then we went to lunch in Silkeborg with some of their hunting friends then went out for dinner and had Italian. Sunday was a great and exciting day! Anne took me out on the ATV before I moved to my second host family. We had a pear cake of some sorts which was delicious and drank coffee before I said goodbye to my first host fam. Everyone asks if it was hard to move host family or if it was sad and as much as I love my first host family, no it wasn't hard or sad. I know I will see them again soon, I mean I still have 3/4 of my exchange left and I want to look forward to all of the new experience and new exciting things coming up not being sad when I know I'll see them. At first I'll admit it was weird not to be in the same room I got used to the first 3 months, the room I settled into Denmark in, but then you adjust and it's great. The great thing about when I moved is that we had the Easter holidays to spend with each other. The first night I had with them they asked if I watched Game of Thrones which I hadn't so they have introduced me to GOT and now when we have free evenings we spend our time watching that haha. I spent all of Monday with my new family, settling in and talking to each other which was so nice. Jacob got comfortable with me pretty quickly which I was very happy about. I remember Mette telling me when she asked him who the coolest person was and pointed at herself, Jacob said no Katrine is hahaha he's so sweet. The next day I took the bus into Aarhus and met with other exchange students. We went to Den Gamle By and the Botanical Gardens. It was cool to see the changes of Den Gamle By from when I went in 2012. The boat was no longer running and there was a whole new section added in. Wednesday my host dad drove me to Middelfart where I would celebrate an exchange student's 18th birthday with a lot of other exchange students. I was staying with one of the exchange students living in Middelfart and we didn't get back to hers until 3:45 am! I got the train home the next day for Jacob's birthday and celebrated with all of Mette’s family. We sat in the sun all day and ate lots of cake and food. John is the best chef when it comes to cooking meat so loved that we had steak for dinner. Once Jacob went to bed, we continued the party inside and played lots of music and talked and laughed. I taught John how to play snap and beat his ass a million times which was so funny for everyone to watch because John never loses and was getting so frustrated. Snap is my new favourite card game :) The next day we went to a lunch at John’s mum’s house which was lovely and then had a few of John’s friends over for dinner. Saturday we went mini golfing and turns out I’m not half bad at that either. It was such a beautiful day so John and Mette wanted to take their boat out to an island for dinner but sadly the boat wasn’t working so we couldn’t. Instead, John brought the jetski home and after dinner he took me out on it all the way to Aarhus and back. It was so cool because there was hardly any wind and we watched the sunset on the water. Next morning we got up bright and early and had breakfast before going out on the jetski again. It was the best day for it because there was no wind, the sun was out and when we went out we drove over the waves of a boat and went flying. I’ve never had so much fun, it’s such a rush and I couldn’t stop smiling. We then went back around 10 and I baked red velvet cupcakes for the afternoon tea to celebrate Jacob's birthday with John’s family. We spend the rest of the day much like Thursday. Monday we went out on the jetski… again hahaha. Took it all the way to an island and walked around which was lovely. We then came back and I went to Horsens to meet with my danish friend Nathalie from Gaston’s party at the start of my exchange. It was so nice to see her again after such a long time. We had fries and iced coffee, burned, got ice cream, burned some more, got chinese and then went back to her place and ate the chinese food while watching high school musical. An ideal evening really. Got picked up and arrived home in time to watch the new GOT episode and early to bed for school the next day. Thursday I got off school early because my last class was cancelled so I took the bus to Horsens and spend some time with Gaston who I hadn't seen in two weeks. It was so nice, the sun was out and the ice cream was good haha. We went back to his house and had dinner (lasagne) and those of you who know me the slightest know it's my favourite so that really topped the day off. This weekend has been extremely tiring but so much fun. Friday I had a get together at my house after school with 7 other exchange students. We sang and danced to the best music, talked with each other, ate pizza and just had a great time. Then on Saturday I went to Silkeborg for my district get together. We were around 50 exchange students, 30 (ish) inbounds and 30 (ish) outbounds. I got to meet the wonderful girl going to New Zealand in August and she's so lovely! She will be living in Auckland (hello home city) so I will be so happy to see her when I finish my exchange. As a group we got to know each other and ate lunch before getting split into our countries and participating in a small competition. New Zealand and Australia was paired because we were small groups but we put our heads together and won the competition! The last activity for this was actually the most fun because we had to throw an egg around the circle and every time everyone had caught it we would take a step out. We got to 11 steps out before the egg broke so that was fun, bonus it didn't break on me but I threw the egg that broke hahah. After dinner (pizza :P) we got ready for the party and then danced all night long. By all night long I mean we started at 7:30pm and finished at 6-7am it was one hell of a party! Everyone was dancing and didn't care what they looked like so we had so much fun! Even got to limbo and discovered that for someone that's 181cm tall, I can limbo pretty low hahahaha. This event was so special because it was the last time we would all be together as a district before my oldies leave. Some of them I won't see again so we really lived the night to its fullest. I'm really going to miss everyone so much it's getting harder and harder to think about. Especially for my district it will be hard because out of 30 exchange students, only 4 of us are newbies and I hadn't seen the others since the intro camp we had in January so until my newbies come I think I'm going to struggle a lot with keeping it together. Anyway, after no sleep and with feet I wasn't sure I had anymore, I packed up all my stuff and the air mattress I did not use. John picked me up at 8 and we headed to a confirmation in Odense which meant a 2 hour car ride. Now any sane person would be like "Oh awesome I'll sleep in the car!" but I'm not a normal person and decided it would be better to blast good music and sing some more like I hadn't been the past 11-12 hours. I was hanging in there barely but I think breakfast and coffee helped give me a little burst of energy. We got to the Church and John said I could just sleep through the ceremony (it was just an hour) because all of it would be in Danish and it was perfectly okay. So I fell asleep on his shoulder haha. John if you're out there, you're a great pillow and thank you hahaha. Once the service or nap finished we headed to a restaurant by the water which was so lovely! It was hard to keep my eyes open sometimes but it was very nice to meet lots of people. Didn't get home until around 9pm so it ended up being like 36 hours no sleep. Record? I think yes. Best part to finish this off was Monday I didn't have any class for the first 2 periods so I could sleep in. One of the best sleeps ever. This month has been another fantastic one with the bonus of having fantastic weather to match! Every time I meet up with people I get closer and closer to them and make more amazing friends. It really surprises me every time how much you can actually care for someone in such a short space of time and I've never appreciated it so much. Every moment here is so precious and beautiful and it really shows me how valuable life and time is. I will say it time and time again but I can't express how grateful I am for all this program has given me. I can't recommend this enough. I have grown so much as a person and I feel it. I'm trying new things, I have a newfound confidence in myself and I'm so proud of who I am, what I've done and how I've gotten here today. Lesson from this month is to take every opportunity and don't hesitate to participate, just be yourself. Until next time... xx I’ve been in Denmark for 2 and a half months now and it’s so crazy to think I’ll be moving to my second host family in less than 20 days. I keep myself busy with lots of things to do so time just flies by. This month has definitely had its highs and lows. My Dad’s mum here was very sick for a period of time and my Dad actually came over to see her. It was a hard time to be strong for them both but the key was to stay as positive as possible like I normally do and now she’s well underway in her recovery. It was also very hard to deal with the news of the mass shooting in Christchurch in the middle of this month. That was definitely one of the hardest days I’ve had while being here but seeing the response from everyone in NZ and how united we have shown world we are, it has really helped with knowing it’s going to be okay.
Throughout this month I have done quite a lot of things. I met up with my oldie Gaston a few times and to sum it up for you, we spent our time talking and eating. At the start of the month (1st March) I went to one of my really good Danish friends, Emma's, 18th Birthday party which was a lot of fun. The night was spent dancing, singing, eating and laughing a lot. My Dad had just arrived in Denmark a couple days before so he picked me up from her place the next morning (2nd March) and we spent the day together. I showed him around my little town, Odder, and where I go to school. We visited Torben and Ulla who hosted me for 5 days during the winter ferie (holiday) and had coffee and cake with them. It was so nice to be able to introduce them to my dad. They are actually in NZ now and they planned to visit my family when they went anyway but then my Dad ended up being in DK so they wouldn't see him in NZ. After this, we went and visited Farmor in hospital before coming back to my house for dinner. It was so nice that he could finally meet my first host family in person. The next day (3rd March) he came and picked me up and we went and visited Farmor and Hardy (her husband) as well. It was very hard to see Hardy as he was because he just wasn’t happy and didn’t really understand anything. I couldn’t understand much but what I did understand was him telling dad that he doesn’t like the care home, it’s like hell. It’s hard to hear because it’s the best place for him and he was so different to when I last saw him in 2012 which was sad. After our short visit we went to the car, blasted some country music and sung our way to Randers. We had brunch at Farfar and Marianne’s house with Martin, Gitte, Kresta and Robert which was very hyggelig. After brunch we went for a walk to see deer and a playground. We then drove back home and had coffee with my host family and then my dad left again. The day after the next (5th March), I took the day off school to spend with dad. We got flødeboller and I showed him the Salling glass rooftop which was very nice. We then walked around for a little bit and found an Italian restaurant and had Carbonara for lunch which was the best because I haven’t had that much pasta since being here. Then we visited Farmor back in her apartment and then we went back to Odder to attend my Rotary meeting. It was so nice to introduce him to everyone, especially Jette my counsellor. This was the last day I’d see him so it was a really good day. A couple days later (7th March) I was in France. For 4 days we were champagne tasting, eating lots of very good food and exploring the history of Reims which was the town we stayed in. There were about 36 of us. We landed in Paris about 3pm and had a 2 hour bus ride until we reached Reims and our hotel. I resorted to music and watching the scenery. Reims is a very old town and most of the buildings you could see the age of them from the facade. We all settled in to our *4 star* hotel and then headed out to dinner at a really nice restaurant. The next day (8th March) we had breakfast at 8:30 then had a 2 hour bus drive to get to the champagne house where we would have lunch and taste some champagne. The owners of the Champagne house took us on a walk through their vineyard that had a beautiful view and explained the processes they go through to get their product. They also took us down to the huge barrels, storage area and bottling machines which was very fascinating to see. We then took the bus an an hour away to a michelin star restaurant for dinner and has a long drive back to the hotel. Our last proper day in France (9th March) was amazing. We went sightseeing and had a danish tour guide tell us about different places and show us around. We went to a fancy Italian restaurant for lunch. After lunch, myself and two other girls left the group to do some exploring of Reims ourselves. We went shopping in a huge mall and went to the Cathedral - Notre Dame. It was so beautiful and old; the stained glass windows were absolutely magical and really helped further express the beauty of it. We then went back to the hotel after getting Macaroons and started to get ready for the big anniversary dinner. Laura (my roommate), straightened my hair while we listened to music and talked and after more music and more talking, the time came to go to the restaurant. It was beautiful and was one of the best nights I’ve had since I’ve been away. Entree was prawns with a salsa and I ate it all which I was so proud of, main was steak and fries and dessert was a lava cake with some kind of berry ice cream. (10th March) we flew home and just spent the day relaxing as much as possible. The next afternoon (11th March) I went and got smoothies and pizza with two of my friends from my Danish language lessons. On the 14th it was Antonia's birthday so we woke her and her friend up in the morning by singing happy birthday which was interesting for me considering I didn't know the words to the song very well haha. I stood there with lyrics in hand and tried my hardest so I guess that's all you can ask for. Friday 15th was a very difficult day. I woke up to news about the mass shooting in Christchurch back in NZ which broke my heart. 50 people died and 4 people have were taken into custody for the crime. It was a really rough morning full of worry and sadness. Many of the other exchange students from NZ have family in Christchurch and a lot were very upset including myself because we could see all of these comments saying to "hold your families close tonight and tell them you love them." and we can't because we're so far away. I did manage to forget about it for a while though when I had the night out in Aarhus with my 3 closest friends in my class. The next day I participated in a plastic/rubbish clean up in Aarhus with one of my exchange friends, Fausto. It was something I had really been looking forward to because it's a way to help give back to this beautiful country and to just help the environment in general. After we finished the clean up, I met with Grace and we spent the day together walking around Aarhus and talking. It was great to see her again considering I hadn't seen her in ages. Around 5pm she left and I met up with Nico and Fausto for the evening. Jumping to a week later (22nd March) I met Zara in Aarhus and we went around and did some shopping and just spent some time together. She then came back to my place and stayed the night which was so much fun. We had a bubble bath, snacked, talked for hours and listened to music which was so nice since I hadn’t seen her since intro camp in January. The next morning we woke up bright and early to get ready for the day. We arrived in Aarhus around 10:30 and I took her to the Aros museum since she hadn't been to Aarhus before. The rainbow panorama was the goal for some photos so we headed up there while there were hardly any people around. There were some other cool parts of the museum we went to before leaving to go meet some other exchange students at the train station. After this, the group of us took the bus to a beach area where we would meet some others. Some decided it was a great idea to go swimming. I happily volunteered to be the person behind the camera, aka to stay dry and laugh at their freezing tushes. We all spent the day catching up with each other, dancing, singing, eating and just having a good time. It was the last time we would get to see one of the exchange students before he left so we made sure he had a good time. When the day was over, one of my friends, Sofia, from Mexico stayed over at my place. The next day we took the bus into Aarhus again so she could get her train home. There were still a few other exchange students hanging out in the city waiting for their trains that would come around 5pm. We hung out with them at the Salling rooftop and then headed down to the river that runs through the city and sat, ate and talked. Time flew by and before I knew it everyone had taken their train home. That left Bren (a newbie like me from Argentina) and I. Her train didn’t leave until 9 pm so I decided I would stay with her so she wasn’t alone in a city she didn’t know for three hours. She lives close to Copenhagen so I hadn’t seen her in 2 months or since intro camp. We talked for ages and got to know each other better which was so nice. For dinner we decided on kebabs because we had pizza for lunch and it was slightly healthier than the other options *cough* burger king *cough*. At about 8:15 I went home because I was so drained of all energy and intended on an early night for once. HA what a joke. Ended up on call with some Australians I don’t know but Grace knows and called for 2 and a half hours. Tea was good so made up for the fact instead of bed at 9 it was bed at 11:30. It was a pretty full on weekend so I was very tired this week, but it was my sister's Birthday on the 26th so I called her which was so nice. I think I had my first twang on homesickness because it is the first time I haven't celebrated her Birthday with her. No one here is a goofy as she is and I miss that. Especially her annoying, crazy laugh. Moving on from that I haven't done anything this week really. I went to the gym with one of my great friends, Nicoline, and then to the beach yesterday. It was so nice to just be alone. Completely alone. Just me, the sea, the sound of the water lapping against the rocks and feel of my feet sinking into the sand as the sun hugged me in comfort. I've been living by the beach for 2 and a half months and I was the first time I went there and I regret not going sooner. I guess it reminded me of home and I didn't know if I could handle that until now. School has been alright but pretty boring in the classes I can’t participate in. I have amazing friends that are just the best which really helps me through the day. We have the goal set to have me go home each day with a new Danish word learn and so far it’s going really well. The other day (26th March) I accidentally spoke danish to one of my friends thinking I’d said it in English. I wasn’t taught the words it just came out so I was really happy about that. Also last week I listened to my danish playlist and was able to understand some of the lyrics the artists were singing that I didn’t know two weeks prior. Danish is a very difficult language but the people around me are really helping. I can understand more than I speak which I’m sure goes for everyone but it gets really draining having to focus so hard to try understand. By the time you understand one word someone has said, three more have followed and you get lost in the conversation so I can’t wait until I finally just get it. I have some really exciting plans for April already and I'm really looking forward to next week. Tuesday I will go to Aros Museum with my art class, Wednesday I have a charity salsa night in Vejle, Friday I have a Gymfest and Saturday and Sunday I will be having a girls time sleepover with Zara and Lexie. That's just a glimpse of next week so you can imagine what April as a month is going to be like. Hope you look forward to the next update, sending love from Denmark xx It’s hard to believe I’ve been here over a month now. It feels like no time has passed at all but at the same time it feels like I’ve known these people for years. My host family is the best and I felt at home with them from day one so it’s been easy to fit into everyday life there. School is also pretty great; I’ve made some good friends but it’s very hard to pay attention in class because I don’t understand what’s going on. But I do use my time wisely by using the website Memrise to help learn some more Danish which is actually really fun. It’s such a good feeling when you can finally understand that little bit more than before. The classes I have in school are Social Studies, Biology, English, Danish, Spanish, PE, History and Math. Spanish and English are so far the only classes I can fully participate in. (One thing I noticed that is funny is that here I was expecting to have my name pronounced properly considering it’s Danish, but most people call me Katherine.)
On Mondays and Fridays I have Danish Language lessons at the High School about 5 minutes walk from my Gymnasium at 1:30 to 3:00. Outside of school I have quite a lot of free time and I actually just finished my winter break which was a week long. Before winter break I spent the first Saturday of February with my Uncle Martin, his wife Gitte and my two little cousins Robert and Krista. They took me shopping for some winter boots and clothes and it was so nice to see them after 5 years. The next day my host family took me to the Moesgaard Museum which was so cool. We then went for a walk through the forest to the beach and came back and had nice hot coffee. It was so beautiful the walk because the sun was setting through the tall trees and the air was so fresh it was just really nice. I presented my full presentation to my Rotary club on the Tuesday which went really well and they were actually touched and surprised to see I had done some fundraising to help with funding the exchange because it’s something they haven’t seen someone do before. That Friday I went to stay with my Uncle Martin and my two cousins because I had an 18th birthday party I was going to on the Saturday to Sunday for my oldie Gaston in Horsens. They lived 5 minutes away from Gaston’s host house so it made sense to be there already. Then it was winter break. My host parents were going to Mallorca for 4-5 days so Antonia (the German Exchange student also in my host family) and I were invited to stay in a rotarians house over that time. We went to the Odder museum which was very very small and not that interesting but when you’re in a small town it’s one of those things you just need to see haha. The next day the wife of the rotarian I was staying with took Antonia and I to Aarhus to see the Queen’s summer house and the Aros museum which was really nice. That night I also called my family which makes it the second call home since I’ve left. I was so surprised to find I don’t miss home as much as I thought I would. We’ll see if that changes as time goes by, but I like to keep myself busy as you can probably tell haha. The next day I went back to Aarhus to meet with another exchange student who I met at my oldie, Gaston’s, 18th birthday party that previous weekend. We went ice skating and talked all day which was so nice. The day after that next day I was back in Aarhus AGAIN to have a big group meet up with the oldies near me which was so nice. There was 10 of us and we went ice skating again and then walked around the city and talked. We also went up to this big glass balcony that overlooked the whole city. It was the best way to celebrate the day marking one month exactly in Denmark. I stayed overnight in Audrey’s house which coincidentally her host family was Freddy’s a previous exchange student who went to New Zealand and my school! The next day I went back to my host family and we took a day trip to Kolding because they wanted to show me the Koldinghus which my host dad said was around 900 years old. We tried on costumes which the old royal family would have worn and looked around at the structural damage caused by a fire a very long time ago. It was funny because I was actually invited the week before to go to Kolding for an exchange student meet up that I turned down because it was too far away. But then my host family coincidentally took me on this day so I went down and said hello to everyone and hung out with them for about 20 minutes. Last Friday (22nd Feb) I had my first Gymfest (school party) and that was so much fun. My class held a for-fest (pre-party) and that was very interesting to be a part of. The theme for the Gymfest was Glimmer or Glitter something like that so guess who had to dress up like a disco ball? Haha it was great. One of my friends in my class lent me a shimmery top of hers and everyone danced and sang and the boys were crazy on the dance floor. They jumped everywhere and pushed everyone, fell to the ground. Sometimes it got annoying because you’re knocked around a lot but most of the time it was very entertaining. The party started at 7:30 pm and finished at 12:30 am. The next morning I woke up early to take the train to Vejle where I met one of my best friends there, Lexie, from Australia. Together we went to this bigish rotary exchange student meet up in Odense which was a lot of fun. Lexie and I arrived together and then met up with another newbie from Aussie called Mack and then the three of us met up with another newbie that lived in Odense called Alanna. We walked around for like 2 hours because we couldn’t find the exchange students in the usual park but we got there in the end. After meeting the few people I hadn’t met yet and saying hello again to those I had, we turned on a speaker and played some South American music and danced and talked the whole day. Lexie and I left at about 8:00 pm and I stayed at hers overnight. Then on the Sunday my host mum picked me up in Skanderborg and we walked in some of her farming fields which was really nice! I also saw some deer which was weird because it was so open and I thought they preferred to hide in the forest out of sight. This Wednesday (27th) I will spend the afternoon and evening at one of my friends from school which will be so nice. I’m really starting to settle in properly now and make some amazing friends both Danish and exchange students. On Friday (1st) I will go to Horsens after school and meet my oldie Gaston and spend the afternoon and evening with him which should be very fun as well. Then on the way home I will go to my other friend Emma’s house for her 18th birthday party. February has been the best month ever and I still have 11 more to go. I already have a few things planned for march. I will go to France with my host family for 4 days 7th-10th March and on the 23rd there is going to be a huge exchange meet up in Aarhus called Lego Snow (don’t ask why haha). It’s going to be massive because every exchange student is invited and people will stay at each other's houses. Around this time there is normally a huge Brazilian carnival back in Brazil so we will be celebrating that by dressing in bright colours and paint and dancing of course. I’m so excited and I cannot wait. My Rotary district is the BEST in Denmark. I have so many amazing exchange students so close to me and so many beautiful cities that provide things to do and see. My district runs from just above Aarhus down to Vejle and everything is so close. It takes me 35 mins by bus to get to Aarhus and one hour by train to go to Vejle. A lot of exchange students meet in Aarhus or live around it which makes it very easy to make plans and see each other. Also Gaston is in Horsens so I get to see that area as well. I couldn’t have been put in a place more perfect for me and I couldn’t be happier. |