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.
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