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
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