Intro Camp!

Hello to those few kind people who read this somewhat hilarious and uninformative blog. I apologise for not updating the blog for a few weeks but I find it hard to stay awake once I am home from school and then of course when i do have time I forget! But I have lots to tell you about as it has been a busy last couple of weeks.

Last week we had a week off for Winter Holidays which I was very pleased about as school really takes it out of you. But it wasn't to be the usual getting up at midday and being a slob in general oh no! Rotary had planned an intro camp for all of the new inbound exchange students in Bjerringbro which is about 2 hours north of Fredericia. It was for a week and yet we were given no schedule so it was up to the imagination as to what we would be doing. On the train journey north we were able to spot the exchange students straight away - the insanely noisy group of teenagers who's badge strewn Rotary blazers were laying crumpled on the seat next to them. There were only about 50 or so of us but I can assure you that was enough people for me!

After an hour and a half long train journey to Randers, we met up with some Rotarians and we all piled onto the bus for our half an hour trip to Bjerringbro. We were staying at Nørgaards Højskole which is like a language school for exchange students etc. We arrived and were led to our rooms so we could settle in and meet our roomies. I was with Stacey who funnily enough is from the same district as me in NZ as well as an Aussie girl called Mich.

Me, Stacey and Mich in our 'tidy' room

After a little bit of mingling we met our teachers for the week (oh did I mention it was a week long language camp?!). I didn't mind the fact that the week was to be full of Danish classes as our three Danish teachers (two male and one female) were all quite good looking so that eased the stress of learning a new language! The rest of Sunday was all very relaxed, we met everyone and had a nice dinner and then we were sent to bed at around 10.30.

Monday was our first day of classes so everyone was up early and ready for breakfast. I have to say the breakfasts here are great, it's not just the usual rice bubbles and a bit of buttered toast, there is fresh bread and al types of cold meat and sauces - the lost goes on! After breakfast each day we had an assembly where we all met and went the plan for the day - a bit pointless I thought as we were all given a schedule at the beginning! Our Danish classes were so much fun as it wasn't just the monotonous copy and repeat, we listened to Danish music, acted out role plays and ate Danish chocolate and lollies. Our teacher was Marie who is 25 and working towards her teaching degree. She was so cool and made learning Danish easier and more hilarious.

Everyone hard at work during Danish class.

After a full day of classes on Monday, we had some afternoon activities planned. Theatre sports were on the menu and although it was fun, nobody was really in the mood as the day had worn everyone out as learning a language can be quite tiring. Here are a few pics of our 'tableau's' we created.

Don't even ask what is going on!

My group and our 'Cool Runnings' tableau.

Tuesday dawned and everybody was still feeling very tired but we had a whole day of Danish classes to look forward to! The classes themselves were actually fun as I said previously our teacher was amazing. There were also lots of coffee breaks so we could 'refuel' and regain our concentration. I find it quite funny as it took us only a day to learn the past tense in Danish whereas in NZ it took us a few years to learn it in French and I can't even remember it in Spanish! I suppose this is what happens when you are immersed into a language, you are forced to learn at a fast pace. It's good but I still find it hard to force myself to use Danish as there is always that thought of the back of my mind saying 'they all speak English- which is a blessing and a problem at the same time. I will continue to try though as I have to, speaking Danish fluently is on my bucket list so it must be done!

Wednesday was to be our first time to be 'released' from the school which everyone was very excited about. We had class in the morning but after lunch we all piled onto a bus and headed to Viborg which is one of Denmark's Viking capitals and is located north west of Arhus. We visited the 800 year old Viborg Cathedral first which was beautiful and full of history. Typically some of the students didn't appreciate the history and beauty of the church but I really loved it, I love thinking of what could have happened there all those years ago. Here are some photos.

Viborg Cathedral

Inside the Cathedral

After the church we were let loose on the city of Viborg to shop for a few hours! I can't believe they trust us to go around a city we don't know but I didn't question it as the idea of shopping was too tempting! There are sales everywhere in Denmark so I don't feel as guilty buying something when it is 80% off . . Here is a photo of us shopping.

Kristy-Lee, Jacob, Katie and Catherine in Viborg.

We all got back on the bus laden with shopping bags and all exhausted. We had one more stop on the way back to school, a lookout over a frozen fjord - so beautiful.

An Australian girl Lauren and I with the fjord in the background.

Thursday was another day of classes and you could tell that everyone was still tired as there was no chatting, no questions being asked and Marie told us we all looked asleep! It was a long week but we had to make a final push for our last few days so we could make the most of our lessons.

On Friday we had our day trip to Arhus which was going to be great as it was an entire day to shop and see a new city. We all piled on the bus yet again and slept for the hour long journey. We all visited the modern art museum in Arhus first which I loved! It reminded me of the Guggenheim (not that I have ever been there!) and the exhibitions there were so unusual and entertaining. The building itself was gorgeous, very clean lines and modernist but what can you expect from a Modern Art Museum?

Inside the Museum

Room of mirrors.

Lego exhibition!

Viborg. So gorgeous!

My favourite shop :)

It was such a fun day and I didn't buy too much Mother! It was amazing as it was snowing the whole day too which made it feel really special.

Saturday was a very relaxed day, we had our last class for the week so we celebrated by eating some Danish sweets similar to Mallowpuffs and taking lots of class photos.

Our class!

Danish specialties :)

That night we had a formal dinner with Rotary so we all dressed up and wore our stunning Rotary blazers. It was the best dinner we had had all week and so naturally I had several helpings! After dinner we had a last night/goodbye party. It was so much fun and was a great way to finish off what had been a tiring yet amazing week. I met so many amazing people and improved on my Danish skills to say more than jeg hedder Lucy og jeg kommer fra blah blah!

I'll leave you with some photos of the dinner and party. Vi ses alle sammen :)

Me, James, Laura and Mich

New Zealanders singing the national anthem!

Everyone dressed up for dinner.

School and Various Other Shenanigans

So I survived my first day at Fredericia Gymnasium albeit exhausted and shocked, I did it.

I found it quite hard my first day as I was meeting new people, attending new classes and finding my way around a new school - all in Danish. I was really lucky to have a buddy who is helping me for the next few weeks to make sure I get to classes and understand the timetable etc. But I have to say this school couldn't be more different to Marsden. Firstly there is no uniform so naturally I had to wake up half and hour earlier to choose what I was going to wear, secondly there are boys which after going to an all girls school for six years is quite a big change! The atmosphere is really relaxed and in assemblies people just whip out their cellphones or laptops (usually going on facebook) and they don't even get in trouble. I found this quite amusing but I still couldn't pluck up the nerve to do the same as I was worried Mrs Field would miraculously appear standing over me telling me to put it away. The length and setup of their classes is different too, every night before school I have to check online when I start school and what classes I have as they can be cancelled just like that. I was lucky enough to start at 10am two days in a row and leave at 3! They have about 4 classes a day (one of which is an hour and a half long!) and then about 3 20 or so minute breaks.

The classes themselves are quite challenging for me especially as they are all in Danish. History and geography are especially difficult as they are like lectures so it is hard for me to even decipher what the topic of the lesson is! I have only had two days at school but in class I try to listen but usually end up drawing pictures or writing letters as I get so exhausted from trying to understand. The subjects I am taking except for geo and history are English (shouldn't be to bad!), French, sport, Maths and Danish (and no I don't expect to do so well in that subject for a few months!).

The canteen at my school is quick nice too, unlike Marsden's pro good healthy food stance, Fredericia Gymnasium has everything whether it is healthy or not, Sweets, bread, coke, hot food and really good brownie! Plus they have vending machines one of which is a hot drinks machine, I am still to indulge in what is my vice (coffee) but they're not too pricey so I will buy something sometime soon . .

The weekend before school started I went with my host Mum and Dad and Tasmanian exchange student Catherine on a little day trip to Germany. Yes I know, day trip to another country it sounds so wrong - especially when coming to New Zealand where it takes about a year to get anywhere! It was only an hours drive from Skaerbaek and as we approached the Danish-German border Catherine and I were so excited!

Catherine and I crossing the border!

Danish flags lining the road to the border.

As we crossed the border we were just so excited. Another country in just an hour was so unusual. I noticed all of the German cars and smiled as I saw all of the new Audi's, Mercedes and BMW's . . I saw several of my favourite cars too, Mercedes 4WD (my dream, if anyone wants to buy me one feel free :)).

We were going to a city called Flensburg which is just about 10 minutes from the border. The main purpose of the trip was to buy alcohol and groceries as they are up to half the price in Germany. We went to a big dairy which had everything in it, chocolate, beer, wine, spirits, gummy bears etc. I saw some wine that you could taste and I looked at the abel and to my surprise it was a New Zealand white wine from Marlborough! I had to take a photo . .

Me and the Crystal Bay Sav . .

They had giant everything, including mentos.

Our small amount of shopping (both of the trolleys are ours!).

After our big grocery shop we drove into the city and parked the car so we could have a walk through the main shopping street. But first we walked through what looked like an innocent old German street, but no it was a a little less innocent. This was a street where women sat in the windows selling themselves. It is normal for women to be yelled at whilst walking through this street as they are seen as 'competiton' so I was shaking in my boots (literally it was freezing!) but I was with my host mum Gitte and Catherine so we were all safe.

Prostitute Lane . . Quite pretty to be honest.

I think the women of the night were sleeping as we walked through undisturbed, thankfully! We then continued on a safer route down the pedestrian shopping street where there were lots of stunning old buildings and a few churches. There was a bitter wind and it must have been -10 or so with the wind chill so we thought a coffee would be a good idea. The closest place was a Mcafe but to be honest it was one nice Mcafe, it had armchairs which was awfully civilised.

After a hot coffee we headed back into the cold and went to the local Mall. Catherine and I wandered around for an hour or so by ourselves and we still could't believe we were in Germany! We discovered an amazing chocolate shop which had every type of chocolate you could imagine. I found a chocolate smart car!

That is all from me for now. I am off shopping tomorrow in Kolding as i have the day off school!

Have fun in summer New Zealanders . . . I did see the sun today which was nice.

Farvel!

I am finally here . . .

I've done it, I've left my family, friends and school to spend a year in Denmark.

I am on a Rotary Youth Exchange where I am given a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity to live with a family and attend a Danish high school. I think I am really lucky as I am seeing the real Denmark, not the touristy façade that most see when coming to Denmark. I am part of a family where I get to experience the day to day life as well as experience the culture.

I have been here for just over 2 weeks but I feel like its been so much longer. I have fitted in with my host family really well and I feel at home here which is great. I am living in Skærbæk which is a small area just outside of Fredericia. Fredericia is an old military town of about 40,000 or so and is on the east coast of Jutland. Skærbæk is very close to the sea (and although frozen at present) it reminds me of Wellington a little bit. The weather is also somewhat similar, except for the snow of course. The wind here is bitter and brings down the temperature to a pleasant -10C or so. I have experienced my first snowstorm too which deemed very exciting, not just the snow itself but the facet that we had to finish language school half and hour early! It was so exciting and I acted as though I was aged about 5 throwing the icing sugar like snow into the air.

I have been busy over the last few weeks with settling in and trying to get a grip on the language. Danish is said to be one of the hardest languages to learn and I see why. When you look at a Danish word then hear it aloud, they couldn't be more different. It's craziness but I am slowly getting the hang of it, saying j's as y's and d'd like l's. I can now say a few sentences and point at things on the dinner table and recite them which in my opinion is quite good seeing as I arrived in Denmark only being able to say hello and thanks! The true test will come tomorrow when I have my first day at Fredericia Gymnasium but I am guessing most of the classes will go right over my head but I will understand in time (I hope!).

I am off to walk the family dog, Zenta and I have to put another 3 or 4 layers on so I don't freeze!

Watch this space to see if i survive my first day at school.

Here are a few photos of my first few weeks here.

The view from my room at my Rotary Councillor's house on Funen.

My house in Skaerbaek.

Me enjoying the snow at language school in Vejle

View from classroom during snow storm!

At Fredericia train station. Maori Tattoo magazine was quite an exciting find.