Adulthood, tough world.

So here I am. A more mature Lucy, being 18 and all. YEAH RIGHT. I may now be an adult under the eyes of the law but cmon, its me...will I ever really grow up?

Last Sunday was the big day and it was the best birthday ever. I have the most amazing friends and family both at home in Denmark and New Zealand. What a lucky kid.

So one of my best ever friends Devika just happened to rock on over half the universe to come see me for my birthday weekend. Ok so after not seeing someone for 8 months straight, your imagination wanders in the hours prior to seeing them in the flesh. Have they changed? If so how so? Will they see me differently?

A million questions and curiosities go through an already troubled teenaged mind.

But after a chaotic mess up with the ridiculous public transport and going to Kolding for no reason, I met up with Devika in Vejle and ran up and hugged her for about 10 minutes. Not being able to believe it was her, here, in Denmark.

So on Friday we just caught up on 8 months of life. Quite an epic task I have to say but it was like we never left each other, what best friends are like right? It was so nice to see her though, hearing stories about NZ and Marsden just made me laugh. I feel so weird that life has continued there while I am here doing something completely different.

The next day we went and had a little look around my lovely town of Fred.













We met up with Ellie and Catherine too, and so naturally we had a feast on the side of the road. Hygge times!

Then twas time for a family birthday celebration at my last host familys house in Middelfart, Kirsten and Andreas also had had birthdays that week so family came from all over Denmark to celebrate! SO nice to have the family all around, I have gotten to know them all so it was like a good old Olsen-McLeod Birthday shindig back home. We ate lots which was nom a nom then went blackberry and mushroom picking, så sjovt og solen skinnede.






Birthday celebrations continued. I was surrounded with the coolest people all weekend, so lucky. Elsker jer så maaal!





Sunday, the big day! I finally turned the big 1-8....a strange feeling but then I could have felt the same as a 17 year old.

Thanks so much to everyone who sent me messages and gifts, my awesome Danish homemade thank you notes are coming your way...once i can afford stamps.

Okay so my last host brother and best friend Andreas is awesome, and loves to fill in his days at school with writing six word stories so here are some examples.

Limitless passion. Limited compromise. No regrets.

Scared as hell. Did it anyway.

Riptide of depression pulling me deeper

Eat nothing. Look thin. Feel fat.

She's his love; he's her wallet.

Personality found in bottle of Scotch.

Rejected by peers. Accepted by cat.

Under the covers, over the monsters

Talent? Maybe...or just a hint of a not-too-far-away mental breakdown. Love ya bro!

Okay so too tired to write anymore after this Lord of The Rings Battle sized post....so here are some random as pics to entertain.







Ok so these pics are a mix....Our funny class photo was like a nude fest. Of course it was just a joke but it was pretty effective no? I love that I am just a sheep named Lucy. Tak klasse!

Oh and my jandal cookie, thanks Caroline! Was yums.






Thanks for the YumYum noodles Maksim! They were spicy as, slightly painful. Men tak russian one.

Oh and my noticeboards in my room are epic...see if you can spot something from you, if not fix it and hit me up.

Enough from me.

LONDON on Sunday at 3am. Well keen.

Lucy in her pjs

x

Things are a changin'

I sit here staring at the page, a history test about Vikings. Oh the happiness I feel. And yet it strikes me that for once in my life, I notice that school in New Zealand isn’t as easy as I had previously thought.

There are 4 questions, all about 4-5 lines long; there is 50 minutes to do it in. In NZ we would have 50 minutes to write an entire 3 or so page essay. Is NCEA in fact what some may deem a challenge? No it can’t be. I have always thought of NCEA as rather ridiculous to be honest, for one your first year exams count for nothing, secondly they do not have any international standing whatsoever and of course there is the fact that you can pass the year without sitting all your end of year exams. Got to love the New Zealand way of doing things.

I write this sitting in the basement classroom, surrounded by busy scribbling people, all while I sit on my computer and write this. Notes about our London trip on the board, the teachers’ droning baritone circling the room. I have tried with the test, of course. But all I got to was translating the questions which itself was a bit of a challenge so I just stopped it there. The successes of being an exchange student, I am king.

So anyway, as I sit here, the thoughts of me moving host families sits in the back of my mind. The last move, next time I move it will be all the way back to little old NZ. A sad thought which I try to ignore as much as humanly possible. I move tonight after Rotary, moving back to mainland Europe y’all.

The concept of moving families is so bizarre I have realized. I have to pick my life up, stuff it in 2 suitcases plus a hoard of other bags and boxes, get in a car and all of a sudden shift lives. Change the way I live day to day. Of course it’s a good thing, a positive thing as I get to experience so many different Denmarks I suppose you could say. But it is still so hard getting used to different things, even small things like where the plates are kept, when people come home from school/work, what the rules are and of course peoples expectations of you. People outside of the exchange ‘circle’ may find it hard to fully understand the ins and outs, ups and downs of exchange, which is totally understandable, but I want to help them try and understand what it is like. So hard to explain, like seriously I can’t put into words what the experience of exchange is like. Unbelievable just doesn’t do it justice.

So today I leave the Leed household. I just want to say tusind tak/mage tak til min mor Kirsten og verdens bedste bror Andreas. Although short, we have done so much together and I felt like such a part of the family. I have learned so much, plus my Danish has become so much better (thanks to Kirstens fine teaching skills ☺). I have been shown so much of Denmark with this family, day trips here and there were so nice, Denmark really is one cool country (the weather is another thing). We have been mushroom picking, to the beach, on walks, picnics, explored other cities and seen what our own town of Middelfart has to offer. So thanks again for all you have done, I can only try to put into words how much I appreciate everything. Og vi siger ikke farvel men vi ses ☺

Exciting week ahead well with moving, one of my best friends from New Zealand coming to see me AND Lucy will finally be 18 on Sunday. It will be so strange to not have the usual McLeod/Olsen/Delany afternoon tea with cake, tea/coffee and of course the family staple food – nacho chips. But I look forward to a Danish birthday, med dejlig chokolade og kage til.

Report back soon.

Floederboller recipe coming soon, stay tuned. They are worth the wait.

Pics coming soon too :)

Oh and I have since moved into my next family and love it :). We have a kitten do do do!

The Friendly Stranger

There are always those people who you seem to see on the train, on the way to school or in the street more regularly than deemed normal or coincidence. It's a really strange feeling, as you seem to know these people in a way, seeing them nearly everyday on your way to school or around town. And yet you never utter a word to them, not one conversation not one word is shared. Just a random thought, but quite a strange phenomenon I think.

London Calling, just under a month until I am there with my class. Looking forward to copious amounts of Starbucks, fish and chips and Topshop. And maybe things will even seem cheap compared to this insane country!



Elisabeth and I achieving great things in history as usual.

Peace out kids

Lucy

Sink your teeth in

I feel like I'm floating on the surface. I want to explore more, dig deeper - really experience this place. I won't be here again as a 'carefree' 17 (but very nearly 18) year old. I have to make the most of what little time is left here. I just can't get my head around going back. I live here now, Denmark is home, my mum and my brother are here, my school and friends too. I feel that going back to New Zealand is like taking a step back. I have grown so much here in the 7 months I have been away, I don't want to have to fit back into my old life, the old me.

I haven't been taking photos lately as I have begun to hate my camera. I want oh so badly an amazing professional camera which takes stunning photos. But with quality comes a price tag which a poor little exchange student can't afford sadly, but I will get my dream one day soon!

So I have a lack of photos from my recent life, which is a pity as I have been enjoying myself at school and with friends etc.

The other week my cutie friend Ann Katrine (AK) from my class came over to my house and we made macaroni and cheese which is something we both LOVE and miss! It used to be favourite dish, I would have it as my birthday dinner which to me sounds really sad now but at the time it was heaven.

Then on Thursday my other friend Elisabeth (dubbed cold meat, long story...) came over and we were just in the 'I'm fat and lazy mood' so we ordered pizza and had a small feast. We then were SO tired after having 4 classes at school that day that we just collapsed in front of the TV and watched a movie <3. It was so nice to just chill, elsker dig kold koed hehe

We had a class party on Friday which was so much fun, I love just hanging out with my class outside of school as it's easier to just be normal and not distracted or stressed.

Here is a pic I thought was super duper (phrase picked up from Andreas, Danish god of a host bro) cute.



I heard about the awful earthquake in Christchurch, NZ. My heart fell. My sister is there I thought, I just felt like crying at what could be. She sent me a message saying she is all okay, but shaken (mind the pun). I hope all of you there are pulling through this, I can't imagine what it would be like to witness a city fall as Christchurch did.



Thinking of you.

Lucy x

Turn Around

Crash and burn.

. How can something be so good then fall so fast?