Long weekend

It's the final weeks of the school year here in Denmark and the days spent in class are slimming down. The last time I was at school was last Tuesday (due to a religious holiday on Thursday and Friday and my inability to wake up before mid-day on Wednesday). And this week, from Monday to Wednesday, my class is having årsprøve (exams) which I will not be participating in. Oh, it's a hard life!

I have FINALLY begun to receive Danish lessons however my teacher has decided that it is going to be fast tracked - thus I should accomplish what should be done in a few months, in a matter of three weeks. No complaints here, the more I learn the better - I want to understand/speak as much Danish possible ASAP!

This week I hope to make a boring one because I really do not want to spend even one krona as I am saving every penny for Euro Tour which I begin on Sunday! Ohhh myyyy Rowling!

Last Wednesday (after my friends had finished school and I my Danish lesson) Jannika, Kristine and I basically had a perfect sleep over. I love these girls so much. They are always doing things to make me happy, they truly define the word 'friend'. On Wednesday they gave me an early birthday present - a really beautiful sterling silver heart necklace. We had en meget hugelilig aften!

On Thursday I went with Nitzcsh, Kristina and Anders to an Eagle sanctuary (which I maintain was a prison!). I have never been so scared of a bird before - they were huge! They sometimes hunt deer - which are about twice their size! I didn't get very good photos as I was partly tissing at the fact that the birds were being subject for human entertainment, and also I truly didn't want to make too much movement - I really was the scared! They were of course "perfectly harmless" though.

eagle sanctuary man and eagle

After the Eagle show we decided to keep heading further north of Jylland. The church below is a major tourist attraction here in DK as it is said to have been buried by sand. Although Kristina and Nitzsch think other wise - Anders and I choose to believe this is a hoax and that there really is no other part to the building that is now under ground. Buuuttttt it's a silly debate that really isn't worth pro-longing my blog.

It was about a ten minute walk to the church, I used this time to sit on Anders shoulders and impersonate Kanye West/pretend to be a monster. Time well spent I think!

My favourite part of the day was going to the peninsula of Jylland, Denmark where the two seas (the North Sea and the Baltic Sea) meet. It is an incredible experience to literally see the seas crashing against each other. The best time to go is when it is stormy as the ocean is obviously rougher with more waves and thus more dramatic impact. Unfortunately my picture doesn't grasp how amazing it really is!

Kristina and I where the two seas meet!

On Friday I went with Amalie to the Sindal Markets and saw all the cutest little animals. Puppies, rabbits and horses were everywhere! It was adorable and made me miss my pets back home so much! They don't have markets every Sunday like we do back in sunny Queesland so it was sort of a special treat. It was a really pleasant day and I suppressed all urges to buy anything so I could save all my spending money for Europe!

cute little puppies!

Just a picture of how beautiful and green denmark is in Spring!

I made a special effort to keep ya'll up to date - I hope you appreciate it!

I'm missing everyone lots!

KNUS!

April

So it's been an entire month since my last substantial update… woops!

I will relay the events of the past few weeks in the shortest yet most interesting form possible - if you have any problems with my writing skills; give Ms Dennis (my previous english teacher) a call… Kidding! It's a lost cause, so I will apologise in advance for what you are about to read...

So I would like to begin with how the chicken pox (skoldkopper) ruined me for longer than the week it was supposed to. There are still blemishes on my face that just won't go away dammit! Nevertheless, I finally found the courage to take my first steps out of the house and into the sunshine of beautiful Denmark.

On Friday (16th April), my Gymnasium had a Friday's Cafe. For all the Aussies that don't know about this splendid idea - it's basically a "let's get drunk at school" party. From about 3 to 6pm the students all chill out in the kantine or outside on benches while having a beer or two (or three, four, etc etc). It was such a nice day, believe it or not the sun was shinning here in DK, and we just had a whole lot of hugelilig with our classmates. The song "Hey Shorty" by Kato was constantly playing in the background, and my classmates thought it was incredibly funny to literally force me to sing along to the Danish lyrics. Oh Rowling, the humiliation was painful (yet fun all the same). Later that night I went to a party with a few of my classmates however came home at about 1.30am - upon arriving home my host parents were quite alarmed and asked "what's wrong, why aren't you still at the party"?. Uggghhhh, let's just say I was confused and also amused. If I came home at 1.30am in Australia, my dearest mum would be asleep in bed and expecting me to do the same! Not suggesting to me to keep on partying to the break of dawn! (I didn't take any photos sorry!)

The next day (the 17th April), I caught a five hour train ride to the south of Denmark to a town called Vojens to see Anya for her 18th birthday. Bridget and a few other exchange students were there too and it was so nice to catch up and share stories about all our crazy experiences! We went out to town that night and I learnt something new… I was under the impression that Denmark was quite literally the most peaceful country in the world… Apparently that's just Frederikshavn. I kid you not when I say I am currently living in a little bubble - the birds really are always singing, everyone is always smiling - you get the idea. I was surprised to see a fight when going out to town in the south of Denmark. I am very accustomed to violence in Australia, I just didn't expect it here in Denmark. Then again, with that said, I think it is still a little worse in Australia than here in Denmark. It was ssuuuccchhh a good night with my favourite Aussie/Danish friends. On another note of my Vojens weekend - because the planes were not flying here in Europe (due to the volcanic ash from Iceland) the trains were full with people traveling through Denmark (from Norway or Sweden) to Germany and the rest of Europe. On Saturday I made good friends with (a cute!) French guy, and on the way home on Sunday I made another Norwegian friend. I just found it so incredibly cool that you can meet so many different nationalities so easily. I mean, what are the chances of meeting a French or Norwegian guy on the Cleveland line in Australia?!

(Anya, Bridget, me, Laura, Lidice and Gabi at a bar in Vojens)

The next weekend (23rd to 25th) I went with my host family to Læsø Island to check out the said very popular tourist destination. Because it's not quite summer yet - we basically had the island to ourselves. It was really peaceful and happily pleasant. Læsø is "famous" for it's salt - which is apparently stronger. However I am not the salt conisieur so I have to admit I couldn't taste the difference. It was surprisingly interesting to see how the salt is made too… We also spent our time there walking around the beaches and I found my first pieces of Amber!!! (Amber is made over thousands of years from the sap of trees rolling around in the ocean mixing with the sand - it's often used in jewellery like opals and what not).

(My host sister Amalie and I in front of a house with a sea weed roof!)

On Thursday 29th, we had an examination which I actually had to do! It was a presentation on the Holocaust and just mumbo jumbo talking for 10 minutes. Because we had Friday off, and we had all just completed an assessment - we had a class party at Amalie's that night. It was meget hugelilig! (really nice). I really love my class… The difference between high school in Australia and the Gymnasium is that I have one class for all my subjects. So I am with the same people everyday in class. It is quite literally a family… I don't know how to explain it in any other way. If someone has a party it will be for the class… We all sit together at lunch as opposed to with other friends in the school. There's a bit of conflict between a few people, but deep down everyone loves each other because, like I said, your class is your family. It's sweet.

That weekend (1st and 2nd) I went to Nibe/Ålborg to see my Australian friends again (I know i'm bad catching up with other exchange students!) and it was also really nice. There's not much to say except that I had so much fun with Rachael and Katie and am so happy that I have become friends with them!

(Rach and Katie)

That finally brings us up to date with this weekend… Fright night was the Galla fest. Which is like formal where you wear nice gowns except no where near as important… Ginne, Jannika and Kristine came over to my place in the afternoon to get ready together which was just sooooooo nice. I loved it. We then went to Christians for our class's pre party. We stayed there for about two hours before heading to the Galla at about 8.30. The time spent with my class before the actual Galla was definitely my favourite part of the night. I can't express how amazingly fun they are - just really kind people. Then on Saturday night I chilled at Jacobs place before heading into Ålborg with Jacob, Amalie and Nitzsch to see Rene's band play in the final of a battle of the bands. His band didn't win which was rubbish! But I won't say anymore on that injustice. After we saw Farklip play, we then went to the party street and had a really great night. I saw basically all of the Ålborg exchange students - it was crazy to know so many people in the clubs!

(My class 2z before Galla fest)

Annnddd at last we have reached today! I was supposed to talk with my dearest mother on Skype, it being Mothers day and all. But that plan failed! In stead, I went with Matt and his first host mum to basically the top of Denmark (on the west coast) to the mountain sand dunes. It was incredible and just really nice/interesting to see.

(me taking a photo of all the amazing dunes!)

I feel as though I have used all energy left in me to write this. I hope it wasn't too boring - a catch up of the events doesn't really portray my emotions, but I guess it will do!

Love to all my friends and family in both Australia and Denmark. I wish I could forever have the best of both countries, but I can't. So while I am here in Denmark - i'm living it to the fullest yet still missing all those I care about in Australia.

Stay safe, well, happy and healthy!

Knus!