Thursday, January 21, 2010

NOT DEAD

Hey. I'm writing to let you know that I havn't died. Sadley I don't have very much to talk about so thats why I havn't blogged for quite a while. Life has just been moving along free of "lumps" sense break ended. Just your every day stuff...."smooth". Im still not used to the fact that I'm into the second half of my stay already, and I find myself thinking "when i get back..." much more often now then I did before. "From now to the end of June" has become a very comprehensible time period and it's just weird to really know how much time I have. I've got some big expectations for the next 5 months. Mostly for myself, but thats kind of unblogable so we'll leave it at that.

I made a presetation for english class today. It should have been about the US but I ended up speaking more about Michigan. It was english class so I said it in english but I think I have to make a similare one for AFS in danish some time soon so I'll probabaly just use the same powerpoint. haha. It's weird how I have to force the english out now if I need to use it. It's not like danish is easier. My brain works so much harder when I have to speak danish (of corse, I'm still learning it) but it's what natuarly comes out when I communicate so If I talk to people from home or...write this blog..or talk in english class, there is a little man in my head screaming at me to use danish. I think I created him. haha. But hey, he helps me :)

Next Wednesday I'm going to Jutland through an AFS thingy. I'm staying there for a week and living with another host family and going to another school. They want us to see what It's like to live in another part of the country which I think is a really good idea, so I'm looking forword to that and hopfully it will make for a good blog post :) haha. Sooo, now I'm just kinda waiting for that. The muscial is comming along. It's really annoying for me becuase I cant really concentrate on whats happening yet. I have too try really hard to just say my lines the way I think they should sound but I really don't know. I like the show though. Our director wrote it and kind of roughly to so we get to improv alot and make stuff nice and real :) I get to do a monologue in english (my character is american) and I get to write it.

Anyway, I guesse I'll blog again after the Mini-stay thing in Jutland. So thats not until Febuary 3rd or something....'

Bye

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Holiday Break

When I go a really long time without bloging Its always for one of two reasons. The first; there hasn't really been much happening, or the second; I've been doing a LOT and have a lot to talk about and not enough motivation to sit down and try to sum up 3 eventful weeks of my life. This time it's the second one. I've been putting it off as long as I could. It's evening on the last day of break so I need to at least start..

Christmas came!!...and has now passed which seems pretty weird to me. Christmas wasn't extreamly differn't then it is in the US. But it was on the 24th insted of the 25th. And It doesn't start until evening. We had a nice big traditionel danish christmas dinner with duck and goose. It was a lot of food! after eating we held hands and made a circel around the christmas tree and we danced around it singing really long danish hyms. Then we exchanged gifts after. AND...Santa comes!! At least in my host family. haha. One of them dresses up as Santa Clause every year. That was fun.

We were 13 people I think. My host mom's sister and her family came from Jutland. So they stayed at our house the next couple days after christmas. When the 25th rolled around christmas was over. We spent the next couple of days watching a whole lot of movies. On the 26th we went to see Avatar in 3D! It was crazy! It was the most futuristic movie I've ever seen. I felt like I was there. lol. I really didn't know they could make computer stuff so real looking. The next day I went to Copenhagen with Anne, my host sister, and we saw Les Miserables in danish! It was a christmas gift from my grandparents and my brothers and sister. It was a really good gift. I've wanted to see that show for a long time :) It was a little hard to understand the danish becuase they were always singing so it was a good thing a knew the story.

Another great christmas gift I got sent was a really nice web cam! Thats right. I've gone all this time without skype! I used it for the first time a few days after Christmas. My family was haveing a party at home so I got to talk to a lot of people. It was weird being able to see them. Then a few days before New Years I skyped again with my cousins and family. They were up north for New Years. I'd say it's very close to my favorit trip of the year so it was weird not being there. But they were at a resturant when we skyped so it was really cool. They just set me at the head of the table so I could see and here everyone. It was like being there....except I couldn't eat the food :( haha. Heres a picture from their end...

...I need to be careful with that skype thing. They say too much contact with home isn't a good thing, so I've been calling home about once a month. But It's just so easy now!...

Ok. Two days after Christmas two americans came. My older host brother, Anders, was an exchange student in Kansas so it was his host brother and friend who came to see Anders. They stayed here the first couple days. One of those days Mor took them out to be touristy and see some stuff. I went too because it was some places I had'nt seen yet either. We went to the biggest church in Denmark were a bunch of dead royal danish people are. Then we went to a vikings museum and saw some really old ships. It was cool.

They are still here in Denamark but they've been gone with Anders sense New Years. I think they're coming back at some point...
Anyways...New Years! I had a good time. We had a party here. Some family and Mor and Fars friends came and Simon and I had quite few people over too. And it grew the latter it got! Firework are HUGE here. We may think we have a lot of firework in the US on new years but you're wrong! It honestly sounded like a war outside, 24/7 the three days around New Years. And EVERYONE is outside after midnight lighting them off. You couldn't find a place in the sky that wasn't full of explosives. I couldn't belive it. We had some that you throw and they take off into the sky and explode! Everyone was wearing goggles....


Then on the 2nd I went to a going away party for Kate, one of the exchange student from Australia. She came 6 months before me and It's just so weird to think she's gone home now. Because I can remeber at the arrival she was one of the kids who were half way through their exchange year. And we were all so interested in them. I couldn't even imagine being half way through my exchange, speaking another language, being used to living here...but now, with what feels like a second, they have all gone home, and I'M half way through my exchange year. It seems impossible-- but, it's not, and the time is still moving. One year is sooo short when it's singeld out with a real start and finish and doesn't just blend into the next. The past 5 months have been like a day dream. I feel like I made it all up, except I have pictures to prove that it did all happen. Everyone has been saying the second half goes by way faster than the first and I just can't understand that. How could it possibly go any faster then te first half! It hasn't even felt like TIME. it's just been......stuff. I'm so glad that i'm here for the year and I didn't choose to do something shorter. I've been way higher up and way lower down in the past 5 months then I allow you to see from this blog and I've learned so much. This year is like a pause in my real life, more then I realized it would be when I decided to do this. It's improving me, and helping me, and giving me so many expieriences. I'm so lucky to be doing this. Not just becuase I get to live in Europe for a year and be away from home and high school, but becuase of what I'm getting out of it. Doing this is far from easy, but I still can't WAIT to struggle through the next half of this weird situation. And I don't have to wait either. I couldn't if I wanted to...