The New Vista Point

Ah, America - land of the free, home of the brave - where roads are paved with gold and dreams come true. So far, I have been back for just 13 days and in a way it seems more like 13 months and in others it seems like just 13 hours. As of yet, I can't quite say that I've experienced this so called reverse culture shock - well maybe not in the same way that those hours upon hours of group sessions with AFS made a difference (you AFSers know what I'm talking about). So far, I can just honestly say that I see things differently.

Let's take motorized vehicles for example. In America it is a commonality for a family to have two or more vehicles. It is common for said family to drive said vehicles daily to just about anywhere besides their next-door neighbors house. It is also common that said vehicles are large and usually quite fuel consuming. In Denmark, it is a commonality for a family to have one car, maybe even two per family. It is common for said family to drive their car if they are in need of transport to long distances or if they need to move the whole family. It is common for said vehicles to be on the smaller scale and to be quite used (meaning they don't exchange them every two or three years). It is also common for said vehicles to do okay to pretty good when it comes to using their fair share of petroleum.

With this established, we shall examine my pre-Denmark point of view on the ever debated motorized vehicle front. First and foremost, how would a family survive off of only one vehicle? It is common these days for both spouses in a family to work, so if there was only one vehicle how would both make it to their jobs on time? What about if they had kids or family close by? It really only makes sense to have more than one vehicle. In all reality, a good economical car and a large truck is most ideal - the car for day to day use to work, the grocery store, and to pick up the kids and the truck for moving and hulling big stuff around for the weekend project and backyard intervention.

Now let's look at my post-Denmark point of view of these metal boxes on wheels. Initial reaction: geez, why do we need such large vehicles? It seems pointless to have all of these SUVs and Jeep looking things because I bet you 100 kroner that they aren't using them to move things. This is just plain ridiculous. In fact, I think it might even just be our culture to have large and new vehicles. It's like a frenzy - the newer and the larger and the more enhanced the vehicle the better. American culture is the epitome of consumerism and materialism. We show our social status and financial success through the things we own and what better way to show the world how great we are then through our cars which we drive everywhere we go, no matter how close they are to our place of dwelling.

This is just one example of my year's doing. It is like, everything I use to know and use to think I know has gotten turned around and landed upside down in this whirlwind of cultural exchanges. And to think that this is just the beginning of the changes to be noticed. It takes time to notice them too because it's hard to see the change when you experience the evolution.

Hello America

If Newark (or any international airport) is a foreigner's first impression of America I'd be looking for the next flight home - no joke. Being in lovely Denmark has made me completely gloss over the 'real' America. I've forgotten how rude Americans are and how big and uneccessary things are here in the US of A.

My day began at 05.30 Danmark time and ended at 03.30 Danmark time with sketchy hours of sleep on plans. I'm thorough convinced that no child under the age of ten should ever be allowed on an airplane. The flight from Cophenhagen to Newark went fairly smooth. The road got bumby after customs and pass check (which to my extreme surprise was cake). We were all scattered about trying to say goodbye and completely lost as to if AFS was suppose to meet us or not.

Nine became six past the exit point of Newark. Two were going to terminal C and the rest where to terminal A. One to terminal A was actually suppose to go to terminal B and another missed their flight. Over all it was a numbing experience. I don't think the fact that you may never see these people again really sinks in until you are home, sleeping in a familar bed. It is the next morning when you kind of come to the realization and to be frank, it sucks.

I can honestly say that all the while I waited at CPH (about five and a half hours) that all I wanted to do was go home and then that home wasn't America anymore. Hopefully America will grow on me more.

Packing

(my life as of 26. juni 2009 kl. 18.32)

Let me start of with saying that packing was and will always be the ultimate bitch of an exchange year. It was not so hard to pack to come because I could leave things behind. Not so much the other way around. One aquires so many things through their year that it is virtually impossible to come back with as much stuff as you came with (having not sent anything home via post).

After weeks of dealing with the mostrosity that was my room and probably around ten hours of packing (spread across two days - no joke) I was able to sufficiently reduce my life to two suitcases (near 23 kg), one duffle bag (about 6,5 kg), one bookbag (about 4 kg), and one box (13 kgs of books and papers). I am not exagerating when I say I probably packed everything about nine times, weighted each individual parcel no less than twenty times each, and ditched at least a fourth of my things. The real kicker in all of this is that I came with one suitcase at 22,7 kg and one bookbag at around 9 kg. Don't ask, because I don't have an answer.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Bittersweet Goodbye

(some of my classmates and I got together for a brunch like meal at a local café)

Saying goodbye to all of my friends here in Denmark has been the hardest thing I have had to do all year. Saying goodbye to my Danish friends is hard, but nothing is hard than saying goodbye to your exchange friends. Never will you get the year back, never again will you have what you have now. Sure, I can visit some of my exchange friends at their homelands, but never again will we all be together again, living in the harmony that was 2008/2009.

Not only am I saying goodbye to the people who I have come to know, but also the life I have created here. Going home means loosing my independence and freedom that I have gained here. I enjoy the lifestyle Denmark allows me to live. Sadly it is not a lifestyle that America supports.

Before you think I'm ready to never come home again, think again, because I am excited to come home. My exchange year has taught me more than amount of schooling could hope to learn me. I feel now, that though I am living, I'm still in a state of limpo. I'm ready to get home to apply everything that I know now. In a way, this has been a practical year long learning holiday. I feel like I have learned all I can learn and now it is time for me to get back and put all that hard earned knowledge to work. Plus, I miss the food. Oh, and my friends and family :P

The Wall - Revisited

Name: The Wall

Birthdate: 29. january 2009

Deathdate: 13. june 2009

Statistics: 5 pictures, 13 cards, 93 postcards

RIP min skat

Thank you to everyone who contributed to Project Wall!

Farewell Fest

My chapter held its farewell party today. We had the honor of making a powerpoint presentation for our year along with writing an essay on it. If you know me well, you know that I procrastinate. This was no different. I woke up at half eleven today in order to put the presentation together and write the essay.

In all it took me four hours to get it done. I had to sort through over 5.500 pictures, drank three cups of coffee, downed about 2 L water, took five bathroom breaks, and have a conversation concerning drama galore in order to complete it. Let's just say that it is not my best work by far.

My essay can be read here. It is in Danish so I know that the majority of my readers couldn't give a flying flip, but before you totally disregard it, take a look at it for the fact that it is Danish and you haven't a clue what it says.

My Connies

Okay kiddies, I've got a new blog going for y'all to follow. It is called A Day Laced in My Connies and you can find it here and along the link side of this blog. It is a tribute to my senior year and will act the same as this blog has by way of informing you of my ways of doing things.

This blog will terminate probably within the few days of my return and will perminately switch to My Connies page. So this is a heads up for y'all.

Perpetual Lightness

Living far from the equator has its ups and downs.

In the winter the sun hides itself until about 08.30 and decides it has had enough only to leave the poor Scandinavian people to see that it has hidden itself again by 16.00. This leads to a very dark and cold winter.

The summer on the other hand is quite opposite from winter: perpetual darkness turns to perpetual lightness. It never actually gets dark. Sitting in a dark room looking to the wil' blue yonder means being able to see the outline of the trees set against a dark blue atmosphere. Looking in the direction of Sun's last light reveal a lightened glow. By 03.00 it noticeably gets light, by 04.00 one has no problem seeing and by 05.00 if my shade isn't down I get the sun (I get the morning sun directly through my window and to my sleeping figure). It gets noticeably dark by 22.30.

This picture was taken at exactly 22.56 from my desk looking out to the sky. It is still noticeably light at 23.00!!

This one was taken at 02.42. Toward the far left of the tree line is a bit of a dip, the sun comes up right about here (obviously you can see that it is lighter there) and to the right you can see the moon.

Law & Order

There are now just 19 days left before I cross the pond back to the big bad reality of life. I think it is only fair to establish what law and order would appear in my life should it have been as common as it should have been.

As of now I've begun to sort through my things into six main piles: Keep, Chuck, Donate, Use Until the Bloody End, Box Up, and Think of a Way to Creatively Get It Home Even Though You Know It Won't Fit and You Can't Afford to Post It. Basically, my room is in shambles and we can all thank distractive and putting-off tendencies. Instead of reading a biography on HC Andersen, 8 Fairtales by HC Andersen and an abridged version of Oliver Twist (all books in Danish) I've created tropical depression Jennifer. Meterologist predict the storm to progress to a category 4 or 5 before decipating in the Atlantic.

I'll shock the nation with that evidence in a few days. For now law and order. (Note: I've been in a B&W swing....)

Early Morning Walks

There is actually a ''forest'' just outside of my house. It's more like a patch of trees covering a triangular shaped plot of land laying a stream and some trains hidden. I discovered them probably a month ago out of boredom. It wasn't until this morning that I took my camera with me to try to capture the essence of a fogging summer morning in pixels. Because it gets so light so early (noticeably lighter around 03.00/03.30) I left the house at 04.00 and took about 2 hours to meander to the fjord and back again. Sadly it was quite difficult to take pictures. Under the protective coverage of the foliage light was not so plentiful. This required me to slow the shutter seed to 5 and 8 seconds. Any slight movement during those seconds makes the image blurry. I did manage to get a few decent ones though.

These things were crazy! I have never seen so many slugs of such variety in size and colour in my life. They came in traditional black and the shocking orange. I'm sad to report that there were casualties by the soles of my connies to the brown and darker burgundy lot as they were hard to see. I think I looked at the ground more than I did the scenery because of these buggers.

The beautiful Vejle Fjord with a view of the bridge which connects the gab.

I'm actually pretty happy with some of the fjord pictures I was able to get. It was hard to capture the right colours of the the sunrise because it was masked with clouds and fog.

The upper stream close to my house. I wasn't about to get a good picture of this in the beginning of the trip, so tried to get something visible on the way back when more light was available to work with.

The Little Mermaid Exposed

I think it is safe to say that The Little Mermaid is a very well known fairytale. Made popular by Disney, the fairytale features a young mermaid who is fascinated by the world of walking humans. In an effort to live their life and find the prince she has fallen in love with, the mermaid, gives up her voice in place of legs. In the end, she is able to make the prince fall in love with her breaking the spell and regaining her voice to live happily ever after. The story doesn’t stop there though; Walk Disney has perused the entrancing fairytale to include the life of the couple’s daughter and her adventures with the sea.

I’m about to shatter every preconceived notion that you or others may have about this story. The Little Mermaid is a Danish fairytale written by the famous fairytale author, Han Christian Andersen. The thing that we must take into account is that the original purpose of fairytale stories was not to entertain children, but adult. Often the stories we have grown up with have been altered in order to accommodate a young crowd because their unabridged versions held things we would consider inappropriate for children. For example, Little Red Riding Hood has often been interpreted as a story about a girl’s rape.

The Little Mermaid in its original format does not include a happy ending. In fact, the prince falls in love with another woman and the Little Mermaid dies a death that sentences her to 300 years of good-doing in order to acquire a soul. When the Little Mermaid “looses her voice” she actually has to cut out her tongue and is sentenced to legs which cause her ten folds of pain with each step she takes. When the prince’s dog finds her, she is kept as a form of entertainment. The prince enjoys best his singer, but finds much entertainment when the Little Mermaid dances. In the end, when the prince marries another, the Little Mermaid’s five sisters come to rescue her they bring with them a dagger which will release her from the spell. She must kill the prince, but opts not to and turns to dust with the sun’s rise.

As you can tell, this is nothing like the story we all know. It’s quite interesting to read the original versions of some of his stories. Many of them are quite well known by Americans and world citizens alike. I find though, that no one actually knows who the author of these tales are and that, in fact, they are Danish.

Liquid Courage

The Danes can do three things really well; be modest, ride bikes, and drink. The Danes ability to drink is pretty phenomenal. From what I've experienced, the Danes try to get as drunk as they can as quickly as they can and stay that way for however long they can. The the Dane no party is complete without alcohol. I probably make the Danes out to be alcoholics, but what amazes me is their ability to balance their drinking habits and their daily life.

"What oil is to Texas, beer is to Danmark." according Xenophobe's Guide to the Danes. So true... Two major brewing companies dominate the beer scene in Danmark - Tuborg and Carlsberg - though micro-brewers are quite plentiful around the country. Holidays are often marked by the release of the special brews instead of decorations and other merchandise like in America. For example, jule øl (Christmas beer) is not only a sign of Christmas, but an essential drink during parties and dinners.

Interesting Fact: a bottle opener is an essential fixation in every Danish
household. Many people will have one on their key rings or can quite
artfully manage to remove the cap with a lighter (popular during parties amongst
younger people).

In the newspapers you see many articles are youth drinking and its affects, but in truth the Danes think they drink quite modestly. They believe in being able to hold their alcohol. I've been told that if you see a really drunk person in Copenhagen walking around that they are in fact not Danish, but Swedish (beer is cheaper in Danmark b/c of taxes).

Interesting Fact: there isn't technically a drinking age in Danmark.
You may buy alcohol from stores at the age of 16 and may buy publicly (bar,
club, restaurant, etc.) at the age of 18. This, mind you, is very loosely
enforced. As long as you don't look like a little kid your good to go.

Entering back into the American drinking scene will be interesting as at my age it is supposedly non-existent. In my opinion, we focus on not drinking so much that we actually encourage it through reverse psychology (tell them not to do it and they do for spite). In Danmark, however, I believe they it is such a part of their culture that in the end they end up teaching responsible drinking.

Jelling Musikfestival - the last day

So the last day featured no artist in particular that either Saai or I wanted to see. It turned into a reflective day with lots of music in the background. Importantly, I scored some merchandise; a shirt, a 2009 program and a cool pin to add to my collection. Second, I took tons of pictures. Okay, maybe not tons, but hundreds (200-something in total :D). The highlight of the night was ZZ Top, an American blues/rock band who had some really wickedly long beards.

In honor of the pictures I took, I'm going to show you Jelling Musikfestival in fotos, so be prepared.

A/N: The pictures don't quite fit into the blogging box and I've tried and tried to resize them, but for the most part you see all of the picture except for a little bit of the right side. I believe if you click on the image it opens it up larger (maybe even to original size) so you can see it better.

Jelling Musikfestival - day 2

Day two was cool. Actually it was great except for the fact that I came home a lobster (burned to a crisp), which is pretty disappointing because I was enjoying being pale with no weird tan lines. Now it looks like I'm wearing a white tank-top over my red skin.... ouch.

The highlights for day two where Franz Ferdinand (a scotish band) and Nephew (a danish rock band). Saai told me that they played Franz Ferdinand on the radio a lot and that I would recognize them; I didn't, but we were right up front jumping around, swinging our arms and yelling our lungs out with all of the fans (she was actually a fan, I had never heard them before) and it turns out that they are pretty good and I liked them. (picture down below) Nephew is a very popular Danish rock band who, well, rocked. We didn't stay for all of their performance (they started playing at 00.30), but we stayed for the song that I wanted to hear by them, Igen og Igen og. Their performance was stellar, seriously.

Another highlight was the colouring of Saai's hair. She has black hair so coming up with a colour that would shown was difficult, but we choose red coloured hair spray and of course I wasn't sober for that adventure. We took video with her camera. I'll have to try to upload that eventually so you can see that adventure....

Jelling Musikfestival - the morning after

Yesterday was the start of what is called the Jelling Musikfestival. I have in the past, called it another excuse for the Danes to drink, but in reality, the Danes don't need an excuse to drink. So, I've revised that earlier statement to the current one; the Jelling Musikfestival is a fantastic concentration of Danes who love to drink surrounded by cheap (not in the money sense because it's actually very expensive) food, alcohol, and lots of music.

Yesterday's highlight was Nik og Jay who played at the main stage at 18.35 until 19.00-something (I can't remember). For those of you who don't know Nik og Jay, I recomend you look them up, but for those of you who I know won't YouTube them, they are an extremely popular danish rap group. Though I only know the course to 80% of their songs, it was a lot of fun.

I forgot my camera yesterday, but you better believe the thing isn't leaving my side today and tomorrow. The weather is totally cooperating with us so there should be some great pictures. For now, I will let y'all suffice with some horrible morning after pictures complete with the bad hair naked faces (no makeup...). Dun, dun, duuunnnnn.....

Legoland

Lego is something known around the world as colourful interlocking builind blocks key to one's childhood. Lego rose from the ashes Ole Kirk Christiansen's crumbling carpentry business. It is commonly believe that Lego comes from Latin roots meaning "I put together" or "I assemble", but in actuallity this is just an ironic coincidence. Lego is actually a combination of the to Danish words, leg godt, meaning play well.

With that said, Saai and I, decided to take one of my free passes curtise of Flemming Efterskole for a test drive. Lucky her, she has a season pass and goes all the time. Me, I have two more gratis tickets to use. As it turns out, legos really do play well. I have to say that my favorite part of Legoland was Miniland and just the actual things made of legos. There is nothing more cool than seeing mini-versions of things that you have seen in real life especially when they are constructed out of thousands of legos.

Legoland isn't the amuesment park in the same sense of what we think of in America. This place is primarily geared toward the kiddies. Mom, Dad, pack the PB&Js, juice boxes, and Advil because you're in for one heck of a day.

Extra, Extra!

Extra, extra; read all about it!

So some news that most of you probably already know (this is for the benefit of those behind the time) I will be returning to hell,,, I mean Ridgecrest. This is unofficially official - don't ask me how that works, but it dose. So, in honor of this revelation we're going to look at the pro's and con's.

Pro's:
- I will know somebody when I move (a first)
- I will know where everything is when I move (a first)
- I won't have to make new friends for school, my senior year in particular (a first)
- My new blog might retain a desert theme
- I can embrace all that the desert has to offer (maybe if I beg enough I can get a dirt bike...)
- I have the perfect environment to learn to drive
- The unofficial house rocks (I have my own bathroom!)

Con's:
- You may never see me again (I'll have been evaporated by the ridiculously hot weather)
- I won't get to see a thunderstorm like I really have been wanting to (I miss it)
- I'll be stuck in the middle of nowhere (I can't even drive yet)
- Shopping includes Wal-mart and K-mart
- My Euro-lifestyle will be shot to hell (no trains, buses, good shopping, traveling, nothing...)

I guess we can conclude that besides environment, I'm actually excited to return to Ridgecrest. (I can't believe I just said that.) I have never moved someplace where I new somebody. It is actually refreshing, especially since I hadn't planned on seeing my friends again. It's a good thing I still keep in touch with them. The biggest downside is the weather. I hate the hot weather and lack of moisture.

Welcome Home!

Srog -> Language

This will be the first of six posts on cultural aspects of Denmark. The first one, and a pretty important one, is language. Before I continue I'd like to make note that some of my references come from a book called Xenophobe's Guide to the Danes. This aids me in saying things better than I can. (It's actually rather funny to read because it's all so true!)

To start with, Danish is an impossible language to learn and I, along with the other exchange students and probably any foreign, are all resigned to the fact that if you are not Danish you can't speak it properly. The Danish alphabet is the same as ours with the addition of three letters; æ, ø, and å. These come at the end of the alphabet and the double 'a' (aa) is just another way of writing 'å' (f.eks. Aarhus or Århus). The letters c and q are almost always only present in foreign words.

Danish is was can only be described as an economically well off language. They have relatively fewer words than we do. Like the Germans, they find little need in creating new words as opposed to just sticking two already made words together (f.eks. 'flying machine' is an airplane, 'swine meat' is pork). They also have words that mean very different things. We have this in English, but not to the degree which I believe one may find in Danish (f.eks. fyr in Danish can mean fire, pine, or young man in English). Another confusing thing (my cousin pointed it out) is hello and goodbye. In Danish, hello is hej (pronounced hi) and goodbye is hej hej, but often times people will say vi ses (see you later) then just hej instead of hej hej.

Reading Danish and actually speaking Danish are two completely off the wall things. Reading is one thing - you see a certain letter combination (word) and associate a meaning (definition/translation) to it. Often times when we don't know how to say the words we kind of make up our own and go on with it. Doing this in Danish will make you fail miserably! Many of the vowels are soft in Danish along with some consonants so they are often missed to the untrained ear (mine is still in the wild stage). Two letters really stick out; the 'd' and the 'r'. The 'd' is what we exchange students (at least the ones in my language school class) call the retarded 'd'. It sounds like an 'l' to most of us, but it is said like a 'd'; however, if you say an 'l' in place of the soft (retarded) 'd' you end up saying something else. The 'r' is something I'm convinced only Danes can say properly. In a lot of romance languages (Spanish, Italian...) the 'r' is rolled with the tip of the tongue. The Germans have a guttural like 'r' and we Americans over pronounce the shit out of ours. The Danes somehow manage to fetch their 'r' sound from behind the tonsils with muscles that I nor most of the world have. One of the most difficult phrases that all Danes will ask foreigners to say is rødgrød med flød (berry pudding with cream). It has the 'r' which we can't say, the vowel 'ø' which we are puzzled by and that stupid, retarded 'd' in all of them. It's a real dozy.

Reading is the easiest party of the language, in my opinion, but this only applies to reading done in one's own head. Reading out loud is a joke. The Danish language written and spoken could easily be mistaken as two separate languages. In Danish, your best bet is to mumble everything and not say half of the letters. Hvad in Danish means what. It is said (in American) 'vel' but you have to stick your tongue out as you say the 'l'. It can also be said 'va' which is slang (like saying huh in English). The one that really puzzles me, and I just kind of found this one out at language school yesterday, is arrangerede (arranged). When the Danes say this at normal cadence it sounds to have only two syllables, but if they slow it down just three. I swear to the heavens above and all that has ever been deemed holly, that they are saying 'a-rang-sher' when they speak slowly and 'ang-sher' when they speak normally. They also love to shorten their spoken language (f.eks. ikke to ik', tage to ta', give to gi', have to ha').

You will be beyond puzzled, that is if you aren't already. Just ask me to read something to you and I guarantee you won't have a clue how I survived for 11 months.

Pratik -> Internship

School has ended (thank god...) and because that leaves me with lots of time and not a whole lot to fill it with, AFS has required us to do what is called a pratik {internship}. Basically, we have to volunteer somewhere for about two weeks. I figured this was the perfect opportunity to experience a job that I'm interested in.

For as long as I can remember, I've always been interested in horses. It only seemed to make sense to see what it is like to work/own/be involved with a running stable. Efter long hours of searching and 8 rejections, I was finally given a call back.

I now have a pratik at Egum Rideklub {Egum Riding Club} in Egum, Fredericia. I will be working along side one other in the line of getting horses ready to be ridden for the trainer, Kasper Olsen. The job also entails grooming the horses he is working with and warming up and cooling the horses down.

I'm pretty excited about the job because it will allow me to work around horses again (something I have really been missing) and I get to see first hand what a schedule of a trainer is along with the inner workings of an establishment such as this.

It is a pretty loose pratik for me. I will probably work with them for two weeks from half eight or nine to probably half two.

A/N: Ask me sometime about visiting them for the first time... ha ha...

Bellow Sea Level

There is something tranquil about being underwater - not just being, but breathing. One's first breath is, I suppose, one of those feelings that you will never forget. Through my city's Ungdomsskole (youth school), I began taking diving classes that will eventually lead to Open-water Diving Certification. It started with reading and first dives in a pool and is now coming to an end with adventures in the sea.

We will do two open-water dives (one of which was completed yesterday) in what is called Ebeltoft (I've provided a map so you can see it). It is about a two hour drive from Vejle.

The dive consisted of basic exersices - buddy breathing, controlled emergency accents, clearing your mask, etc.. Even though it was still ''the classroom'' it was still unbelievablly cool, for lack of better terms. Denmark's waters don't have much to offer by way of scenery and it is no Carribean clear water your swimming in, but seeing crabs and little bottom feeders while ghosting along to bottom was still exilerating. Part of the exileration comes from the fact that you know that 80%, if not more, of the country has never seen it like you have.

The difficulties of being a part of the diving class really boils down to two things; the climate and my gender. The climate is a pretty obvious one. Just like the water isn't Carribean clear, it is also not Carribean warm. We dived suited up in thick wet suits, gloves that hinder dexterity, hoods that mat your hair beyond recognition, and boots that are a pain in the ass to fit in the fins. Add the regulator and the mask and the only parts of your body that actually touch the water is your lips and parts of your cheeks. And just for the record, no suit has any right to be that tight or hard to get off. Those things hug every curve you have, whether or not you like them or hate them. The second difficulty I mentioned was gender. I am the only girl. That wouldn't normally bother me, but Danes have different ideas when it comes to bodily exposure. Americans would probably call them conservative exibitionists. The lack of privacy beyond a few cars and bushes was definitly a problem when trying to suit up and suit out. Well, a problem for me. The guys had no problem at all.

Now, if only I could swing a week diving in Thailand as a graduation gift..... *hint, HINT ;)