Jeg Elsker Sne!

It snowed this weekend!! Very exciting mainly because it’s apparently "spring" now. Everyone else in my family didn’t seem excited about the snow and looked at me like I was extremely weird when I was dancing around outside in the snow. It started on Sunday and the snow is still here riding my bike through the snow and also in the snow is awesome and a little cold at the same time. It has been around -3 and 1 degrees most days! but because I am a tough person I can handle the cold!

I was hoping that it would snow extreme last night so we would get snowed it and school would be cancelled but unfortunately no such luck.
I found the time to build a snowman and have a snowball fight with Bente (HC’s girlfriend) 2 daughters. But you don’t have snowball fights anymore its more like who can throw the largest clump of snow, I thought I would have an advantage because I am older but these girls are pro’s at handball and they have intense throwing power!

Here’s to more snow hopefully, or warmer weather both will be very nice!
Hope everyone is having fun at school and work!
Megz

I just spent 2 months in a rainy country!

NZ'ers repping it in an Australian bar- Corey is with the evil enemy AFS but we can forgive him

I'm pretty much Swedish as well as Danish now

Street photo of KBH- note no posing, i feel so old!


Elyse and I with Cobenhagen (KBH) in the backround

Today is my 2 month anniversary!! It is amazing to think that I have been in Danmark for 2 months allready. The scary thing is there is only 10 months to go but I am not thinking about that. 2 months ago me and Ange stepped off the plane at 5:30 to complete darkness and it was freezing cold, today at 5:30 it was bright and sunny but still cold but I have gotten used to it and can now wear a "light" jacket.

I have also gotten used to cycling on the right hand side of the road and cyling in high heel boots. Although the other day I was involved in a 3 bike pile up one of the many perks of cycling in Danmark, I was stuck in the middle and it just so happened to me who was throwen off the bike and it just had to be the day I was wearing shorts!

I am also getting used to catching the trains, I now longer don't get lost and also don't leave mobile phones behind. They can be very expensive though and also run late. For example on Friday I caught the train to Cobenhagen (capital of Danmark) my train was late into vejle where I was supposed to change trains so I actaully missed my connecting train! Luckily Ange waited for me so we just waited for another hour and then boarded our train. The same thing happend coming back on monday though and this time it was dark and cold and I had no Ange! This meant I got back to the bro 2 hours later then planned but I did have a whole train carriage to myself so I did dance up and down the aisles as you do!

I had a really awesome weekend in Cobenhagen. Ange and I stayed with Elyse and her host family is so nice!! They really welcomed us into their family. We went out into town on Friday night we told the boys that we would be there at 10 and we didnt get there till 1130 I had to keep making up excuses as they kept ringing us, so I was telling them of course we were on the train but really we were just taking more photos. Town was good we went into this Australian bar and New Zealand was playing cricket on the Tv so we "watched" that for a bit.

Saturday we went into town and looked around and I actually took some scenic photos, I feel so growen up!!

On Sunday we went across the bridge to Sweden! it only takes 25 minutes on the train from where we were staying so easy to travel internationaly. Sweden was really nice and different to Danmark and it was good to catch up with Julia and Alana (NZ girls) we had a look around Sweden and also shopped on a Sunday- In danmark shops close as 1:30 Saurdays and are closed on Sundays its very sad!! It was really awesome to catch up with Julia and swap stories becasue it is not that far away (well 4 and a half hours by train but hey whos counting!) I hope to go and see her again. We came home from Sweden and we were so sleep deprived mainly from Saturday night that we all fall asleep on the couch. It was so nice to lounge!! I made the most of hanging on the couches.

Was really fantastic to see Elyse and Ange again and spend time with them. Her host family described me as the crazy New Zelander funny that I seem to be getting that alot. They also said that my parents should send money to my Danish family to say they know what it feels like to live with me, now I'm not that bad am I!

Well I better head to bed, It's easter holidays over here but with family breakfasts it means I have to be up at 9am. My family is only speaking Dansk to me from now on, I have told them to do this because I really want to be able to speak more. I now speak Danglish a mixture of English and Danish words.

Hope New Zealand is getting nice and cold!!!

Vi Ses

Hej Hej!

Megz

Finally legal in the Bro

Hej
Hvordan går det?
Hva så?
Jeg er Sulten!
Hej Hej!

Okay so I have been very busy with school work and trying to learn Danish so that’s why there has been a slight delay in getting a post up..sorry hayden!
It was my Birthday last week and I was really hoping for a snow storm or at least a little tiny bit of snow but all it did was rain so that was a nice change from the sun. Here in Denmark they go quite hard out with birthdays and put flags everywhere! The Danes love their flags.
I got woken up at 6:30am by my family creeping into my room and singing the Danish Birthday song and waving flags in my face. I then had a quick breakfast and has to run out of the house and bike to school in the rain.
For the evening I went bowling with my family and also out to dinner, this was a change to how I normally spend my birthday evenings but it was still fun.

Just got asked a question in German and I had no idea what we were talking about so I just said Nein, I didn’t know if she was speaking Danish or German though they keep flicking between the two languages!!

Anywho back to the story: My host dad told me that I should stay at home on Friday night, a rather unusual request to a teenage girl but he said he had his reasons so I didn’t question him. I had been txting my Kiwi friends in Denmark during the week asking what they were doing for the weekend and they all said they were busy. Friday evening rocks around and I'm sitting in the Dining Room and HC (host dad) comes in and opens the doors outside and BAM my kiwi friends are standing outside, they had come to the Bro to surprise me for the weekend.
We decided to hit the town NZ style and so we were all set to walk into town but it was raining..as usual so we just catch a taxi, it came 5 minutes after we had rung I was so amazed. We got into town at 12, which was to early so we sit in a cafe and order some "non-alcoholic" drinks of course! We get into one of the discoteks and the guy brought over this free bottle of champagne for us, being a Kiwi in a small Danish town does have its perks! We then went into a pub where we had drinks brought for us, of course they were cokes though.
At 4 we decided to head home and started our brief but long walk home.

It was an awesome weekend being able to show them around my town and speak Kiwi again and not have to worry about explaining words! This weekend I have my school party, where they sell alcohol at the school of course I will only be drinking coke though haha. Apparently I am going to Germany on Sunday, HC wants to pick up some cheap alcohol. Im looking forward to running across the boarder going I'm in Germany, I'm in Denmark, I'm in Germany, I'm in Denmark.
Next weekend Ange (nz friend in Fredericia) and I are heading to Cobenhagen to see Elyse, that’s going to be a sweet as weekend! because there are alot of Exchange students in Cobenhagen and also Julia (nz friend in Sweden) might head across the bridge to come see us.

Yesterday I was involved in a 3-bike pile up! I was stuck in the middle and unfortunately it was me who ended up on the ground, and it was the day that I had worn shorts to school as well. But those are the dangers you face when everyone cycles everywhere and no one looks when they turn corners. I spoke at Rotary again this week, I decided to be brave and speak in Dansk and all the Rotarians were very impressed. A couple of weeks ago a Rotarian mistook me for Brazilian... I must look very Brazilian with my blonde hair and blue eyes!

Well I better go German is over and we playing Handball in Sport next woohoo! get to push people over and throw myself at the ground
Vi Ses

One month in Danmark!!!

So yesterday was my one-month anniversary- I wasn't expecting flowers or balloons so that’s okay that you forgot to send some, or if you did I'm sure they are just lost in the post right.
After being in Danmark a month I think I am getting used to life over here there are still the simple things that make me really excited and some things that make me go "this country is so weird!"

The main things would have to be
School- There is still a lot of weird things about school. Mainly the whole no bell thing and also I'm still getting used to dressing up for school. I do have my rungi days where I just wear trackies and a top for example today. The teachers can get quite nasty when you forget to bring your book, this happened to me yesterday in History. I tried explaining that I didn’t see much point in bringing my text books when I couldn’t understand anything but she still insisted that I need to bring it everyday and then she spoke in Danish to me and apparently she was telling me off.

Food- No one really snacks so they just eat the three main meals and the food can taste either really good or really bad! luckily I haven’t had that many bad meals so far. Dessert is only served at special occasions and I have finally tasted rødgrødmedfløde ( I swear that’s the hardest Danish word, and everyone always trys to make me say it) but yes so picture strawberry jam and a bit of cream and that is basically rødgrødmedfløde not exactly what I was expecting but it was still good in a very weird way! On the weekends families have chocolate on their buns for breakfast. Most people don’t eat toast for breakfast they have these weird breakfast buns that kind of look like hamburger buns.

Discoteks- These are the Danish equivalent to New Zealand clubs. They are completely different over here, the boys buy you drinks ( not that I have been drinking of course) and the dance floor is in the centre and basically you sit on the couches surrounding the dance floor drinking your "raspberry and cokes" and then when a good song comes on you rush to the dance floor and dance with all the people. Also everyone comes together at discoteks like its okay for members of the "older" generation to be there dancing.

Transport- It is so easy to get around in Danmark. The main way of transportation in your hometown is by biking. This is a good way to get around and it also gives you freedom. When you want to travel to other places in Danmark and you go by train. The trains run on time and are usually comfortable. I have gotten used to riding trains now, the only bad thing is when you get off at the wrong station...

Then there are the little things like how everything is so expensive over here; you ride on the right not the left. Bikes have their own little bike paths, everyone looks and dresses much older then they are, you can buy alcohol in the supermarket and at little supermarkets.

So its been a busy past week, I got home from Language Camp on Sunday. I had been there for a whole week learning Danish with all the other Inbounders in Danmark. There was so many Australians there- I think there was 30 Australians, 15 Brazilians, 5 New Zealanders, 3 Argentineans and 2 South Africans. There were about 45 girls and only 7 boys!

My arrival to Language Camp was a bit stressful, I got off the train in Bjeniningbro and no one was there to pick me up so I realised I had got off at the wrong train station. I reach into my handbag to ring my councillor and ask for help when I realise I have left my mobile on the train, this means I am basically stranded in a strange town which I know nothing about, I have no way to contact anyone and I can't remember any mobile numbers. I do have one number and that is my district councillor’s number so I walk around the town trying to find a pay phone- all the shops are closed because it is Sunday. I finally find one and call him and he tells me I can just walk to the high school because it is in the area. However he neglected to tell me the way to the school so I find a taxi and he calls my district councillor and gets the name of the school and takes me to the school for free yay!

The week was real fun and I picked up on some Danish which is godt! The people were so nice and I took heaps of photos. Unfortunately my memory card is stuck is Helens (my roomie from New Zealand) laptop. She wanted to have my photos so she put it in her laptop. The laptop is being sent back to New Zealand because it has to be taken apart for some strange reason so I probably wont get my photos for about 2 or 3 months.
We had a party on the last night and that was awesome, we all dressed up real nice and had a banquet. The music started and we all started dancing, the Brazilians are awesome dancers! Was a real fun night I was dancing on the tables ( and yes I was sober)

It was sad leaving the camp because it was so godt to talk Kiwi again and not have to slow down when I was talking and just being able to talk and not having to think before speaking. I had to change trains and I had a one hour wait in this tiny as station that was just a room, I then went to sleep on the train and woke up thinking I had missed my stop so I jump up and run to the door but we pull away just as I get there but thankfully it wasn’t my stop.

I am settling back into life in "The Bro" and am speaking the Danish that I know, I used my knowledge on the train to talk to a guy. I said Hej Jeg hedder Megan, Jeg kommer fra New Zealand Hvad med dig? Then I asked Hvad er Klokken the Du er Single? and Hvor gammel du?
Which is basically Hi my name is Megan, I’m from New Zealand, what about you. Then I asked him what the time was and if he was single and how old he was. So I think I'm on my way to learning Danish.

I am going to the theatre on Friday to see Les Miserables, which is so awesome! Although it has just occurred to me that it will all be in Danish... But im sure i should be able to pick up the storyline.

Hope everyone has a godt week
Kys Kys
Megz

"The Bro"

Bike roundabout- the road roundabout is above


Me in a Danish telephone box


River that runs through the town

Middle of town

Awesome cafe that I go to with the girls

Top end of town

Front of my school

Lunch area

How dark it is when I leave the house

Team Tvis and Holstebro Handball match

Me and the snow!!

The snow

My host sisters team playing handball

My House

What I wear to school

Photos- I shall take some photos of "The Bro" and put them up later

View of Holstebro town from my Councellors apartment



Me and ET




Me and Friendly Cop


Me and Dora at Universal Studios

I think school is really cool..itsa lot of fun..cos everyday we learn and we play..school is number one!

Haha okay school isnt that great but it is still pretty awesome! apart from that for most of the day I am mega conused and cannot understand anything unless Im spoken to in English. My danish is slowly increasing I have learnt the major things to say e.g Hvor er Baren aka Where is the Bar!

My class is very nice I smile at them and they smile back, I have made a group of friends ish they look out for me and show me where my classes are they also laugh at my Danish and my Danish translator book. I sit with them at lunch, lunchtime is fully different over here compared to what I am used to. We all sit down at big tables at the start of the year you choose your table and thats your table for the year and the lunch area is based in the middle of the school and the 2nd and 3rd years all sit together and the first years are scattered around the school. For those of you playing at home I am a 2nd year student. The school is all inside and is actually one building with corridors that split off so the classes can fit in. Class is different over here as well, everyone goes on their laptops and all the boys just play computer games the school also has wireless so thats awesome!!

Now the main way for me to get to school is to ride my awesomely cool bike!! So i decide on my 2nd day at school to ride to school, luckily I had a late start again. So i set off at 9am thinking that leaves me 50 mins to get to school I shall be sweet as! untill for some reason I take a wrong turn (the first of very many!!) and have to get out my map and realise I'm heading in the wrong direction so I backtrack untill I get to familar ground. I then start heading onto this massive road where there is a sign which has a bike and a huge cross through it but I figure I should be okay and I bike quickly untill I can get to the bike lane again and its is here where I miss my turn off. So I keep headign up and up and then i realise that I must of missed my turn so I head all the way back down the road untill I see my turn off and then I finally get to school half an hour late for my lesson.

The 2nd day I leave the house at 7am...and its pitch black outside and freezing as! So Im feeling confident this time thinking I know the way to go, untill I end up in the city instead of school. That was alright though because I knew my way from the city to school. So i got to school on time and ready for ENGLISH!!! the only subject that I can actually listen and pay attention. SoI rock up to my class and get told we doing Romeo and Juliet now for the first time I actually understood Shakespear! it was amazing. I then get up and talk about NZ to fill in time and drew this retarded as map but I managed to get my point across and fill them all in. I got the typical question about is it true that there is more sheep then people. They also know nothing of the Maoris so I quickly filled them in because I am fully Maori thanks to dad.

I know have my route figured out and it takes me 25 minutes to bike to school so thats not to bad. We had a very big storm on thursday and biking home was a mission! mainly because I had the wind coming the same way as I was biking. On thursday it also snowed BUT I was in a very boring as Rotary meeting where we had to sing! and there was no food to distract me.

On friday I headed down to Silkeborg for Dianas birthday and had the awesomest as weekend down there finally getting out on the town! I have figured out that the danes are quite formal they introduce themselves when they arrive by going around the room shaking everyones hands and saying there name and when you have meet them more then once you might be lucky to get a hug. On friday night Diana and I went to her cafe where she works, when she suggested that we go I was like umm why are we going to a cafe thats a little weird however cafes over here are so awesome!! that is mainly due to the fact you can buy alcohol!! So we sit down and have some very nice cocktails and I meet some of her friends.

The next day it was her birthday so we had a big brunch were I met more of her friends and then Diana and I went shopping. The most coolest thing happened when we were shopping..IT SNOWED!!! and then back at her house it was snowing hard out so I ran outside and took lots of photos. Later that night we went into town to go to the "Discos" and I was lucky enough to get into one by sneaking past the bouncer but then I went outside and couldnt get back in so I was sepearted from the group, freezing cold and to top it all off lost in Silkeborg! But I got myself sorted out and got home around 3 so was a pretty good night.

Caught the train home on Sunday back to "The Bro". My host dad wasnt there to pick me up so I was waitign around freezing for half and hour until he came. After spending a weekend in a house with a lounge reminded me of how much I miss it! but Im slowly getting used to having no lounge. I also found some nuts so I can snack on them, they not as nice as biscuits but they do the trick.

Im hoping it will snow of my birthday so will save my snow dance till them! Its still freezing over here but am loving every single second of it!

Have fun in the sun
Love Megz