Home is where we feel comfortable and safe. We can love, and that love is returned. The dreams we dream are safe from prejudice and by no means, unattainable. We can be who we want to be. You are never a stranger at home. Home is where we can think and reminisce. Home finds you, it is not a choice, but instead an obligation. You heart only knows when it is home. There is an energy we feel there, when we are surrounded by old or new friends, people we have made the memories we will carry with us forever. It is the feeling we recieve, being there, that lets us know we are home. Home is only a word.
Do I miss home? No. I miss the people, the places, the things, that have all made me at home and gave me a feeling of comfort. Home can change. I will always have a place of 3,618 people to call home. But I am creating a new home, Denmark. I feel at home here. I feel happy and wanted. It isn't a mistake that I am here. It is where I am not a stranger and can think and love and be who I want to be. I believe that I am no longer living at a "home away from home", but that I am home. I have a second home where I have new friends and new memories. Although this home is new, it is permanently bound to me. It has found me and my heart has spoken.
Enough seriousness. I have now been with my temporary family for a week and everything has fallen into place. It may sound extremely cliché at the moment, but I feel "home". Hjalte is 15 and Aske is 12, so I am the "storbror" (big brother). Hjalte was kind of shy at first, but now has warmed up to me. We watch a TV show together and are working on an impossible puzzle. Aske is the typical little brother. He is a total "mama's boy" and likes hugs. He can be a little much sometimes, but I can handle it. They are both swimmers and they swim every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from August to June!!! That is A LOT of swimming! Kjeld, the dad, is an engineer abroad and is currently in Bangladesh and comes home every 3 months or more. I briefly met him. He was reserved, but nice. Gerda, the mom, is the self-described "boss of the house" and is always right. She is really energetic and comical. She was an exchange student in Virginia and so her English is far better than my previous family. It is so nice to be able to joke around with her and not always be serious. She is a teacher and teaches all different subjects. Every night, someone has to cook the meal. My night is Wednesday, so if anyone has any delicious recipes, please send them to me. I think I will be making Mac and Cheese for my first meal. I will let you know how it goes.
Although I am feeling at "home" here, they are only a temporary family. After I had been here for less than 18 hours, Gerda told me that I could stay longer. The "ad in the newspaper" has taken longer than expected to actually get in the newspaper. This way, it is easier for Judith, the chairperson for my AFS region, to find me a good host family without being stressed. So, I will stay here, hopefully, until Christmas. The only thing that kind of stinks though is that I now have a 45 minute train ride to school and back and I have to wake up at 5:55 a.m.!!! I guess somethings are bittersweet. ;)
I haven't really done anything remarkable this past week, just settled in. Today, Gerda and I went on a bike tour of Haslev. On our way, we meet one of her colleague's husbands. He invited us for tea later and so we continued our ride and ended at their house. I cannot remember their names, so I will call them colleague and colleague's husband. At first, Gerda and her colleague talked in the kitchen, so I talked to the colleague's husband. It was really intimidating, because he was really tall and spoke Jutland Danish. Jutland is the peninsula that is connected to Germany and yes, there IS a difference between normal Danish and "Jutland Danish"! We talked about a bunch of weird things...all in Danish. If I was stuck on a word or pronouced it wrong, I would just say it in English and colleague's husband would tell me in Danish. He was really patient and that is something I have realized about most Danes, they are very patient with people attempting to learn Danish. They realize how hard it is. After colleague's husband and I had talked for 10 minutes or so, we moved to the table and had tea. And yes, I drink tea now. We also had muffins and almond cookies that were very good. I had 5. The whole conversation was in Danish and I could follow it quite easily. Colleague and colleague's husband told me that my Danish was very good for being here for 3 months, but I still think it stinks. It was nice to hear though and they would smile and laugh everytime I stumbled on a word, which made me realize that they really do appreciate my attempts to learn this crazy langauge.
The weather the past 2 days has been rainy and cold. Also, it is now dark at 6:00 p.m. My train ride in the morning is almost completely in the dark too, so winter is certainly on its way. During winter, there are only 8 hours of daylight, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. That will be really strange. I am sure I will probably gain 10 pounds after Christmas is over! Oh well, AFS does stand for "Another Fat Student".
Andy E
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Holiday
This past week has been holiday for pretty much all of Denmark. As I said in my last post, I was going to visit Johanna, a former exchange student to BRF, on the neighboring island of Fyn. On Saturday night I took the train to Copenhagen and meet Johanna's boyfriend, Charles. He was in the city for some filming he was doing. We took a train to Odense, the 3rd largest city in Denmark (which isn't saying much). It was about a 1 hour and 45 minute ride. We then walked to their house, which is in a sort of development. All the houses are the same and they are connected to each other via a gravel bike path and communal "bike shelters". It was really neat.
Johanna lives in the house with Charles and also with Charles' brother, Evan, and his wife, Christina. Johanna is Swedish, Charles and Evan are Wisconsinites and Christina is Danish. It is quite a interesting living situation! Also, Johanna, Charles and Evan are all med students at Southern Denmark University in Odense. It was really nice to meet them all and they really made me feel welcome. I stayed there from Saturday to Wednesday and it was a really nice relaxing time. We didn't really do anything special, but I was totally fine with that. Charles gave me some movies/documentaries to watch. So, I could tell you pretty much anything about Barbarians or Ancient Rome!
I had also planned to do something with Tove, another exchange student who went to BRF; however, she had to work on Saturday and so we took a rain check. I was also planning to go to Copenhagen to a party with some other exchange students on Friday night, but both of the students who had planned to go with me, couldn't and I did not want to go alone so I just stayed at home. It actually worked out real well, because that night at 2 a.m. I snuck into the kitchen, bringing along the comforter from my bed, and used one of my host family's laptops. I took some grapes and sat in the corner and listened to the BRF vs. Westby football game. It was really nice to hear some familiar names and I even got a "shoutout" from Brain B. Even though BRF lost, I enjoyed it very much.
Today I went for a walk around Herfølge. It was really nice and I found things that I never knew were here. For example, there is a maze only 15 feet from my house! I was really surprised! I also went to the local cemetery. Sounds creepy and weird, but it was actually really nice. The cemeteries in Denmark are more like parks. There are trees and flowers and bushes everywhere. Instead of only having a headstone, here you buy a little area that is guarded off by tiny shrubs and then the grave is decorated with flowers and plants, etc. There are also "normal" gaves with only a headstone, but they are scattered along the walking paths and it is a little weird. All in all, I was really glad I visited it and it also gave me an oppurtunity to reflect on everything that is happening and to think about what is ahead for me.
Great news!! On Thursday I found out that I have a temporary family! I will live with them until I get a "real" family. They live in Haslev, a town about 20 km away and it is two stops farther south on the train, which means that I will have an extra 10 minutes on the train to school, but I suppose I can handle that. The family hosted an Italian boy last year and they had a really good experience. They have extremely Danish names! The parents are Kjeld and Gerda. Kjeld is an engineer who is currently on holiday, but will return to Bangladesh soon. They have 3 sons: Hjalse, Aske and Theis, who is studying at university in Copenhagen. I will move to their house tomorrow and am excited to meet them. I will continue to go to school in Roskilde, but if they would decide to keep me, I would probably change schools. We will see how it all goes.
Andy E
Johanna lives in the house with Charles and also with Charles' brother, Evan, and his wife, Christina. Johanna is Swedish, Charles and Evan are Wisconsinites and Christina is Danish. It is quite a interesting living situation! Also, Johanna, Charles and Evan are all med students at Southern Denmark University in Odense. It was really nice to meet them all and they really made me feel welcome. I stayed there from Saturday to Wednesday and it was a really nice relaxing time. We didn't really do anything special, but I was totally fine with that. Charles gave me some movies/documentaries to watch. So, I could tell you pretty much anything about Barbarians or Ancient Rome!
I had also planned to do something with Tove, another exchange student who went to BRF; however, she had to work on Saturday and so we took a rain check. I was also planning to go to Copenhagen to a party with some other exchange students on Friday night, but both of the students who had planned to go with me, couldn't and I did not want to go alone so I just stayed at home. It actually worked out real well, because that night at 2 a.m. I snuck into the kitchen, bringing along the comforter from my bed, and used one of my host family's laptops. I took some grapes and sat in the corner and listened to the BRF vs. Westby football game. It was really nice to hear some familiar names and I even got a "shoutout" from Brain B. Even though BRF lost, I enjoyed it very much.
Today I went for a walk around Herfølge. It was really nice and I found things that I never knew were here. For example, there is a maze only 15 feet from my house! I was really surprised! I also went to the local cemetery. Sounds creepy and weird, but it was actually really nice. The cemeteries in Denmark are more like parks. There are trees and flowers and bushes everywhere. Instead of only having a headstone, here you buy a little area that is guarded off by tiny shrubs and then the grave is decorated with flowers and plants, etc. There are also "normal" gaves with only a headstone, but they are scattered along the walking paths and it is a little weird. All in all, I was really glad I visited it and it also gave me an oppurtunity to reflect on everything that is happening and to think about what is ahead for me.
Great news!! On Thursday I found out that I have a temporary family! I will live with them until I get a "real" family. They live in Haslev, a town about 20 km away and it is two stops farther south on the train, which means that I will have an extra 10 minutes on the train to school, but I suppose I can handle that. The family hosted an Italian boy last year and they had a really good experience. They have extremely Danish names! The parents are Kjeld and Gerda. Kjeld is an engineer who is currently on holiday, but will return to Bangladesh soon. They have 3 sons: Hjalse, Aske and Theis, who is studying at university in Copenhagen. I will move to their house tomorrow and am excited to meet them. I will continue to go to school in Roskilde, but if they would decide to keep me, I would probably change schools. We will see how it all goes.
Andy E
Thursday, October 8, 2009
"Tuesday Night"
The post is a branch from "Where does the time go?" and although it is not necessary to read that post first, chronologically-speaking it makes me sense. It may also be kind of depressing, but I will attempt to write it in the most postive manner possible.
A couple of weeks ago Elise and I sat down at the computer and had a "Google Translator" conversation. I expressed that I was not as happy I thought I should be and maybe a change should be made. We said we would give it 3 weeks and then reassess everything. Last Thursday Jesper called me into the kitchen and gave me a letter in both Danish and English that expressed how they felt about me staying there. It ended with, "We think the best solution is that you find a new family." It was harsh and surprising, but then again, I had wished that I would change families. As the age-old saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for..", that is absoulutely true in my case.
Back to the title of the story. On Tuesday night Judith, the organizer of my AFS region, came to our house and talked with us. At first she talked with the Petersen's, while I attemped to listen (it was in Danish). I could understand what they saying, but not word-for-word. There seemed to be a lot of emotion in Elise voice, which frightened me a little. Afterwards, Judith and I went into my bedroom and we talked. She was really easy to talk to and so it was easy being completely honest. In the end, she said that a major problem was the communication. She said that Elise did not always understand me and I did not understand her, so there was a lot of misunderstandings that stuck with Elise. Moreover, we both had different expectations of what it would be like having me live here.
Now is the hard part. On Saturday Judith is putting an "ad" in the newspaper with my picture and a little bit about me. She said that they have actually been quite successful and have found some wonderful families this way. It still feels weird. It seems like I am being sold or something. I will most likely have a new host family in the coming weeks, but it all depends. The hardest part is the uncertainity. I have no idea who or where I will be and so I literally have to jump with both feet, head first with my hand tied, into a big hole and hope that there is a bottom. It is a really weird feeling. I just have to reassure myself that everything will be okay and it will all work out fine. Nothing is perfect and have to accept that and move on. It is also hard, because I know that this is equally difficult for the Petersen's. I do not want it to sound like they are the enemy. I truly care about them and the memories they have given me have been tremendous, but I think that for both of our sakes, it is better this way.
Thank you all for reading and it gives me joy to know that I am not 'speaking in the dark', if that makes sense. I know that this blog is reaching many people and is serving its purpose, which I am thrilled about. Thank you all for putting up with my depressing posts and crappy English. :)
Andy E
A couple of weeks ago Elise and I sat down at the computer and had a "Google Translator" conversation. I expressed that I was not as happy I thought I should be and maybe a change should be made. We said we would give it 3 weeks and then reassess everything. Last Thursday Jesper called me into the kitchen and gave me a letter in both Danish and English that expressed how they felt about me staying there. It ended with, "We think the best solution is that you find a new family." It was harsh and surprising, but then again, I had wished that I would change families. As the age-old saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for..", that is absoulutely true in my case.
Back to the title of the story. On Tuesday night Judith, the organizer of my AFS region, came to our house and talked with us. At first she talked with the Petersen's, while I attemped to listen (it was in Danish). I could understand what they saying, but not word-for-word. There seemed to be a lot of emotion in Elise voice, which frightened me a little. Afterwards, Judith and I went into my bedroom and we talked. She was really easy to talk to and so it was easy being completely honest. In the end, she said that a major problem was the communication. She said that Elise did not always understand me and I did not understand her, so there was a lot of misunderstandings that stuck with Elise. Moreover, we both had different expectations of what it would be like having me live here.
Now is the hard part. On Saturday Judith is putting an "ad" in the newspaper with my picture and a little bit about me. She said that they have actually been quite successful and have found some wonderful families this way. It still feels weird. It seems like I am being sold or something. I will most likely have a new host family in the coming weeks, but it all depends. The hardest part is the uncertainity. I have no idea who or where I will be and so I literally have to jump with both feet, head first with my hand tied, into a big hole and hope that there is a bottom. It is a really weird feeling. I just have to reassure myself that everything will be okay and it will all work out fine. Nothing is perfect and have to accept that and move on. It is also hard, because I know that this is equally difficult for the Petersen's. I do not want it to sound like they are the enemy. I truly care about them and the memories they have given me have been tremendous, but I think that for both of our sakes, it is better this way.
Thank you all for reading and it gives me joy to know that I am not 'speaking in the dark', if that makes sense. I know that this blog is reaching many people and is serving its purpose, which I am thrilled about. Thank you all for putting up with my depressing posts and crappy English. :)
Andy E
Where does the time go?
I cannot believe that I have been in Denmark for almost 9 weeks! It is crazy to think that my time in Denmark will be over before I know it! The time is going by so quickly and so it is hard to keep my blog up-to-date with all the things that are going on. I am sure for my "active blog readers" the suspense kills you! I know my mom said that she checks it almost daily and gets somewhat frustrated when there is not anything new.
Last blog I mentioned my class party I was going to. It was really fun. It was in the middle of nowhere, but it was a really nice location. The party was in an old farm building. It had been converted into a building that could be used for parties. There was a kitchen and bathroom and a bar. It reminded me somewhat of a town hall, where people vote. It smelled like one too! There were about 40 people there from all 3 "B" classes. It is mainly a party to welcome the 1B class into the "B"-family, but since I was a newbie as well, I took part in some of the traditions. Being that it was in the middle of nowhere, my older host sister, Malene, and her boyfriend picked me up and drove me home. Consistent to the party being in the middle of nowhere, they got lost and the planned 12:00 pick-up became 12:45. We got home at about 1:20 and went to bed right away. Malene and David spent the night in my host parents room, because Jesper and Elise were on vacation in northern Zealand. I cannot remember what else happened that weekend (being that it was so long ago). It think it was a typical lazy weekend.
I am playing volleyball in Køge on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays nights, even though I have yet to make a Friday practice (for various reasons). I still am bad, but I am improving. I can now set to an appropriate height (not 6 feet), pass to the setter, block, dig and I can even jump serve (kind of). I really enjoy everyone there and am getting used to the nickname "America". I kind of like it. The coach is also speaking Danish to me, so volleyball has duel purposes.
I cannot remember what else happened that week, so I will skip to the next weekend, which was the AFS Autumn Camp. It was hosted at a school in Køge, so it was only a 5 minute drive. It was really great to see some of the people from the opening camp. They gave us a lot of time to talk to the other exchange students about how things were going with everything, which was really nice. There were a lot of crazy moments, including a 2 a.m. break-in into the kitchen, a 4 a.m. "campfire" without fire and going to bed at 6 a.m. and waking up at 8. It was really fun and was a great way to spend a weekend.
The following Tuesday was an interesting day at school. Students across Denmark were protesting the cut funds for Danish students for the next school year. After the 1st class, students locked the teachers into the lounge and then blocked off the cafeteria. People had brought cake and games and it was really fun. I was tired, so I caught an early train home. I watched P.S. I Love You with Danish subtitles and feel asleep quite early. I was really tired and was kind of nervous for the night. Explaination will be in a following post titled "Tuesday Night". I know, how creative.
Wednesday was also an interesting day, because it was "Idrætdag", very similar to a field day back home. It was only for the '2' classes, so it wasn't the whole school. The day started off rainy and 50 degrees and when we ended it was clear skies and 65. (Danish weather is so crazy!) The events in Idrætdag were:
100m, 400m, Shot Put, Javelin, High Jump, Long Jump, 4x1 Relay and a 4k relay, which was 4 people who ran 1k around a park and then came back, somewhat similar to a cross country race; minus the relay part and the fact that you were only running 1k. I signed up for the 400m and Long Jump. I ended up doing both and a 4x1 relay and a leg of the 4000m relay! I was so tired by the end of the day that I had a hard time riding my bike home for the station. When I got home I immediately began making a salad for that night's Køge Area AFS Meeting. I decided to make a salad with lettuce, chicken, noodles and feta cheese. I had had it before and loved it, so I thought I would share it with everyone. I went to Fakta, which is a grocery store that I dislike but everything is cheap, so I go there anyway. The store is so unorganized and there is an area where all the things that don't really have a place (pickles, cookies, ice cream toppings, broken things, etc.) are thrown into these metal crates and you have to rummage through everything to find what you want, even though you have no idea what is where. All in all, Fakta doesn't not win the 'Most Organized Store' award. Long lines too. ANYWAY, I made the salad and when I was done realized that the bus left in 5 minutes. I quickly changed and ran to the bus carrying my salad and wearing my backpack with heavy things in it, after having Idrætdag! I felt like I was going to die. Thankfully, the only time the bus has really ever been late, was that day. I walked on the bus out of breath and carrying my dinner in a big bowl, which, as is expected, drew some weird looks from the bus driver and passengers. I got off the bus, only to almost miss the train by a few seconds and arrived at my destination 15 minutes later. The meeting was boring, because it was a presentation, in Danish, by 3 former AFS students. One was hosted in Mequon, Wisconsin, but I did not get a chance to talk to her. Overall, it was a nice meeting.
The next week is my Fall Break. I do not really have any plans as of the moment, but some are under way. So far these are the plans: Saturday go to Copenhagen and catch a ride with Johanna's (an exchange student from Sweden whom my family was a contact family for and now she goes to school in Denmark) boyfriend (who is from Wisconsin and was an exchange student to Denmark) and I will stay with them until Wednesday when I will catch a train home and then rest and do some homework. Then, on the Saturday after I will go to Copenhagen and to see Tove! She is also an exchange student from Sweden, but she was hosted in BRF last year. It will be really fun to see her, because we were good friends. It will be fun. Therefore, do not expect a blog post untill after the holidays. I hope everyone back in the WI is enjoying the wondeful fall weather I am hearing about! Do not be jealous though, because it is also cold, windy and rainy here, BUT that is the weather ALL THE TIME! Take care.
Andy E
Last blog I mentioned my class party I was going to. It was really fun. It was in the middle of nowhere, but it was a really nice location. The party was in an old farm building. It had been converted into a building that could be used for parties. There was a kitchen and bathroom and a bar. It reminded me somewhat of a town hall, where people vote. It smelled like one too! There were about 40 people there from all 3 "B" classes. It is mainly a party to welcome the 1B class into the "B"-family, but since I was a newbie as well, I took part in some of the traditions. Being that it was in the middle of nowhere, my older host sister, Malene, and her boyfriend picked me up and drove me home. Consistent to the party being in the middle of nowhere, they got lost and the planned 12:00 pick-up became 12:45. We got home at about 1:20 and went to bed right away. Malene and David spent the night in my host parents room, because Jesper and Elise were on vacation in northern Zealand. I cannot remember what else happened that weekend (being that it was so long ago). It think it was a typical lazy weekend.
I am playing volleyball in Køge on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays nights, even though I have yet to make a Friday practice (for various reasons). I still am bad, but I am improving. I can now set to an appropriate height (not 6 feet), pass to the setter, block, dig and I can even jump serve (kind of). I really enjoy everyone there and am getting used to the nickname "America". I kind of like it. The coach is also speaking Danish to me, so volleyball has duel purposes.
I cannot remember what else happened that week, so I will skip to the next weekend, which was the AFS Autumn Camp. It was hosted at a school in Køge, so it was only a 5 minute drive. It was really great to see some of the people from the opening camp. They gave us a lot of time to talk to the other exchange students about how things were going with everything, which was really nice. There were a lot of crazy moments, including a 2 a.m. break-in into the kitchen, a 4 a.m. "campfire" without fire and going to bed at 6 a.m. and waking up at 8. It was really fun and was a great way to spend a weekend.
The following Tuesday was an interesting day at school. Students across Denmark were protesting the cut funds for Danish students for the next school year. After the 1st class, students locked the teachers into the lounge and then blocked off the cafeteria. People had brought cake and games and it was really fun. I was tired, so I caught an early train home. I watched P.S. I Love You with Danish subtitles and feel asleep quite early. I was really tired and was kind of nervous for the night. Explaination will be in a following post titled "Tuesday Night". I know, how creative.
Wednesday was also an interesting day, because it was "Idrætdag", very similar to a field day back home. It was only for the '2' classes, so it wasn't the whole school. The day started off rainy and 50 degrees and when we ended it was clear skies and 65. (Danish weather is so crazy!) The events in Idrætdag were:
100m, 400m, Shot Put, Javelin, High Jump, Long Jump, 4x1 Relay and a 4k relay, which was 4 people who ran 1k around a park and then came back, somewhat similar to a cross country race; minus the relay part and the fact that you were only running 1k. I signed up for the 400m and Long Jump. I ended up doing both and a 4x1 relay and a leg of the 4000m relay! I was so tired by the end of the day that I had a hard time riding my bike home for the station. When I got home I immediately began making a salad for that night's Køge Area AFS Meeting. I decided to make a salad with lettuce, chicken, noodles and feta cheese. I had had it before and loved it, so I thought I would share it with everyone. I went to Fakta, which is a grocery store that I dislike but everything is cheap, so I go there anyway. The store is so unorganized and there is an area where all the things that don't really have a place (pickles, cookies, ice cream toppings, broken things, etc.) are thrown into these metal crates and you have to rummage through everything to find what you want, even though you have no idea what is where. All in all, Fakta doesn't not win the 'Most Organized Store' award. Long lines too. ANYWAY, I made the salad and when I was done realized that the bus left in 5 minutes. I quickly changed and ran to the bus carrying my salad and wearing my backpack with heavy things in it, after having Idrætdag! I felt like I was going to die. Thankfully, the only time the bus has really ever been late, was that day. I walked on the bus out of breath and carrying my dinner in a big bowl, which, as is expected, drew some weird looks from the bus driver and passengers. I got off the bus, only to almost miss the train by a few seconds and arrived at my destination 15 minutes later. The meeting was boring, because it was a presentation, in Danish, by 3 former AFS students. One was hosted in Mequon, Wisconsin, but I did not get a chance to talk to her. Overall, it was a nice meeting.
The next week is my Fall Break. I do not really have any plans as of the moment, but some are under way. So far these are the plans: Saturday go to Copenhagen and catch a ride with Johanna's (an exchange student from Sweden whom my family was a contact family for and now she goes to school in Denmark) boyfriend (who is from Wisconsin and was an exchange student to Denmark) and I will stay with them until Wednesday when I will catch a train home and then rest and do some homework. Then, on the Saturday after I will go to Copenhagen and to see Tove! She is also an exchange student from Sweden, but she was hosted in BRF last year. It will be really fun to see her, because we were good friends. It will be fun. Therefore, do not expect a blog post untill after the holidays. I hope everyone back in the WI is enjoying the wondeful fall weather I am hearing about! Do not be jealous though, because it is also cold, windy and rainy here, BUT that is the weather ALL THE TIME! Take care.
Andy E
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