"Time Flies"

Last week I had vacation and I throughly enjoyed the break. Wednesday and Thursday I went to school with my host mom and talked to some of the English classes there. The levels of all the students ranged from terrible to crazy good, and they were only 14 years old! I had put together a little power point about Wisconsin and I talked about school, free time, myself and just the United States as a whole. I can sincerely say that I had a good time. On Friday I went to Copenhagen and meet up with some of Aaron's (my REAL brother) college friends, who were visiting a friend of theirs. We just walked around Copenhagen in the morning and saw some of the sites and in the afternoon we ate at a greek buffet and talked for 2 hours in a nice cafe. I was really glad that I went and got to see them. That evening I meet up with my host brothers and one of their friends and his mom and saw Avatar 3D. It was in a giant theater that had 8 seperate entrances. We were dead center and it was really nice. I was disappointed with the movie though. I think it is highly overrated...but that is just me.
On Saturday, I woke up, did my cleaning and then went to my fellow American Joe's house. We helped with dinner and then just watched TV and talked. It was really nice to just talk about things. We seemed to keep bringing up going home, which then made us sad and we decided not to talk about it anymore. I spend the night and we woke up at about 11:30 a.m. to the sound of birds chirping and church bells ringing. It seemed straight out of a movie. And now for a little bragging: we could easily carry on a conversation in Danish, but realized it seemed kind of impractical when both our mother tongue is English. This gave me a nice boost. School started the next day and it was the same-old, same-old. To me, it was more boring that usual. Oh well, life goes on. On Thursday we saw a fantastic movie for Spanish. My class is going to Spain in 1 week and so recently we have been doing some listening tests, and what better why to practice than watch a movie?! The movie was called La lengua de las mariposas (The tongue of the butterfly) and if you only see one foreign language movie in your life, let this one be it. It was absoulutely fantastic and now I am spreading the word! There isn't much else to write about, so I have composed a list of interesting facts about Denmark that your probably didn't know.

-A typical Danish breakfast is hot rolls with cheese and jam or havregryn, which is müsli (oatmeal) with milk or yogurt. Fruit is also popular.
-Milk comes in a 1 L carton, as does yogurt.
-Everyone owns a bike (or two or more) and rides it almost everywhere.
-The Danish alphabet had three extra vowels: Ææ Øø Åå.
-A large portion of Danes smoke.
-The Danish public transportation system is extremely developed and is usually quite punctual.
-Danes appreciate exercise and popular sports are badminton, soccer, swimming and running.
-Almost all Danes have some proficieny in English and many also know German also.
-The normal work day is from 8-2.
-A popular fashion trend is to wear tube socks and tuck the pants legs in the socks. (My class has told me many times that this ISN'T cool)
-I am not sure if you know what MC Hammer pants are, but they are also popular.
-It is not uncommon for someone to wear the same outfit 2 days (or more) in a row.
-Danes eat surprisingly healthy and a lunch of whole carrots and cucumbers is not unusual.
-There is no "school lunch". Most schools have a canteen where you can buy sandwiches, drinks, snacks, etc., yet most students bring their own lunch. It is called a madpakken (food pack).
-Danes pride themselves on their homes and they usually keep very clean and tidy. Houses are also not that big.
-Some Danes are extremely anal about crosswalks. If you cross when the light is red, they will let you know how they feel about that (I know this from personal experience).
-Beds consist of a sheet on the matress and a feather blanket in a sheet: only 1 layer, no middle sheets.
-TEA, COFFEE, BEER (Denmark drinks more coffee than any other European nation!)
-A driver's license is 40 times more expensive than one in the US
-~50% of their a Danes' income goes to the state
-Schooling is free for all Danes, from kindergarten to medical school.
-Students from 18-aprox.25 who study, recieve a monthly stipend, about $150-450, depending on the need.

Still curious about Denmark? If you have any further questions about a specific part of Danish society, please ask. It will give me something to do besides take a nap. ;)

Andy