Life in Viborg

On the weekend I moved in with my first host family. I have had the opportunity to watch some Danish television including X Factor in Danish and the Eurovision finals for Denmark. I must say that at this stage, seeing children's shows such as The Smurfs in Danish is quite hilarious. I am also learning to appreciate European Handball, or Håndbold, which people in Denmark are crazy and very patriotic about; I was even disappointed when Denmark lost to Spain in the finals.

Yesterday was the first day that I caught the bus home from school by myself. The bus driver barely spoke any English, so I was hoping that I was on the right bus! After pressing the button one stop too early and being stared down by the bus driver, I arrived safely at the right stop, and then walked the rest of the way home.

Walking home.

As the temperature has now risen above 0˚C, and is reaching 5˚C during the day, the snow is melting. I was surprised with how quickly the snow melts! After 2 days of the weather being above 0, the snow has almost all gone! While I find it sad that the snow is almost gone, the bright green grass and beautiful scenery that was covered in white is now being revealed. As the snow melts, the ground becomes quite slushy and icy, making it very slippery, which means you have to concentrate to make sure that you don't fall over.

View from my window on Tuesday

View from my window on Monday, after 1 day above 0

This afternoon I decided to go shopping by myself on the way home from school, to buy some things that I needed and some sports clothes, ready for my first Sport lesson tomorrow. I walked the short walk from school to the shopping centre, got what I needed and caught the bus home. It felt great to be able to do this by myself, there was a feeling of true independence and freedom navigating my way through the streets of a foreign country and shopping in a different language.

There is nothing that compares to watching snow fall, or standing whilst the snow flakes fall around and on you.

Sne- Snow.

I have survived my first week of school in Denmark! It was very tiring, but has been a great experience so far and I have met so many great people. I have even started to pick up a few phrases and words in Danish (very basic of course), and my classmates often get a laugh when I struggle to pronounce some things that they teach me! Such as the word 'rød', which is the colour red, and to me the pronunciation sounds almost like a frog croaking.

This afternoon I decided to go for a walk around the neighbourhood by myself, do a bit of exploring and mostly to play in the snow! I began by walking to a nearby park, where the swing sets are all covered in snow and ice. I couldn't resist the opportunity, and had a bit of a swing, kicking the snow each time my feet neared the ground.

I continued my walk down the street and found a path that led towards the lake. There were boats in the lake, that were now of course stuck, as the entire lake is frozen. I have heard that sometimes the council will measure the depth of the ice, and put signs up telling people that they can skate on it; I am hoping that they do this! In some parts you can see through the ice and see that the lake is frozen solid right to the bottom, other parts are covered in snow.

In Denmark, there are a lot of roads and trails for pedestrians and cyclists. I walked along one that is called Sønæsvej, which follows the edge of the lake towards the centre of Viborg. It is a beautiful sight, walking along the snow covered trail, the branches from the bare leafless trees stretching over to form an intricate canopy above, small birds chirping as they jump from branch to branch, the occasional backyard occupied by children playing in the snow, lone joggers or mothers jogging with prams pass every now and then red-faced with their breath forming clouds, small streams have turned to ice and are covered in snow and brown leaves from the trees, small plants and bushes have snow sitting on their leaves very closely resembling cotton wool; it feels like something from a fairytale or a movie.

On the way home, I couldn't help but to play in the snow a bit. Walking across expanses of smooth untouched snow, running in the snow, kicking it around, picking it up and just playing with it in general. To any one observing, I must have looked like a little kid, but I really don't care. Being from Australia and never really experiencing anything like this, playing in the snow whilst it is -6°C is truly an exhilarating and magical feeling.

Viborg Katedralskole

Here are some photos of my school, Viborg Katedralskole.
The first is me, this morning at around 8am, arriving at school in the dark just before my first class.

First day of school.

Over the last few days I had meetings with various places such as the local council, bank, language centre and school, as well as attending my first Rotary meeting at my host club, the Rotary Club of Viborg-Asmild. I had a great afternoon shopping with my first host sister Natalie yesterday, as she showed me which are the good shops in Viborg and helped me to figure out how to pay in Danish Kroner. I learnt that trying on clothes can be quite difficult when you are wearing almost a million layers of clothing!

I introduced my counsellor and her family to Vegemite yesterday, and to my surprise they liked it!

It has not been above 0 degrees yet since I have been here! But I am loving the snow. Waking up and looking out the window to see snow falling is an amazing sight! I don't understand how so many people can still use their bike as their main mode of transport, go for runs and take their dogs for walks through the snow when it is this cold!

Today was my first day of school at Viborg Katedralskole. My school is over 900 years old! All classrooms are in the one 5-level building, connected by a number of corridors and staircases. It was a strange feeling starting school in the dark at 8am! I started by going to the office where I was presented with a massive stack of books for my subjects, and told that today was the last time they would speak English to me!

I have been put into the social sciences line which means my subjects include Danish, English, Spanish, social studies, ancient history, religion, psychology, geography, history and sport. My class was very welcoming and the people seem great! I am in the class 2C, we all move from room to room together for our subjects and had lunch together in the cafeteria. It was difficult not understanding any of the lessons, what the teacher was saying and most of the time what everyone was saying as it was all in Danish. School is much more relaxed in Denmark compared to Australia and is almost more university-like, with calling the teachers by first names, no rules about what to wear or how you are to take notes in class and minimal rules about everything else, you only show up to school for your class and timetables are online and change each week. It is definitely going to take some getting used to! I was quite tired by the time the school day ended at 1.35pm.

Although the first day was quite tiring, I am looking forward to Day 2 tomorrow!

Good morning Viborg, the view from my window at 10am.

Driving down the street yesterday afternoon, on the way to visit my first host family!

Hej Danmark!

So now after 30-something hours of travelling, I am in Denmark!
As the plane taxied down the runway at Brisbane International, the whole thing felt dream-like; and to this moment it still feels like I am in a dream and could wake up back in my room in Australia in the heat at any moment.

After a 9 hour flight I arrived in Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, Thailand, with a group of 6 exchange students that would be continuing on to Denmark. It took a little while and a fair bit of walking to find where we had to go for our connecting flight, as the airport is huge and none of us could read the signs which are mostly in Thai. Purchasing water from a shop in the airport was interesting; it sat in the fridge next to cans of Heineken beer which cost the same price, and I received my change in Thai money, so who knows how much I actually paid for my bottle of water.

It was the middle of the night when we flew out of Thailand, from my window seat on the plane I could see the city lights of Bangkok stretching as far as the horizon. The lights looked beautiful, arranged in a maze of rows of streets and houses, and it made me wonder what was happening down there below the plane; were there monkeys on the streets, was someone having a Hangover 2 style adventure?

The next flight was 13 hours long, and as I discovered there are only so many ways you can sleep in an airplane chair, none of them being very comfortable. As we flew across Asia and Europe, the lights of towns and cities broke up the vast expanses of darkness below, from cities in countries such as India, Kazakhstan, Russia and Sweden. As a blanket of clouds covered the Earth and any visibility, the glows from the cities underneath created bright golden circles on the clouds, it was an incredible sight.

As we descended into Copenhagen in the dark, the lights from the airport lit it up, allowing us to see that snow lined either side of the runway. The Danish people on the plane laughed as all of us Australian exchange students that were excited at the sight of the snow. From the International airport we had to go outside and catch a bus to the domestic airport for our connecting flights. This was our first experience of the Danish cold. We walked out of the doors into the darkness of a Copenhagen winter morning, and were immediately hit by the freezing cold air and the sight of snow on the edges of the roads and paths, nothing like we had experienced before. As we waited at the traffic lights to cross the road, small soft white flecks began to flutter and dance in the air, catching the surrounding light. This was the first time I had ever seen snow fall, I could not have asked for a more perfect welcome to Denmark!

The domestic flight from Copenhagen to Aalborg, let me see a snow-covered Denmark from above, and the ocean that is frozen in parts and covered in ice. I was greeted in the airport by my first host family and counsellor who excitedly waved Australian and Danish flags, holding up a sign with my name on it. Any nerves that I felt about this soon disappeared as I got to meet them all over a hot chocolate and conversation.

On the drive to the town that will be my home for the next year, Viborg, we passed field after field covered in snow, passed cars on the road that had snow and ice stuck to them, and even drove as snow fluttered down around us. I received a very warm welcome to my counsellors house with a traditional Danish lunch, and even tried Salmon which to my surprise I liked.

In the afternoon we went for a walk, where we walked on a frozen lake and got to play in the soft powdery snow that covers everything here! It all looks so beautiful covered in a blanket of white; the houses, paths, trees, cars, everything!

Goodbye Australia!

This day has always felt so far away, but now it is here and I am sitting in the Brisbane International Airport, waiting until it is time to board my flight, ready for over 22 hours of flying. Up until now I have gone through stages of being crazily excited and nervous, but now I feel such a combination of so many emotions.
Driving for the last time this year, having my last Boost Juice, leaving my house and room, saying good bye to everyone has all been sad; but the thought of all of the incredible experiences and memories that are ahead of me this year is so exciting.
So goodbye for now Australia.