The Final Weeks

It seems surreal that my exchange journey is coming to an end and that it was a whole year ago that I first moved to Denmark. 

 

 

On the 31st of December, the New Years Eve celebrations in Denmark begin with almost every family sitting around the tv to watch the Queen's speech. Dronning Margrethe (Queen Margrethe) reflects upon the past year for Denmark and also discusses the future in a very patriotic and inspirational way.

  

After this I went and ate dinner together with my class, then spent the night celebrating 2013 and welcoming 2014 with them.

  

In the last 10 seconds of 2013, we counted down to the New Year. It is tradition and good luck to be standing somewhere high, so we stood on a lounge chair and then at midnight you jump down into the New Year.

  

At midnight, the entire town lit up and came alive with fireworks. They are legal in Denmark, so most people have their own fireworks that they set off themselves. We were in an apartment up high so had a good view over the town to see all of the fireworks popping up from the streets of the town.

I was lucky enough to win a private party at the club in my town, Crazy Daisy, so I was able to hold a going away party for me and all of my Danish friends. It was a great night and felt like more of a celebration of my year together with all of the friends that I had made rather than a farewell thing.

 

 

After my going away party, I had one week left in Denmark. On the Monday night I had my final Rotary meeting, where I said farewell to the Club that had been so good to me over the past year. I played a short movie that I had made to them about my year in Denmark which they enjoyed.

Here is the link to watch my video:

My Exchange Year in Denmark 2013

I spent some time with the other exchange students from my school. We went to a cafe in Viborg for afternoon tea and then they all came to my house and went through all of the clothes and things that I wanted to get rid of. They all took whatever they wanted from the pile.

On Tuesday, I went to Copenhagen to see the city for one last time before I leave (who knows when I will get to see it next!). I spent the day with Sarah (another Australian exchange student), we went and saw all of the touristy places again, tried to track the Queen down as she went from one castle to another- we missed her by a few minutes but did see her guard and all of the horses, ate lunch in our favourite place at Nyhavn and spent some time to just hygge. Copenhagen really is one of the nicest European cities, with under 2 million people (yes, smaller than Brisbane) it doesn't feel too busy and is very clean.

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday night I went and had dinner with my third host family. It was nice to see them and my host grandparents once again before leaving. Saying goodbye to them and my two younger host brothers wasn't easy. But in 2015 they plan to come and visit me in Australia which I am very much looking forward to.


I went to school on the Thursday and Friday. On Friday I made my class Lamingtons to eat in our last lesson together and gave them all a little koala and an Australian shot glass. They surprised me with a present and card that everyone had signed. It was a beautiful Marguerite bracelet that matches the earrings that I got for Christmas, very Danish. Plus some of my favourite flavoured flødeboller and some other chocolates from Frellsens (Danish confectionary shop). We took a class photo and spent some time to just hygge and chat before hugging and saying 'vi ses' (see you) to each member of my class. Each person in my class had been a special part of my exchange year and memories. I am so grateful that I had such a great class while in Denmark.

 

  

I had actually began packing about 1.5 weeks before I was due to leave, and finalised it on the Wednesday so when it came to the night before leaving I didn't have that much to do.

  

So much has happened since I hopped on the plane 357 days ago in Brisbane by myself with only my 20kg suitcase and hand luggage, leaving everything and everyone that I knew in Australia to travel to the other side of the world to the unknown to live in Denmark where I knew no one and couldn't speak the language. I have learnt so much about myself, life and the world, learnt and become fluent in Danish, made so many great memories, met so many great people, travelled Europe and overall had an incredible and unforgettable experience.

I am so grateful to everyone that made my year possible and as amazing as it was; my parents and family, friends, host families, Danish friends, other exchange students, staff and volunteers, everyone else that I met along the way and of course Rotary who it would not have been possible without- a huge thank you to both Viborg-Asmild Rotary Club for hosting me in District 1440 and to the Caboolture Rotary Club in District 9600 for sponsoring me.

If anyone is considering exchange, I would highly recommend it! I would also definitely recommend the Rotary Youth Exchange Program, I am so happy that I decided to go through Rotary.

- This is not my last blog entry!

Glædelig Jul! Merry Christmas!

Before you experience a Christmas in another culture you don't really think too much about the differences that there can be. I am so glad that I have had the opportunity to experience a completely different type of Christmas this year in Denmark. 

My host family picked out the Christmas tree on the Friday afternoon, 20th December. Then on the 23rd, we brought it into the house, put it up and decorated it. The decorations are similar to the ones we use in Australia, glass balls, small santas, stars and other Christmas figures. But they don't use tinsel, beads or electric lights. The tree is also decorated with real candles, which are only lit on Christmas night.

  

In Denmark Christmas is considered the 24th December, so on this day we wished each other 'Glædelig Jul' (Happy Christmas) and 'God Jul' (Good Christmas). During the day we didn't do anything in particular, but after lunch the food preparation began ready for our Christmas dinner. We had Christmas dinner together with just my host parents and host siblings. For dinner we had: roast duck, caramelised potatoes, boiled potatoes, red cabbage and brown gravy.

Then for dessert we had the traditional Danish Christmas dessert, Ris a La Mande (like a cold rice pudding made with almonds). As a Christmas tradition, one whole almond was hidden in the bowl for a lucky person to find. I ended up finding the almond and won a prize, which was 6 flødeboller- one for each of us to eat.

  

After dinner we went into the lounge room and did another Danish tradition, walking around the Christmas tree, holding hands while singing Christmas songs. This was a very different thing to me, because in Australia we have nothing like it and to most Australians it would sound like quite a strange thing to do. It was great to get to try such a different tradition, I thought that singing the songs on Christmas night together was a nice thing, although walking around the tree whilst doing it was something that I think would take some getting used to.

After this which was around 9pm, it was time to open presents! The presents all stayed in another room then were brought out one by one to be opened; while one person opened their present everyone else watched on. The present opening lasted until around 10.45pm, when everyone had opened all of their presents. I was very lucky to receive some excellent presents (a lot of really Danish things!) from my host families and other people. 

 

After we were finished opening the presents we all just went to bed. I skyped my family in Australia who had just opened their presents on Christmas morning. It was nice being able to see the presents that they got for Christmas and be a part of Christmas morning. A lot of exchange students say that they feel quite homesick at Christmas but I didn't really experience this, I found it great to experience a different type of Christmas and did only have 3 weeks left until I would see my family again anyway.

   

On the morning of the 25th I woke up and was happy and excited because it was Christmas. Then I remembered that Christmas has already happened the night before on the 24th, but in my head it was still Christmas, I had to stop myself from wishing my host family a Merry Christmas because that had been the day before! We just had a normal breakfast, then for the rest of the day my host family all just did their own relaxing things like reading new books and watching tv series that they had gotten as Christmas presents the day before. It felt a bit strange for me to not be doing anything Christmassy, because in Australia our Christmas celebrations start when we wake up in the morning (on the 25th) and last until we go to sleep that night, sometimes even continuing for days. So I decided to listen to watch some Christmas movies, of course including The Grinch.

  

That night (25th) I went to have a Christmas dinner with my 3rd host family, at Jesper's parents' house. It was so nice to see them all again and get to celebrate Christmas with them. After dinner we all played Just Dance on the Wii (that the boys had gotten for Christmas), not just Villads, Malthe and me, but also Heidi and Jesper, even the grandparents had a go. Then we had a darts tournament, which was a lot of fun. I had taken Tim Tams for them to try and they absolutely loved them. They gave me new Pandora charms for my bracelet (that they had previously given me), a snowman- because I love the snow in Denmark, a swan- the national bird of Denmark and a kangaroo- very Australian. It was such a hyggelig night.

 

On Friday the 27th, I had a Christmas lunch with both Alice and her family, another member of my Rotary Club Peter (who was involved in the exchange student department of the club) and his wife, my 2nd host family and also my 4th host family. Alice had kindly offered to host it at her place and we all shared the task of making the food. It was an interpretation of Australian Christmas food, so we had: roast turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce, glazed ham with apple sauce, vegetables, pasta salad, damper, trifle, Bailey's balls, jam drops, pavlova and punch. The food ended up being delicious and everyone really enjoyed it.

  

 

I am so grateful to all of the people that let me into their homes and families to be a part of the Danish Christmas, it was truly a special experience that I will never forget.

The Festive Season Has Begun!

Denmark really is a pretty place to be at Christmas time, which as a matter of fact feels like the entire month of December with the amount of Christmassy things that are happening.

While there may not be the smell of freshly cut grass or long summer days that I normally relate to Christmas time, there is the smell of roasting sugar almonds throughout the streets of the town, short cosy winter days characterised by many candles being lit around the house each night and the special advent candles lit every Sunday. It is great to experience a cold Christmas like all of the ones in movies and stories.

  

In the month of December up until Christmas there is a tv program called 'Julekalendar' which shows one episode every night. Each year the series is a different Christmassy story, for example this year is called Tvillingerne og Julemanden and is about twins that are helping a man who they don't yet know is Santa to pretty much save Christmas. It is so 'hyggeligt' to sit down and watch it every night and follow the series.

In the evening on 29th November, the other exchange students in my town and myself attended the Christmas Parade in Viborg. We were given torches with real flame, then followed the parade walking around the town behind a band. At the end we came back to the main square in my town to watch the lights on the big Christmas tree be turned on for the first time this year.

 

  

After this, the other girls and I decided to go into Frellsen (a famous Danish confectionary shop) for a hot chocolate and flødeboller.

  

On the weekend of the 30th November & 1st December, I went on a trip to Copenhagen with a Rotarian from my club, his wife and their 15 year old granddaughter Liv. We caught the ferry over from Århus to Sjælland (the island that Copenhagen is on), this is something I haven't done before, so it was nice.

 

We walked up the Rundetårn (Round Tower) in Copenhagen. It was built by the King of Denmark in the 1630s, without stairs, so you walk up the tower on a big ramp that spirals around. There are stories in history about how they even took a horse and carriage up the tower.

  

Then we went into Tivoli, a famous, 170 year old theme park in Copenhagen. It was very beautifully decorated for Christmas, with so many trees, lights, elves and Christmas markets. We went on a couple of rides before eating dinner.

 

 

  

There was a weeping willow tree covered in lights so that every leaf was a light, it was incredibly beautiful!

  

The next day we saw Frederiksborg, a castle just out of Copenhagen that is almost 500 years old. It is probably my favourite castle that I have seen in Denmark.

   

  

 

 I had been waiting quite impatiently for the first snow of the season to come, after I had seen online that it had began snowing almost everywhere else in the northern hemisphere apart from Denmark! But finally on Thursday 5th December the snow came! I had seen that the weather forecast predicted a chance of snow, so had been glancing out the window all night hoping it would start snowing. Later that night while I was in bed, I looked out the window and was certain that it was snowing. I got up excitedly and watched it out the window as the snow swirled in the glow of the street light then began to gather on the ground like a white blanket. I couldn't contain my excitement so pulled on my jacket and boots over my pyjamas, walked past my slightly shocked and amused host family at around 10pm to go out and see the first snow for the winter.

     

The next day at school, Kelsey and I ran outside to take pictures and play in the snow. The Danes gave us some strange looks, but that didn't matter, we were both equally excited that there was snow!

  

  

On Friday 6th December, I went to my last school party in Denmark, which was a Christmas Party called Julebal (Christmas Ball).

 

On the Sunday, my host family and I made the first Christmas biscuits. We made some vanilla rings called Vanilje Kranse and small round cinnamon biscuits called Jødekager.

  

My Rotary Club had their Christmas break-up. First we went to a Christmas Church service at the very cute little church called Asmild Kirke. After this we had a traditional Danish Christmas dinner and celebrations. I was lucky to win a few prizes in the raffle, a scarf and some chocolates.

   

  

One afternoon, all the exchange students from my school got together at one girl's house and ate an early dinner. The two girls from Thailand cooked us traditional Thai food, it was delicious.

  

 

I made White Christmas for my host family. In my opinion it tasted really good, so I was glad that my host family thought so too.

  

On Friday 20th my school had their end of year Christmas break-up celebration. It began with one lesson at school that was allocated for just 'hygge', so the teacher brought coffee and we all just sat and chatted. Then we all went down the the Cathedral, Viborg Domkirke, to see a Christmas ceremony where they read passages from the bible and sang Christmas songs. After this, it was officially Christmas holidays.

  

My class and I went and had lunch together after at a cafe in town, which was so nice. Then I went with Emilie S. from my class to go ice-skating down near the lakes in my town. We had such a fun afternoon!

 

 

I must admit that I am a bit disappointed that there is no chance of snow for Christmas. Apparently it is the warmest Christmas that Denmark has had in over 150 years. But I am still very much looking forward to Christmas!