Nu er det jul igen

A big part of Danish Christmas is singing and dancing around the Christmas tree. Last week at my language school, we got a little practice in before the big day (Christmas Eve!). Here's a clip of the other exchange students and I singing the song "Nu er det jul igen" and dancing around the Christmas tree.

The song goes:

Nu er det jul igen

Nu er det jul igen

Og julen varer lige til påske

Nej det er ikke sandt

Nej det er ikke sandt

For ind imellem kommer fasten

Which translates to:

Now it's Christmas again

Now it's Christmas again

And Christmas will last until Easter

No it's not true

No it's not true

For in between comes Lent

Here's the video.

Risengrød

Monday night I made a typical Danish dish called Risengrød for dinner. Risengrød is essentially Danish rice pudding. Danes love to eat this warm, rich dish for dinner during the cold winter months. Without further ado, I present you my video on Risengrød. Enjoy!

A Great Start to the Month of December

Christmas is Denmark's biggest holiday. Christmas merchandise starts popping up in stores around mid October and by the time December first rolls around full-fledged Christmas mania has begun. It happens over night (literally)! One day you're walking around the streets of your city and everything's ordinary as can be. If you took the same trip downtown the next day you would find real, fully decorated Christmas trees in the squares, garlands and wreathes strung up across the streets and on the buildings, glittering with sparkling Christmas lights. On December first, Denmark almost instantaneously transforms itself into a winter wonderland.

My December first couldn't have been more in the holiday spirit. Saturday December first I attended my first "Julefrokost" or Christmas lunch. Julefrokost is the large meal Danes eat on Christmas Eve (the day they celebrate Christmas). As a result of extended family, most Danes will attend several julefrokosts during the month of December. That Saturday I drove up to a town called Randers, in Northern Jylland, to attend my first host family's julfrokost. Things couldn't have gone better. Half way there the sky opened up and it began to snow profusely. The first snowfall came on December first. It couldn't have been more fitting.

The first layer of snow.

Getting ready to eat.

Now, you have to understand that at a julefrokost three things happen; you eat, you hygge, and you eat some more. From one o'clock in the afternoon, until ten o'clock at night all I did was eat. I don't think I've ever eaten so much food in my entire life. This food doesn't come in small portions either, it's viking sized.  You start with rugbrød, Danish rye bread. There are countless toppings, the most popular being pickled herring of course! Then you move on to frikadeller (Danish meatballs), flæskesteg (roast pork), different variations of rødkål (red cabbage) and needless to say, potatoes. Pacing yourself is an important tactic to survive a julefrokost. You've got to have a plan before hand.

Rugbrød.

Flæskesteg, rødkål and frikadeller. 

For dessert you eat risalamande, which is coincidentally my favourite Danish dessert. Risalamande consists of cold rice pudding mixed with whipped cream and chopped blanched almonds. You top it off with hot cherry sauce and in doing so create a plate of ambrosia, sent straight down from the heavens. There's truly nothing better. There's also a tradition around this anticipated Christmas specialty. The chef always leaves one whole almond in the pudding and who ever unearths the almond wins a small prize. I tried my best, but my efforts were in vain. I finished with no prize, only a sore stomach. But don't get me wrong, it was still wonderful, delicious and definitely worth the stomach ache.

I wonder where the almond is?

Mmmmhh!!!

                                                  I waited all day for this amazing dessert.


At the end of the night we got to watch the first julekalender of the year. Julekalender is a series of special Christmas  TV programs that play everyday from December first until Christmas Day. Danes grow up with this tradition, so it holds a lot of sentimental value.

Inside looking cozier and cozier as it starts to get dark.

Stuffed, sleepy and satisfied, my host family and I headed home around 10pm. It was a slow drive home, on account of the snow that was now falling over all of Denmark. To be brief, we made it home safely and slept soundly as the snow continued to fall outside.

The next morning I awoke and was excited to see a fresh 15cm of snow that had fallen over night. Most of the day was spent putting up Christmas decoration and baking pebernødder, Danish Christmas cookies. This is the second time I've attempted to bake these tasty spiced Christmas cookies and it's safe to say that  I've become a pebernødder master chef!

Happy to look out my bedroom window and find this when I woke up.

The beautiful view from my host family's host, looking over the fjord.

My host sister Julie enjoying the snow.

I also got to attend my first Danish church service, which included a great deal of singing hymns and naturally the lighting of the first advent candle.

Another interesting event that took place was getting to Skype with not only my Mom and Claudia (the exchange student from Switzerland my Canadian family is hosting), but Katrine too. Katrine is my current host family's daughter who is also on exchange. It's funny, because we have practically the same name and we're the same age. Oh, and not to mention that we've almost swapped places precisely. She's living on Vancouver Island (she's living in a different town than my family)! I had the pleasure of meeting her before she left to Canada and now she's over there and has gotten to meet my Canadian family. It's a strange phenomenon to say the least and it goes to show that it's truly a small World. Katrine accompanied my family to Vancouver this weekend, so we decided to seize this remarkable opportunity. Unfortunately there were some technical difficulties, so the conversation was a bit choppy. The fact that we were bouncing back and forth between Danish and English also proved quite troublesome. Overall it was great. Maybe one day she'll take a trip North to visit my family and we can Skype when the connection's a bit better.

This past weekend was an eventful and phenomenal start to what I'm sure will be an incredible month.

Off to enjoy the snow!

Cathryn

Moving Day

Today's the big day. All my stuff is packed and my room is cleaned out. It's an odd sensation of anxiety and nervousness, but also excitement. I've got butterflies in my stomach. I can't wait to see what the next four and a half months have in store for me. I want to say the biggest thank you to my amazing first host family for three and a half fantastic months. You guys are really the best. Without further ado it's time to move out. Vi ses Søndermarksvej!

Ginormous Dining Tables & Danish Hygge

The minute you walk into a Dane's home (assuming you see the dining room) there's a good chance that you'll immediately be taken aback by the size of their dining room table. I have to admit, when I first laid eyes upon my host family's dining table I was confounded. I knew they had a larger family (three kids and two parents), but this table could comfortably accommodate the whole family (everyone!) for Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's. A Danish household consisting of only three or four family members will most likely have a dining table thrice, or twice as big as what people in North America are used to.

Why do Danes have such colossal tables? While this may seem like an exceptionally awkward question to ask (especially when you're doing it in Danish) and an even more complicated question to answer, one must, at most, be moderately observant to uncover the explanation. Is it because they are vikings and consequently need viking-sized tables? No, well maybe. The (primary) motive, my friends, behind the Danes' sizeable tables is to assist the Danes' constant and vital need to socialize.

If you've ever lived with Danes, or are one yourself, you'll understand me when I say that Danes love to socialize. In fact, the verb 'to love' does no justice to just how crucial socialization is to the Danes' everyday life. There aren't many weekends when the gargantuan dining table isn't surrounded by friends and family catching up on the week's events, while enjoying delicious food in a cozy atmosphere. Low hanging soft lights, a thousand glowing candles, music, delicious food and ample time for socialization unite to create your standard Danish weekend evening (and a completely hyggeligt atmosphere!).

"Hygge" is one aspect of Danish culture that I will, without question, bring back to Canada. The danish word "hygge" and all of its variations have no direct translation to English, but the word is often related to coziness, socialization, comfort and happiness. To truly discover and grasp its meaning, you have to experience it. Eight months from now I can promise you that I'll be teaching my canadian friends and family how to "hygge". Who knows, maybe it will start a trend. "Hygge" and exceedingly large dining tables could become the next cross-fit, or cake-pops.  I can see it now "Former Canadian Exchange Student Changing Canada One Dining Room Table at a Time."

Until then,

Cathryn

Gymnasium

After much debate over the topic of my next post, I've finally decided  to tell you all about life in gymnasium, which is the danish equivalent of the North American high school.

The danish school system is quite unique, or at least different from what North Americans are accustomed to. Children start elementary school at the same age one starts elementary school in North America. They continue their education there to the time they are done with what we know as 10th grade. Although, if their 10th grade teacher decides that they're not ready for gymnasium, they may be held back for an extra year of elementary school, and not to repeat the previous year, but to continue on to an extra grade that is offered. This gives them a chance to either mature a bit more, or better prepare themselves academically for gymnasium. It's also worth noting that education after elementary school is not requisite, although the majority of students continue their academic careers in gymnasium.

Another prevalent option, before continuing on to gymnasium, is to do a year of "efterskole" or an exchange. If you want to learn more about danish efterskole, you can check out one of my previous posts where I explained this distinct danish institution. I'll leave a link at the end of this post.

Continuing on. I was amazed to learn that taking a year off to do an exchange to a foreign country is anything but an anomaly in this pint-sized scandinavian country. In fact, there are at least four students in my class (that I'm aware of) who have been on exchange. Crazy, right? I'd become so used to Canadians endlessly asking me why I still wanted to go on exchange even if it meant graduating a year later, that I was dumbfounded by how casually Danes would react after I told them I was an exchange student in Denmark for the year. The most animated response I would ever get would be something a long the lines of, "Ah, cool. So are you coming to the party on Friday?" The Danes laid-back attitude towards exchange students was fantastic and something I'll be forever thankful for. When people aren't staring at you like you're an extra-terrestrial who got dressed in the dark that morning, it makes the process of adapting to your new country considerably less painful (I won't pretend exchange is all sunshine and rainbows). I'm now proud to say that while I still don't look one hundred percent danish (due to lack of fashion sense, hipness and platinum blonde hair), I also do not look like an alien. Now I should probably get back on topic. To summarize, it's perfectly normal to take a year off and graduate a year late. Many Danes graduate from gymnasium at the ripe age of twenty. Wait! What?

Gymnasium consists of three grades, first g, second g and third g, whose North American equivalents are eleventh grade, twelfth grade and thirteenth grade. If you're observant and good at math, you'll have figured out that Danes should graduate from gymnasium at the age of nineteen, but after having noted that most Danes take a year off for efterskole or an exchange, and subsequently performing a quick mental calculation, you'll have amended your previous statement to most Danes graduate from high school at the age of twenty.

If I told my Canadian classmates that many students in Denmark graduate from high school at the age of twenty, they'd be stunned. They already think it's weird that I'll be nineteen when I graduate, so adding two extra years would be altogether unorthodox for them. I think it's great. It's awesome to see people doing things they're interested in and love to do, rather than rushing through their lives as if the future will undoubtedly be better than the present. I understand that this relaxed life style is more challenging to live when you don't have the financial burden of your post-secondary education fully covered by the government as they do in Denmark, but couldn't it be an aspiration? But that's enough of Cathryn's Life Philosophy!

Now that we've finally arrived at gymnasium, let me explain how it works. When you first come to gymnasium you pick a line of study and let me tell you, they offer some extremely cool options. For example, foreign languages, biochemistry, architecture and ancient history. Keep in mind that these are only a few awesome examples. I was placed in the math/physics line (lord help me!).

Once you're placed in your preferred line of study, you stick with it until you're finished with gymnasium. Although, if you really hate it, you can change. Each line has a corresponding letter. So the name of your class is always the year of gymnasium you're in, followed by your letter. I'm in 2z, second year gymnasium, line z. Being in the same class for three years, with the same group of students creates a very neat atmosphere. It's very, as the Danes would say, "hyggeligt", like one big family.

As an exchange student, the downside of being placed in the second year is that everyone in your adopted class has already gotten to know one another reasonably well and you have to start from scratch. What is the upside? Second years get to go on an awesome study trip, oh ya! Oxford here I come!

Everything at gymnasium, at least at mine, is controlled by this magical online program called lectio. It's an online database where your teachers can schedule your classes and assign your homework. It's also the place where you can find the link to a website where you buy your bacchus (school party) tickets... but let's stay on the topic of school. Bacchus is another story. Lectio lets you have a very flexible schedule. There are four possible modules in a day, which are each an hour and thirty-five minutes long. Your teachers schedule in classes, so your schedule varies each day. For example, on Monday I could have four classes (ugh!), but on Tuesday maybe I'd only have two. You always have to keep an eye on your schedule, because classes can always be added or cancelled. There are no bells, so students are responsible for making sure that they're in class on time. I think this is a great system. It makes students manage their time responsibly and makes them exercise punctuality. A normal day for me consists of three modules.

Here's a picture of my schedule this week. I apologize that the photo doesn't really confirm my last statement, but c'est la vie!

I hope this post has given you a little insight into my daily life here in Denmark. Until next time!

Cathryn :-)

efterskole link: http://ryedenmark20122013.blogspot.dk/2012/08/efterskole.html

Here's a link to my gymnasium's website, if you're interesed: http://www.rosborg-gym.dk/language/english/

Efterår i Danmark

Fall in Denmark makes for a lovely season. Outside the air is fresh and crisp and the ground is littered with a fiery assortment of leaves. Inside the fire is roaring and the candles are glowing, making a very cozy, or 'hyggeligt' atmosphere. There's nothing better than coming home after a long day and getting to 'hygge' with your family in the coziness of your toasty warm house.

First Danish PE Class

I'm happy to report that my first Danish PE class, or idrætsklasse, completely exceeded my expectations. For the days leading up to my class, I was preparing myself for the type of  PE class where nothing really happens and most of the girls just sit around and chat (so frustrating!). Boy was I surprised (in a positive way). We started with a 2km warm up, before doing interval training for the rest of class. Now that's my kind of gym class! We even got heart rate monitors, so we could make sure we were working at about 80% of our maximum heart rate. Not to mention, today's class involved getting totally covered in mud, although I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I spent a good part of this afternoon cleaning the muck out of my shoes, but it wasn't so bad. I still had an ear to ear grin on my face from an awesome introduction to Danish PE. 

Mit Big Problème

Stor headache. Min hjerne pense in tre forskellige langues. Hjælp me s'il te plaît!

French Class

It shouldn't come as a surprise that I've ended up with a slightly mad French teacher. No matter what country you're in, some things never change... She's crazy, yes, but a good kind of crazy. I really enjoy going to my French class, mostly because I can actually understand what's going on. It also feels great to be using my French. I've actually been able to "flip" the class and use it to learn some Danish. I'm interested to see what else this class has in store for the rest of the year! I'll keep you updated.

First Rotary Meeting

Tonight I attended my first Rotary meeting, where I also had to present my home country and myself. I have to admit I was a bit nervous. I spent the better part of the afternoon preparing for my presentation and I'm happy to say that it went very well. Once I got up in front of the whole club I felt relaxed and excited to tell them about where I come from. My preparation really paid off! 

It was great to meet the members, they were very friendly and welcoming. My calendar is now full of activities with rotarians, so I'm really looking forward to the next couple of months.

To summarize, first meeting/presentation = success! Can't wait for more to come :-)

The president of the club and I.

My counsellor Susanne and I.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice-Cream!

Danes love ice-cream. Walking down the main pedestrian street in Vejle you can easily find five or six different ice-cream parlours. No matter rain, shine or anything else in between, it's always a great day for ice-cream. I think I've landed in the right country!

A message to the foreigners...

Language Blunders

Before you go on exchange you hear endless stories of funny and embarrassing moments that happen while you're trying to communicate in a foreign language. It's an inevitable part of your experience during your year abroad. 

My first gaffe of the year happened today while I was simultaneously chatting with a classmate and working on a project for danish class. Here's how the conversation played out.

Classmate: "Har du spist bjørn før?"

Me: "Ja. Jeg har spist børn før!"

*Eruption of laughter from the people in hearing range*

My classmate asked me if I had ever eaten bear before (another story) and I replied, "Yes, I've eaten children before!" Whoops...

I was then stuck trying to convey (in Danish) that I was, in fact,  not a cannibal. Hopefully they understood my explanation!

Hans Christian Andersen

"To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, to gain all while you give, to roam the roads of lands remote:

 To travel is to live."

-H. C. Andersen

I found this quote quite fitting after a trip to the famous writer's house in the town of Odense this Sunday. This trip was the most fascinating outing of my stay in Denmark up until now. Why? I remember reading the celebrated Dane's fairy tales when I was a little kid. Seeing his house and neighbourhood made those magical stories come alive. The neighbourhood where he resided is quaint and makes you feel as if you could be in a fairy tale yourself. 

My host sister Clara & I in front of H. C Andersen's house.

H. C Andersen's house.

First Week of School

I have officially completed my first week of Danish gymnasium. Other than being sick, the week went really well. I'm in a great class at an awesome school. Can't wait for next week :-)

Myself, Mady (USA), Lucio (Argentina), Kato (Thailand) & Poncho (Mexico) outside of the gymnasium.

Youtube

Hello everyone. I wanted to let you all know about my youtube channel.

http://www.youtube.com/user/25cchase?feature=mhee

One of my favourite ways to document my life in Denmark is through film. Throughout the year a lot of my updates will be through this channel. So please feel free to go and check it out.

Intro Camp

 This pas week I was in the town of Bjerringbro attending an event called Intro Camp, that Rotary organizes each year for all 150 international exchange students across the country. It was so cool to get to meet so many new people from all around the world.

The camp was run by a group of "Super Awesome" teachers and was held at a local højskole. Each day went something like this... We started with breakfast and a morning assembly, before heading to six hours of Danish lessons. I was disappointed with the Danish course, because I had learned all the curriculum before arriving in Denmark, then was retaught it at language classes in Vejle and finally had to sit through another six hours of lessons I had already learned twice, each day. Oh well, c'est la vie.

During the evenings we had different evening activities we could choose to participate in. I decided to have a go at filipino stick fighting and advanced danish courses. I'm happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself at both activities. 

On the other nights of the week we took part in a bonfire, where we roasted bread over the fire, traded pins for our blazers and had the chance to rock climb. There were so many students trading pins that evening, that by the end of the night I wasn't sure who I had giving already given my pins to and who I hadn't. It was chaotic. Fun, but chaotic. On our last night there was a talent show, where each class had to present a little show. Most classes showcased music or dances from the different cultures present in the class' students. My class sang Hakuna Matata in English and Danish.

Another highlight of the week was an outing to Denmark's second largest city, Aarhus. In the morning we got a tour of one of the coolest art museums I've ever been to, ARoS. My favourite pieces of art were created by the artist Olafur Elliason. This artist likes to make you part of the art work. His master pieces were like nothing I had ever seen before. The finale of our ARoS tour was a walk around Elliason's rainbow creation, which offers visitors a panoramic view of the city in all the colours of the rainbow. It was breathtaking. 

Your Rainbow Panorama - Olafur Elliason

So if you're ever Denmark, ARoS is a must see.

The rest of the day we spent exploring the city.

Sunday it was time to head home. I was sad to say goodbye to all the cool people I met, but happy to be heading home, where a nice long sleep awaited me. Thanks Rotary for an amazing week in Bjerringbro!

Sprogcenter Vejle!

The Danish Hotdog

At my host mom's mother's birthday this past weekend I got to eat some traditional Danish food. One food item however, stood out more than the infamous pickled herring; the Danish hot dog.

You would think that such a simple and seemingly North American dish couldn't be that special, or memorable, but oh it was. The Danes have simply found out the best combination of ingredients to put on a hotdog. Here are the ABC's of how to make the perfect Danish hotdog. 

 Step 1 get a hot dog and a warm toasted hot dog bun.

Step 2 Put ketchup on the bun.

Step 3 Add the hotdog

Step 4 Add remoulade.

Step 5 Sprinkle dried roasted onions on top.

Step 6 Add some marinated cucumbers.

Step 7 Add fresh onion slices and enjoy :)

First Sailing Trip

Friday evening Karin, Ole, Clara, Ziggy and I headed out for a short, overnight sailing trip up Vejle fjord. The weather was perfect and the water was calm. After an jour of sailing we docked in a serene bay. We the hopped off the boat and went for an evening stroll ashore, before eating a delicious dinner, while watching the sun set. We stayed up late (well, at least for me) playing cards and chatting. It was "hyggeligt." The next morning we headed home. It was wonderful that we could take a short overnight vacation to forget the stress of a fast-paced and full week.

It's tradition to eat something sweet while sailing underneath the bridge that crosses the fjord. This time it was chocolate cake. Yum!

Another sail boat anchored in the same harbour where we were dock. You can see the Vejle bridge in the background.

Good times :)

Where I spent the night.

On the way home enjoying the boat ride.

Efterskole

Sunday (two weeks ago, excuse my procrastination) was a big day in my host family's house. It was the day that we dropped of my 15 year old host brother, Viktor, at efterskole for the entire year.

Before I continue to write about this day, let me explain the concept of danish 'efterskole.' Efterskole is a type of boarding school that teens attend for one year after they've completed elementary school and before they start their education at a gymnasium (high school). What's neat about these schools is that most of them are specialized in some area of learning. For example, the program my host brother is attending is a classical music academy. Everyone in attendance at his school plays an instrument in the orchestra. Of course the students must continue with their regular studies throughout the year, but a large part of their time is devoted to their music. Now imagine going to a school where you spend most of your day doing what you love. Pretty cool idea, isn't it?

Now back to the story...

Around one o'clock we, all five Glavinds, myself, a contrabass, as well as all of the supplies and clothes needed for a year away from home packed into a six passenger van and a small trailer and drove two hours north west of Vejle. It was a tight squeeze, but we made it. Most importantly, the contrabass was still in one piece!

From there we proceeded to help Viktor move into his new house. Before we left, the school's directors held a meeting for all of the families and students to welcome and brief them on the upcoming school year. Or at least that's what I though was happening, as it was, quite obviously, being explained in Danish. At one point in the meeting we all had to sing, so we had a whole choir of danish families. After the meeting we said goodbye and with one last hung headed off to the beach.

The beaches on the west coast of Denmark are quite a sight to behold. You climb for a while over grass covered sand dunes (or danish mountains, as my host siblings and I dubbed them) before you reach a steep drop off. From this point the restless atlantic stretches out for miles, bordered by a white ribbon of sandy beach directly below the sand cliff. Needless to say it was stunning.

We spent the next hour walking up and down the beach, enjoying the sunshine. Down the beach a couple hundred of meters were two german bunkers from WWII. They were easy to spot. The dismal forts were made of dark grey cement and stood in stark contrast to the bright and sunny beach. These small concrete construction were built during WWII as look outs for approaching British vessels. A fascinating, yet slightly chilling piece of history to see.

As the sun started to sink in the late afternoon sky, we packed up and headed home. What a great day.

Language Lessons

Samsø

This past Saturday I was lucky enough to spend the day on a small island off the east coast of Denmark called Samsø. I was invited on this day trip by a family from my host Rotary Club. It was an early start in order to catch the ferry over to the island (hmmm, sounds familiar). I tried my best to take a picture of Samsø from the boat, but it's so flat it's almost impossible to see.

A map of the island, as well as one of Denmark showing Samsø's location.

On the ferry, Samsø in the background.

The whole day went by very quickly. On our way to the north we stopped at a trench made by the vikings at the narrowest point of the island.

Here I am standing in front of half of the trench.

Once we made it to the northern town Nordby, we decided to get out of the car and walk around for a couple of minutes. The truth is, it only takes five minutes to walk around the village, because it's so tiny. This small settlement is also cute as a button. All the houses, streets and buildings are well-kept and quaint. I love it.

Above is a house in Nordby that can be classified as your typical Danish home.

After a nice stroll through Nordby, we drove to a seaside park to eat lunch and enjoy the sun. For lunch rugbrød was on the menu (of course!). With full bellies we then laid out our blankets and took a brief nap, before walking down to the beach and back. Here are some more pictures.

Our delicious lunch.

And the view from where we ate it!

During the afternoon we visited the south of the island, including a trip to Samsø's lighthouse. We were able to climb up to the top of the lighthouse, which presented us with a stunning view of the ocean and the island's wheat fields.

At the top of the lighthouse.

Before heading home we enjoyed another wonderful meal at a restaurant overlooking the ocean. There was a set menu and all the food served was home grown (and delicious!).

The pictures above are of the restaurant and the view.

After a long day we headed home. I was very tired, but a good and satisfied kind of tired.

On the ferry home, with the beautiful sunset in the background.

Thank you very much Sigvert family for the awesome day on Samsø!