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!

First Post from Denmark!

Hej alle! I arrived in Denmark only two days ago, but I thought I'd give a little update on how this experience has been so far.
I arrived in Billund early afternoon, only to find out that all my luggage was still in Frankfurt! Oh well, things could have definitely been much worse. On the bright side, I was then greeted by my first host family, the Glavind's. After a long time of communicating over the internet it was so great to finally see them face to face. They were happy to meet me and I was delighted to meet them. Needless to say, I don't think I've ever felt so short in my entire life.

Outside Billund Airport with (from left to right) Clara, Markus, myself, Viktor and Ole.

From the airport we headed home to their beautiful old house in Vejle. Thankfully it was only a half an hour drive from the airport. After a long trip it's nice to not be confined to a vehicle or a plane. Shortly after we arrived I got my first taste of Danish food, delectable Danish food, as I would presently discover. We snacked on delicious "wienerbrød" (sorry, no picture.) which is most comparable to what North Americans would call a Danish, except for the filling isn't a little circle in the middle and the pastry itself is not round. It was decadent and oh.. so... tasty! I limited myself to one piece. As I've been told, tight pants are in style, so I don't have that much room to spare! 

Before I continue I'll warn you that the majority of this post will be about food. Dansk mad er lige så god!

For dinner (I warned you.) We had a typical Danish dish that's known as, dans bøf med bløde løg og kartofler. Or in English, Danish beef with fried onions and potatoes. My stomach was so thankful to have a big, filling and delicious meal after a day and a half of airplane food. After dinner, completely exhausted I stumbled up to bed. Jeg sov som en sten...

The next day I woke up bright and early (yay for jet lag!). The most memorable moment of that entire day was simply a walk I went on with my host sister Clara and the family's dog, Ziggy. Why? For the entire duration of our stroll around the neighbourhood we talked only in Danish. I really surprised myself in a good way. The only conversations I had had in Danish before this were between myself and I or myself and the computer. I guess all that worked finally paid off.

I also had my first meeting with my lovely host counsellor Susanne.

For lunch we had another Danish specialty, rugbrød. Which is kind of an open faced sandwich on Danish rye bread with various toppings. My favourite combination of toppings was sausage or potatoes, fried onions and a special sauce called remoulade.

Later in the afternoon I got a small tour of Vejle with Ole and Clara on the way to pick up my bike in the neighbourhood of bredballe. We stopped by the family's sailboat and a couple of the town's beaches.

That evening we played the Danish version of president, which is slightly different than the version I knew, but still very fun. We also played a game that I believe is called spades in English, but I'm not 100% certain.

Today was another unintentional early rise. At 10 o'clock I went downtown with Susanne to get some legal stuff done (bank card, residence permit, etc.). Other than that it has been a quiet day. I fell asleep during the afternoon, studied some Danish when I woke up and now I'm writing this blog entry.

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into the beginning of my Danish life.