I had my school trip to Prague for five days at the start of March. It was a fourteen hour bus trip (which the other students seemed to think was an eternity, but as a West Aussie I was ok with it) down through Germany and into the Czech Republic. We stopped near Theresienstadt for breakfast on our way. We arrived early in the morning and got rid off our luggage at the hotel before seeing the city. The town square has a magnificent clock which we saw ring as it struck the hour. We also saw the famous Charles Bridge, which is 516 metres long and 10 metres wide. Construction started on it in the 1350’s. We also visited Karlstejn which is a castle founded by Charles IV in the 14th century.
We went on a tour of a beer factory which brews the famous Czech beer Staropramen. We saw where and how the beer is brewed and saw the differences in production over the last 50 years. We also taste-tested the two types of beer that they make.
The week after the school trip was Easter break, where we get a week off of school. For the Sunday to Wednesday I went to Copenhagen to stay with another exchange student from Melbourne. We went shopping on the famous Strøget (a car free area in the centre of the city which is a few kilometers long and has some of the most famous Danish shops). The day in which we were shopping it was snowing for many hours, and for the first time I saw snow actually build up and cover the streets (usually it melts too quickly). We also visited a planetarium where we learnt about the Danish Astronomer Tycho Brache.
The Thursday of Easter break my Host-family took me to Flensburg, a city in Germany about 7 kilometres from the Danish border. There we went shopping and on the way back into Denmark we stopped at my host-Dad’s Mosters (mother’s sister) house and had the world’s best homemade pizza. I also baffled at the German language when I saw a sign with 12 letters and only two vowels!!!
The Friday of break my friend Lisa came and stayed in Odense. Lisa is living about 40 minutes away in Denmark and is from Auckland in New Zealand. On the Friday we visited the Odense Zoo, Which has animals from all around the world. From Australia it has what the Danes believe are Kangaroos, but are actually Wallabies, as well as Cockatiels. The newest addition to the zoo is a young male lion. Unfortunately they had to put down the last male Lion because he had eaten some of the new cubs.
On the Saturday we visited the Hans Christian Andersen Hus where I learnt the Hans Christian Andersen quote “Enjoy life, there is plenty of time to be dead”. We also went to St. Canute’s Cathedral (Skt. Knuds katedral). St. Canute is recognized as the patron saint of Denmark, and ruled as king from 1080-1086 before he was slain by rebels inside another church nearby in Odense. His remains, as well as his brothers, are inside open coffins, in class boxes in the crypt of the church. Only recently (in March) his remains were sent to Copenhagen for DNA testing to confirm whether he and Benedict were really brothers. The church was also the site of H.C Andersen’s Confirmation.
On Easter Sunday my host-Family, Lisa and I travelled to the Head of Funen (the island I live on) to have lunch with Farmor and Farfar (my host Grandparents).We had a very Danish lunch of open sandwiches on Rye bread.
On April 2nd was the H.C. Andersen’s Birthday celebrations. At the theatre was a ceremony were prizes of recognition were given to three people working with something to do with H.C. Andersen. These are usually given to translators or researchers. Invited are all the people in Odense that are well known for various reasons. But somehow I scored an invitation too J
This year Prince Joaquim awarded one of the Prizes and so I was sitting within 10 metres of him! Very exciting…. There was also a girl from a Danish crime/police show called who sung with her band and an old actor who appears in a Danish kids movie called the Olsen Bandits.
The last news is that I have to perform a section from Romeo and Juliet for my Drama class examinations. In costume, as Romeo... those pictures should come in the next report.
Hope that keeps you up to date!
Jennie
To travel is to live – HC Andersen.
Sunday 31 August 2008
Hi from sunny Denmark!
That’s right, you never thought I would say that Denmark was being sunny... but it is. It’s now a beautiful 20-25 degrees and most school classes are spent outside.
In the start of April we had a Rotary Get2gether in Roskilde. Roskilde is the town famous for the Roskilde festival, the biggest annual music festival in Scandinavia. The get2gether was for all the Inbound students in Denmark, about 150, and was based around the Viking-age. The first night we did folk dancing, which is in fact harder then boot scooting. The second day we visited a Viking museum and made Viking coins, jewelry, ropes and played Viking games (such as tug-of-war and throwing hammers like the god Thor). The museum also had ships that had been dug up hundreds of years ago. On the second night we had a band come and play a concert.
The following weekend I went to Slagelse to visit a New Zealand Exchange student. Slagelse is well known for having the high school where HC Andersen went, but otherwise is a small town. However this was one of the first days of great whether so we took a bike ride out to a forrest nearby that sorrounded a lake and had a picnic lunch.
The next weekend was the last school party for the year, where there was a lot of dancing and drinking. That same weekend there was an unofficial get2gether in Odense (my town). There was about 20 exchange students who came and 5 stayed at my house. At lunch the next day my host Father remarked that at the table we had 5 continents represented, with 2 girls from south Africa, one girl from Canada, a brazillian boy and another Austalian girl. As well as my host parents from Europe.
The next Thursday was a public holiday, and my host sisters confirmation. Confirmations in Denmark are a very big deal and represent the change from childhood to being an adult. There is usually a big party and many presents. Its not unusual to get between 5, 000-30, 000 DKK (1000-6000).
That Saturday my host mother took me to Egeskov slot. An amazing castle which was built in water, as the builder was always very afraid of invasion. It used tobe the only access could be by drawbridge. The gardens sorrounding the castle has a large collection of tulips in all different colours. There is also two large labyrinths. There is also a vintage car museum, as well as a motorcycle museum.
There was also a 3x2m dollhouse which a man had made for his Daughter for the fairies she believed lived in her garden. The house took 15 years to be built and was completely furnished with miniature items, as well as carpeted and painted. The castle also contained draculas crypt, but it was downstairs from a dark dark room so I didn’t explore any further J. There was also an authentic knights armour as well as THE superman suit worn by Christopher Reeves. The café at the castle was named after a girl who was locked up in isolation for five years by her father after falling pregnany at the age of 16.
The next Tuesday I went to see an old Danish Play called Sommer I Tyrol (summer in Tyrol). The story follows the owner/manager of an Austrian hotel and is hilarious (even when you cant understand it fully). The next night I went and saw a football (soccer) game between Odense Boldklub (OB) and Esjberg. For the first half neither team got any goals but 5 minutes into the second half the other team got a goal, so that wasn’t so fun. But then with 10 minutes to go OB got a goal, leaving the game as a draw.
Well that’s about it for this month…..
That’s right, you never thought I would say that Denmark was being sunny... but it is. It’s now a beautiful 20-25 degrees and most school classes are spent outside.
In the start of April we had a Rotary Get2gether in Roskilde. Roskilde is the town famous for the Roskilde festival, the biggest annual music festival in Scandinavia. The get2gether was for all the Inbound students in Denmark, about 150, and was based around the Viking-age. The first night we did folk dancing, which is in fact harder then boot scooting. The second day we visited a Viking museum and made Viking coins, jewelry, ropes and played Viking games (such as tug-of-war and throwing hammers like the god Thor). The museum also had ships that had been dug up hundreds of years ago. On the second night we had a band come and play a concert.
The following weekend I went to Slagelse to visit a New Zealand Exchange student. Slagelse is well known for having the high school where HC Andersen went, but otherwise is a small town. However this was one of the first days of great whether so we took a bike ride out to a forrest nearby that sorrounded a lake and had a picnic lunch.
The next weekend was the last school party for the year, where there was a lot of dancing and drinking. That same weekend there was an unofficial get2gether in Odense (my town). There was about 20 exchange students who came and 5 stayed at my house. At lunch the next day my host Father remarked that at the table we had 5 continents represented, with 2 girls from south Africa, one girl from Canada, a brazillian boy and another Austalian girl. As well as my host parents from Europe.
The next Thursday was a public holiday, and my host sisters confirmation. Confirmations in Denmark are a very big deal and represent the change from childhood to being an adult. There is usually a big party and many presents. Its not unusual to get between 5, 000-30, 000 DKK (1000-6000).
That Saturday my host mother took me to Egeskov slot. An amazing castle which was built in water, as the builder was always very afraid of invasion. It used tobe the only access could be by drawbridge. The gardens sorrounding the castle has a large collection of tulips in all different colours. There is also two large labyrinths. There is also a vintage car museum, as well as a motorcycle museum.
There was also a 3x2m dollhouse which a man had made for his Daughter for the fairies she believed lived in her garden. The house took 15 years to be built and was completely furnished with miniature items, as well as carpeted and painted. The castle also contained draculas crypt, but it was downstairs from a dark dark room so I didn’t explore any further J. There was also an authentic knights armour as well as THE superman suit worn by Christopher Reeves. The café at the castle was named after a girl who was locked up in isolation for five years by her father after falling pregnany at the age of 16.
The next Tuesday I went to see an old Danish Play called Sommer I Tyrol (summer in Tyrol). The story follows the owner/manager of an Austrian hotel and is hilarious (even when you cant understand it fully). The next night I went and saw a football (soccer) game between Odense Boldklub (OB) and Esjberg. For the first half neither team got any goals but 5 minutes into the second half the other team got a goal, so that wasn’t so fun. But then with 10 minutes to go OB got a goal, leaving the game as a draw.
Well that’s about it for this month…..
Godday!
Today I was sick on the couch and watching a television show about Australian girls training to be princesses. I told my host family that we didnt need to train them, we send ours over to Denmark to do that!
But watching the show reminded me that I should write to report everything that has been happening here. wow where do i start. At the beginning always works ;)
The day after my last report was my host sister's birthday (fødselsdag). This was quite exciting as we got to sing the Danish Birthday song (every verse ends with a line about the persons family waiting at home to have chocolate cake) and eat a special danish cake. On that day we also had my first glimpse of snow, but only for a couple of hours. Although we still spent those few hours making snowmen, snow angels and throwing snowballs.
You probably havent heard but they believe a meteor landed on the island of Funen (which is the region i am in) recently.So the following day I went meteor-hunting with my host Farfar and Farmor (my host Dad's Dad and Mum). We failed to find it so my dreams of having "meterorite Jennie" were forever shattered. On the was to the place we saw the property of the man who owned Lego. Apparently he is quite a horse fan as he had many expensive horses. I am not sure what i expected but i was quite disapointed that it was not made out of Lego.
My host mother also took me to see the HC Andersons Hus. This is a museum based around, and including, the house in which Hans Christian Anderson was born in 1805. The museum includes an area in which you can sit and listen to the most famous fairytales (in five different languages!), watch a biography in a small cinema, and follow a timeline with important documents and photographs. It is also possible to walk through the house and stand on the very spot they believe he wasborn. I did learn some things i didn't know also, such as he was 25cm taller then the national average at that time, and travelled very much for that time. Also that he painted (quite well) and did 'papercuts'.
From the 10th-17th I attended a language camp, which was held at a type of boarding house on Jutland. This camp was organised by Rotary and all of the recently inbound Exchange students attended. On this camp we had Danish lessons as well as taking excursions to see the Viborg Cathedral, Aros and Lake Hald. Lake Hald is the second deepest lake in Denmarkand is part of a large ecological study as it has to have oxygen pumped into it. The Viborg cathedral has been built and rebuilt several times due to fires, only the crypt remains from the original building. We also took a trip to Arhus in which we visited Aros, the museum of modern Art. The trademark peice 'boy' is created by an Australian artist Ron Mueck. If you get an oppurtunity google him and see the hyperreal sculptures he creates.
We also spent an evening playing scout games in the forrest that was right near the school. Our team spent alot of time getting lost!We also went bowling one night. On the last night we had a banquet with some Rotarians and our district councellors and then afterwards had a discotek which lasted pretty late. We also tried some traditional danish dishes such as Frikadella and Rødgrød med fløde. The food was not so bad, for a camp school, We managed to find most of the hairs before we actually ate them :) The other strange thing that happened on the camp was a girl was asking me where i came from. When i said Geraldton she was very excited and told me that the people she were staying with now had a daughter away in Australia, a girl named Lil! small world....
This last week I have been staying with my second host family while my host family is away. In denmark they have winterbreak (vinterferie) either last week or this week, so i managed to get the week of school also. The town I am staying in is about 20 minutes drive from Odense and has around 6000 people. The shipyard here makes some of the largest containervessels in the world. My host family took me to Copenhagen where we saw the queens castle (she was not at home), the Little Mermaid statue and went shopping. On thursday I was in the local paper with my host brother in a story about exchange students. It mentioned why i chose denmark, what the differences and things like that. Last night i went to the Opera to see Don Pasquale in Danish. The music and acting was fantastic.
Well, thats about it so far....
Today I was sick on the couch and watching a television show about Australian girls training to be princesses. I told my host family that we didnt need to train them, we send ours over to Denmark to do that!
But watching the show reminded me that I should write to report everything that has been happening here. wow where do i start. At the beginning always works ;)
The day after my last report was my host sister's birthday (fødselsdag). This was quite exciting as we got to sing the Danish Birthday song (every verse ends with a line about the persons family waiting at home to have chocolate cake) and eat a special danish cake. On that day we also had my first glimpse of snow, but only for a couple of hours. Although we still spent those few hours making snowmen, snow angels and throwing snowballs.
You probably havent heard but they believe a meteor landed on the island of Funen (which is the region i am in) recently.So the following day I went meteor-hunting with my host Farfar and Farmor (my host Dad's Dad and Mum). We failed to find it so my dreams of having "meterorite Jennie" were forever shattered. On the was to the place we saw the property of the man who owned Lego. Apparently he is quite a horse fan as he had many expensive horses. I am not sure what i expected but i was quite disapointed that it was not made out of Lego.
My host mother also took me to see the HC Andersons Hus. This is a museum based around, and including, the house in which Hans Christian Anderson was born in 1805. The museum includes an area in which you can sit and listen to the most famous fairytales (in five different languages!), watch a biography in a small cinema, and follow a timeline with important documents and photographs. It is also possible to walk through the house and stand on the very spot they believe he wasborn. I did learn some things i didn't know also, such as he was 25cm taller then the national average at that time, and travelled very much for that time. Also that he painted (quite well) and did 'papercuts'.
From the 10th-17th I attended a language camp, which was held at a type of boarding house on Jutland. This camp was organised by Rotary and all of the recently inbound Exchange students attended. On this camp we had Danish lessons as well as taking excursions to see the Viborg Cathedral, Aros and Lake Hald. Lake Hald is the second deepest lake in Denmarkand is part of a large ecological study as it has to have oxygen pumped into it. The Viborg cathedral has been built and rebuilt several times due to fires, only the crypt remains from the original building. We also took a trip to Arhus in which we visited Aros, the museum of modern Art. The trademark peice 'boy' is created by an Australian artist Ron Mueck. If you get an oppurtunity google him and see the hyperreal sculptures he creates.
We also spent an evening playing scout games in the forrest that was right near the school. Our team spent alot of time getting lost!We also went bowling one night. On the last night we had a banquet with some Rotarians and our district councellors and then afterwards had a discotek which lasted pretty late. We also tried some traditional danish dishes such as Frikadella and Rødgrød med fløde. The food was not so bad, for a camp school, We managed to find most of the hairs before we actually ate them :) The other strange thing that happened on the camp was a girl was asking me where i came from. When i said Geraldton she was very excited and told me that the people she were staying with now had a daughter away in Australia, a girl named Lil! small world....
This last week I have been staying with my second host family while my host family is away. In denmark they have winterbreak (vinterferie) either last week or this week, so i managed to get the week of school also. The town I am staying in is about 20 minutes drive from Odense and has around 6000 people. The shipyard here makes some of the largest containervessels in the world. My host family took me to Copenhagen where we saw the queens castle (she was not at home), the Little Mermaid statue and went shopping. On thursday I was in the local paper with my host brother in a story about exchange students. It mentioned why i chose denmark, what the differences and things like that. Last night i went to the Opera to see Don Pasquale in Danish. The music and acting was fantastic.
Well, thats about it so far....
फर्स्ट पोस्ट इन डेनमार्क
Dav! Well the weather here is very very different, today it was about 1-2C and raining hard। Hmm॥ where to start? The hotel in Bangkok was Beautiful and had a huge pool and a big marble atrium। The three of us each got seperate deluxe rooms and were treated to a free Buffet Dinner with tray after tray of delicious food। And even though we had alot of confusion finding the bus to the hotel, and being told we have to pay a bond on the room as well as not knowing how much to tip the busboy, it all turned out fine. We were greeted at the airport in Copenhagen (København) by a Rotarian who led us to the domestic terminal of the airport. My host family was gathered in Billund with both Australian and Danish Flags. We then set off into the cold to find the car. The first few days were busy setting up a Danish cpr Number and Phone number. As well as exploring Odense which is very old and Pretty, stone pavements, triangle roofs and everything :) On the Wednesday I started School at Odense Katedralskole. The coordinater and the Exchange students I met were all super-nice and gave me a tour around the school, which is not much different to Nagle in terms of stairs and placement of things. My class is great and there is plans for a trip to Prague in March. I got to choose to do German (or spanish) and Drama. It turned out to be a good choice to do German because my HostDad used to live in Germany for 6months. On the wednesday I also went to the theatre to see Treasure Island in Danish. It was the premiere and was so good that even I understood it.The saturday morning I attended a ceremony for Funen Person of the Year with my host parents which was held at the Office for the Newspaper. At the event i met the big people around town such as the mayor and the former mayor. The winner was a man who runs free circus training lessons during the school holidays for kids. Following his speech some of the children did a performance of circus tricks, like juggling. Later that evening when the story was on the news my host family and we saw me in the background!! The other very exciting thing we have done is watched the Handball. I am not sure how much of the news gets back to Australia but Denmark is now the European champions. In the semi-final against Germany the scores where tied 25-25 with three seconds left on the clock and Denmark had a penalty throw.... can u imagine the excitement??? well needless to say Denmark got the throw and one the game. They then competed against Croatia the next night and won by about 4 goals. That night I had dinner with my councillor and my next host Parents. My future-hostmum is a Danish to German translator at a legal firm. At this point i was very very glad i chose to study German and not Spanish. My future host parents are very nice as well. Hmmm... That seems to be about it because i have to go get ready for a party at my school for Fastelavn. Which is the old Holiday on which they used to hit at a wine barrel with a cat in it. Hopefully that tradition has changed, but even so I have always been more of a dog person ....
Hej everyone!
Hej :)
ok so Dad says I should be keeping a diary because otherwise I am going to look back and forget so much. The sad thing is i already have forgotten some things from the start of the year.
And I love you all lots but I cant seem to find time to write you all emails. so I will have to settle with writing a mass blog and hopeing that if you care enough you will read it. If you do read it i hope you find time to leave a comment. I just love hearing from you!
I am also going to warn you that my english has gotten terrible! really bad. Just so you know..
Also I am going to hopefully leave alot of information on the actual pictures i put on. because then you can follow it when you see the pictures.
Hope you get time to look through!
Jeg elsker dig = i love you
jeg savner dig = i miss you
ok so Dad says I should be keeping a diary because otherwise I am going to look back and forget so much. The sad thing is i already have forgotten some things from the start of the year.
And I love you all lots but I cant seem to find time to write you all emails. so I will have to settle with writing a mass blog and hopeing that if you care enough you will read it. If you do read it i hope you find time to leave a comment. I just love hearing from you!
I am also going to warn you that my english has gotten terrible! really bad. Just so you know..
Also I am going to hopefully leave alot of information on the actual pictures i put on. because then you can follow it when you see the pictures.
Hope you get time to look through!
Jeg elsker dig = i love you
jeg savner dig = i miss you
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