You know you are Danish when...

I thought this was extremely funny and true when I read this post by another exchange student.  I am now forwarding it on to you.  This is the real Danish way.

You know you are Danish when

... you drink more beer than any other beverages.

... you plan to have one of your friends hang out after school one week in advance.

... you say "tak" (thanks) after doing anything -- ANYthing

... you speak english when you are drunk

... you style your hair (guys) or spray-tan yourself until you're orange (girls/guys)

... you're going to be a doctor or a scientist as a backup career.

... you often ride a bike as your mode of daily transportation in lieu of a car.

... you're excellent at soccer even if you "don't play it."

... you tuck your pants into your socks.

... you go to church only on a few occasions because those occasions come with massive parties.

... you sleep with a pillow that has fewer feathers than a pigeon.

... you eat a bowl of Corn Flakes or grains for breakfast EVERY morning.

... you have a "summer house" less than an hour's drive away.

... you don't even know that your school has exchange students.

... you're working on "a big report for school" (They're always doing this... Always.)

... you look forward to the weekend because it'll give you more time to do homework.

... you drink coffee as a way to relax.

... you have an intricate understanding of American politics, even though you can't locate California.

... you shower in school.

... you hate "Nick og Jay" but listen to their music anyway.

... you have a weekend hangover that lasts all week.

This is the basic understanding of how Danes act, and what they say.  This does not always mean that they do homework on weekends or all the time, but it is what they would say if you asked to hang out the same day.  Most things are planned way in advance.  

VI SES

Ki-El

Parties Parties Parties

3 Fridays in a row we have had parties, unfortunally I have not brought my camera to any of them.  After searching facebook I found these photos posted by people of the some of the better costumes at the party.  

At this party I think I was a russian bird hunter, but I really don't know what I looked like at the party because there were no recorded pictures of me.  I wore a really big green coat with fur lined edges and a hat made out of feather ruff I guess.  It worked for the most part.

The two guys dressed in red and black where the guys I went to the party with.  I think their costumes where some of the best because they made all the parts themselves... and it took them a long time including cutting off Uffe's hair.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I can't believe this kid cut his hair like this.  He is one of my friends at school, and I think he would do anything to fit in more.

This is a great movie really... although they don't look too much like them.

To lighten things up.

I hope that these pictures lighten up my blog a bit.  Animals are funny

4 months

I have decided that now is the best time to really think what are a few things I would regret no doing throughout my stay.  There are an unlimited amount of things I have not done yet, but I will highlight my to do list as of now.

1)I need to visit Legoland when it reopens.  This is one of the most important things because it is one of the more famous things within Danmark and I would not feel complete without seeing it.

2)Go to a professional soccer game.  It is important that I embrace European sports.  This means I really need to see and feel what it is about to go see soccer.

3)Make ribs and sophies potatoes for the Fugløs.  I have been meaning to do this all year and it has not happened yet.

4)I have planned a trip with Ivan over the last few months.  I would really like to tour through Europe before going home in the summer.  This has a lot of complications and I might have to drop out of AFS in order to do this.  AFS is who told me that I should drop out of AFS to do this.

5)I would very much like to have a birthday party.  I want to rent out a club or bar and just have a ton of friends come and have a good time. (Note that I need to talk with family about my birthday regarding presents)

6)I want to be in a little bit better shape.  I have a friend who likes to jog and I have handball, so I guess I should try harder and see where it gets me.

7)I am in the process and would like to follow through with going to language school during the week days instead of gymnasium.  I have been pushing my AFS contact about it because she wanted to talk to my school teachers about it and I don't think that it matters to them too much, I still don't understand classes anyway.

Anyway, I was going to make 10 goals, but those are enough for now.  I really hope that all those things get done.  I have not really taken advantage of my stay here in many ways.  Of coarse I would like to become a Profit on Bassoon... but other then that, this is my year in Europe and unless I move back here to live I need to see as much as I can.

Hey again

I'm just proud to say I am now tracking everyone with my flag counter to see where people are from who are browsing my blog.  Happy reading everyone

JEG HADER MIN CYCLE

I hate my bike.

Everything about my bike screams at me to take a large hammer and make it flat on the ground.  Every two days or so since I have been here there has been something wrong with it.  Following the discovery of what is wrong with it, it can take up to a week to fix, I guess that is a mix between laziness and frustration.  My bike is my life here, and if I do not have it I do not leave the house, purely because it takes too long to go anywhere without it.  

Current problem with my bike:

The pedal and the crank shaft on the pedal system fell apart... which means the bike will go to the shop until new pedals and gears are put on.  Most people do not have this type of problem, in fact, I think that this bike has to be the worst constructed thing on earth.  The handle bars are to far back so I can not ride it without hands, the gears have been falling apart since day one, the chain is getting rusty(my fault I guess),  and I have had 7 flat tires.  Good God, I can't take it anymore.

A little info on Danish names.

Danish names are funny things that look like American names only they sound like you are choking when you say them.

Søren (I can't describe the Ø sound, its like a really short u deep in your throat)

Mads (Mess)

Anne (Anna)

Frederick Alberto Rasmussen Sousa de Almeida (I just grunt when I say Frederick (Frelick))

Basic rules to saying words.

D's sound like L's when in the end of a word

All words are shortened when said

Half of all Danish words are English or spelled the same

Never try to say a word like it would be said in English

Basic rules in school

Always be prepared to answer a question with opinion.

Racism is allowed, but will start a heated argument between social classes whether Muslims should be allowed to be in Denmark.

Cussing strengthens your argument at times, but is commonly used when making a joke.

Make sure you remember your power cord for you PC, if you forget it you will be out of power by the time you need to use your computer for class.

Teachers will throw you out of the classroom.

If you miss too many days of class then the headmaster will threaten you with taking away the money the government pays you to go to school.

Don't drink alcohol during classes.

Basic rules in the most houses

Take off your shoes in all houses in the front entrance.

Dinner is a family meal and is only to be missed with prior permission.

You eat all the food you take

Showers are to be short.

Basic rules in my house

Same as above plus:

Keep doors closed and lights off in rooms not being used.

TV is turned off when you walk away.

Sound is not liked when too loud.

Each night there is family time where it is recommended to attend (pray, eat a dessert, drink schnapps, drink coffee)

No bed time, but you are responsible for getting up in the morning and attending class, skipping will result in getting yelled at.

Church on Sundays is recommended.

That's all I got for now.  I know you folks don't like to hear about alcohol in my posts, but it is a very important part of Danish traditions.

I don't know what to say people. Hjælp mig skrive!

Winter Holiday

Once again I enter winter holiday.  That is right folks, I get to have another.  This one, unlike Christmas, is only one week long.  We have only had one true snow this year where I built the snowman shown in the image to the left.  He is a very good snowman though and he still lives right outside my window although he only is a base.

Back to winter holiday chat.  I have not decided quite yet what to do with my time.  Most people including my brother Boris have all taken leave to go out on skiing trips all week long in a few different countries, unfortunately I did not hear about these trips and so I am one of the few people remaining at home.  I think I will practice bassoon all week as there is nothing else I can do.

I have however gone ice skating, as I am not sure I have mentioned yet.  I basically taught other AFS students how to skate and I am very bad at it now.  Here when they mention going ice skating it means outside.  I have not seen an ice hockey rink nor have I heard of a club or team.  The ice is never zambonied and it is very difficult to skate on, to the point where I almost fell.  I plan on going again soon though.

Now I am afraid I must return to my first viewing of Sweeney Todd.  I must say that I is looking pretty good so far although the rate at which the movie is loading is quite slow.  I strongly suggest renting it if you like the darker and richer types of pictures like Edward Scissorhands.

Superbowl Night

Superbowl kick off was at 12:30 at night.

After a long weekend of AFS camp in a small town I don't know the name of, I came home with Jennifer Moore to watch the superbowl.  Steelers vs Cardinals, definitely I rooted for the Steelers which was a good choice because with 22 seconds left on the clock in the 4th quarter their fate had been decided as a victory.

The game ended at about 4:15 in the morning with school starting in 3 hours.

I did not attend, and got in a little trouble for that because it was my choice to stay up that late and I was told that I needed to go to school by mor.

Can people tell that I am getting really bad at writing english???  Because I really feel like this is a challenge to write and my spelling is really really bad now.

Thank you Darcy for the package I picked up today!!! I love the new shirt and coat!  I also love candy.

Well, thats just what I have been doing, nothing to big really.  I will go to this week of school and hopefully I won't die, because it is a really difficult week and we meet every day except friday at 7 55 which is ssooooo early it feels.

-Vi Ses min venner!