Friday, December 19
It started to snow while I was on my home that night, and I got really excited, because it's not supposed to snow until January, but it's all melted now. It's pretty cloudy and overcast these days, sometimes some rain.
On Saturday my host family and I drove up to Helsingør and took a ferry over to Helsingbør, Sweden. We went shopping, and it was really fun. It looks a lot like Denmark, except instead of Danish everywhere, it's Swedish. Swedish has some different letters than Danish, but for the most part I could understand it almost as well as I can Danish. That evening, we took the bridge back over instead of the ferry, and they dropped me off in Hellerup, at Ang's house. That night Jill, Andrew, Zach, and I all spent the night at Ang's, because the next day was the LOTR "Galla Premiere" in Tivoli. Andrew's from Australia, and lives on Fyn. Zach is an exhange student from the US, but on exchange in Germany, and up here just for the LOTR deal. We woke up early enough the next morning to be at Tivoli about 45 minutes before the doors opened. It was decorated to look like Middle Earth inside. You could see workmen setting up the red carpet for that evening. We went on some rides, ate some food, went on some more rides, then decided it was time to stake out a place by the carpet. It was about 3, and we knew the ceremony would begin at five. It was freezing cold outside, and standing in one place for two hours doesn't warm you up that much. But at five, nicely-dressed people were lead down the carpet, those who were going to see the movie in the concert hall that night. Then Andy Serkis came by, the man who plays Gollum. And he was stopping and talking to people and signing autographs! It was very cool to meet him. He was really, really friendly. Then John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) came by, and signed autographs, too. We saw Bernard Hill (Theoden), Christopher Lee (Saruman), and the producers. Then Peter Jackson and Viggo Mortensen walked by, with the two princes and their significant others (one wife, one fiance), and then Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik. So that was awesome.
The next day I stayed home, half from a cold from standing in the cold for two hours, and half from shock at what I'd seen, or who I'd seen, the day before.
Wednesday night Mette, Mia, and Maria and I had a little Christmas party at Mette's house. We made æbleskiver and ate pebbernødder and had hot chocolate. I absolutely love æbleskiver. They're traditional Danish Christmas sweets, little balls of sweet dough dipped in jam and powdered sugar.
Today is the last day of school, and Christmas break starts tomorrow. We just did a small play for the school, the Little Matchstick Girl, and I played the angel/grandmother. It would have been a success if I hadn't tripped on my way onto the stage.
On Saturday my host family and I drove up to Helsingør and took a ferry over to Helsingbør, Sweden. We went shopping, and it was really fun. It looks a lot like Denmark, except instead of Danish everywhere, it's Swedish. Swedish has some different letters than Danish, but for the most part I could understand it almost as well as I can Danish. That evening, we took the bridge back over instead of the ferry, and they dropped me off in Hellerup, at Ang's house. That night Jill, Andrew, Zach, and I all spent the night at Ang's, because the next day was the LOTR "Galla Premiere" in Tivoli. Andrew's from Australia, and lives on Fyn. Zach is an exhange student from the US, but on exchange in Germany, and up here just for the LOTR deal. We woke up early enough the next morning to be at Tivoli about 45 minutes before the doors opened. It was decorated to look like Middle Earth inside. You could see workmen setting up the red carpet for that evening. We went on some rides, ate some food, went on some more rides, then decided it was time to stake out a place by the carpet. It was about 3, and we knew the ceremony would begin at five. It was freezing cold outside, and standing in one place for two hours doesn't warm you up that much. But at five, nicely-dressed people were lead down the carpet, those who were going to see the movie in the concert hall that night. Then Andy Serkis came by, the man who plays Gollum. And he was stopping and talking to people and signing autographs! It was very cool to meet him. He was really, really friendly. Then John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) came by, and signed autographs, too. We saw Bernard Hill (Theoden), Christopher Lee (Saruman), and the producers. Then Peter Jackson and Viggo Mortensen walked by, with the two princes and their significant others (one wife, one fiance), and then Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik. So that was awesome.
The next day I stayed home, half from a cold from standing in the cold for two hours, and half from shock at what I'd seen, or who I'd seen, the day before.
Wednesday night Mette, Mia, and Maria and I had a little Christmas party at Mette's house. We made æbleskiver and ate pebbernødder and had hot chocolate. I absolutely love æbleskiver. They're traditional Danish Christmas sweets, little balls of sweet dough dipped in jam and powdered sugar.
Today is the last day of school, and Christmas break starts tomorrow. We just did a small play for the school, the Little Matchstick Girl, and I played the angel/grandmother. It would have been a success if I hadn't tripped on my way onto the stage.
Thursday, December 4
There is a word in Danish, "hyggeligt" (pronounced "hoog-leet"), that has no direct translation in English. It means "cosy," "beautiful," "lovely," and/or "charming." That's what Tivoli looked like the day before yesterday. There were lights in all of the trees and along the paths, and lots of tiny little outdoor shops bursting with Christmas decorations and toys, the smells of chocolate and sugar and cinnamon everywhere, oh, it was wonderful. There are lots of venders selling almonds coated in brown sugar, everywhere in Denmark, year-round, and the smell of those sugar-coated almonds is overwhelming. And the ballet! It was amazing. I really enjoyed it, and I'm sure Ulla did, too. It was so nice of her to take me.
School this week has been a little . . . different. Lots of cancelled classes, and yesterday, all of school was cancelled because one of the teachers had passed away; leukemia.
Yesterday there was no class for me in the afternoon, so I went Christmas shopping again instead, and then met a couple other exchange student in Copenhagen later in the afternoon for some dinner and then the movie Love Actually.
Getting used to life at the Rydzy house, and I really like riding the train to school in the mornings. At home, I've ridden the school bus to school for over a decade, so I'm used to catching a ride in the morning, having to be ready at a certain time. When I had a bike, there was no set time for me to leave the house, so it was often that I was a couple minutes late to class. With a train to catch, I'm at school nice and early. It's only a three-minute walk from the house to the Fredensborg station, a ten-minute ride, and then a four-minute walk to school.
School this week has been a little . . . different. Lots of cancelled classes, and yesterday, all of school was cancelled because one of the teachers had passed away; leukemia.
Yesterday there was no class for me in the afternoon, so I went Christmas shopping again instead, and then met a couple other exchange student in Copenhagen later in the afternoon for some dinner and then the movie Love Actually.
Getting used to life at the Rydzy house, and I really like riding the train to school in the mornings. At home, I've ridden the school bus to school for over a decade, so I'm used to catching a ride in the morning, having to be ready at a certain time. When I had a bike, there was no set time for me to leave the house, so it was often that I was a couple minutes late to class. With a train to catch, I'm at school nice and early. It's only a three-minute walk from the house to the Fredensborg station, a ten-minute ride, and then a four-minute walk to school.
Tuesday, December 2
I've moved into my new family, and they're pretty nice. My room is a little small, but it's not bad. Christian is 12, and sometimes nice, and Christopher is 14 and not very nice.
Here in Denmark, the Danes start celebrating the Christmas season December 1st. They have this . . . ritual called "julekalendar," which, directly translated, means "Christmas calendar," but really means Christmas program, or their ritual of events. It's not unusual if you recieve presents during the days in December before Christmas Day. Yesterday morning, December, there were small presents waiting on my, Christopher's, and Christian's breakfast plates. There's a special continuing TV program every night leading up to the 24th, which is the day they open presents and celebrate Christmas, unlike home, where we celebrate it all on the 25th. When I ask what they do on the 25th, everyone always answers the same: "Eat!" Tonight Ulla is taking me to see the Nutcracker in Tivoli, and I'm really looking forward to that, because I'll get to see Tivoli at Christmas-time.
Here in Denmark, the Danes start celebrating the Christmas season December 1st. They have this . . . ritual called "julekalendar," which, directly translated, means "Christmas calendar," but really means Christmas program, or their ritual of events. It's not unusual if you recieve presents during the days in December before Christmas Day. Yesterday morning, December, there were small presents waiting on my, Christopher's, and Christian's breakfast plates. There's a special continuing TV program every night leading up to the 24th, which is the day they open presents and celebrate Christmas, unlike home, where we celebrate it all on the 25th. When I ask what they do on the 25th, everyone always answers the same: "Eat!" Tonight Ulla is taking me to see the Nutcracker in Tivoli, and I'm really looking forward to that, because I'll get to see Tivoli at Christmas-time.
