Friday, February 20
Before my mom arrived on Wednesday, I went and stayed with Birgitte and August on their farm. Driving there was a riot, because we passed through two "towns." Not even really out of Hillerød, there was a sign that said, "Entering Harløse." Not even ten seconds later, another sign: "Now leaving Harløse." Then, "Entering New Harløse." And a moment later, "Now leaving New Harløse." And apparently, we were still "just outside Hillerød!" August's farmhouse was enormous. It was in the traditional shape of a square, with a gravel courtyard in the middle. Three of the sides of the square were barns and stables for livestock, though they don't have any at the moment. The remaining side was their house. I stayed in one of their daughters' rooms. All three of their daughters are grown-up now, and living elsewhere. But I did have a companion for those three days: their brand-new, eight-month-old, black labrador puppy, Bonnie! Both Birgitte and August were extremely friendly, and I had a really nice time out there. Then, on Monday, I packed again, and Birgitte drove me to the Espersen's house.
Wednesday, Feb. 11th: Niels Erik and I drove to the airport around noon on Tuesday to pick her up, and then we drove back to the Espersen house to drop off her luggage. It was the strangest thing to be hearing her voice from her own mouth instead of from a telephone receiver. She kept turning around in the front seat to look at me in the back seat, as though reassuring herself I was still there. After we dropped her luggage off, we drove to downtown Hillerød, and Niels Erik dropped us off at the walking street. After I showed her the mall and the library, we met back up with Niels Erik, and we went to an Italien restaurant for dinner (Ulla had a meeting and couldn't join us).
Thursday, Feb. 12th: We woke up early, and Niels Erik took us to see the inside of Frederiksborg Slot, the castle on the lake in the middle of Hillerød. I'd been in the chapel before, but not in the rest of the castle. It was beautiful inside, and it took us around three hours to get through the whole building, and we had a light lunch in a cafe just outside the castle.
Afterwards, we drove north to Helsingør to just see, not tour, Kronborg, also known as Hamlet's Castle. It's located on the northern-most coast, and more of a stronghold/defensive castle than a beautiful fairy-tale castle. Then I took my mom to a Rotary meeting, but I'm not sure it was very interesting for her! But
the men in my Club are really open and friendly, and I'm sure she felt welcome. After the meeting, Niels Erik drove us to see my third host family, whom I've met before, but my mother wanted to meet them. Alan and Elin have four kids: Anna, 20, who is studying in Norway, Lasse, 16, who's on exchange in New York, Kasper, 12, and Maiken (a girl), who's 7. We visited for about an hour, then it was getting late, so we drove home.
Friday, Feb. 13th: Ulla had a day off from work today, so she joined us. All four of us drove to Copenhagen to do some sight-seeing. First we stopped to see the Little Mermaid to take some pictures, and I told my mom how very common it is to have her head stolen. Then we walked to Amalienborg, the queen's residence, where we watched the Changing of the Guard at noon, which was identical to the Changing of the Guard I witnessed in July, except this time, they were wearing longer, warmer coats, and this time, when the captain entered the house, he tripped over the door-frame. Then we walked to Rosenborg, a summer castle in the middle of a park. It was also very beautiful inside, and the Crown Jewels are held there, and they were neat to see. After Rosenborg, Niels Erik and Ulla drove home, and Mom and I stayed to walk Strøget, the long pedestrian street. Wonder of wonders, smack in the middle of downtown Copenhagen, who do we meet but my friends Ang, Allistair, and Haley! Allistair is from New Zealand, and Haley hails from Australia, and the both of them are "newbies," having arrived just last month. We ate and chatted together at a cafe in Strøget, then we parted and my mom and I walked down the rest of the street, and all the way to KBH. As we walked into the station, I checked the screen showing soon-departing trains, and there was one for Hillerød that left in six minutes, so I grabbed my mom's hand, said, "Hillerød, six minutes! Let's go!" and proceeded to almost drag poor Mom through the station. I showed her how to punch her ticket, and when we were seated on the train and underway, she stared at me and said, "How in the world did you learn how to do all that?"
Saturday, Feb. 14th: Valentine's Day! Today I had planned for Mom to meet my closest exchange student friends, so we met Jill, Ang (whom my mom met a day ahead of schedule), and Chia Ling, and went shopping at Fisketorvet for several hours. We had brought a change of nicer clothes with us, and we changed before we took the metro to the Royal Theater, to see a ballet called "Et Folkesagn" which means "a legend." It was a beautiful ballet, but the best part was that the queen was in the theater, too! She comes to the theater sometimes, but not always, and people had been saying, "Probably not," or "Don't get your hopes up," but two minutes before the curtain went up, she walked into the small balcony reserved for royalty, and the audience stood while she seated herself. The queen had designed the costumes for this particular ballet. I'd seen Queen Margrethe once before, just for a moment back in December, and I couldn't help but say to my mom, "I can't believe it took me six months to see the queen, but you're here for three days and get to see her."
Sunday, Feb. 15th: We were going to go and tour Kronborg today, but we decided that three castles in three days was plenty. In the afternoon, Niels Erik and Ulla's two daughters and their husbands visited, along with Pernille, 5, Ida, 3, and Kristina, 2! I remembered when I needed an adult to translate whenever one of the girls wanted to speak to me, but now I could understand them really well, which was great.
Monday, Feb. 16th: Early in the morning, my mom and I walked to my school so I could briefly introduce my mom to class, and also pass out Valentines, which my classmates said they had never done before. Then we took the train to Copenhagen one last time, and shopped like there was no tomorrow! In the early afternoon we visited the Rydzys, who were back from their ski trip in France, and then went to dinner at the Olsen's house, my first host family. My mom really liked Katrina and Maria, and we spent several hours there.
Tuesday, Feb. 17th: By today, my mom was mostly packed, because we had been doing a little bit each night. We drove to the airport, and, fortunately, neither of us cried very much. It wasn't that bad, because my trip is already half-over. Yesterday was the seven-month marker.
Since my mom left, I've been settling back into the routine at the Rydzy house, spending time with friends, and looking forward to the next Rotary get-together, which will be held in Nibe (close to Aalborg), March 5-7.
Wednesday, Feb. 11th: Niels Erik and I drove to the airport around noon on Tuesday to pick her up, and then we drove back to the Espersen house to drop off her luggage. It was the strangest thing to be hearing her voice from her own mouth instead of from a telephone receiver. She kept turning around in the front seat to look at me in the back seat, as though reassuring herself I was still there. After we dropped her luggage off, we drove to downtown Hillerød, and Niels Erik dropped us off at the walking street. After I showed her the mall and the library, we met back up with Niels Erik, and we went to an Italien restaurant for dinner (Ulla had a meeting and couldn't join us).
Thursday, Feb. 12th: We woke up early, and Niels Erik took us to see the inside of Frederiksborg Slot, the castle on the lake in the middle of Hillerød. I'd been in the chapel before, but not in the rest of the castle. It was beautiful inside, and it took us around three hours to get through the whole building, and we had a light lunch in a cafe just outside the castle.
Afterwards, we drove north to Helsingør to just see, not tour, Kronborg, also known as Hamlet's Castle. It's located on the northern-most coast, and more of a stronghold/defensive castle than a beautiful fairy-tale castle. Then I took my mom to a Rotary meeting, but I'm not sure it was very interesting for her! But
the men in my Club are really open and friendly, and I'm sure she felt welcome. After the meeting, Niels Erik drove us to see my third host family, whom I've met before, but my mother wanted to meet them. Alan and Elin have four kids: Anna, 20, who is studying in Norway, Lasse, 16, who's on exchange in New York, Kasper, 12, and Maiken (a girl), who's 7. We visited for about an hour, then it was getting late, so we drove home.
Friday, Feb. 13th: Ulla had a day off from work today, so she joined us. All four of us drove to Copenhagen to do some sight-seeing. First we stopped to see the Little Mermaid to take some pictures, and I told my mom how very common it is to have her head stolen. Then we walked to Amalienborg, the queen's residence, where we watched the Changing of the Guard at noon, which was identical to the Changing of the Guard I witnessed in July, except this time, they were wearing longer, warmer coats, and this time, when the captain entered the house, he tripped over the door-frame. Then we walked to Rosenborg, a summer castle in the middle of a park. It was also very beautiful inside, and the Crown Jewels are held there, and they were neat to see. After Rosenborg, Niels Erik and Ulla drove home, and Mom and I stayed to walk Strøget, the long pedestrian street. Wonder of wonders, smack in the middle of downtown Copenhagen, who do we meet but my friends Ang, Allistair, and Haley! Allistair is from New Zealand, and Haley hails from Australia, and the both of them are "newbies," having arrived just last month. We ate and chatted together at a cafe in Strøget, then we parted and my mom and I walked down the rest of the street, and all the way to KBH. As we walked into the station, I checked the screen showing soon-departing trains, and there was one for Hillerød that left in six minutes, so I grabbed my mom's hand, said, "Hillerød, six minutes! Let's go!" and proceeded to almost drag poor Mom through the station. I showed her how to punch her ticket, and when we were seated on the train and underway, she stared at me and said, "How in the world did you learn how to do all that?"
Saturday, Feb. 14th: Valentine's Day! Today I had planned for Mom to meet my closest exchange student friends, so we met Jill, Ang (whom my mom met a day ahead of schedule), and Chia Ling, and went shopping at Fisketorvet for several hours. We had brought a change of nicer clothes with us, and we changed before we took the metro to the Royal Theater, to see a ballet called "Et Folkesagn" which means "a legend." It was a beautiful ballet, but the best part was that the queen was in the theater, too! She comes to the theater sometimes, but not always, and people had been saying, "Probably not," or "Don't get your hopes up," but two minutes before the curtain went up, she walked into the small balcony reserved for royalty, and the audience stood while she seated herself. The queen had designed the costumes for this particular ballet. I'd seen Queen Margrethe once before, just for a moment back in December, and I couldn't help but say to my mom, "I can't believe it took me six months to see the queen, but you're here for three days and get to see her."
Sunday, Feb. 15th: We were going to go and tour Kronborg today, but we decided that three castles in three days was plenty. In the afternoon, Niels Erik and Ulla's two daughters and their husbands visited, along with Pernille, 5, Ida, 3, and Kristina, 2! I remembered when I needed an adult to translate whenever one of the girls wanted to speak to me, but now I could understand them really well, which was great.
Monday, Feb. 16th: Early in the morning, my mom and I walked to my school so I could briefly introduce my mom to class, and also pass out Valentines, which my classmates said they had never done before. Then we took the train to Copenhagen one last time, and shopped like there was no tomorrow! In the early afternoon we visited the Rydzys, who were back from their ski trip in France, and then went to dinner at the Olsen's house, my first host family. My mom really liked Katrina and Maria, and we spent several hours there.
Tuesday, Feb. 17th: By today, my mom was mostly packed, because we had been doing a little bit each night. We drove to the airport, and, fortunately, neither of us cried very much. It wasn't that bad, because my trip is already half-over. Yesterday was the seven-month marker.
Since my mom left, I've been settling back into the routine at the Rydzy house, spending time with friends, and looking forward to the next Rotary get-together, which will be held in Nibe (close to Aalborg), March 5-7.
Tuesday, February 3
Another major difference I've gotten used to is the different sports over here. Instead of baseball or American football being cheered for, it's soccer (I'm only putting 'soccer' to not confuse readers--I no longer call it soccer. In Europe--must call it football.) and handball. Handball is extremely popular in Denmark, and both of my brothers play at least four or five times a week. Think basketball and soccer put together, with a really sticky, heavy ball, a little smaller than a soccer ball. Two teams, each with seven players, with two goals at either end of the court, goals that look the same as soccer goals, with goalies protecting them. When one team is in possession of the ball, the other team will form a large wall around the goal, while the team with the ball passes it to one another, trying to find an opening in the 'wall' to get the ball past the goalie. That's how it's like basketball--you can't kick the ball, you pass and dribble it.
I had such a great time at Lanciers! I'm really glad that I decided to go. We met some of the girls from our class at a nice restaurant first, and they said they really liked my dress, but I felt self-conscious, because I
was the fanciest one there (I suppose that's better than being not fancy enough), but the girls reassured me that most girls at the school would be as fancy as I was.
The school's decorating commitee had done a really great job. In the lower floor, there was an over-the-counter 'garderrobe' where you could place your coat and any bags. It was all very professional for a high-school dance. And the girls were right--everyone was extremely fancy.
We saw a musical in the auditorium first, called Don Juan. It was in Danish, but I understood quite a bit. It was a great play, and a couple people from my class were in it. After that, we needed to vacate the auditorium so they could clear away the chairs to leave a lot of room for the Lanciers. Mette and I met Maria, Mia, and Ghita outside. There were two bars set up, one down the hallway from the auditorium, with lots of little tables set up, and the lights were dimmed and candles were everywhere. It didn't even look fake (like most high-school dances do), it looked great. And the other one was in the cafeteria. We walked up to the balcony above the now-clear auditorium, so we could have a perfect view of the first dance.
It took a moment for everyone to get situated, but once they did, the orchestra struck up, the balcony was full of whistling spectators, and the couples were filing in by fours, led by the headmaster and the deputy head-mistress. They marched in a steady circle to the music around the gym until all the couples had entered. It was packed, there were hundreds of students down there! They circled, split, joined together, split, and circled, until there were four columns of couples. The music paused, and every other row turned around, so now there were couples facing each other. Then they began the Lanciers. Watching them dance was incredible. It looked like something out of a movie. When they waltzed, you were looking at the whole picture, so you couldn't see the mistakes that any of them might have made. It didn't look like there was any order, and yet none of them seem to bump into each other. Long, full, colorful skirts swished and twirled in time to the music, and everyone, including the spectators, bellowed out the moves in time to the music, like we had done in gym class.
After the first dance, there was a break time, and taped music played for those who didn't pay to dance to the real thing. There was a lot of chatting and socializing and a group of about eight from our class had a table near the bar, and that included Mette, Christian, Mia, Peter, Laura, Ida, Sarah, and others. We talked and laughed and had fun.
During this time, sometimes we would get up and walk down the hallway just to see who we could see, and a lot of people I'd never spoken to, but knew by sight, came and said hello to me and did the cheek-on-cheek, kiss-the-air-by-your-ear greeting-thing, which was apparently the thing to do at dances. It was nice, when girls I'd never spoken to come up and say, "Hello! I'm so glad you came, you look so nice! Are you having a good time?" Once, Magnus, the boy who played the devil in the musical, and who's in my Drama class, came up to me, kissed my hand, told me I looked stunning, and went on his way, which both rattled and pleased me.
It was at this time that one of my favorite moments of the night occured. I was walking down the hallway to rejoin my friends, and I passed the headmaster and two high-school boys, all three holding overflowing cups of beer, saying "Skål!" (cheers!) and downing the cups. This country rocks.
Now, I had a ticket to dance the second (and last) dance, but no partner, but Mia offered to be my partner, so we danced! I don't think anyone messed up as much as we did, but it was so much fun. By this time, my feet were in agony (I probably shouldn't have worn the shoes I did), but I was having such a good time, I didn't care. A little while after the dance, I met back up with Mette and Christian, and we sat on a windowsill, enjoying the cool breeze and catching our breath. By now, many people had taken their leave, and we were pretty tired ourselves. I was spending the night at Mette's that night, because I didn't want to ride the train in my prom dress, and Mette and I had brough changes of clothing, so we wouldn't have to walk home in our dresses and heels (that would have been the end of my poor feet!), so we said our good-byes to those who weren't gone yet, retrieved our things from the garderobe, changed, and walked to Mette's house, which wasn't very far away, and the night was cool and clear. I think we fell into bed around one-forty-five in the morning.
My host family is getting really excited about France, and they leave on Friday afternoon. I'm going to stay with a man from Rotary, named August, and his wife Birgitte on a farm about ten miles outside Hillerød, for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On Monday Niels Erik and Ulla get back from the Far East, and I'll move in with them, and my mom arrives Wednesday afternoon--YAY!--and we'll stay with the Espersens for the week. People will ask me if I'm excited to see my mom, and I truly am! I just think that it hasn't sunk it that I'll actually get to see her. I haven't seen friends nor family for six whole months, so I suppose I've half-forgotten what it's like to even see them. That sounds strange, I'm sure, but you'd be surprised at what six months of separation can do to you ...
I had such a great time at Lanciers! I'm really glad that I decided to go. We met some of the girls from our class at a nice restaurant first, and they said they really liked my dress, but I felt self-conscious, because I
was the fanciest one there (I suppose that's better than being not fancy enough), but the girls reassured me that most girls at the school would be as fancy as I was.
The school's decorating commitee had done a really great job. In the lower floor, there was an over-the-counter 'garderrobe' where you could place your coat and any bags. It was all very professional for a high-school dance. And the girls were right--everyone was extremely fancy.
We saw a musical in the auditorium first, called Don Juan. It was in Danish, but I understood quite a bit. It was a great play, and a couple people from my class were in it. After that, we needed to vacate the auditorium so they could clear away the chairs to leave a lot of room for the Lanciers. Mette and I met Maria, Mia, and Ghita outside. There were two bars set up, one down the hallway from the auditorium, with lots of little tables set up, and the lights were dimmed and candles were everywhere. It didn't even look fake (like most high-school dances do), it looked great. And the other one was in the cafeteria. We walked up to the balcony above the now-clear auditorium, so we could have a perfect view of the first dance.
It took a moment for everyone to get situated, but once they did, the orchestra struck up, the balcony was full of whistling spectators, and the couples were filing in by fours, led by the headmaster and the deputy head-mistress. They marched in a steady circle to the music around the gym until all the couples had entered. It was packed, there were hundreds of students down there! They circled, split, joined together, split, and circled, until there were four columns of couples. The music paused, and every other row turned around, so now there were couples facing each other. Then they began the Lanciers. Watching them dance was incredible. It looked like something out of a movie. When they waltzed, you were looking at the whole picture, so you couldn't see the mistakes that any of them might have made. It didn't look like there was any order, and yet none of them seem to bump into each other. Long, full, colorful skirts swished and twirled in time to the music, and everyone, including the spectators, bellowed out the moves in time to the music, like we had done in gym class.
After the first dance, there was a break time, and taped music played for those who didn't pay to dance to the real thing. There was a lot of chatting and socializing and a group of about eight from our class had a table near the bar, and that included Mette, Christian, Mia, Peter, Laura, Ida, Sarah, and others. We talked and laughed and had fun.
During this time, sometimes we would get up and walk down the hallway just to see who we could see, and a lot of people I'd never spoken to, but knew by sight, came and said hello to me and did the cheek-on-cheek, kiss-the-air-by-your-ear greeting-thing, which was apparently the thing to do at dances. It was nice, when girls I'd never spoken to come up and say, "Hello! I'm so glad you came, you look so nice! Are you having a good time?" Once, Magnus, the boy who played the devil in the musical, and who's in my Drama class, came up to me, kissed my hand, told me I looked stunning, and went on his way, which both rattled and pleased me.
It was at this time that one of my favorite moments of the night occured. I was walking down the hallway to rejoin my friends, and I passed the headmaster and two high-school boys, all three holding overflowing cups of beer, saying "Skål!" (cheers!) and downing the cups. This country rocks.
Now, I had a ticket to dance the second (and last) dance, but no partner, but Mia offered to be my partner, so we danced! I don't think anyone messed up as much as we did, but it was so much fun. By this time, my feet were in agony (I probably shouldn't have worn the shoes I did), but I was having such a good time, I didn't care. A little while after the dance, I met back up with Mette and Christian, and we sat on a windowsill, enjoying the cool breeze and catching our breath. By now, many people had taken their leave, and we were pretty tired ourselves. I was spending the night at Mette's that night, because I didn't want to ride the train in my prom dress, and Mette and I had brough changes of clothing, so we wouldn't have to walk home in our dresses and heels (that would have been the end of my poor feet!), so we said our good-byes to those who weren't gone yet, retrieved our things from the garderobe, changed, and walked to Mette's house, which wasn't very far away, and the night was cool and clear. I think we fell into bed around one-forty-five in the morning.
My host family is getting really excited about France, and they leave on Friday afternoon. I'm going to stay with a man from Rotary, named August, and his wife Birgitte on a farm about ten miles outside Hillerød, for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On Monday Niels Erik and Ulla get back from the Far East, and I'll move in with them, and my mom arrives Wednesday afternoon--YAY!--and we'll stay with the Espersens for the week. People will ask me if I'm excited to see my mom, and I truly am! I just think that it hasn't sunk it that I'll actually get to see her. I haven't seen friends nor family for six whole months, so I suppose I've half-forgotten what it's like to even see them. That sounds strange, I'm sure, but you'd be surprised at what six months of separation can do to you ...
