Happy National Chocolate Cake Day!
Today is definitely the day to celebrate, with a nice piece of chocolate cake. Unfortunately I had school then kickboxing so I’m unable to make chocolate cake, but I guess a spoonful of Nutella is a nice substitute.
January has overall been a very busy month for me. I am glad, though, because I only have one year here so I plan on making it the best year ever. Right now I’m around my halfway point for exchange. Although I do not know my exact return date, it will be sometime late June. The other exchange students and I strongly agree that this time has flown by rather quickly. I felt like I just got here. I do notice, though, how much I’ve changed and my views of the world have changed in these few months in Denmark. I’ve also got to the point in the Danish language where I can speak it comfortably. It’s the best feeling in the world when you talk to someone, and 20 minutes later you realize you were talking in Danish, not English and didn’t even notice. Learning Danish does have a price though, as my English vocabulary and grammar are quickly deteriorating.
The beginning of January was filled with adventure and accomplishment as I was able to cross off a main place on my exchange bucket list – Conditori La Glace. Conditori is one of the oldest bakeries in Denmark and my friend, Zoe, and I visited it one Saturday in January. We ordered in Danish and had possibly the best pieces of cake I’ve ever tasted. It was like a mix of a chocolate cheese cake / regular chocolate cake. Definitely not helping me eat healthier, but was worth the 57 kroner it cost.
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been doing kickboxing. This may be surprising to most of you reading this, as I am known to be VERY un-athletic, but it’s been a great challenge and great way to burn off some of that exchange weight.
On Friday, we had a “Bring-a-friend” party at our school. I took my friend Aly, a fellow exchange student. Because my class just LOVES to party, we were able to go to a pre-party, the actual party, an after party, and even stopped for food on the way home. It was interesting to see what she thought of my school/ classmates because she goes to a much larger school (hers has 1200 students, mine has 600). The night was filled with talking, socializing, and dancing to popular Danish music.
Another exciting thing worth mentioning is that I like to think I have earned Viking status last Saturday. I and two other friends decided to swim in the ocean…. While it was snowing! As crazy as it sounds, it’s quite popular to take a quick “dunk” in the ocean in winter, just to say you’re a Viking I guess as it was SO COLD. It was challenging, but worth it! Also on Saturday, we had a football (soccer, sorry) tournament with the new exchange students who arrive in January. There are some students from the southern hemisphere who choose to do a January – January exchange instead of a summer-summer exchange so it corresponds to their school schedule. Our district gets three of these “newbies” – one from New Zealand and two from Australia. I did not particularly excel at the football part of this tournament, but did do great socializing with the other exchange students!
Finally, last Tuesday I presented to my Danish Rotary Club. The speech was about 20 minutes and I talked about where I came from in the US, how my exchange has been in Denmark so far, and a few differences I've seen. The best part was I presented ALL in Danish. It was nerve-wracking, but I didn't forget words or stumble so much. They actually had compliments for my Danish which makes it feel worth it putting in so much effort trying to learn the language.
So (a few) pictures are below as usual, and again - HAPPY NATIONAL CHOCOLATE CAKE DAY!!!
Sophie
Today is definitely the day to celebrate, with a nice piece of chocolate cake. Unfortunately I had school then kickboxing so I’m unable to make chocolate cake, but I guess a spoonful of Nutella is a nice substitute.
January has overall been a very busy month for me. I am glad, though, because I only have one year here so I plan on making it the best year ever. Right now I’m around my halfway point for exchange. Although I do not know my exact return date, it will be sometime late June. The other exchange students and I strongly agree that this time has flown by rather quickly. I felt like I just got here. I do notice, though, how much I’ve changed and my views of the world have changed in these few months in Denmark. I’ve also got to the point in the Danish language where I can speak it comfortably. It’s the best feeling in the world when you talk to someone, and 20 minutes later you realize you were talking in Danish, not English and didn’t even notice. Learning Danish does have a price though, as my English vocabulary and grammar are quickly deteriorating.
The beginning of January was filled with adventure and accomplishment as I was able to cross off a main place on my exchange bucket list – Conditori La Glace. Conditori is one of the oldest bakeries in Denmark and my friend, Zoe, and I visited it one Saturday in January. We ordered in Danish and had possibly the best pieces of cake I’ve ever tasted. It was like a mix of a chocolate cheese cake / regular chocolate cake. Definitely not helping me eat healthier, but was worth the 57 kroner it cost.
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been doing kickboxing. This may be surprising to most of you reading this, as I am known to be VERY un-athletic, but it’s been a great challenge and great way to burn off some of that exchange weight.
On Friday, we had a “Bring-a-friend” party at our school. I took my friend Aly, a fellow exchange student. Because my class just LOVES to party, we were able to go to a pre-party, the actual party, an after party, and even stopped for food on the way home. It was interesting to see what she thought of my school/ classmates because she goes to a much larger school (hers has 1200 students, mine has 600). The night was filled with talking, socializing, and dancing to popular Danish music.
Another exciting thing worth mentioning is that I like to think I have earned Viking status last Saturday. I and two other friends decided to swim in the ocean…. While it was snowing! As crazy as it sounds, it’s quite popular to take a quick “dunk” in the ocean in winter, just to say you’re a Viking I guess as it was SO COLD. It was challenging, but worth it! Also on Saturday, we had a football (soccer, sorry) tournament with the new exchange students who arrive in January. There are some students from the southern hemisphere who choose to do a January – January exchange instead of a summer-summer exchange so it corresponds to their school schedule. Our district gets three of these “newbies” – one from New Zealand and two from Australia. I did not particularly excel at the football part of this tournament, but did do great socializing with the other exchange students!
Finally, last Tuesday I presented to my Danish Rotary Club. The speech was about 20 minutes and I talked about where I came from in the US, how my exchange has been in Denmark so far, and a few differences I've seen. The best part was I presented ALL in Danish. It was nerve-wracking, but I didn't forget words or stumble so much. They actually had compliments for my Danish which makes it feel worth it putting in so much effort trying to learn the language.
So (a few) pictures are below as usual, and again - HAPPY NATIONAL CHOCOLATE CAKE DAY!!!
Sophie