Hello civilization! I have just returned from here:

Try not to focus on the grey bit (that is a ferry) but the land in the background. This might give you a better idea:

Bornholm is an island in the middle of the Baltic ocean. I didn't know it existed until I got to Denmark, let alone that it actually was part of the country. You would think it was part of Sweden or Russia or Poland or something but no, Denmark has claimed this tiny square shaped piece of land in the middle of nowhere. After a week there, I see why!

We arrived on Saturday afternoon last week in Rønne, the biggest "town" in Bornholm. We were greeted by our various host families for the week: mine were the Neilsen's - Flemming, Jane, Sif and Thor. Flemming is a member of AFS Bornholm and has been for a long time - they have hosted many students and been active with afs for aaaages. Jane and Flemming both work seven days on a night shift, then have seven days totally free of work this gives them time to spend with their kids, or working on their huge vegetable garden (they live on a kind of farm). Sif and Thor were named after Nordic gods - very unusual names even in Denmark. Thor is the god of war (I think) and Sif is his beautiful golden haired wife. A bit strange to name your kids after a married couple, but they both suit their names, it has to be said. They have a few animals too, I mean, if you live on a farm why wouldn't you? When I arrived, I was introduced to Jessie the dog, a cat whose name I can't remember, a bunny whose name I can't remember and a 16 year old goat named Tyksak (which means sack of wool basically). At sixteen, he was a very old goat and was also very sick - when he peed there was blood and he couldn't really walk. Two days after I arrived they had him put down. Rip Tyksak, it was lovely to have met you.

Anyway, on my first day there it was fairly late in the afternoon by the time I arrived, so we sat down and got to know each other over cake and coffee. It is a family ritual for them to sit down every afternoon at around four in the living room with a plunge full of coffee, some cakes or chocolates and just catch up. Seeing as both parents work nights, it is sometimes the only time they spend together during a seven day on-week.

On Sunday, Jane and Sif took me on a driving tour of the island. We went to Hammershus, a castle ruin which has history right up until the 11th century (I think). When we got there it was covered in fog, rather mysterious and beautiful, but after half an hour walking around it had cleared and we had stunning views of the ocean and surrounding countryside. We drove to a few other small towns just to see what Bornholm had to offer, and then went home again. We didn't see so much on Sunday as we were doing all the main sightseeing during the week with afs, so we didn't want to spoil it! 

Photos from Hammershus

I went for several runs during the week too. As well as living in the countryside, the Mielsen's house was also right next to a huge forest. Sif joined me for a little of the way too - she is going to a sports school next year so is starting to get her mileage up. She would turn around a little sooner than me, leaving me with the forest all to myself. Not once did I come across another person in there. It was great, I could half run half dance while singing along to my iPod and nobody saw me. I hope. One day, I got a little bit lost and what I intended to be a half hour jog turned into a ten kilometer adventure. Although not planned, it made me realize that I'm actually ok at running - am thinking of maybe trying to do the Copenhagen half marathon in September! We shall see.

Ran around this, baby!

So, our first day with AFS we visited the round church of Osterlars. It was built by the crusaders way back in time. It is both a church and a building of extreme defense tactics. It was built on top of a hill so you could see everything around it. There were holes in the walls, built intentionally to allow bows and arrows or spears to be thrown out onto enemies below. There were friezes all around the centre of the church itself n the bottom level which were restored form the catholic period - the services used to be all in Latin, which the farmer adding understand, so they made heaps of frescoes to give people entertainment during mass. Denmark is all reformed religiously now so it's more a historical relic rather than carrying any religious significance. 

Photos from Rundekirke

We then drove to a Tom called Gudhjem, which is the tourist hotspot in the summer. Did I mention that Bornholm is a little like the Coromandel? I is dead for most of the year but in the summer it is like bees to a honey pot. Anyway, Gudhjem is rebound for their ice cream. They have the biggest ice cream in the world! Unfortunately, I didn't eat a huge one because AFS was paying and couldn't afford it (neither could my thighs to be honest) but we all tasted a lovely Bornholmsk soft ice. Mmm. Healthy month temporarily on hold. 

Next stop, some cliffs. Pretty, but much like what we have in New Zealand. Afterwards, a waterfall, also like we have in New Zealand, but nevertheless pretty. The best thing about the waterfall was the plants growing all around it. There is this leaf that grows in the spring which smells so nice, and it was everywhere, like a green carpet. If you pick a whole lot of it and mash it up with olive oil, salt and pepper you can make a kind of pesto. There is also this flower that they have everywhere in Denmark called Anemone, a tiny white blossom that comes out in the spring. So once the snow disappears form the forest, Anemona is sort of like an intermediate step. The forest are still covered in white, but this time it's flowers not snow.

On Tuesday, Flemming was the one driving us around, so of course we learnt a lot about the world wars and Bornholm's relevance to the war. Stine's father was actually posted in Bornholm during the war so it was interesting for me to learn about what he was involved in. Bornholm was in a very vulnerable position during the Cold War too - right between the division between west and east. Smack bang in the middle of the Berlin Wall. They set up these huge missile bunkers which were never actually finished. Denmark was occupied by the Russians for a while too in the Second World War. Anyway, if you want to learn about that just google it.

The Bunker

Highlight of Tuesday: I went swimming. It was cold like you cannot imagine. There may not be snow on the beach but there was snow elsewhere.  I couldn't feel my feet by the end, and I was only in there for about 30 seconds. We also ducked into several shops - glass blowing, chocolatiers, bonbon makers, all sorts. Lost of little taste testers along the way! Tuesday was also the day of my unexpectedly long run, so I burnt it all off, no worries there.

Click this if you wanna watch me take the plunge!

Wednesday was our last day of sightseeing. We met in Ronne and were given a guided tour (by an AFS member who used it be par too a theater group) of Ronne theatre, the oldest in Denmark. It was tiny, compared to Copenhagen royal, but in its quaintness I can imagine it would be a really hyggeligt theatre to perform in. We also went to Ronne museum and learnt more about the war and stuff. But hat stage I was pretty exhausted so I didn't really soak up much information, unfortunately I guess the fresh country air was taking its toll on me! Now, the busses in Bornholm leave once every hour. Mine somehow managed to drive straight past me at 3pm so I had an hour to kill in Ronne. I sat in the sunshine with a cold bottle of water and basked in the temporary warmth. The wind in Bornholm is crazy, so luckily the spot I chose we sheltered.

Ronne Theatre

 Thursday and Friday we were supposed to go to school / work with our host siblings, but the teachers in Denmark are locked out at the moment, there is mass dissatisfaction with lay and hours and stuff so they have been locked out of the primary schools for the last three weeks. So I couldn't go to school. And Jane and Flemming were on a seven day off-period so no work either! Sif found plenty of things for us to do though - we went to a modern art museum where she showed me some of Bornholm's artists. Seem of them were very surrealist - I was intrigued because their style reminded me so much of Dali and miro who we studied in art history. She also showed me a bit more of Gudhjem, not just ice cream. We peeked inside a herring smokers ( they are EVERYWHERE) and also walked through a park where she used to go as a kid. She told me this story about a witch who apparently used to live there, who threw stones at the people who walked in the park because they were disturbing her peace by building a bridge right next to her house. Right after she finished telling the story we found a dead chicken on a rock. I was scared.

On Thursday night we had an international buffet. All the students from Copenhagen north and Bornholm had to make a dish from their country and present something on their country too. I made hokey pokey pavlova, my new specialty (of course) and taught everyone how to do the Haka! It was a very fun evening :)

Presenting our dishes!

Hokey pokey pavolva mmm

On Friday, Sif and I went to a nature museum which had all kinds of information on Bornholm's geology. They have rocks from pretty much every geological era in existence, which is really weird since it is such a tiny piece of land. There were all sorts of activities too which I think we're meant for little kids but I enjoyed playing on them anyway. On Friday night we had a traditional Danish dinner: fleskestye, kartoffler og burn sauce, accompanied with red wine. Lovely :) The Bornholm students had their ball on Friday night too, so so,e of the people who lived in Ronne went out on "the town". Unfortunately I lived too far away, but I guess I was better rested for the ferry and train ride home the next morning. Justin Bieber played in Copenhagen on Saturday night, so the ferry was full of teenage girls crying with excitement. An entertaining journey! This weekend is my birthday weekend, and I have a lot planned! I will hopefully write a post on Monday about how we celebrated my official becoming an adult. Eighteen. Scary milestone! And to conclude, a lovely photo I took of my self waiting for the bus. I was bored. It's funny, ok?