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? 

Coming soon

I know I haven't posted anything for a wee while, but something is in the making :) I have written up my next post, but am just waiting for the photos to accompany it ( someone is sending them to me some time during the week ). Love to you all!

Happy Easter!

GUYS GUYS GUYS I SAW LAMBIES

I LOVE LAMBIES

I <3 LAMBIES

IT THOUGHT MY ZIPPER WAS A NIPPLE GUYS

And my absolute favourite, sheep number 96 feat. 97. Let's jump on mommy guys! Yaaaay!

So, Easter. Easter means different things to different people. Back at home, it means chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate, so much that at the end of the day you feel sick and fat and wish chocolate didn't exist. In... it is still about Jesus dying, so much so that some maniacs decided to nail three men to wooden crosses and leave them there crucifying for a while... Just casually. Sooooo two millenniums ago. Here, Easter is about family, and food, of course.

Up at the summerhouse, we had a leisurely, long lunch with H-Mum's extended family. It was very spring-like! We all sat outside without our coats for about an hour. First time I have been able to do so. Mile stone! Caroline and I spent most of the day in our little house out the back, sneaking in every now and then for more chocolate :) We later discovered that something was living inside the walls of our little house (where we were supposed to be sleeping) so we moved out. Instantly.

So, hope everyone had a good Easter! Back to school again for me. Also, it is time for me to begin a month of healthy food and exercise. The cake is starting to accumulate on my ass in the form of FAT. My jeans are getting tight. So, no more. New month, new goal: be healthy. Except for my birthday. Also, just in case any of you wonder what I do with my spare time (because I have a LOT of it) here is one thing I have done lately. 

I hope you laughed.

catching up

Hi all :)

So far, I haven't really posted about what I've been doing from day to day. Most of my posts have been about big events or lessons learnt or something of that sort. This week, I'm trying something new: day to day description.

MONDAY:

I had a maths exam. HA. What a joke. A) it was maths. B) it was in Danish. I do understand a lot now but words like polynomials, differentiation and other big mathematical words aren't exactly the easiest to understand. Words like 'fjersyn' - television - are probably the longest in my vocabulary so far. However, my lovely h-mum had made sure that I was in a separate room for people who needed extra time for some reason or another - learning disabilities and such. So I had five hours. Of course, being me, I was really worried about how I was going to survive that long without food. At breakfast, Stine told be she had packed me a good luck madpakke (lunchbox) and it was in the fridge. I was shocked. YOU CAN EAT IN EXAMS HERE. AND DRINK. AND LISTEN TO MUSIC. AND TAKE IN YOUR COMPUTER, ALL YOUR NOTES AND AS MANY OLD TESTS AS YOU WANT. I was so excited about being allowed to have food that I didn't even ask about having my computer or anything, so when I got into the exam and everyone was pulling out giant text books, laptops, and tonnes of papers I got an even bigger shock. And then my heart sunk, because I probably wouldn't be able to do the exam if it was hard enough that everyone needed textbooks etc. to figure stuff out. All I had with me was a calculator, pencil, and dictionary. I did what I could, which was not much but enough I hope, and left a bit early because I had cramps and wasn't feeling well. I went home, got into my pyjamas and snuggled up on the sofa. Mmmm.
Thinking about it, it really makes sense to be able to have textbooks and internet etc. In a realistic situation in 21st century life, when are you not going to have internet access? If it helps you to solve a problem in real life, then exam conditions should be the same. If you have the initiative to seek help for something you don't understand, figure it out yourself and solve a problem then you should be rewarded for it.

TUESDAY:

Ordinary-ish school day. We have a big assignment due in a few weeks called SRO, a ten page essay on cultural identity and other deep philosophical things about the meaning of life and finding yourself etc, so our classes were all about that. At one point during class, a conversation I was having turned to stuff back home with family, boyfriend, friends etc. and tears began to well up. It's strange how sometimes I can talk about homesickness with no trouble at all and laugh about my feelings, and other times I end up so sad. What matters though is that I didn't let it get me down and snapped out of it pretty quickly. It really helped that upon seeing I was upset, the conversation topic was immediately changed to more trivial topics like tv and books to get my mind off it. Thank you, you know who you are :)
I also went to a Pilates class on Tuesday. I was so unbelievably tired for absolutely no reason, and afterwards I could have fallen asleep on my mat.  The woman who taught the class is this absolutely insane fitness woman who works at the centre. She is very muscular and has not an ounce of fat on her body, but she doesn't look like a body builder, more like a dancer mixed with a swimmer. In a weird way though, she doesn't really look healthy to me, like, she has a bit of a bobble head and is always a little bit TOO happy to be working out. Its called working out because its hard. Nobody should be that excited about pain. Anywho, her excited enthusiasm was probably what stopped me from falling asleep on the spot, but I was so tired that it kind of irritated me that she could be so energetic. I guess I was jealous!

WEDNESDAY:

School, again.  Same kind of classes - all about SRO and culture and things. After school, a friend and I went to the mall because it was her grandfather's birthday and she needed a present for him. We went into this lovely Danish shop called Sosterne Greene, which has everything you could ever need in your house, and some. Presents were easily found!
When I got home, Caroline (h-sister) and I went to the supermarket because I wanted to buy some Danish Easter treats and send them back home to my family.

THURSDAY:

No school. Yaaaay! I slept in a little bit, and tried in vain to skype my lovely boyfriend Tom but the internet kept disconnecting so it was a bit of a failure. I assembled my Easter packages, went down to the post office and sent them away. I hope they arrive in good time for Easter! I also went to the gym again. I need to work off all the cake I have been eating haha. Then, I had language class in the evening from 4 - 7. In the beginning, everyone was really shy and we were an awkward, silent class, and now we cant shut up haha. We are learning bits and pieces and enjoying each other's company as we go. It's really interesting for me to compare how much I have developed linguistically from week to week with these classes - our teacher Jane always speaks in Danish and I understand more and contribute more each time I go. Everyone says three months is when your language ability goes into auto-pilot mode and everything just falls into place. Three months is rapidly approaching, and I am interested to see what happens!

FRIDAY:

I went to Simon's (h-bro) class to do a presentation about New Zealand. They were very sweet :) I started off by pulling out a kiwifruit and asking if anyone knew what it was called. Then I did the same with a mini model of a kiwi bird. And then I asked them what they thought my nationality was, if I came from New Zealand. Interesting how we use the same word for all three things! I just talked for a while about the Maori culture, school system, history, stuff like that and answered some questions. Afterwards, they continued working on creating their own summer camps, a very american thing but funny to see kids do. Simon's group were planning a 'fat camp' for fat kids whose parents want them to lose weight. The blurb said "we will do lots of sport and eat lots of salads." I thought it was hilarious.
On Friday night, my host parents met my biological parents over Skype. It was really nice :) I think everyone had been looking forward to it all week! We also watched the grand finale of the Danish X-Factor, which I have been watching since I got here. I didn't like the winner. Country singer. From Jutland. It's like a country singer from like, Masterton or something winning New Zealand Idol. Nobody would expect it.

SATURDAY:

I went into Copenhagen with two friends to the opening of a new store called Terranova. FREE STUFF! The queue outside was ridiculous, at 10AM it was about 200m long. When the doors opened it was absolute chaos, every just surged in and ahhhhh it was impossible to move! The website said that the first 500 in the door who bought something got free goody bags and a free pair of jeans, but this was misinformation. About an hour after the initial surge, people started handing out these cardboard coat hangers which were vouchers for the jeans. So I didn't even need to buy the fluro pink sportsbra I spent an hour queueing to buy. Oh well! Because it was Easter, all the chocolate stores (and yes, there are multiple ones) were handing out free tasters. Eheheeheh! There was one place where they had a man dressed up as a giant bunny to take photos with. It was a bit spooky and Donnie Darko like, but I took a photo with him nonetheless.
Saturday night we went for dinner at Thomas's (h-dad) father and his wife's place, which is about an hour and a quarters drive away. Their dog was HILARIOUS. Huge, big dog. Stupid. Never did what it was told but was so sweet and happy all the time.

SUNDAY:

Today has been relatively slow-paced. Slept in, had breakfast, blobbed, went to the gym, came home, and now it is Simon's birthday party. As I write this, there are six boys standing next to me playing with the Molly (h-dog. Haha) and talking about soccer. As boys do.

The week ahead is holidays! We are going to the summer house from Wednesday-Saturday to spend Easter with Stine's family. I am really looking forward to it - hopefully the remnants of the snow storm which hit on Tuesday/Wednesday will have melted by then and out Easter Egg hunt will not involve digging in the snow. I'm also getting a haircut on Tuesday at Stine's father's salon, and going to a friend's birthday party tomorrow night. A nice week ahead of me :)

That's all from me, over and out.

wien

Ffrom Monday to Friday last week, I was in Vienna, Austria with my class :) It was an excellent trip and an invaluable cultural experience!

DAY 1:

The first day started early: 5:30 am the alarm goes off. We had to be at the airport by 7. Ahhhhh! Natalie had slept over at my place because Stine was driving her, Natasia and I to the airport before she went to work, so I had to climb over her to go and brush my teeth as she slept a little longer through the alarm than I did.

We arrived at the airport, did all the boring checking in type stuff, boarded the flight and took off. The flight was an hour and a half, so not very long at all which was nice. It's strange tot hink that an hour a half away they speak a totally different language and have such a different culture. Pretty much everyone slept or at least shut their eyes a wee bit due to the early start. We landed, and as I walked off the plane, who did i see but Will, a fellow kiwi AFS student in Denmark... in Vienna... what? Turns out his class was going on their study trip at the same time as us, to the same place, on the same fight. Freaky!

My whole class (except one) went on the trip with two teachers: Eric, who teaches German to half of the class, and Tuca who teaches English to the whole class. Thirty one of us all-together I think.

Once through customs, we sat in the airport for what felt like a lifetime waiting for Eric to buy train tickets to get us into the city centre, as the airport was a way out from Vienna itself. it was SO HOT. We were all geared up in winter clothes, as it was predicted to be freezing in Austria. But we all melted sitting there waiting for so long. To make matters worse, we were right outside a Macdonalds so the smell of cheeseburger wafted continuously past us.
We rode the train and metro to our hotel, the Adagio, which was a very pleasant place. The rooms were a little like apartments, we had a kitchenette, two double beds, a bathroom and a toilet. Four of us were sharing the room: Nikoline, Mathilde, Dorte and I.

Spot Lucy Bear!

After unpacking a little, we went for a wander around the city. We began with the cathedral, which was absolutely stunning. The stained glass windows, candles, and sheer height of the building were magnificent. It was almost as impressive as Notre Dame, but not quite. No flying buttresses! The church stood high above all the other beautiful architecture in the city, and we later found out that this had a religious symbolic purpose: the church was closer to heaven than the rest of the buildings and It was intentionally built that way.

We continued to wander along the main street until we realized that everyone had split off in different directions and we had no idea where we were going. A big group of us were with Tuca, who soon dismissed us to go and do whatever. So, we shopped a little, ate an early dinner (4:30, crazy early) and went back home to get fancied up for the opera. We went to see Flagermusen by Johann Strauss, a famous German three act comedic opera. In German. Haha. I didn't really follow much of the story, even though there was a sort of English commentary on a screen above the stage. But the singing was great! The costumes and set reminded me a lot of those three-tiered cakes you see in Marie-Antoinette, very pink and fluffy. The majority of us fell asleep at some point, for me it was in the third act. I lasted for most of it! I felt bad for sleeping because I really wanted to make the most of everything but my eyes were seriously like led. Even Eric and Tuca slept, so don’t judge

J

Afterwards, straight home to bed. I had been warned that Dorte, who I was sleeping with, snored, but I konked out so quickly that I guess I didn't hear a peep.

DAY 2:

7am wake up. Uggghhhh. You’d be amazed how tired walking around a beautiful old city can make you! We had assignments to complete on Tuesday, firstly, we had to do some research about the Viennese architecture  the old vs the new and things like that. We were supposed to interview people on the street ( in German lol what a joke) and film them on our i-Pads but ended up just talking to people in English and not recording it. Actually to be honest I kind of just stood around staring at everything and feeling really awkward because I didn't want to ask strange Austrian people if they knew anything about the old building that H&M was housed in. they’d probably just say it was old and had an H&M in it. Pretty standard. So anyway, we did that as well as we could and hit the shops. I told myself I wouldn't buy anything on the trip…. Nek minnit bought a coat. But coats are a good thing to buy because they are more of an investment than a purchase: you wear them every day (at least in Denmark you do, hoorah for subzero temperatures!) and because it was black, it goes with everything and makes me feel very European J

Feeling European outside the Sisi Museum

Our meeting point every day was outside the church at 1 pm. So we meet, and our next task was announced: go to a Viennese cake house and do some research, ie. go eat cake. YES PLEASE. We went to this place: and I savoured every mouthful of my first Viennese cake, a hazelnut cream cake, as well as every tiny sip of my hot chocolate. The best hot chocolate I have ever tasted. Legitimately. With whipped cream on top mmmm. 

Not exactly helping the whole AFS (another fat student) reputation right now but I went to the gym yesterday and going again today, burning off one cake at a time! On the trip, I was also elected president of the diabetes club after eating an entire pizza to myself. I was hungry ok? Plus, I paid for it. Gotta get my money’s worth! So, after doing ‘research’ about cakes… Haha… We headed back to the shops and browsed a bit more, then went back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit to ease our foot pain. Those cobbled streets are a killer on the ankles. About ten of us went out to a very classic Vienna schnitzel restaurant that night. We had to wait for about 20 minutes to get a table, but it was totally worth it! Of course, I ordered the classic Wien Schnitzel. With salad. To say it was enormous would be an understatement. Check it out. I couldn't eat it all but I managed to do something creative with what I couldn't eat, so I hope the chefs understood my appreciation for the excellent meal!

I was sad I couldn't eat it all...

But happy that it tasted SO GOOD!

DAY 4:

Wednesday, the cold begins. It had started snowing overnight and there was now a light dusting on the footpaths, cars and rooftops. And then there was the wind. Words cannot describe how much of a difference wind can make when it comes to the temperatures. I think it was -4, but the wind chill factor was -20. Humans should not be alive in those kinds of temperatures, I tell ya!

First on the agenda was the Sisi Museum, a museum dedicated to the former empress of Austria Elisabeth, whose nickname was Sisi. We had audio guides, you know those telephone-looking things where you press a button and a person waffles on with information about whatever you are looking at? And for the first 30 minutes or so we looked at millions of plates. Elisabeth had a plate for every occasion. Also a set of cutlery, china, gold and silver platters, champagne glasses, sugar cube picker-uppers made of crystal, and so on.

We got to the end of the plates, and we were back to the beginning. Obviously, we were all very disappointed that all we had learned about Elisabeth was that she had a lot of plates. But then, we saw a staircase going upstairs. More rooms, hurrah! So up we went, along with throngs of Italian tourists, and learned a bit more about her life.

She was not Austrian but from a Slavic country, and was married to Emperor Franz Josef in the mid 1800’s. He was actually supposed to marry her older sister but he met her and liked her better. Ha! Anyway, she was not a beloved empress during her reign, but afterwards she became a saint. She had a pretty sad life, her son killed himself, she didn't like Vienna and spent hardly any time there, and she got stabbed when she was 50 and died. Not the most pleasant experiences. But, she did have very long hair, down to her ankles, which took an entire day to be washed. (Interestingly, she was the first ever empress to have a PROPER bath. Prior to her, everybody used jugs and pots and porcelain bowls). There is a famous painting of her with her long hair draped across her back, with these beautiful star shaped diamonds in her hair. It was gorgeous, and you could buy the hair clips at the gift shop. I got postcards instead J

Then it was lunch, and meeting point at 1:30 pm today. Our afternoon assignment was to interview some tourists about why they were in Vienna, how they were finding the experience, etc. Our little group of girls wanted to go to the 100-room house, which is like a bohemian touristy place filled with shops and art and stuff. It was a few stops along the tram line, of which we had free reign with our week passes for the public transport. It was a very colourful place, and we definitely found some tourists, but it was also quite crowded and main stream in that respect. A lot of the things there were actually made in New Zealand, Tuca told me afterwards and I was quite surprised because I hadn't really inspected the stickers of anything I picked up. Intriguing. 

And then we stopped by Billa. Oh, the blessed Billa! It was a supermarket that was cheap, had everything, and there was always one nearby. My hungry tummy’s saviour <3

That night, we went to see a musical based on the Empress Elisabeth’s life. I thought it would be good. I was wrong. Don’t get me wrong, the actors were great, and they had great voices and sang so well and were very talented. But the story… Jesus Christ it dragged on forever! The second act could have been half of what it was. It was also very melodramatic and reminded me of Star Treck for some strange reason. Also, in the middle of the second act, there was this number where all these Nazi’s came out and started dancing with three men dressed as Hitler and waving flags and Heil Hitler stuff. Didn't that happen in a different century to when the play was set? I’m pretty sure Elisabeth died before 1900… Anyway, even if the Nazi’s were around then, I felt it was a bit unnecessary and also a little bit frightening – it’s not a nice thing to think about let alone see a choreographed singing interpretation of. And then. In the curtain call, the actors all clapped. You never clap for yourself if you are in a professional production. School shows, its fine, but just… no. In general, I think that Elisabeth had quite a sad life and I don’t think it was the greatest thing to make a musical about. It was hard to put any joy into it because there was always this sad undercurrent of how unhappy she was. I think a play may have worked better and been taken more seriously. But anyway, enough of me being a drama snob. Best part of the show was dis guy:

DAY 4:

I didn't think it was possible, but it got even colder. Our morning task was supposed to be market research: exploring local markets and interviewing people. Those who hadn't gotten sick of shopping yet went anyway, to discover it was closed due to the cold. But, I was tired of shopping, so Natasia and I went to the Albertina, Vienna’s art gallery. There was a beautiful exhibition upstairs filled with works from Picasso, Monet, Degas, and even some from Miro and Magritte who I studied in art history, so it was cool to see them in the flesh (figuratively, because paintings aren't made of flesh). None of them were works I had seen before but I recognized the styles of the artists long before I saw the name plate, which made me feel very intelligent! They also had distortion mirrors heheheehe. 

Downstairs there was a HUGE Max Ernst exhibition, with works from every genre of art he had explored. And he explored a lot. It was really fascinating to see the progression he made from start to finish and all the different techniques he picked up over time, and due to the context he was living in. So nice. 

We met outside the church again and made our way to another art gallery a few metro stops away. It was modern to say the least. In one room upstairs there was a piece of digital art that was a film of about fifty people standing still, talking in German and saying things you can only really understand (or come up with) if you are on some whack as drugs. I didn’t understand it.

Downstairs there was a frieze that covered all four walls of the room. Eric explained what everything meant and I understood a little of it (he spoke in Danish so..hmm..). It was to do with Medusa and the afterlife and sexuality, all that kind of thing.

And then, more cake. Apple streusel for me. I feel as if I made the song ‘my favourite things’ from the Soundound of Music into a to-do list.....

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes:
Saw some of those in the opera, night one
Snow flakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes:It snowed and got in my eyes and I cried and my mascara went everywhere
Brown paper packages tied up with strings: 

I sent postcards, does that count?
Cream coloured ponies: (it's coffee cream ok?)

And crisp apple struesels:

Doorbells: Prank calls from Jonas pretending to be room service
Sleighbells: Ok no sleigh bells...

Schnitzel with noodles:

I also ate takeaway noodles for three euros but I didn't take a photo. 

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings:

There were a lot of pigeons.....?

It was our last night, so we went out to a lovely Viennese restaurant together with the whole class. I ordered a Wien sausage yum yum. And also cake afterwards. Yolo. We went to a bar that night for a few hours as well, but I left relatively early and didn't party hard AT ALL because I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. Plus, I felt like I was getting a cold. Uh oh. I'm glad a few of us did leave early, because the bar tenders were very unprofessional and got all the tabs mixed up so there were 46 euros still owed after everyone paid for what they had. Drama. Anyway, I was chilling in the hotel room showing everyone my hidden talent: fitting my fist into my mouth, which was recorded on Dorte’s i-Phone without my knowledge. Woops!

DAY 5:

Friday morning was another art gallery, very beautiful and filled with works from Austrian artists. The gift shop was interesting, a lot of books with photos of naked men among other things. My camera died so no photos unfortunately :(

Then, it was lunch, last minute shopping and back to the hotel to pick up our suitcases for the trip home. The plane was delayed so we sat for a relatively long time waiting, but we made it fun!

Overall, I feel like the study trip was really valuable for me, both in terms of learning academically and developing socially. I felt a lot more comfortable around people by the end of the week, and also understood SO much more Danish  which was a pleasant surprise. After being in a country where I knew absolutely NOTHING about the language apart from “dankeshun” and “gutentag”, I could see how far I have come in two months.

Tomorrow, I have a four hour maths exam. Wish me luck. I'm going to go and watch hours of gossip girl to procrastinate and then go to sleep, wake up and realize that I have an exam and freak out. Ciao for now :)

locked in

so if you know me well, you will know that as a child, my worst fear was getting locked in a bathroom. i'm not claustrophobic as such (i don't mind lifts or planes at all) but something about bathrooms with no windows, little space, and nothing but a toilet to keep you company really creeps me out.

today,  my fear became a reality.

as i entered the bathroom at aprox. 2:13 pm, THIS happened:

my phone was in my bag. i couldn't call anyone.

i was all alone.

i cursed myself for not doing my hair up today, because then i could have used the bobby pins.

curse you good hair day!

i shook the door

nothing

i banged the door

nothing

i whacked the door

still nothing

i would be here all night

nobody would find me

at the end of my tether, i collapsed onto (not into) the toilet seat, and put my head in my hands. looking down, i saw my shoes. my shoe laces. MY SHOE LACES.

my savoir

i threaded my shoelace through the gap in the door where it was being held shut by that piece of metal that disappears into the door when you push the handle down. i had to use the clasp on my watch to get it out the other side and back again.

i felt like macgyver

after what felt like a lifetime, after five attempts, i triumphantly exited the bathroom, taking out the other side of the door handle as well so nobody would venture into that evil land again.

nek minnit, my friend natasia goes to the bathroom. the evil landic bathroom. with no door handles. she gets locked in, obviously, and now everyone knows that she got locked in because she was smart enough to yell for help.

kiwi ingenuity :) who needs vocal chords when you have a shoelace?

a day in the life of me

yesterday, i had a day which i think really sums up how it feels to be an exchange student. it had ups and downs, and was a test on my resilience and desire to make the most of my time here :) so, i shall recount my day to you (the good, the bad and the ugly) because i really feel like it was a defining day.

it began with an early start as usual - 6:15 am i was greeted by the pleasant dinging of my alarm. i got out of bed, got in the shower and decided not to wash my hair until i got home that evening, because i was going to a party and wanted it to be freshly washed (yes i really am giving ALL the details). then i got dressed and put on my make up. it was my h-mum's turn to bring breakfast to work for her colleagues, so she had just baked some grainy bread rolls, and we had them for breakfast too along with large amounts of coffee (i had been up until 12 finishing a maths assignment).

i had packed my bag for school the night before. i knew i had gym, so i had put all my clothes and shoes into a h&m bag along with one of the two maths assignments that i had finished before dinner. oh how much that little bag changed my day. we left slightly early for school, because h-mum wanted to stop off at the bakery to get some more bread for her work breakfast. it was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky, like seriously. blue as blue could be. it was cold and clear, really gorgeous. i marvelled at it all in the car on the way to school. and then i remembered. my h&m bag was sitting on my bed, right where i had left it after i had my shower. aaaand it begins.

we arrived, i went to my first class which was maths and had to sit outside for a few minutes before the teacher arrived. in spite of being up until twelve, there were some parts of the maths that i really and truly just could not understand. firstly, the assignment was written in danish so the word questions were just a little difficult to understand, and keep in mind that i havent done maths for a year and a bit now so it is all a bit of a trip down memory lane for me currently. as we sat outside waiting, a friend in my class helped me to finish off the last few bits and pieces that i didn't quite get. i handed in one of the two assignments that was due, and hoped that my teacher wouldn't notice the missing one, but he did. he asked where it was, and i said i left it at home. he didn't believe me and made a pinnocio joke. it was funny, and i appreciate his sense of humour but i was really embarrassed. he wasn't mad, but the fact that the whole class had gone "oooo" and then laughed made me feel really singled out, which i obviously was because i had done something wrong by not turning it in. being me, i suddenly felt really upset because i was so embarassed and then all my thoughts sort of went in circles of increasing negativity and i ended up sitting there fighting the urge to cry, feeling very alone and very homesick. i was silent for the rest of class.

we had 30 minute break after that, which i also spent mainly in silence except for talking briefly to a friend about going to a dance class that afternoon, and asking if the gym teacher would have spare clothes that i could use for our next class. at this point, i contemplated going home because i couldn't bear the thought of being humiliated again for doing something wrong, but that would have been against the rules of the school so i didn't. i went to gym class, found the teacher and told her i had forgotten my clothes and asked if she had anything i could borrow. she told me she did, but it was all sweaty gross stuff people had left behind so i probably didn't want it. which i didn't. then she told me that i knew the rules, so she had to give me absence for the lesson because if i didn't have gym clothes, i wasn't active and therefore considered absent from class. i could go and do some homework if i wanted to.

i didn't actually know the rules, and i didn't know i would get absence (which i think means i drop a grade in gym), but i did know i should have brought my gear, but i didn't. so that was that. i went upstairs to the changing rooms to get my things, sat in there for a bit considering whether or not i should leave or stay and do homework in the gym where the teacher could see me. i decided to leave because i was feeling pretty crappy and kind of just wanted to roll up into a ball and go to sleep. so i walked to the bus stop, fished out a packet of tissues from my bad and had a little cry while i waited for the bus. i also have a skype app on my phone, so i called tom while i waited. in hindsight it was a bad idea (not that i didnt love talking to you tom, because i truly did xx) because it made me feel even more homesick.

while en route home, i contemplated my next move. i thought about going for a long walk to clear my head, and do my own gym class (sort of) in the process. i also thought about going to bed, going to sleep, staying there until the next morning and voiding the dance class and party that were planned for the afternoon/evening. in the end, i decided to get organized and finish off some homework that i had to get done by monday. i also typed up my maths assignment and sent it to my maths teacher to prove i wasn't lying. i also posted a letter to my lovely sister in france and printed out my ticket for the party last night. in spite of my urge to get into my bed and stay there forever, i didn't. i did productive things, got stuff done, and felt so much better than before. turning point of the day.

i got home, got changed and was picked up by a friend to go to fitness world for a latin mix dance class. when i was there, i couldn't believe that i had even contemplated rolling up in a ball and staying there. i would have missed out on so much fun! afterwards, i went home, showered and washed my hair this time (wooooo). then i got changed, did my make up, my hair, and left to a friends' place for a pre-party/dinner before the party at school. we all ate together, drank a few ciders and caught the bus to school. the party was insane, as normal, and it was rad as :) we arrived at the school at about 9:15. they checked all our tickets and ids and stuff at the door, then we checked our coats and bags in, got our wrist bands etc. they were also doing breath testing to people (if you wanted to, it was like a survey type thing). we danced a lot! there was a dj in the main room who played a dubstep remix of the pirates of the carrbibean theme song.... interesting. there was also a live band in block one playing some good songs - justin timberlake senorita anyone?

it was my second school party this year. it had been a month and a half since the last one and it was really interesting for me to compare how much i have changed, learned and developed during that time. at the first party i was a total newbie, i had been at school for a week and was not at all prepared for the madness that is a boag party. this time, i knew what to expect and thoroughly enjoyed myself. i felt like i made new friends, and got to know some new people who i kind of knew but not that well before.

i think that yesterday was such a combination of everything, and in a weird way, a chance to prove myself. the fact that i was so down in the beginning (thanks h&m bag) could have gone two ways: sad, lethargic, anti-social way or a-chance-to test-my-resilience way. i think i made the right choice :) resilience is like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it gets. i think this was the first step towards turning my flabby tummy of resilience into a more of a bulky, tanned six pack. rock out guys!