The preceding image serves as a warning that this post is going to be an absolute MONSTER. Since the last time I properly wrote ( didn't just add a link to a video ) I have been on soooo many adventures. So here we go.
I think it must have been the 14th of July when it all began. A one and a half hour drive to a place called Marielyst in Nykobing Falster, the summerhouse area in the southernmost island of Denmark. Caroline's best friend Frida and her family were down there and we had been invited to stay for a night. It isn't actually a summerhouse either - well it is but that's not how they tend to use it. Frida's Dad is an actor and most years he performs in something called a "Review" - a series of skits and scenes that sort of summarize the years' political, sporting , and cultural achievements/failures in a hilarious, piss-taking sarcastic way typical of the Danes. The 'Review' is performed every Tuesday-Saturday from June until August I think, so Frida's Dad Henrik actually LIVES in the summer house for two/three months.
The house was right next to a fabulous beach which we walked along to get ice cream. There were waves and sand and wind and it was a lot like a beach at home, really. Marielyst is also kind of like The Mount of Denmark. In the summer time all the 'buffies' and Jersey shore types arrive in their fancy cars, drink like fish, cause absolute havoc and disappear with the sun in late August some time. Weird thing is, they are nocturnal. During the day it's all German tourists, then at night time the party begins. Or at least so I heard.
We only stayed one night there, but Simon ( host brother ) and Vigo ( Frida's little brother ) insisted on going for a run as Simon was really keen on staying in top form for when soccer started back. An hour and a half later, they still weren't back. That was a stressful morning. Anyway, they came back eventually and we went to see Møns Klint - a chalk cliff about an hours drive away. We had to walk down four hundred steps to get to the bottom. We stood in awe, then walked back UP four hundred steps again.... Unfortunately at this stage my camera was buried deep in my bag so I got NO photos but I took a peice of chalk with me, and the lovely google image can supply an image to go with:
The same day, we continued to drive on to Sønderjylland where some family friends were borrowing a relatives house whilst they were away. To get there I think we drove through almost every major island Denmark has... Sønderjylland is a region in the Southern part of Jutland next to the German border, and it is rather different from the rest of Denmark in a variety of ways. It actually used to belong to the Germans, so parts of the German culture have crept their way in to the area. They also have a very special accent down there - a mixture of German and Danish sort of. The other thing about it is that they speak VERY slowly. This leads a lot of Danes to think they are slow in the head, but they aren't, just more relaxed. I can also see how it would be good to live there as an exchange student - everyone talks so slowly that it is easier to understand the language in a weird kind of way! It is a part of the country rich with history too - some of which we saw when we went on a bike ride around. Canons, an old port etc. There was a museum but it was hideously expensive and apparently underwhelming so we skipped that and got ice cream instead!
We stayed there for two nights, then drove on to Berlin. I saw drove on like a casual thing but it actually took about 6-7 hours. There were road works on the highway so we had to drive via Hamburg. One thing about German motorways - there is no speed limit. It freaked me out. I swear everyone in Germany has either a Porsche or an Audi that they drive at like, 300km an hour. Now I wont say too much about Berlin, as most of it is said in the video. I will, however add some pictures.
It is a strange feeling to see places that you have seen it history films. Places where you have seen Hitler giving a speech on an old black and white tape, where you have seen Nazi soldiers marching in old movies. It's weird and kind of unreal. In the second photo we are standing by a large chunk of the wall that had been preserved. At one stage, I walked past a photo which showed three dead bodies which had been strung up to the wall. The photo was displayed in front of the exact same part of the wall where those bodies had been. It was a really grounding thing to see.
Another interesting thing about Berlin is that despite the wall coming down, there is still a separation between West and East, however it's much more atmospheric. It was much like when I was in Vietnam a few years ago. The state of division no longer exists in an official sense, but a division of a certain kind cannot be broken - it is retained by the people, the ambience, the buildings, even the smell of places sometimes. Especially in a place like Berlin where the separation existed for so long, it is a little as if people forgot how to be unified as a whole city again. It's definitely not a negative thing, just quirky. It was also boiling hot and I do not understand a word of German.
SO. It took us TEN hours to get home this time because the traffic was so thick. Awesome. Also - on the way there we stopped off at the border shop. It is technically in Germany but everyone who shops there is Danish. It is MEGA cheap and you can get bulk loads of fizzy drink, chocolate, lollies and stuff for SUPER cheap prices. We were glad we did it on the way there rather than we way back. That way we had sugary snacks for the car ride (yum) and didn't drag our journey out longer than it already was.
We got home at around eight, had dinner, slept, then got into the car the next morning and went to the summer house in Nykobing Sjælland. Yesssss.
Days and days of this. Perfectly blue sky, sun, beach, and nothing but free time. Only problem being we spotted a fair few nasty jellyfish in the water sometimes. The beach by the summerhouse is a rock beach - different to what I'm used to at home. The benefit of it was that you don't get sand in your bikini, towel, hair, food, sunscreen etc. etc. and in that sense it was LOVELY to have a rock beach.
Next stop: Bornholm. Again. If you read my blog all the time then you will have read a post in April about this place. I went for a mini-stay with AFS when it was FREEZING cold over there. In summer it is a totally different place! We stayed in a summerhouse there with some family friends and their kids. It was such a nice week - a good balance of good and bad weather, relaxing yet no too relaxing so it gets boring, and entertaining all at the same time.
We did most of the same stuff I did during that week, and a few more things in addition. We went to a glass blowing place where I helped Cecilie ( one of the family friends' kids ) to make a name plate for her hamster out of little bits of glass. We stuck them onto a big piece of glass which was then heated over night so they all melted together and it looked fabulous! I also jumped off a cliff and zip-lined over a lake. That was really really fun! There is a video, but it is incompatible with my computer for some reason. Will try get it up somewhere - it does exist!
I kind of thought about it afterwards as a metaphor for my exchange. Like, you walk up a big hill and get to the top of a cliff. You are scared, but you have come all this way and you have to jump now. That's what it felt like leaving home. The jump is scary, because you don't want to fall, but then you feel that the ropes have got you and you start to take in everything around you and you get a whole new view from the one you had at the top of the cliff. Then, BOOM, you land in the water with a shock. You are back where you started but you have seen and done something new and you have a new found courage. Cheesy I know but whatever.
We drove straight over the bridge from Sweden and I was immediately dropped off to AFS summer camp - I didn't get a chance to come home before. It was a fun and enlightening weekend. There were over 150 new students who had just arrived, plus the ones who came in winter. It was so interesting to see everyone going through the exact same thing we all did at the beginning - the weird combination of excitement, nervousness, sadness anticipation. Like every emotion at once. It was also the first time I had seen everyone from the winter intake since the first camp ( pretty much ). Seeing how much everyone has adapted and developed was interesting. Some definitely more than others - everyone has had totally different experiences and it has really impacted how we approached/will approach the year.
School starts again next week. I am looking forward to a bit of routine again but I know I will regret saying it in three weeks and wish I had holidays again! My Danish has improved leaps and bounds over the holidays I think, so I am excited at the prospect of seeing how much more school work I can do. After camp I have a whole new set of goals to fulfil so let's see what the remaining months will bring!
:)
