Denmark!

Returning to Alaska again

2010-07-17T16:40:00.003+02:00

My last three days in Denmark were wonderful: Monday I bummed around Odense, as planned, and shopped and enjoyed the fabulous weather! Tuesday was my 18th birthday, horray! I went to Rosengaardcentret, the shopping mall, with Bjarke where he discretly bought my birthday present.. haha.. and then we bought a cake with a danish flag on it and shared cake & coffee with Intarsia next doorm, which was really fun! Bjarke Solvej and I went to a Chinese buffet in Ringe for dinner.. yummmmmm! Then at 8 Bjarke took me and my friends from around Ringe to Stinna's new apartment in Odense where we had a party and later hit the town (on a tuesday night)! We had SO much fun and I think it was one of my best birthdays! Thank you Stinna, Astrid, Julia, Katja, and Rikke for a wonderful birthday!

We all slept at Stinnas, because we didn't go to bed until 6 in the morning.. haha.. And Wednesday Bjarke picked us up and delivered all my friends back home. He is definitely the best host dad IN THE WORLD. By far. Then Solvej and I went shopping at Rosengaardcentret and had some girl time! By 5 pm I was half asleep haha.. Lea came over to say goodbye and we had a really nice dinner at home. By 8 pm I was out cold.. and at 2 am on Thursday Bjarke woke me up to drive to Copenhagen for my flight home.

Trust me, I did not want to come home. I shed a few tears when I said bye to Bjarke at the airport.. and then faced my stressful flight home. I had to fly via Frankfurt again, which I hate. Frankfurt simply sucks. It's a HUGE airport with no signs or labels or anything. The people who work there are kind of scary and intimidating because they look pissed if you just ask them for directions. And I don't speak a lick of German except "Ich Bin Snappi" and "Danke". Long story short, after waiting 3 hours on the tarmack in Frankfurt our plane DID take off and instead of landing in Whitehorse and being trapped there for the night (Because the flight attendants can only work 15 hours) we flew straight to Fairbanks. Halleluiah!

It's good to be home with my family and Heather and Mamie again. I've been home a week and we've been doing so much around town! I definitely need to find some less expensive entertainment though.. I'm spending heaps (from a cheap person's perspective), but I'm working a lot too so there's something positive happening around here. Teaching swim lessons and working a few hours at Risse Greenhouse again. Thursday Heather took me and Mamie out to dinner at Wolf Run for my birthday which was yummy! Amazing chocolate cake.. god I am going to get huge again!

Sunday (tomorrow) I am getting my wisdom teeth out.. Yikes. Just want it to get over with.. and I'm trying not to psych myself out by just not thinking about it. I've never been put under, because I've never had surgery before.

Then Wednesday Merryn comes for 6 weeks! I'm really so excited, my whole family is! I've been cleaning out drawers and my closet for her.. haha.. Geez I have so much clothes I never wear. Heather made me get rid of a whole bunch of stuff yesterday.. good thing I have friends who are pushy!

This will be my last post on this blog, until my next visit to Denmark. I have a seperate blog to document my next adventures titled "I'll keep you posted." The link is in my blogger profile for those of you interested.

Thank you for being patient and reading about my experiences in Denmark! And I wish the best of luck to the new batch of exchange students to Denmark '10-'11. Live it up! Francine

Remembering Ringe

2010-07-04T20:57:00.005+02:00

I've felt pretty lazy lately, all the relaxing and visiting! But it's really the perfect holiday.. getting to spend time with Bjarke and Solvej, our family friends, and my friends from my class.. all that's missing is my AFS Fyn family! Sometimes being here reminds me so much of things we did together and it's overwhelming HOW much I miss them: Pablo, Vero, Daiki, Rebeca, Francy, Evelyn, Sara, Kyla, Gammam, Peep.. God I miss them!

I've met so many cool people through my blog.. most of them students who are interested in going on an exchange, or are just getting ready to. I've been talking to an American boy for over a year now who, when we began emaling was about to go to Denmark with AFS, and who just had the farwell camp here in DK and is home now. I'm still in shock that it was 2 years ago I was getting ready to go on my exchange! So now I'm talking to this guy about reverse culture shock and post-exchange difficulties and I feel like it was just yesterday I was going through the same.

Friday I went over to Maria's, my first host mom, and met her new boyfriend Bo who was very nice. It was great to see the boys and hang out for a little while, then we came back to the house because Bjarke and Maria's uncle who lives in Spain was visiting.. so it was cool to meet him and enjoy the gorgeous weather! It was extremely hot for me...
But nothing compared to Saturday, which was 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit).. believe me, I was MELTING! Being from Alaska, I can't remember when I've ever experienced such heat before! In the morning, Solvej and Karen, who works in Intarsia, the wood-working shop connected to our house, and I went up to Fyns Hoved. Literally translated: Funen's head. It's beautiful up there, the nature and ocean everywhere you can see.. it's perfect for practicing photography which both Solvej and Karen are really into! I just soaked up that salty ocean-smell that I love and crave!
When we got home around 13.00 we helped Bjarke, who had been working hard for hours cooking, for a really nice family friend dinner we had for my birthday (which is Tuesday). It was great to be outside, especially when it started to cool off! And my friend Lea came too.. det var en rigtig hyggeligt aften!
Today I woke up really late after crashing on the couch last night.. I was so tired! And today we've just been relaxing and watching movies and relaxing.. it's great! I rode Nikolai's bike down to the house a couple kilometers down the street, to my first house. Riding home, feeling the breeze and the sun starting to go down a little (at 21.00).. I love that it's Sunday night and no one is on the street: no cars, an occasional person walking.. but mostly quiet. I love remembering how all the stores are closed Sundays, except the bakery, and people relax at home. I love "window shopping" in the two walking-streets in Ringe and having the street to myself. I've missed Ringe.
Tomorrow I'm planning on bumming around in Odense.. we'll see! Francine

Watermelon Seeds & the Month of July

2010-07-01T21:20:00.013+02:00

Monday this week I went to a class dinner/picnic/party with 3a. I spent the afternoon with my friend Stinna and her mom making food for the class dinner.. and it was so much fun! Stinna is a great friend and her mom is so welcoming and sweet! We started the night off with a "before party" at Casper's house which was fantastic! I just layed in the grass with a cold beer and the sun up above me. And God knows, when you're from Alaska, you need all the sun you can get! The dinner and party was great - good food, good friends & good music - now that's a party! We all had to bring food too, and I made gravel bars with the ingredients I brought from home - the class loved them AND the skittles I brought for the class! I've been eating SO many danish strawberries here too.. I can't express in words how fantastic these strawberries are! Undescribably delicious! Tuesday Bjarke generously drove me down to Langeland to visit Bente, who is in charge of AFS Fyn, and we visited our family friend Jens, who lives on Taasinge, on the way down. It was great to see him! He's rennovated his house and had adorable kittens right now.. I'm a sucker for cats.. not a great sign in my early age! It was SO nice to see Bente again.. she knows so much, has seen so many places in the world and has great stories to tell.. She has a beautiful house and garden that looks over the ocean and being back at her house with her, her turtle Prince Albert, and her quaint house makes me remember and dream of Vero and my bike trip to visit her last year. Good times that I would die to do-over again... Bente and I had a yummy lunch, with strawberries and asparagus from her garden! in the fantastic sun & heat. Then she drove me back to Svendborg where I met up with Vero's 2nd host family, Sophia and her daughter Victoria.

It was GREAT to see them! I always loved hanging out there with Vero because I feel so comfortable with them and we always had heaps to talk about. It was great to catch up! And hear that Victoria is going to the USA in August for a year-long exchange. Hurray!! Sophia is going to Oxford for a month to take a couple courses, how cool is that? We had yummy watermelon, which is the 3rd time I've ever had watermelon in Denmark, and which made me realize that people here eat the black seeds! Maybe it's just me, but in the US we spit out the black seeds. Here people, Solvej excluded, eat them! But what a perfect day to see so many people I've missed!

Wednesday Bjarke, Solvej and I drove to København/Copenhagen where we looked at a new greenhouse kind of sitting room that Bjarke and Solvej are going to buy for the garden. Then we walked the streets of Copenhagen and did a little shopping! Although I didn't buy anything.. I'm so cheap! We had an interesting lunch right in the famous Nyhavn.. and I just love hearing the different accents and languages in Copenhagen! Great sunny and very hot day walking around with my two favorite host parents! Then I went to my friend Katja's, from my class, graduation party which was really nice.. to see her parents again and her friends from efterskole (boarding school).

Today I woke up around 12:30 pm.. WHOO! And then I went to Svendborg with Lea and Rie to see Eclipse.. hurray! I was so excited to see it, we all were.. It was pretty good, although Kirsten Stewart is the world's dummest and most unbelievable actress, although Robert Pattinson comes pretty close. I did enjoy the movie though! My ticket was my birthday present from Lea, which is a fantastic presen...Thank you Lea! Then I came home and had Bjarke's leftover dinner which was amazing.. B & S are such good cooks! I can only make cakes and cookies... gah... Great night.. good wine.. good family time. A great 1st of July!
5 more days and I'm finally 18! I'll keep you posted. Francine

My Second Graduation

2010-06-27T21:32:00.014+02:00

Since I last wrote I have been EXTREMELY busy! Last thursday, the 24th I finally saw my classmates! It was a Kodak moment if ever there was one.. Bjarke drove me over to where my classmates were decorating our lastbil - the truck we drive around for 2 days after Graduation - and before we even pulled into the lot my friends were running over smiling and shouting my name! And I couldn't get out of the car fast enough - damn seatbelt! To be honest, I was worried and nervous to see them, anxious and excited too! But nervous that things might be different or that I would stick out from the rest of the class... To my huge relief and comfort I slipped right back into the class, with my friends and it was like I never left! It feels unbelievable to be with them again, to see my pals and celebrate finishing school! They are SO relieved to be finished with their extremly stressful oral and written exams.. as I was when I finished in Alaska!

We had a party/dinner at the school Thursday night and I got to catch up with everyone! Then Friday morning at 10 am was dimission where my friends Graduated and Bjarke and I were their personal photographers! We cheered and hooted and then afterwards we went outside and in front of the school took a class picture, where despite a few teachers' protests about my being in the photo, my classmates grabbed me and insisted I was going to be IN the photo because I was IN the class. Horrah!

Then it was straight into the lastbil truck which was pimped out.. And thus we began our 2-day party by hooting and hollering all the way through Ringe! There are 27 students in the class, plus me, and we visited EVERY kid's house where we were greeted by parents and family. Solvej was up all night the night before making pizza rolls for us and setting up! And then when we did get to my house on Saturday I was greeted by my host brother Nikolai who I hadn't seen in a WHOLE year and it was fantastic! I was just hugging him to death... And because we have to go to 27 houses, we only stayed at each house for 25 minutes and then drove to the next.. What a blast! Friday night we slept at Sara's house in the "barn" and woke up Saturday and began to drive at 10 am... God we had SO much fun! I went home from Julia's house, where the party stopped Saturday, and was in bed by 8.30 pm I was so exhausted..

How incredible that I was lucky enough to celebrate my Danish class' graduation with them, and with my own student hat too... Thank you so much 3a fra MFG.. SHA LA LA LA LA! I also learned a great cheer that is now ingrained in my memory.. even when I sleep! "Der er kun en rigtig hue og den er rød! Der er kun en rigtig hue og den er rød! Man kan også få en blå en men det alt for let at få en.. der er kun en rigtig hue og den er RØD!"

Today I woke up pretty early.. we hung out at home and then Solvej's Dad Ove visited us all the way from Pandrup in the north of Jylland. It was so great to see him! Then Solvej, Bjarke and I went to visit Anizette and Florian and it was fantastic to see them too! Pablo lived with them for some time while we were exchangies, so I took some pictures of his old room that's being renovated, the pets and such.. He will be so jealous of me! Right Pablo?? :)

Having a blast and definitely keeping busy!
Francine

BACK in Denmark

2010-06-24T11:56:00.019+02:00

I’m sitting here in my old room in Ringe, Denmark and finally sitting down to blog! After nearly a whole year, I’m back visiting my Danish family, friends and class! Honestly, the reality that I am back didn’t strike me until I was in the car driving from the Copenhagen airport with Bjarke back home to Ringe.. and all of a sudden I thought “HOLY MOLY I AM HOME!”

When I left last June I knew I would come back this year. My class invited me to graduate with them from Midtfyns Gymnasium, and actually I will tomorrow! Knowing I would come back made leaving slightly more bearable. I am awestruck to be “home”... to be riding my bike around Ringe and taking the train, speaking Danish which shockingly enough is coming back to me, I do feel like a “retired” exchangie. I feel like I’ve slipped right back into my life in Denmark and I couldn’t have wished for anything more.

Bjarke and Solvej are fantastic, as usual! And taking such good care of me… Bjarke is currently sitting downstairs singing some Danish song with gusto! I’ve seen a few of my classmates (Stinna, Katja, Anders and Nick) but I know they are studying extremely hard this past week for the final exams and I don’t want to be a distraction.. We will celebrate when they’re all done tomorrow and I really can’t wait! The class bought me a Danish student hue/hat and it has all the flags on it, because I am an international student! TUSINDE TAK THANK YOU THANK YOU class for my hat! It is so beautiful.. And I am extremely grateful. More than anything I’m super excited to see everyone hopefully tonight at the school party, or tomorrow at commencement (dimission på dansk). After dimission, the class drives in a big truck honking and screaming and celebrating! They drive to every student’s house from the class where they have about 25 parties! That takes about 2 days! So I really can’t wait to celebrate being done with school, with all my Danish pals J

I have been in Denmark for 6 whole days now and I have been relaxing! I spent a day with Lea, whose family I spent Christmas with while I was on exchange. It was so relaxing to hang out with her and her sister Rie and their family.. They have a gorgeous garden and house and I feel so comfortable with them. Bjarke and I drove to Århus yesterday morning to pick up a cage and a Degu for the two little Degus we bought last Saturday. Degus are a kind of chinchilla, or just in the same family, and we saw them at the pet store and just had to buy them! I was allowed to name them and Solvej and I finally came up with two names for the little critters today : Chester and Iggy ! Here’s a picture of the little dudes..

Yesterday was Sankt Hans in Denmark! For those of you who followed my blog when I was on exchange, you remember that Sankt Hans marks the midsummer and it is celebrated by a huge bonfire and burning a scarecrow witch ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer ). I went and spent the day with Gorm and Marianne and their two daughters Helene and Andrea, who remember me from when I babysat as an exchangie. I had a blast with them! Marianne and I picked the girls up from school and they took me around and introduced me to all their friends who gapped at me with open mouths and wide eyes! Probably thinking I’m some kind of foreign alien who speaks another language! Well I guess I am! Haha.. The kids were so cute!

We jumped on the trampoline, me and the girls, and had a picnic and ate dinner.. Marianne and I talked for hours! She went abroad to Indonesia and Australia when she was younger and has really great stories! We just click and never seem to run out of things to talk about.. And Gorm, Marianne and the girls and I went down the harbor a 5-minute walk from their house to watch the witch burn and sing songs and meet all the neighbors. Det var bare hyggeligt! Thank you SO much Gorm & Marianne for having me, and welcoming me to spend Sankt Hans with you! Then I took the train home from Odense, where Gorm works at the hospital, this morning. I missed taking the train and watching the country fly past my window. I did not miss the $8.50 20-minute ride. It’s so expensive without a wild card, which I had as an exchangie and cuts the price in half.

I also met Andrea from Costa Rica who I met through my blog while I was on exchange. She was planning on coming to Denmark and as we talked more we found out she was going to be on Fyn! And she actually ended up having my first host mom, Maria as a contact person. Denmark is SO small! It was fantastic meeting Andrea and spending the day with her, her host family and mom who is visiting from Costa Rica. Thanks for letting me tag along for the day Andrea!

I apologize for not blogging while I was going through culture shock/readjustment at home in Alaska. I guess I’m all talk and no walk! But I will summarize this past year and give some advice to the AFS students from this year in Denmark heading home next week:

Like I’ve said, I’m so extremely lucky to have a supportive family and encouraging and patient friends! Listening to constant stories about “Denmark this.. Denmark that” gets old, but they kept their mouths shut and nodded and smiled and sometimes that’s what I needed most. After the initial excitement from getting home wore off, I swear I cried for two weeks and occasionally still do because I miss my life here in Denmark. I miss my exchange student friends who made my AFS experience as phenomenal as it was! And returning is amazing, but strange without them here. I can’t just pick up the phone and meet them in Odense in 10 minutes. That’s hard to bear.. especially when we are already losing touch after only a year. I HAVE to make time to write to them, even if it’s just a “hey how are you?” every week. Losing touch is so painful.. and I refuse to just let everyone be! I will become the annoying girl from Alaska who needs a weekly update from across the globe!

My advice for those of you going home: Don’t be afraid talk about Denmark! But keep in mind people want the short & sweet of your experience : you had an unforgettable experience, you miss Denmark, but you’re happy to be home. When most peoplet ask how your year was, that’s what they're anxious to hear. Your family, and those friends who really care DO want to hear about it.. and talking through it helps you readjust to life at home.

Gosh I’m sorry for the GINORMOUS blog.. I have a lot to make up!

I’ll keep you posted. Francine

(Just read First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria by Eve Brown-Waite .. by far the best book I’ve read all year!)

Dancing Aurora

2009-10-25T08:52:00.002+01:00

I was just driving home from work and I saw the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) for the first time in way over a year! I wanted to tell you about it... It was strikingly beautiful - florescent green and dancing in the sky. At one point while I was driving there were 3 different ribbons of it.. flitting around. I'd almost forgotten just HOW beautiful they are... I wish you could see them! and I wish I could take a picture to show you! But unfortunatly only profesional cameras can capture the Northern Lights... but here is a picture similar to what it looked like. (but off of google!) Still no snow up here in North Pole! We've gotten a little bit here and there but it keeps melting. And the temperatures are really warm for the end of October... scary gobal warming!

Take care guys.... Love francine

.. dun dun.. 2 months later!!

2009-10-19T06:18:00.003+02:00

I haven't blogged in 2 months! OH MY! My lovely host parents reminded me last week that it is crucial I continue to blog.. thank you Bjarke and Solvej! I have been incredibly busy lately as I know everyone is.. but I must remember to make time to blog and as Bjarke put it, to communicate with my friends.
I haven't been writing to my friends, or calling nearly as much as I should and would like to. But sometimes it's too difficult to think about, and I remember back to when Kyla left Denmark and I always wondered why she didn't write to me and we didn't call each other. I never considered that it was difficult to do, or to even contemplate. I am reminded daily of my Danish family - my AFS family in everything I do or say. I think "What would Vero do? What would Bjarke say to me right now? What would Pablo say to me? What would Evelyn advise me to do?" and at times it guides me and keeps me sane! But sometimes it's too painful to call them or talk to them, because I start to cry. Even blogging about this makes me cry. They never tell you that leaving your exchange is harder than going. When you go on exchange, they never tell you how hard it is to come home, to face your own culture, your own society and find your place in it again.
I am doing my best. I have good friends, Heather and Mamie and Courtney and so many others in my school and my community who support me and take good care of me and for that I am extremely grateful. But there is no one who can empathize with me, who I can exchange opinions and feelings with, who really knows what I'm going through. And that makes it rough.
It's very difficult with my family right now. My Mom is in Iraq with the Air National Guard. She left two months ago and she returns in January. I miss her so much, but my busy schedule keeps me out of the house frequently and prevents me from dwelling on it. My dad takes good care of me and my brother, Elliot, but he can't relate to what I'm going through and the impact my exchange had on me and how it is affecting me.

For the past two months I've worked three days a week at a tea house a 30 minute drive away. I like work there! But I've had to cut back because I'm not getting very much sleep! I sing in my a cappella group called "Hello, Bella!" once a week. And right now I'm taking a course, with Heather, 2 nights a week to become a lifeguard at the pool, which is really fun! I love the people in the class and we do lots of fun activities! And I'm applying for colleges and scholarships which is hectic! I also just took the SATs (a big test whose scores colleges evaluate) last weekend.. thank god that's done!

So I'm making do! Exhausted but pressing on! This past weekend (Thursday through Saturday) I went with my Student Council at my school, North Pole High School, down to Anchorage for this BIG statewide student council meeting called AASG (Alaska Association of Student Governments). It was AMAZING! Kids from ALL OVER Alaska, native villages and "big" cities, congregated in Anchorage where we debated issues from banning styrofoam and trans fat in local restaurants to supporting our governor, Sean Parnell's bill creating scholarships for Alaskan students. It was inspiring and enlightening to hear opinions of such a diverse group, kids from as far north as Barrow to Ketchican, Bethel, Unalaska, Klawock, Valdez, Kodiak, Cordova and Delta. I had such a great time! My school brought 8 delegates, and the AASG president Kari Nore a classmate of mine. We traveled with our region, Region 6 that we sat with during General Assemblies and cheered together. I wish that every kid could have such an experience and I encourage every Alaskan high school student to participate in the Spring Conference at Ben Eielson High School.

But that's my report! I promise I will write again soon - yet every time I say that and how often does it happen, right? :)
Keep in touch min Fyn Familie - my Funen Family. My AFS family... I love you guys. And I will always remember what you gave me. Love from Francine

back in the swing of things

2009-08-21T07:09:00.003+02:00

Slowly my life becomes more and more back to "normal" and I feel myself getting back into the swing of things. Seeing familiar faces and running into friends and old teachers. Starting school. Sometimes I'm amazed that I've been on the other side of the world, lived a different life and made lifelong friends and family, and now I'm back here in North Pole, Alaska in my old school, and in my own bed. How fast time flies. And you don't realize how much something means to you - how significant a period, a phase of your life can be, and how much you will miss it, until it's gone. I think if I could give advice to the newbies over in Denmark, to all exchange students and to everyone really, is to embrace every moment of every day. Document your time to look back and remember, take it all in. And have no regrets. I miss Denmark, but mostly what Denmark and my year there represented. And what I learned.

Every exchange student spends time thinking about home and what they're missing there, the gossip, their friends. But coming home, I realized that it was almost wasted time worrying and thinking about it. Because nothing's changed. No one's changed. The school is the same, the people are the same and you are the only one that has matured. OK that sounds cocky, but every returnee will understand what I mean. You are not the same person you were when you left, and you left so anxiously to seek out the world and grow and learn. And you did. But when you come home, you expect people to be different and life to have moved on without you. But when I stop and look around, I feel like I'm 15 again (hah...) No one has changed. They still laugh about the boy who looked at the girl in Science class, or whose underwear fell out of their gym bag. My advice being: exchange students- don't waste your precious time thinking about home, or looking at pictures on facebook and wishing you weren't missing prom or something. Go out! Make friends! This is your year.... and I'm so jealous of you! hah..
But an exchange is only special because there's a limitation on time. If it was never ending you wouldn't treasure it and it wouldn't affect you so.
Thank you readers. I am constantly impressed by HOW many people read by blog, and maybe not every day! But the fact you take that extra second to see what I'm up to means the world to me. If there are any questions of course by now you know just ask away! My goal is to share what I know! Take care guys..
love francine

Busy Busy Bee

2009-08-07T06:07:00.007+02:00

This has GOT to be the longest I've gone without writing! My family just got back on Wednesday morning from our 3 week trip to Australia and boy am I happy to be home! It was a great trip! We saw SO much! First we flew to Sydney from L.A. (14 hour flight guys... NOT fun.) and spent 4 fun-filled days with our Aussie pals, Janice, John, Merryn (my pen pal!) and Corrine (my brother's) in the Blue Mountains. And I have to say it was the COLDEST I've been in a really long time! And I live in Alaska. Australia is in it's winter right now and yes.. it's actually cold! Then we flew to the Red Center, Ayer's Rock or Uluru which was very cool! We spent 3 or 4 days there and then flew to Cairns, where we drove up to Port Douglas (I love it there!). We stayed there for 4 or 5 days.. went to Hartley's Crocodile Adventures, I HIGHLY recommend it to any Aussie travelers ... hint hint Bjarke and Solvej. It was amazing! And we went snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. I will admit, I was extremely nervous about it. My last snorkeling experience in Hawaii was not fantastic... but the Great Barrier Reef is absolutely beautiful and amazing... I'm so so happy I got to see what I did! Even though I did get sick on the boat.. ick....
Then we flew down to Melbourne for 6 or 7 days.. where I saw Kyla! YAY! and spent a night at her house catching up.... and then went with my family as we drove the Great Ocean Road. Unbelievably beautiful you can't even imagine! We saw dozens of wild kangaroos and koalas. Omg I am in love with them. They are so so cute! (and I got to hold one up in Cairns!! But it was NOT wild!)
All in all a VERY good trip I will remember forever! But you know how it goes.. too much family time is not good. We were all very ready to be home and doing our own thing again! And me even more so, because my green suitcase that was missing for 3 weeks was FOUND and our friend Rachel picked it up at the airport and delivered it to my house.

I can't even tell you the (let's call it) despair when I saw that suitcase. It was ripped in 5 places. Completely ruined.. which is fine it was broken before anyway. But EVERYTHING inside had been thrown out, and thrown back in. All my papers were bent.. I was so upset. But then I remember what it was like.. the stress it caused me not knowing where my suitcase, the vessel of my precious memories, was... and I know how lucky I am they even found it at all! That I even have these things... Actually everything was accounted for.. the only thing missing being 2 scarves. 1 I had bought for Mamie and the other was mine. But that's pretty good considering!

It's so good to be home. To be in my own bed, after traveling and sleeping in 9 different beds in 3 weeks. It's such a relief to be getting settled, making plans for my school year. I had a meeting with my counselor at the high school today to discuss my credits and graduation requirements and my classes for this year. And surprisingly, I am doing VERY well for having missed a whole year of school!

I replied a lot of emails today that I have been meaning to do, but wanted enough time to make it meaningful and not just some quick message. And I wrote an email to Casper, which I'm going to quote because it just describes my feelings about returning from Denmark and coming home, so perfectly. Here it is:

"It's incredibly weird to be home! It feels like I'm in a dream I once had.. like this is temporary and soon I'll be going home to Denmark. So weird.. but at the same time, comforting that i'm back in my own bed! my own house... and I can understand EVERYTHING. haha... a nice change!
I miss Danish though! I miss you guys.. and Bjarke and Solvej, and my exchangies. And leaving Denmark was by far the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I don't know how I made it... it was a nightmare and I cried for hours.. even on the plane... when everyone was staring at the insane girl crying in the back. hah... but it must come out. Sooner or later...
Seeing my family again was amazing! Except my brother.. he didn't talk to me for 5 days. Not one word. It was great with my mom and dad for about a week.. and then.. well it still is just awkward. We argue all the time.. and my brother is just.. well... we don't get along at all. I'm hoping it will change.. but he's a teenage boy: in his eyes the smartest person on the planet, and the most beautiful boy alive. Ah yes.. I remember those days! not....
{blah blah blah....}
I know.. people are dumb. But I knew it would happen.. I've been forwarned by kids that already went home (like Kyla..) that people aren't REALLY interested.. because in their eyes Denmark is a fantasyland that can't possible be real. Because the world revolves around North Pole, Alaska... and the United States of America, don't you know? However, I am lucky to have a really great mom who WANTS to hear.. and REALLY fantastic friends: Heather and Courtney and Mamie who are there for me.. listen to my insane rambling and deal with it. I feel like they really understand what i'm going through and are supportive and encouragine. I feel good about myself when I'm with them.. And I am unbelievably grateful to have such friends. I'm one lucky girl.

Well... the drinking culture was a huge shock, I shall have you know. My mom and dad are like "nope. no alcohol, no beer. deal with it." which ok.. I understand. It IS illegal.. but it's such a change. And I just.. my parents basically see me as the child I was when I left.. and I hate going from living with Bjarke and Solvej who treated me as an adult, to being treated like a 12 year old. At least I get to drive though... I LOVE that freedom! "

Yes.. that sums up my thoughts as of now! I saw on facebook and heard a bit that the newbies were over in Denmark now and settling in with their families, i think? It's hard to see and hear about, and i'm anxious to hear Evelyn and Sara and Bjarke and Solvej tell me how things are with the new exchangies.. but it's also hard to hear. It makes me so jealous and wish I could do it again. Mixed feelings.. still need sorting.

As always, you guys on the other line are fantastic! If there's questions, I hope you know I'd love to hear from you! Kisses and hugs back to DK
Francine

Leaving for Australia!

2009-07-15T03:00:00.004+02:00

WOW! I can't believe I've been back for almost 2 weeks now! The time has just flown! At first... I was really excited to be back.. to be in my own bed again and see my friends and family. I've been with friends ALMOST every day and just having a blast catching up! And it is exciting.. there's so much to talk about.. foods you've missed.. people you forgot about.. catching up on gossip! I run into people in town that I forgot about.. or haven't thought of in a year. And you always get the same basic questions: "AH! How was... Belgium?" DENMARK was great, thanks! and they say "You must be so happy to be home!" You can't say "Ummmmm No not really.." So I've learned to just tell them what they want to hear: "Yeah I'm so happy to be back!" Which works, because no matter how interested they seem in your past year.. they actually don't want to talk about it. Or maybe they are genuinely interested, but they don't want a saga of your experiences.
It's definitely difficult. The initial excitment of coming home is gone, leaving my longing to return to Denmark, my Fyn family, my real life. I hate to say that.. I feel like I'm betraying my family here .... my friends here. But it feels like I'm stuck in the middle (as Mika says.. hah!)... my family here.. my life here.. and my REAL life in Denmark. And no one understands.. they expect you to be thrilled to be home.. and moving on. Moving away from your life in Denmark, because in their eyes, Denmark is NOT your life. Alaska is your life. And it's not for me..

Yesterday I was making food in the kitchen and the radio started playing "You've Got a Friend in Me" by James Taylor. And seriously... I just started bawling! Because it reminds me so much of my Fyn family.. my exchangies.. Bjarke and Solvej. And I miss them so much. I love them more than anything.. and being away is... well at first it didn't seem so horrible because it wasn't quite REAL. But now it is because they're so far away... and I just want to go home.

Anyway.. tomorrow my family leaves for Australia! Which is great! I AM excited.. but I'm also just getting settled here.. and I hate thinking about taking another plane.. packing again. GAH.. but I know once we're there it will be great and I'll really enjoy it! So I'm just sucking it up.. knowing it will get better.

Thanks guys for reading.... as always.. I love knowing someone on the other end cares about what's going on in my chaotic brain. So TUSINDE TAK! Keep it up team!

First week at home..

2009-07-08T04:10:00.002+02:00

Hello my avid readers! I keep hearing that people are waiting to hear what I've been doing!!
I've been CRAZY busy! Hanging with friends.. running errands.. and yesterday was my 17th Birthday! HURRA! Heather and Courtney (two of my good friends) went to Alaskaland Park for a picnic and that was wonderful! Then we went back to Heather's house.. as I was ordered to stay away from my house until my mom gave me permission to come back. Whooooooooo....
We had a grill outside with chicken and salads, and a lot of our family friends and my friends, and some of my brother Elliot's friends, came over and that was really great! And.... honestly I didn't expect anything for my birthday. I figured after returning from a VERY expensive year in Denmark, I would not be getting a gift.. and actually there is nothing I wanted. My mom left me flowers by my bed when I woke and that was amazing.. I love flowers! But later at night my mom and dad gave me a giftbox.. in it was a brand new water bottle.. which I love! And... Car Keys. To my Black SUV in the yard with a HUGE bow on top! I was SO SO SO surprised!!! It's wonderful.. I went for a long ride with my pals, Heather, Courtney and Mamie.. and I just love it! It's got character this car.. it growls when you shift.. and I love it! (Pictures coming soon!)
Pablo called me yesterday! Which was wonderfully amazing! I miss my exchangies so much.. and it was so nice hearing his voice! And of course Bjarke and Solvej called me too! And I loved talking to them.. hearing their voices! I miss them so much.. Today I got a postcard from my very best pals Bolette and Katja (in my class) who are in Brighton, England for a language school this summer! THANK YOU GIRLS!

Sunday night at went to my A Cappella rehersal for my group.. called "Hello, Bella!" We've been singing for 3 years now.. entering our 4th year! Currently there are 6 girls including me. Emily, Breanne, Kira, Hannah, Kathleen and me. I missed Bella so so much! And of course the girls are excited to have me back and help me catch up with the music.. but I still feel like I missed a year. They have a lot of stories from this past year about performances.. and songs they learned.. or songs they threw out. And it really makes me feel left out, but I know I will be joking alongside them again in no time! I missed singing with my girls and performing.. and I'm totally stoked to get back into it! I will keep you posted with our performances and "News"!

And now I am focusing on our 3-week Australia trip starting next Tuesday! My mom and I still have a lot of planning to do! But we are all very excited. The only thing is.. I'm not excited about flying again because I'm just getting settled back here.. but I know once we get on the way I'll be really excited to see our friends Down Under, including Kyla!!

My green suitcase is still missing.. Northwest Airlines has no idea where it is. Which is fucking scary.. because all my papers, all my letters and postcards from my friends, my class picture, my presents for my family and friends, a TON of clothes and all my shower things are in there. And... well the clothes, the scarves, the presents.. I can live without. But my papers? My letters? They are irreplaceable. And some airline moron lost them.. I was so upset last week. I am trying to accept that I will not get these things back. But I still have hope.. and I am filing paper work and making a list of everything that was in my bag and it's worth to file a claim. But.... it's definitely made this "settle in at home" thing much harder when I can't stop thinking about my suitcase!

Anyway.. I will keep the blog updated! Thanks for reading..
love francine

HOME IN ALASKA!

2009-07-03T15:39:00.002+02:00

I'm FINALLY home in Alaska!! After a very very long trip... with plane delays and lost baggage (which still hasn't been found.....) I was SO relieved to finally be home Wednesday night.. at exactly 8 pm. My friends surprised me by coming and making welcome home signs!! And my mom was ON TIME! haha.. I feel a huge relief.. a weight off my chest being home. But even after only being gone for 3 days, I realized how much I miss Denmark, and my friends and family there, so much. And I'm dealing with that now... I'm still on a high though being with my friends! And rediscovering things that I've missed all year long! Like having ice cubes in the freezer... and Americanos at Starbucks... and Walmart!! (Heather and Courtney took me yesterday!) and Taco Bell! It's a whole new wonderful world...
Me and my friends have been discussing school which we start in just 6 weeks! And I was given my summer homework.. GAH! And I'm getting back on the road again.. which I WILL admit is nerveracking!! I need practice! hah... And now my family is going to Australia in a couple weeks for holiday!! We are so excited!

I will try to write more once I get my old laptop up and running again.. I hope all my exchangies made it home safe.. I've heard from some of them and I already miss them a crazy amount. Thank you guys, thank you Bjarke and Solvej, and my class for such a wonderful year. For taking such damn good care of me.. I miss you guys already and I expect you to WRITE to me! Hundreds of Hugs and Kisses back to Denmark...
love Francine

3 hours..

2009-06-27T09:05:00.005+02:00

3 hours until we drive (Evelyn, Bjarke and Solvej and me) to Nyborg stationen to catch the train to Copenhagen, where I have a 2 day goodbye camp. I'm packed. Completely. It's so weird seeing my room so clean! hahah..

Yesterday was such a great day! and so extremely hard. I said goodbye to SO MANY people.. but surprisingly I don't feel like crying. I didn't cry. I feel like.. obviously it hurts very much to say goodbye.. but I think it's easier because I KNOW that the people I love, the people who mean so much to me, I will never say goodbye to. I will see them again. That gives me a little peace of mind. The only time I cried yesterday was when Evelyn gave me a letter she wrote. It is probably one the best letters I've ever gotten.. and it means so much to me.. I'm carrying it onto the plane with me! hah..

Today I have to say goodbye to Bjarke, Solvej and Evelyn. And I can say I'm DEFINITELY not looking forward to it. I almost keep pretending it isn't real. I'm going on holiday.. and then I'm coming home. All the exchangies have been talking for MONTHS, saying the same things.. over and OVER about how we feel, and if we're ready to go home, and how is everything going with our families. But I don't think it's quite hit me that after today, I won't see Bjarke and Solvej.. and Evelyn and Vero for a long time. I'm trying to let it sink in.. but I'm almost positive that that moment the train rolls away I'll actually get it.

It's so scary thinking.. maybe this is the last time I use the bathroom here.. or go to the laundry room.. or drink a cup of water. Yeah.. lame I know. But in the end, it's the little things that mean a lot.. the little things you do everyday that make it your home. I really feel like this house, Ringe, Bjarke and Solvej, Evelyn, Vero, the exchangies, my class, our family friends, this is my home. And no matter how many miles I am about to fly over the ocean, across the country, my Fyn Family will always be here for me. There is no goodbye. Only, Vi Ses!

2 days to København

2009-06-25T14:43:00.002+02:00

My bags are packed, AMAZINGLY! and.. shockingly... under the weight limit! I don't know how it happened! I was over the limit just last week! I will not question it.. just take it as a good sign!

I can't believe I am going to Copenhagen in 2 days. Saturday at exactly kl. 13.01 I will leave from Nyborg with Peep and Pablo to go to the goodbye camp in Copenhagen. I feel like I have butterflies in my stomach. I can't sleep... which is SO annoying because i'm so damn tired! Evelyn helped me pack quite a bit yesterday too and during my "break time" I fell asleep on top of her. For 2 hours. HAH! My poor little friend... that's the sign of a good pal. When she helps you pack all your shit and then lets you fall asleep on top of her. hahaha...

I've been throwing things out.. making a "Francine Box" for Bjarke and Solvej to save. And I have a trash bag FULL of clothes from me and Vero to the newbies. My Calendar has 4 days left until I leave for the US. It's really nerve racking crossing off the days now. I still don't feel like it's real. As I sit on my bed surrounded by blank walls and full bags. It hasn't QUITE sunk in yet. I'm pretty sure it will all come pouring out Saturday morning. I just wish I could hop into a machine and it would pop me out in Alaska with all my stuff. And I wouldn't have to deal with all this stuff about packing.. and paper work .. and trains and planes. I really hate it.

I'm hoping I'll get ONE more blog in before I leave! And if NOT I will write as soon as I have computer access in the US... my idea is to keep this blog going even after I get home to share what a POST-exchange is like. You never hear very much about that.. and I think it's just as important as the exchange itself!

I just sent an email to all the newbies that will come in August (2009-2010) welcoming them to Fyn and sharing the email addresses of all the oldies and newbies! And my in-betweens: Evelyn and Sara. It's weird to think there will be new AFSers on my beloved Fyn next year. I almost hate sharing.. but I'm excited for them to experience what I have.. to share a part of my wonderful life here. And I know Evelyn and Sara will do me justice by taking care of them.. and showing them what AFS Fyn is all about.

thanks for reading guys. It means.. it has meant.. so much to me. keep it up!

1 week til Doom Day

2009-06-21T21:08:00.009+02:00

Last Thursday was our last stipper (exchangie) dinner on Fyn.. and it was a wonderful day! We were all together ALL day.. we watched the Jyllands Tur movie Evelyn, Vero and I made (which.. I have to say is pretty darn great) We played games, signed everyone's danish flags and gave each other letters and little gifts. It was soo cozy.. but depressing in a way. The last time we're ALL together. And I had to say goodbye to Benthe who's in charge of AFS Fyn over here.. and that was hard. I am really going to miss her. After the dinner, where by the way all the exchangies' families came too, me and Francesca went home with Vero and .. well we were supposed to go to a concert but we showed up and the place was closed. hmmmmm.. not sure. But we bummed around and got a pizza and were just goofy together and came home at 2 in the morning... and woke up at 11 am. HAH.. that was awesome!

Friday we bummed around some more.. spent a lot of time deciding what to eat for lunch. And a lot of time staring in the bakery windows. We ended up buying us a yummy strawberry marzipan cake (i know.. i'm disgusting.. how can i POSSIBLY eat more sweet things? honestly I don't know..) and had some Alaskan coffee! Go North Pole! and Francesca took the bus home. Vero and I were goofy all afternoon too.. we quite enjoyed it! And then we went to a concert at Hardy's called Jakadaba and WOW I love them!! It's like African.. jazz.. reggae.. and it was so cool! We danced for like 4 hours! And I bought the CD!

Saturday Vero and I came back to my house and just.. packed a bit.. cleaned a bit.. did some laundry. Fun stuff. And caught up on our disney movies! I love Mulan! Sunday Evelyn and Vero and I were lucky enough that Bjarke drove us (after a yummy breakfast!!) to Den Fynske Landsby (the Funen Village).. which is a town built from very old houses from all over Fyn.. kind of like Den Gamle By (the Old Town) and that was really fun! We just hung out around the house for the rest of the day.. and it was really cozy!

So now you're updated! I've been so busy! Having heaps of fun of course.. but busy. And I'm really confused. I don't know if I want to go home? Or if I want to stay? Or what it will be like to go home.. and how I feel about it.. and school and friends and the same here. It's like I'm a time bomb! So many thoughts.. they're bound to combust in my head very very soon! I'm pretty nervous. I go to Copenhagen for the goodbye camp on Saturday and then go to New York on Monday where my Aunt, Uncle and cousin will pick me up for the day.. before heading back to Alaska. So many thoughts!

Thanks for reading.. I can only imagine how insane I must sound to you all.. hang in there.. I might be normal in a few weeks! hah!

love gahhhhhhhh francine :)

Friday-Saturday-Sunday...

2009-06-16T14:26:00.004+02:00

The most AMAZING thing happened to me Friday night. Bjarke and Solvej announced we had a VERY important family dinner.. and it was so important that I wear nice clothes. Our family dinner, Bjarke explained, was at a friend's house.. because our friends are our family. We arrived at some house.. and Bjarke and Solvej anxiously pushed me through some door and I opened it... and ...... SURPRISE!!!!!!! My WHOLE class was there and they put together a surprise party for me!! IT was amazing!! I've never had one before.. and the best part is I had NO IDEA they were planning it! They gave me a t-shirt that said "I heart 2. a" (my class) and lots of little gifts.. and it was SUCH a great party! I love my class! Thank you guys so much...... I am going to miss them so much... and honestly I've kept so busy lately that I haven't realized HOW much I will miss them. They promised to buy me a graduate hat if I come back next year to graduate with them. Which is a BIG DEAL! My mom and I talked and I AM COMING BACK next June to graduate with my super wonderful class!! can I get any luckier?

Saturday Evelyn, Vero and I went with Bjarke and Solvej to this big Plant and Animal store in Odense to buy some flower pots and dirt for Solvej's orchids. And we made Chilean food for dinner! It took us 2 hours but DAMN was it good! My little Chiliean friend Vero taught us how to make it! Vero... I swear I will make it hundreds of times when I get home.. it was SO GOOD! Vero and Evelyn slept over and we watched movies until really late.. hehe..

Sunday we woke up.. had my favorite super duper Solvej & Bjarke breakfast with funky tea and everything! And then we met up with 7 other of our exchangie pals for a wonderful grill picnic on the beach in Faaborg! We grilled hot dogs and it was so yummy! I love when we're all together... we always have fun! rain or sun..

I'm doing ok about going home. Not great.. definitely not great. But I've been feeling pretty good lately being with all my pals.. not being alone. It's when I'm alone that I start realizing I have 11 days before I go to Copenhagen. That's just unbelievable. I remember when I had BEEN HERE 11 days. Time flies faster than the speed of sound.. I swear. And on one hand I'm excited to see my mom and dad again.. and my friends! God I miss my friends. But on the other hand I will miss my family.. my wonderfully amazing friends here.. the life I've made for myself here. And sure I will come back to Denmark. No doubt about it. But I can't ever have THIS life again.. and that is scary.
keeping positive though! happy thoughts happy thoughts!
keep reading, love francine

Egeskov Wednesday!

2009-06-16T14:05:00.014+02:00

I DEFINITELY don't write enough! It feels like i've done a million trillion things since the last time I wrote! Last Wednesday Bjarke drove Evelyn, Vero and me to Egeskov and we spent a great day walking around the castle gardens and playing in the awesome playground! We even played Harry Potter.. yes i AM a dork.. but at Egeskov you really feel like you're in the maze from the movie.. i couldn't resist! HAH... plus we had so much fun taking pictures! Solvej made us a yummy quiche pie for dinner too... ah it was so good!

I have officially lost my mind..

2009-06-08T20:11:00.011+02:00

WOW I feel like my brain is exploding! A TRILLION thoughts per second.. and I am running off over-tired energy. I've been going going going non-stop.. and as WONDERFUL as it is and as much fun as i'm having (I assure you.. I'm having a blast each and every day which is fabulous!).. it's also very tiring! Today is my first alone night in almost 3 weeks.. and i'm trying to catch up on my blogging and relax.

What I've Been Up To:

I will keep it short and sweet so as not to bore you with the details! I had a goodbye party the Sunday after we got back from Jyllands tur which was AWESOME! SO much fun, and the first time ALL the Fyn AFS kids have been together ALL YEAR (how sad is that?) We relaxed in the garden, played music, barbecued and just had a really cozy night! And we all slept in a big tent behind my house (that took evelyn, bjarke, solvej and me 2 hours to build on Saturday!) and just... basically it was a GREAT party! Monday everyone went home and it ended up Daiki, Snaper, Sara, Evelyn, Vero and me hanging out all day in the garden in the WONDERFUL sunny weather talking and listening to music and going through my WHOLE closet and hanging out.. note: I sun-burned my back SO bad i'm still in pain today.. You can see pictures from the party at http://picasaweb.google.com/perkypiano/GoodbyeParty#

Tuesday: The Queen, Dronning Magrathe, is sailing in her boat around Denmark this week and stopped in Nyborg to say hello to the Kommune and greet the people. SO Vero, Evelyn and I dragged our asses out of bed at 7 am to take the bus to Nyborg and greet the Queen at 10. And I am SO happy we did! I was just feet away from her and she LOOKED at us! It was amazing.. seriously it felt like a fairy tale. If any of you have seen "The Prince and Me" I can tell you it felt JUST like that parade. Everyone waving danish flags, and little kids with paper crowns on their heads... it was magical. Afterwards we bought some fruit (yes fruit! can you believe i bought FRUIT instead of chocolate?) and snacks and headed to the beach! Where we got soaked! And talked and played and... yes I sunburned the back of my legs SO bad that there is a very dramatic RED line above the back of my knee. GAH I couldn't walk all Wednesday! Guys: just use sunscreen.. it will save you a LOT of pain!

Thursday and Friday: Vero and I made a GIANT bike trip to Langeland where Benthe lives! I will remember this trip FOREVER! I was so amazing.. and so horrific (we got really lost at one point).. and just the best adventure! Two girls, two bikes, two bars of chocolate, and a map. I love Veronica :) We went swimming in the ocean with Benthe, who was SO happy to see us! and ate strawberries from her garden with her turtle, Prince Albert! We biked to the southernmost tip of Langeland where you can see Germany in the distance! We visited Langelandsfort, an old World War II fort. I feel so PROUD that we made it there and back.. with a few bumps along the way.. I feel we learned SO much about geography, flowers and plants, Denmark in general, and about how tough we are! And I recommend to all you newbies coming in August to make at least ONE bike trip in Denmark... grab a friend, a bike and bar of chocolate and hit the road! See all pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/perkypiano/CykelTurTilLangelandMedVero# ee

After getting home completely exhausted Saturday night, getting a delicious burger at the best burger place in the world- Jette's Diner, sleeping 9 hours and eating more chocolate, Vero and I woke up Sunday and met up with almost all the AFSers down in Svendborg and had a great day hanging out watching boats and jellyfish go by.. just a really wonderful day with my pals. See all pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/pablobuitrago77/Svendborg#

Today Vero, Evelyn, Sara and I met took a ferry from Svendborg down to Valdemars Slot (Castle) on Tåsinge and a bunch of little islands and just had a great time singing and dancing on the almost-empty boat! So much fun! We walked a bit on Tåsinge and jumped back on the boat in Troense.. and then went to Veros and relaxed! See the pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/perkypiano/SailingFromSvendborg#

So I THINK i've caught you up! I will try to write more frequently, but you know how THAT goes. Tomorrow my mission is to work on the Jyllands Tur movie I'm making and try packing my bags to see how much room I have. YIKES.

I'm feeling like I'm going crazy.... I'm so stressed and I can go from being ridiculously happy one moment.. to crying the next. Someone just says something to me and I just start bawling. I can imagine for you guys at home to wonder why I'm so sad.. and it's not that I'm sad about coming home! It's that I'm leaving SO MUCH here.. so many people I love and so much I care about. I've made a life for myself here, and to leave it feels like leaving a part of my heart.. and it is. I'm hanging in there.. but with only 2 weeks left, only just. So hang in there guys at home. I love you. And to my avid readers thank you THANK YOU for reading! It really keeps me going some days..

Jyllands Tur!

2009-06-03T22:54:00.005+02:00

Jyllands tur! I just got back from a huge week-long trip through Jylland (Jutland in English)with 40 other AFS exchangies, and it was a week I will never forget! Basically a week-long party on a bus, sleeping in different schools every night, seeing such AMAZING sights, swimming in the ocean, having a blast! And I am so sad it’s over… I think it will be easier to tell you a little about the places we saw. Here is a map of our 6-day trip.. Monday we started catching the bus down in Svendborg. We drove to the famous Egeskov Castle (which is only 7 kilometers from my house…) You should DEFINITELY check it out and read more about Egeskov at the official site http://www.egeskov.dk/en/node/378 . We slept somewhere near Silkeborg that night. Tuesday morning we drove to the bottom of Himmelbjerget, the second tallest point in Denmark (I used to think it was the tallest but actually.. it’s not) and “hiked” to the top from the beautiful lake. It was so pretty as the sun was coming up! Afterwards we drove, stopped and had lunch and then visited Århus Den Gamle By (the Old Town) which is a collection of houses from all over Denmark all dating around the time of Hans Christian Andersen. It was VERY cool! People were dressed from that time period and making food as they used to. A really great place to visit! We got a tour around and met the baker, and other towns folk! Read more about Den Gamle By at http://www.dengamleby.dk/english.htm .
We slept somewhere on the coast and Wednesday morning we drove up to Skagen and Grenen, which was absolutely AMAZING! It’s where the two oceans meet. SO the waves are not coming onto the shore, but crashing into each other! And it’s so unbelievable! We ran out into the water and got SOAKED! And the wind was incredible! Then we visited Skagens Museum which is famous for painters in the 1870s and the many paintings like Summer Evening and the Fisherman. Read more at http://www.skagensmuseum.dk/index.php?id=7&L=2 . We slept at a boy scout house on the beach and Vero, Francesca, Sara, and Benthe (who is in charge of AFS Fyn and who organized this trip) went swimming in the frozen ocean! It was SO wonderful!
Thursday morning we went to Rubjerg Knude where a huge sand dune, that is being moved across the country by powerful winds is covering a lighthouse. And we saw Mårup Church which used to be over a kilometer from the ocean, and because of the eroding cliff is now only meters from dropping into the sea. The wind there was SO powerful and it was just an incredible sight… Then we drove down to Esbjerg and saw the Fishery and Marine where we saw a seal show and got to touch a stingray (it was really icky but super cool!) Check it out at http://www.fimus.dk/eng_index.html . And we saw the big art statues, the white men as I call them, looking out to sea…
Friday we visited Ribe, the oldest town in Denmark and went up in the big church for an amazing view all the way to Esbjerg! You can read more about Ribe at http://www.visitribe.dk/international/en-gb/menu/turist/turistforside.htm . And then we hit the famous LEGOLAND. All I can say is… “I LOVE LEGOLAND!!!!” I’ve never seen so many legos in my whole life! Everything was legos… everywhere and there were such cool rides and shows and sites.. it was fabulous in every way! So click HERE to read about Legoland! http://www.legoland.dk/?lc=en
Saturday we drove back to Odense.. and visited the Hans Christian Andersen Museum and house which was really interesting! I was surprised at how many stories I know that were written by him, the little mermaid, the princess and the pea, the Emperor’s new clothes, Thumbelina, etc. I learned so much about him.. and his life.. it was a really great museum! Check it out at http://museum.odense.dk/H_C_Andersen/H_C_Andersens_Hus.aspx?lang=en .

God I had an AMAZING time on Jyllands tur and I feel bad for all the exchangies that missed out on it… for those kids coming to Denmark next year, you do NOT want to miss this! You can see ALL my pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/perkypiano/JyllandsTur# , all Vero’s at http://picasaweb.google.com/ito.folles.llojas/JyllandTur?feat=directlink# and soon there will be more on another site. Thanks for reading! Francine

Ålborg Karneval!

2009-05-24T20:24:00.028+02:00

I just got back from visiting Ove, Solvej's dad up north in Pandrup! I took the train to on Friday (4 hours on the train.. with no seat) where Ove picked me up and we drove to Pandrup where he lives. It was a really nice visit.. we drove out to Blokhus by the ocean too and it's just so beautiful there.. especially when the sun is going down! Saturday we went to the Ålborg Carnival! I have never seen anything like that in my whole life. Chaos. Like the party of a lifetime. I thought of Ingrid and her crazy robot costume.. there were SO MANY awesome all-out costumes! Ove and I stood in one spot for over an hour and saw SO many cool costumes and crazy people! It was so cool.. and I am amazingly happy I got to see the carnival! I'll upload some of my favorite pictures and you can see the rest at http://picasaweb.google.com/perkypiano/VisitingOve#

Thank you to Ove for a really nice trip! love francine

Last Day of School

2009-05-23T19:02:00.026+02:00

Wednesday was my very last day of school. It's so unbelievable. Honestly.. I have been counting down the days for the past 2 months. School was an obligation, I was just so bored.. and I really dreaded going. I went because I love my class and my friends.. but the fact that I'm done now! No more long boring classes that I can't understand.. no more surfing the internet and checking my email a million times. But also, no more goofing off with my friends, and going outside or to the canteen during breaks. I will miss them so much.. and it's taken me a while to realize how much I will miss them. After school Wednesday we had a picnic by the lake (because it was my last day) and it was so so nice! About 15 kids came and we had snacks and just talked and I took lots of pictures! I bought a Danish flag last week and had all the kids in my class sign it! And it is just SO cool.. that everyone in my class wrote me a little message!

After the picnic, I took the train down to Svendborg and slept at Vero's house! I was SUPPOSED to make pumpkin pie.. cough cough.. but I didn't and YES I feel bad Vero! But I WILL make it for you guys! I SWEAR! (I promised to make Pumpkin Pie for Veronica and her host mom Sophia and host sister Viktoria) Anyway, Vero made a really delicious lemon kind of pie! We all watched "the Butterfly Effect" which was horrible- I really hated it! It's so confusing.. and then Tarzan.. and went to sleep at 3 am.. hah! Thursday my pal Evelyn (from Guatemala) and Isabel (from Venezuela) came down to Svendborg and we all went to the beach and relaxed and got ice cream and just had a really nice day together!

Thursday night my class had a barbecue party at a girl in my class, Sara's house. I was literally home for 20 minutes from Svendborg and then Bjarke drove me to Sara's.. and it was SUCH a great party! So much fun! And such great food and company... I am lucky to have such wonderful friends! Here are my favorite pictures...

love francine

6 weeks to go..

2009-05-18T09:57:00.006+02:00

Only 6 weeks left in Denmark. I seriously can't sleep at night.. I have so many thoughts running around in my head. It takes me an hour to fall asleep! "need to find a work practice for a week.. Jyllands tur next week... visiting Solvej's dad, Ove on Friday... need to buy a Danish Flag.. need to visit everyone (!!) .. need to buy a ticket to Rock Under Broen music fest.. need to say goodbye to my class.. two more days of school" There's really so much to think about!

I'm a list kind of girl. When I can't sleep I make a list of all the things I need to do the next day. I have 5 lists now. We had a really nice breakfast on Saturday morning at home and then I took the train down to Svendborg on Saturday morning and spent the weekend with Vero! We spent HOURS on Saturday planning our last 6 weeks here in DK. We decided on three bike trips we are going to do.. but you will have to wait to hear about those! We are going to visit Kyla's host family (Vero's contact family) and make dinner with them in a couple weeks! Thursday we're going to have a "Svendborg Sightseeing Day" for all the Fyn exchangies because it's a holiday, so no school! Lots of things are happening..

On Saturday night.. like 9 pm.. Vero and I decided to bike out to a little island called Thurø to visit the church graveyard and see if we could find a "seamerchant" we read about on the internet. It is such a beautiful island.. especially at night before the sun goes down!

But the other day it hit me. I found out I leave DK the 29th at 12 pm. I know the date and time.. that makes it real. I also found out what time all my friends are going home. And I just broke down. I might never see my friends again.. we might never be together again. These are the kids of shared everything with all year. We have been through the same things, we have helped each other through it. They are my best friends. I have to say goodbye to Bjarke and Solvej. I don't even know HOW I will do that. They say they will have a party when I leave (hah!) but I will miss them so much.. they have done so much for me and really been there for me.

I have to say goodbye to my class on Wednesday.. two more days. That's unbelievable to me. I can say I will NOT miss school. But I will miss my class.. they have been a great class and welcomed me from my first day. And it has meant a lot to me.. knowing my class cares about me.

I think having a plan will help get me through these last weeks. Not sitting at home being sad. I need to get out and do and see as much as I can! and I have quite a few ideas...

thanks for reading! love francine

Picnic weather..

2009-05-11T17:45:00.019+02:00

All last week was rainy and just cold and crappy outside. Evelyn and I were together from Thursday afternoon until Saturday night! haha.. I love her! We just have a blast "doing nothing" together.. and I can't even tell you how much I am going to miss her. And leaving her behind gives me this icky feeling in my stomach (hopefully because i'm sad.. not because i'm sick!)

Sunday Evelyn and I had planned an exchangie picnic up on a hill by the lake! Luckily after 7 days of rain, it was such a beautiful day. Blue sky. No wind. 10 of my best pals.. and chocolates. Ok and Isabel from Venezuela brought carrots. hah! Just a plain wonderful day. A day for the books.. Here are some of my favorite pictures. But you can see my pictures, and Pablo's pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/pablobuitrago77/Ringe?authkey=Gv1sRgCKPBhqfPn_GHeA# and http://picasaweb.google.dk/perkypiano/PicnicInRinge#

Thanks to all my pals for a fabulous day! I love you guys..

May Day!

2009-05-04T19:01:00.010+02:00

Hello my readers!

I'm so sorry it's been forever since I wrote last! I've really been doing so much! And have been a bit lazy with my writing.. but that ends now!

It's the first days in May.. I am going home in 8 weeks. How freaking scary is that? I am so unbelievably nervous.. but excited to see my family and friends.. but sad because I love my life here and my family and friends.. and I don't want to leave them. It's a sticky situation to be in.. and none of us exchangies are too happy about it. So... I have been keeping VERY busy! Evelyn and I are doing something almost every day! Even just hanging out and being together.. or going to Svendborg, or Faaborg or Nyborg! We've been going nonstop and I love it! After trying so hard all year getting people to go out and DO things.. people are starting to invite me all over the place and it's been wonderful! Lets seee...

Since the Sys Bjerre concert.. the next friday I went to our last school party of the year! We had a before party at my friend Pernille's house with the class and then we drove to the school.. the party was SO much fun! And I hung out with the exchangies and my classmates and had a blast!

Saturday Evelyn and I trekked down to Svendborg (via the train) and met up with Veronica. We planned on making a bike trip down to Valdemar Slot (Castle) on Taasinge, the island below Fyn. But halfway across the bridge Vero's mom's bike broke and we decided to have a picnic on the beach instead! And it turned out to be SO nice! We found a really cool spot where the sun hits you but the wind doesn't .. and we sat there and layed in the sun and talked for 5 hours! It was fantastic! Then we made it back to Vero's house and made dinner by ourselves and just had so much fun talking and listening to music and watching tv! Vero cut my hair again too! hehe.. It feels so good!

Sunday Evelyn and I went home and were at my house and then Bjarke drove us (and picked up Snaper from Hong Kong) to see my friend Casper's play over in Ryslinge. It was really interesting! A strange play.. called Knivsæg (Knife's edge).. but it was great being with Evelyn and Snapper!

This past weekend I hung out with my friend Lea (who we spent Christmas with) after school on Friday and we went back to her house and had fun watching movies and talking.. Saturday morning Bjarke and Solvej picked up me, Lea and Rie (Lea's sister) to see WOLVERINE at the movies in Odense! and it was SUPER good! I just love the movies! We went back to Lea and Rie's house for a barbecue dinner outside in the sun.. It was so cozy!

Sunday Evelyn, Snaper and me took the train to Nyborg and went to the beach with Francesca (from Italy) and Pablo (from Colombia) and had A BLAST! We went in the water! And we played beach volleyball.. and walked through the town and had an ice cream! Just a really fabulous day! You can see all the pictures at http://picasaweb.google.dk/perkypiano/SundayInNyborg#

Today, Monday.. I just hung out with Evelyn and Snaper (again! haha..) and we watched movies and relaxed in my room because it was raining outside and we were free from school.. we had such a nice time!

I don't have very much more to report! I am going on a tour of Jylland (Jutland in English) at the end of May which I am really excited about! It's with AFS and it's a whole week long so it will be super wonderful! And as of today I have 9 days left of school and I am thrilled! I love my classmates.. really I do.. but I am so sick of school and of doing nothing. It's really getting to me.. so in 9 days I will be done!

I will write more from now on! I promise! Please keep reading! knus francine :)

SYS BJERRE

2009-04-22T11:13:00.003+02:00

Not too much new since we got home from the Czech Republic! Thursday and Friday Evelyn and I were back in school. And Friday night my class had a Påskefrokost (Easter lunch more like a party) at my friend Julie's house and that was a lot of fun! I made (Bjarke made) some damn yummy Mac-n-Cheese that I brought and it was just fun hanging out with my friends and really getting to talk to them! It had been a while because I missed a bit of school for our holiday. Saturday and Sunday I was basically at home just relaxing and sitting outside in the sun, reading and writing and watching movies. It was so relaxing and really nice to just kind of be to myself.. But Saturday night I went to see Sys Bjerre, a pretty popular singer here in Denmark, with Daiki in his town, Rudme like 15 minutes away. It was a really good concert! She's pretty good live! And the concert was kind of, althought I didn't realize before I went, for little girls. So all these little girls (like 10-13) brought their parents and it was just so funny. All the little girls in the front jumping with Sys Bjerre! and the parents in the back.. and me and Daiki and my friend Katja who came with her little sister. It was really fun! And when the concert was over Sys Bjerre sold t-shirts and was giving autographs.. I got a picture of her signed! whoo hoo!

Yesterday, Tuesday Evelyn and I met up after school and went down by the lake and talked in the sun, and then walked around the lake and lay down and talked more.. it was just SO nice! It feels so good to have the sun again! We came back to my house and ate left over Lasagne and ended up talking a lot with Bjarke and watching a movie! A really great day! I felt so good going to bed reading my Harry Potter book..nothing else to report! francine

The Czech Republic at Easter!

2009-04-19T14:37:00.050+02:00

Tuesday 7.4.2009
We left Berlin in the morning and made the 3 hour drive to THE CZECH REPUBLIC! For those of you who have been following my blog since the last time we had holiday in the Czech, you might remember that we lived in a small little town an hour north of Prague called Úštěk. You can read more about Úštěk at this great website http://www.mesto-ustek.cz/English/index.html . But this time, instead of staying at the Sports Hotel we stayed at last time, we stayed at Bjarke and Solvej’s friends‘ little hotel basically across the street. And it was so amazingly cute and cozy! And the Yasantska family were so nice! The Mom doesn’t speak anything but Czech and it was just so much fun talking to her because we used Czech, German and English. And at times like that you really realize you don’t need words to express yourself. One of the daughters, Ava speaks fluent German and English so we also had fun talking to her! You can see more about our little hotel at ...... But anyway, by the time we made it to the hotel we were pretty tired so we decided to just hang out and relax and have dinner at the Sports Hotel across the street, and get some yummy Piña Coladas!

Wednesday 8.4.2009
We decided to start the Czech holiday with some serious shopping! We went straight to the cheapest and best of the best, the Yellow Market! Which I learned recently is called the Yellow Market by the Czechs because of all the Asians selling things there. I bought a new dress and some nice perfumes and SCARVES, my absolute favorite and my horrible addiction. I will not mention how much I spent on scarves.. but they are just so cheap that I can’t resist! And I KNOW I will use them! We ate lunch at a yummy Italian pizzeria with some good ‘old Czech Beer! And then we went to the big shopping mall right outside of Prague called Letňany! Read more about Letnany at http://www.oc-letnany.cz/en/ . We went to a cool tea shop there and I bought a few funky teas! My latest addiction, thanks a lot Bjarke. And after some intense shopping we had dinner at this cool basement restaurant in another town and headed back to the Sports bar for more Piña Coladas and Evelyn tried a Swimming Pool. Yummmmm! Thursday 9.4.2009
Thursday we visited the Karlstein Castle! We visited this castle on our last trip to the Czech, too. It’s really so cool! I will spare you my history lesson but if you want to learn more about the castle you can look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlstein_Castle . What we love even more than the castle and it’s beautiful view, is the Castle town. It’s a little, very touristy town, as Karlstein is a popular tourist attraction. And there is tons of good shopping! (And scarves I must admit…) And it’s cool because at the bottom of the hill/mountain things are really expensive. And the further up you go, the cheaper they get! Last time we got a tour inside the Castle, but decided to skip that this time because the line was very long. On the way up to the Castle there is a guy who has the biggest kind of owl in Europe. If you pay 30 kc (Czech money) which is like 50 cents he helps you put a glove on and hold the owl for a photo op. I was pretty nervous about it! I mean, it’s a freaking HUGE owl. But she was SO sweet and didn’t care at all that I was holding her. She looked at me as she was being moved from his hand to mine but then turned her head to smile for the camera! So cool! I’m so happy I did that! (thanks Bjarke and Solvej) And Evelyn did it too! On our way home we stopped for dinner at TIME OUT and me and Evelyn got some really good salads! Solvej found love in her new favorite sandwich! And as always in the Czech, we had pomfritters (French fries) and Tartar sauce! Friday 10.4.2009
One of the cool things about the hotel we stayed in is that we were almost the only ones there! You hardly ever saw other people. It was like you were living in your own house. And every morning Mamma Yasanska had warm cacao (hot chocolate) and a special breakfast for us! Some mornings we got sunny-side-up eggs, some mornings we got Chicken Shnitzel. It was always a surprise! And some mornings we even got chocolate cake! (yeah I’m sure THAT helped me a lot..Friday we took the BIG PRAGUE TOUR! We walked so so much! But when there is so much to see you don’t think about how far you are walking. Oh! And did I mention that the entire week it was between 23 and 27 degrees Celcius (73-80 Fahrenheit)? NICE! I think I even got some color!We saw the beautiful and amazing Prague Castle Church again! I found this great website, read more at http://www.pragueholiday.cz/prague-castle.php . We walked through the Castle village and down the King’s Steps, a huge staircase leading down into Prague. We crossed the famous Charles Bridge and touched the famous stones for good luck and coming back to Prague. And we touched the star and made a wish! (BTW the Charles Bridge appears in the movies Mission: Impossible and XXX) Evelyn and I went up the Charles Bridge Tower and got an amazing view over the city! Read more about the tower at http://www.pragueexperience.com/places.asp?PlaceID=599 . We visited the Peoples’ House. The Peoples’ House is so cool because when Prague was freed and the President was elected, as a gift to the people of Prague he had this building restored. It’s really really beautiful and it’s supposed to be a fancy restaurant that average people can afford to eat in. There is also an Opera house inside. And downstairs there is an American Bar, which I thought was pretty funny! We walked through the Big Easter Market in the town Square, saw the Astronomical clock again, and went in New Yorker (and bought a lot of cheap good clothes!)And later we headed home at had a relaxing night hanging out. Evelyn and I really had so much fun talking and just hanging out and relaxing! It was SO NICE! I love her!
Saturday 11.4.2009
Saturday I woke up feeling pretty sick. I caught whatever it was Evelyn had. I had a headache and I could hardly swallow anything. Actually it lasted until Monday or so, but I just drank heaps of water and took some medicine cough drops and a headache pill and by Monday I was up and running again!
But Easter Sunday we went to the Easter Market in Úštěk! And it was so nice! So big really! And people selling handmade things and having fun! It was just such a cool environment! Evelyn and I looked around with Bjarke and Solvej, and then walked down to the lake and made friends with the Swans by feeding them our left over pastries! We lounged around and headed back to the hotel and took a nap. Just a relaxing awesome day! And the nap did me some good! We also visited the Strekov Castle! Last time we tried to visit it was closed because it was winter season, but this time we got to see the whole thing! And the amazing view from the tower! The Strekov Castle is actually very famous because it was here that the famous composer Richard Wagner drew up the plan for the opera Tannhäuser in 1842. You can read more about the famous Strekov Castle at http://www.bicycle-tours.cz/czech-republic/chateaus-and-castles-in-czech-republic/strekov-castle-/ .
Sunday 12.4.2009
While we were in the Czech we met up with some of Bjarke’s friends, Charlie and Henrietta. They were going to visit the very famous Terezin Concentration Camp. And as Bjarke and Solvej had already been there, Charlie and Henrietta said they could take me and Evelyn along! There is WAY too much to write about Terezin on my blog, but the story and the history of this concentration camp is in my opinion very very important. Even more important than many of the other famous concentration camps. If you are interested, and I hope you are, please read http://philip.greenspun.com/bp/terezin .
After visiting Terezin, Charlie and Henrietta brought me and Evelyn to Litoměřice, a very very cool town that we visit a lot when we’re in the Czech, for their Easter Market, where we met up with Bjarke and Solvej. You can see more about Litoměřice at http://www.litomerice.cz/eng/ . We walked around a bit and ate some chinese noodles and just enjoyed the sunshine!
Monday 13.4.2009
EASTER MONDAY! We woke up to a fabulous breakfast with died eggs! The breakfast was just so beautiful! And the sun was shining! In the Czech Republic, the tradition is that on Easter men whip (ok.. tap!) women on the legs and butt with pussy willow twigs colored with braided strings which is supposed to bring youth. Kids run the streets hitting doors and people give them chocolates and eggs. I have to say, later when we were in Prague in the 200 SHOPS mall I was whipped by a passer-by! Haha.. too funny!
At one of the Easter Markets in Prague we saw this old lady who was making the cutest little things! She was just so adorable… working so hard making these little 3D flower portraits out of clay and basically.. things you don’t need. But I just HAD to buy something from her because she was SO nice and cute… I bought this little pig with a mushroom in his mouth! She was so happy when we asked if I could take my picture with her and she pulled me down to sit next to her enthusiastically and requested a couple more pictures! She was SO sweet! And I’m so happy I payed the $3 for the little pig.. This was our last day in Prague and it was so nice! Shopping, sitting in the sun with a cold Czech beer and talking! Just so relaxing.. and so wonderful. Tuesday 14.4.2009
Tuesday we did our last bits of shopping in Litoměřice where I bought more yummy tea! And a got some good deals on a skirt and some shorts! And we went back to Letnany and the Yellow Market to get the last few things! And for dinner we went to the Sports Hotel for some really good steak! And.... Piña Coladas! Wednesday 15.4.2009
Wednesday we packed the car (the very HEAVY car I might add!) and headed home! It was a long and really wonderful holiday! But we all agreed it was good to leave while we were still having fun. I’m an unbelievably lucky girl to be able to go to the Czech Republic twice! And Berlin! And to take my friend! And just to have the World’s Best Host Parents: Bjarke and Solvej! You guys are just awesome! And thank you Mom and Dad for funding my trip! Really thank you for a fabulous holiday!
And thank you guys for reading! Keep it up!
Love francine

P.S. I realize I'm having some picture trouble on this post. But as I've spent hours and hours trying to upload pictures and having them not work I'm not spending any more time on it. So you can see all my pictures from this trip at http://picasaweb.google.dk/perkypiano/EasterHolidayInBerlinAndTheCzechRepublic#

First Stop: Berlin!

2009-04-18T16:56:00.022+02:00

Sorry I’m just now blogging! Last week we were off of school (and work for Bjarke and Solvej) for our Easter holiday! I love that Easter is such a big deal in Europe.. you get the whole week previous to Easter to celebrate (and the following Monday!) So we went back to Prague and the Czech Republic! This time bringing along my newbie Evelyn from Guatemala who just came in January. But before the Czech, we hit up Berlin for a couple of days! Here is my story:
Sunday 5.4.2009
We drove from Denmark to Berlin (around 6 hours) during which I caught up on my fashion knowledge (thank you mom!) and listened to Harry Potter. And of course, slept. Doing what I do best.
When we got to Berlin we left the car and explored the streets near our hotel while we waited to check in. After check-in, we walked the 17th June Street in central Berlin, which during the Nazi era was a triumphal street lined with Nazi flags. The street was renamed 17th June Street from Charlottenburger Chaussee in 1953 to commemorate the uprisings of the East Berliners. This is the street shown in movies about Hilter with Nazi soldiers marching towards Brandenburger Tor. At the end of the 17th June Street we reached Brandenburger Tor (read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_Gate and http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmale_in_berlin/en/unter_den_linden/brandenburger_tor.shtml ) The Brandenburger Tor is the trademark of Berlin. It was the main entrance to the city surrounded by the wall for thirty years, separating West and East Berlin. Since the Revolutions of 1989 and the Berlin Wall was destroyed, the Gate symbolizes freedom and the unification of Berlin. Being there was amazing. So many people from all over the world travel to Berlin to see Brandenburger Tor and there’s just a good vibe in the air there. We sat down for a while and I got the chance to soak it all in. One thing I love about Berlin is how quiet it is.. full of people, but still quiet and peaceful and relaxing. Bjarke disagrees. He listens for the fast racing cars late at night and the loud growls their expensive cars let out, but I think it’s such a peaceful city. I must note that I spotted a Starbucks here! I haven’t seen one of those in 8 months! Denmark has one Starbucks and it’s in the airport in Copenhagen. But Germans? They’re big fans! I was just excited to see one! We walked past Reichstag, the German parliament Building but didn’t get to go inside because we would have had to wait in line for way over an hour. We also walked past the building Hitler committed suicide in, Führerbunker. And Adolf Hitler's Memorial. We saw the biggest shopping street in Berlin called with all the expensive designer stores.
We visited the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche Church which was just so beautiful. They have turned the remains into a memorial with the church’s history which was really interesting to read! The church was built between 1891 and 1895 by Kaiser Wilhelm II. After the bombing of Berlin in the November of 1943 only the broken west tower of the church remained standing. It was restored and preserved and in 1961 a memorial church was constructed next to the old church. And the old west tower was transfigured into a memorial with pictures of before and after the bombing and the church’s story. (the new church from the inside)
After sightseeing we took a cab back to the main shopping streets and ate a dodgy Italian restaurant. And made it an early night back at the hotel as Evelyn was sick. Monday 6.4.2009 We dedicated almost the whole day to the fabulous, and famous, Berlin Zoo! Probably the coolest zoo I’ve ever been to.. they have SO many amazing animals! Some that I’ve never seen before… Including their Panda Bear named Bao Bao. I’m so so happy that I was able to see a real live Panda Bear! It’s shocking that Bao Bao is one of 239 Panda Bears left in the world. And we saw the famous Knut the Polar Bear (who if you haven’t hear mauled a woman who jumped into his tank just days after we visited the zoo! Read more at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30182514/ )
The zoo even had a section dedicated to nocturnal animals and that just blew me away… Along with my absolute.. 100% favorites THE ELEPHANTS! It was love at first site. A whole bunch of elephants throwing up water and walking around posing for pictures. I was in love! Honestly, I need to look into a career with elephants! There were countless other animals.. and I even got to see hippos, an anteater and penguins that you were allowed to touch! They were so unbelievably cute! For more information about the Berlin Zoo check out http://www.zoo-berlin.de/en.html . We spent 4 or 5 hours in the zoo just walking around and taking pictures and having a great time! After a couple leisurely hours shopping we stopped at an Irish pub for a Berlin Pilsner and ended up staying for dinner and it was SO good! Such a relaxing and enjoyable day! I’m working on my next couple blogs about the Czech so be patient! They will be posted soon! Keep reading!
Francine

and the holiday begins.... NOW!

2009-04-04T06:49:00.002+02:00

Not too much to report! I've taken the last 3 days off school to help the girls (Karen and Evone) and Andreas in the shop connected to our house a woodworking shop called Intarsia. You can read more about what kind of woodworking they are doing there at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intarsia But they are repainting the house (our house) and shop this week so I helped them. And it was so much fun! Hard work.. but nice to have a change from school and get outside for 7 hours a day! I just popped in my Harry Potter listening books and zoned out which I loved!
Tomorrow morning we're headed off the Berlin! We are now officially on Easter holiday until the Tuesday after this Tuesday.. and I'm ready to go back to the Czech Republic! Evelyn is coming with us this time and I think it will be really fun! So don't expect anything on the blog until sometime next week.. Hope everyone's good at home! love francine

Ciao Bella!

2009-03-29T20:40:00.026+02:00

I just got back from my 5 day class trip to Milano, Italy! I had a really great time! It was so much fun to travel with my class! There werer 26 of us accompanied by 3 teachers. In Denmark it's a tradition to travel with your class in your second year at the gymnasium (like high school) to another country on a "study trip". The teachers plan school-related activites for each day and then you are free in the afternoon and night to do whatever you want. We traveled with our Danish, Ancient History, and Biology teachers (Hans Erik, Anja and Jeppe). With our Danish teacher we interpreted signs and watched people: how they act, what's important to them (for example you can see that fashion is important to Italians in Milano and you can see that the environment isn't as important because the city is litered and there aren't very many trash bins, etc.) With our Ancient History teacher Anja we walked all over the city and visited ruins from the Roman time and visited a really cool Museum about the Romans. And with Biology we walked around the city and relaxed in the sun (it was 21 degrees.. about 75 degrees Fahrenheit) and tested different water sources in the big Milano Park. On Thursday we also visited an old Fortress which was really cool! We just relaxed on the grass in the sun.. that's the life!We also got to see the beautiful Duomo church! It's the third biggest church in the world and it's absolutely beautiful! It's Catholic and I think it's pretty funny because they have never finished it. You see, if they finish it then they have to register it as a church with the Pope and pay a lot of money. So they are always working on it and adding to it so as not to finish.. which is just too clever! Then we payed a little to take the stairs up to the top of the church and walk around on top of it! It was such a cool view over the city! but so windy up there! Read more about Duomo at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_Cathedral During our free time we shopped! Which was a great way to see more of the city! We ate yummy Italian pizza and pasta all week! and the famous Gelato Ice Cream which is just the best! One of the coolest things about Milano is that it's one of the fashion capitals of the world.. so of course it's expensive! But there's also Models being photographed in the streets! And it was just so cool to watch!! And there are all the high fashion stores like Prada, Louis Viutton, and Yves Saint Laurent... really really expensive. I used every opportunity to say "CIAO BELLA!" and "Mammmma Mia!" I loved that my friends got to see that you don't need words to express yourself. Using body language and pointing and smiling and hugging and kissing gets the point across just as well or better than using words! It was so much fun! At one point we needed to send postcards and the mail box had two slots.. one that said "blah blah blah MILANO" and the other said "blah tutti blah blah blah" haha.. this old man saw that we were confused and stopped to look at us. He was just smiling and we smiled back and said "Ciao!" and "ummmm Milano? ummmm not Milano?" and he completely understood even though he couldn't speak english. That's one of the coolest things! He just started speaking Italian and pointing! And we figured it out together!

I was feeling pretty sick on Monday and Tuesday though and again on Friday and that made it a little harder. Plus I was extremely tired when I got home at 6 pm last night. To get to and from Milano we had to take two buses,3 trains and a plane. And it took 12 hours including waiting.. so Monday and Friday were very long days! All in all I had a really great trip! You can see my Milano album on Picasa Web Albums at http://picasaweb.google.com/perkypiano/MilanoTripWithTheClass#

I hope everyone is good at home! Thanks for reading! Keep it up! Francine

my second home = the post office

2009-03-20T11:15:00.000+01:00

I just dropped by my second home = the post office again the other day. I swear.. when I get home and people ask me what I did in Denmark I will say "well I went to school.. I was in girl scouts.. I worked at the movies... and I went to the post office!" I visit, most weeks, twice a week. I think I have an addiction! I love sending postcards from Denmark! I cover them in little Danish flag stickers.. I just figure I'm here for just one year so I might as well send lots of postcards from Denmark!
But the other day I had to stop by to send some packages with candy out and some postcards of Alaska to friends in Denmark. I've also gotten into the habbit of sending Alaska postcards as thank you notes to people after I go to visit! They seem to like it! And I like to leave a great ALASKAN impression wherever I go! I bring Alaskan candies and key-chains whenever I visit anywhere.. and people just love it! Plus it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside :) the post office in Ringe, my town.
But I have to say.. I'm a bit dissappointed with the U.S. post! Lately many of the postcards I've sent home never make it there. Which is frustrating to me. Obviously sending postcards is something really important to me.. and I've spent quite a lot of money (sorry mom and dad) buying and mailing postcards (on average $1.50 to buy and $2.00 to send). So it pisses me off that my money is going down the tubes because someone working for the post thinks it's funny to steal cool pictures of DK. Now I'm brainstorming other ways to send postcards without having them stolen..

Excursion with Bjarke

2009-03-18T10:07:00.023+01:00

Monday Bjarke invited me to come to work with him. He had a meeting down in Nykøbing Falster.. which meant I got to visit Ingrid! His dropped me off at Ingrid's and went to his meeting and Ingrid and I caught up. The best part about meeting up is that we get to talk very fast and use slang! It's something I always miss when talking to people who aren't native english speakers.. although.. Ingrid has some insane New Zealand slang that even I don't understand.

After Bjarke's meeting, he decided to take us around Falster and Møn.. 2 other islands right under Sjælland (Zealand). It was so exciting! I've only been to Nykøbing twice before and but I had never explored Falster or Møn. Neither had Ingrid so it was cool to see something new! Ingrid and I are thinking of making a biking trip out of Møn and/or Falster. We went through where Bjarke's grandmother lived and his mom was born. We stopped at beautiful look-outs to take pictures and smell that amazing salt water! It is one of my favorite smells..

We crossed a bridge to Møn and visited Fanefjord Church which was built around 1250. Ingrid and I were standing there open-mouthed looking at the paintings. The vibrant colors and depictions of the devil and various religious scenes are absolutely unbelievable. Just to see what people in 1250 thought the devil looked like.. and how they viewed God and their religion. It was like stepping back into 1250. When the church's walls were whitewashed in 1660, the paintings were covered in a layer of dust. But from 1923-34 the paintings were restored and cleaned. They are still under restoration to make the colors more vibrant and really uncover the layers of dust. Ingrid and I bought pamphlets to read about the church's history. But you should definitely check out this really good website I found about Fanefjords Church at http://www.insula-moenia.dk/fanefjord_church.html Then we drove to the other side of the island to a place called Møns Klint. Its a HUGE cliff over the water.. an impressive and popular tourist attraction. The area around Møns Klint is covered in trails and biking paths for people to explore, but we stuck to the coast. The HUGE cliff is made of white stone and the water it reaches down to is an unbelievable green color.. Ingrid and I couldn't believe we were still in Denmark! It's sad that the pictures don't do it any justice. You can read more about Møns Klint at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B8ns_Klint We had to climb so many stairs to get down to the water and back up.. and so many stairs to get up to the top of the cliff to have the view over the water.. I felt dead afterwards. In fact, I slept for an hour in the car! Monday night the AFS head of Falster and Lolland, Lars and Hanna and their daughter Mathilde who went to New Zealand on exchange, had a dinner for all the exchangies down there.. so I got to surprise all my friends! It was so cool to see everyone and hang out! We had so much fun.. as we always do with other exchangies! I also met a Danish girl who is going to Pennsylvania for exchange next year, and a boy who went to France and a girl who went to Venezuela a couple years ago. So just another opportunity to meet more unbelievably lovely people!

I slept over at Ingrid's and we talked and talked.. something I'm beginning to realize we're pretty good at! Bjarke called me at 7.30 and we hit the road again heading towards Copenhagen. He had 5 mini-meetings up there and I got to live "A day in the life of Bjarke Mayland" and see why he is so stressed when he gets home. PEOPLE ARE JUST SO STUPID. Every second that Bjarke hung up the phone after talking someone through how to set up a computer program or some machine the phone rang violently again. That's the only way I can describe it. After spending an hour and a half fixing some guy's computer.. and we finally started to head home at 2 pm the guy called and said "boooo hooo I broke it again.. can't you come back and fix it?" I can now empathize with Bjarke 100%. People naturally assume he doesn't have a life and that he can just fix their computers for free and answer their calls from 6 am to 11 pm. This weekend we are turning the phone OFF and as Bjarke says "doing ab-so-lute-ly nada".

Helpful but Clumsy

2009-03-15T09:58:00.001+01:00

Last Saturday we celebrated Solvej's birthday.. again! this time with the neighbors and their kids. I know all of the kids but actually didn't spend much time talking with them. We had a few laughs about the little girl Emma telling a lot of really bad jokes though..
And I called home to talk to my brother.. who was sleeping at 12 pm. So I talked to both my mom and dad which was really nice! I wish I had gotten to talk with my brother Elliot though.. and I've tried calling again a couple times but I'm hoping he will call me back soon! After I talked with my parents I decidd to be nice and helpful by cleaning up and washing dishes at 1 am. haha.. I think Bjarke and Solvej really appreciated it and as I've learned, it never hurts to be nice! I also spent 2 hours on Saturday peeling boiled potatoes - I have now become a professional potatoe peeler. One lady even said to Solvej "wow.. maybe I should get an exchange student?" haha..
And in exchange for being forgiven I've been asked to mention this on my blog : Although I was very helpful by doing dishes and cleaning the previous night, the next morning I woke up very tired and went to grab a cereal bowl, pulling two other bowls down and breaking them on the floor. Bjarke's favorite 18-year-old bowls. I am very very sorry. So I am helpful... but I'm also clumsy.

FAAE

2009-03-14T10:05:00.017+01:00

I'm fairly sure that this the longest i've gone without blogging since I started in august. For a variety of reasons, the main one being that i've been insanely busy! And seeing that no one has been commenting my blogs, it's a little discouraging.

I got back on friday from my exciting week in an efterskole! As I've written before, an efterskole (after school) is a way more relaxed version of a boarding school. Kids in the 9th and/or 10th grade can choose to go to an efterskole. They are for both boys and girls and there are no uniforms. In fact, in my efterskole called Faaborgegnens Efterskolen (FAAE), you don't have to go outside to go to class - so essentially you can go to class in pjs and socks! My kind of school.. I was always a big fan of PJ day.

the view from the girls' floor..

Our room.

Signe, me and Ditte.. my room mates!

an average class room.

We had about 5 classes, 3 classes a day. Each day there were different assigned times and people to clean the classrooms and hallways. Thursday everyone empties their dorms and cleans. There are 2 girls to a room and I bunked with 2 girls named Ditte and Signe. We had a lot of fun together! In FAAE there are different lines for things that interest you. Signe and Ditte were in Nature. So on Tuesday the Nature line rode bikes to Faaborg and caught the bus to Odense to go climbing in a climbing hall. However, I can remember my last very frightening climbing experiences and therefore made the wise decision to stay on the ground!

Thilde

Mette

Climbing in Odense! Anna hanging from the wall..

me and Anna with vampire lollies..

Mia and me

Signe and me

Signe, me, Thilde and Brigitte.

On Friday, my last day, Daiki and I were asked to get up in front of the school so the kids could ask questions about what it's like to be an exchange student.. and we were able to do the whole thing in Danish which makes me very proud! I think just in general everyone was really excited to have an exchange student and wanted to talk to me and ask questions.. which as an exchange student is the best thing! When I was in Næstved Gymnasium on ministay, the class ignored me completely and they didn't care at all that I was there. And that's tough when you're starting out somewhere new.. BUT I had a great experience in efterskole! I'm really happy I was able to try it out! I made so many new friends!

Hanging with Vero..

2009-03-08T13:20:00.008+01:00

Ah! It's been too long since I've written! I've just been so crazy busy! I've been going to fitness quite a lot lately, which is a good thing! Wednesday we went to Shannon's house for dinner which was nice! It was so cool because I talked a lot with her little host brother (out of 4) Vigo who is 2.. and he taught me the animal names and sounds! hehe.. Solvej and I had fun with him!

Friday I was sitting at home after school and everyone was telling me they were busy! No one wanted to do anything! And then Veronica invited me to come to the Svendborg Gymnasium (like my school) Fest with her! So I took the train down there and we had SO much fun! There we live bands! And it was just so much fun! Vero moved host families about a week ago because her first host family only signed up for half a year.. so it was really cool to meet her new host family! It's just a mom, Sophia and her 14 year old daughter Victoria and they are just fantastic! Such cool and welcoming people! Saturday Vero and I hung out.. I asked her to cut my hair because she's so good at it and my hair was starting to resemble Hermione.. hah! But now it's fantastic! We walked in the town to see the second hand stores and the farmers market.. and it was just the best!

Vero's new street..
downtown Svendborg and the farmers' market Then I came home.. and relaxed a bit and my friend Stinna from my class came over because she's buying a computer from Bjarke. So she ended up hanging out with us and eating dinner and it was really nice!

AND... I started working at Biografen (the movie theater)! Finally! I've been wanting to start for months! It's volunteer work.. biografen is run by volunteers and the money it makes is used to keep it running. So it's entirely for the community which is just an awesome way to give back! And meet new people and practice danish.. plus if free movies are involved why wouldn't you?

Today I'm going to an efter skole down in Faaborg! and Daiki is coming to the same one! I've mentioned it before.. efter skole is like a more relaxed boarding school for kids 14 or 15.. and I get to try it out for a week! I'm excited to see what it's like and make new friends! I'll keep you updated on how it goes!

But now I can hear my laundry calling me.. keep reading!

love francine

Danish Depression.

2009-02-28T11:50:00.003+01:00

I'm actually really surprised.. Denmark is called "the Happiest country", yet people here are getting really depressed from the winter! Not what I expected of vikings. We've had 3 months of "winter" if you want to call it that. It's snowed like 3 times and all of it has melted. In Alaska we have up to 8 months of winter with -45 (C & F) temperatures. And ok so people in Alaska do get depressed.. but not like here. Everyone's spirits are down. They look like zombies.. and Solvej says it's because there's no sun. Bjarke and Solvej were even telling me that some people buy SUN MACHINES.. not with UV rays but just lots of light. So you sit in front of them and they make you happy. This one costs about 800kr ($160) hahaa.. WOW.. I have to say I'm disappointed in the vikings!

dwindling time in the back of my mind.

2009-02-26T20:03:00.003+01:00

SO many things have been on my mind lately! As my days here are dwindling... I'm starting to realize I have to make the most of every day! But the thought of going home is scary.. not because I don't want to go home and see everyone, but it feels like home here and my exchange has gone by in the blink of an eye. I'm enforcing a "no talking about going home" policy. But it's hard, and it's not as if I'm going home tomorrow. Pablo is even having nightmares 3 times a week about going home! We're all nervous and scared about the end of June.
And aside from that looming in the back of my mind.. I'm in a rut when it comes to school. I swear I end up talking about it once a day and I think if I write about it on my blog then I will release some of the stress. I'm in what I term a "school blues".. I don't like going to school. I love my friends there and I basically go to see them, but I end up sitting there with my laptop or attempting to listen and falling asleep. It's that bad. I used to love school! back when I had an actual goal and I could follow the classes.. And as Bjarke says, it IS my responsibility to make school fun and productive. But I'm just stuck in a rut and I need to push myself and make school something I WANT to do.
I also found out that I am going to live in a boarding school for a week! Remember when I first came and I mentioned that Nikolai was going on an efter skole (after school or boarding school) and now I get to try one! It's very common in Denmark to go to an efter skole when you're 14 or 15 (10th grade here) I decided I wanted to go to an art school and I get to go to a really good one in Faaborg where Francesca lives and the same efter skole my best friend Bolette went to!
And the week after that I am going to Milano with my class! In one month!! I'm unbelievably excited! It will be so much fun to travel with my friends and get to see Italy! I'll keep you updated on our Milano trip..
That's all for now.. I just needed to vent a little bit! And keep you updated of course!
knus francine

The Awfulness That Was

2009-02-23T09:11:00.020+01:00

Valentine's Weekend..

2009-02-23T08:00:00.005+01:00

WOW! What a week! We were lucky enough to have a week of winter holiday! Thank god.. I needed a break from boring old school.. GAH! It was kind of hard figuring out what to do. Bjarke began kicking my butt a month ago to figure out what I was going to do for holiday. I had some ideas but I never decided or made plans. So the last day of school I was very panicky. I was 2 seconds away from buying a ticket to Norway to go visit Doug but it was too late to get permission from AFS Copenhagen.. and either way.. my wallet could use the break. I ended up hanging out with exchangies all week! what better way to spend my time? Friday Bjarke and Solvej had a really nice Valentine's dinner for me! It was such a cool surprise! They even gave me a really pretty necklace which I've loved for quite some time.. I made a big deal out of Valentine's this year. Being on exchange has really brought out the American in me.. I love to make a big deal out of our American holidays like Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day so my friends here will remember their American exchange student. I made Valentine's for all the kids in my class and my mom sent me American candy which was just perfect! I back cookies too and everyone was so surprised! I love that feeling!

Saturday I had a little movie night at my house.. most of the exchangies (unlike me) had made plans and were on ski tours but Pablo and two of the newbies on Fyn (Evelyn from Guatemala and Sara from Colombia) came and we had so much fun! We had pizza that Bjarke made! yummm... and watched movies! Pablo slept over and Sunday morning we walked down the street for bread.. I love that I can walk down the street and buy bread from the bakery whenever I want (and no matter what Bjarke tells you I volunteered that morning to buy bread). I am going to miss that.. Later on Sunday I went to my friend Casper's house where we had another movie night with Nicka, Maria and Stephanie! (I know.. so healthy right?) It's so nice hanging out with friends.. and just relaxing!

the clue to reduce CO2..

2009-02-16T21:07:00.005+01:00

Over here in Denmark the government is just so smart. They have figured out the problem to excess CO2 emissions.. it's not the cars.. it's the cows.

"The Denmark Tax Commission estimates that each cow produces around 4 tons of greenhouse gases per year. Cows release methane from their stomach gases through burps and farts - a gas that is over 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the earth’s atmosphere." - http://www.fairhome.co.uk/2009/02/13/cow-farts-taxed-in-denmark

But Danish farmers aren't impressed. This tax would raise their costs around 1 million danish kroner a year ($200,000). So basically, either people start eating other meats like chicken and pigs (pigs are already heavily taxed for their farts), or people have to pay ridiculously high prices for cows. Farmers would also be forced to cut down their number of cows.

“Cows burp and emit gas from the other end irrespective of whether there is a tax or not,” says Steen Nørgaard, a danish farmer in Jutland. The cows aren't going to stop farting.. their farts will just be worth more money now!

Bjarke told me and Solvej the news when we were eating dinner tonight.. (luckily it was chicken).. which got me thinking : when are they going to start charging US to fart? soon it will be "You can only fart 30 times a month! So choose your farts carefully! You must think: do I really need to fart? or can I hold it?"

I appologize for this partially disgusting blog.. but I felt it was a topic worth discussing. :)

but will the snow stick?

2009-02-11T15:15:00.012+01:00

Hello again my avid readers!

As usual I have been keeping busy! and I have a few things to report:

Saturday I went to a concert! It was going to be me, Solvej, Bjarke and our friend Jens. But Solvej was feeling pretty sick Saturday afternoon so Bjarke let me take a friend! And I called Katja! We went to this place called Posten in Odense and heard Smukke Møller (which played like old danish songs that everyone knew.. except me!) and Den Danske Mafia (the Danish Mob) which were some friends of Bjarke! aand it was SO good! Blasting loud! but sooo soo good! When Katja and I finally hit the sack at 2 am we were screaming goodnight to each other, if you catch my drift! Be sure to check out the youtube video on my sidebar!

Sunday afternoon Bjarke, Solvej, our friend Rene, Rie and Lea and I went to see Twilight! I can't tell you enough how excited I was.. after waiting 4 months since it came out in the US. And I can't explain to you the depths of my sorrow and disappointment.. I had such high hopes. The books are my ultime favorite so nothing can compare. At least it was fun to do something together! (Rie, Lea & me before the movie started) Nothing else HUGE happening.. except I feel I must report to you that it snowed yesterday! Whooo snow! right? Except it was a "snow storm"! hahaha.. I really think it's so funny! It snowed a foot and it's actually staying this time! And they call it a snow storm! It's beautiful and everyone (but me) is running outside and throwing snowballs and making snowmen. I find it hard to be happy about snow.. but it is actually really pretty. In small doses! but will the snow stick this time? (our house below)Saturday is Valentines! I have a surprise for my class.. which you will also have to wait to hear about.. as a lot of kids in my class are reading this! hehe.. but I have a plan! I will write soon!

that's it for now! looking forward to winter holiday next week! keep reading!

love francine

Fastelavn!

2009-02-07T12:39:00.019+01:00

ahhh! I'm going crazy trying to figure out what I want to do for winter holiday (vinter ferie)! There are so many options! And they all cost money.. darn it! So my main task as of now is to figure out what I want to do for my nine-day school-free holiday.. oh the possibilities!

Yesterday was Fastelavn (pronounced fest ill oww en)! Fastelavn is like a carnival.. just a big party where everyone dresses up! Wikipedia describes it as "a Nordic Halloween" where kids dress up and gather for treats. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_in_Denmark%20) It was so much fun! I went shopping with my pals Bolette and Katja on tuesday to buy costumes at the second hand stores. We had a lot of fun, and I ended up stealing one of Katja's ideas and dressing up as an ice cream cone (is vaffel)! However I was a little doubtful of my costume as I made the cone on Thursday night but I think it turned out pretty good in the end! Or at least as good as an ice cream cone can get! And everyone could guess what I was which in my opinion constitutes a successful costume!

My class had a party at Nicka's house which was awesome! We ate pizza and danced and talked, which is simply the best! Nicka and Stephanie were gansters.. haha.. Katja was a weather woman, Mette and Sara were pirates, David was a samari, Anders was a mad scientist, Nick was the Joker, and Julie was a character from Star wars! At 21.00 we went to the school where EVERYONE was dressed up! The music was blasting and it was SO much fun! I walked home (a 10 minute walk from the school) at 01.00 and crashed in my bed I was so tired!

Julie

Mads

me and Katja

bolette and me

nick

mette and me

mads and mette

mette and Marie

This morning I woke up, showered and rode my bike down the bakery to see my friend Stinna who had to work there early this morning, and buy some fastelavns boller (bread.. or pasteries) which were SO good!I've also rediscovered how much I love my bike. My bikes (yes I have 2) both broke back in November so I've been walking everywhere. It's like one of those things where you say "yes we have to fix that!" and then never get around to it, you know? Bjarke fixed my bike a couple days ago being the wonderful person he is! and now I can cut my traveling time in half by riding my wonderfully fabulous bike! thank god!

Vinterlejr - Winter Camp in Nykøbing

2009-02-02T10:32:00.025+01:00

Hej guys!
First of all I want to say thank you for all the support and all the readers! It's been amazing lately how many people are reading and writing to me about doing an exchange! Så tak!!
(me and Snaper)
This weekend we had our Winter Camp in Nykøbing Falster! Which is kind of a long trip, considering we took the train. We should have taken the ferry, which goes from Svendborg straight to Nykøbing.. but at least now I know for next time! (when I go visit Ingrid from New Zealand.. below) It was a really good weekend being with exchange students and catching up with everyone! I love camps! Really I do.. but for me it was also a stressful and exhausting camp. It took us 3 hours to get to Nykøbing! (all the kids from Fyn went together and met up with others as they got on the train in other towns) AFS had sent all the exchangies tickets to Nykøbing, except they sent ME a ticket to Århus instead. So I had to buy my own ticket (300 kr or $60 which AFS will refund). Oh and yeah I kind of LOST this ticket sometime between Friday and Sunday and then had to buy ANOTHER ticket to get home (200 kr or $40) and almost missed the train home by 2 minutes! that was close! But aside from that it was really a good camp! The AFSers on Fyn and South Sjælland have been spending a lot of time together for the past month which makes me feel even closer to everyone.. which I love! (Gonzalo and Daiki and part of Francesca)

(Erika from Italy and Sara from Hong Kong)

(my gang on a walk.. it's funny when you scream "I HAVE A CAMERA!" a group emerges within seconds for a fabulous picture!)

Saturday night we had a big party where everyone had to dress up! I was feeling pretty sick though, just my luck, and I had to lie down for a lot of the night. But we still danced a lot! And didn't got to bed until 3! :) so much fun!

(Me and Vero)

(Erika from Italy, Daiki and Francesca)

(Erika, Pablo and Francesca)

(Lui from Hong Kong, Quentin from France and Pablo from Colombia)

Sunday we did something really cool! At the last camp we had to write letters to ourselves, about our goals and how we felt at the time. AFS kept the letters. And on Sunday we got them back! It was so funny to read it! I wrote a pretty good letter and it made me laugh to read what I thought I would want to hear in January. And then we got to write letters to ourselves again that AFS Denmark will send us in a year after we are home! I can't wait to get it next year! I put my first letter in the envelope too! And put little messages from me in my friends' envelopes that they will get next year! What a cool idea! I'm definitely bringing that idea home with me to AFS Alaska!
All in all a really good weekend. I'm just extremely tired as I haven't slept very long for the past few weeks and I could do with a long sleep! Keep in touch everyone! thinking of you at home..

love francine

Ministay in Næstved

2009-01-27T19:44:00.009+01:00

Every year, AFS Denmark arranges a ministay for all exchangies. A ministay is where you live with another family in another part of the country for a week. So exchangies can see more of Denmark and experience another lifestyle, and potential host families can try having an exchangie to see if it's something they would be interested in doing for a year. I went to Næstved, a town in southern Sjælland along with Daiki, Francesca, and Veronica. It was really great! My host mom and dad Bodil and Jimmy, and host sisters Natasja (13) and Rie (17) are so sweet! I had so much fun with them! I went to school with Rie everyday at Næstved Gymnasium. (not that I like having to start over making friends in a new class.. it's hard work!) I saw Natasja and Rie do gymnastics one day. Friday Natasja and I hung out at home, because Bodil, Jimmy and Rie went to a 60-year birthday party, watching movies and I made tacos! And on Saturday AFS organized a trip to København (Copenhagen) for all the ministay exchangies and the exchangies living in south and mid Sjælland. It was so much fun! All our host sibling came (I took Rie). We went to a "working museum" which was REALLY boring.. but funny. We walked downtown and went up the Round Tower, which has an AMAZING view over Copenhagen! read more at http://www.copenhagenet.dk/CPH-RoundTower.htm

And then? SHOPPING TIME! whoo! Veronica and Fern (from Thailand) and I went together.. and I bought a new coat! which I love! we hit all these huge sales! Gotta love sales.. especially in Denmark! hah! then we all met up and took the train home.. I will see everyone again when we have our winter camp this friday in Nykøbing! Monday Veronica and I hung out after school in Næstved and walked around. We ate at a cafe called Vivaldi and it was so nice! just girl time :) And today I took the train home after we finished in school. Rie brought me to the station.. she has been so sweet to me! My ministay family has invited me to come back and visit anytime! It's funny.. I really missed Fyn.. and Bjarke and Solvej and my friends. And although I had a really good time on ministay, Daiki and I both said to each other as we stepped off the train in Ringe "ahh Ringe.. it's good to be home."

North Pole, Where It's Christmas All Year Long

2009-01-19T22:17:00.002+01:00

Just a quick post! Bjarke and I just caught a special on the "explorer" channel about North Pole! The show was about how it's Christmas all year long in North Pole.. and about how Christmas every day caused 6 students at N.P. middle to plan a school shooting (what was it, 3 years ago now? Can you guys remember how scary that was?) It was fun to show Bjarke North Pole.. Mocha Moose, Safeway, the Santa Clause House, the Middle School, etc.. except that it was about how pretending it's "Christmas every day!" actually drives kids to want to kill their classmates. Right... funny that it was airing in DK though!

Mad fra Hele Verden

2009-01-18T17:49:00.009+01:00

Hej guys!

Wow have I been busy! I love that! I went shopping with Rebeca and Adriana last Wednesday and we hit all the January sales.. so much fun! And I got some dresses on sale.. whoo! Friday was Veronica's birthday! So I went to her house in Svendborg for pizza and then the 5 of us (all exchangies) walked to town and bummed around pub crawling which is just so much fun! So cozy! I will definitely miss that.. there's nothing like it at home.

Walking around on coblestone streets at 2 in the morning dancing and singing and running around town from bar to bar. There's nothing like it. So we had a really great night! Saturday I made brownies and hung out watching movies because Solvej and Bjarke went to Germany to buy cola and candy and stuff. Then I went with two of my danish friends, Rie and Lea (I spent Christmas with them, remember?) to see Australia in Ringe! Really good movie! but really long.. almost 3 hours!!

ANDDD today! Well I haven't written about it yet, but we have "mini stay students" here on Fyn this week.. a ministay is where you go to live with another family for one week so they can try having an exchange student and you can see how other people live and try living in another part of Denmark. So we have 17 ministay students on Fyn this week, plus our 12. So today we had this big event where all 29 exchangies make food from their country and bring their families! So we had ALL this food!

(Yannik from Switzerland announcing his food.. haha)

and then? the exchangies had to entertain everyone. And seeing as I'll probably be the only exchange student from North Pole on Fyn.. I just HAD to talk about Alaska and North Pole. I was SOOO nervous! I wrote a funny "speech" but it was pretty much interesting things about Alaska.. and what people here think about Alaska and what's actually true. And funny stories about things that have happened to me here. Everyone said I did really good! I hope so! I was so nervous!! haha.. but now it's done! We sang songs on stage, had skits, a Thai dance, a game and a Thai and Italian girl singing the Little Mermaid "under the sea" in Italian, Thai and Danish which was really cool! so a really fun day!

It took me a long time to figure out what "American" food I could make. We eat food from OTHER countries in America! So I figured out to make Macaroni & Cheese, Shepards pie, and brownies. And I brought little American flags on toothpicks from the 4th of July so everyone had little American flags everyone! It was so cool! haha..

(Rebeca's host sister Natalie)

I will go on ministay on Tuesday in Næstved (Sjælland) and live with another family. I'm really excited! I've been talking to one of my host sisters, Rie (I will have 2- 13 and 17 years old) and I will go to her Gymnasium with her! And today the 4 new kids coming to Fyn moved to their host families! So I will meet Sara.. a girl from Colombia going to my school, tomorrow! We have been talking a lot so i'm excited to meet her!

That's it for now! I will keep you updated..

in progress..

2009-01-14T11:12:00.002+01:00

i'm currently working on finding a new blog backdrop as I am tired of my previous one. So the backdrop will be changing for the next couple of days...

time flies

2009-01-13T13:18:00.021+01:00

I keep finding these lists all over the place titled “You know you’re an exchange student when..” and although I can relate to most of the points I thought it would be funny to make my own list.

You know you’re an exchangie (in Denmark) when..

You could go to any part of the world and have a personal tour guide.
Your English sucks (I’m always forgetting words or saying strange things).
Your friends tell you you sound like you’re singing on the phone.
An $60 pair of jeans is considered “a good deal”.
Going around in the same clothes for (up to) 3 days is perfectly acceptable.
When someone asks you how far it is from point A to B you tell them how long it takes by train, bus, car, bike and foot.
Riding a bike is like driving a car- you must obey the bike stoplights, use hand signals and have working lights (from Jen.. check out her fabulous blog in my links).
Sheets on the bed? What do you mean sheets?
You relearn how to use a fork and knife (fork in the left hand, knife in the right).
You can’t shop after 6 pm because all stores are closed.
You realize you COULD follow your classes, but what’s the point when you could play on your computer?
You’re better than your teacher in your language class (and you SHOULD be!)
People at school know you as “The girl from Canada”
You’re shocked when people know your name before you introduce yourself.
You introduce yourself by name and country. “I’m Francine from Alaska… yes we speak English there."
You get high fives when you understand what someone said to you.
When you go to school parties, the teachers are selling beer to the students.
You stop trying to figure out what’s going on when you hear your name in a conversation. If they want you to know, they’ll tell you.
You’re able to watch tv in your host language and figure out what’s going on.
When you don’t understand a question you answer “Nej tak!” (no thanks!) and then get strange looks..

you carry a dictionary and a camera in your bag.

you get so used to broken English you finish people's sentences even though no one else can understand them.

you get into arguments with the foreign language teacher (English) over how to pronounce something (ALL THE TIME!).

you know every cuss word in your host language, but still cant conjugate into past or future tense.

peoples stares don't bother you anymore.

a conversation is going fine, before it suddenly get stuck on some word or phrase which makes you completely forget what you were talking about.

you automatically use words in a foreign language that you cant even translate but they just seem to fit the context (hyggelig).

I’ll keep trying to add to the list. I used a few from a facebook group and from Jen (USA).

It’s scary. I have been thinking about it lately. I’ve been here for almost 6 months. I’m going home in 5. I know it’s a ways off and my friends are telling me “Don’t think about it.. you have time. Take one day at a time.” but it’s still looming in the distance and sometimes it just hits me that I don’t have that much time left. Next week I’m going on a ministay to Næstved in Sjælland, then we have “Food from All Around the World” and our winter camp with AFS. Then Winter holiday, class trip to Milano Italy, Jutland’s tour with Benthe, etc. So really, it will go very fast. But at the same time I think of all the cool things I’ve done since I came to Denmark. Too many things to list.. and too many amazing experiences to recap. I just can’t believe it’s already half over. And I already know it will be just as hard to go home as it was to leave.

Snaper the Rapper

2009-01-10T21:54:00.004+01:00

Friday after school I went with Casper to this hang out place with some guys from school we know. It was so much fun! Just hanging out.. and then we have this new AFSer at school named Snaper from Hong Kong. He was living in Aalborg (remember I was there last week?) but now he's living in Årslev and going to my school. He's so cool! I really like him.. I took him around school on Monday and he hung out with my class. And today, Casper took me to this place and BOOM! There was Snaper! Already made friends and everything! (impressive for 1 week..) He told me that his class (which is a music class) had a rapping contest.. and Snaper got up in front of everyone and rapped in Chinese! Like.. what a way to make friends fast! Damn! Why didn't I think of that?? haha.. Then we were like "ohhh come on! rap for us!" So he did! And I managed to catch it on tape! It's amazing.. you have to see!
(I'm having trouble uploading.. check for the video tomorrow)

Today I met up with Daiki and Gammam in Odense.. some of the others were supposed to come but they didn't show up. And a lot of them (love em to death but..) are SO lame they don't ever want to do anything.. So we decided to come back to my house in Ringe and have a movie night! and Veronica came from Svendborg too! It was a really fun just hanging out and watching a movie. We watched "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Imporium". It was awesome.. it left me with a twinkle in my eye. That good. And Bjarke broke the news to me today: Since we started the gym at the beginning of December he has lost 16 kilos (over 33 lbs). Holy crap. I am waking up at 7 to spin for an hour at the gym. And I decided I'm not going to eat anymore. We'll see how long THAT lasts.. probably until I'm hungry again?

Frogs don't go Ribbet

2009-01-09T11:02:00.004+01:00

I never even thought about it. Cows go moo, dogs go woof. Period. And today my friends and I were talking about frogs (for some reason) and they said "Kvæk". KVÆK! I thought it was a natural law that frogs go ribbet.. but no! In Denmark the frogs go kvæk. Then we just started listing off animals.. Dogs go vov. Pigs go øf (ooof). Cows and cats are the same: moo and meow. Horses go vrinsk. Sheep go mæh (meeehh). and Frogs go kvæk. Mind-blowing, right?

a wonderful weekend!

2009-01-04T18:50:00.019+01:00

Wow! I really have so much to blog about! My friend Doug, who's from USA and doing exchange in Norway, came to visit me! He came on Friday morning and Bjarke and I picked him up in Odense. It was so cool that he came! I met him in New York right before I came to Denmark so I hadn't seen him in 6 months! And after a 9-hour bus trip and 2 hour train trip he was really tired! Bjarke, me and him ate a really nice breakfast and he went and took a nap. Then I had to figure out.. what are we going to do? What can I show him? I decided on the Odense Zoo! I had been wanting to go and I heard it was a really cool Zoo! So we took the train to Odense.. walked REALLY far to the Zoo (later found out we could have taken the bus for free.. damn!). I was so excited that we even found the Zoo seeing as I didn't bring a map or address! haha.. And we saw tigers, lions, flamingos, monkeys and manatees. Doug and I were kind of confused how if manatees are an endangered species there can be 4 of them in a Danish Zoo? But it was a really great trip! Then we walked back to the station and took the train home. And then Shannon came over and we all watched Harry Potter and other movies and just had a good time! On Saturday I planned an ice skating trip in Odense (where I went with Nikolai last monday) with all the AFS exchangies on Fyn! Doug, Shannon and I got there half an hour early, so we decided to go check out the town church because Solvej said there was a king's (was it a king, solvej?) body preserved there. The Church is absolutely beautiful! but it was kind of creepy seeing the "crypt" and the king's bones! (and his brother's.. that was weird) Then we went to the ice rink and met up with a BUNCH of exchangies! not just AFS but kids a ton of kids from our language school! It was SO much fun! So freaking funny to see kids from South America ice skating! If you've been following my blog then you already know how much I love the ice rink in Odense and how beautiful it is there, so I'm not going to write any more about that. After skating 5 of us decided to get a bite to eat and we hung out a good restaurant for a couple hours and then went to this english/irish pub and watched a football (soccer) game on TV. And it was just SO cozy! So fun to hang out! We are totally going to do it again! Today I wasn't really sure what we should do. I thought "ehh I will just walk Doug around Ringe and make it LOOK like a big town!" haha.. but then I remember I had to go to a Nytårs Parade (New Year's Parade) for Spejder (Scouts) at 15.00! So we went! We sang songs in the church and listened to a story and some preaching (however.. not like a Catholic church.. it's a Protestant church and therefore somewhat more uplifting if you catch my drift?) and then we went outside. At this point it was snowing like crazy! Big beautiful snowflakes! We walked in a parade with flags and torches and a big band all through the town and then went to the Old Folk's home and sang songs for them and they gave us hot chocolate and bread. It was just so cozy! So much fun! It felt like a fairytale how beautiful it was with little kids and big snowflakes and torches and music!

Tomorrow I start school again after my 2 week holiday, which was fantastic! I mean.. I love seeing my friends at school! Hate the actual school part.. but tomorrow Snaper, a kid from Hong Kong who has been living in Ålborg (remember I talked about shopping in Ålborg last week?) is moving to Årslev.. right down the road and going to my school! So I am going to show him around the school and introduce him to our counselor, Kamilla, tomorrow which I'm looking forward to! Keep writing everyone! I love hearing from you guys! love francine

BTW if you have facebook you need to join the group "Solvej Needs Jelly Beans" and support Solvej's quest for Jelly Belly Jelly Beans to appease her addiction! Tusen tak!

Ice Skating in Odense

2009-01-01T22:44:00.011+01:00

Oooo I forgot to write about my ice skating! Last monday I really wanted to go ice skating at this rink in Odense that Bjarke and Solvej had told me about.. and I asked Nikolai to come with me! So we took the train to Odense and walked to the ice rink.. and Nikolai's girlfriend Kristine met us there! It was so much fun! I mean.. my ice skating is not so great.. but it was so beautiful with all the christmas lights and little kids smiling and running around. I really loved just sitting there and people watching too! haha.. just wanted to share.. love francine

GODT NYTÅR! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-01-01T21:51:00.013+01:00

I can't believe we're in 2009 now! 2008 just flew by! And in Denmark, they ring in the new year with a BANG! Literally... I had dinner with Maria, her family and a few of their friends. And then I walked down the road to my friend Nicka's (who's in my class) friend's house for a New Year's party, which was SO much fun! It was a couple girls I know from my school, 3 girls from my class (Stephanie, Maria, and Nicka) and some other guys from our school.. and was really fun! Then I walked home for the BIG midnight! Bjarke explained to me that it's normal for kids to come home and wish their family HAPPY NEW YEAR! at midnight.. and then go back out and party! So I came home.. (and Solvej and Bjarke's friend Rene was here too) and had champagne and "jumped" into the new year! And then... I haven't mentioned the fireworks yet. Leading up to midnight.. people were lighting fireworks all night. (remember that it's hard to get good pictures of fireworks.. but Solvej and I like this picture)

Now, at home, we light the fireworks far away from where we're standing and we make sure no one is too close to them. Right? Here in Ringe, the houses are very close together.. so where do you think they light the fireworks from? Ummmm the street! And kids are going around with lighters lighting fireworks and not caring which direction they are going! When I walked to my friend's house from Maria's house I was SO scared! The moment I walked out the door this guy through a "flare" into the road. I was a little hestitant so I stood by the house.. not sure what the flare would do. And then BOOOM!! A bright white light and this HUGE BOOM! Then I was scared! It was like World War III at midnight! I mean, beautiful! I love fireworks! But not when kids are lighting them 2 feet from me.. not necessarily pointing up.

Men.. Godt Nytår! (but.. Happy New Year!) I hope you have a wonderful 2009! Be sure to check out my sweet 2009 glasses hehe..

love Francine

The Edge of the Atlantic.. Way up North

2008-12-27T17:55:00.014+01:00

Standing on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.. thousands and thousands of miles from home (and 10 time zones).. you really realize JUST how far way you are. On Friday Bjarke, Solvej and I drove up North to visit some family friends, Jesper and Elizabeth, they're two boys, Emil and Mikkel, and they're new baby girl Kristine (only 14 days old!). And we stayed at Solvej's dad, Ove's house. He lives in a town called Pandrup, just miles from the ocean. It is amazingly beautiful! I love smelling the salt before you can see the water. There are huge piles of sand everywhere, and tons of beautiful, quaint summer houses (really freaking expensive summer houses...). And Bjarke says "OK.. your house is just THAT way! If you start swimming NOW then you'll hit Canada and you can just walk the rest of the way home, right?" It was just so pretty! Pretty darn cold because of the wind! but beautiful.. I can't wait to go back!

On Saturday we drove to Ålborg to go shopping! Ålborg has a huge shopping area! So many stores! And it is also really beautiful. There are Christmas lights and decorations up and there were SO MANY people out and about today. Solvej told me that today is the one of the busiest days for shops as people are returning and exchanging Christmas gifts. And it was! I also talked to this boy who was advertising about Greenpeace. I've read a bit about Greenpeace but didn't know very much about it. So (and I have to admit.. I was kind of embarassed to just go over and say hello, but Bjarke convinced me and YES BJARKE I'm actually happy that I did. I learned quite a lot and it was acutally really nice talking to him. He'd even been to Alaska before!) If you want to read more about Greenpeace check out http://www.greenpeace.org/international/ It's a very interesting and a really great organization! I bought a couple pairs of funky earings from H & M which I'm pretty happy about! And Solvej bought enough socks to last her the next 10 years.. which she was happy about!

I don't remember the drive home.. I feel asleep as soon as the car left neutral and woke up on Nyvej (my road).. So I have a feeling I will be up pretty late tonight, with 3 extra hours of sleep under my belt. But I better go! Thanks again to all of you readers! I just found out a few more people are reading my blog and I am just as excited as I am appreciative. Thank you! love francine

Glædelig Jul! Merry Christmas!

2008-12-26T18:49:00.014+01:00

My very first Danish Christmas! And it was really wonderful! I babysat two little girls on the 23rd and on the morning of the 24th I woke up there, they drove me home and I hung out for a while with Bjarke and Solvej. I finished wrapping the last gifts and then went over to Maria's house (my last host family) to hang out with the boys and talk and eat Christmas candies and coffee. It was so nice! I decked THEIR halls with snowflakes too! (I don't remember if I've mentioned that I've been making A LOT of snowflakes lately? It's good for stress relief!! plus they're really beautiful..) I gave the boys candy and Matador Junior - Monopoly Junior. And Bjarke and Solvej bought them those really annoying toy guns that go "BOOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!" and never stop.. Maria got one too :) I'm just happy they got them AFTER I moved haha.. but they had fun with them!
Then we went over to Bjarke and Solvej's family friends house- Sanne and Jens (the mom and dad) and two girls my age Rie and Lea, who I know. It was so nice! We ate a big Christmas dinner with goose and potatoes and gravy which was really yummy! And then we played the Package Game!
The Package Game- everyone brings a gift (at Rie and Lea's everyone had to buy two stupid gifts) there is a dice that goes around the table. If you get a 6 you can pick a package. When there are no more packages, the timer is set and the dice goes around REALLY fast. You can steal gifts from other people. When the time goes off, the gifts you still have are yours! I won with 4 presents! Including a lifetime supply of tissues. I contributed Depends and a shower cap! hehe..
After the Package Game we ate ris a la mande (mmmmmm) and Sanne won the present! Then we danced around the Christmas tree singing songs!! SO much fun! Hey mom, dad and elliot? you'll be doing it next year! Accept it.. Then we opened presents! OMG I was SO impatient! You know at home how we just rip open the presents because we're so excited? No.. in Denmark it is considered rude to rip open your presents. Each piece of tape must be removed and each flap of paper must be carefully set aside.. I was like "HOLY CRAP JUST OPEN IT!!" haha.. and it was excruciating to be "polite" and take 10 minutes to open one present!
And at about 10 pm I just started balling. I couldn't even feel it coming on.. I just realized how much I missed home. You would too if you were away from home for Christmas. I called my mom and talked to her for a while.. she said and a I quote "Just appreciate it because next time you go to Denmark YOU'LL be paying for it.. not me". You can imagine how THAT made me feel so much better! I love you mom :) And then I called Heather (my pal at home in Alaska) and talked to her for a LONG time. And then you know? My homesickness was gone. I had a massive headache from crying.... but then I was good. And I'm actually really happy to have had my Christmas here in Denmark! It was really wonderful!
Tusen tak Maria og hendes familie, Bjarke og Solvej, og Sanne, Jens, Rie og Lea for en virkelig dejlig jul!

ALMOST Christmas!

2008-12-23T09:25:00.009+01:00

Hej Everyone!

Tomorrow is Christmas! Well.. at least Christmas Eve! In Denmark (and many other countries) Christmas is celebrated on the 24th of December. In USA, Christmas is celebrated on the 25th of December. We wake up early in the morning to see all the gifts Santa has brought us in the middle of the night and then we are with friends and family all day.. opening gifts and eating and eating and .. EATING. But here in Denmark, Christmas Eve (th 24th) at night, everyone gets Christmas presents and dances around the Christmas tree singing songs. I'm not kidding.. In Denmark, dancing around the Christmas tree holding hands and singing songs is a HUGE part of Christmas! It sounds crazy.. I know! But believe me! It is SO MUCH FUN! You can't even imagine.. Last Friday, our last day of school for 2 weeks, the WHOLE school (whole meaning all 200 or so kids) joined hands and sang songs dancing around the Christmas tree in the middle of the school! And although I couldn't sing the danish Christmas songs (except for skilemedinka dinka dooo) it was SO amazingly fun! I already know that I will miss it so much next year!

(Bjarke and caviar)

As far as food.. in USA we usually have turkey and a big meal (or something like that). I have already written about the Julefrokoster (Christmas lunches) I've been going to. But you don't really know what I've been eating there! The typical foods are rugbrød (rye bread) with sild (raw hering.. I have a story about the hering for later!) and egg (with caviar which is DISGUSTING!), æble flæsker (fried apples and bacon.. VERY GOOD!), blod pølser (blood sausages.. pig blood and raisens.. NOT GOOD! I have a story!), pig meat sausage with meat from the pig's face and beatroot on top, and leverpostej (liver paste) with bacon and mushrooms, to name a few.

(blod pølser)

(bjarke's ikky pig brain!)

My friends and I had a big discussion over whether sild (hering) that we ate at Christmas lunches was actually raw. IT IS! They were in denial.. but my friend Astrid and I proved that it is only marinated and is actually raw! Bjarke has forced me/tricked me to eat some blod pølser (blood sausages) with syrup.. it is SO GROSS! And then Bjarke says "ohh! but it's full of iron!" I thought I was going to throw up! blehhhhhhh.. Luckily Solvej helped me gulp some down! And I am not a fan of pig brain (my nickname for it.. it's not ACTUALLY pig brain).. I don't like it!
Oh! It is also typical to have ris a la mande, which is THE BEST! It is like rice pudding with chopped almonds and cherry sauce (or as bjarke likes.. carmel sauce) on top! And at Christmas time, there is one whole almond and the person who finds the whole almond gets a present! So you just keep eating and eating (not necessarily a good thing..) but I'm hoping I win! Wish me luck!

Well that's what's coming up for me tomorrow! haha.. Last Friday my class had a Christmas lunch/party at my friend Nicka's house and it was SO much fun! Saturday and Sunday I pretty much just chilled.. Bjarke has given me permission seeing as I will be busy every weekend in January. AFS (in Denmark at least) does a week of ministay in January. Where we go live with another family in another part of Denmark.. to let US see more of Denmark and to let another family try having an exchange student to see if it's something they want to do in the future. I am going to Sjælland (Zealand) but I will let you know more about that in January. Yesterday I went and hung out with Shannon all day! We finished up our Christmas shopping and wrapped presents and talked. It was so nice! I had a really great day! I also got a letter from my friend Heather (hi heather! :) and a package from my Aussie pals the Bedfords! (hi guys!) which was SUCH a nice surprise! Thank you!

And well.. that's about it for now! I will blog again in a couple days.. after Christmas. I hope you're a little more culturized about Danish Christmas tradition now! And I hope you have a wonderful Christmas! I'm thinking of you all and missing you! But am very excited for my first Danish Christmas! I love you guys! love francine

OH! and I found this website if you're interested in finding out more about Danish Christmas traditions! http://www.californiamall.com/holidaytraditions/traditions-Denmark.htm

Read my blog in your own language!

2008-12-17T18:32:00.003+01:00

Hey guys!
I discovered something TRULY amazing today! My dad has been telling me that he was able to read read my friend Veronica's blog (link below on the right) in english, even though she writes in spanish! I asked him about it today and he said the option popped up when clicked on the link. But it doesn't do that for me.. soooo I went to google and found an html to add the language option to my blog! So now you can read my blog in Spanish, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, etc! And if YOU have a blog I highly suggest you add this feature so everyone can read your blog (hint hint Pablo, Rebeca, Shannon and Veronica..) If you have blogger.com, go to Add a Gadget- select HTML/Javascript and add the html! You can find the html at http://labnol.blogspot.com/2005/11/add-language-translation-to-website.html (number 1 is the one I used)
Good luck! love francine

Julefrokost på mit hus!

2008-12-14T15:01:00.005+01:00

(Christmas lunch at my house!)

Helloooo!

Last night we had a Julefrokost at my house! In Denmark around Christmas time people have Christmas lunches, like the one we had last weekend for AFS. We don't really have "Christmas lunches" at home, but I think it's very similar to just having a Christmas party.. I am going to a Julefrokost for my class at my friend Nicka's house on Friday which I think will be really fun! But anyway! We had a really good time last night! And some really good food! Aside from the raw sild (hering) which I'm not too fond of.. But here's some goofy pictures from last night!

recent discoveries..

2008-12-09T21:40:00.008+01:00

I have been wondering to myself for the past month "When is the grass going to die?" In the middle of December we still have bright green amazing grass... I kept thinking "nahh it will die soon.." as our grass in Alaska does back in September. In Alaska we have a whole month where all vegetation is or just looks dead and depressing, preparing us for our 8 month winter. So I asked my friend Astrid the other day "So, when will the grass die?" and she's said "Die?! It won't die.. It's green all year, what are you talking about?" THE GRASS IN DENMARK DOESN'T DIE! Yeah ok it sounds kind of lame, but I can't understand how it doesn't die! I will have green grass ALL YEAR! Amazing.. truly amazing.. It's funny that it's not very cold here. It feels like October at home. I keep waiting for it to get colder (not WANTING but everyone is saying "ohhhh that cold danish weather!") I'm enjoying it! Some days it's really warm.. today it was kind of cold. But again-feels like October. It's just WINDY here.. that makes all the difference. So when it IS cold, it's really cold. And trying to keep your bike steady when the wind is pushing you onto the road is scary!

I wanted you to see what my mom just emailed me.. she says "BTW I read your new blog ..... you were born and raised in a frozen hell. Alaskan childred never know that it's actually warm and beautiful everywhere else for MOST of the year .... until they grow up and leave and discover it for themselves! Parents are careful to NEVER let them know the extent of their suffering, lest we ALL decide to leave this frigid cold hell that we call home. :) And so..... we just go to Hawaii or Mexico a lot!" haha.. so NOW you see how much I've been suffering! hehe

update on my eyeball- doing MUCH better! Hardly hurts at all.. and at least I can keep it open again! I've been wearing my glasses all week and everyone says "hey! new glasses?" hah.. I don't think it was pink eye.. just an eye infection or something.. who knows?
(These pictures are of Shannon from New Zealand discovering snow.. haha.. it was really funny to watch!) But that's about it for now! haha.. better dash! love francine

Moving

2008-12-07T20:39:00.012+01:00

hej guys,

I've been keeping pretty busy! But this past week I moved out of my host family's house. My host mom, Maria, started a new job and because of the hours, my contact person Bjarke and the head of AFS Fyn, Benthe decided that it would be better if I moved to Bjarke and Solvej's house for the rest of the year. So, last Thursdsay I moved to Solvej and Bjarke's house. Basically right down the street.. haha.. It's going really good here! And I really really like Bjarke and Solvej! They have been so good to me! So anyway.. that's the lastest news! And my new mailing address is

Nyvej 18

5750 Ringe, Denmark

of course, if you've already sent things to my previous address, don't worry. I will get it! And then on Saturday we had a Julefrokost (a Christmas lunch) for AFS Fyn at the Spejderhytten (scout house.. pictures coming soon!!) and it was SO MUCH FUN! Really..we had such a good time! And afterwards Bjarke drove me and Rebeca to her house in Nyborg and I spent the night. We went out and met some of her friends (which was really cool too!) and hung out.. haha it was great! And then we went back to her house and slept.

The only bad thing about this weekend was that I got this "eye infection" we're calling it right now.. I could hardly keep my right eye open and it was a little swollen and red and it was just crying (can you say that your eye was crying?) So that was fun! I took the train home from Nyborg to Odense to Ringe (because the train doesn't go from Nyborg to Ringe) and was home in 30 minutes. And then Bjarke rinsed my eye out with "eye water" .. like salt water and I wiped it with warm water and it feels better.. definitely better! But it still hurts.. we'll see how it is tomorrow! (as i know how important it is for you to know about my eye.. haha)

But yeah! After that we went to Mathias' fødselsdag fest (birthday party).. Mathias' is this boy who's family used to live next door and are good friends with Bjarke and Solvej. I came along because I've met Mathias and his sister Nanna a few times and they said I could come. hehe and I gave him a pack of Razzles (my favorite!!) an Alaska key chain and a Polar Bear kiss (a chocolate pepermint candy).

So yeah! Now i'm about to go to bed! Give my eye some rest! But I wanted to fill you in! And as Bjarke says I am slacking (again... yeah i know) in my blogging I will work harder keeping up! Thanks for everything guys! I really love hearing from you guys at home and those who read this! Thinking of you guys and having fun here in Danmark.. love francine

Skole Fødselsdag and painting Pablo's wall

2008-12-02T14:05:00.005+01:00

whew! It's been a while since I've blogged (ok so like a week?). Yesterday Bjarke was like "You're getting slack in your blogging!"
Last Friday my school had a big Skole Fødselsdag Fest - A school birthday party! Everyone brings their parents and then you sit with your class and eat food and listen to music/entertainment. And then the 3rd years (we have 3 grades at the gymnasium) are dressed really fancy, like prom, and they do some traditional dance and everyone watches them. It was pretty cool! And they have a DJ playing music in one wing of the school and a live band in another, and a place for the parents to sit and have coffee and cake in another wing. It was a really really good night! I enjoyed it so much!
Then Saturday morning.. Bjarke calls my house at 9.30 and tells me to bike to his house (in the rain) to call Kyla. I was not too happy. I had planned on SLEEPING. But Anders took me and it was actually really good to talk to her. I miss her like crazy! So ok, I'm glad I woke up at 9.30, I admit it. Saturday afternoon Maria took me to Pablo's house and Pablo and I made brownies (which I had to spin off last night...) and then Florian and Anazette (Pablo's temporary host parents) told him we could paint his room. We were supplied with paint and brushes and we went crazy! It was really fun! I have some pictures.. but again they're on Pablo's camera.. patience. Why don't I bring my camera? What an idea!
That's about it. Except that I want to mention I slept until 12.00 on Sunday! haha.. it was really fabulous! I will try to blog again soon! love francine :)

Celebrating Thanksgiving in Denmark!

2008-11-23T22:12:00.006+01:00

(the first pic of the day! )

THANKSGIVING!

I decided that as Thanksgiving is an American holiday, I would share it with my friends and family here in Denmark! (And we celebrated it yesterday, Sunday, because we can't on Thursday) I asked everyone in my class to bring a dish to share. I had this plan in my head- Chicken, mashed potatoes (katoflermus) and Pumpkin pie. hahaha.. Chicken for everyone cost 400 kr ($80) and I couldn't find PUMPKIN to make PUMPKIN pie or the stuff to make Pecan pie. So we had chicken nuggets and this awesome green and blue cake with pink frosting that my host mom made! haha.. And you know? It was SO GOOD!

There were 12 kids from my class, 3 exchange students, and my family. And we had SO MUCH FOOD! And I bought/borrowed the supplies so everyone could make a paper Thanksgiving turkey. You know in elementary school how we make the "thankful turkey" where you write what you're grateful for on the feathers? yeah, I made everyone make one! haha.. I think everyone had a really nice time! I know I did!

And thank you Maria, Solvej and Bjarke, my stipper pals, and my class for a really wonderful Thanksgiving!

Taasinge Julemarket!

2008-11-23T22:11:00.013+01:00

Lørdag (Saturday) -

SNOW! The first "snow".. I think it is one of the coolest feelings in the world when you wake up and look outside and BOOM! everything is white! I love it! It was more like hail though.. little tiny white balls.. not real snow, but it counts for something! Plus, I look at it in a positive way: If it's snowing, it's too cold to rain! Which is a HUGE bonus!

But Saturday, Francesca (Italy), Pablo (Colombia), Daiki (Japan) and me decided to go to a market on Taasinge! So we all took the train/bus to Svendborg to meet there. I got to the Svendborg station and Pablo and Francesca were already there. And I said "Francesca, where are we going on Taasinge?" and Francesca says "Oh, just to the center of town.." and I said "But Francesca, Taasinge is an island...." haha.. Ok, it was pretty funny. (I love you Francesca!)

So anyway.. we found out where the Julemarket (Christmas market) was on Taasinge. The bus driver told us we had to walk 3 kilometers or so from the bus stop. HAH! We walked for an hour.. in the "cold". And when we got there, it was THE SMALLEST market.. haha with older people and we were SO COOL, because we were exchange students! haha.. So after the market, we went back to Svendborg and met a girl we know named Ida who did exchange in Indiana (USA) last year and had PIZZA. It was SUCH a good day, really! So much fun! :) Despite walking for an hour.. haha.. it was good for us!

(I was so proud that we made it so being the dork that I am, i took a picture of the sign! haha..)

MY CLASS!

2008-11-20T08:50:00.002+01:00

Hey a quickie!

A girl in my class just posted our class picture online! (it was taken the 2nd day of school way back in August) So now you can see! At schools in Denmark you stay with one class and go to different class rooms with different teachers.. but this is my class!
later gators-

francine

A busy week!

2008-11-19T18:48:00.009+01:00

Hola!

I am slacking in my blogging! I just logged on an realized I haven't blogged in like a week एंड I've done quite a bit!
Lørdag (Saturday)- I met up with some other exchange students on Fyn- Pablo from Colombia, Veronica from Chile, and Francesca from Italy-in Svendborg, where Veronica lives. We went to the Naturama (where there ALL kinds of dead stuff animals). And then we met Veronica's host dad at Fotex (a grocery store) to buy food for the dinner we made! haha.. Pablo was SUPPOSED to (according to Veronica) bring a Colombian recipe.. but he didn't know/forgot so I suggested we make burritos. haha.. American style. I will upload pictures soon! (Veronica and Pablo have them)

Søndag (Sunday)-
Sunday we celebrated Mathias' birthday! Bjarke, Solvej, and Farmor (Anders' mom) came over at 14.00 (2 pm). My whole family was there and Pablo too because we hung out all weekend. We had Lagkage (pronounced lauww K) and hot chocolate!! Lagcake is Danish birthday cake and there are TONS of different kinds, but Lagcake in general the BEST CAKE EVER! And then around 18.00 (6 pm) we had dinner. It was so much fun everyone being there! haha.. but my head hurt so bad at the end because of SO much danish all day! You tire really easily when you are trying to understand.. and then try doing it for 6 hours non-stop. But it was such a good day! A good weekend! :) (this almost looks like the lagkage my host mom makes) Mandag og Onsdag (Monday and Wednesday)-
I have recently started spinning class too! Ok.. it is REALLY HARD but I feel SO good when I'm done! I haven't been exercising so I'm really excited to be going to spinning now! And the funny thing is.. I bike to spinning.. spin for an hour.. and bike home. In the rain.. gotta love biking! :)
But I am going every Monday and Wednesday and I really like it!

Tirsdag (Tuesday)-
My friend from school, Bolette and I took the train to Svendborg! We bummed around for a while and then had pizza (really really good pizza!!). And then we walked some more.. went into a Fotex (an everything store like Freds but MUCH smaller) and then took the train home again. It was SO nice! I really had a good time! I biked home and then went to Spejder (Scouts- girl scouts) next door to my house for 2 hours. And I was SO tired by the time I went to sleep!

So that's it for now! Today (Tirsdag or Thursday) we have an AFS exchange student dinner like we have once a month! So i'm really excited to be together with all my pals! Thanks for reading!
love francine

Saying Goodbye to Kyla

2008-11-15T03:44:00.005+01:00

One more quick blog tonight..

I never got a chance to write about Kyla. On Thursday she left for South Africa - where she
was born-to visit family for 3 months before going home to Australia. Kyla had a get-together at her house on Tuesday night and me and 5 other exchangies spent the night. I had to say goodbye to her on Wednesday morning and it was probably one of the hardest things I've done yet. Even harder than saying goodbye to you guys at home in Alaska. I know it sounds crazy.. but the thing is: even though I miss my friends at home like crazy, I will be home in 9 months and I will see them again. I have no idea when I'll see Kyla again and that makes it even harder to let go. Kyla and I have spent so much time together since I got here and have become really close.. and I will miss her an insane amount.

To you Kyla- because I know you read this- I love you! and I'm thinking about you! Thank you for everything.. I miss you already!

The Czech Republic- last 4 days

2008-11-13T16:23:00.026+01:00

Hey guys!

I hope you've already read my last two posts about our first 4 days in the Czech Republic! Now you can see what we did on days 5, 6, 7 and 8... our last 4 days in the Czech!

day 5

Alrighty.. on Wednesday we decided to see the Prague castle/church. It was a really nice day out- sunny and warm. It had been foggy all week so far so we didn't get to have a cool view over Prague. So we saw the Prague castle, which.. was SO COOL. It was amazing. SO old! and SO huge! "The Prague Castle is a castle in Prague where the Czech kings, Holy Roman Emperors and presidents of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic have had their offices. The Czech Crown Jewels are kept here. Prague Castle is one of the biggest castles in the world (according to Guin ness Book of Records the biggest ancient castle) at about 570 meters in length and an average of about 130 meters wide." You can read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Castle and check out my pictures!

And it was REALLY cool because when we were at the Castle, where the President lives, there was an official visit from two people from Guinea, in Africa. SO! We got to see the official welcoming and watch the guards march and stuff.. and that was pretty exciting! My favorite thing was that the soldiers looked SO happy- so proud to be able to march.. haha and also like they could BARELY keep from laughing. It was awesome! :)

Then we walked down the Prague Castle stairs- I think Solvej called them the King's steps- and we got to see an amazing view of Prague. It was so cool! I can't even describe it.. maybe the pictures will help.. then we walked through Prague some more and then took a sweet boat tour!

and when it was dark we walked back up the King's steps and back to the car. A long day! We were all pretty tired from so much walking..

day 6

On Thursday we saw Karlstein Castle. Bjarke actually bought a book with facts about the Karlstein Castle so I will come back and add more later.. but the Karlstein castle was AMAZING. A real medieval castle! "Discover Karlstein castle one of Czech Republic's prized treasures. This high gothic castle was built in 1348 and overlooks the beautiful Karlstien village and valley. The castle was originally built by Czech King and Roman Emperor Charles IV with the impressive 60 meter high great tower for safekeeping of the royal treasures, especially Charles's collection of holy relics and the coronation jewels of the Roman Empire." You can actually get a 360º virtual tour through this link http://www.freshtourism.com/Countries/Czech_Republic/Karlstein_Castle_360deg;_Tour~250/Castle_360deg;_Tour~250/

and there are little shops all the way up to the Castle. But because we went in the "winter" there aren't very many stores.. But we ended up spending 5 hours walking up to Karlstein.. having a look around and getting a guided tour through the castle (no pictures allowed inside.. sorry!) shopping a little bit and walking back down. haha.. so we decided to go shopping again at Letnany! Then dinner for the 3rd time at this good restaurant we found! and bed time..

day 7

Friday! Friday we decided to go BACK to Prague to pick up the last things we wanted.. On our first day in Prague, Kyla and I had necklaces made of our names (which I love!!) and Kyla wanted to go back and get one for her sisters.. so we parked at the Yellow Market, down the street from downtown Prague and walked. We picked up our last minute things and then we walked back. We didn't have that much more to do so we pretty much relaxed! And Friday night we had a REALLY nice dinner! And I was made to try Escargot- snails. ummmmm surprisingly they were actually GOOD. I just couldn't get over that I had to pry them out of their shells! And I could just picture them crawling around in my head.. but they taste almost like steamers! Pretty good!

day 8

Our last day in the Czech! We woke up.. had some breakie and packed the car. Then we evaluated how much room we had left and how much MONEY we had left.. and went to this sweet store where everything is REALLY cheap and packed the car to the limit! haha.. and we were off on our way home! I slept for 5 of the 9 hours.. so again it didn't seem that long..

All in all it was SUCH a wonderful trip! And I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to go! Thanks again Bjarke, Solvej and Kyla! (kyla because she had to DEAL with me for a whole week.. hehe) And thank you to Solvej and Kyla who worked so hard taking pictures throughout the WHOLE trip.. hah Kyla took like 1,000,000,000 pictures of trees, no joke!Thank you guys for reading about my trip to Tjekkeit (the Czech Republic in Danish)! Keep reading for more updates about what i'm up to here in Denmark! love francine

The Czech Republic- day 3 & day 4

2008-11-10T22:25:00.020+01:00

hi again!

Hopefully you have already read my last post about our first two days in the Czech Republic! Now you can read about what we did on days 3 & 4!

day 3

(not sure why i'm making this face.. haha)

On Monday, our 3rd day in the Czech, we went shopping at the Yellow Market! I was freaking out because I haven't shopped for clothes in two months.. holding out for the Czech because it is SO much cheaper. I don't think it's good to go that long without shopping.. holding it in is NOT GOOD FOR YOU. Just as Solvej, Bjarke and Kyla.. I was pretty much going insane! But the Yellow Market is SO COOL because it is REALLY cheap and it's huge! It was so much fun! And for lunch, we had the best pizza at this Italian restaurant there. Then we went to this big shopping center called Letnany!

AND! Kyla and Bjarke made this deal.. if Kyla cut off all her bracelets.. on BOTH arms.. he would buy her a really nice bracelet. AND SHE CUT THEM OFF! It was a big deal! It's the weirdest thing seeing Kyla's arms! haha..

Then we were at this "sports bar" restaurant (as Kyla calls it) for dinner. THAT was good!

day 4

Tuesday! We woke up.. had a hardy breakfast and took off to see this castle (Bjarke.. I can't remember what it was called??). Unfortunately, it was CLOSED. We soon found out that MOST of the tourist attractions were closed as of 31 October. haha.. GOOD TIMING! But we did take some fun pictures outside the castle!

Afterwards we drove back to Litoměřice to see the catacombs and the tower.. but guess what? they were closed! haha.. we had a good laugh about everything being closed.. we just found other things to do :) We shopped some in Litoměřice and went back to the hotel to relax for a while. And we ate at this other REALLY good restaurant (which we went back to 3 times!). Back at the hotel.. we went down to the sports bar and bowled! That was actually fun! I just got mad cause I really really sucked.. :( But we had fun!

I hope you enjoy the pics! And come back tomorrow and read some more about our trip in the Czech Republic! love francine

The Czech Repbulic- day 1 & day 2

2008-11-09T16:32:00.001+01:00

Hey Guys!

This past week, Bjarke, Solvej, Kyla and me went the the Czech Republic! It was such a cool experience and I/we had was SO much fun! So, I will try to recap this past week for you.. day by day.. I also want to say

Bjarke and Solvej- Thank you so much for taking me along!

day 1

The drive to the Czech Republic is about 10 hours. You can see on the map how we got there. We left Ringe at 12:30 am on Saturday morning. I ended up sleeping most of the way.. so I can't tell you what everyone else did.. hah. At one point we made a pit stop to use the toilet. I swear- it was an insane experience for me. First of all, we had to PAY to use the toilet!! Then.. i was looking at the toilet for like 5 minutes trying to figure out how I was supposed to flush it.. (sorry.. no pictures!) but I did discover that it was like a hand motion sensor. Right, ok then the toilet made this weird sound.. and this thing came out of the toilet seat and the seat started to spin! like to clean it! I was just standing there gapping, mouth-open STARING at the toilet. I washed my hands and got out of there. It was actually less amazing the next few times I used this weird toilet..

We arrived in Úštěk, the town where we lived, at about 9:30 am. We checked into our hotel and went to Litoměřice to walk around and look in shops. Then we went to this underground really cool restaurant in Litoměřice for dinner.

Read more about Úštěk at http://www.mesto-ustek.cz/English/index.html and Litoměřice at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LitomÄ›Å™ice

these pictures are of me and kyla signing the restaurant's book..

In Litoměřice!

and back at the hotel in Úštěk ->

day 2

Sunday morning- Solvej told me that Sunday is the best day to explore Prague because the people are relaxed and everyone is taking it easy. It's an hour drive to Prague from Litoměřice. And Prague/Praha is SO BEAUTIFUL! We walked and walked for hours and saw so much´.. but it was really just a fration of Prague.

We got to see the famous Astronomical Clock! "According to the latest researches, the astronomical clock was constructed in 1410 by the clockmaker Mikulas of Kadan.The astrolabe mechanisms they have built over 600 years ago are still functional. 80 years later, the legendary master Hanus rebuild the clock and as legend has it, the Councillors had him blinded, so that he would not ever manage to build another instrument greater than the Orloj in Prague. The story also says that before he died, master Hanus deliberately damaged the clock so seriously (because he was mad about being blinded.. who wouldn't be?), that nobody could ever fix it again. He also cursed the instrument, so those who tried to repair it have either gone mad or died." (read more at http://www.prague.net/astronomical-clock)

We walked over the Charles Bridge, which is really beautiful! Unfortunately, they were working on preserving some statues so we didn't get to see some of them. But.. "Charles Bridge is a stone Gothic bridge that connects the Old Town and Malá Strana, where the Prague castle is (I will talk about the Prague castle later). It was actually called the Stone Bridge during the first several centuries. Its construction was commissioned by Czech king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV and began in 1357. In charge of the construction was architect Petr Parléř whose other works include the St. Vitus Cathedral at the Prague Castle."

We saw the Town Square, which awed me just at how OLD it is! "The Old Town Square is one of two main squares in the city centre. With its ancient buildings and magnificent churches, this is one of the most beautiful historical sights in Europe. Dating back to the late 12th century, the Old Town Square started life as the central marketplace for Prague. Over the next few centuries, many buildings of Romanesque, Baroque and Gothic styles were erected around the market, each bringing with them stories of wealthy merchants and intrigue." It is just SO cool and i'm lucky that we got to see it in the day AND at night, when everything is lit up! (read more at ttp://www.pragueexperience.com/places.asp?PlaceID=594)

Then we walked the main walking streets with all the shops, etc. Kyla and I were both amazed at how OLD everything was. I mean- the U.S. and Australia are both very young countries.. ESPECIALLY in comparison to the Czech Republic! We walked up a trillion steps to have a view over the city, right where the Metronome is (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Metronome). Then we went back to the hotel for dinner..

Please check up on my blog tomorrow to read more about my trip to the Czech Republic!

love francine

My Host Family!

2008-10-30T15:20:00.000+01:00

MY HOST FAMILY!

Yes! I am VERY lame for not writing about my host family and my house when I first got here.. but better late than never, eh? (I actually have been thinking about it for a while I just haven't done it yet! hah..) SO! Here goes!

In my family I have 4 host brothers: Frederik (8), Jonathan (10), Nikolai (14), and Mathias (18). Mathias lives with another family and Nikolai is going to an Efterskole (like a boarding school that I wrote about a couple months ago) and only comes home on the weekends. So at home, it's me, Frederik, Jonathan, my host mom Maria, and my host dad Anders. Anders works with construction and Maria has been in training to get her taxi drivers license (she passed the test yesterday and we are all SO proud of her!) Anddd I'm not sure if I've told you, but Bjarke is Maria's older brother.. so he is my "host uncle" in a sense, which makes Solvej my "host aunt"!

OK! SO! My house: I took pictures a week ago.. so here they are!

We will start with my room.. (my room is actually cleaner now.. don't worry!)

then the upstairs bathroom is right down the hall.. and so is Nikolai's room.

If you go downstairs there's the front door..

and this is the downstairs..

(the kitchen.. bet that was hard to guess!)

where we eat

and our living room!

AND! Our house from the front and back..

kyla's farvel fest!

2008-10-27T13:16:00.000+01:00

HOLA!

(Jonathan, Kyla & Frederik)

What a weekend! Saturday night was Kyla's farvel fest (goodbye party)! I'll get to that.. but i have a funny story about friday:
Kyla and I were at Bjarke and Solvej's hanging out and Kyla kept getting texts (SMS) from this Australian girl, a friend of Kyla's, Alycia. She was saying "when are you going to pick me up?" and kyla kept saying "why is she so worried about it.. the party is tomorrow!" and then Alycia said "i've been at the train station for 2 hours!" HAHAHAH.. she came on the wrong day!! Ahhh it was so funny! So we ran to the station to pick her up and then went back to Bjarke and Solvej's for a while and then back to my house to sleep. haha but GOD it was so funny! We will never let her forget it.. we tease her all the time. It's great..

(Solvej and Maria, who worked SO hard!)

(the dinner and my host dad, Anders)

Anyway! SATURDAY we went for a walk for the Spejder (boy scouts) and then we spent most of the day setting up for the dinner.. Solvej made Lasagna! ahhhh ahhhh (the sounds of angels singing..) it's the best! i swear! SO!
(Alycia and her danish boyfriend Mikkel)

(kyla and her host sister Mie)

After the dinner, which was fantastic, we went to the train station and picked up a ton of exchange students. And then the party started! It was so much fun! And I think Kyla had a really good time too :) SO ANYWAY! I have tons of pictures.. enjoy!

(I think this pic is
hilarious.. Jonathan & Rebeca)

(Rebeca giving Kyla a kiss!)

(Me and Pablo!)

(Adriana, my host brothers, another little boy, and Rebeca)

(Veronica from Chile, Quentin from France and me!)

SUNDAY MORNING we woke up and had breakfast. Also, we changed the clocks back an hour. After breakie a lot of people left and the few fortunate (like me) got to clean! And after EVERYONE was gone... Maria and I went home and relaxed for an hour or so.

THEN! There is this Circus in town and the boys, Jonathan and Frederik, really wanted to go. So Maria and I took them. I pretty much just wanted to see the Elephants.. but the juggling was also really cool. And 2 hours later, we got home and I crashed for 2 hours. I was SO tired!

So that's my weekend! Pretty exciting! And then this Saturday, Solvej, Bjarke, Kyla and me are driving 10 hours to the Czech Republic!! Kyla and I are so excited!! We can't wait! but i better go! I hope I can get another blog in before we leave!
love francine

the stipper dinner

2008-10-24T13:20:00.000+02:00

(Gammam from Thailand and Francesca from Italy)

(Spejder Husen- the scout house)

Hej guys!

Last night we had a stipper dinner! Stipper is a Danish nickname given to exchange students. Instead of calling us udveksle studenter, they call us stipper (it's just easier). But we had a dinner for all the exchange students on Fyn, and their families if they wanted to come. It was so much fun! I was so happy to see all my pals! I haven't seen most of them for over 2 weeks.. and some of them 3 weeks. So it was great catching up! We had it a the spejder husen (boy-scout house) behind my house..so it was funny that everyone came to my town and right next door.. haha.. (Peep, Daiki and Gonzalo)

(Kyla and Rebeca from Venezuela)

(haha I think this picture is funny.. it's Solvej and another AFS volunteer)

And then Kyla slept over at my house and today we're just chilling.. getting ready for her Goodbye Party tomorrow. We made Snickerdoodles too! (cinnamon cookies that are like a gift from heaven: I swear.) God it's been so long! They're just not the same though.. it's kind of sad. But the people here LOVE them.. haha. They just haven't tried them like when I make them at home though... haha
But ANYWAY! I better dash! I hope everything's good at home! Miss you guys! love francine

(my host mom Maria! I love this picture!)

(Anders my host dad, Jonathan (10) pronounced yonatan, and Frederik (8) which i'm not even going to explain how to pronounce because it's too hard.. haha) I love this pic! Frederik is so funny.. hah

Packages!

2008-10-20T21:29:00.000+02:00

Hey!!

I just wanted to say thanks! My mom, my Grandma, and my friend Merryn (AUS) all sent me packages in the last 2 days and I wanted to say "TAK!" It's so nice to get mail! haha.. But really, who DOESN'T like getting mail? crazy people.. I have been trying to send postcards and letters out to you guys! I have been picking postcards up everywhere I go! It's so much fun! But a lot of people have been asking me my mailing address! haha.. I wrote it in an earlier blog but here it is again:

Svendborgvej 85

5750 Ringe

Denmark

don't forget to send me yours too!

Well not too much else that's new! We started school up again today and it was so good to see everyone! And then... we finished at 11.30 today! It was great! Our last class was cancelled.. so I came home and then my host mom, Maria, and I went out to find a raincoat for me! It's so funny! because it rains quite often here and I didn't bring a raincoat when I came (i forgot mine mom.. ) and I have been SOOOOOO lucky! I think it's rained on me like 3 times.. that's it! But then i was thinking.. "hmmm my luck isn't going to last much longer.. i've almost been here 3 months (ahhh insane!)" so Maria and I went to like 5 clothing stores looking for a cute, cheap raincoat. No luck.. They were all like 600 kr ($120 plus) and ugly. And we're like "hmmm let's go to Netto to buy some crunchy peanut butter for Maria" (she doesn't like creamy peanut butter) and KABOOM! A cute, cheap, black raincoat.. 100 kr ($20) CHA CHING! haha so that's my day! fabulous!

but now i'm going to go to bed.. i'm tired! And I know there has to be at least ONE picture for this blog so this is a picture of my street (Svendborgvej) last Tuesday!

ok! thanks for listening to my ranting.. haha..

godnat (goodnight) love, francine

visiting Andrea

2008-10-18T14:09:00.000+02:00

(Århus)

Hey Guys!

So this week we're off from school for our Autumn holiday and I went to visit my friend Andrea from Italy up in Silkeborg in Jutland. And it was very fun! So good to see him again! I haven't seen him since the orientation camp in the beginning of August. So anyway.. wednesday we went for a walk in the woods around where Andrea lives.. in Virklund/Silkeborg area. These forests are amazing! The trees are SO tall and it's just SO pretty! I swear.. if the stories didn't say Robin Hood was from England I swear he would be from Denmark! :) annnnnnd then we went to Århus with his host parents and we walked around a little bit.. but we spent 2 hours in this art museum. It was cool.. but i wanted to see more of the city. Bjarke says "don't worry! you'll see it!" haha..

(Silkeborg)

Annnnd then on Thursday we just hung out.. went to Silkeborg to see the town but pretty much just watched movies and hung out. And on Friday Andrea took me and another exchange student, Jose from Mexico, to Himmelbjerget. Himmelbjerget is the tallest point in Denmark.. a mountain haha.. It's like 147 meters (about 161 yards) haha.. compare that to Mt. McKinley which is 6,194 meters (about 6,674 yards) hah! For those of you who don't know much about Mt. McKinley like my pals here in Denmark you should check it out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt._McKinley wiki/Mt._McKinley And it's really funny because the direct translation of Himmelbjerget is Sky Mountain. It's a big joke here in Denmark.. But there is a really good view from the top! I thought that was worth the bike there! haha..

So ok! After sky mountain we went home and made food for the exchange student party Andrea had. That was pretty fun! It was cool meeting other AFSers and Rotary kids from a different region. And we played games and ate food from different countries.. it was great!

Ok! This morning i woke up and Bjarke and Kyla came and picked me up! It was so nice! I was going to take the train but Bjarke had to have his car fixed or something close to where i was.. and said "What will you do for me if I pick you up?" soooo i'm assuming that I have to pay him back somehow.. G-R-E-A-T. haha.. but now i'm going to go grab something to eat!

hej hej!

love francine

Exploring Copenhagen!

2008-10-13T20:30:00.000+02:00

Hej!

Ahhhh! Bjarke took me and Kyla (Kyla and I.. there kyla!) to København (Copenhagen) yesterday! It was so much fun! We walked around and took tons of good pictures! And saw lots and anyway.. i had so much fun!! So I will show you on a map what we saw! And how we got to København from Ringe.. We crossed a bridge from Fyn (Funen in english) to Sjæland (Zealand in english). This bridge is really two bridges that stops on the island of Sprogø. From Sprogø to Sjæland is the 2nd longest bridge in the world (used to be the first until Japan built a longer one).

So.. in København Bjarke had to go to work and so Kyla and I got a map from the Information center and walked from the town square (the center of Copenhagen) out to the Little Mermaid: about 6-7 kilometers (about 4 miles).

We walked down the walking street with all the shops.. (i bought a few postcards) and we went through Kongens Nytorv and bought fransk hotdogs.. (i'm currently looking up the name for them and am having no success.. i'll get back to you about that) And Kyla tells me that in the winter there is an ice rink/ring at Kongens Nytorv. Then we walked down Nyhavn. You probably know Nyhavn because it's very famous! Check out the picture.. And then we walked out to the Queen's palace and Frederik's church. We go to see part of the changing of the guards too! And then we went and looked in Frederik's church which was SO beautiful! Only downer of the day was that we left Kyla's camera in the church and when we went back for it someone had stolen it.. That sucked. But after the church we saw another fountain and then went to see the Little Mermaid, where we met Bjarke again. And then we went back to Ringe. (about a 1.5-2 hour drive) (the fountain in front of the Queen's palace and Frederik's church)

(Frederik's church)

So that was Monday! I hope you like the pictures! Today I am catching a ride with my host mom Maria's friend Peter up to Skanderborg near Århus to visit my friend Andrea from Italy until Saturday, so I won't have any new blogs until then! I hope everyone at home is doing good! I miss you! A big hug from DK! francine

Me and the Little Mermaid!

Friday!

2008-10-12T11:52:00.000+02:00

hey guys!

Not too much new! Friday night Nikolai came home from Efterskole (boarding school) and brought his friend Otto with him. They decided they wanted to go ice skating and invited me to come along! So Maria drove us to this indoor ice rink in Odense and we rented skates. It was fun! Except.. i've NEVER been on hockey skates before! Only figure skates.. and hockey skates are a lot harder! And I was so surprised at how many kids were there! It was fun though! I just plugged my headphones in and skated around.. hehe.. But here's a picture of Nikolai and Otto!
Anyway! that's it for now! later gators.. love francine!

Autumn Camp!

2008-10-05T22:15:00.000+02:00

me and my friend Peep from Thailand and me and my friend Pablo from Colombia

Hola amigos!

OK! so this weekend we had an AFS camp! We went to Stenstrup (pronounced steeeenstrop for those of you who are trying to say it) which is like 12 kilometers from my house. This camp was for the 11 kids on Fyn and 18 kids from south Sjæland. So total.. there were 29 kids plus our 4 leaders from the office in Copenhagen (in danish København) and Benthe who is in charge of AFS on Fyn. And we had such a good time! It was SOOOO much fun! I love hanging out with my exchange student friends and I'm always so happy to see them! But at the camp we played games and talked about our host families, school and friends in "group discussion" time. That was really awesome. Talking to other exchange students with similar situations and problems. It's good to talk about it.. And then Saturday night we had a WILD CRAZY PARTY! (in the words of one of our camp leaders, Andreas) haha it was SO much fun! Each group had to entertain and we had nice dinner with candles.. SO COOL! OH! and the picture of me and the hoola hoop is because Bjarke and Solvej thought i should learn how to Hoola Hoop properly (and not get fat.. gahh that's scary!) Did you know the nick name for AFS is Another Fat Student. AHH! ok.. i'm being careful mom! don't worry! hehe.. But anyway! I got a lot of people to try out my hoola hoop and it was SO funny!

Sunday Maria came and picked me up from camp and Kyla went back to Bjarke's house.. And then slept over at my house.. hehe we spend so much time together! I'm going to miss her so much when she leaves!! but enjoy my pictures!! They're all from camp this weekend! And keep reading! I PROMISE i will try to write more! haha.. love francine (this is my friend Daiki from Japan who goes to school with me in Ringe!)

Kyla in the kitchen!

Sprogskole!

2008-09-30T18:23:00.000+02:00

Hej!

A quick blog! Last week we took a couple pictures of some of the kids in my sprogskole (language school) and I wanted to post them on my blog! Language school is actually getting much better! I like my teacher and I feel like I'm doing something PRODUCTIVE. It's good! On Monday we learned verbs and how to put sentences together. I feel like I already knew quite a bit just from talking at home and trying to talk at school.. but learning more verbs was really helpful! And I have sprogskole again tomorrow so that will be good!

Oh! I was walking over to Bjarke and Solvej's house on Sunday night to pick up some musik and I walked through the town square to take some cash out of an ATM and I just HAD to stop and take a picture because it was SOO cool! It was kind of getting dark and the lights were on and the fountain was going and NO ONE was there. One of those freaky and yet really cool moments, I think.. wait! ok so some guy was walking his dog.. but I just pretended he wasn't there... :) And anyway.. I got to call home on Sunday and it was SO nice to be able to talk to my Mom and Dad and Heather and Courtney! I tried calling a couple of you guys but no one answered! bleh! but I think talking to people at home helped my homesickness.. I feel a lot better!

Men jeg vil spise nu! (but I will go eat now!) Sooo I'll try to blog again in a couple days! francine

A good weekend! and dealing with homesickness..

2008-09-28T17:25:00.000+02:00

Hej guys!

Wow I had a REALLY good weekend! Friday I went to Kyla's school's party (the Gymnasium fest) and then her host dad, Jens brought me home friday night. Saturday morning and afternoon I helped make\prepare food because my host mom Maria and Bjarke's Farfar (grandfather) died last week and there was a funeral and wake for him.. so I helped make food. And then after that, we finished at like 4 and I went back to Kyla's house. Saturday was also Mie, Kyla's host sister's 18 Fødselsdag (birthday) so Kyla's host family was all together and it was SO nice! I had a really good time! And we slept in this morning and just chilled all afternoon.. and then Bjarke and Solvej picked me up and took me home. So we are about to eat and I thought I could write a quick blog! I know I haven't been writing! I'm sorry! But there hasn't been very much to write about.
But I DO want to talk about being homesick! I know you guys read a lot about how much fun I'm having and that I really like Denmark (and I do!) but it's also important that you understand that this is not a vacation. I have been getting homesick, and it's really hard. I am SO lucky to have people like Maria and Bjarke and Kyla and my friends at school (who are SO good to me!) that care about me and who I can talk to about how I feel. It's hard knowing that i'm missing things at home.. but I try to remind myself that I'm going home at the end of my exchange and I shouldn't be sad. I really do love being here, and I wouldn't change anything. But being away from home is hard. And you should know that being an exchange student involves dealing with homesickness.. it's not easy.
I don't have any pictures for this blog! Sorry! I know looking at pictures makes it so much more interesting! I will ask Kyla if she has any pictures.. But now I'm going to go eat! Thanks for keeping up with my blog! I miss you guys at home and am thinking about you! Love, Francine