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I had the best christmas ever.

Do it.

When people look back on their exchange year, most of them, hopefully, will tell you that it was the best year of their life. They will tell you that it was the best decision they ever made. They will talk about all the amazing things they experienced and the wonderful people they met. They will tell you how much they grew and how independent they have become. This is all so true. I cannot stress enough how glad i am that i chose to apply to be an exchange student. There had not been a day where i have regretted my decision.
I wanted to be challenged. and leaving, i knew that while exchange was going to be the best time of my life it would also be one of the hardest.
This is also very true.
Would you like to know what makes exchange the best year of my life thus far?
It's freaking hard.
I'm tellin' ya. Some days you aren't going to want to get out of bed.
Last week, i spent lunch in the bathroom crying. I have friends at school, it wasn't that. School is actually really fun. It's just some days you have to cry. Because even though everything can be so incredibly wonderful, it doesn't mean that this hasn't been the hardest years of my life.
Sometimes you are going to feel alone.
Sometimes you are going to get frustrated and grow tired of putting yourself out there again and again and again.
There will be many awkward moments. There's no avoiding it.
Sometimes you are going to feel lost.
Sometimes you aren't going to want to smile, but you will anyway. Because you are strong, and exchange makes you strong.
You will feel more insecure than you have in your entire life.
Exchange will test you. In ways that no other situation will.

Some days i don't want to eat bread with a knife and fork.

It's Christmas time folks. I'm spending my first Christmas away from Alaska. I don't want to go home. Denmark has become a second home to me. This Christmas i am so grateful for the people i get the opportunity to spend it with. My family has grown. Some of the people i've met here i have only known for a short while but i consider them family not friends. I am so showered in love.
This doesn't mean i don't miss Alaska. I miss my mom, dad, and Ben so much. Honestly today all i wanted was a big hug from my little brother. He gives the best hugs. I watch my siblings be silly with each other. I can't join in. It's only been a month. While i am comfortable, i'm not that comfortable. Ben i genuinely miss your obnoxious behavior.
I have never had so many mixed feelings in my life.

And you change. One of the hardest things for me is realizing that i no longer fit into the empty space i left less than five months ago. Some of the people who i was closest too i can no longer relate to. Some of the people who were the most important in my world...we no longer see eye to eye. I'm different. But i was ready for different. And looking back i realize i didn't really fit in that space anyway.

SO TO ANYONE WHO MAY BE CONSIDERING EXCHANGE IN FUTURE YEARS.

DO IT.

Honestly, even in the hardest times it's so so worth it. It's the best thing that will happen to you in life so far. I can't even imagine my life if i hadn't chosen this path. I would've been an entirely different person. And i love the person i am becoming. There will be days when you have never felt so terrible. But there will be days when you have never laughed so hard. Every day i fall in love. I am passionately in love with life. Never before have i been this deeply inspired. A good majority of that i credit to this experience so far. I can't express to you enough how completely extraordinary even the most un-extraordinary things seem.

I can't speak for anyone but myself. But coming from someone who is the middle of her exchange year right now. It's all that i could've hoped for X100000.

And that's pretty much all i have to say.

I'll update more about Christmas in a bit.

5 Birthday Cakes.

My Birthday was this Friday. I am now seventeen years old. I had five birthday cakes.
I made one, a girl in my class at school made one, and my host mom made three.
My Birthday Day went something like this:
Woke up to singing, candles, and presents. It is Danish tradition to wake the Birthday person up in the morning in such a way. My lovely host family paid for a ticket for me to go to the Copenhagen Royal Theater for the Nutcracker on the 20th with Lulu. I also received a big box from my lovely family back home. It was full of goodies. Then i went to school. My class sang to me. Some girls had bought me a bunch of chap stick. Because i ran out of mine, and i was always asking people for chap stick. Another girl bought me chocolate on a stick. Because i love chocolate on a stick. Then i came home and my host mom had arranged for my other two host families to come eat cake and hot chocolate. It was very nice. Then i went into Odense for my friend Andre's 19th birthday. There was around 60 other people there. I got to see everyone! Even the people i don't see very often. It was great. Even though it was Andre's party we celebrated mine too. It was truly the perfect birthday.

I changed families since i last blogged. I am now with my second host family. They have three kids: Emily (19) and Magnus and Laura (15). I am so comfortable and so at home with them. They are so nice. I feel like my danish has really improved living with them because Magnus and Laura don't like to speak English. I'm so happy i'm spending Christmas with them! I feel like i just keep repeating myself over and over. But i'm seriously so happy. Denmark feels like home.

The week i moved in my new Morfar taught me to make Christmas wreaths. There are so many new Danish Christmas traditions. The celebrate on the Christmas Eve not Christmas Day. We have a Candle that we light every day and it counts down the days until Christmas. We also have advent, and a wreath with four candles on it. I am not sure how to spell what it is called. But on each of the four Sundays before Christmas we light at candle. On those four Sundays everyone gets a gift. We have Jule Frokost. Which is Christmas Lunch. It's very big here and many people go to them before Christmas. There are also some Danish Christmas decorations that are very traditional. They weave hearts and fold paper stars. Emily and I sit on the couch every week day night and fold them all night. By the end of December our house will be overflowing. They also make these little basket cones to put candies in to put on the tree. This way when we walk around the tree and sing on Christmas Eve we can eat candy.

Two Wednesdays ago i went to Copenhagen with my language class. They paid for us to go and they also paid for our entrance into Tivoli (a theme park) I spent the entire day with Elisa, Lulu, Alandra, and Ayca. It's a wonderful time of year to wander in the streets. All the decorations are up. At night everything sparkles and twinkles. It's gorgeous. We went to some Christmas Markets and other shops. Then we went to Tivoli. It also had all the Christmas decorations up. It was themed "Russian Christmas" this year. We didn't even go on any rides we just ended up taking pictures of it all. It was a really great day.

Two Fridays ago i joined a gym! Elisa and I usually go together. She has an entire work out plan. I don't know what i'd do without her.

Two Saturdays ago i went with Stine, Nadia, and Josephine (some girls from school). We went to Josephine's house and then out. It was fun. They are super nice girls.

Two Sundays ago i was invited by a woman from my Rotary club to come make bolcher with her and her family. The bolcher didn't work out so well so we ended up making Christmas cookies. I spent the entire day with her, her husband, her nine year old boy, and her twelve year old daughter. It was really fun. I wasn't even so sure who she was before i went to her house. That was the best part. Some lady who i didn't even know invited me to spend the day with her and her family. She let me in to her family's holiday traditions. They were all so warm and friendly and open.

This past Thursday i went and made Christmas cards with Lulu, Alandra, and Elisa. We bought all this professional card making materials from a store in Odense. We spent the afternoon listening to Lulu's Christmas playlist and crafting. It was the best. Elisa made us all Italian Pasta for lunch. Lulu also made us fresh cinnamon buns. Also we discovered that if you spread nutella and creme cheese on a piece of white bread it's basically the most amazing thing one will ever taste. I highly recommend it.

Friday was my birthday.

Saturday i went with Susanna (my host mom) and Emily to a Jule Market in Odense. We bought many good things. It was in an old part of Odense and some of the older people were all dressed up like they did back in the old days. It was the cutest thing. Then we went to my twin host cousins fifteenth birthday. It was some good family bonding.

Tak.

I definitely have a case of the Christmas fever. It's not even snowing. But it's hit me early this year.

Last Tuesday I went with my rotary club to a food processing factory. Not going to lie, it wasn't the most interesting thing in the world. The machines we're kind of neat though. I also love Helge and Ann Marie and therefore love seeing them. I consider them my Denmark Grandparents.

Last Wednesday i went to my second host family's house to eat dinner. The are really great people. My second host mom is going to decorate my new room. She asked me if i considered myself a "romantic." I think she gets a kick out of interior design. Their entire house looks like it belongs in a magazine. Everything is really really beautiful. The food was also most excellent. Which foreshadows many wonderful meals to come. They had all these great plans for activities when i arrive in their household. I'm excited!

The only minor downside is that they do not have a dog. When first arriving in a new home, life can be really rather awkward. Not all the time, it's just those long silences can be more frequent. Silence in general is an unavoidable fact of life. As people get more comfortable with each other silence will often also become comfortable. A dog is wonderful for situations such as these. If i don't know what to say, i talk to the dog. I don't know what to do, i pet the dog. The dog as well as myself both benefit from this unspoken partnership.

Last thursday i went to Arvin's house with Elisa. (India and Italy) Elisa made Italian food for all of us. I have a deep, passionate, unhealthy love of pasta, so you can imagine my excitement. I LOVE ARVIN'S HOST FAMILY. I believe i am restating myself. I've been over to his house once before for dinner and i believe i have mentioned how great his family is in a previous blog post. But really, they're great. Twas a lovely evening.

Last Friday after school i went to Odense to meet Caitlin. She stayed with me all weekend. We found a restaurant that actually gives you FREE WATER. Which is unheard of in these parts. It also made excellent pizza. We easily demolished the entire thing. And sang Christmas songs, and listened to Christmas music, and watched Christmas movies, and ate Christmas candy. And made veggie quiche and egg nog! And had a little photo shoot with a tree, some christmas balls complementary of Blackberry Bog, and a Danish flag.

Today is Thanksgiving. Tomorrow i cook for my host family. To be continued...

I also change families this weekend. This is also a to be continued.

Hey guys, let's go to Sweden.

My week went something like this:

Mandag- School.Recover from the sleepless weekend.

Tirsdag- School.Language school.

Wednesday- Wednesday I went to Malmö,Sweden. I went with Elisa, Ayca, Lulu, Alicia, and Sarah. We were Italy, Istanbul, New York, Quebec, Colorado, Alaska, and Denmark. Representing the world well. It was really really fantastic. Days like last Wednesday were part of the reason i wanted to be an exchange student. We took a walking tour to see some of Sweden's history. We went to an old church. We found an really cute vintage shop. We discovered the COZIEST, most magnificent, soul-warming cafe with delicious hot chocolate. We got cheap thai food! Took tons of pictures. Danced in the streets. Talked to some swedes. Made a movie. And strolled the streets of Sweden. I don't think i could correctly describe that day.

It all started with a really good chai tea latte.

Lulu researched various activities and attractions in Sweden. Her report was complete with maps, line graph, and pie chart of fun. Preparation my friends.

It was a very nice tree. So we took pictures next to it.

Creativity.

Vintage fun.

Love in the Cafe.

Oh yeah, and we bought rainbow mustaches.

Hygge. http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygge

What a lovely looking group.

It was a really good day.

Torsdag- I went to school and then to language school. Then i went back to school for a sleepover at the school with my class. We watched scary movies...and the hangover 2, got basically no sleep, and ingested highly caloric and unhealthily scrumptious treats.

Fredag- Friday morning i went home, showered, packed, and went back to school. I packed because Friday right after school i went to Copenhagen with..i'm not entirely sure how to spell their names: "Helya" and Anne Marie. "Helya" is a man from my Rotary Club here in Denmark. Him and his wife invited me to go with them for the weekend. We stayed with his daughter and her family. Friday night we went to a choral concert. Helya's grandson performs in a famous young boys choral group in Copenhagen. They are all boys from around...age 8-11 i want to say. Before their voices change. It was really incredible.

Lordag- We went to the Rundetaarn or "Round Tower" in Copenhagen. The Round Tower was built by King Christian IV. Is was part of the Trinity Complex, which united three of the most important facilities available to 17-th century scholars: an astronomical observatory, a students' church, and a university library. Yes i did just copy all of that from the brochure.
Then we went to Louisiana which is a modern art museum north of Copenhagen.

Going up the tower.

View from top of tower.

Louisiana.

Sondag- We went to Roskilde Domkirke. It's a very big church were all of Denmark's previous rulers are buried. It was very beautiful. Architecture here is incredible. Then i came home. It was so great though! Helya and his wife were the sweetest people. His family invited me to come back anytime i wanted to visit. They were really sweet too. I love being around different families. Every family has different dynamics. I'm really grateful they opened their home to me for the weekend.

Domkirke.

That was my week.

Also i just found out i will be switching host families next next weekend. Which is very strange to me.

Also my Danish is really improving. I feel like i've had many mini language breakthroughs throughout the weeks. It's fun.

Dead ducks, Pumpkin Cheesecake, No sleep.

Halloween is not yet a thing in Denmark. It's definitely catching on however.
My host mom bought little pumpkin candles and on Halloween she made pumpkin soup. It was really sweet.
She also bought me a pumpkin so that i could bake a pumpkin dessert.
Except i didn't even have the slightest clue how to go about cooking a pumpkin. After some google research i decided to make pumpkin cheesecake. and it was delicious.
I also went to a Halloween shindig with some of my danish buds. I was an indian.

Then i went hunting. Duck and pheasant hunting. With my third host family. They live in a castle. It's very large and has lots of bathrooms. And uninhabited rooms. And really slippery floors. There are also a lot of chandeliers.
Cheers to trying new things. Never in my life would i have ever thought i would have participated in such a thing.
Sometimes my life makes me laugh. It seems really unreal. Before the hunt everyone gathered and the whistle/horn thing was blown. Everyone was decked out in proper hunting attire. The kind you see in movies. The men were wearing those tight knee pants, tall socks, and those funny looking caps. Naturally, everyone was wearing neutral earth tones. I chose that day to wear my floral right and large bright orange ethnic printed scarf.
Hunting is a lot of waiting. My day went something like " wait, wait, wait, wait, hunting hounds chase, birds fly, boom, boom, boom, feathers floating in the air, birds falling from the sky, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. "
One time a bird landed right next to me. It wasn't yet deceased and just laid there convulsing and ruffling it's feathers.
Then at the end of the day they played songs on that horn/whistle. One for the ducks, one for the pheasants, and one for both. They laid out all the dead birds on the grass according to type. And said some kind words that i couldn't quite understand.
It was an experience. A very interesting day indeed.

This past weekend there was another exchange get together in Holbæk. It was Newbies, Oldies, and Rotex. Newbies referring to us who arrived in the summer. Oldies referring to those who arrived this winter and are almost done with their exchange. Rotex are people who live in Denmark and have gone on exchange in years past. So, many, people. It was one massive sleepover. Without sleep.
On Saturday all of us dressed up for sort of a post-halloween halloween celebration. So much love. It continues to amaze me. I have never met or bonded with so many fantastic people. Every single one i meet. I didn't think it was possible to love this many people. For the oldies it was their last get together and the last time a lot of people would see each other. It was really emotional. And unbelievable because when they leave i am halfway through this experience. My skin was tingling. We will be receiving newbies in January. I don't even want to think about it.

So that is all for now.

Currently still happy.

City Lights.

On the 15th of October I went to Copenhagen. That weekend my host family took me to see a good majority of the attractions the city had to offer. The picture is of part of the Queen's castle.

Den lille havfrue- She is a very famous statue of the the little mermaid in the HC Andersen fairy tale.

Christiansborg Slot- This is the castle where elected politicians meet to discuss and adopt the laws of Denmark. It houses the Prime Minister's office, the Supreme Court, and the Danish Parliament.

Kronborg Slot- This castle is located at a very narrow strip of water between Denmark and Sweden. You can look across the water and actually see Sweden. It was originally built to help medieval kings regulate import and export. It also allowed them to enforce taxes from incoming ships passing through. This castle is also known for being Hamlet's castle. It was the one Shakespeare wrote about in the play.

Christianshavn- This is a neighborhood in Copenhagen. My host parents and I took a boat tour so i could see all the sights of Copenhagen from the water. Within Christianshavn is Christiania.

Christiania- I was not allowed to take pictures in Christiania. Google images has provided me with the following images:

Christiania is an independent society. It is a community run by it's people. There is art everywhere. There are few rules, and the rules are independent from the Danish government. If you want to go and paint on a wall, you go and paint the wall. However stealing, violence, guns, knives, bullet proof vests, hard drugs, and biker colors are forbidden. Christiania has a very controversial past.
Personally i loved it. I have never felt more at home than i did when i visited.

Tivoli. It's the Danish theme park. It's not the largest i have experienced. But i ate a very good candy apple. And the rides where entertaining.

The guards infront of the queens castle.

Holgar Danske. He's a stone viking in the basement of Kronborg. Legend says if Denmark is ever in any real trouble he will wake up and save the country.

I also went to Rosenborg Slot. There there were all the crown jewels.

I think...that was all. I'm not entirely sure. It is very easy to overlook something. There were so many places.

So that was...Saturday-Monday afternoon.

Then Monday afternoon I went to stay with my friend Caitlin.
We made ginger grapefruit cheesecake and watched Cabaret. Then in the morning we took the train into Copenhagen. Later in the evening we went back to her home and cooked for her host family. We made pad thai. It was scrumptious.
Then we went back into Copenhagen and met up with Vicente from Chile. We watched a movie.
Then i ran into another guy from Homer. He was camped out at one of the Wall Street protests. I went over to warm my hands and talk to some of the protesters. And he was one of them. It was very exciting.
The next day i met up with Emily. We spent the day together in Copenhagen. Then Caitlin, Emily, and Maria (Caitlin's second host sister who went on exchange to India last year), and myself all went out. I went to stay at Emily's house.
The next morning we woke up and biked around so i could see Emily's town. We grabbed coffee at Mr.Chicken and then biked to this big park. Emily's host dad said there was a mountain at this park. It was really beautiful. Lakes everywhere, bike paths, autumn colors. The mountain was a hill. Not even that large of a hill. Though i suppose it's pretty substantial considering the country i am living in.
Then it was time for me to get on the train and truck on home.
I got home on Thursday. Friday i went to a birthday party for one of the girls who goes to my school. It was a good time. Then Saturday i went to another birthday party for a girl in my class. It was also fun.
Then on Sunday i met up with Elisa from Italy and Ayca from Istanbul. We went to a cafe in Odense and had good conversation and cappuccinos. Then we went to a park and had a bit of a photo shoot.

It was the perfect end to my Autumn Holiday.