So Much Fun Stuff In Denmark!

Hey everyone,

I haven’t updated in a while because I have been very busy doing many different things.  Ill start with 3 weeks ago, a bunch of exchange students got together and went to Copenhagen to spend the weekend together.  There was a lot happening in Copenhagen that weekend and we tried to do everything.  There was a concert at the famous “Tivoli Gardens” in downtown Copenhagen, there was a Australia vs New Zealand rugby match that was being played at the Southern Cross Bar in Copenhagen that many Aussies and Kiwis were excited to see, and a lot of partying and having a good time with people from around the world!  

We started the weekend off Friday afternoon by getting out of school early and catching a bus to Vejle, which has a train station, where we took a train from Vejle to Copenhagen.  It cost about 200 Kroner (40 dollars) but I had a train card that got me 25% off train tickets, which is always a good thing.  We got to Copenhagen and we went to a youth hostel where we would be crashing for the night. The girls got all dressed up, and then we all went to Tivoli to see the concert.  An extremely popular band in all of Europe were playing a show.  The band was a Danish band called Alphabeat, www.myspace.com/thisisalphabeat They put on a great show and it was an hour filled with very catchy pop music that I shockingly enjoyed.  After the show we ventured off to the streets of Copenhagen and enjoyed the rest of the night.

The next day we left the hostel at noon and caught a bus back to downtown Copenhagen where we would meet the other exchange students at the Southern Cross to watch the rugby match.  I have never sat down and watched a full rugby game, so this was a first for me, and watching it with some intense Aussies and Kiwis in the bar was very entertaining.  Australia made it close, but New Zealand came out on top like they usually do in these rugby matches.  It was very fun to watch.  We then caught a train to Slagelse where we would be spending the night at an exchange students house.  We woke up the next morning and made our way back to our respected towns.  It was really nice to see exchange students again.  These little “meetings” and “get togethers” are a nice way to spend a weekend away from home, and just enjoy being an exchange student with other exchange students!

The weekend following was a really relaxing and enjoying weekend for myself.  I travelled down to Korsør to visit my Australian exchange friend I made while in Copenhagen the week prior.  Korsør is a beautiful town, right on the sea and has beautiful beaches and clear water.  The town is a harbour town, where ferrys would come from the island of Fyn, to Sjælland and arrive in Korsør.  Now they have a bridge that connects the two islands.  I stayed at my friend Caitlin’s house.  Caitlin happens to live right on the beach, with her house looking over the water.  It is an amazing sight to see.  I happened to not bring my camera so I am unfortunately unable to show you how beautiful the area is.  There is another exchange student get together this coming weekend, in the same area, so I will make sure to bring my camera and take many pictures to share with you.  It is truly beautiful.  

Now you are almost up to date, but this past weekend I went to district camp with everyone in my district.  It was great to not only see a lot of exchange students again, but to find out who lives close to you so you can get together.  It was very difficult to find out who lives close when we were at intro camp, because of the amount of people that where there (108).  This one was a lot smaller and less hectic.  We stayed at a scout camp just outside of Esbjerg.  It was very beautiful, there was a nice pond close by and a forest to explore.  It reminded me a lot of our camp back in Canada, where all of the out bounds met for the first time. It was really great.  There was a big question mark on what we were going to do at district camp, at least for me anyways.  I didn’t know what to expect.  We arrived around 5 pm Friday and we socialized for pretty much the rest of the night.  I brought my guitar, and we sang songs and just got to know each other.  It was really nice.  For Friday there was no plan, no schedule except for the dinner time.  There was no curfew, no time limits, everything was really relaxed and enjoyable.  Everything was on our own watches which is always great.  Saturday brought an 8 am breakfast and a friendly competition that started when everyone had some coffee in them and were waking up.  We had different stations and challenges to complete with our team. I was on Team 3, better known as Team Awesome.  The team name was chosen by yours truly.  Some challenges were easy, some were difficult, some need brains, some needed luck, but all were fun.  The that was probably the most talked about and the most loved (especially for the girls) was the station where the guys had to shave their legs.  We were the last team to be at this certain station, and I was told that every male before me shaved their legs with out a complaint.  I wanted to have nothing to do with this, and I made sure they knew this.  The other male in the group shaved a part of his legs, and now it was my turn.  Still refusing to have anything to do with this, another team member made a lovely suggestion, that I should shave my beard.  I had been working on this beard for about 3.5 weeks and I was pretty proud of it.  I have had a beard for longer then 3.5 weeks, but it has never been longer, and more full then it had been at the moment.  I wanted to be a team player, and help the team so I agreed.  They pull out a pink, cheap plastic 2 blade razor, and the girls started shaving my face.  I had to teach them how to shave, it was absolutely brutal.  I then have had enough, and said I would finish the job, and I did.  But as always, I needed to have some fun with this situation I was in, so of course like I always do, I kept the moustache.  People loved it, wanting to take pictures with the goofy Canadian with the moustache.  Then before dinner I shaved it off and I felt normal again.  That night we had a lovely dinner and a little party to finish off the weekend.  Sunday we took photos for the last time to remember the weekend that was, exchanged business cards, pins, phone numbers, and hugs, and we were off, back to our towns. 

School is going really good as well.  Im starting to understand words here and there.  I can understand maybe 4-5 sentences a day which isn’t a lot at all, but I’m getting better and learning and understanding more every day.  My classmates are very kind and have been very inviting and want me to be involved in as many things with them as possible.  In two weeks, our school has a week off.  For what reason?  I have no clue, but I am very excited!  My host father Kim mentioned yesterday that we might be travelling to Germany in the week off, which I am so happy about because I have never been to Germany.  I have also been told that there is another week off in February.  My second host family has mentioned that there is a possibility that we will be travelling to Sweden on a skiing trip, which is amazing!  I want to travel anywhere and everywhere so when I get told that we will be travelling to a different country I get super excited and anxious.  I can’t wait to go, but as of now the two possible trips aren’t set in stone by any means.

So as you can see the last three weeks, a lot has been going on, and I have had a blast doing it.  I have noticed that if I keep busy, which I have been doing, everything goes by so fast, its unbelievable.  I can’t believe that it has almost been two months.

Click here for pictures of district camp.

Skål,

Dillon

dillonrahkola@hotmail.com