Holbæk Halloween Weekend

Hi eveybody,

This past weekend all 158 exchange students that are in Denmark got together in the city of Holbæk to have one big final get together before the "Winter Team '08" leave for the end of their exchange.

It was great to see everyone again, because most of them I haven't seen since Intro Camp back in August, and it was also great to meet new people, that have been in Denmark since Winter '08.  They are the "oldies" and we are the "newbies".  

This get together was run by returning exchange students from last year, returning to Denmark from their host country.  Everything was very relaxed and we were free to do what we pleased, unlike Intro Camp where if you were 2 minutes late you would be spoken to about it.  We weren't forced to participate in any activities, even though everyone was more then willing to try everything they had planned for us.  We had a floor hockey tournament.  I paired up with the guys from North America who I knew played hockey and we dominated as expected! I kind of felt bad when we would beat up poor South American girls who haven't seen a hockey stick before.  But that's what you have to do to win.  To quote Mighty Ducks 1 "It aint worth winning if you don't win big!"  Hahaha.

We had a DJ playing music until the wee hours of the morning for both of the nights and a live band playing on Saturday night.  Saturday night was a costume party and everyone got dressed accordingly.  I had a Santa Clause outfit, beard and all, and it was a great time.  

The weekend consisted of staying up until 4 in the morning every night and getting up at 9 for breakfast the next day, so as you could of guessed everyone including me, was pretty washed out by the end of the weekend.  Being amongst 158 exchange students that are going through or have gone through the same thing as you, it is a nice feeling because if you have a problem and you want to talk to it to someone, at least one person out of the 158 will know exactly what you are feeling.  

It was a lovely weekend with lovely people and amazing friends that I will always remember.  I don't know what I will do when all my oldies leave for their respected countries.  I think I will be lost with out them.  It is too weird to think about it.  

Vi ses,

Dillon

dillonrahkola@hotmail.com

Fall Break: Adventure Number Three aka. The Big One (Hamburg, Germany)

Hej,

Last Wednesday, my host family planned a trip to Hamburg, Germany.  Sorry I am just getting to write about it now.  It was really exciting that I got to see another part of Europe.  Just getting a taste of another European country was so exciting! 

We did many things when were there.  We stayed at a hotel in Hamburg from Wednesday, until Friday.  We didn't spend much time in the hotel, all we did was rested our heads there.  We were always out doing something through out the day.

We visited many places, which included a submarine, a canal tour, and one of the biggest miniature model museum in Europe.  We also walked around the city, diving into shops once in a while for a quick look, and ate at some great places.  We ate at an Italian restaurant in Germany haha.  We also had German sausages and drank some great German beer.  

Being in Denmark for a while, I have gotten used to the high prices of basically everything.  Coming to Germany I was so happy that I wouldn't have to spend at least $100 on a decent pair of shoes, so I made sure I got something that I needed, which was a pair of shoes.  When leaving Germany, we stopped at many stores along the way to pile in as much things as possible.  This means any sale, or any low priced item that costs double in Denmark, we bought.  By the end of the trip the trunk was full of just about everything.  From food for the house, clothing, bicycling gear for my host dad, and a pair of shoes for me, among many other things.

The old brick buildings in Hamburg were so amazing, and my host parents were great to show me everything I needed to see.  Luckily the language barrier from danish to german was not a problem for us at all.  My host mother comes from germany, my host father did an exchange in Switzerland as a teenager and still remembers and practices german, and my host brother studies german in school, so we had things pretty much covered.  It was really neat because we would have 3 languages going on at once.  My host mother might say something to someone in german, she would tell my host brother what they were talking about in danish and he would tell me in english.  People listening in to what we were saying must of been amazed that three languages were being thrown around.

All in all I had a great time, and I can't wait to see more of Germany on Euro Tour in May!

This coming weekend we have a get together in Holbæk, with every single exchange student living in Denmark at this moment.  All 158 of us.  It will be a crazy time, and I can't wait!

Vi ses,

Dillon

dillonrahkola@hotmail.com

Finally!

Good news,

It has taken nearly 3 months, but one of my favourite Canadian bands is playing in Copenhagen in November.  They are a hardcore rock band called Cancer Bats from Toronto and I can't wait to see them!  I have seen them once before at the Molson Amphitheater and they blew me away with their live performance.  It is just something else to look forward to!

It took a lot of looking at bands websites for tour dates to find this show so I'm really excited and felt like sharing.

Bye!

Dillon

dillonrahkola@hotmail.com

Fall Break: Adventure Number Two! (Tropical Zoo)

Hey everyone,

Adventure number two of the school break lead us to a Tropical Zoo in Randers, Denmark.  It was really cool to see a bunch of animals that I would never see in Denmark.

The tropical zoo was divided up into 3 parts; Asia, Africa, and South America.  It was cool to think when I am in Denmark, on a cold fall afternoon, my good friend Gillian who is in Brazil is feeling almost (but not quite) the same thing as I was.  How she is going on Rainforest Tours with her district, while I will never get to do that!  The Zoo in Randers is the closest thing I will get to that this year.  

Don't think I am complaining though!  I couldn't be happier!  I am truly having the time of my life here.

Click here for photos of the Randers Tropical Zoo

Cheers,

Dillon

dillonrahkola@hotmail.com

Fall Break: Adventure Number One! (Legoland)

Hey everyone,

So it is the first official day of Fall Break today and I did something that I have wanted to do ever since I heard I was going to Denmark.  This morning I went to Legoland!

I went to Legoland with my second host family Ole, Annette, Frida, and Frederik.  They have seasons passes so they go as often as possible and they seemed very excited to show me everything.  Frederik told me that he knew Legoland like the back of his hand, so he showed me everything that I needed to see.  

For people who don't know anything about Legoland, it is basically a huge family amusement park, with rides (roller coasters) and many objects, buildings, people, made out of Lego!  It is really cool to see, Mt. Rushmore with over 1 million lego pieces in it.  The detail is incredible and everything looks so real!  The cities and monuments that are made out of Lego look exactly like they do in person.  The town I am living in (Brædstrup) is actually in Legoland.  Brædstrup is known for producing solar energy, so Legoland built some buildings that you see while walking through my town, and also different solar panels being showing on roofs of houses in Brædstrup.  Its funny how when I tell different people in Denmark I live in Brædstrup, they usually have no idea where it is, yet it is being displayed in Legoland!

Overall it was a fun filled day filled with rides, and Lego, while getting to know my second host family better.  

If you don't know much about Lego, and your wondering why is Legoland in Denmark?  Well here is the answer, taken from the always trust full website, Wikipedia: "The Lego Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund, Denmark. Christiansen began creating wooden toys in 1932; the company began calling itself "Lego" two years later in 1934. The company expanded to producing plastic toys in 1940. In 1949, Lego began producing the now-famous interlocking bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks." These bricks were based largely on the design of Kiddiecraft Self-Locking Bricks, which were released in the UK in 1947. The first Lego bricks, manufactured from cellulose acetate, were developed in the spirit of traditional wooden blocks that could be stacked upon one another; however, these plastic bricks could be "locked" together. They had several round "studs" on top, and a hollow rectangular bottom. The blocks snapped together, but not so tightly that they could not be pulled apart. The company name Lego was coined by Christiansen from the Danish phrase leg godt, which means "play well"."

And there you go.  A little bit about Lego.

Click here for photos of Legoland.

Skål,

Dillon

dillonrahkola@hotmail.com

Quick Thing.

Hey,

Just a quick thing I changed about my blog.  You no longer have to have an account or sign up or and of that silly-ness to post a comment on the blog.  

All you have to do is click on the 0 Comments button at the bottom of every blog post and you can leave an anonymous comment.  If you don't mind when you are leaving a comment just put your name at the bottom so I know who it is from!

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention this.  This coming week, I have a full week off school.  So while you sucker heads are in school learning junk, I will be in Hamburg, Germany with my host family living the dream!  Be jealous, but don't get to jealous because I will take lots of pictures so you can feel like you were practically there with me!

Skål,

Dillon

dillonrahkola@hotmail.com