My Birthday Weekend!

Hey everyone,

I have been very lazy on updating the blog about my birthday.  I will just give you a quick update. Two weekends ago my host brother and I celebrated our birthdays. Jonas turned 20 and myself, 18.On the saturday we had my host mothers family come over and celebrate with us, and on the sunday my host fathers family.  Both sides of the family are very lovely and they made me feel like a part of the family which always feels good.  On both days we played a really fun Viking game in the yard (picture below) and had a lot of fun having drinks and relaxing in the sun.  It was also fun to see the Danish Flag go up in the front yard in honor of our birthdays.

I got some gifts from my host familes, other family members, and Brædstrup rotary club so I want to say thank you!  Only one more year until I get to FINALLY have a taste of beer!

This weekend I have my final school party and then I am off to Legoland, but with exchange students this time. Should be a blast!

Check back soon,

Dillon

dillonrahkola@hotmail.com

Third And Final Host Family

Hey everyone,

I moved to my third and final host family this past week and everything is running very smoothly. I am living about 4km away from Brædstrup in a tiny village town called Tyrsting.  The host family I am staying with are all very lovely.  My host dad is Jørgen, host mom is Karna, and host brother is Jonas.

Jonas and I happen to live in a "guest house" sort of thing, where we each have our own room, and we share a living room and a full bathroom.  The living arrangement is not too shabby at all!  I am not complaining at all, life is good.

I am living on a farm on the beautiful country side in Denmark and everything is wonderful.  On the farm we have sheep, roosters, a pony, and some other animals I can't name off the top of my head.  In the past three days, nine baby lambs were born and it is just the cutest thing to see them running around.

This coming Saturday is not only my birthday, but my host brothers as well and the family is having a nice birthday weekend for us.  My host mothers family is coming on Saturday, and my host fathers family is coming on Sunday.  It will be a busy weekend to say the least and I will update the blog after my birthday.

It is very late and I should get to bed but I just want to share with you some pictures I took quickly of the house to give you an idea.

Talk soon,

Dillon

dillonrahkola@hotmail.com

End Of March

March was an extremely busy month for me, as my time is running out here in Denmark, I find myself cramming in many things I want to do before I leave for Canada.  The last two weeks were a great time, because I was all over Denmark having a great time with my host family, and my friends from school.

Two weekends ago, my family took me on a weekend trip to the top of Denmark.  We visited many places, but the main focus was the town of Skagen.  It is located at the very top of Denmark, and it is famous for its beautiful landscape, and the tourist hot spot of the two seas located on both sides of Denmark, meeting and crashing into each other.

It was unlike anything I have never seen before.  Two seas meeting and crashing into each other at the very tip of Denmark is a very neat thing to see and experience.

This trip was filled with things that I would have never of thought to have seen in Denmark.  Another cool thing was a massive sand hill, in a random spot in northern Jutland.  It is not only a sand hill, but it was a moving sand!  The wind is so strong off the west sea, that it blows the sand slowly and it actually “moves”.  It is estimated to move 10-20 meters every year.  The moving sand hill causes concern for many families who have houses a few kilometers away.  It will never reach the families house in their lifetime but it will be a challenge to sell the house with a big “moving” sand hill in the distance.

To see a full album of all the pictures click HERE

This past Wednesday I was lucky enough to have a class trip down to Copenhagen to about the economy and different things about Danish politics.  Luckily, we had a lot of free time.  More free time then actual school activities, so the trip wasn’t too boring for me.  We took the train down to CPH with another class in the school and all together there was about 50 students and two teachers.  We stayed at a five star hostel where we were six to a room, and stayed for two nights. It was my first time on a overnight class trip and I didn’t know what to expect.  I knew that Danish schools don’t watch over you like hawks, unlike Canadian schools usually do when you are on a trip.  We ended up having no curfew and many of my classmates took that to their advantage. We were all very tired the next morning, to say the least.  We visited the Danish parliament buildings and the national bank, to name a few.  It was a great 3 days and I really enjoyed my time with my class.

When my class left for home on Friday, I was able to stay in Copenhagen because on Sunday, I had tickets to Bob Dylan.  I was going with a friend from USA (New Jersey) and I was going to stay at her house until the show.  We went to her school party on Friday night, and had a lazy day Saturday. 

When Sunday came along, we were super excited and went into Copenhagen early, hoping to look in some shops and have a nice early dinner before the show started.  I would have guessed the venue was at maximum capacity at 5000 people (even though tickets were still on sale at show time).  Also there was about 500 seats at the back and at the sides, and the rest was general admission (standing room).  When we heard it was mostly standing room, we promised to our selves that we would get there about an hour before doors opened (6:30) to get a good spot, thinking that people would start lining at around the same time as us.  At around 3:30, it started to rain and the shops were already closed so we decided to catch the Metro to the forum to see the venue, and maybe get a bite to eat before starting the line.  When we get there, it turns out that about 50 people are already in line so we decided to sit down, and stick out the two and a half hour wait until the doors opened.

When waiting in line, we met a traveler from Tennessee, named Daniel.  He was carrying his guitar, hoping to play some Dylan songs for some extra cash.  We mentioned to him that he should write on his sign “Will play Dylan songs for a ticket or money to buy a ticket” and thats what he did.  Time flew buy when he was playing great old Dylan songs, and many people in the line enjoyed it.  By the time doors opened, he didn’t have a ticket but he managed to collect about 150 kr ($30) and a can of Tuborg.  Unfortunately it was not nearly enough for a ticket to the show.  

A few months prior, I thought I misplaced my ticket to the show, so I called up the ticket company to send me another ticket, and asked them to cancel my first one.  That is what they did, and I was very grateful. Then about a week before the show, I found my original (and now cancelled) ticket in my room somewhere.  To play it on the safe side, I brought both tickets down to the show.  I mentioned to Daniel that I have a cancelled ticket that when you scan it, it won’t allow entry, but we were hoping on the odd chance that they would rip the stub rather then scan.  He was grateful and gave it a try.  They scanned the ticket, and of course it didn’t work, but he didn’t give up and talked to the head person scanning ticket.  He elaborated a tiny bit, and the ticket people caved and let him into the show.  We were so happy our newly enquired friend was able to join us for the show.  Waiting in line for two and a half hours payed off because we some how ended up front row, right in front of Bob.

The show was so amazing, and it was a completely different experience to my previous Dylan show.  When I hear his announcer say “Columbia Recording artist, Bob Dylan” I get chills down my spine.  It was amazing being so close, because you could see the emotion and the energy that he and his band show.  His bassist is amazing, and the drummer is unbelievable. As usual, it took Dylan a few songs to get his voice, but after that there was no stopping him.  He played a strong set, and came back for the encore with All Along The Watchtower, Spirit On The Water, and a totally unheard of version of Blowing In The Wind.  At the end of the show, he introduced his band, said “Thank you friends” and walked off.  Being so close, I could see that he really enjoyed the show, and when walking out it look like everyone who saw the show had a coat hanger stuck in their mouth they were smiling so much.  Bob Dylan only comes to Denmark every so often, so the Danes really appreciate the show and don’t take it for granted, as I’m sure some people in North America do when he comes and plays shows 2-3 times a year.

This is a video of the show I found on youtube. I was right in front of Bob, the guy who filmed the video was a little bit back. One of the highlights of my night because it was my first time seeing him live when playing guitar.

It was an amazing experience, one of the highlights of my exchange, and a night I will never forget.

Vi Ses,
Dillon
dillonrahkola@hotmail.com

Update! (Outings + more!!!)

Hey,

It has been a while since I have updated the blog, but I have just been busy, and nothing really new.  I have been out a lot on the weekends with friends from Rotary and I have been to a few local concerts in Denmark's second largest city, Århus.  Århus is just a short train ride away, so traveling to get there and back is not a hassle at all.

In February I went to two shows in Århus at a small bar called Musikcafeen which is a really fun way to spend the night.  So much better then any club or dance place.  It is a much better place to have a good time, because I hate dancing and I love live music, so it is a perfect fit.

The first show back in early days of February was a random show on a Thursday night.  We were looking for something to do and it was the only show we heard about going on that night.  We were in a record store, and saw a poster for a man named Joe Buck.  The genres were listed under his named, and it said "Joe Buck (Rock/Hillbilly/Punk)"  Those three genres caught our eyes, and we went out on a limb and went to the show.  Joe is a colourful character to say the least.  His show is just him, his guitar and a bass drum that has the words "Joe Buck Yourself" on the front.  He put on an entertaining show to say the least.

After the show we found out that he is the bass player for Hank Williams III, and this was his solo project!  We met him after the show and got a picture.  I would post it but he was making a rude gesture with a certain finger between the index and ring finger, so I will keep the blog clean, for fear of Rotarians seeing it and thinking I am up to no good over here.

TAKEN FROM JOE BUCK'S MYSPACE.

The next show we went to was one that we planned on going to minutes after the Joe Buck show finished.  We got a schedule for the shows in the next month, and we planned on going to a show with a Danish musician who goes  by the name CALLmeKAT, and an Icelandic musician called Helgi Jonsson.  Both were absolutely amazing and my buddy and I ended up meeting them after the show and getting their records signed.

We were blown away, stood in the front row, in the middle in the stage, in awe of the whole show.  I wont even try to begin how to explain how good everything is, so instead I will just post a video of each artist I took at the show. 

TAKEN FROM CALLmeKAT's MYSPACE. Video taken by me.

TAKEN FROM HELGI'S MYSPACE. Video taken by me.

It was a really great show.  One of the best shows I have been to in a while, and it is so great to have friends in the area that are ino the same music as me, so it is a real treat to see great live music with them.

This past weekend was "Rock in Randers" which was the last exchange student get together of my exchange and it was held in Randers, just and hour north by train.  It was a very weird feeling, thinking that it will be the last time all of us would be together.  And it feels like yesterday that I was saying goodbye to my oldies at their last get together.

The weekend was focused on music. We had karaoke, a live band and we all got in groups to sing a song for a panel of "judges".  It was a real blast.  

Even though it was the last time we were all together, of course I will make the effort to see all my close friends. We are even planning a Legoland day sometime in April.  So I am looking forward to see everyone again.

Unfortunately, I took zero photos, but thankfully many other friends did so I stole some of them and here they are!

The Dylan show is coming up soon so I will update when I can.

Love,

Dillon

dillonrahkola@hotmail.com