New stuff new stuff new stuff

Hope, Cassidy and me at Fælledparken

Carol, Nick, Stine, Taylor and me at Fælledparken

Church in Stockholm

Pretty pretty

Sweden!

The palace in Stockholm is soo so huge

Cute little street

Cute buildings

Changing of the guard

Cute harbor

Garage built into a cliff rock thing

Bird living on the roof

Sami camp (at a museum in Stockholm)

Baby raindeer

Me and my current class on my last day

My language school

Me and my old class on my last day

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Recent Happenings

Hey everyone,

So it's been quite a while and quite a lot has happened, and I'm very sorry that I don't update my blog so often anymore, but it's just so hard to find that time with everything that's going on.

2 days after I got back from Mallorca, I went down to Flensburg, Germany with my orchestra, We toured around and played some concerts and rehearsed a TON, and it was just a really hyggelig week. I didn't take that many pictures, except when we took a day trip to a nearby town named Plon:

It was so, so cold, but really really beautiful. Flensburg was also pretty interesting, because it is literally right on the border to Denmark, so half the people that live there are Danish, and there are Danish churches and schools everywhere, and it's pretty confusing to tell what country you're in. Also, because things like candy and beer are soooo much cheaper in Germany than they are in Denmark, people will literally drive down to Flensburg (a 4 hour drive from where I live), go to this huge bulk foods store to fill a trailer with food and drinks, and then drive back home. We went to the bulk foods store and had a look around, and it was pretty cool! I stalked up on candy and toiletries (that are also way cheaper down there), and then cried about how everything was still way more expensive than in the US. All in all it was a fantastic week.

Also, right before going to Flensburg, I moved in with my 3rd and final host family. It's been really great, they're really nice and welcoming, and I'm really happy for them. It's so weird to think that the next time I pack up all my stuff to move I'll be going home to the US, everything is just going so fast!

Last weekend I went to Bornholm, a little Danish island out in the Baltic, with a woman from my Rotary club and her husband. It was such a fantastic opportunity and just a really hyggelig weekend. Ninette's (my Rotarian) husband comes from Bornholm, so we stayed with his family, and they were some of the nicest people I've ever met. We also drove around the island and saw everything it had to offer (to drive across the island takes 30 minutes, so it's a very very small island). Here are some pictures:

Echo Valley

Echo Valley

Bornholm is known for their round churches that were built so that they could use them as a fortress if they were attacked.

We got to go up in the church

The north is very rocky and gorgeous

Sol over Gudhjem, smoked herring with raw egg on top!

A cave that we went into

Hammershus, a fortress from the 1300's that's nearly in ruins now. It was so foggy we could barely see it :(.

The highest point on Bornholm

In the south they have beautiful beautiful beaches.

Dueodde, the most beautiful beach on Bornholm,

Rønne, the biggest city on Bornholm

It was a completely fantastic weekend, and I am so thankful that I got to visit Bornholm. It's a place I probably never would have been able to go to if I hadn't gotten the chance to go while on exchange here.

I also went into Copenhagen on Tuesday because it was the Queen's birthday! We went to the castle that she lives in and then her and then entire royal family came out on the balcony and waved at us, it was so SO cool to get to see them in real life. The Danish flag is a birthday decoration here, so everyone was waving the Danish flag and the soldiers had a marching band and it was just the cutest most hyggelig thing. I only took a video though, so unfortunately I don't have any pictures to post here.

And now I'm just enjoying the last few weeks of my time here. I go home July 3rd, so everyone mark your calendars! I have my schools' Gala tomorrow, which is kinda like prom, and then I'm going to Stockholm with my Rotary club in a couple weeks, so stay posted for that!

I hope everything's going well back home,

Alicia

Mallorca

Hey everyone!
So in the 2nd year of high school in Denmark, everyone takes a study trip to some foreign and exotic land. My class had the opportunity to go on our studietur to Mallorca, which was such an amazing opportunity.

We woke up early Saturday morning and flew down. After a very exhausting and long uphill walk to our hotel, everyone was quick to hop into their swimsuits and jump into the pool, despite the fact that it was only around 13 Celsius or 55 Fahrenheit outside ;). After that, we walked around and got to know the town we were staying in. Palma de Mallorca has the most beautiful cathedral, so that was really nice to see.

Then on Sunday we got up and went on a 30 km mountain biking trip, which was actually so amazing. Since my class's line is p.e., our studietur was very adventury athleticy themed, which I was a little worried about at the start, since I'm not that athletic, but I'm actually so, so thankful that we did that instead of just going to museums or something. The mountain biking trip took us all around the city and down the beach, and it was just really nice to see the city from a different perspective.

On Monday we went off into the island to go to this tourist adventure park thing. We split into two groups, and our group went and shot archery and BB guns. Then for the 2nd half of the day we went for a hike thing up to go rock climbing, where we went on all these tight ropes and stuff to get there. Then we went rock climbing on the mountain, which was super cool, and then zip lined back down to the bottom. I'd have to say Monday was definitely my favorite day. The weather had also started to warm up and it was around 18 Celsius or 65 Fahrenheit and sunny, so that was super super nice. I even got a little sunburned before coming home to snowy Denmark!

On Tuesday we went off into the island again to go hiking and look at flowers, which was super beautiful. It was up in the mountains though, and so the bus ride back was the most traumatizing thing. The road was pure hairpin turns, and the driver was a literal maniac and the bus was so so hot, so nearly 10 of us got sick on the 2 hour bus ride back. It was awful at the time but looking back it's pretty funny, and maybe even was a good bonding experience for the class? Then we all went out for dinner as a class and had Tapas, which was just really delicious and lovely.

Our hotel was also so amazingly nice. It had the best view of the ocean and the pool AND a jacuzzi bubble bath. I actually miss the jacuzzi bath so much now it was just so perfect.

Another thing that was definitely a big culture difference for me was the amount of freedom we had. When we go on a field trip in the US, the teacher takes attendance every five minutes. Our teachers didn't take attendance once the entire trip, if you didn't stay with the group then you were on your own. Also, after we were done with our activities for the day, we were free to do literally WHATEVER we wanted. This is in stark contrast to when I went to All-State orchestra in the States last year and they literally taped us into our rooms at 11 pm. I was talking with my host mom about it, and she made the point that it's freedom with responsibility. While we're free to do whatever we want and be as stupid as we'd like, we're held to the responsibility that we'll still make intelligent decisions, and if we don't, we're on our own.

Here's some pictures:

 On the flight over

 First views of Mallorca

 First views of Mallorca

 First views of Mallorca

 View from our hotel window

 Mountain biking

 The Cathedral I think?

 Taking a bubble bath

 Mountain biking

 Archery

 BB guns

 Rock climbing

 My class

 Enjoying the sun

 So so pretty

 Hiking

 Hiking

 Enjoying the sun

Aaaaand we're back in Denmark

Going to Mallorca was just such a fun and unique experience, and I'm so glad that I was able to tag along. Tak for turen 2.w!

And now tonight I'm moving to my 3rd and final host family, and then I'm off to Flensburg, Germany with my orchestra tomorrow, so stayed tuned for more posts on those!

Alicia