Snowed in...

(This now happened a while ago) Ok, so when I said that I wanted a white christmas I didn't mean 2 FEET OF SNOW! Yesterday I was in town at Kate's house and it had already been snowing for about 12 hours. So after the day was spent I walked to the bus stop that's by Kate's house. And then I proceeded to stand there for about 30 minutes waiting for the stupid bus to show up. It never did, so I decided I had to walk. Keep in mind it's snowing cats and dog, well really more like bears and mammoths and it was about -7¤. Normally the walk from Kate's to the bus station is about 30 minutes. It took me an hour because none of the sidewalks or streets were plowed. Now you think a SCANDINAVIAN country would have a plan for snow, but Denmark doesn't. So I got to the bus station, waited an hour (outside) and then found out that they just cancled all of the busses. So I call my host parents. They inform me that the road from Otterup to Odense is closed, so not only can I not get out but they can't get in. So, I call Kate the only exchange student in Odense and of course she says I can stay at her place. Then I walk all the way back to her house (this time it took about 45 min.)
The next day:
Kate and I wake up. School's cancled. We go back to bed. Then Aaron comes over because he tried to go to school and literally couldn't get into the building because there was so much snow (it's still snowing at this point.) Then Aaron and I leave around 16.00 and try to get to Caity's house. We get to Caity's house and there's no one home, not even a dog. Aaron and I are both freezing so we stop at the closest place on the way into town. Which was a Cafe bar and we stay for about and hour defrosting and drinking hot chocolate. Then we get up to go through the blistering winds agian. On our way to town we stoped from linner (that's lunch and dinner combined) at Kafe Kræz. We stay there for about two hours. Then finally get to the bus station. The busses to Otterup still aren't running so I get on a bus to Kerteminde, which is actually farther away than Otterup is. And meet-up with Greg, exchange student from Cali and stay at his place.
The next day:
I catch a bus with Greg to Odense, just praying that all the busses are finally running again. I make it to the bus station and the busses to Otterup are runing!!! So I immediatly get on a bus and go home.

And that's my three day adventure with the snow

Some pictures

Last day with the girls

Caity Trumm and Bridget after the N.E.R.D. (the show at Tivoli) And yes Jen N.E.R.D. is that one band that sings that one song in Blue Crush :)

Before the show at TivoliBowling at Introcamp (sorry couldn't figure out how to change the view)

Holbæk (exchange student get together, Kate, a bunch of other exchange students, and I hand made the costumes!)

Thought everyone (but Chris) would like this one :) Tis short but it captures his essence, hehe

A Happy Blog Post

Hej allé,

Last night all of the Americans threw a Thanksgiving dinner for the Australians. It was a major blast, a great way to finish off November. There were nine people in total; 5 Americans, Greg, me, Krista (on exchange to Poland who was visiting Kate), Kate and Mandy (on college exchange to York England visiting me,) 4 Austrailians, Caity, Dean, Prue, and Josh (YFU exchange student.) Mandy and I started cooking around 11:45 after getting back from København. (The trip from KBH to my house took 5 hours!) We had a ton of food, the Australians were very impressed. Overall we had, mashed potatoes, string beans, indian corn, duck, gravy, apple pie, corn bread and brown sugar carrots.

We started out dinner with passing our plates around the table like we do in my family, then we went around in a circle and gave thanks like they do in Kate's family. After we finished that, which took a while, we dug in :) The food was delicious! Even the indian corn that I sort of screwed up, hey man it's not my fault their pan was to big. The dinner conversation was amazing. Just like home, there was that one person (and there always is) that makes everthing either really awkward or just makes super rediculous comments. That person was Prue (aussie.) There was a heart tugging moment as there always is as well. We were all eating and Caity and Josh asked us if we missed having Thanksgiving with our familes, and I just looked up and said, "of course, I miss the family I have in the U.S. but we are eating with family..." and then everyone went "aww." It's a bitter sweet thing that is.

After dinner we all sat around my computer and watched comedians and the top ten Autralian beer commercials of all time. Then we just talked about everything and drank coffee. A few people stayed over but everyone left on the 11.30 bus back to town. Overall a very fulfilling experience.

~Jasmine H

Take a good look at my face

Hej allé,
How's everybody doin'?
Everyone, and I mean everyone, is sick. Caity's got piggy flu, a girl in my class has piggy flu, and host sister Christine has a horrible cough. I'm currently trying to figure out how open doors with my feet so I don't have too touch the doorknob. I'm really suprised more people in Denmark don't know what S.A.D. (Seasonal Affects Disorder) is. I swear almost every person in the whole country should have it. I'll probably end up with it. The sun, it never comes out. The clouds, they never end. The wind, it never stops. The rain, it doesn't end. My advice to any exchange student coming on exchange to Denmark, bring vitamin D.
Apparently November's supposed to be the worst month during an exchange year. I don't know if it the worst. My best way to describe November is just... blah. Nothing really good, nothing horrible's happened yet though, which I guess is good. I don't know why I even write these blogs, no one ever reads them anyway, I guess being pregnant is more exciting. Actually, being pregnant is probably more exciting than my life right.
Before I got to Denmark I was extremely dedicated to becoming a journalist. That hasn't changed. But I've realized that that's not all I want to do. I have a lot more things to do in my life now that I've just sort of let go. I have another big dream now. I'm not going to tell you guys what that is though. I don't trust people enough to not shoot down my dreams anymore, so I'm just not giving many people that option. I don't need others approval to go after what I want. I'm going to do what I want to do after graduation, what I need to do for myself, not what others expect me to do. Life's to short to waste what little time is given to us. I wish more people would realize this and go after what they want. Ask anyone, anyone you work with, anyone you live by, maybe even yourself if you're brave enough. What did you want to be when you were my age. If you're that now, if you've followed your dreams, I applaud you and am very proud of you. But I bet at least half of you became something that wasn't your dream. And for those of you who didn't even try, who just fell back, it's never to late. Achieving just the smallest part of your dream can make it come true, at least in your eyes.

~Jasmine H

the dawn is breaking, its early morn

Hej allé,
How's everything going in America? Everything in Denmark is fine and complacent.

I can finally say that I'm simply content with the way everything here is. My host family now is great (second host family.) They have one son William, who's 9, a daughter Christina, who's 13, and a son Alexander who's 16 and is currently in Brasil on exchange. This family isn't like my family at home but that doesn't mean it's bad, just different. I've adapted to fit their lifestyle.
My oldies are leaving soon... it makes me angry that Rotary never told me about this part. I feel like it will be the hardest thing I do all year. One of the first things I learned when I got to Denmark is that exchange students are family. Not the kind of family that you keep if touch with sort of kind of, but the kind that you tell your deepest and darkest secrets to. The exchange students I've met this year I will never forget. I feel like my heart will be minced into little pieces and shipped all over the world when they leave... when I leave. I'm leaving on a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again. Exchange students co-exsist like no other species I've ever seen. It's like exchange students are almost a special bread of human. I know that everytime I hear an australian accent, everytime I see some kid running around with a brasilian flag as a cape, everytime I hear someone list the four d's, or everytime I see an blazer... I'll remember everything. I have to go to the airport 3 or 4 times in January to see off the people that mean the most in the world to me. I wish it was possible to explain how much these people mean to me but it one of those things that you just can't. I think I had some other things to tell you guys but I can't remember what it was.


~Jasmine H

Life is... i have no idea

Hej allé,

Ok, so I've officially passed the three month mark. At first I couldn't figure out what the feeling was on the 1st of November. Then I realized that, I was aplomb (that's for the vocab book mom and dad ;).

I just gave my first speech in danish...

Hej alle,
I just gave my first real speech in Danish. Which was technically my second, although still as nerve racking as my first. (The first was a two sentence speech at the first rotary meeting I went to, which was then followed by a 5 minute speech in english.) It seemed to go ok, it was only about five sentences long. The entire speech was about this 2½ page story Marta, my Danish literature, asked me to attempt to read. Now, it took me about 45 minutes to get through the first half page. When Marta came over and asked how I was doing. I told her it made no sense and she laughed and said it was becasue my Danish wasn't that good. And I though "Really, well then I'll just have to prove you wrong" (now I'm cursing that I proved her wrong.) damn my competitiveness! So I translated a short paragraph in my head and said it outloud to her as she read along. Then she said, in Danish, wow Jasmine that was so good! Then she said that I should give a speech tomorrow, a summary of the story... in Danish!!! And what am I supposed to say, "no I'm really not that good at danish"?!? Of course not, so I had no other choice but to agree. The only problem was that last night I also had to finish an English paper. Yikes! So I finished the translation last night and then finished the english paper. Then I wrote up the summary in first class today. For second and third class and lunch I went over to Eva, one of my danish friend's home, and her, Alexandra, and I played Rock Band. So, when I was there I translated my summary into danish, and then had Alex fix it (you know how bad online translators can be) and then had her read it to me so I could get the pronunciation down. So this is what the paper I brought up there looks like

(my transaltion) Denne historie handler om en mand, der benytter sig af en kvinder, der har lavt selvværd. Hele den historie han fortæller, hvordan han kan ikke engang huske hendes navn, og at han bare vil have sex med hende. Hun går sammen med dette, fordi hun har så lavt selvværd og følte, at det ville gøre hende føle sig bedre. Han taler også om hans lille skyld over situationen, men i sidste ende efterlader hende i midt om natten, mens hun sover


(alex's correction) Denne historie handler om en mand, der udnytter en kvinde, der har lavt selvværd. I hele den historie han fortæller, fotæller han hvordan han ikke engang kan huske hendes navn, og at han bare vil have sex med hende. Hun finder sig i dette, fordi hun har så lavt selvværd og følte, at det ville få hende til at føle sig bedre. Han taler også om, hvordan han føler sig lidt skyldig over situationen, men i sidste ende efterlader han hende midt om natten, mens hun sover

(phonetical pronunciation) Denne historier handlar om en man, der unnattar ing kviner, der har la-out selvær. E håle den historier han fortæller, fortæller han vordan han ikke eengen can hoosk hens noun, o at han bår vil håva sex mel hen. Hun finne sigh e dette, fordee hun har så la-out selvær o fulte,at det ville få henne tee at fule sigh belha. Han taler også om, vordan han fuller sigh lidt skooldeeoer situationen, men e seester ende efterlel han henne midt om natten, mens hun so-ar.

I'm just glad it's over now. I love public speaking, I'm just not up for it in Danish yet. My class didn't seem to mind and I think they actually might have understood most of it! But for some reason I think they got some amount of enjoyment form watching me up there. The one time I actually looked at one of the faces in the audience and it just had to be Peter, with this gigantic grin across his face. Oh well, at least I got the teacher to like me :)

~Jasmine H

My current situation

Hej alle,


I just thought I would give everyone a short update on my current situatin because a lot of things have changed in the last couple of days. All in all things didn't work out with my first host family and they ended badly. I'm not going to go into details about anything but it just didn't work out. I'm currently staying with Mogen Hansen, my protection/back-up counsellor, and will be until next week. I'm going with Mogen to pack up all of my stuff from Hans and Pia's apartment today after school and move it to Mogen's. Then Caity, who's staying with my second host family, is going to move in with Nina (her third) sometime within the next week and a half and then I will move in with my second host family (Lisbeth and Mic Anchton-Beol.) Hans will still be my counsellor in the fact that I will still get my pocket money from him every month but anything else rotary related will be dealt with through Mogen. This last week things pretty much hit rock bottom. This nice thing about rock bottom is that you can look up and see all of the places you could get to.


They say that doing a year on exchange can make you five years older in maturity level. Well, this week I've hit the point that I think the majority of my friends will hit the begining of their freshman year of college. I've gotten to a point where I'm tired of chasing people around and trying to fix things that I know can never be fixed. Its not giving up, I will always try to fix things that I know can be fixed, it's just realizing that I don't need certain people and all of there drama in my life.

~Jasmine H

Richard III, Informatíon, Drenge, and Karaoke

Hej everyone,
I just got back from my class trip to København!!! It was a blast and I finally had a chance to bond with my class. Don't get me wrong it wasn't with out its ups and downs, but the downs were definitly worth the ups.
We left on Wednesday after school, around 4, from the Banegård (Odense's train station). The train ride from Odense to København is 2 hours which was filled with girlish banter and Fort Minor. After we arrived we walked to the DanHostel and checked in. I ended up in a room with Tessa, Katrine, Stina, Jasmin, and a few other girls. We were the only group of girls that had to share a room with boys. The set up was two small rooms, six beds to each room, that share a bathroom.
The next few hours went by in a mad rush. After getting our rooms we changed for the Theater and went out to get dinner. We ended up finding the other girls at Burger King and I had a grilled chicken burger. They claim that there's chicken in it but all I could taste was mayonnaise and bun. Then we set off on our journey to the theater. Man did it take forever! Might I mention that the entire trip no one really knew where we were going or how to get there. We got there right on time after taking about 37 wrong turns and ended up being the first to arrive, including the teachers. Everybody else apparently ended up more lost than we did.
When everyone had arrived we went inside and got our tickets. The play we were seeing was Richard the Third. Except for the fact that it wasn't Richard the Third it was some weird modern version of Richard the Third and was translated into Danish. So I sat there for the first half watching people dressed in normal clothes scream at each other in danish, have huge monologues, and strangle eachother on a set that consisted of nothing except 17 chairs and a black board. This in turn gave me a blistering migrane. So, during intermission I walked back to the hostel by myself and went to bed while the rest of the class watched the second act and then went out for drinks. They all got home around 12.30 and fell asleep.
If thursday was a painting it would be 300x300 feet and have every color of the wheel. We started out the day with breakfast at 7.30, which means that some of the girls in my room 6:30 and the rest were argueing with the boys at 7.10 over which would get to use the bathroom. I was planning on sleeping until 7.15, needless to say that didn't work to well. Then we went down to the kitchen/bar to each our free continental breakfast. Being an exchange student you tend to learn all of the tricks to saving money, and food in CPH is wicked expensive. *side note: one time a group of exchange students managed to sleep 24 exchange students in a one person hostel room and its bathroom!* So I ended up taking extra food and walked away with a full belly, not to mention a sandwich and a roll for lunch. :)
Then we went to our first museum. I can't remember the name but it had exhibits about things and places all over the world. It was really interesting, they even had a giant room which was based on showing you information by using all five of your senses. Half of the class went to that museum and the rest went to some rich dead person's house. Then after about an hour we switched and my group went to the house. It was interesting and reminded me slightly of a smaller version of the J.J. Hill house. Then we had a break for lunch.
What you need to know is that the girls in my class are relatively divided into two groups, both groups get along but that's just how the cookie crumbles. The only problem is the group of girls that I normally hang out with has a ton of personality clashes. So we all argued over where we were going to go eat and ended up walking 15 minutes across the city. Everyone got falafels and I ate my sandwich and the cookie I had left over from the train ride over and my water that I brought from home. After lunch we all walked 20 minutes back the way we came to go to the art museum. The art museum was interesting and had some really interesting painting in it, the kind that if you sit down and just stair at them you can pick out a back story.
After that everyone split up into their groups and had a 3 hour break before dinner. Some people went shopping, others went back to the hostel, and me and my friends went to a cafe (which of course we agrued over first.) Then we all walked to the Riz Raz which was where the entire class was having dinner. Again, we made it just on time because we managed to get lost. Apparently in CPH there are two Riz Raz restuarants and they're in opposite directions from eachother.
We eventually got there and had a nice dinner, which cost me 150 DKK (about $30). Then we all walked to the a...... KARAOKE BAR!
That had to be the funnest part out of the entire trip. The whole class got drinks, I didn't. I thought it was interesting though how the boys in my class, even though they consumed about the same amount of alchohol, got drunk WAY faster than the girls did. Frederik, a guy in my class, and I sang "all the small things" by Blink 182. And a bunch of girls in my class sung some spice girl, WOOT! I went back with the first group of people to the hostel around 12.30-12.45ish and fell asleep. I was woken up by Micheel, a boy in my class (one of the ones that we shared a bathroom with, sneaking into our room at 4. He was standing over Jasmin poking her. The funny th9ing was that he had his back to me. So I quitelly got out of my bed and stood about a meter behind him with my arms crossed. As soon as Jasmin stirred he jumped and tried to run out of the room, consiquently crashing directly into me and yelping like a little girl. I could smell the alchohol on him.
I woke the next morning to Jasmin screaming becasue there was a fake mouse in her bed. I wonder who could have put that there... Then we all got ready, packed our bags, and went down for breakfast. I did the same thing as yesterday. After we checked out we all walked to the train station to store our bags and took the subway to the newspaper Informatíon. We didn't do much there except for listen to the head editor speak for an hour and a half. Holy crap, I have never wanted to speak Danish more in my entire life than during that hour and a half. I couldn't understand anything except Barack OBama, Thomas Jefferson, and U.S.A.
After that we power walked to the trian station to make our train. The train ride back was uneventful and Iwalked home from the train station.

~Jasmine H

Do do de do do

Heyo,
How is everyone doing? I'm doing well. Just got back from a movie night with a bunch of exchagne students. We watched Crocodile Dundee then Scream then Flying High. We were going ot watch Edward Scissorhands after that but we Kate's host mom came back home and told us to go to bed because it was 1:30. Then we all went downstairs and just chilled for a while and then fell asleep. Scream was horrible. We all decided that we wanted to watch one scary movie so we put it between two really good comedies which worked well. At least Scream was made in the 90's so there's parts about it that you can actually laugh at.
I got up and had a delicious danish breakfast and then caught a ride home.

It's snowing... just baby flakes and it keeps slipping into rain but it's snowing.

I'm starting to get a little homesickness. I miss my dog and being able to drive alot. That and not being able to be there when Sarah told everybody she was pregnant.

I've been trying to download the new nancy drew video games but it's being bitchy and it wont let me for some reason. Three new ones have come out and I'm dieing over here!

~Jasmine H

SO SORRY!

Hej (Hello),
To start, I am SO sorry about not updating the blog in so long. Everything is just so hectic over here! Please do not think for one second that me not updating my blog is anything against any of you! I am simply attempting to intergrate myself into the culture.
The language is doing well. Danish is a very very complicated language as I'm sure anyone who has learned a scandinavian language knows. I was told by my host father, Hans, when I arived that Danish only has five rules and five books of exceptions for each rule. I am currently taking Danish language classes every Monday and Wednesday. My school, Sct. Knuds Gymnasium, is paying for the first two months and then Rotary is paying for the last 9 months. *Note to Rotary: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE LESSONS!* I'm trying to learn as much as possible during the classes but it's honestly so hard for me to sit down and concentrate. I learn much more and retain information much better when I learn it in a normal setting, a.k.a. the dinner table.
Skole (school) is o.k. Again, I'm trying as hard as I can to learn and concentrate. However, I don't understand what any of my teachers say. It's like trying to telecommunicate with a crying baby. It doesn't work and just gives me a headache. What I've been doing is trying to focus for 10 minutter (minutes) at a time and then reading my book for 10 minutes. I'm currently reading Term Limits by Mike Flynn, tis fantastic! My class is good. In Denmark you stay with one group of kids for all of your classes. They have also have school parties once a month! Its a huge change compared to US schools. Its almost comical to all of the US exchange student because the week before our parties you can see work men bringing in cases after cases of beer and kegs. The parties normally go until 2 in the morning and then the class hits the town afterwards (of course I'm always back by my host parents cerfew and I never drink.)
Hølbæck is coming up soon. It is a Rotary event where all of the students across Denmark get together for a halloween party. It should be really fun. Caitly, my best friend from Australia, and I are going to dress up as Vikings!
Other than that there's not much to report here. I'm just having a great time and getting to know everyone and everything.

~Jasmine H

sorry

Hej,
Sorry everyone for slacking on the blog. Take it as a sign that I'm settling in not ignoring you all. I miss everyone very much!!

~Jasmine H

Danish Rotary = Shots by LMFAO

Hej,

Igne and I went to do aerobics today. The class we went to had a bunch of other Rotarians in it as well as a few other random people. The class was fun, but relatively easy. Afterwards everyone takes a shower. I was one of the first people in the dressing rooms, and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to take off my clothes right before I got in or if I was supposed to take them off at my locker and just go in a towel. I decided to risk it and I took my clothes of at my locker and walked to the shower in a towel wrap. I rinsed off and was done before anybody really got back into the shower room so I figured I was all in the clear. And boy was I. As soon as people got into the dressing room I noticed that they just walked to the shower's stark naked, and I'm not talking about in underwear or in a bra, I'm talking about bare ass, hail mary nakedness. I didn't know that that's what they did.

Anyway, I finished getting dressed and went into the lounge type area of the excersize place. Igne had told me that after excerszing the Rotarians normally sat down and had kaffe together. I sat down and realized that not only was there kaffe and bageuttes but there was a line of shot glasses. I figured it was for irish kaffe or something like that. So, I go on talking to people and drinking kaffe like I didn't notice anything. As soon as everybody had arrived in the room they began to do straight shots of whiskey. Now I woke up at 7 and went excersizing at 8 and finished at 9. So they were doing shots at like 9 in the freaking morning. I got offered some but I figured it was a test, and that I would probably spew it across the room as soon as it was in my mouth, so I refused.

Then Igne and I went home. Velcommen to Danmark!

~Jasmine H

ONE OF THE MOST AWESOME PEOPLE I'VE EVER MET!

Hej,
Today Sara (my exchange sister) left for Brasil. It was a very sad day for everyone, Pia especially. She was crying all morning. Hans planned a special trip for Pia and him to go on to try and distract her. It is a secret where they are going, and I still have no idea. They left right after Sara did today. I don't think they are going far because they took the train. However, per Rotary protocol I must stay with another approved host family. I ended up being placed with the president of the Rotary club, Inge, until Pia and Hans return on August 15.
I've only known her for 14 hours and she is one of the coolest and well educated people I know (second of course to my parents :) Inge Skov Andersen is her full name I believe. She travels like I wish I could, reads like I wish I had enough concentration to, and has just as many opinions as I do. It's awesome, her daughter's family (that lives in London, AWESOME!) left today. Inge and I have spent the day together and it was a very fun time. We went for a walk for about forty-five minutes, which was nice, we walk at about the same pace. She showed me all of the things around town, like the supermarket, gas station, and the river.
Then we came back to her house which is gorgeous (it's technically a bungalow). She drinks coffee just like I do. I have a strangle inkling that I'm going to leave Danmark very addicted to coffee, yikes! (Just preparing for college a little early I guess.) Inge is the type of person that always has matching plates and bowls, if you know what I mean.
We spent hours talking tonight. We talked about a lot, movies, books, things in America. Also, she talked about her travel. She travels to London 6 times a year! She's been to every continent except Antarica for weeks at a time (she's retired already). By age thirty she was the head of the cancer department at the University hospital in Odense. She currently one of two women that belong to the Rotary club she's in, and she's the president! For god sakes, she's met the Pope! She has eaten dinner at Nelson Mandela's house! It's insane!!!!!
I am hoping that she will be my third host family. She says that she's hosted other students in the past, and I think she likes me so it's a definite possibility.

~Jasmine H

Words I've learned so far

1. School = Skole
2. Chair = Stole
3. Thank you = Tak
4. Welcome = Velcomme
5. Hilsen = Love
6. Fish = Fisken
7. Horse = Hesten
8. Old = Gammel
9. Lamp = Lampe
10. Breakfast = Morgenmad
11. Yup = Jep
12. Refridgerator = Koeleskab
13. Bon appetite = velbekommen
14. Bakery = Bageri
15. I = Jeg
16. Am = Er
17. Good = Godt or God
18. In = Ind
19. Coffee = Kaffe
20. Copy = Kopier
21. Paste = Sæt
22. Music = Musik
23. Table = Bord
24. For = For
25. Food = Maad
26. International = Internationale
27. Black = Sort
28. Grandma = Mormor
29. Mom = Mor
30. Come =Kom
31. Beer = Øl
32. Project = Projekt

Why you should always be dressed and ready for company

Hej,
So, last night I got my first full night of sleep! I slept for about 10 hours. This a lot more than two nights ago when I went to bed around 11 woke up at 12, watched tv until 2, and then stared out my window until 8 in the freaking morning! (pretty sunrise though). The nice thing about my room is that there is a window on the right side, and it has a ledge that fits the shape of my butt, perfectly! So i can sit there and people watch. Anyways, I got a full nights sleep last night. However I still managed to have bowling ball sized bags under my eyes when I woke up. I didn't really care, I was in my house, no biggy. So, I threw on my flannel plaid pink vikings pants and a tank top, threw my hair up in a loose pony tail, and walked out of my room.
I went down stairs and ate morgenman (breakfast), watched and little tv, and drank kaffe (coffee). I went to wash my dishes in the sink and started to talk to Pia about Sara's visa, which should be here tomorrow right as they leave for the airport (luckly!!) All of a sudden the door to our apartment opens, I pretty much ignored it. I thought it was just Hans coming inside. Then I remembered that everyone who lives in the apartment was in the apartment. So, with a quizzical look on my face i turned to see who the hell just walked into our apartment with out knocking.
I then see this 6'5" muscular blonde guy. Ok, so lets recap... pink flannel pants, big baggy eyes, hair a hot mess, and a stupid look on my face. Raise your hand if you're embarrassed *Jasmine raises hand*. He looks at me like I'm a freaking alien, then realizes that he was being rude, so me smacks a smile on his face and say, "Hej." I say hej back and he walks into the living room. I turn back around and stair out the window, pretending to do dishes, until he leaves. He stayed for only about 3 minutes. I then think to myself, "Another bites the dust. Jeez Jasmine! You may have as well been doing the polka while naked on top of the dog!"
After he left I peeked around the corner to make sure he was actually gone, and turned to Pia to ask her who it was. She smiles at me and says it was the one of Sara's cousins or something. Then she says, "no girlfriend though," and nudges my shoulder. I stood there finishing the dishes thinking, " yeah, and now he definitely wants me to be his girlfriend."

~Jasmine H

Random things about Danmark

These are just some random things about Danmark. I'm just going to keep updating this post with new things so just check back every once and a while!
1. They listen to a ton of American music
2. The toilet paper divides into rectangles instead of squares
3. The bathrooms are tiny!
4. Very few homes have bathtubs
5. Riding a bike here is not only a skill, but a talent! I saw a girl riding a bicycle in a skirt and a pair of GORGEOUS quilted patent leather heels!
6. The stop lights are slightly different. They still have the same colors in the same order but when the light is about to turn green it goes from red to yellow then to green.
7. People, escpecially in your immediate family, are very open about their bodies.
8. Everybody can tell I'm am American... ugh. I'm going to ask Sara to help me pick out an outfit for the first day of skole so I don't look like an idiot.
9. People will sometimes just randomly walk into your house, they know you of course. Sometimes that person just happens to be a cute boy. Then you wished that you had put on jeans instead of your pick flannel vikings pants and maybe eye drops.
10. HAMMER TIME!! http://secretsales.com/fashion-blog/wp-content/uploads/image/hammertime.jpg
11. There are cliches just like in America, except they call the "popular girls and guys" because they dress in the latest fashions (which is currently shiny clothing) and listent to only pop music.
12. Nobody has tissue for blowing your nose! but something is always blooming! Raise your hand if your in pain *Jasmine raises hand* Hans gave me some nasal spray which is working well.
13. Light switches are commonly on the outside or rooms instead of the inside.
14. You either drink coffee or tea, but not both.

My first blog post!!!

Hej!
Let's just start out with, "Danmark is awesome!"
I finally arrived yesterday around nine (Danish time)! Hans Jorgen came to pick me up at the Billund airport. The slights were not that bad. The food, however much expect, could have been improved upon. Kudos on the coffee though, it twas delicious! All of my baggage cam through. Tak to the heavens for that!
Me, Hans, his father, and the dog then drove to the beach house. It took about an hour and a half to get there. The drive was very much worth it though. The beach house was beautiful! Well, that is to say that the view was beautiful. The house was your basic sand covered beach house. The room I stayed in was made of cedar or something, it was a very interesting and overwhelming smell. It took me forever to fall asleep!
The first thing I did when I arrived at the beach house was use the restroom. The second then being smashing my head against the bottom of the sink. You see, European bathrooms seem to be very small. I don't really have a problem with this, I just didn't know of this fact until I got a blistering headache from standing up in one of these small bathrooms. I am fully recovered now, because it was such a serious injury, except for a small bump on the top of my head.
Soon after my head injury Sara's goodbye party began. I decided to take a quick nap which turned into about a four hour nap. After I woke up I spent a few hours playing with the kids there and talking with the adults. I really wish I could remember everyone's name. The children that were there taught me how to say nice in Danish, "fent." Sara had driven back to town before I woke up to go see a play with some friends.
The party eventually died down long after I had awoken from my slumber. I then tried to fall asleep, which was going fine until a GIGANTIC moth attacked me! It was horrible, I think I'm traumatized for life! I finally managed to fall asleep. I woke up around midnight and went into the main house to use the restroom. To my surprise, everyone was still awake, including Sara's 82 year old grandmother. They offered me some food, so I ate. I finished and everyone went to bed around 1:30, I didn't fall asleep until 2:30. I woke up again around 7 and took a walk around the town, it wasn't a very long one but I got some great pictures of the Baltic Sea (which I'll upload later.) I went back to bed and awoke to Hans knocking on my door around 10. All of us had breakfast outside, which was fent, the food was delicious! Eggs, ham, and bacon, along with bread with jam and butter, and of course COFFEE! They serve so much coffee in Danmark! I'm had at least 2 cups today which is about 3 more than usual.
After breakfast Pia, Pia's mother, and I drove into Odense, back to their apartment. The ride was pleasant and I noticed that they play a ton of American music. We were all in the car when Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas came on. Pia's grandmother was singing along. We drove Sgt. Kunds Gymnasium on the way in, it seems smaller then Wayzata, but still big.
I supposed to start school in 10-12 days. I still need to go see my counselor and figure out what classes I'm taking and everything. The skole is only about a 15 minute bike ride away from the apartment by bike. I'll be riding my bike to and from skole everyday.
Rotary is going to be giving me 750 kroner a month! This is way more than I expected! for those of you who don't know that's about $142.40. They are also paying for language lessons twice a week, a one week language camp, and lessons for a sport of my choice.
I am currently sitting in the living room of their apartment. It's on the fourth and top floor of their building. I had three suitcases and one back pack. In case you were wondering there is no elevator.
Not much has happened since we arrived back at the apartment. I took a walk around the city before dinner. It is very nice but a little dirty, there's a lot of graffiti everywhere. I love the placement because if you go to the left out of the apartment there is a quiet park with long trail and sculptures, along with a river. However, if you go to the right there is a ton of shopping and there are a bunch of bus stops. It's a great place to start my exchange.

Mojn da!

~Jasmine H