Joint Post #4: The American in the Room

By Kat

First of all, I apologize for the lateness of this post. I have been very busy showing Majken my home and have been extremely tired since I got home.

Topic: how you’re treated as an American exchange student

While in Denmark, I found that I was treated differently as an exchange student. It was pretty obvious that I would be treated differently than I am at home in the US, but this was a different reception than I had ever experienced. I have seen other countries as a tourist with my family, with my classmates and teachers, and with a group of people I had never met , but being on exchange is a very different situation altogether

As a tourist with a large group, you only see what the schedule has outlined. Though this provides experiences you may not have had traveling alone or with family, schedules leave very little room for adjustment or time to explore as you wish.

As someone who lives in a town that receives a lot of tourists in the summer, I don’t always love having them around. I understand that they are an important part of our economy, but on the other hand, they are quite irritating.

On my exchange I never felt like an obnoxious tourist, even when I was out and about without my host family. They were full of fun facts about every place we visited. I learned so much about the Danish culture from my host family  that I may not have learned while seeing the country on my own or with a tourist group.

I’ve experienced a similar reception only one other time. This was when I was in Costa Rica volunteering in a rural area on a cultural reserve. MY fellow volunteers and I felt more like members of the community than tourists. What made the difference was that for counselor was a native of the area. He had the trust of the community and therefor they trusted us, the Americans. We truly felt like part of the community as we played soccer in the mud and danced around with the local children.

Everyone seems to be trying to travel like a local. The phrase in itself is a bit contradictory if you think about it;however, there seem to be about a million articles online about just how to do it. The one tip they are missing is to be with a local. It makes all the difference  when you aren’t surrounded by tourists or wandering around looking lost and confused. If you look like a local you’re treated like one.

I was treated like a friend or family member while on exchange. When I was with Majken’s friends or friends of the family, I felt at ease just like I was with friends back home. As an exchange student, the feeling of being out of place goes away almost completely, which is all that you an ask for. One thing that separated me from a group at any time was the language, but even then, people were very kind in trying to speak English around me.

Politics were another part of being an American that I felt separated me. I was often asked about our current political situation, which I answered honestly. I always felt the need to disclose my stance on many issues because I didn’t want to be grouped with the less favorable side of our current political situation. America is currently pretty messed up politically, in my opinion, and it is kind of uncomfortable to be talking about politics with people in another country simply because it is kind of embarrassing that things have gotten too out of hand in so many ways for the United States. Its hard not to talk about it, really. In fact, I found myself realizing, even more than I already had, how awful our country must seem right now. (I hope to write a political comparison of Denmark to the US soon)

Overall, I found that I was never very worried about being the American on the street, but sometimes a bit nervous to be the American in the room.

Lost at Sea

By Kat

It’s time for another Adventure Update!

DISCLAIMER: this was written 10 days ago but I was having some technical difficulties with uploading photos… Enjoy!

As I mentioned, I went sailing for about a week with my host family at the end of my exchange. Though it didn’t go exactly as planned, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Granaten (Grenade)

We began our trip by sailing from Kalundborg to Kateminde. We walked in the pouring rain to a little Italian restaurant for dinner, and despite the fact that our clothes we’re still wet by the end of dinner and we were all still pretty cold, we went for ice cream anyways.

The next morning, we sailed on to NyBbrg. We went on a walk around the town and stumbled into rehearsal for a musical along the way. We had been planning on making dinner on the boat, but as we were heading back to the harbor, we decided to stop for some sushi instead.

musical rehearsal

Our third day of sailing began as any other. We had sailed almost all the way to Svendborg with just a few more miles up the fjord to the marina when things took a turn. We were about to take down the sails and motor the rest of the way to Svendborg, but when Christian tried to are put he motor, the propellers wouldn’t move. We quickly turned around to allow for more time to problem solve, and after many tries to restart the engine, we realized that it may need serious repairs. With careful contemplation, we decided that our best option would be to sail through the night back to Kalundborg. At around six o’clock, the wind completely died. We were just floating in the ocean just before the suspension bridge between the islands. This was when we realized that it would be a long trip home. Finally, after dinner, the wind began to rise just a little. enough to keep us moving at roughly 1.5 knots. Our plans had been to final a sports bar in Svendborg to watch the Euro Cup finals, so we improvised. Johan got the game playing on his iPad and we sat outside watching the game, sipping tea and coffee, and taking in the fresh ocean air. By half time. it had begun to rain and we moved inside. Then, we started seeing flashes of lightning in the sky. Everyone was silently counting to see how close it was to us. The game ended and Portugal was victorious. We settled down to sleep while Christian sat watch, as we slowly made our way home.

Christian waiting patiently for the wind

flat waters approaching the bridge

bridge to nowhere

I woke at five in the morning as well were pulling into our slip at the Kalundborg marina. Christian stayed behind to sleep on the boat while the rest of us drove to the house for breakfast and a midmorning nap. When we returned to the boat later that day, we found out that there had been a raincoat stuck in the propellers keeping them from moving. We discussed our options for the next few days and decided to sail over to Samsoe the next morning and spend one final night on the boat there.

The sail over was a bit rough, but when we arrived, the weather was beautiful. We tied up to the end of a row of boat in the crowded harbor and had a nice lunch in the sun. Lisbeth and I went for a very brief swim- the water was even colder than the beach in Kalundborg. We had a lovely dinner at restaurant nearby, played some Uno, and went to bed.

The next day, we left right after breakfast to bike around the island. We returned from riding roughly 40 kilometers and set out for home once again. Our final sail was absolutely stunning: perfect wind, hardly any waves, and the sun was shining. We had one last dinner on the boat before bringing our bags home. Majken and I had ridden our bikes down the marina two days before, so we added some more distance on our ride home to what we had already ridden that morning.

taking a break on our bye tour of Samsoe

On my final day in Denmark, we went downtown to do some shopping for gifts and to run some errands. After that, we spent most of the day packing up our things to fly out early in the morning. Lisbeth made a delicious farewell dinner that night and gave me a gift to remember the family by.

This morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed at 3AM and departed for the airport. We had just enough time to stand in about a million different lines, she of which were the wrong lines, to check in and check our baggage before saying farewell to the family and going on our way. We have been traveling for nearly 20 hours since we left the house and we still have about 5-6 hours to go as we wait patiently in the San Fransisco airport for our final flight to PDX and a 50 minute drive back to Hood River.

I am almost home yet it still seems so far away. I would like to thank my lovely host family once again. You have been so amazing and kind to me, and I will miss each and every one of you dearly. Also,”see you soon” to my family and friends home in Hood River. I have missed you and I can’t wait for you all to meet Majken and help me show her what life is like in “The Hood”.

Joint Post #3: Gibberish

By Kat

There are a lot of factors that go into learning a new language, but most importantly, you need time. Since I’m here for such a short time, learning the language has been very difficult. I have been very lucky to have a family that makes a point to speak in English with me because they understand that I don’t have much time to learn Danish.

Before I left for exchange, I did my best to learn some Danish on a free program called Duolingo. In my limited free time at lunch or between classes, I popped my headphones in and tried to absorb all of the Danish I possibly could. Learning a language on an online program leaves very little wiggle room. This particular program began with teaching simple vocabulary and working towards forming sentences with that vocabulary. As I began with Duolingo, I realized that whatever  knowledge I retained from this was not going to be very useful. With few other options of learning Danish leading up to my trip, I forged on. Though it may be surprising, I have had no opportunities to use sentences like,”The bear reads a newspaper” or “Turtles are eating potatoes.” in Danish.

Since I’ve been here, my family has been teaching me more useful words and phrases like “tak” (thank you) and “godnat” (goodnight). I have also found  that if they are watching TV in English, I can learn more words by reading the Danish subtitles while listening to the English being spoken. Written danish looks quite similar to English and has similar grammatical patterns. While on buses or trains, I try to read signs and translate the from Danish to English. Having context is always really helpful, so I can often figure out what a sign says just by knowing that it has to do with train travel. What I struggle with the most in learning Danish is the pronunciation. When people speak in Danish, they speak incredibly fast and words are pronounced much differently than they would be in English based on the written words. When I first heard people speaking Danish, it sounded like complete gibberish to me. Now, when I listen to Danish, it sounds more like a language, and I can recognize a few words here and there, allowing me to at least figure out the topic of conversation some of the time.

Still, if you asked me to speak in Danish, I wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation or form a useful sentence. Sometimes, I think about how I would say a certain sentence in Danish, and when I don’t know certain words, I end up using Spanish or English words. So, I obviously have a long way to go in becoming anything close to functional when speaking Danish.

So far, I have not encountered a single Dane who didn’t speak at least a little bit of English. Since English is such a global language, it is taught all over Denmark. Sometimes it is hard to start talking to people in English because they don’t often use it outside of school. I have found that it is especially hard to find students to speak to in English because even though they are nearly fluent, it feels a little bit like school to them. As they get more comfortable around me, they realize that I won’t judge them if they don’t know  a certain word or if their grammar isn’t perfect. I often have to explain that I am just thankful that they speak any English because I have had such a short time to learn Danish with limited resources.

Though my language skills have only improved mildly, I have become much more aware of language and what its like to be on the side of a language barrier where I don’t understand the language. Along with learning what its like to be outside of a conversation, I have had to learn how to be more engaging and start more conversations myself rather than just entering other ones. For a while, I had trouble with this and it was very difficult emotionally to be so alone in a room full of people. After a few days of this, I realized that I didn’t have to be so upset about people not talking to me, and I started talking to them. I asked about school, traveling, and even started with silly ice breakers like favorite movies.

Another part of not understanding every situation is that you pay a lot more attention to whats around you. I have become much more observant of emotion through body language and inflection. This makes things very entertaining when you can see how everyone is feeling but not what its about. I have also gotten used to really looking at my surroundings and taking in every little detail of a place. In all honesty, its been quite nice to allow my mind to wander and really contemplate things without having to worry about losing track of the current conversation because I probably lost track of it soon after it started.

Though I haven’t been learning a whole lot of language here in Denmark, I think I have learned many more important lessons. I had never realized how much I take communication for granted until it wasn’t a given in my daily life.

Joint Post #2: Soccer, Concerts, Politics, and More Soccer

By Kat

Topic: Sports, Music, and TV

Lately, in the Ildor house, and practically the rest of Europe, the European Soccer championship tournament dominates TV screens. Fortunately, I love to watch soccer. Unfortunately, the Danish team didn’t make it very far in the championship.

Despite Denmark’s unsuccessful run at the title, everyone still seems to be very invested in the tournament. On my first night in Kalundborg, we sat down in front of the TV after dinner to watch a game while we ate dessert. Since then, I have watched at least some of each of the remaining games in the tournament. I was talking to my family about the upcoming olympics and they don’t have many plans to watch any other events in Rio aside from soccer. It seems that no matter where I go in the world, everyone loves to watch soccer, or as most people call it futbol. I remember when I was in Costa Rica, the men’s world cup was going on, and our plans were made to allow for time to watch the games.

I have since heard of a sport I never knew about called handball. The description I got was confusing and I still don’t know much about it, but I am intrigued by the concept. My family had similar reactions when I told them I play lacrosse. Since it is a native american invented sport, it hasn’t spread across the globe like soccer.

With the help of Majken,Johan, and Majken’s friends, I have been introduced to some of the popular Danish music. I have noticed that the sounds and styles I hear are quite similar to that of American pop music that was popular a year or two ago. Along with Danish music, a lot of American music is played on the radio. Some of the danish music is sung completely in English, but most of the music is a random mix of Danish and English using whatever language is more convenient to make the lyrics rhyme. As someone who speaks a minuscule amount of Danish, its interesting listening to music that I don’t understand and just hearing a few scattered words or phrases in English.

At the concert that Majken and I attended in Tivoli, one artist sang in English and one in Danish. I was surprised to find that Nabiha’s songs were all written in English. I figured this was to make her music more accessible globally. Between songs though, she spoke entirely in Danis, but if I had only heard her songs, I wouldn’t have now she was Danish. She barely had a hint of an accent when she sang in English which was very surprising. Djames Braun on the other hand, sang mostly in Danish, but with some english mixed in there when it was easier to rhyme.

So far, I haven’t watched much TV that wasn’t soccer, but here’s what I have seen. I have since learned that the Danish constantly discuss the weather and thus must watch the news to get the weather report. Also on the news, has been talk of the Brexit bill. Since Denmark is in the E.U., Brexit is a really big deal here. Since I don;t know much about European politics, its really interesting to really learn about what it means for the U.K. to leave the E.U.

Just by writing about all of this, my head has become a whirlwind of politics, soccer, songs that are currently stuck in my head, and more soccer. And don’t even think for a second that I’m done cramming my head, and my journal, full of new memories and new knowledge to put into writing right here.

Adventure Update #1

By Kat

I thought I’d contribute something I am now calling an Adventure Update. Now that you know a little about my fantastic family, here is a not-so-brief summary of all of my exciting times here in Denmark.

When I arrived in Copenhagen, I discovered that my luggage had not… I went on to wear the same outfit for over 24 hours in addition to the time I had already spent traveling. After driving to my new home from the airport with Majken and Astrid, I went on to meet Johan and my host parents. Then, I was led to my room where I unpacked whatever belongings I had with me.

On my first full day here, I somehow woke up at 6 o’clock. That day, Majken and I went on a bike ride to see her school, walk around the old town in Kalundborg, and have lunch by the ocean. When we arrived home, we changed into swim suits and hopped back on our bikes to go for a swim in the ocean on the northern side of the peninsula.

For the next few days, we went back to school. Majken works at her school library, and she was asked to work at a few of the end of year parties. So, we put on some aprons and got to work doing dishes and serving food. One night, we wet to a midsummer party where we burned a witch doll, sang, and danced around a fire.

On Sunday, we drove to Copenhagen. Along the way, Johan and Majken introduced me to some of the popular Danish music. We took a boat tour around the canals of the older part of Copenhagen. It was beautiful to see the city from the water and learn a little about the history of certain places. After a delicious lunch in a little cafe, we headed to Tivoli for some afternoon fun. My siblings and I rode on nearly every ride including the world’s oldest roller coaster. The weather was perfect, and as Majken and I swung high above the park, we could see the entire city. That was one of many moments where I realized why I wanted to go on this crazy adventure in the first place.

A few days later, I visited an old flour mill/ windmill with Majken and Johan. That afternoon, we went to the store to buy ingredients for dinner because Lisbeth asked me to make an American dinner for them. This really forced me to think, what is American food? I eventually made ad decision and made a delicious dinner for my family.

The next day, Majken and I boarded the train to Roskilde to go explore the town. It was pouring rain, so after a walk down the main street, we went to the mall to escape the elements. There was a music festival going on, so there were lots of people hanging around in the mall to stay out of the rain before they returned to the festival grounds for a night full of music.

On Friday, Majken and I packed some clothes, and rode the train to Copenhagen for the weekend. We arrived at our temporary home with Fredrik just in time for tea. Soon after that, we were on the move again to go back to tivoli for concert. We had to arrive early in order to get into the park and just as predicted, it rained for quite a while. We took shelter and got some hot chocolate before heading to the stage to watch the concert. Just before it began, the rain stopped and it didn’t start agin until we were safely home. The concert of Nabiha and Djames Braun was super fun! Though I couldn’t understand everything they were saying between songs, we enjoyed every minute of the concert from the second row.

 

On Saturday, we met up with Astrid and did some sight seeing. We went to an old castle in the middle of the city and saw the royal treasury containing the royal crowns and jewels. It was pretty amazing to see such eccentric items. I kept thinking, “Why would you want to have this?” Then I realized that the former members of the royal family just had things to have them not to use them. After our visit to the castle, we went for a quick lunch before bidding adieu to Astrid. Majken and I went on to aimlessly shop around in downtown. I ended up purchasing some sweet new sneakers because the only ones I brought with me were no holding up as well as I had anticipated.

We spent that night at Majken’s grandparents house and returned yesterday to prepare for dinner with friends. We took a little bit of the afternoon to unwind from our time in the city then, went to the kitchen to make dinner. As Majken’s friends arrived, they joined us in dinner preparations and we were all making fajitas in the kitchen. We ate, talked, and listened to a wide variety of music late into the night.

All of that leads us up to today where I sit in my room and write frantically. “Why frantically?” you may ask. I ave been having so much fun that I did;t realize that I would be without a reliable source of internet for a week starting tomorrow because we are going sailing. I am incredibly excited to see parts of Denmark that most don’t get to see while spending time unplugged from the rest of the world. I anticipate that this will be a much needed opportunity to gain perspective on my crazy journey so far.

Joint Post #1: My Funny Family

By Kat

At any time in life, your happiness depends a lot upon where you are what you’re doing, and especially who you are with. While Denmark is beautiful and we have been having loads of fun in all of our activities, the wonderful company I have kept here has made my time even better. No matter what we are doing, whether it is yard work or roller coaster riding, I am always in a good mood because I am surrounded by such amazing people.

Here in Denmark, I live with my host parents, Lisbeth and Christian, and my host siblings, Majken and Johan. Aside from those in the house, I have two more siblings, Astrid and Fredrik, who live and study in Copenhagen. Since it is during summer break, there has not been a day where either Astrid or Fredrik weren’t visiting us in Kalundborg, and I am glad I have had the chance to spend time with them along with the rest of my family.

In the five days I have spent with my lovely family, I have learned only a little about each of my family members and I hope to learn so much more. So, for now, here are some miscellaneous and quirky facts about my incredible family including some seriously remarkable adjectives.

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Majken:

Majken reading with Hans Christian Anderson

• black pants are vital
• loves plants
• makes great juice
• roller coaster fanatic
• monumentally likable

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Johan:

• extremely dapper
• soccer (futbol) addict
• a man of few words
• sick DJ skills
• likes silly socks

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Astrid:

Astrid and I after a morning swim in the frigid waters of the atlantic

• aspiring journalist
• delightful company
• full of fun facts
• master of european geography
• likes to chat with the queen

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Fredrik:

• future lawyer
• seasoned ping pong player
• enjoys a good schedule
• has a slight obsession with L.A.
• great at minimizing conflicts between potted plants

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Christian:

• refrigeration expert
• grill master
• victorious tennis competitor
• has serious tour guide potential
• occasionally drowns on chairs

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Lisbeth:

Lisbeth looking off into the distance on our boat ride around Copenhagen

• Fantastic running partner
• incredibly caring
• extraordinary chef
• keeps her gardens pristine
• always knows whats up

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For such a playful and fun loving family, I thought that these tidbits would be the best way to show you all a little about who they are. Everyone in this family is kind, caring, and absolutely hilarious. Each busy, silly, or quiet moment I spend with them is a moment I hope to remember for many years to come. I am so lucky to have scored such a wonderful family and I simply cannot wait to spend more time with them. I only wish I could stay here for longer.

Johan, me, Majken, and Christian, on our trip to Tivoli in Copenhagen

And So it Begins…

By Kat

I am currently sitting in the London-Heathrow airport with very mixed emotions. Out the large wall of windows, all I can see are clouds and around me are silver pillars leading up to the rippled ceiling. Though I know I am completely grounded, this futuristic atmosphere combined with my inability to see the the actual ground make me feel like I’m still up in the air, floating.

On my last flight, I was writing in my personal travel journal and I couldn’t figure out what to feel. All I could figure out was that none of this seems real. For all I know, I could be dreaming up this entire thing while sleeping peacefully in my bed at home in Hood River. I do know that I am not dreaming though, which makes it much harder to figure out what to do with myself right now. I just keep thinking that I’m not actually doing this. I’m not halfway across the world on my way to live in a foreign country for a month. Thats crazy, absolutely absurd, simply bonkers. What kind of sixteen year old does this on her own? I guess I do, and there is no turning back now.

Thinking about Denmark, it seems like a whole different world from home. It just doesn’t seem like its one more plane ride away. I am roughly three hours from meeting Majken at the airport, three hours from this other world, three hours from everything I’ve imagined Denmark to be, and I believe that it will exceed my expectations. The excitement is overwhelming.

Let the adventure begin…

 

Is it Time to Leave Yet?

I got the mail the other day and was delighted  to find a boarding pass sized envelope containing my travel itinerary for the summer. Despite the fact that I have been completely conscious of my upcoming adventure, it became very real to me that I was really going to go away for a whole month. In fact, I couldn’t stop smiling all afternoon and it was nearly impossible to focus on my home work.

Now for the good part. Drumroll please…………

I am thrilled to announce that I will be going to Denmark this summer! As you may have already guessed, I am really excited. I have been messaging my exchange sister, Majken; our families have skipped together; and she seems like the perfect person to spend the summer with. We are both extremely excited for all of the adventures to come. I plan to leave the Monday after school ends (June 20th) and we will return just shy of a month later. Majken will leave Hood River on the 12th of August to get back in time to start school again.

While in Denmark, I will be living in Kalundborg. It is a town of roughly 16 thousand people about a 1.5 hour train ride west of Copenhagen. I can’t wait to learn all about the culture and people there. I also hope to learn a fair amount of Danish while I’m there, but I know I can’t learn all that much in one month, so I have been learning at home and getting some help from a Danish exchange student that is currently in Hood River. During our Skype call, Majken’s father asked if I would like to go sailing on their sailboat around the area for about a week while I’m there and I could’t imagine a more unique experience to have not to mention that I love to sail. he disclaimed that their boat was not luxurious by any means which is just fine for an outdoorsy Hood River girl like me.

Majken has two older siblings, one brother and one sister, who attend live and university in Copenhagen as well as one younger brother who lives in Kalundborg. Her father installs refrigerators and her mother works at the local municipality. I could write forever about my exchange family, but I’ll stop now as not to drown you all in details.

In short, I simply cannot wait to embark on this amazing adventure and I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity to make a million memories over the summer. I’m even smiling like an idiot at my computer screen just thinking about all that’s to come.

 

About Kat

My name is Kat McElderry and I am a sophomore at HRVHS. An exchange experience has been on my radar for a long time, and when rotary was introduced, I couldn’t pass up the offer. My passion for learning about culture and visiting new places has brought me to a handful of different countries in North and South America. At the moment, the exchange coordinator is pursuing possible exchange opportunities in Denmark.

In my free time, I play water polo and lacrosse and I take hip hop classes after school. Hood River has been my home since I was born, and despite the breathtaking views and wonderful people, I love to get away and explore the rest of the world when I can.

While on exchange, I hope to learn more about the culture of my country as well as the language. To prepare for my exchange, I hope to learn some of the language prior to my exchange so that the language barrier won’t hold name back too much.

An important part of this blog for me is that I can share my journey while keeping it separate from my life in Hood River. I think that it is every important to disconnect while traveling, but I do want to update everyone on how my exchange is going.

Throughout my exchange, I will be posting updates about my exchange experiences and posts focussing on our joint post topics. I am extremely interested to see how our cultures will compare.

Thank you for visiting our blog!

Kat