Thanksgivings, bag packings, etc...

Hellooooo,

Since I have last written, I have attended three thanksgiving dinners (and I'm not even in the United States...), successfully spent my months Rotary allowance on (almost) nothing but coffee, and tried to figure out how it could actually be possible that I have seemingly less clothes than what I initially packed for Denmark.

And, as an extra bonus for me, I have also dreamt in Danish. It essentially works the same as dreaming in your native language, only its 100% cooler when you wake up and realize you just dreamt in a foreign language.

I actually woke up that morning thinking "darn. It was in English again." And then I realized "Wait. Wait nope. That was in Danish. I just dreamt in Danish." I was happy.

I attended three thanksgiving dinners which is significantly more than I ever attend in the U.S, one of them being one that I actually made for my host family. It was a little bit lacking in all of the traditional foods such as turkey (that costs like an arm and leg and a couple extra kroner, so no way was I buying that), so I just settled for green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. With the green bean casserole I obviously had to substitute the American "Campbells mushroom soup," and the mashed potatoes were severely lacking gravy, seeing as how I didn't have any turkey. However in the end, I'd say that what was an incredibly foreign interpretation of thanksgiving turned out pretty good. The pumpkin pie was a success as well, according to my youngest host brother. It now has popular demand. He looks up at me after taking his first bite of pumpkin pie (*ever*) and goes "Grace. FANTASTIC." He wants it for his birthday. As well as I would presume quesadillas...cheezits...he likes American food. My host mom told me she never knew "cake" (there again with the "kage") made out of pumpkin would taste so good, and my host sister ate it first thing when she came home from school the next day.

And then, three days later, I made the final touch to my (rather horrid) packing job, and switched host families.

113 days, two overly stuffed suitcases, one backpack, a travel bag, a box, some gummi støvlers, and a Christmas calendar (?) later, I begin part two of my exchange. I am increasingly concerned at how I will ever get all the things I have accumulated here in Denmark back to the U.S. Especially if I've accumulated all this after only three months...let alone the other eight.

*Mom, I still don't know how to pack. You'd probably be appalled.*

For those who may recall the much awaited post that came in April entitled "I HAVE A HOST FAMILY" I have been in fairly often communication with my first host family since than. I spent the better half of my child psychology class period last year talking with my host sister when we weren't technically supposed to have electronics out (whoops, did I say that out loud...?), and the occasional email from one of my host parents. So you could say I knew them fairly well once I got there, and after almost eight months of communication with them, you could say I know them pretty well now.

I have thanked them already, however at the risk of sounding overly thankful (if they read my blog) I just want to say again how grateful I am to them for taking me in, especially when all they knew about me at first was essentially on an essay I had written before I turned my application in to Rotary. I will always remember how much fun I had with them, and as my days go by with my new family I find myself remembering all that was special with my previous, and I know I have a growing appreciation for all they did. I like to think that three and a half months ago when I arrived in Denmark, I entered a house, and later left what I now call a home.

My new host family is very sweet as well. I have two host brothers, one who is 18, and another one who is 21 and studying in Copenhagen. (Eller, København.) OH, and get this. They speak a different dialect of Danish. It is called Sønderjysk. It is a mix of Danish AND German, seeing as how Southern Denmark is close to Germany. And the best part? It is hard for some native Danish speakers to understand. Let alone foreigners. Who are now learning regular Danish and a dialect. I now have a new appreciation for the word impossible. Skål.

Vi ses.