The Three Week Mark

In the past 21 days a lot of stuff has happened. The overwhelming majority of it has been pretty damn good.

I'm not a big fan of counting days (forget that I just did it a second ago). It's distracting to take account of the time that's left before finishing this exchange. It just causes you to be worried that there isn't a long enough period to accomplish any substantial goals or that there's so much time left it's fine to relax.

Instead of going with the unnecessary stress or the tempting procrastination, I've been pushing forward with acquiring fluency in Danish. A lot. In the first few days conversing with strangers in the language often confused me and made me look like an idiot. Now it still stumbles me, and my vocabulary is less than a two year old's, but it's growing. My pronunciation is mostly understandable and the structure of the language makes sense. Fuck yeah.

On the first day my counselor and her family had me spend two nights in their home. They were welcoming and it was relaxing just getting to know them. I moved in with my first host family afterward. For now, instead of putting the spotlight on the specifics about my exchange (e.g. my host family, the house, the day-to-day stuff), let's get into broader territory.

Denmark's censorship is non-existent compared to the United States. A few teachers in my school don't hesitate to add a "fuck" or "shit" to emphasize a point. However, violent swearing or physical action is seriously disapproved of. Angry outbursts are met with frowns and head shakes. Trust me. Two weeks ago one of my first phones in Denmark, an artifact from 2007, stopped working at a train station I was unfamiliar with. My smartphone from America had some internal circuitry complication when I tried to use it here, so I was already feeling a little pissed off with having to downgrade. So when the archaeological wonder began to mess up all of a sudden, I loudly yelled "No!". The expressions of the onlookers when they heard me wasn't the best.

This kind of violence isn't in Denmark...anymore

People in general are also relatively comfortable with their bodies. Nudity and sex are seen as expected parts of life, nothing you should be ashamed of. Different types of sexuality are accepted here and women and men are equally respected. May do a post on that later.

The food is healthier and more filling in my opinion. Potatoes, meat, and beer are popular in this nation of approximately six million. Going to the gym and being fit is also encouraged, though the contradiction lies in the popularity of smoking here.

I am loving most of Denmark. So far I'd rather live here than in America. The downside is that my close friends (more like family) are in California. We can't have an insane adventure on a whim, along with breaking a law or two (a joke of course). I can't call them and trade some banter or play pool like we used to do. I've always appreciated that we could share our feelings with each other and exchange intellectual thoughts. Definitely miss it now.

So the loneliness sets in once in a while. But I like to move past it by going outside and finding activities. Why not say hi to someone and try some Danish? Or work out. Or read. Or make more friends at school and play a few sports, party, or maybe even do the Danish class work...eh...no. Besides the last one, the opportunities are endless.

From the 23rd to the 29th, I was at a camp meant for all of the exchange students in Denmark. We stayed at a sort of Danish boarding school in the northern part of the country. It accepts students from their teens to their 40's and was designed among other schools like it to teach practical topics without a grading system or tests. The students apply there for the sake of learning. There were also athletic facilities, a dance room, and a rock climbing/camping area. Pretty cool.

Tried out the rock climbing

Our camp involved six hours of Danish lessons almost everyday. We were given around four hours of free time daily and had a trip to Århus (Ore-hoos), Denmark's second largest city behind Copenhagen, or in Danish, København (Kooben-ow-in).

A view of Århus

Besides the classic touristy crap with pictures, it was great to walk around independently in a city for a few hours. And if someone got lost or was late to the bus, a train could easily be taken back to the school (love the public transportation system). Walking with a friend on the cobblestone roads into random places and following the river that flowed through the city was great.

The school was loaded with 160 students from several countries. I feel glad to say that I met some awesome people and got close with a few, enough to call them friends and hang out with them later. There were some tough parts to go through, but without them, the week wouldn't have been as memorable. I don't regret anything.

I have been going to school for two weeks. It's surprisingly similar to how American high school is, if you ignore calling your teachers by their first names, the swearing, going to the bathroom without asking (and overall more freedom and respect to students), and more. Okay, maybe it's significantly different if you look at it like that, but some students still sleep, browse Facebook, and feel excited about the partying to be done on the weekend.

The popular culture here doesn't dramatically differ from what's in the States, after all it's still the Western world, though that is something to be discussed another day.

Sorry I'm not describing anything in-depth, but it's gonna take a while before that's possible, months even. 

I want to continue seeing what's in this northern, Scandinavian country. And honestly, I don't really have control over what that will be. I just have to do my best with what's there and live the hell out of this year. That's it for tonight.

Top Picture Credit: Nelson L.