Jeg hedder Maggie. Hvad med dig?

katy, madchen (dots over the a) mara, sarah, evannia.

my danish class.

evannia, taylor, mara, alison.

ana, south america love!

Since it has been almost a month since I posted something new I thought I should update this. My first month in Danmark was amazing. The people here are so friendly and I really enjoy my classmates, not necessarily the classes though. School here is tough, I think if I spoke danish fluently than it would be significantly easier, but not knowing the language and just sitting there for hours on end is actually so mentally draining. I use to think school back home was draining, but being here I realize that I actually miss canadian schools and actually learning something. But my classmates are so nice and will try and translate when they can, but I don't want to disturb them from their learning to just explain something to me. Everyone here brings their laptop, they even do math on their computers, which is quite odd for me. I do not bring my laptop to school because I have to bike 7 km to school and knowing my luck the day I brought it I would crash and break my computer, which would not be good. So if I take any notes I rock it old school with a paper and pen.

I had my first week and that Saturday I was invited to a birthday party for one of the boys in my class. It was really nice to be invited and involved. Before the party I went to a girl from my class, Laura's house with the other Laura in my class and Pernille, we made mini pizzas for dinner. It was really lovely, these people are just so nice and made me feel very welcome. We later met up with other kids in our class and biked to the party. I went home that night early because I had to get up and catch the train to go to introcamp for the following week.

Introcamp was where we got to meet all the other exchange students, there were about 150 of us. It was amazing, I loved meeting all the other kids. So many were from Brasil! But all in all everyone was very nice. We went to some cities to shop and to a museum which was of modern art. It was beautiful art, some exhibits were a little odd and I would never see at home. One in particular; 'I love you' also known as 'I fuck you'. Other people called it 'artistic pornography'. As one art piece they just had sex swings everywhere, it was very very different. We had danish lessons pretty much everyday and some days for 6 hours. It was very helpful though, but I still am not very confident in my danish speaking. I made some friends who I know I will keep in contact with. A group of girls, mostly from America, I became very close with, they were just so nice and easy to talk to. One was from Canada and we had danish lessons together, and two of the girls live in my city, so I already knew them. I cannot wait for the next time I see them.

Well I cannot promise I will update this religiously, as I seem to alway forget about it, but I can always try.

-Maggie.

and so it begins.

So it has almost been a month since I wrote my first post. My last few weeks in Canada were pretty hectic, getting things ready, insurance, seeing friends and family to say goodbye. It all went by so fast and it never felt real until I was in the airport and I had to say bye to my parents for a year. I hadn't really cried about my whole exchange, even when I said goodbye to my best friends, it was like a "see ya later" with a hug, it felt like I was just saying bye and that I would just see them in a couple days when we hungout next, but that is not going to happen for a year. I didn't really realize how long a year was, and I am so happy for this exchange and this oppurtunity, but I realize now what the other exchange students were talking about when they told us that sometimes it was hard. It was hard to say bye to my parents and see people cry, I hate crying and I hate seeing others cry.
But I have arrived in Danmark, safe and sound. Flying wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, it was actually such an amazing feeling. It felt like my two favourite things put together; driving and rollercoasters. The take off reminded me of being at an amusement park and going on a ride and then just flying reminded me of driving. I didn't get too lost in the Amsterdam airport, which was really nice. I didn't explore I just went straight to baggage, which I didn't need to, then I just went to the terminal and sat there. I didn't sleep for over 25 hours, which made the jet lag easier because I had a nap after my host family showed me my school and then I woke up for dinner and then went to bed at the same time as everyone else. I slept for 12 hours and woke up at 12.30 on Monday. Jakob and Marianne took me for some more exploring and they showed me Jakob's old school and I met Erik's mom, who only speaks Danish, but she seemed like a very lovely lady. My danish isn't very good and I am very hesitant to speak it because I don't like being wrong or doing things wrong, so I always fall back into speaking english, which I really need to stop doing.
On Tuesday Jakob and I went to Odense and he showed me the shopping areas and around there. It is beautiful here and there are so many people and bikes. The streets were packing with people and with bikes, I have never seen so many in my life. It amazes me how everyone gets around on their bike. In the evening we went to a family friends' house for dinner, which was delicious. Danes really are such nice people. This family had three children; 2 sons and one daughter. The older son is Jakob's age, so a year older than me. He was very nice, they all are so nice.
So it begins, my year abroad. My year with different people, culture and in a different place. I will try and keep this updated and share all my experiences over here because I know this year will be an amazing one.
-Maggie. (: