Two weeks left...

It always seems that right when things are going so well, and things are really happening and I have such a wonderful circle of friends, that it is soon time to go back home to Seattle (although I will be back here on the 5th of January). My feelings would have been totally different if you had asked me how excited I was to go home 3 months ago! Damn! I was so ready to get away from Denmark! I even told my mom that I didn't think I wanted to live in Denmark anymore, and she sure got excited. Well, now...I really feel at home and I want to stay in Denmark (sorry Mom).

What I have found out is that having something important to do and having someone to have tea and coffee with every couple days really means a lot in the routine of ones life. This summer, I had more free time than I knew what to do with. I am sure I could have used it better if I had thought things out thoroughly, but what I was really missing was the social aspect and having some friends to hang with now and then. All the friends I had made from the previous semester had returned to their home lands and those I studied with traveled abroad to begin their internships. I was very fortunate to have my little garden (which consisted of a red dahlia bush, a couple rhubarb plants, a dark pink rose that managed to live, and a decorative cabbage that got eaten by dozens of green caterpillars) and my neighbor (Sven Erik) and his two awesome dogs. Now that the new semester has started and there are things to do and people to hang out with, life is good again.

Oh yes, I do look forward to getting back to Seattle, as I don't think I have ever gone this long before without seeing someone from my family. I suppose I will have to get used to it when I move to Denmark for good, but actually, you can never get used to the fact that you can't just drive up I-5 or I-405 to visit mom and dad and get a good meal now and then. That really sucks. And you can never stop missing those people you really care about...your family...and of course my friends in Seattle. But I have a dream...I want to live in Denmark. It's something different (for me) and I like it here...for the most part. No place is perfect.

Again, it is really late, and I am like TOTALLY freezing right now and need to put my pj's on and get to bed. I really, really have to do some serious project work thinking tomorrow, so I better get some sleep.

Over and out.

At Studenterhuset: Annelise, Karin, Karim (Belgium), Marieke, Marco, Luca, Igi, and Gosia.

Karin trying her best at looking like she knows what she is doing! ;)

Here is Annelise, Alex, and Luca at Studenterhuset!

Here is Alexandra (Germany) and Luca at Studenterhuset. Alex also studied here with us last semester, and she just arrived this morning after a 15 hour train ride from southern Germany!

Here is a great picture that was taken a few short hours ago at the Studenterhuset (yes, I made it back!) It is Marcin (Poland), Luca (Italy), Karolina (Poland), and myself. Luca studied here in Aalborg with me last semester, and he just arrived back in Aalborg again last week to continue writing his thesis project. I just saw him again for the first time tonight, which was great! It is so good to see some of the "ol'" folk again! :)

Karin and Marco (Italy) pose for the camera after our rice and salmon meal. This took place on Saturday the 23rd.

Anna (Italy), Gosia, and Marieke serve up a delicious Italian rice dish, which I can't remember the name of, with baked salmon on the side. It was delicious! Marieke worked very hard making it in her ghetto dorm at the technical college, which is actually only a couple blocks from where I live. It was a nice dinner, though, and there were about 10 of us there to enjoy it! Bon Apetit!

Here is a cute little street in the middle of Aalborg right around the corner from where Karin lives. There are actually several streets like this where houses are built right-smack-dab next to each other. There are also some older houses in another area where the walls are leaning out a bit over the street from old age and there are cobble stones still paving the road. It is SO cute. I will try to take a picture of that area soon, too, but it's not always that I have my camera with me.

Six gorgeous girls! Igi, Marieke, Annelise, Karolina, Karin and Gosia

Henrik is drawing as his team looks on during pictionary.

Karolina, Igi, Marieke, and Karin at the dinner table.

Annelise putting fresh tomatoes on the pizza.

My afternoon traditional Danish birthday with fresh baked rolls and hot chocolate with whipped cream. Gosia, me, Martin, and Marieke.

My Birthday Celebration

So I am now another year older as of the 15th. I had a wonderful birthday with a traditional Danish birthday "tea party" in the afternoon where I made birthday rolls and hot chocolate with fresh whipped cream. I used my Danish flag plates and cups and decorated the table in my favorite colors! I had been planning the whole thing in my head for a while, and since it is impossible to do all the grocery shopping at once with a bike, I had to make several trips to the store in the past few days. I was getting a bit stressed, too, because it is so much money to spend when you feed a crowd, but it's worth it to celebrate yourself once a year!

My friend Gosia came over on Thursday evening and helped me make an Autumn cheesecake (it had apples on top with cinnamon) and an apple cake for dessert. We should've made a lagkage, which is the traditional Danish birthday cake with layers of a sponge-type-cake with cream and berries in the filling and Danish flags decorating the top, but I didn't have the necessary pans to make the cake. Maybe next year.

As you can see in the pictures, I had a very pastel purple theme! I went out looking for a table cloth on Thursday, and I couldn't find one that was affordable for me...they were all about 100 kr. I couldn't spend that kind of money, so I went to the second hand store and looked for some table clothes, but they didnt' have any...but they had this beautiful lavendar bed sheet for 18kr! I thought it would be perfect for a tablecloth, so I got it and it worked wonderfully! What's funny, too, is that I got an almost identical colored Damask tablecloth with sunflowers on it from my family in Rungsted Kyst (north of Copenhagen) in a package they sent for my birthday! Good thing I didn't spend too much in other places...but of course, you can never have too many tableclothes! I will just use my 2nd hand sheet on my bed now! :)

Friday morning, I awoke to my mobile ringing...it was my family back home who called to sing to me and wish me a happy day! Good thing I had to wake up anyway for my 8 o'clock class! After class, I rode my bike home and began to prepare for the evening. I made the rolls and hot chocolate for my guests at kl.15.30, I carved a pumpkin to set on the steps, and then I made three batches of pizza dough. Thank you so much to Gosia and Marieke who helped me get the pizza and salads going! It makes such a difference to have some help in the kitchen!

We were ten in all for dinner, and after we had stuffed ourselves with 4 pizzas and salad, we played a home-made version of pictionary, which was quite fun! Then we enjoyed dessert with coffee and tea, and before we knew it it was midnight and time to end the evening.

I had a really great birthday and I got a lot of really nice gifts from near and far! :)

Happy Birthday to my dad on the 16th!

Marieke, Karin, Gosia, Martin and Igi waiting for our fresh fish lunch at Skagen's fishing harbor.

The famous harbor buildings in Skagen.

Sunday in Skagen

Today was such a great day! The weather was beautiful, although quite cool, but perfect for a trip up to Skagen...a beautiful town 100 km north of Aalborg on the tip of Denmark. Martin and I took his new-old Yamaha GT 1000 motorcycle. I thinks it's from 1986. It was my first, long, passanger ride on a motorcycle and it was great! It helped, too, that Martin is such a skilled rider, so I didn't have anything to worry about. It's always different riding along with someone than when riding the motorcycle yourself. Since I didn't have my own MC gear, I had to really put on the layers. I had my ski socks and long underwear and my thick jacket, and I was actually quite protected from the wind, but the chill really got to me on the way home at 140 km/hr. I will be sure to bring my MC gear from home back to DK with me.

Anyway, we drove up to Frederikshavn on the European Motorway, that if you followed it all the way south, you would end up in Italy, but we took it to the top, and then went 40 km further north up to Skagen. We stopped in Gammel Skagen (old Skagen), which is famous for it's old yellow houses and walked along the west coast along the Skaggerrak (the part of the North Sea on the west side of Denmark). The water was so blue and of course with all the rocks on the beach, it was difficult not to try to find some agates...but found none. Martin and I stopped in the dunes and enjoyed the view of the huge ships on the water with a cup of coffee from the thermos. I just love the dunes and the tall grasses. The terrain is actually quite close to that of Fanø's!

After our cup of coffee, we went back to the bike and drove further north to Skagen (newer Skagen) and drove down to the harbor. I had seen so many pictures of the red pack houses along the pier in Skagen, but I had never seen them. I didn't know where to find them, and finally today I saw them! I think they are so cute and so Danish. We met up with my friends Marieke, Gosia, Karin and Igi (from Finland) who had driven up in Marieke's car. They had just been to the tip of the country, called Grenen. There you can put your feet in two seas: the Skaggerrak on the west and the Kattegat on the east. I have done that twice in cold months and was definately not going to do that again today! So later, we met at the harbor and got some lunch together. You can order some very traditional Danish fish dishes like fiskefillet med remoulade (fried fish with a Danish version of tartar sauce) rødspætter (a very Danish fish usually served with parsley sauce and new potatoes. I looked in the dictionary and the fish is called plaice, but maybe that is the British translation...) and traditional fish and chips. Martin and I had grilled shark with potatoes. I had never had shark before and it was quite good! I think I would eat it again!

After we ate, Marieke needed to have her coffee, so they followed us on our motorcycle back to Gammel Skagen and we found a GREAT cafe at Strandhotellet and enjoyed great drinks and cake. Gosia and I had tea, which was a special Skagens blend with a mint taste. Karin had hot chocolate, which was served in a pitcher with fresh whipped cream on the side. They sure know how to serve their drinks here! And then we enjoyed great cake, too, as the sun shone in through the windows of the hotels solarium and we warmed ourselves in the rays of the afternoon sun. I was grateful to be inside then, because I knew it would get cold on the ride home.

It was a great day up to Skagen and we all decided we would love to visit that cafe and the area again. I would even love to stay at the hotel sometime! One day...when I am making money!

Now that I am home again, I better start doing some homework! Over 'n out!

Studenterhuset

I must be getting old. I finally declared to myself tonight that I really don't like going to the student house on Wednesday nights. I will have to say I don't think I have ever really enjoyed it this whole time in Aalborg. It is definately not like the student house in Copenhagen. That place was packed every Wednesday and we danced and danced and got cheep beer. In Aalborg, it's just a place to drink, chill, and work on getting second-hand-smoke cancer. Yes, I do enjoy very much meeting my friends there, but there is almost too many people there that you can't focus on your friends like you would if you decided to meet up for coffee at a local cafe, and although they play great music, there isn't a dance floor to take advantage of it. And then the music is played so loud you can't hear what you are saying in a conversation you are trying to have.

Maybe I am just tired and need to sleep...

The local Aalborg Akvavit factory. I finally took a tour before they were closed to the public for the season. The whole factory is fenced in and I felt like one of the lucky few who was able to get a tour inside like the finders of the Golden ticket in Willy Wanke's Chocolate Factory.

I love the shadows these hang-gliders make on the hillside. There were many Germans out on the east coast at Dokkedal the day that my friend Martin and I rode our bikes about 40 kilometers to the coast and swam in the warm Kattegat.

I actually took this picture. It was taken the day I was out with my neighbor and his dogs on the northwest coast of Jutland. I have now made it my wallpaper on my computer.

Here I am with Bodil's (my dad's cousin) dog Lucky. We are enjoying Fanø kringle in the dunes just like my great-grandmother did with her family decades ago. The nature on this island is very unique and very peaceful. It's my home away from home.

This is the house where my grandfather was born and where my grandmother lived until she died. I was fortunate to stay here one summer before our family had to sell it. My dad has many memories from this place as well as my dad's cousin who practically spent her whole summer here. Fortunately, the house was bought by a wonderful family who have put the time and money into it to make it the way it should be.

The traditional attire of Sønderho is worn in this July celebration on Fanø. This is what my great-grandmother wore until she died in the 1950's. One day, I will also have a Fanø dress.

Bull!!

It's getting cold...

The weather here in Aalborg definately feels like fall...it even smells like fall. It smells like it's time to go trick-or-treating. I even saw the first pumpkins of the season today, and they were actually orange! I would have bought one, but because I don't have a basket on my bike, I really have to plan in advance when I am out shopping. It would not be easy to ride and carry a fat pumpkin under my arm and try to make it up the hill on my street. I will go back maybe tomorrow and try. They also had some very cute tea sets with Danish flags on them for only 5 kroner a cup or plate, or cup and saucer. I bought two cups with saucers, but I think I should have at least a set of 4 or 6...you know, a new tradition to use on someone's birthday...until I have a full tea set of Royal Copenhagen Musselmalet! :) But 350 kr a plate or 5 kr a plate...I think I can live with Danish flags for now! :)

Fortunately the weather has been a crisp cool with primarily blue skys, and actually some mild winds. This part of the country is incredibly windy, and it makes for some tough cycling. And then if it is raining, too...well, there isn't much you can do but keep biking to where you need to go and be tough. There will always be dry clothes at home to change into...even if it is after sitting through a lecture.

Last week, I noticed on my way to class, along the bike path, a high cement drain, maybe a bunker, where several good sized zucchinis were placed. On my way home, I realized there were several missing. The next time I saw some sitting there, I decided that if there were any there on my way back from class, I would take one. So, I did! My mom always has lots of zucchini from her garden this time of year, so it was nice to have one to decide what I would do with it. It wasn't big enough to make my mom's delicious Greek mussaka. And I couldn't make zucchini pancakes, because they don't have bisquick here. So, I found a great recipe for chocolate zucchine cake, and I had exactly 3/4 cups of my semi-sweet chocolate chips left to use as suggested by the recipe. It turned out delicious, and even tastes great with a bit of creme fraiche on the side! So moist and yummy!

Today I got my hair trimmed for the first time in 8 months. My hair had grown out longer than it has been since 10th grade! That's like...11 years! I am actually glad I waited, because I found an affordable salon and it only cost 125 kroner for the cut. That's pretty good compared to the 350 kroner a friend paid for her cut. I didn't need the shampoo wash or the extra hair spray when I probably wouldn't like the way they style it anyway. My "stylist" was a Palestinian man. He said that he had lived a little while in Wisconsin and Illionois when he was 5 years old, but then his family had to leave, because they couldn't get a resident permit, so they came to Denmark. He thinks it's boring here and hopes to leave one day. It's actually pretty hard for immigrants/refugees in Denmark to feel welcome, because the Danes are so new at having foreign cultures in their land, that they come across quite rascist. But you know, I wonder how hard the immigrants try to be a part of the Danish culture? My Danish was better than this guy's who had been living here for at least 10 years.

Anyway, it's now quite early in the morning and I must get some sleep. Goodnight and so long for now! Knus!