Karin and our favorite coffee bar owner Ahmed Rai. Ahmed had Kaffebaren on the walking street and then opened his new place, Rai, right across from Jomfrue Ane Gade. It's a great looking place and very good coffee!

A bit of America in Denmark...a pink Cadillac.

The embers of the once huge Skt. Hans bonfire. It is after midnight now and you can vaguely see the light from the sun on the horizon. It was a wonderful day and I had a great time!

It's about 10:30 p.m. now and it's still quite light out.

About an hour later and the flames have died down and the crowd has shrunk.

Karin and Marieke and the setting sun over the North Sea.

And the fire is lit! And damn that thing got hot! You can tell by how far back the crowd got from the flames.

Another witching awaiting the blaze...it sure doesn't look too excited about the whole thing.

The big pile of shrubbery ready to be burned and the witch on top awaiting it's scorching fate.

Annelise and Karin in the dunes

Beautiful rays of sunshine over the North Sea.

Later on in the afternoon a big bunch of other international students arrived. For most everyone, it was a perfect way to end their stay in Denmark and celebrate the end of the semester.

Baywatch in Blokhus

Annelise on the coast of the North Sea.

I made homemade chocolate chip cookies and brewed some coffee for our little trip to the beach. Here Karin and Marieke are enjoying a coffee break in the sun!

Beer in the sand...this would make a great commercial!

Brody from Manitoba and Matt from Malibu are busy burrying their beer in sand to keep them cool.

Right through these blades of dune grass is our little sunny spot. Marieke and Karin are lying down relaxing and catching some rays.

Along the coast in Blokhus are little beach huts. There were quite a few old folks in these likely enjoying their typical Danish meals of pickled herring and snaps and then taking a dip in the sea. We enjoyed ourselves on blankets close to the waves.

Just 40 km northwest of Aalborg is Blokhus, a small little coastal town on the North Sea. Yesterday, I drove up with Marieke and Karin to enjoy the sun, the beach, relaxation, and the Danish celebration of Skt. Hans in Blokhus. The big bonfire and witch burning!

Nordic Nights

Oh my goodness! I do not have the ability to describe in the detail it should be described how wonderful the summer nights in Denmark can be!!! To come home after midnight from a night with friends and to see light still along the northwest horizon, is amazing. I love it! It does make for difficult exam time when you know you work best at night, but when it is 11:00 p.m. and it is still very light out, it's hard to feel like I should be working, but I have managed anyway. I don't have a choice! I am just about finished with my last paper for this semester and then I have to start preparing for a presentation...which I have started preparing in my mind, but need to get a good layout going and probably see what power point can do for me.

It's also a very sad time of year. So many of my good friends from this past year are all moving back home or going off to their internships. There have been several good-bye parties and it's just hard to imagine they will be gone when I will be staying here. I am glad my family will be coming to Denmark, though. Then I won't feel so lonely, and I hope to get a job (I finally got my work permit yesterday), so that I can save some money to travel to visit my friends and also to offset some of my loan debt.

This week is Skt. Hans, the official witch-burning ceremony in Denmark. I am hoping (MARIEKE!!) that we will drive up to Blokhus (along the west coast) for the occasion. I think we should make a day out of it and pack a picnic and hmm...I have a tent and a sleeping bag! It would be a great time to spend together before the last group heads out of Aalborg.

Well, it is a nice sunny day today, so I will see if I can work on my tan a little more...and then finish editing my paper and start my presentation preperation. Tonight, the grill will be lighted! Danes really like their old fashioned charcoal grills...I think it is because it is a long and dirty and smelly process to ignite that they like it so much. When I am permanently settled in DK, I am investing in a good Weber gas grill...I like instant heat and I want to be able to grill all year long!

In Denmark, they have a very fun and old fashioned tradition when you graduate from high school or "gymnasium". When you have passed all your exams, which are all usually oral exams, you officially become a "student". That means you have graduated and you get the little white cap, which you can see in the picture. Then, to celebrate, I assume the parents get together to hire a horse and carriage, which takes the whole class from students house to house to celebrate the occassion. During this time, you see lots of "student" walking through town with their hats on. Many bars and cafes will give discounts to new graduates, too. Personally, I would feel weird wearing the hat around town, but they have been doing it for generations here in Denmark. We even learned all about it at Danish camp one year and decorated a counselors old pick-up with Danish flags and greenery and wore our decorated painters caps like we were real, Danish "student" and drove around the camp waiving Danish flags! Congratulations to all the graduates, including my cousin Bryn, old neighbor Ashley, and Kelsey, too!

I took a little break from my studies to get an introduction to the ceramics studio at one of the community centers here in Aalborg, called Huset. Here I am with my first product from using the pottery wheel. It took some time to get used to, but I think with more practise, it will come along very well. It is free to use the studio. You just have to pay for the clay, the paint and the final burning! Very affordable!

My uncle Rob and aunt Kisser are currently in Denmark to get the summer house together and ready to be lived in when the whole family arrives. Here Rob is thinking about how we should go about tackling the job of clearing out the old stuff that used to be in the old house. We did really well and threw a lot of useless and damaged stuff away.

Monday night at the Irish House for the monthly jam session. No crazy old guys this time, thank goodness!

The beauty of a cup of cappuccino in Aalborg. Do they give chocolates out with a cappuccino at Starbucks? I don't think so.

All bundled up in my Washington sweatshirt and enjoying a cappuccino.

Gosia enjoying her cup of hot chocolate while the jazz band sets up for the performance.

On a very wet, June Saturday, Gosia and I went to C.W. Obels Plads in Aalborg centrum to see the Pacific Lutheran University jazz band perform. I liked it when they announced the band and said "from Tacoma, Washington!" I was born in Tacoma, Washington! :) They were great. The weather was crap.

Procrastination

pro·cras·ti·nate v. pro·cras·ti·nat·ed, pro·cras·ti·nat·ing, pro·cras·ti·nates
v. intr. To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness.
v. tr. To postpone or delay needlessly. (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=procrastination)

That is exactly what I am doing right now...procrastinating. I am in the middle of a seven day take-home examination and sometimes it is really difficult to connect the mind with the fingers to type my thoughts and answers onto the computer. At least I don't have to feel bad about being indoors right now. It's raining and the sky has been continuously rolling with thunder for the past half hour. I managed to bike to the store to stock up on toilet paper and make it back in time before it rained down big, thick drops. Whoa! Now it is hailing...big fat hail balls, some the size of chocolate chips. Oh! And there was some lightning! I wonder if it is a good idea that my computer is on? I don't want it to get fried...or is that not possible? If it does go out, how can I write my paper?! Oh dear. And so much for that summer picnic in the park this afternoon.

Well, I better get back to my paper. I have to get used to the idea that the next two weeks will be a pure hell and my mind better focus, because I intend to get some decent grades. I can't wait for that feeling of relief when you know all your exams are done...and then, by that time, my whole family will be here! Go Dawgs!

The view looking out from the entry area, over the living room and out to the dunes beyond. It will be so cozy to enjoy on a cool day with the wood stove burning...playing games with red wine and candle light...pure, Danish "hygge"!

And now there is a roof! This was taken about a week ago!

The summer house is going up fast! This was taken about 2 and a half weeks ago.