MY BIRTHDAY AND SKIHOLIDAYS

   15^th February, as my friends and family know that date is my birthday, but for me was also the day we went to skiholidays, so that day we woke up very early to take the ferry from the south-sjælland to Germany, we were together with other 5 families where we had breakfast and I got presents, my family surprised me because they had Venezuelan flags for me, we arrived to Germany in the morning and braced ourselves to spend quite a long time driving to Austria.

   I knew we were in Austria when I started to see mountains, we arrived to our first hotel at night to eat dinner and sleep it was snowing so it was really beautiful , I spent the whole day sitting in the car and sleeping so it was kind of a fast day for me. Next day in the morning we drove to Wagrain, we arrived to the hotel and left our things, rented our ski equipment and went up to the mountain. Over there, the others started going down and up while my dad was showing me the basic tricks to learn how to ski, it was very frustrating at the beginning but my dad gave me 15 minutes to think and I said to myself “I can do it” after that we continued practicing, went to eat lunch and practiced a little bit more, I was completely tired just as the other so we went back to the hotel to relax where we enjoyed the sauna, the pool and for me and the children the snow also.

   Next day was my first day at the ski school,  I was of course in the beginner’s group and we had a Danish teacher so it was nice to speak Danish with him, I was together with people from Germany, Holland, Russia and Denmark, we started learning the basic things, after two hours was lunch time where we had lunch together an after two hours more practicing, It was a god day I was starting to really like to ski.

After the third and last day at the ski school I was ready to be together with my family, So we went to another mountain to spend the day, it had snow the night before and the tracks were full of little snow’s hills so it was harder to ski that day but the good thing about that was that I made a good effort so the next days were easier and funnier, we were finish everyday around 3 o’clock and we took to afterski, places where the people can go afterwards, have something to drink, listen to music and just have fun, that was amazing, you can forget you are tired and just have a great time with your family and friends in an Austrian style.

   The last 2 or 3 days the sun was shining and was an awesome experience, even when it was cold you could feel the sun in your face and it made the snow look like glitter, we had also a picnic with the people from our same hotel, most of them from Denmark where we had food and many dances and games in the snow. The last day I skied down with my parents the whole mountain, it was hard and I got pain in my legs but I was too much happy to feel it. We had dinner with the other 5 families every night.

   Our return home was hard and long because of the  bad weather, it took us 17 hours to arrive home, when we finally arrived we packed out all the things from the car and cleaned it, we were really tired and my dad’s mother (vores dejlig farmor) invited us to have dinner at her place, we ate and told all the experiences we had in our ski holidays. I can not describe how awesome that holiday was for me, the best I have had in my life and I'm really grateful with my Danish parents to gave me that amazing experience and have that great and “hyggelig”time together that I will not forget.

JUL OG NYTÅR I DANMARK!

The day before christmas my sister, my mom and I made "Konfekt" (little pieces of chocolate with christmas figures) as a tradition, next day was 24Th December, I awoke very excited that day, I helped my mom to prepare the food, at 11:30 I went to Jersie st with my dad to pick up  my friend Jossue from Venezuela, He is from Merida and is being an exchange student in Denmark as me but only for 6 moths, I met him in our first AFS camp in Venezuela in January 2012, when the gaests arrived everthing was ready to start and enjoy christmas night.

Danish people has lots of traditions but specially in Christmas Time, around 4:00 o'clock we saw the Disney's Christmas show with old and new cartoons, we had our delicious dinner with my grandparents, aunt, parents, brothers and Jossue, we did the dishes together so it wasn't boring at all. After dinner danish people has as  a beautiful traditon to danse around the tree (a real one) and we did it, singing and dancing was a little bit difficult for Jossue and me because we didn't know the songs so it was good that all of us had little books with the lirics, afterwards was the time for presents, In Denmark all the gifts are uder the tree until is the time to open them so the tree looks really beautiful and there are always many presents, we spent a hyggelig time opening them and I got many. I also sang a danish christmas song I was practicing few days before, after the amazing family time we said goodbye to our gaests and went to bed, I slept with my sister Clara because Jossue was in my room, Fortunately I wasn't sad that night because I was far away from my family, I'm enjoying every day because I know I will see my family this year and I will miss my time here in Denmark.

25th in the morning we went to the church at 11:00 o'clock, In Denmark they have a different religion but I think is almost the same as mine (I'm catholic) all of us believe in God so it's not a problem for me, the time at church can be a little bit boring when you don't understand what are they talking about but with songs everything is better. I spent the next days relaxing at home and by Theresa (my amazing buddy) and Samanta (she is a friend from the same Island as me in Venezuela and is also exchange student), making food, shopping, watching movies and talking those days were wonderful.

Den fantastisk Nytår! (The fantastic New Year) My family and I went to our friend's home to celebrate New years eve, we were around 18 persons, 4 couples and their children, To start the night we saw the new years eve speech of the danish Queen, Margrethe II at 18:00, afterwards we ate a tipical meal from Switzerland call Raclette with cheese also from Switzerland, I spent the night playing with the children and dancing with the nintedo wii. The adults had a Cockteils Competition, all of us were the judges, we had Pina Colada, Caipirinha and Strawberry dream,everything was good and I felt  at home for a moment with those tropical drinks and the Pina Colada won the competition.

Before 12:00 o'clock we saw a funny, old, black&white movie (another tradition) about an old woman holding a party without gaests and the waiter drink all the drinks and get drunk, when the movie ended was just 5 minutes to New year so we saw at the TV, the fireworks in Copenhagen and the countdown began, everyone got over a chair and just at 12:00 we jumped to get in new year, hugging  eachother we got out the house to see the fireworks, It was completely amazing, I had never seen so many fireworks simultaneously.

By the way..tomorow 3rd January is the begging of the school so I'll go to bed early tonight. 

Tivoli Fireworks 2013

Sadån! That's how I spent Christmas and New Years Eve in Denmark, and I won't never forget this awesome experience!

I am learning Danish!

   Today 7Th December, I realized that 3 month ago I arrived Denmark, I was in my classroom this morning and I thought that it is a god idea to write something about that and of course in danish so you can see how much danish I have learned and I wrote this by myself in my book at school and here it is..

   "I dag har jeg været 3 måneder i Danmark og jeg er rigtig glad fordi jeg har lært meget dansk og jeg begynder at forstå når min familie og mine venner tale dansk, somme tider kan jeg tale med på dansk. Selvfølgelig savner jeg min venezuelansk familie og venner men jeg har en god tid i Danmark så jeg nyder at være her, jeg tror efter det år vil være svært at sige Farvel fordi jeg elsker dansk mad, danske mennesker, danske traditioner og alt i Danmark mere hver dag."

   "Today I have been 3 months in Denmark and I am so happy because I have learned a lot of danish and I am begging to understand when my family and my friends speak danish, sometimes I can speak with them in danish. Of course I am missing my venezuelan's family and friends but I am having a god time in Denmark so I am enjoying to be here, I think after this year it will be difficult to say goodbye because I am loving danish food, danish people, danish traditions and everything in Denmark more every day."

   "Hoy yo he estado 3 meses en Dinamarca y estoy verdaderamente feliz porque yo he aprendido mucho danés y yo comienzo a comprender cuando mi familia y amigos hablan danés, a veces yo puedo hablar danés con ellos. Por su puesto yo extraño a mi familia y amigos de Venezuela pero estoy pasando buenos momentos en Dinamarca y estoy disfrutando el estar aquí, Yo creo que después de este año va a ser difícil decir adiós porque yo estoy amando la comida danesa, las personas danesas, las tradiciones y todo de Dinamarca más cada día."

Vinter, My Third Month!

2nd December, It' s Official, Winter is here!

This morning I awoke and I looked out my window, I was in shock there was snow everywhere, everything is white now, everything is cold, everything is pretty, I went for a walk with my sister and my little neighbour and of course with our dog Ziggie,  We played a lot and enjoyed the snow, I spent too much time to get ready for that walk dressing up with the winter clothes and the boots.

1st December I spent a "Hyggelig" time at Theresa's Home my buddy from AFS (She's on my best friends in Denmark and the best buddy in the world..the picture in the right), we had a "JuleFrokost" that was a dinner with other exchange students and we ate a lot of Christmas food and drank beer, soda and coffee, I loved that meeting, we talked a lot and sang, played guitar and just had a excellent time indoor. 

I'm so excited for the Christmas because in Denmark "Julen" is a special time with lots of traditions and delicious food, Right now my mother gave me a "Jule Kalender" is a calendar with the 24 days before Christmas and you have to eat a chocolate for each day, we also have lots of decorations in the house (we made a few of them by ourselves). There's a traditions for children and also for me, you have to decorate your window in your room with Christmas Figures like Threes, Snowman, Candles, Snow and Christmas things. We also have Christmas Socks and we are having new presents in it everyday.

Today me and my family are going to eat "Æbleskiver" is a Danish dessert and I love it. I'm looking forward to enjoy this Christmas with Danish Traditions, they are the best, We hope we can have a "Hvid Jule" White Christmas (snow Christmas day).

I used to like Christmas, but I think this year I will really really LOVE DANISH CHRISTMAS!

Already two months!

  The last time that I wrote, I was going to Germany with my family for enjoy our autumn holidays, It was really amazing. After many hours driving in the car, we arrived to Hamburg on Sunday 14th October, we went to a fun arena, it's a place with a lot of games and funny things and activities to do, we walked a lot in the city watching many stores, eating in delicious restaurants, doing a mini trip on a boat in the coast of Hamburg, we also visited the miniature world, is a museum with many representations of cities but everything is in miniature with lights, trains and sounds, every 15 minutes the light is gone and you can see the places in the night and 15 minutes later you can enjoy the breaking dawn. My travel to Germany was really amazing; we enjoyed playing boards game at the hotel and relaxing.

   18th October on Friday, a day after our return from Germany, I went to an AFS meeting the day of Jesper’s Birthday (He is one of the volunteers in Køge). That was a good time cooking, making the cake and talking with the others Exchange students and also with Amber, my friend from Belgium. After that incredible night, Amber and I went back to my home o rest and sleep. On Saturday we went to Copenhagen with my buddy Theresa (she is my friend and counselor in AFS Denmark) and we walked, saw a many shops and went to Tivoli with her Exchange brother from Chile and his friend from Hong Kong. Tivoli is awesome with a lot of lights and a Halloween theme, dances and, everybody went back home, on sunday I prepared Venezuelans food for my family, I made arepas (our traditional bread) and Ensalada de Gallina ( a salat with chicken very usual in Christmas time) I'm happy because they liked afterwords I went to bed to rest and get ready to start the school again on Monday.

   The week started and finished very fast, On Friday 26th was my Danish sister’s birthday, there was a pijamas party with her friends, I took a bus and a train that night to go to a Halloween party at school, I arrived to the station with my Little Red Riding Hood Costume to wait for my friends Maria(Julie) and Pil (Child), we went to a concert of Maria’s favorite band and then we walked with the other guys to the school, The party was really good and I enjoyed a lot with them, when the party ended at 2:oo o clock I called my dad and he picked me up to go home and rest.

 28th October on Sunday, we had a celebration for my mom and Clara’s Birthday, so our family came and we did a walk through the forest also with our neighbors , then we went back home and had a Hyggeligt evening talking and opening presents. I was a little bit sad because that day was my Venezuelan Sister’s Birthday and I was not with her for first time but being with my Danish family maked me feel better.On Monday I went with my farmor (dad’s mother) to the Venezuelan Embassy in Copenhagen for have a papers that my mother needs in Venezuela, I loved the trip with her, I went to Pil’s home after to have a dinner with her family, that night was very Hyggeligt and fun. Next day  was one of those days that AFS told me about the adaptation in your host country, for some reason  I felt psychology bad and everything looked me so hard, the language, the weather, the cold that  I had and the problems with the papers that I have to send to Venezuela, fortunately I have the best buddy in the world, Theresa helped me a lot to keep calm, talking with me and everything returned to the normal, after school I went with my parents to a special activity from Clara’s Classroom when they had to read aloud a poem that they wrote about the autumn.

   Today, Friday 2th November, arrive to Denmark the special Christmas Beer, so everybody is exciting and looking forward to have meetings. Tomorrow I will visit my contact family and stay overnight there in Greve, I’m so happy about it, on Sunday I’m going with Clara to a musical of one of her favorites stories, I know that will be fun and good for us. 

Efterår, my first month!

 A month ago I left my beloved Venezuela to begin my journey toward the amazing Denmark, this month was very fast, a full month with a lot of emotions. I had my second Camp, my Autumn Camp (Efterår camp), there were 5 camps in Denmark at the same time because we are a lot of exchange students, I really enjoyed that camp, I met a lot of people from around the world, I spent time with 2 of my friends from Dominican Republic, I met them at my first Camp. I learned how to say “I love you” in 10 different languages and we had a party on Saturday night, it was an excellent moment to spend time with the other students, talk and dance. At the camp, we had session groups where we talked about how is going our days in school and family, There were guys from Thailand, Italy, Hungary, China, Japan, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, Dominican Rep. , Colombia and our volunteers from Denmark. We took a walk and then we prepared to go back home, we took the same bus and then we took our different trains, of course we weren’t prepare to say goodbye, we are looking forward to see us again at the winter camp.

When I returned from the camp, my family was waiting at the train station to go to a restaurant, eat and enjoy mi mother’s birthday that was on 5 October (The camp’s begging), I arrived very tired that night at home exciting to know, how was the news in my country because there were presidential elections very important for the Venezuela’s future. I went to bed very trusting, waiting to hear the results the next day.

   8^th in the morning, I woke up earlier than usual to know about how was going everything in Vzla. I turned on my cellphone and I realized that the president was been chose again, when I heard this news I couldn´t do anything more that cry because that´s very sad and bad. In that moment I realized that all my goals, dreams and hopes was destroyed and not only mine, also those of many young people who want the best for our country, I called my brother in Venezuela to know what was happened  and I couldn’t stop to cry. As my routine was starting, I got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower, my mom saw me crying and ask me what was happening with me, she gave me a comforting hug after I told her, I took my bike to school, crying and imagining the things that I want for my country. I was wearing the Venezuela’s football team T-shirt that day in school, the most difficult part was that anybody there understood what I was feeling, in the recess other exchange students in my school from Mexico and Brazil found me and gave me a big hug, because they understood better my situation. Also my classmates was trying to make me laugh and making me forget my sadness, that was really nice and meant a lot.

   Each day is getting colder and I’m wearing more clothes, 10^thWednesday, all the girls from my class and I went to my home and had a Tea party, so we took the bus and spent time together, it was Hyggelig. The next week we have Autumn Holidays and the last three days of this week we have to make a project, it’s a mix of two subjects, unfortunately for me, I have to take Danish and Social studies (Dansk og Samfundsfag) the subjects that I don’t understand, but they are helping me. This Friday we’re going again to Fredags Café with Karaoke. My family and I are going to travel to Germany in the autumn holidays and I’m looking forward to enjoy it, I know that it will be awesome and fun like all the time that I spend with them.

My third week!

   This third week in Denmark is gone very fast, on Monday I had to do homework, finally I understood the homework, just because it was from English class, I made a Report about the last movie that I saw, it was very cool for me; Every Tuesday I have Gym class, so the last week we ran for 12 minutes, it was like be dyeing for me because the weather is cold but I’m adapting me and every day is better, On Wednesday I was so exciting for my Music class, I  made my homework but sadly for me I forgot it at home and I had to talk with the teacher for bring it the day after, we practiced a new song calls Chili con Carne, my classmates said that it's my Country Song.

   On Thursday I have normal classes, a meeting with the other exchange students and everything was going well, until.. on the way to the train station I fell off my bike and I hurt my knee, I had to be hurry because it was getting late to my Danish lessons in Roskilde, for my luck I found two boys from my class call Paakkannaq and Alvin, and they helped me.

   I went to the Køge Kommune on Friday to get my register for my Hypercard (Card for students) for travel “free” in the train, I returned to school and something funny happened, At biology class a lot of boys bought danish cakes (Roulade) because the teacher loves cake, but they bought a lot of cakes :D I was happy of course! Also two sweets girl from my class call Sinne and Sofie bought a Danish dessert for me (Fløde Bolle) It meant a lot because they knew that I hadn’t tasted before, they are so nice with me and I like spend time with them.

   That day when the classes finished, the school had an event call FREDAGS KAFFE where the students can drink, talk, meet other students and spend a nice time, I really liked it but I had to go home very fast because that day at 5 o clock I went to meet my contact family in Greve, we had a dinner together and they were so nice with me, I loved spending time with them, they are a sweet family, The parents (Bitten and Kim) and the children ( Linea 15 and Simon 10 years old), they gave me a beautiful scarf and I gave them presents from Venezuela, then we drave and they left me at home.

   My parents love have guests so we had a dinner with them on Saturday night, they gave an awesome vase with a Danish design. The same day in the morning I went to a mall with my dad and the neighbors to buy a present for my mom, they are Kim, my father’s best friend and his children Josefine and Gustav.  My dad started to teach me how to play the guitar and I’m so exciting and I really want to learn.

   Sunday was a relaxing day, I practiced Danish with my sweet sister, every day I’m learning new words and Danish expressions, I’m really grateful for my family’s help, they are doing an excellent job teaching me Danish, That day I also made come true one of my dreams, I cut the grass! I was so scared at the beginning but I took the control and it was nice and fun for me. In the afternoon I talked with my best friend of Venezuela by Skype, her name is Maria and she is in Hungary now also with AFS so we were so exciting to see us for the first time since our experience began. This weekend I have an AFS camp in Nykøbing and I’m looking forward to enjoy it.

My second week and I still feeling like I'm dreaming

   The last weekend on Saturday, after a walk with Ziggie, my family and I did a trip to Copenhagen,  It was amazing how I was expecting, we took a red train from Jersey station to København station, I walked a lot but I was so happy about it because I met the little mermaid and you have to believe me, it’s a LITTLE one. Then we visited the Queen’s Palace and for our lucky the real soldiers were changing their turn, It was a lot of people there and of course I was feeling like in a movie. I also met the Copenhagen’s Opera, The Nyhavn and Strøget street (very famous streets) and then we ate in a Mexican Restaurant with Latin music so it couldn’t be better. We arrived home for make a delicious dinner (Magnus and Clara’s favorite food) and watch movies.


  The Next day on Sunday, after a Magnus  Football game, we drove until my new Grandparents home for meet them, it was a really nice dinner with them and I enjoyed a  lot with my new, fun and amazing relatives. On Monday, I had to do a performance for a parents meeting at my school with all my class playing instruments and singing (like a glee club) a popular song in Denmark(Graceland- Kashmir), as the meeting progressed I was spending time with my partners that day I also received a letter from Canada, my friend Javier Steingassner sent it me for make my day a very happy day, he sent me a poem from our favorite writer Mario Benedetti.

My week went very  fast because I was always busy or doing something with my family (eating, practicing Danish, watching pictures) or at school (Gymnasium and Language school), sometimes in the classroom I feel so alone, is so hard when the people talk in Danish and I really want to know what they are saying and participate in the conversation but I only have to wait and keep learning the language, most of the time I’m with somebody and talking English. For my luck, I’m making friends, I have a friend now, her name is Pil and she is always translating me the classes, which she can do. But this week I’m also starting to talk with other girls and boys from my class, they are so nice and friendly with me, helping me and making me laugh.

   Every Morning after take a shower and  breakfast I have to bike for my school, it can be great and so cold sometimes but my family is doing a great job helping me to find warm clothes and boots for winter, our familiar relationship is going better each day, this week my sister Clara gave me a lovely present, a notebook with my initial that she did for herself, it meant so much for me.

   This weekend we have guests at home so my mom made a delicious meal for them, the dinner was so good and of course I loved the dessert, today I went with mom to shopping as a kind of annual fair of clothes and I bought two dresses very cheap and very beautiful, I love spending time with her and whole family.