*no inspiration for a title* (Uge 5)

IT HAS BEEN 5 WEEKS SINCE I LEFT BELGIUM! I'VE BEEN IN DENMARK FOR A MONTH! WOOPWOOP Ok, I'm got a little excited there... Before I start explaining what I've done this week, I would like to say something else. I'm having a GREAT time here, you have no clue! Coming to Denmark was the best choice I have ever made! All the people are so kind and sweet to me and I'm already having the time of my life! If you're interested in seeing a video of what I've done the last month click here! 

Let's get on with the things I've done now! Last week I was about to leave for the street party and after that I went to Lotte's birthday party. At the street party, we ate and laughed and it was a way of meeting the neighbors. After that I went home and changed into my 'partyoutfit'. The party was not in Vejle, so Kim drove me up there. When I arrived there, 2 girls from my class were standing outside and they took me inside. Almost my whole class was there and we had an awesome time! Danish parties are great! :D (And there were a looooot of selfies taken...). The pictures on the left are only a few of the millions I currently have on my phone... We danced, laughed and played games! 

On Sunday, we had a meet-up with the YFU-students from Midtjylland. It was nice seeing some of the students again and we played a game outside where we had to walk around and answer questions or do things in little groups so the students could get to know the contactpersons. I think we all had a good time and we obviously ate a lot of cake :D (that's a danish thing though, I thought that we in Belgium ate a lot of cake and pie and stuff, but triple that amount!). On Sunday, I also got a snapchat from AC with a picture of the exchange students at my school in the local paper! After only a few weeks in Denmark, you could say that we're already famous ;) Sundaynight I went to bed early (and watched The Sound of Music, omi would be proud if she knew). 

Monday was a casual day at school although, during lunchbreak we went to the city to eat pizza, haha! And that's actually funny because 'lunchbreak' is at 10.45 ;) I didn't eat pizza, but my friends did! After school, AC and Kristiane joined the walk/ride home. AC came over and we walked the dog together and ate (guess what) BANANKAGE (2.l-joke). On Mondaynight I had my first Gymnasticstraining (yes, I'm actually doing sports here!) and it was a lot of fun, I'm definitely going to keep doing that! 

On Tuesday I woke up with the WORST pain in my muscles I have EVER had! While I'm writing this, it's Saturday and I can still feel it! I was off school at 13.55 and went directly home since I had a Skype-date with Regitze. And believe it or not, but I did not think skyping for 5h30min straight was possible... It is... 

On Wednesday, the pain in my muscles was still not gone. And the weird part of my school (or maybe just my class) is that Wednesdays are actually the longest days? In Belgium Wednesday is like a short day, with only 4 hours of school. Here it's the 'long' day (from 8-15.25)! We also had Softball and I can tell, if you already have pain in your muscles, doing more sports doesn't really help... Wednesday was also the day Heidi, Emma, Kristiane and I had to do a small presentation in physics. And guess what, THEY MADE ME DO IT IN DANISH!! After I was done "saying" my sentences, everyone in the class applauded! I was soooo embarrassed! Wednesdayevening we picked plums in the garden (I didn't know we had those!) and went over to Andreas' house to give the plums to him and his family! 

On Thursday it was just another casual day at school! I was off at 13.55, went home and did some homework (I guess, otherwise I probably didn't do much). In the evening though, I went to another scoutmeeting, because apparently that's on Thursdays here! We only had a meeting with the oldest 'kids', so they were all around my age. I didn't say or do much, because they were talking reaaally fast and I didn't really get what they were talking about! I did leave a tag with my Belgian scoutname in their scouthouse! (hihi, sneaky me). And it also says "SKOETE VAN JETT' RPZT", 'cause well, you know me ;)

On Friday I only had two classes, which means I was off at 10.45 :D I forgot what I did when I came home, so I think it might have been 'nothing' again... :) Fridaynight was 'Vejle by night' which means that the shops are open longer and there are all kinds of music things going on in the city. So, Marianne, Signe and I drove down there and we had a lovely time together! We also drank some virgincocktails and I obviously had a virgin mojito ('cause well, you know me ;) ). We came home and I watched the rest of The Sound of Music with Signe and almost fell asleep while watching it! So that means I'm still not done with it... 

Today we cleaned up our floor and vacuumed! And I discovered that I'm actually really bad at vacuuming... I don't know if that's a thing or not, but I just can't do it! And now we're about to leave for Juelsminde, which is a town by the seaside where we have a little summerhouse, so we're going to spend the rest of the weekend there :)

Hope y'all enjoyed reading what I did, and you'll be able to read more next Saturday! Love, 

Justine xxx

PS: If you've read until down here and didn't watch the video, click here! 

School is AWESOME! (Uge 4)

Yep, so uploading on Saturdays it will be! This week was a veeeery exciting week since I started school on Monday! 

Last Sunday was a bit of a chill-out day since it was my last day of holiday. Since I was freaking out about starting school on Monday I didn't do very much more than making my schoolbag and going into the city with Signe and Marianne to drink a cup of coffee (or Chai tea). On Sunday evening I skyped my mom and sister, they're fine but unfortunately my dad is currently in the hospital, since he fell of his bike on Saturday! Everything is alright though, no worries! 

Monday was obviously THE BIG DAY! I had to go to school for the first time... School starts at 8.00 and depending on how much modules we have, it ends at 13.55 or 15.30. When I arrived at Rødkilde, the other exchange students and a teacher were waiting for me. She said my class was 2.c and my mentor was a very kind girl. But I actually wanted to change classes since the subjects they have in 2.c are not really 'my thing'. So I kindly asked the teacher if I could change classes to a science class and she replied that she would figure it out, but I had to start in that class today. So I went to the first floor into a class with actually very kind people. After 20 min though the teacher came back in with the news that I could change classes immediately. I waved 2.c goodbye and went to 2.l, which is the Biotechnology class. We're 2 exchange students in that class. The other one is a girl from Germany. I was stressing out soooo hard that day that I couldn't even follow in English, haha! The next module was Biotek, which I already love! I sat next to different people during the day, since I really wanted to get to know as much people as possible! I have to admit, the people in my class are the most wonderful people I've ever met, they are sooo kind, friendly and helpful! Later that day I had math and German. Since I do not speak a word of German and the danes are actually really good at it, I said I wanted to change to French, so I could leave the class early. I went into the city to meet with Signe and we went to the bank again... So now I actually opened my accounts! I also bought some schoolstuff ànd a new iPhonecable since mine (which was a 'fake'-one) mysteriously didn't work anymore. So you know, you can buy these non-original Apple cables, so I did that instead of spending 62434 euros on a real one. Back home, that one didn't work either...

On Tuesday I talked to even more people in my class and I tried my best to be spontaneous and kind to everyone! (I think it might have worked!). During the different subject I mostly made online danish exercises, instead of following the classes... Oops. Well, I don't think they really mind! After school, I went back to the city to bring back the non-original Apple cable and then I spent 62434 euros (which is about 465320 DKK) on a real one... BUT now I can charge my phone again! Tuesdayevening, Signe, Marianne and I went into the forest to look for mushrooms! It was a veeery long and tiring walk, but we eventually found some mushrooms! And we had a nice view over Vejle: 

On Wednesday I had a 'long' day, which means from 8.00 to 15.30. That day we also had a special course, called 'Danish for exchange students' and sadly enough they took us back to the whole "jeg hedder Justine"- level... We also had gym, and GUUURL, I'm in bad shape. Eventhough we just played softball, I was exhausted afterwards! In the evening I made some math-homework and I helped Signe with her math! Someone from my class invited me for her birthdayparty today, and I'm sooo excited to go since it's going to be my very first danish party (tak for invitationen, Lotte!)!!!!! Oh yeah, while doing my homework, this was the craaazy view out my window (I loooove rainbows): 

Thursday was a casual school day, I already feel adapted to the class and the new school! During lunchbreak we sat together with all the exchange students and mentors to have a little chat and eat (#freefood, #lovemylife). We also had pictures taken, which you can admire on Rødkilde Gymnasium's Facebookpage. 

The one under here is with mentors and exchange students! On Thursday I also had French and I have to admit, danes are way better at French than I had expected!! Oh yeah, and we had biotek and I almost set the school on fire... Oops... 

Friday was a pretty exhausting day (Fridays are always exhausting...). I tried my best to pay attention during classes and I'm pretty sure I understand some of the things and I'm learning fast! Whenever I talk to people from my class, they either say it in danish or english. I don't always understand what they are saying, but I'm trying my best! When I talk to people from my class on Facebook, we communicate in danish! (I even explained math to a classmate in danish via Facebook! #proudofmyself) I also think the people in my class are okay with me being there, since they started inventing nicknames for me... And I must admit, they are quite inventive... It went from Jay to Jay-C to Jaymille and now we came to the point where they call me Jamille, which basically is a mashup between my first and middle name! They are either going to get over it OR I'll be listening to that name for the rest of the year ;) After school we went shopping with some exchange students. Back home, my bankcard had finally arrived! I'm still figuring out how things work, but I'll get there, one day, soon... :)

Today Signe and I slept long, since we were both tired! This afternoon we drove to some fields to see 'lynger', which are little purple flowers! We went for a little walk and these field with flowers are pretty impressive! We sat down in the middle of a field to have lunch until it started raining again! In a few minutes we have 'Vejfest' in our street, which is like a 'streetparty' with all the neighbors. And tonight I'm going to that birthdayparty! EXCITING!!! 

Hope you're all good! Love, 

Justine

P.S.: NEVER BUY NON-ORIGINAL APPLE CABLES! (Just a hint...)

I'M A DANE! (Uge 3)

Heeeeellooow!

On Saturdaynight after I posted last weeks blogpost, Mette, Mathias, Kim, Marianne and I played Bezzerwizzer. It's a game with questions about different topics. All the questions were in Danish and they didn't translate any of them. Guess who won? I DID (in a team with Kim, but still I WON). I was really proud of myself! 

On Sunday we went to see Signe's musical for the last time. I think I got a bit more of it then last time, but I'm not sure. Sunday we discovered a letter in the mailbox, with my CPR-number! Which basically means I'm (kind off) a DANE now!

On Monday Signe and I did nothing, as usual. On Mondayevening we went for a walk on the beach with Ludwig. 

On Tuesday, we went to the bank to ask if I could open a bank account, but they have to check sooo many different things before I'm actually 'allowed' to open an account. Signe and I went for an ice cream afterwards (yes people, I'm actually eating ice cream here!). We also went into Matas and I bought hairdye. Which basically means the following: I dyed my hair. Oops... But well, you know me! (Sorry for the selfie, but that's the result!)

Oh yeah, forgot to mention something... We biked down to the city and goooosh, the hill we have to bike up to go back home is soooooo tiring! But we survived ;) I'll have to get used to it, because from Monday on, I'll have to bike a similar hill back from school everyday! Looking forward to that!

On Wednesday Signe had to go to school... So as you can guess, I didn't do very much. I did walk the dog! But that's basically all I did on Wednesday! 

But then... On Thursday I realized I only had 2 days left to finish the presentations that I have to make for the school... I had to make one about Belgium and one about Denmark. I swear to God, that's the most difficult thing I've ever done... Making a presentation about your own country. I had to include all the traditions and stuff about Belgium... When you think about your own country everything seems so ordinary that you don't think it's interesting to include it in your presentation... 

On Friday, I finally called Apple Support to fix my iTunes problem, when that was fixed I was finally able to buy TRXYE! I finished the presentations and watched a bunch of YouTube. 

Today was the first scout meeting, we went to an event where the kids could do a lot of different games and learn new things. It was a lot of fun, though I can not understand that much Danish, the kids did their best to talk slowly and I had the feeling I got quite a lot of the things they were saying to me! And I got stung by a wasp... 

Overall I'd say that I have the feeling that the amount of Danish I understand is increasing but now I have to start talking! Monday will be my first day of school, for which I'm soooo scared! It feels like going to the first grade of high school again... 

But you'll read about that adventure in next weeks blogpost! 

Lots of love, 

Justine

PS: In two weeks there will be a vlog about the past 5 weeks! 

Lazy Girls, Papers & Language Struggles (Uge 2)

Today is Saturday 9th of August, which means that I'm officially 2 weeks in Denmark! Woopwoop!

Although it seems like I've been doing nothing all week, I did quite a lot... If that makes sense?

Last Sunday we went to see Annie Get Your Gun, the musical where Signe plays a part in. Before watching the musical Marianne, Kim and I ate chicken with fries on a blanket in the park! I must admit that the Danish fries aren't that bad! ;) 

We then watched the musical. It was all in Danish, but I got a lot more than I thought I was going to get! (#proudofmyself)

On Monday Signe and I went to Vejle where I bought a whole bunch of stuff (and I spend A LOT of money, but that's what exchange is for). If you're interested in seeing what I bought, CLICK HERE . 

It was a nice and warm day and the picture at the left side shows a street of the city which I love! They basically hung umbrella's in the sky and I just thought it looked so pretty, I had to take a picture!

Later that day we went to Åbenrå to get me registered. There was no queue at all, so everything went rather fast! 

On Tuesday I didn't do much... Signe and I were basically just lazy girls, reading books, watching movies and series! Tuesday evening I went to visit the Jellingstone. It's basically the first Danish stone placed by Harold Blåtand. Jelling is a cute little town not to far away from Vejle!

On Wednesday, Signe and I woke up rather late and decided to skip breakfast but make pancakes for lunch/brunch! We made A LOT and ate them all in front of the TV while watching Desperate Housewives.

After eating pancakes and watching TV, we laid outside on a blanket reading our books. Since I finished The Fault in Our Stars, I've decided to start reading Danish books. Well, I'm trying to. I'm currently reading the first Harry Potter book, because I thought it would be rather easy since I know the story very well. 

Also on Wednesday I found myself having a headache. And I know exactly how it comes. Former exchange students will agree with me, people who've never been on exchange, are going to have to accept this. Going to a country, where no one speaks your native language is exhausting. The main reason I came to Denmark was (and is) to learn Danish. And I didn't think that was going to be easy AT ALL. It just happens to be very tiring to listen to a language all day (Danish) that you do not understand, but you try your best to understand and speaking another language (English) to make yourself clear. And none of these two languages are my native language which is (yes, I'm repeating it again) VERY tiring and then you'll find yourself having a headache! 

On Thursday, I was home alone for most of the day. I ate the leftovers from the pancakes, watched TV and walked the dog! After midday, I went to Vejle Kommune to fill in more papers to get my CPR-number. Somewhere next week I should have my CPR-number, which means I can then finally get a phone number, bankaccount etc! We stopped by the library as well, where I got some Danish books to read (don't worry, these aren't actually difficult books, but more like books for 2nd graders if you know what I mean ;) ). 

On Friday, Signe and I decided to be lazy again. Laid on a blanket in the sun, read our books AND watched Frozen! It was veryyy hot outside and the sun shone all day! Friday evening Andreas, Mette and her boyfriend came over for dinner. Later that evening I wanted to go to bed early, but then SOMEONE (you know who you are!) decided to tell me about this movie she wants to watch. So, basically I didn't go to bed early. But found myself watching Black Swan in bed, alone. Haha!

On Saturday (today) it was raining all day, but we decided to go shopping again. We had a lovely day together and lunched in a very cute little restaurant! 

As you can read, everything goes well here in Denmark and I wish the same for you!

Love, 

Justine

PS: maybe is writing and posting on a Saturday better... Buh. We'll find out!

Preparation Week (Uge 1)

Sooooo, there we are! After months and months of waiting I finally left for Denmark!! 

Elise and I left on the 26th of July 2014. We went to BRU Airport and said goodbye to our loved ones. I would love to say that I didn't cry, but well you know me... I did, a little! Our plane was supposed to leave at 17.50 but it didn't. For the first time in forever (hehe, Frozen), our plane was delayed! 

Which meant that we had plenty of time left to go eat Quick for the last time (FYI, Quick = something like McDonalds). Our plane finally took off around 18.45. The little hour that we had on the plane wasn't easy for me. I have to admit that I cried my eyes out while watching pictures of my family in the little book that my mom gave to me. When we arrived to CPH Airport all the tears dried as if they knew I was ready for a new adventure!

Two very kind people were waiting for us at the Baggage Claim and we were directly sent into a bus full of people! I felt so bad because those people were waiting for us! We were the last people arriving on Saturday. Everyone was happy that we were finally there! 

After an hour and a half of driving we arrived to Nyborg Efterskole. The place were we would be staying for a week. Obviously everyone was tired so we went to bed early. The volunteers mixed up the rooms, I was sleeping in a room with 3 others girls, from Japan, Germany and Lithuania (VÆRELSE 15 FTW).

On Sunday nothing much happened. Everyone chilled and we played little games. That day was also a day where everyone got to know each other a little bit better. Volunteers and students walking around, speaking English (or Danish, from which at that time I couldn't understand a word). 

On Monday and Tuesday we were divided in groups and we had groupsessions. These consisted of Danish language lessons, but also Danish culture and YFU-rules. 

On Wednesday on the other hand we went on a fieldtrip to a bridge (which was a very expensive bridge), a castle, took a boat and then spent a little time in Svenborg. Svenborg has really nice little shops and it's the cutest town I've ever seen (I've only seen one here, but still). 

While in Svenborg, I bought two signs for my room and a cute little jar! One of the signs say 'I smile because I have no idea what's going on' and the other one says 'Everyone smiles in the same language'. 

On Thursday and Friday we had some more language and culture classes. We discovered in the beginning of the week that we had a PlayStation in our classroom, so I have to admit that we played a lot of SingStar!

Saturday was the big moment! After practicing our presentations for a week, we could finally meet our host family! After doing our presentation I ran up to my host family and gave them all a big hug! Marianne, Kim (host mom and dad) were both there as well as Signe (my host sister). We ate a piece of pizza and went home. 

My new home is a little outside Vejle, Jutland! We live in a beautiful house, where I have my own room and a bathroom to share with Signe. My room is the cutest I have ever seen and there is a lot of space to decorate and put new stuff! 

I would like to THANK Marianne, Kim and Signe for taking me in their house and I'm sure that together we can make a great family! Mange tak <3

Lots of love, 

Justine

Ps: I'll be posting a blogpost weekly on Sundays!