Rome!!

Well, I had an amazing trip to Rome during the autumn break with my host family. Leaving home at 3am in the morning to get to the airport for our 5am flight was brutal, although it meant I was asleep for the two and a half hour plane ride. It was a very enjoyable week, we visited all the main tourist attractions, including the Forum Romanum, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Vatican City and the Catacombs, as well as a lot of other attractions, maybe a few too many churches.
My favourite parts of the trip were definatly the Colosseum and the Vatican City. The Colosseum because I wasmoved being in the presence of such an incredibly old structure, I had also stuided it in my Classics course at school, this made my whole trip to Rome more enjoyable as it provided me with background information on all the structures dating back to the time of the Roman empire. The other thing was the Vatican city, although I do not agree with the Christian faith and the effect it has had on the world, I was amazed by the beauty and craftmanship of the area. St.Peters cathedral is the most impressive building I have ever seen in my life, it is simply an epic and imposing structure. And 'The final Judgement' scence in the Sistine Chapel is one of the most amazing pieces of art I have seen in my life.
But it was good to come back to Denmark after the trip, I was blown away by how crowded Rome was, and I could never see myself living in such a city. School is going well for me, my Danish is also continuing to improve. So life is going very well, but the return date is looming upon us and this is making me very sad, I know it will be very hard to say goodbye to Denmark.

New home and my trip to Maribo

My holidays have come to an end and school has once again begun. Its sad that summer is ending and we proceed in to the cold winter, but Im happy to be back at school amoungst my friends, alot of whom I had not seen during the holidays. I have also left Nyråd and moved into my third and finaly family in Vordingborg, I'm now living quite close to school, a very short cycle ride away. I just had sports day at school, which was very fun, it's a far cry from the serious, qualifier style athlectics days we have in NZ, this one saw all the classes dressing up in rediculous costumes and just having a great time.

This weekend, from friday the 10th to sunday the 12th, my district here in Denmark had a get together in Maribo, on Loland, south of where I live in Vordingborg. It was quite allot of fun to catch up with the other exchange students and to also meet the new ones. On saturday I visited Knuthenborg safari park, which was great, so many different animals in one place. But before the safari park we went for a boat tour on lake Maribo, the weather was terrible but it was still quite enjoyable. The rest of the time was just spent talking and having a laugh.

So sorry all for the long delay since my last update, but these summer holidays have been hectic. Between Euro tour, weeks of camping and Langelands music festival with my host family, I really havent had much time at home.
My first week camping in Loland with my host brothers grand parents was amazing, well not much can be said for the scenary around the camp ground, but it was on a beach and thats enough for me when Im in +30 degrees weather with high humidity. I didnt expect such a rediculously hot summer, we rarely have it this warm in New Zealand, so after a winter spent surrounded by snow and having to endure sub zero temperatures this summer came as a shock. It was a great week, filled with snorkeling, kong spille (the king game, the danish equivelant of petonque) and allot of good food.
The next week I was home again in Nyråd for what I thought would be a week of rest and recovery, but no it was festuge. One of the biggest "free" festivals in Denmark, hosted by my own town of Vordingborg, I say free, but the festival organisers make a fortune of selling alcohol and food to the Danes who flock to the town to listen to the oh so popular Danish folk and pop music. Which really isnt all that amazing. But it was still a great week for socialising and making new friends, and with such warm weather I had some really pleasant days and evenings.
The next week I went to Southern Jyland, about 20 minutes from the German border, with my next host family, we stayed with some family friends who live there. It was such a great week, camping on the lawn with Frederik by night, water skiing and swimming by day. We also made a one day excursion down to Germany, were we ate and shopped, taking advantage of much lower taxes to buy some things that would cost us allot more back in Denmark.
My next host family did not drop me home, but instead they dropped me to Lene and Peter ( My current host Mum and brother), who were already at Langeland, preparing for the Langeland festival, a week long Danish music festival that turned out to be one of my best weeks in Denmark so far. My host sister sally had left for Australia to start her exchange the week before, and her presence was definatly missed by us, but we have talked with her and we know she is having a great time which is awesome to hear. Highlights of the week included seeing Dizzee Miz Lizee ( a Danish Rock Band ) and the Cult Party Tent (Party now, apoligise later)... Low point of the week was Nik and Jay, two Danish rappers who are just down right rediculous.
But now ive got school to look forward to, I start on the 18th of this month, and when I say Im looking forward to it, that is in no way ironic, I will be very happy to see allot of my friends who have been away over the summer and to have some Gymnasium fests.
But tomorow I will upload some photos of some of the things I have been up to on my holiday. If anyone wants to Skype my from back home, my user name is andre_poelman, I hope everyone is enjoying the NZ winter, which Im glad that im skipping, but instead I have the freezing Danish winter to look forward to.

I am so excited. Tomorrow I will catch a train from Vordingborg to Nykobing and from there I will travel with the rest of the exchange students living on Zealand to Germany. After that the Czech Republic and from there the rest of the countries scheduled for our tour. It will be an amazing experience and I will be sure to take allot of photos and keep my blog updated on my travels.

My new home in Nyråd

On the 1st of May, I moved from Mern to my new host family in Nyråd, it is a small town but larger then Mern, it is a 10 minute bus ride from my school in Vordingborg. They are very sweet people, my host mother Lene is always very nice and I get along with my host brother Peter and my host sister Sally very well. Sally will soon be leaving as a Rotary exchange student to Australia, so we practice english and danish together quite allot.

On the 5th of May i attended a war memorial service with my Rotary Counciller Anne-Marie, it was a very solemn occasion, remembering the pilots who died trying to liberate Denmark during the second World War. There were five New Zealanders who had served in the RAF buried at the church where the service was held.

It is fifteen days before i depart on the Europe tour, which i am very excited about. I think it will be amazing to see the rest of Europe and experience some more European culture. Mine is the last bus to depart and it will be filled with all the exchange students living on Zealand.

I have included some photos of my new house in Nyråd.

Hello all, still having an amazing time. School is great, class is hard work but i'm doing my best, the Danish language is very hard to learn but im getting there. I just spent a weekend with my next host family who live in Nyråd which is very close to Vordingborg, i'm excited to live with them but i will definatly be sad to leave Alex, Dorte, Erik and Estrid who have all been great to me for the first part of my stay here in Denmark. I am going to Copenhagen tomorrow for the Queen's 70th birthday which will be fun, i expect the area around the palace will be very crowded. I am so excited for the Euro tour coming up next month, Prague, Venice, Paris and many other amazing cities that i get to visit. Now that springs here this country seems to be really coming alive, the change in seasons if far more dramatic then what we go through in New Zealand, after such a cold winter everyone is really happy for some sunshine and warm weather.

Hej hva så?! A common phrase here in Denmark, it means 'hi whats up?'. Whats up, is that I am having an amzing time here, the temperature has been refreshing, ranging from 0 to -10 with it having been snowing the whole time ive been here. On the night of my arrival in Denmark I was rediculously jet lagged, but my host counciller Anne-Marie was at the air port in Copenhagen to pick me up, and she is very nice, she has helped me so much since my arrival with such things as organising myself for school and travel and is also very enthusiastic to help me with whatever i need.
We came to my first host familys house in Mern which is close to the town of my school Vordingborg, the night of my arrival, a fantastic dinner had been prepared and i was made to feel very welcome, i have felt welcome at home here for my whole stay, my host Dad Alex, host Mum Dorte, host sister Estrid and host brother Erik have been warm towards me and made me feel like a part of the family.
I started school on my third day in the country and from the first day i enjoyed it immensly, my class mates are friendly and fun to be around. They have accomodated me very well, seeing as my grasp of Danske (Danish) is quite limited at the moment. It has vastly improved since i arrived though. I just came back from a week long Danish language/ Danish cultural introduction course in Jutland. It was very enjoyable spending a week with all the winter inbounds in Denmark.
I have made a few visits with my host family to Copenhagen which has been fun, i will elaborate on these trips and on my trip to Jutland during this week when i have uploaded all the photos.