Arrival

So, I wasn't originally planning on having a blog, but after my list of people to write letters to got to more than 50, the idea seemed a bit more appealing to me. So here it goes..
Today is my first day in Ringe, Denmark, and so far I absolutely love it! My airplane left at 3:30 pm on Saturday, and I finally arrived in Billund, Denmark, (which is where Legos are made) at 10:30 am Sunday. I flew over with two other exchange students from my district who were also going to Denmark and I am so glad they were there because I would have gotten completely lost in the airports. All of my luggage arrived safely and my Rotary Counselor, Arvid, and his wife were at the airport to pick me up. They are so sweet and were very excited to have me there. We took about a 45 minute car drive to a town near Ringe where Arvid lives. On the ride there, I saw more windmills than I've ever seen before! It's fantastic! I also noticed that there was not a single pick up truck nor SUV on the road. They all drive small, eco-friendly cars and some people seemed to just barely fit in their cars. Once at Arvid's, all 3 of my host families came with one of their children to greet me and to have lunch. I love them all! They're just amazing and my host siblings and I bonded quite well! The lunch table had about 10 different bottles of wine on it and everyone was grabbing their favorite kind. My brother, Soren, asked me which kind I would like... not knowing what any of them were, or what they tasted like, I simply shrugged my shoulders and was hoping that maybe there was some other option. I think he understood because he then passed me the sparkling water :)
After lunch, my first host family took me to my new house and got me all settled in. In this family I have my mom, Susanne, father, Neils, and three brothers, Soren (18), Henrik (22), and Jens (24). Henrik and Jens are both living in Copenhagen and studying there, so I have yet to meet them. My host mother told me I could sleep for as long as I would like once we got to the house, so that's exactly what I did! I only slept for about 2 hours, though, when the sweet, sweet smell of chocolate cake caught my attention. I went downstairs and helped Soren and Susanne continue to prepare for our dinner that all looked delicious! So far I haven't had anything too weird to eat, and I'm liking the rye bread more and more!
Soren and I are becoming great friends, and we're not positive yet, but we think I'll be in the same grade as him at our school, which is only a 10 minute bike ride from home! Arvid told me he would take me to the school before the first day (August 10) so I can meet some of the teachers and become familiar with the area. Then, on the 22nd, I leave for Language Camp until the 29th. Hopefully it will help me because at the moment, my Danish is quite poor. Luckily, all of my families speak English very well!

Time for dinner! Farvel!
-Heidi