Skole

Tuesday. My first day of school. The day where I would receive a tour of the school, meet the other three exchange students, and meet my new teachers. Or so I thought it was Tuesday...
It turns out my first day was actually suppose to be Monday, but my host mom and I both could have sworn the paper said Tuesday! So I kind of skipped my first day of school. By accident. Instead I got a quick tour on Tuesday and I only met one teacher, and no exchange students. The school was very kind about our little mistake, though, and I got to start school the same day as all of the other students.
So today, Wednesday, I finally got to go to my first day of school in Denmark. And it was great!
Danish schools are a bit different from Northfield. School starts at 8 15, and the time you're done depends on what classes you have that day, so it could be anywhere between 1 and 5pm. My school, or gymnasium, as they call it, has a first, second and third grade. I'm in the second grade, along with Soren. But each grade is split up into classes which they stay with throughout the day, and then the teachers move around to different rooms; the only time the students move is for a science or an art class. The class i'm in is called 2im, meaning the second grade, international music class. This class stays together for all subjects except for music and language classes, then they split up depending on which subject they're focusing on. I'll be in the international half of the class, but ironically enough, I'm the first exchange student to be in the international class! Each week is a different schedule, and we have to check online to see what classes we have each day that week. About 90% of the school work is done on the computer, and they're trying to become a paper-free school!
Today was a shortened day, so school didn't start until 10am. After biking to school in the rain, I met with Kamilla, one of the school counselors and she introduced me to a few of the kids in my class so they could show me around. The first class I had was Nature Geography, and the teacher talked the whole time about what we would be covering during the year, but of course it was all in Danish so I have no idea what we will be covering during the year. Next there was an assembly to welcome the first grade class to the new school. Everyone in the school participated and the teachers taught us a short dance and then we danced with the first graders to polka music. It was quite interesting, and apparently they learn a new dance each year for this assembly. Next I had Ancient History, and then Danish class. The people at the school were all very friendly and outgoing, and I made many new friends (though I don't remember half of their names). I was surprised at how much I was able to entertain myself while all of this Danish speaking was going on! But luckily I start a Danish language camp next week, and then the week after that I have my Rotary Intro Camp where I will also be taking Danish lessons! So I'll be able to communicate with them all soon.
Okay enough about school, much more has happened since I last wrote. I found out that the sour-tasting milk I put on my cereal last week is actually called Okologisk and it's basically the stuff that is left after making butter, but some Danes drink it and use it on their cereal... This past weekend I got to meet Henrik, my 22 year old brother who has been working as a lifeguard for the summer. My family took a trip to the upper western coast of Denmark, about a 2 hour drive from Ringe. There are about 4,000 bunkers from WWII all along this coast, and they were pretty cool to look around in! At the beach, Henrik and Soren then taught me how to surf, which has been a definite highlight so far! I've also been eating a bit more interesting food, but still loving it all! The other night we had squid spaghetti. Yes, squid. It was so so delicious. I also ate herring, and my host mom was so surprised that I actually liked it, so she took a few pictures of me eating it :)
I'm learning new Danish words each day, and I'm loving it here more and more!
All for now!
-Heidi