Making friends

Let me just start off by saying that I do realise it's been WAY too long since my last post, and that I will try to improve. But I will defend myself and say that getting home at 5.30 and then having more homework that what's good makes free time almost nonexistent. And I sleep a lot too.

   ANYWAY, I am alive and I am doing very well. I've kind of made a routine in the morning, and I've only been late to class twice. I have, though, walked to the wrong locker and tried putting in my combination four times before realizing it wasn't my locker.

   High school is stressful from time to time, and going from classroom to classroom can get hard at times, as I don't have two classes in the same building. But everyone is SO NICE and has welcomed me with open arms. And all the teachers understand that I'm not at all used to doing school the way we do it here, which is really nice. And I've gotten myself a great bunch of friends, who all are really helpful and answer my stupid questions while judging me in a loving way. And we take a lot of silly photos, because we do a lot of silly things.

   One thing I've noticed those friends like to be a part of is my "firsts." Like eating my first doughnut or having my first Chick-Fil-A french fry. I've even had a fellow XC manager walk up to me at lunch and give me a PopTart, because I'd never had one before. Thanks Brewer! And of course we make sure to capture all the weird moments. So here I present to you what I would like to call "A series of photos showcasing my friends and the weird stuff we do together"

We go to football games and have fun

Sometimes we make funny faces and paint ourselves

I don't even know what's going
on here

Cross country races =

photos and silly faces.

  

When bored before class... 

you take photos with people

Pants(yes that is her nickname) and I were
twinning, and we had to capture that.

Being the cool kids we are, Will and I
used his shoelaces as headbands at play practice

I love you guys already. Thank you for making these past two months the best, and for giving me a high school experience on the positive side of the spectrum. I'm so happy for all these memories, and I look forward to making many many more. "We are not like best friends. We ARE best friends." You hold a special place in my heart already

We run for the hill of it

School has officially started and that means cross country practice. I went to a practice on the first monday I was here. I ran 2 miles and I COULD NOT breathe. I should probably mention that coming from Denmark means living in a place where 70 degrees is hot and humidity isn't a thing. Anyway,  Coach Gardner made me manager of the XC female runners. That basically means that I can show up to the practices and run with the team, but at meets, the whole world doesn't have to look at me being out of shape and breathing harder than everyone else.


   On Friday, the whole team met up at Tribble Mill Park to mark the trail for a 5K being held by my school that same Saturday - yesterday. We walked the route together while chatting about everything and nothing at the same time. It was all fun and games until we all realized the sky had gone from being slightly overcast to pitch-black. And that's when it started drizzling. Everyone started slowly jogging, knowing that Georgia rain gets heavy from time to time. And in the blink of an eye, heavy it got. I have never seen clouds approach me as quickly as this one did.

   We all got soaked and rushed into the few cars parked in the Park's parking lot. I started off being in Maddy(team captain)'s mum's car, while desperately trying to reach Anne, who was my ride home. But, of course I had no signal. After waiting for a good 45 minutes, I finally see her while Buick pull into the parking lot to get a very wet and cold me home.

   Then saturday came. I had to get up at 6 am to be at the venue at 7. I wasn't running, and as this particular race wasn't official, the team didn't need me. So I had the pleasure of handing out water to the runners, when they'd reached the finish line. Cold experience - the water bottles were all stored in containers full of ice, and I had to dig them out of those.

   The race went very well, and when it came to go home, several team members gave hugs and said goodbye. I'm still in awe of how that team - a team that, from the outside looks like a family. They greeted me with open arms from day one. They really are one big family, but that doesn't mean it can't be extended. I'm smiling when thinking of these past days because of you guys. Thank you.

Maddy and coach Gardner

Coach, Lyss and Wes

It rained. A lot. 

We run for the hill of it

Skolen er officielt startet, og det betyder at træning med løbeholdet også er. Jeg tog til sommertræning den første mandag jeg var her. Jeg løb omkring 3 km og kunne ikke få vejret igen. Skal nok lige nævne, at der i Georgia er en del varmere(i går var der tæt på 40 grader) og luftfugtigheden er meget høj. Men altså, coach Gardner gav mig titlen som "manager" for de kvindelige løbere. Det betyder, at jeg har ret til at træne med holdet, men når vi skal til stævner, skal hele verden ikke udsættes for synes af mig, der er ude af form og ligner noget der er løgn. 

   I fredags skulle hele løbeholdet mødes ved Tribble Mill Park for at markere en 5km lang rute, da vi i går havde et løb. Vi gik bare ruten rundt, mens vi snakkede om alting og ingenting. Alt var godt indtil vi opdagede, at himlen pludselig var gået fra at være en smule overskyet til at være kulsort. Derefter begyndte det at dryppe. Alle begyndte at jogge langsomt, velvidende at regnen i Georgia nogle gange bliver voldsom. Og et splitsekund senere blev regnen lige præcis det. Jeg har aldrig nogensinde oplevet skyer, der rullede så hurtigt ind over mig. 

   Vi blev alle drivvåde, og skyndte os ind i de få biler, der var parkeret i parkens parkeringsplads. Jeg startede med at sidde i Maddys(holdkaptajn) mors bil, mens jeg prøvede at få fat på Anne. Men selvfølgelig havde jeg ikke noget signal lige der. Efter ca. 45 minutters ventetid så jeg endelig hendes hvide Buick køre ind på parkeringspladsen, for at få en meget våd og meget kold mig hjem. 

   Og så blev det lørdag. Jeg skulle op klokken 6 for at være ved parken klokken 7. Jeg skulle ikke løbe, og eftersom det her løb ikke var officielt, havde holdet ikke rigtig brug for mig. Så jeg havde fornøjelsen af at dele vandflasker ud til løberne, efter de havde krydset målstregen. Kold oplevelse - vandflaskerne blev opbevaret i beholdere fyldt med is, og jeg skulle så sørge for at grave dem ud derfra. 

   Løbet forløb gnidningsfrit og lige inden jeg tog hjem, ville flere holdkammerater lige give en farvelkrammer og sige ordentligt farvel. Jeg har så meget respekt for det hold - et hold, der fra ydersiden virker som en stor familie. De modtog mig med åbne arme fra dag et. De er virkelig en stor familie, men det betyder ikke at den ikke kan udvides. Jeg smiler stadig. Tak! 

Coach, Lyss og Wes

Maddy og Coach Gardner 

  

Jeg blev lidt våd... bare lidt 

We're soaring, flying...

Travel buddies! around 5.30am in Copenhagen airport.

Let me just start off by saying that even when knowing this year is in the other end of a 20-hour trip, getting up at around 4 am isn't easy. At all. But it went well.

   We were 3 Danish girls, a Latvian boy and a Norwegian boy who all travelled together to Chicago. When we got to Chicago, we had to separate and we spread out all over the airport. I was the one with the shortest layover, so I had a YFU travel staff lady waiting for me at my gate. We had more or less an hour of waiting at the gate, so we had a nice chat. What a lovely lady! 

   Arriving in Atlanta was a rather hectic experience. The plane was so small, so it didn't fit all of our cabin baggage, so we had it stored somewhere else on the plane. That meant waiting time after I landed, just to get my cabin baggage! luckily my bag was one of the first ones to come, because I REALLY had to use the restroom. And then I went through this overly packed metro-situation to get to the domestic baggage claim, where Bob and Anne were waiting for me with signs Sam, Charlie and Lizzy made for me. SO nice of them! And they bought me food immediately as well - my kind of people. Food's never tasted that good. 

   It's a 45-minute drive home from the airport, and during that drive we probably got 10 phone calls from the kids asking when we'd be there. They were all really tired and really eager for me to get here, and almost falling asleep when we got to the house. They did spend the last energy preserved in them to run around screaming for a few seconds when the car pulled into the driveway, though. The rest of the night was spent in the living room, giving lots of hugs and me giving the family the gifts I brought for them.

   All in all a very pleasant trip with lots and lots of coffee, way too little sleep and a very jet-laggeed me arriving in Atlanta. :)

(also, please tell me you realize the title is a reference to a High School Musical song) 

We're soaring, flying... 

Rejsekammerater! Ca. klokken 5.30 i CPH lufthavn. 

Lad mig bare starte med at sige, at selvom jeg vidste det bedste år i mit liv ventede for enden af en 20-timers lang rejse, er det ikke nemt at komme op klokken 4 om morgen. Slet ikke. Men det gik da.

   Vi var 3 danske piger, en norsk dreng og en lettisk dreng, der alle rejste sammen til Chicago. I Chicago lufthavn måtte vi dog skilles og finde vores seperate gates. Jeg havde heldigvis kun et par timers ventetid i lufthavnen, og selvom Chicago lufthavn er KÆMPE, så fik jeg alligevel en god snak med en rar dame fra YFUs Travel Staff. 

   Da jeg så landede i Atlanta var der en masse ventetid. Flyet var så lille, at al vores håndbagage ikke kunne være i flyet, så de måtte opbevare taskerne et andet sted. Det betød ventetid bare for at få min taske! Ikke at det var galt eller noget, men hold nu op jeg skulle på toilettet på det tidspunkt! For at komme til de indenrigs bagagebånd skal man igennem en overfyldt metro-situation, som ikke rigtig spillede så godt med mit jeg-har-været-vågen-i-godt-20-timer jeg. Det glemte jeg dog hurtigt, da Bob og Anne ventede ved bagagebåndene med skilte som Sam, Charlie og Lizzy havde lavet til mig. De købte mad til mig inden min taske var kommet - jeg kan lide de her mennesker! Mad har nok aldrig smagt så godt. 

   Der er 45 minutter i bil fra lufthavnen. I løbet af den køretur modtog vi nok 10 opkald fra børnene, der ville vide hvor langt vi var. De var alle tre super trætte, utrolig utålmodige og næsten sovende, da vi endelig kom til huset. De brugte det sidste energi gemt i dem til at løbe skrigende rundt i et par sekunder,  idet vi kørte ind ad indkørslen. Resten af aftenen sad vi alle i stuen og gav hinanden en hel masse kram. Jeg fik desuden givet alle de gaver jeg havde bragt med hjemmefra.

   Alt i alt en god tur med masser af kaffe, alt for lidt søvn og en meget jetlagged mig, der ankom i Atlanta. :)


(også, jeg håber virkelig du ved titlen er en reference til en High School Musical sang) 

Wait a minute... I'm MOVING OUT?!

Yeah, so that kinda just hit me. I've been anything but terrified/sad ever since I decided I wanted to do this, but realizing I in reality only have 7 more sleeps(something I should do, actually) left in my own bed made me realise how close it all is. Don't get me wrong, this is the best decision I've made in a long time and I'm looking forward to it like CRAZY, but it is a bit scary. I'm only 16 years old and I still sleep with 3 teddy bears, so living without my parents on ANOTHER CONTINENT is completely out of this world insane for me. I think the longest I've gone without seeing either my parents or my sister is maybe a week, 2 years ago, when I went on a trip with my classmates. 

   So yeah, this is a pretty big deal, and here at 12 am I'm currently in a freakout state of "please let me stay home for just a few more weeks" but also "can I just leave tomorrow please?". The latter one would be silly though, as I haven't put anything into my suitcase yet. I have started packing though. I've got every single piece of clothing of mine on my floor, in what's supposed to resemble a neat pile, but is more or less just a messy and random... pile. I mean, at least it's a pile, right? :D

I'll calm myself down now and go to bed - goodnight!

x x x 

Vent lige et øjeblik... JEG FLYTTER?! 

Ja, det slog mig lige. Jeg har været alt andet end trist/bange siden jeg besluttede mig for at gøre det her, men at finde ud af, at jeg kun har 7 nætter tilbage i min egen seng(burde vel egentlig ligge i den lige nu) gjorde, at det pludselig gik op for mig hvor tæt på det hele nu er. Misforstå mig ikke, det her er suverænt det bedste jeg kommer til at gøre for mig selv i hele mit skoleforløb og jeg glæder mig som sindssyg, men det er altså stadig meget skræmmende. Jeg er jo kun 16 år gammel og jeg sover stadig med 3 bamser ved siden af mig, så at bo uden mine forældre på ET ANDET KONTINENT er fuldstændig vanvittigt. Jeg tror, det længste jeg har været væk fra mine forældre har været en uge for 2 år siden, da hele klassen var på Bornholm. Bare lige for at sætte det hele i perspektiv ;)
 
   Så ja, det her er en stor ting, og her klokken 00.15 er jeg lidt splittet mellem "kan jeg ikke få lov at blive hjemme bare et par uger mere?" og "kan jeg få lov at rejse i morgen?" Det sidste ville dog være lidt fjottet, eftersom jeg slet ikke har fundet kufferten frem endnu. Men men, jeg er altså begyndt at pakke. Jeg har alt mit tøj fordelt i hvad, der egentlig burde være pæne bunker, men nærmere bare er rodede og tilfældige... bunker. Altså, i det mindste er det en bunke, ikke? :D

Jeg vil prøve at falde lidt ned og lægge mig til at sove - godnat!

x x x

Patriotic much? I think so

"TIL OVERVEJELSE (fordi jeg er et meget
ubeslutsomt menneske)"

Jeg burde overveje at lave en profession ud af at
tegne flag. I mean, come on! It's a beauty!

Bornholm, juni 2012. VI VAR SÅ SMÅ

19 days and counting

Hello world,

I welcome myself to the blogging universe a few weeks before I will be headed for the airport, departing inhumanly early in the morning, arriving in Atlanta approximately 28 hours later. And that will be the official start of what probably will be the biggest experience of my short, 16-year-old life; I'll be living with a really nice family of five for a good year, while going through the "best four years of my life"... Well... the best one year of my life, being a sophomore at Hebron Christian Academy. I'll have to do tryouts, go to prom, wear a uniform and be able to be sent to detention for the first time ever. And I couldn't be more excited. 

This will be my way of letting all the people back here in Denmark know what I'm up to and how I'm feeling, just as much as it will be an online dairy for me to reread later on, when I feel like reminiscing while drinking coffee all alone(Taylor Swift reference for the non-TS-obsessed people out there). 

The next few lines will be in this weird languagee aka. Danish. Just to clear something out. Denmark is NOT a city in Sweden. We do NOT have fells like they do in Norway. And most important, we DO NOT SPEAK DUTCH. Just a small reminder for ya, as half of this blog will be kept in Danish ;-)

x x x






Hej verden,

Jeg siger nu velkommen til mig selv i det store bloggerunivers, her kort inden min tur til USA starter. Jeg drager mod København den 25/7, for at nå et fly umenneskeligt tidligt og derefter rejse i små 28 timer, for så endelig at lande i Atlanta. Dette vil så være den officielle start på den nok største oplevelse i mit kort, 16-årige liv. Jeg skal bo hos en super rar familie på 5 i godt et år, mens jeg skal gå på den lokale high school. Jeg skal være Sophomore, hvilket aldersmæssigt svarer til en 2. g er i Danmark. Jeg skal derfor også opleve alle de typiske ting, som vi alle har set på film - prom, de famøse skabe på gangene, at alle kan køre som 16-årig og at gå med skoleuniform. Jeg glæder mig utroligt meget!

Jeg har tænkt mig at opdatere denne blog regelmæssigt, så alle i dejlige mennesker herhjemme kan holde lidt styr på alle de skøre ting, jeg kommer til at lave - men også så jeg kan genleve nogle af de små oplevelser, når jeg engang kommer hjem igen.

x x x