Caitlyn Trumm - Report - October 2009 


Hej everyone,
 
Well the October weeks have definitely been some of the busiest ones of the year so far! In the interest of saving a little bit of bulletin space for everyone else i'll just talk about the highlights of the month.
 
On the 11th, a friend from Sydney who is studying in Sweden this year was in Copenhagen for the weekend and excited to be shown around by a 'local' - which is where I came in. I took a train into Copenhagen to meet him and some of the Australians he studies with and show them around the area. First stop was the Denmark vs. Sweden football game at the national stadium. Not since the Rugby League World Cup final in 2008 when the Aussies fronted the Kiwis during the Haka, have I seen such a rivalry as that of the Danish football fans and the Swedish football fans. The stadium was literally divided into colour coded halves - the blue and yellow on one side, the red and white on the other. Bull horns, big hats and a whole lot of chanting. Every type of fast food you could possibly imagine being sold from carts all around the stadium, not to mention the copious amounts of Tüborg and Carlsberg beer on offer for 10DKK ($2.50AU) a piece. All in all, an interesting spectacle that we decided was best viewed from a television set as opposed to in the throngs of the very enthusiastic football fans. So we ended up going to The Wombat Burrow, an Australian restaurant in Copenhagen, for dinner and watching the game on live television there. 1-0 to Denmark! After playing tourguide for the evening I met up with Nina and went back to her apartment in Copenhagen to stay the night.
 
The next day, the 12th, I left early in the morning to get a train to Frederikshavn to meet with 5 other exchange students and have what we call a 'hygge weekend'. There is no English equivelant to the Danish word 'hygge', the closest one would maybe be 'cosy' but basically we spent the weekend watching movies, signing flags, eating junk food, cooking, taking photos and just relaxing. We stayed in Frederikshavn for three days and got taken to Skagen, a well known Danish beach, on the last one. It definitely makes me miss the Aussie beaches more and more every time I visit a Danish one.
 
On the 16th, my host family took me to a science themed amusement park called Danfoss Universe. We rode Segways through an obstacle course, walked through a simulated ice cave, solved challenges at the science exhibition and ran in giant hamster wheels to test who had better fitness. It was such a great day with the only downside being that right before we went into the ice cave, we walked past the children's outdoor water exhibit (closed obviously) just as the wind hit it and got us drenched - not the greatest thing to follow up with a tour through a giant ice cube. Because the theme park was on a different island than the one we live on, we stayed at a hostel for the night. The hostel we chose was one my host father, Mik, had worked at as a child. While we were there we visited a house across the road that had belonged to a couple Mik knew more than 40 years ago. We intended to ask whoever now owned the house if we could just have a look around, but the owners ended up being the exact same couple who knew Mik back then and still remember him now. We were invited back the next morning for a bit of breakfast, a tour of the house, and a chance to hear some amazing stories about the house and the area it was built in. I'd love to re-write all the stories out but if you wouldn't mind waiting 10 weeks, I think they're much better told in person!
 
That evening it was my turn to cook dinner, so I decided an 'Aussie night' was in order. I set the table with an Australian flag and wattle place settings as well as an Australian street sign I got given for my birthday. What better to have for an Aussie dinner, than an Aussie barbeque. Granted, it had to be done with a bit of a Danish flare, but it still worked. First barbeque i'd had in months. I was definitely a happy little Vegemite (which incidently was also on offer as an appetiser but, shockingly, refused). For dessert I of course made Pavlova, and it was all topped off with a bottle of Australian wine I had bought my host parents as a little 'Thank You' for everything.
 
On the 19th, I gave a big presentation to my Biology class about Australian animals. The teacher had given me a few weeks to get prepared and create the presentation before I had to do it. I told them all about the top 10 most dangerous animals we have - they learned a little about Great Whites, a Box Jellyfish and the good old Sydney Funnel Web. I made sure to include the most gruesome photos I could find! Cost for USB to save the presentation onto - 86DKK. Cost of paper to print my 'assignment completion' form on - 6DKK. The looks on the guys' faces when I told them spiders liked to hide in bed sheets - PRICELESS.
 
Around the 20-21st was when everyone really got to work when it came to Halloween preperation. The Holbæk Halloween Get Together was on the 23rd so costumes and talent show acts needed to be finalised a couple of days in advance. Unfortunately, myself and another exchange student hit a snag with our Halloween costumes. We had been planning to go as Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, and already had half our costumes here with us in Denmark. Because we needed afew extra things, Mum offered to help out and knit some Gryffindor scarves and send them over, along with some capes and wands and other bits and pieces we needed for the night. It seems however, that Sydney Customs Department had a different idea in mind, and decided to hold up the package and delay it just long enough to leave us stranded without a costume.
 
So come Friday 23rd October, I was just a wee bit stressed. The Get Together (as Rotary weekends always are) was amazing! It is an indescribable relationship that exchange students form with each other so whenever we have a chance to see old friends again, it's not exactly a quiet affair. We spent the evening of the 23rd having a disco, catching up with each other and trying to stay up as late as we possibly could. Get Togethers in Denmark are mostly held at high schools so, like the 'Rock in Randers' Get Together back in March, we were making beds out of tables, chairs and teachers' desks. On the 24th we had an activity choice of either carving pumpkins or playing hockey. Well, you all know how we exchange students are about national pride. What better way to express that than a Hockey Battle Royale. Originally we had Team USA, Team Australia, Team Brazil, Team Mexico and Team Canada. This however left some severely outnumbered, and the minorities (including the lone 3 exchangees from New Zealand and the only student from South Africa) without a side. So we regrouped as Team Southern Hemisphere, and Team Northern Hemisphere and were much more evenly matched. Who won? Well with the Australians and the Brazillions joined as one, do you really even have to ask? That night we had the costume and talent competition. With my costumes sitting in a cardboard nestled comfortably in Customs storage I had to make do with a few loans from friends. In the end, with the help of an all black ensemble and a pair of aviator sunglasses, I became Sandy from Grease - fake cigarette and all. This ended up working out quite well as three of the other Australian girls were dressed as the Pink Ladies.
 
Now as you all know, i'm an oh-so-shy and introverted person. So when the opportunity came up to present an act in front of all 240 exchangees, 20 Rotarians and the camp counsillors I was quite hesitant. Not. Myself, Naomi Vaz (a fellow Sydney District 9680 exchangee), and another Australian girl, Bridget, presented 'Make-up How To' with a twist. I played the model who was applying the make-up to herself as Bridget, playing the host, was talking the audience through it .. sort of. What we actually did was put a sheet over me so only my head and legs were showing and hide my arms behind my back. Naomi sat behind me under the sheet and put her arms forward so they looked like mine, and proceeded to put the make-up onto my face, completely blind as to what she was doing. The eye liner was a bit touch and go but other than that I came out reasonably unscathed. She also did my hair and put moisturiser or my arms. The worst part was when Bridget handed her arm a glass of soft drink and said "bottoms up" as she tried to get it in the general area of my face. Fail. The sheet is now cola coloured and the photos are Facebook legends!
 
The next day was teary goodbyes as always. This will be the Winter 09 (my group's generation) students' last Get Together for the year, so we were definitely aware that it was the last time we would see alot of the people we'd gotten to know this year. Went home and slept for two days after that in order to let my back and neck recover from the Science room floor i'd been using as a bed for the weekend.
 
I am now living with Nina and her family, as they've invited me to spend Christmas and New Years with them and are also taking us on a skiing trip to France soon. I finish school in 2 weeks which is sad but good too, and I have my final Rotary presentation in 3 weeks at my club's meeting. This is my second last report to you, only 10 weeks to go and it's definitely coming up fast. The to-do-before-I-leave list is stretching every day so i'm happy that i'm being kept busy! Next event is the school's big Christmas party. The theme gets revealed tomorrow so i'll keep ypu posted - with any luck it'll have something to do with Harry Potter so my costumes'll get put to good use.
 
Hope everyone's doing well and enjoying the heat at home. We're still sitting on a cosy average of 3 degrees. Just a case of thinking warm thought!
 
Mange kærlig hilsen,

Caity