Wrapping Up

Since getting back from Prague things have started wrapping up very quickly.  In Denmark May is a great month for holidays.  There are many long weekends because of national holidays.  Normally there is only one full week of school in May.  And I have also had most of my weekends busy with various things.  So May has gone very fast.  Last week we went on a walking/ camping tour.  All of the students left from the school and walked 7 miles out to our camping site.  There are a lot of little parks all over Denmark with cool little shelters you can sleep in.

Just like these, only not as nice...

It was a fun trip. Although I think it was a little long. All in all the students walked 15 miles in two days.

Besides just having a bunch of delightful long weekends, most of them have been busy.  Two weekends ago I went down to Vejlefjord again to visit some students for the last time before I come home. This last weekend was camp meeting at a place called Himmerlandsgården.  It was an excellent weekend to see friends, meet new people, and what would an Adventist gathering be without Haystacks.  Although I can't wait to be back to American Haystacks, the European ingredients are not my thing.  One thing that I discovered at Camp Meeting is that in that particular area I am allergic to pretty much everything that grows from the ground.  So even though it was fun, it was simultaneously miserable beyond belief. How's that for your daily juxtaposition.

I am now in my last week of teacher here at Østervrå Friskole.  My last 2 days actually.  I can't believe that these five months have come to an end already.  I definitely believe that I was called here for a reason.  Before I took this job here at such a small school I would have never thought of taking a job at a small school.  I know there are a bunch of small Adventist schools all over the country. And in planning my life the way I wanted it, I did not see myself enjoying a small school.  But God had different plans.  I believe the reason I was invited here was to show me the benefits of such a small school size.  So it is those benefits that lead me to taking a job in Idaho at a small Adventist school of about 15 kids.  I'll be the only teacher and principal assisted by a teacher's aide and another lady who has been teaching for 20+ years to help me with planning and the principal side of things.  I'll have a short and busy summer before I move down to Mountain Home, Idaho early July.

I imagine this will be my last blog post on this blog, maybe some pictures from tomorrow if I remember to take out my phone.

Thanks for following along these last few months.

Farvel

A Very Late Update of Prague

I apologize I've been slackin' off on my blog updates.  I got settled, things got boring, and I got out of the habit.  But here it is, as a student reminded me with an assignment yesterday, "Better late than never."

A while ago (was it really over a month ago!?) I went to Prague for Easter break.  It was an excellent break from school.  I was able to stay in a really cool boat hotel on the river right outside the old town of Prague.  The little hotel had excellent breakfasts overlooking the river and Prague Castle. It was a wonderful way to wake up every morning.  I walked more in that week than I have walked in a long time.  I injured my foot walking so much, took a couple weeks after getting back before I could walk normally.

Each day I was in Prague I discovered something new, but the tourist area is really quite small.  You can wander for hours and never really go anywhere.  You think you're lost and then all of the sudden you are somewhere you'd been before.  While I was planning my trip I discovered that a friend from Vejlefjord would be there as well.  Most days we met up and tried to find some coffee or something to  do.  We succeeded.  One day I was out and found a place to have a traditional Czech meal, which involved a broiled steak and whipped cream....it was an odd combination I wouldn't have thought of.
But it was a good meal. And when I was done I found the most amazing looking cafe to sit and people watch at one of the local markets.  The only problem was I was so full I couldn't even think about coffee...I had to come back. And I did, with Melissa, twice.  In Prague the big thing is Viennese Coffee. Which is essentially strong coffee with whipped cream.  This place had the most amazing Viennese coffee of the many places I tried while in Prague.

Here's proof:

On my second to last night I decided to wake up early and get some night pictures of the gorgeous castle at night with as few people as possible. Prague has the reputation in Europe of being a party city, so finding a time with only a few people out and about is harder than it sounds.  So I decided on 4am.  Sunrise was at 6, so I could just stay out a couple hours and then get some sunrise shots as well.   Problem, at some point during the night they shut the lights off that shine on the castle...So when I woke up and got out to a good place to shoot, I couldn't see anything. So I had to just wander around for a few hours waiting for the sun. Here's the result of all my labors in Prague.

My tiny little boat room.

My Hotel was the coolest little boat. Or Botel.  It was small but with amazing views.

What is a tourist blog without the obligatory tourist photo or two.
I'm honestly surprised how few people I got in this photo...there were masses.

Just a street

Opera House

They had the coolest for-hire tour cars.

Ghosts 

Flying back into Copenhagen was a strange feeling.  I have come to consider that airport almost as homey as Sea-Tac. A little smaller, a little more hyggeligt. But I knew when I picked up my bag from baggage claim and walked through the world's easiest customs declaration, it would be the last time in a long time.

A Day on the West Coast

I was happy to have the opportunity to take a little trip to the West Coast a few weekends ago and now I'm putting up pictures.  It was the first time I've been able to walk at a slow pace and take my time with some pictures.  Here are the results.

I've discovered that it is very hard to find unique shots in Denmark.  There is an unwritten rule in Denmark that all houses must be either yellow, red, or white.  All roofs must be either brown, black, or red.  So every single house that you could possibly take a picture of has only 9 possibilities...

Here are a couple random shots from school.

Some of the students playing a game called rundbold.  It is the Danish equivalent of Baseball. 

Pancakes

Sunday mornings when I wake up, life on the farm has started.  The rest of my house wakes up around 7:00, has breakfast, and goes about their day.  I on the other hand have been conditioned over the past few years of college to stay in bed Sunday morning and many times not see morning at all...

But, since the commotion of the house often wakes me up earlier...I wind up hanging out in bed until around 10, until it gets uncomfortable.  By then I'm hungry.  The first couple of weeks I just had some oatmeal and called it a meal.  But then I thought to myself, "Why not make pancakes?"
Of course most pancakes I'm used to making from home involve the "just add water" technique. And still turn out pretty delicious. Seriously though, try Snoqualmie Falls Lodge pancake mix.

So I set out on a mission. I promised myself, by the time I left Denmark I'd have created the perfect from scratch pancake recipe.  It started with a casual internet search for the most basic recipe I could find, tweaking it based on what was in the fridge, and adding a few other fun things.  Kiwi yogurt adds an interesting flavor to pancakes. (Kiwi believe it or not)

I am pleased to announce that after three weeks I have done it!  Here a triumphant picture of last Sunday's breakfast.

Of course for scientific reasons and consistency I'll have to make them again this weekend to make sure it is indeed perfect.

More Than a Month..

Have you ever gotten so busy you put something off? I thought so.  I've been working away here in little Østervrå and have neglected to update my fan base on the goings on of Danish life.  Sorry about that.  But in reality there hasn't been too much fun stuff happening. Just work.  This job has definitely pushed me to really be creative and to think outside of the box when it comes to planning lessons.  I will never forget the shock of looking at that resource closet on my first day...it was bleak. But thanks to some generous people from home I received three boxes full of books and resources. And candy.

The pile o' goodies that came in the mail.

One of the big things we've done recently in school was a two week unit on Afghanistan.  I guess there is a museum in Denmark that works closely with UNESCO to provide information, supplies, and equipment for schools that want to learn about other cultures.  So one morning we received 7 large cases of Afghanistan stuff.  Everything from clothes and housewares to DVDs and giant binders full of information.  So for the next two weeks we organized school around what an Afghani school might be like.  So here are some photos from the time.

Every morning we gathered in our "Mosque" for a worship. The boys were in front and only they were allowed to answer or contribute during the worship. 

My outfit as the Imam of our Mosque. I only wore it once though.

Tea Time! According to the girls it's hard to drink something with something over your face...who knew?

After worship the boys and girls split up.  The boys learned about Afghani history and government.  The girls went into the kitchen and made a snack, followed by learning about the culture in a classroom.

Our Afghani time ended with a wedding play

A few weekends ago I was able to go visit the Danish side of the family that lives here in Denmark.  I haven't seen them since Christmas 2011 so it was really nice see them again.

We went for a walk on Sabbath afternoon to a place called Rebild Bakker.  Its a huge nature park here, that is actually dedicated to the Danish immigrants to America.  There is a big firework show there on July 4th!
We "hiked" (remember there are no big hills or mountains in Denmark) to a fresh water spring were I was able to find a clean place to taste the fresh water. It was actually really good, with a hint of lime.

Last weekend was eventful.  On Friday a man named David Gates was at the school to have a meeting with the teachers and a few members of the board and church.  This is the man who promised hundreds of thousands of dollars to the school last year.  And as the school hasn't received any money from him yet, some people were on the fence.  David is a man who used to work for the Adventist church but now travels the world helping various mission projects and spreading the Gospel.  He is definitely a faithful man.  He shared a few amazing stories about his faith and how God has rescued him and his friends from some dire circumstances.  One of these situations involved him being imprisoned for a few months without being able to communicate to anyone that he was alive.  He studied as a nurse before his evangelical work and his ability to save lives at the prison in turn saved his.  It was truly an incredibly story.

In his meetings he revealed that he himself has no money to give.  It all comes from him benefactors and sponsors around the world. But because of the politics behind the donations it takes some serious jockeying to move any funds.  He assured those at the meeting that as soon as he has money to give he will freely support the efforts of the school.  So after the meeting we drove home and because he had to be in Copenhagen by Friday night the daughter of the family I live with was going to drive him.  I rode with them and got dropped off by Vejlefjord so I could attend their yearly Galla, which is the equivalent of a Banquet.  It was fun to be back again see people I hadn't seen in a while and even meet some new ones.

Here are some pictures from Galla:

These are all of my guys rockin' the show!!!

Winter Break Journal

Tuesday 2/18
It's time for my first vacation of my year in Denmark.  I have no money, so guess where I went. Vejlefjordskolen.  I've realized I have a lot of "second homes," Walla Walla, Vejlefjord, and now Østervrå.  Anyway, I decided to come down here for a few days to see my Walla Walla friends and my little brother Mathias.  I think the kids here feel like I live here, which I'm ok with...I kinda do. Four out of five weekends I've been in Denmark, I've been at Vejlefjord.

I was happy this morning when I got a call from on of the teachers in charge of finding substitutes.  He said that one teacher had the flu and he needed someone for five hours of subbing, thats five hours I get paid for! So with less than an hour to prepare I came to the school building to figure out what I was going to teach to 5th graders for Bible and Danish, and to 8th graders for Danish.

I got through the day just fine, even though I was very nervous going into my first class.  But I was reassured of my career choice by the happy, laughing faces that I met.  They were excited to have an "English teacher" for Danish class.  All of the nervousness melted away the instant they started talking to me, asking my name, where I was from, why I was there...  On my way to my first class I prayed that I'd make it though the day with so little preparation, and He definitely answered my prayer.

That night I went up to the Bible Study in town.  It's the same family that hosted it when I was here two years ago so it was great to see them and they were thrilled at the surprise of me showing up at their door.  It was great to catch up with them over dinner and the meeting.  Then I went to a movie with the guys from my building 2 years ago, we have kept in contact over Facebook since I left and it was just like old times.  It really was great.

Wednesday 2/19
Today I had another 5 hours of teaching. A lot of Danish again, but some math as well.  It's amazing how much better I felt knowing the night before what I would be teaching so I could come prepared.

Thursday 2/20
What a day. I was supposed to take the 8am train to Aalborg to meet some friends and go paint balling.  Well traffic made me miss my train, and because I didn't know if I should take the next train and still make paint balling I waited around the station until after the next train left waiting to hear back from my friend in Aalborg. When we figured that I wouldn't make paint balling anyway I went back to Vejlefjord to sleep a little longer.  I did eventually take a train and arrived in Aalborg around 5 pm.  I knew which bus I had to take, but...this is a little embarrassing, it has been so long since I've taken a bus, I didn't think about getting on the bus going in a certain direction. I knew I had to get on bus number 14, so I did....going the opposite direction.  I didn't realize it until we hit the end of the line, but the bus just turned around.  So eventually I made it to my friends house for some much needed relaxation.

Overall my trip was fantastic and I'm so happy to have friends all over Denmark that I can meet up with on weekends and holidays.

Look! A Real Sign!

So believe it or not, until this point there has been too much snow for me to see this GIANT sign on the front of our building.  So I think I found a better cover picture.

That is all.