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!!!