Okay so I know it has been less than a week since my last blog, but I thought I should post one since I won't be able to until like the 2nd week of September.
So this past week was fairly normal I suppose. Sunday I went to a museum in a nearby town (I actually don't quite know where it is, just that it was closeby). They were having a day where vedors could bring stuff and you could see some things from around 100 years ago. It was cool to just walk around and see some older things. They also had some ponies that you could ride. My host dad walked by it and said to me "do you like horses" and I said "yeah I love them!" so he was like "here go ride a pony" and handed me 5kr. I turned the corner and realized that the horses were like migit ponies and the people riding them were all under the age of 8 and about 50lB's lighter than me... but what the heck! So I rode a pony, and the poor little horse let me ride it and never complained (well it did try to keep walking close to the bushes so my legs itched a little.... such a rebel horse!).
School was pretty normal all week. I went to classes, became very confused, then decided to make flash cards on danish vocabulary. That reminds me- the whole concept of flash cards is completely foreign to the Danes! I have to use smaller sized sheets of paper because they don't sell index cards and constantly have to explain what a flashcard is because no one has ever heard of them until now! Friday we had an "eventdag" (event day) where my grade went to Silkeborg and went canoing for hours! Like no joke... we got in the canoes at 9, canoed until 1 when we stopped for luch, then canoed back and got back withing an hour (the way down we had to fight the current and wind, so it was luckily much faster the way back!). All of the students had more fun than expected, but still hated it basically... but what surprised me is that everyone actually showed up! In the USA, if you go on a field trip you don't want to have, then you just don't show up, but everyone still showed up!
My Danish is finally beginning to improve. When I first arrived, I never had a clue what was going on, but now I am starting to hear key phrases, and when I watch tv, I sometimes know what will be said before they say it because occassionally I can understand the subtitles (it's such a cool feeling!). I still have a lot to learn, but I never expected I would even get this far. I have already made stacks upon stacks of flash cards, and have many more I need to make, but eventually I will know Danish and be capable of having a real conversation. At times I get very discouraged and feel as though I haven't learned a thing, but then I will be able to say something in Danish and I realize that I couldn't do that a week ago!
Overall, my past few weeks here have been better than I ever imagined. I will admit that I have had some rough times where all I think about is the things I miss from home (friends, family, food, tv, my iPhone, picking on my brother, being able to listen in on others conversations, and actually having to work in school-I still don't know why I miss that one!) but then I think of all the great things I've done here and how I have already changed and become a stronger, better person. The one thing I can say, is that even when I have times where I miss home, I have never wanted to give up, never wanted to go home, and never wished I didn't make the decision to come- and I'm very proud of that!
I just wanted to thank everyone who has supported me this whole time and encouraged me. I also want to thank all of the people who ever told me I wouldn't make it, my dream was too crazy, or that I wasn't good enough for this- I am happy to say that I am currently in the process of proving you completely wrong!
Knus fra Danmark (hugs from Denmark),
McKenzie
ps- sorry if my spelling is off- I tried using spellcheck but it's set for Danish, so everything gets hilighted, because they words are english!
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