"Gade Teater Fesitval"

We went to the "Gade Teater Festival" in Helsingør to see some street performances. All were well practiced and done with talent, though there was some that I enjoyed more than others. The first one we saw, was called Mable and Billie. It was originally preformed in America. I thought that it was very cute and incredibly funny and talented as well as practiced both Mable and Billie had colorful wigs, outfits and makeup that improved the act even more.

The next one that we went to was a bit dramatic and I did not like the story or message that was sent out. I know that it was based on realistic things, but I felt frightened and scared when I saw it. I think that it took a lot of talent to preform and it was well preformed though I suggest that they shouldn't put it on the kids list for the "Gade Teater Fesitval". 
After that performance, we went to see a magician. It was very funny and the magician involved the audience (and spoke Australian English) which made it even better! A couple times, he would go out and scare some people passing by and twice he took someone's cigarette and smushed it on the ground! At the end he went into a small box and had someone poke sticks into the holes while he was inside! 

After that, we went to a French play based on a retirement home (sounds pretty exciting... ; D). I don't think that it was very good... While the retirement home based play was going on, there were monkey looking people walking by chained up with police around them... Cool! We left the play and went over to see what was going on. There was a huge cage with the monkey looking people inside. They were acting like monkeys. I thought that it was pretty wired that people would dress up like monkeys and go into a cage and act like monkeys for 180 minutes. That's just my opinion. 

After that interesting monkey exhibit, we went over to a hoopla hoop show. The lady preforming was  from Australia and she was very talented. She was also very funny and entertaining. Throughout the show, she gave out flowers to the people who "clapped the best". The last person that she gave flowers to was a man and while doing that, she asked him to help her by holding up a golden hoola hoop ring on one knee. Next thing you know you hear, "I do!" She cracked everyone up by getting married and joking around with her new "husband".

The last two things that we saw were at the same theatre. One was a magician and the other was the "incredible gummy man". We just saw the end of the magician act and it was really good by being well practiced and mysterious. After that awesome performance, we saw "the incredible gummy man"- that was pretty incredible (mostly by being gross). He would bend in very disturbing ways and also cuss a lot. The act was outright disgusting and when people laughed at him falling over I felt bad for him. 
  We left when the "incredible gummy man" was done getting 2 empty tenis rackets off his body. On the way home, my mom's friend, Mete, called. She asked if we were available to come and visit in Copenhagen. That's what we did and it turned out to be a very nice day. 

More pictures at Picasa web.

Feelings About School

SOS!
HELP!
I DON'T WANT TO GO TO A NEW SCHOOL!
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(nails grabbing onto the floor as my mom drags me to school)

From above you could probably guess that I am more than scared. Thoughts?
a) An alien has invaded my soul
b) I am not Danya anymore
c) I am really, super freaked out of going to a totally new school in a totally different country

I am very surprised by my feelings. When I was at ISM, even just starting there in kindergarten, I was always more than excited going to school on the first day back.

All that I hope for is that I make a good first impression on my teacher and classmates and I get a bunch of good friends, like in America, and that my Danish will improve quickly once school starts.

(I'm crossing my fingers and doing yoga to soothe the butterflies)

Grain

In Denmark they mainly grow four species of grain; rye, wheat, barley and oats. All four grains derived from wild species in the Middle East and has been cultivated for thousands of years.

Rye is described as a hardy plant that better, than other grains, can succeed in poor soil. Denmark is usually self-sufficient in the production of rye flour and it also has a fairly large export.

Wheat is the highest performance among the grains. The ability to survive in frost and cold is usually worst in varieties from English and southern European origin, while Swedish and North German varieties are more cold resistance. All wheat varieties are suitable for animal feeding, but only a small part has properties which make it suitable for flour milling and for flour suitable for making bread. The spring wheat is generally better for bread than winter wheat.

Barley is one of the oldest grains and has probably been grown from before 5000 BC. In Denmark they grow two barley sorts: spring barley sown in the spring, as it does not survive the winter, and winter barley, which are sown in the autumn. The winter barley is harvested early - usually in July - and leaves plenty of time for the soil for the next crop.

Oats grown in Denmark are primarily used for animal feed, especially for horses, and only a small part is processed into grits.

 

 

More Horseback Riding!

From the title you can tell that I did some more horseback riding...

Thursday:
I went back Thursday for not the best experience. Bente was busy selling a horse to a couple of ladies. Instead of being unsupervised, we had another family who are very good with horses (they come a lot because they are looking into buying a horse). We mostly walked around and learned to turn both ways and back up. I had a good enough time though the biggest problem was the horse (actually both of the horses). The first horse I had for about 3/4 of the time was the same one as the first horse riding lesson I had. His name is Sofus. He behaved very well the first time and we believed that it was because Bente was there, but this time he was pulling his head down a lot. After getting lots of books about horses from the library we learned that his head pulling (which we thought was misbehaving) is a genetic inheritance.
The last 1/4 of the lesson I had to switch horses because Bente was in need of Sofus. I think she treats him like a favorite horse and at first I thought that he was Bente's own. This time I got little horse. When he trots it was very difficult to find the tempo because of his incredibly large steps judging from a horse his size.
I believed that day was a bit of a challenge but how can someone grow if they aren't challenged?

Saturday:
Saturday was a lot of fun! I picked a different horse and I learned that you can get first pick if you come early... (Oh yea!)
I got a horse called Prince and I found him to be a handsome and sweet horse. He did stop at random times, but that was probably my fault. He was pretty fast and didn't do the head nodding.
I am glad I went back and the reason that I did was because I didn't want to have a bad memory of horse riding. There's a saying that goes like this, " if you fall of the horse, just get right back on." I'm very glad that I did.

 

Picasa link here.

Mr. Spedding's Questions

How is the fashion different in Denmark?
It is different because of the seasons; in summer there are a lot of booty short (super short shorts) and fall with pants, converse and skinny jeans. I know that is very similar to the American style, but in Denmark it is more judgmental. You almost feel that you have to wear what's in and discard your clothes that aren't. I feel that there are a lot of colors and noticed that dark green is in (as well a combat boots- which I found very strange). I also found a very ridiculously high number of Justin Bieber, One Direction and New York shirts for girls. To answer a question that might be on your mind; no, I would never where one of those three choices of shirts - not to be offensive, this is just my opinion... I am who I am and that's that.

Do you find that your taste is changing?
I can't really answer this question until I get to learn the fashion for my age better. I will go shopping when school starts (less than 1 week - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!).

More color / Less color?
Don't know yet... Still deciding. Definitely compared to the uniforms that I use to wear (don't tell anyone, but I already miss uniforms. They aren't very cute, but they are definitely comfortable and easy).

Are you perceived as American tourists, or Danish residents?
When people hear me speak in English then I am perceived as an American tourist. I think that when school starts, my Danish will improve 99% and then I hope I will be considered a Danish citizen.

Are people surprised when they learn your from the States?
Some, yes. But I haven't even started with the introductions yet. In school it will be:
"Hi, my name is Danya and I'm from California"
From then on I'd be totally popular and cool!
Just kidding- though it may happen... ;-)

Copenhagen. How long is the train ride from Lynge?
It takes about 45 minutes to travel from Lynge to Copenhagen. There are no trains from Lynge, only busses. So to go to Copenhagen you have to take a bus from Lynge to Allerød and then a train from there. The only problem with trains compared to busses is that trains stop at EVERY SINGLE STATION!!! It is a great way to travel though and it's fun to watch people use busses and trains as their everyday transportation. Some people even bike to the station and bring their bike on the train and then continue to bike after they get off the train.

Picasa Web

I love Picasa web! It has been working very well for me. Here is a link for a bunch of awesome pictures taken by my mom... Thank you, Mom!

Tine (pronounced Tina)

Tine is one of my mom's oldest friends. She has 2 daughters, the younger one is now Stella and my friend. Tine just bought a new huge house with her boyfriend and we have been visiting them quite a lot. The first time we went was for Tine's birthday and that is when we decided to meet every Wednesday to do creative things (well mostly just for the kids while Tine and my mom hang out...). The last time we went, we cooked a meal, enjoyed it, and then went on a walk to the ocean. We went out pretty far as you can see in this picture:

... and then we sat down! It was so shallow that day, but also very cold from being late. (I don't think that in this picture you can tell, but it was about 9:30pm - love those long summer nights!)

On Wednesday, we are going to see the Danish Dance Theater with Tine, her family, and my family including grandmother and aunt. It takes place at the Police Headquarters in Copenhagen. Can't wait! I think it's going to be exciting.

Here is the link to their website:
http://www.danskdanseteater.dk/forestillinger/copenhagen-summer-dance-2012#dancers

Here are some links to videos:
http://youtu.be/TPqz4h8S1C0
http://youtu.be/pJK8NM1HTc4