Week 2!!!

I can't believe that I survived this long... JK! I love it here... I don't feel much like a middle schooler but more like a 6th grader. I actually don't really even think about my grade at all!

Monday:
I went to school and had 4 hours of language. Danish isn't too hard and English is a breeze! We don't really learn about the colors and body parts like we did in ISM Spanish, but we also learn about the history of different countries such as Scotland. I find it quite interesting and a bit funny with their Danish accents! During classes, I go into the library with Randi where I practice my reading and writing skills. Unfortunately Randi is retiring in 2 weeks so I had better learn quickly...

Tuesday:
I went to school for the "long day" of the week. Here are bullet points from the day:

• In history, wandered off for a while talking about the biggest container ship parked in Copenhagen
• Played for a while in music
• Barely any homework
• School is very easy and they don't seem to take school as seriously
• Went to Solveig's riding class to watch with Ellen and Amalia
• Lots of fun!

Just wondering if any of you guys have Skype... Tell me yours or I'll tell you mine by email. It would be great to talk to you face to face!

Wednesday:
Info- not such a fun day. I was home from school with asthma problems. When I had my mom go in and turn in my homework, they wouldn't accept it until I was feeling better.

Thursday:

• So I went back to school
• After school I biked to the place that I go horseback riding
• I saw "No Named Horse" (Bente can't remember the name...)
• Stella bicycled to a birthday party instead with a few of her new friends

Friday:

• days getting better
• Friday: Danish x2, Science x2, English, Math
• Friday schedule might look like an urg! schedule, but it is actually a fun day!
• In science, I won an airplane contest for the second time... Cool airplane design here. Kind of blurry and not best video (hard to follow) but it still is informational.
• On Fridays in English, we play a game where we have to fill in the words to a song while it is being played (you have a sheet with most of the lyrics)
• After school I went to 6th Grade Club and then a fair
• I feel like I'm fitting in more and more

6th Grade Club:
I had a special request to talk more about the 6th grade club. First of all I want to say that over here in Denmark it is called "Klubben" (pronounced kloo- ben). Here are some facts about Klubben that you might find interesting:

• Grades k-3 are in what's called SFO
• SFO is where Stella goes for most of the year, but then at the very end she switches to Klubben
• SFO costs more because it is "all provided" or something like that
• The sixth graders have their own room that any 5th graders and lower aren't allowed to come in
• The kids in Klubben aren't allowed to go into the little kids room
• There are snack at around 3 o'clock for kids in Klubben and earlier for SFO kids
• Outside there is a playground, soccer field, basketball court, place to park bikes, a wooden cabin and a deck.
• The Klubben/ SFO building is called Hobitten (pronounced with a long O)
• In the 6th grade room, there is a large projector with a Blu-ray box connected to watch movies
• 5 comfy sofas
• 2 large windows
• AND an outlet for music with a loud boom box
• Stella's SFO room has a lot of crafty things from beads to markers
• There is a cafeteria with a few benches and a living room
• There is also a kitchen with cool kitchen tools

On Saturday, I didn't go to horseback riding but to a free outdoor concert, in Copenhagen, with ballet/opera all performed by the Royal Theatre.

 

 

 

Circus!

I went to the circus with Camilla, her sister, and her dad! It was huge with animals and talented performers including clowns, a very flexible lady and more. There was also a live orchestra/ band!

Camilla's dad picked us up from 6th grade club and we went to their house where we played, hung out and ate dinner together. After dinner, we bicycled to the circus where we met up with a couple other friends. As we were talking, I noticed a huge elephant with kids riding it. Camilla noticed it too and asked her dad if we could ride on it... SCORE!
I rode an elephant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (pictures hopefully to come form Camilla's dad- didn't have a camera or my mom with me to take pictures... Sorry! D-: )

We then settled down with our candy and watched the show. There were tightrope walkers, salsa dancers, little ponies, sled dogs, three kids flipping, two comedian dancers, a SUPER flexible lady, a clown, the horse trainer with his horses and quite a few more. Flipps, jokes, horses trotting, people dancing, music playing- wow, it was all so magical.

I'm sorry but I can't remember the acts specifically or the order, so I am just going to try my best...

Tightrope Walking:
There were two men in really cool glow-in-the-dark costumes who crawled up to the tightrope. They first warmed up by walking back and fourth and then later on started dancing. After the dancing came the jump roping and in this part one man fell of the tightrope! *insert scary music...*
Don't worry too much, it was just a false alarm. I mean he did fall but saved himself by grabbing onto the rope. Did I mention that there was no net under and it was about 10 or so meters high!

Clown and His Ponies:
The first thing that happened in this act was the clown driving in on his motorcycle with a small white pony in the passenger side seat. Crack up! There was a trailer in the back with supposedly "2" more ponies in it. The clown opened up the trailer and out came 2 little black ponies. The clown got the 3 little pony to start prancing around him and the next thing you know is another white pony come walking out of the trailer and so on and so fourth. I think you get the idea. By the 9th little black/white pony everyone was on the ground (not really) cracking up... So CUTE! Then (drumroll please) a (keep it going) donkey came out, but unlike the others it did not want to join the prancing little circle, but instead preferred to eat. Later the clown got him into the circle managing not to get hurt even while all the nee-ha and kicking were going on (not!).

Dressage Horses and Salsa Lady:
On came the Salsa Lady in her bright red outfit stamping her way, powerfully, through. She danced very well and with much power and sharpness- I was proud to see a lady doing it. About an 8th way through, 3 white dressage hoses cam in and began circling her while dancing as well. Thy went sideways and backwards lifting their muscle hard legs, gracefully, as they did so. There way turning and standing on 2 legs and much more that I wish you could have also seen.

There was also these acts (please send me and email if you want to hear about a specific one):

• Entrance of the clown
• Flexible lady
• Arial Silk
• Flipping boys
• White horses
• Husky dogs
• Elephant act
• Comedian dancers
• Clown and his pony
• More... Can't remember the names right now

FYI: My email is still imabunhead@icloud.com. If you think that I don't have your email, please tell me. I want more than anything to stay in touch with you all!

 

First Week of School . . .

Last week was over filled with so many emotions - good and bad. As I said before, I feel brown. The adjustment to moving here and not seeing my dad, my aunt and uncles, my grandparents and all of you wonderful friends has been very hard, but I think the adjustment to school has been easier than I thought it would be. Writing this post right now is very hard for me because of all the emotions, but I hope you like it...

Here is my schedule: (x2= 2hrs.)

Monday: Danish x2, English x2, Class hour

Tuesday: History x2, Math, Danish, Music x2, English

Wednesday: Religion, Danish, Math x2, PE

Thursday: Handwork (sewing, knitting) x2, Wood work x2, Danish, History

Friday: Danish x2, Science x2, English, Math


First Day of School:
We got to school on the first day, all with bellies full of butterflies. we first went to the office to see if we could meet my teacher, Bitten. A couple minutes later, she came in and introduced herself and told me about the class. She seemed nice. We went to Stella's class and back to mine taking loads of pictures... Here are the bullet points I have from my day:

• Day was so short and not very strict, it didn't feel like we even went to school
• So nervous at the beginning of the day I felt like puking
• As the day went by I felt less and less nervous (still feel nervous, though)
• Want so much to learn Danish quickly
• I questioned myself - do they judge me? - and answered - no.
• Danish kids aren't as academically strong as American kids and everyone is into hanging out: How should I act?
• I didn't raise my hand because I felt embarrassed speaking, counting, or reading aloud in Danish
• I want to skip all the hard things during the year and have things go perfectly, but I know that won't happen...
• Sometimes I want to turn invisible
• Didn't like when the kids asked me questions about myself
• Scared
• All the kids and teachers were warm and welcoming to me

Pictures at Picasa web.

Second Day of School:
I arrived at school the second day, nervous but also excited for this new challenge awaiting me at the door of my classroom.

• Great day today!
• Danish improving: Reading, counting and speaking (help from my mom's old music teacher, Randi)
• Friends were even more welcoming and inclusive
• Everyone is so supportive and willing to help me
• Love this school more and more
• Barely any homework (and when there is, it is very easy because I already did it in 5th grade... I am age wise in 6th grade but academic wise in 7th or 8th grade)
• Made a few new BFFs named Ellen, Camilla, and Solveig and more.
• Fun new games I learned
• In English class, everyone was so surprised how well I spoke English ("Wow, you're really good at speaking English!")
• After school, went to go checkout the club for 6th graders 

Third Day of School:
The third day I was feeling similar to the days above, and very excited for the first PE class. By Wednesday, most of all the girls made friends with me and the routine was feeling even more normal by each day. I can't believe that getting used to a new school took so short of time (I was even excited to go to this new school by Wednesday!)

Fourth Day of School:
Thursdays are the most fun day of the week you can find out why by looking at this schedule....

Thursday: Handwork (sewing, knitting) x2, Wood work x2, Danish, History

4 hours of FUN!!! The boys and the girls are split up for Handwork, woodwork and cooking. Halfway through the year, we will switch with the boys and do 4 hours of cooking- yea! FYI: School here is super easy and short, so my mom won't blame me if it takes me a while to catch up for 7th grade when I get back to California.

Fifth Day of School:
Friday.
School not so bad.
Had a fun week.
Yea!
After school, I went to the 6th grade club with Camilla and Tesha. We had lots of fun and about 3 hours later, Camilla's dad picked us up and took us to the Circus...

School Today!!!

I will be going to my new school today (in a few minutes). As I said before, here are my thoughts...

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)

I am here eating breakfast with a butterfly filled belly thinking over my decision. I know it will come out to be a great one, but currently I have second thoughts. Have you very felt as if fear overcomes you? I don't know if I'm worried about people judging me or how I will do grade wise.

I guess I have no choice but to jump into it...
1, 2, 3, here we go......

Aladdin!

We went to go see Disney's Aladdin at the royal opera house in Copenhagen. The opera house is so impressive and beautiful it makes you speechless.
Here are links to videos of the process of making Aladdin in Denmark:

• Aladdin Video #1

• Aladdin Video #2

• Aladdin Video #3

• Aladdin Video #4

The play was more than amazing, fantastic and "wow... OMG!" all combined. I loved it and I had the same feeling as at Tivoli like nothing could stop me. I loved the play so much! The characters were all so creative and funny. I think that my favorite character was the genie. At points of the play, he would sing a modern song. For example, as he was turning Aladdin into Prince Ali, we said, "Sorry but you are not Justin Bieber" and then he started singing Baby... Another time he was leaving the stage and he started singing "Here's my number so call me genie" and later "Opa Genie Style". I was cracking up...

More pictures at Picasa web.

Danish Dance Theatre

I went with my family and Tine's family to go see summer dance preformed by the Danish Dance Theatre. They do modern dance to most modern music. I really enjoyed how they used different movements for different sounds. It is amazing how they can move their bodies! The Danish Dance Theatre is Denmark's largest most price winning modern dance company. They performed at the Police Headquarters in Copenhagen, which is a stunning building and normally closed to the public.
I hope to go see another performance that they are doing in October. It's a performance danced by children, for children, based on the classic story "The Red Balloon". There is also a performance in October called "Red" which is choreographed for Nederland's Dance Theater (one of MSped's favorite dance theatres)  by the Swedish choreographer Orjan Andersson.

More pictures at Picasa web.

Tivoli!

Tivoli! My favorite amusement park in the world! Gorgeous setup and awesome rides. I went with my mom, sister, aunt and grandmother, but did all the "scary" rides by myself. We came at noon and left at midnight which I felt was the perfect amount of time and at the right times. We saw a beautiful light show and walked around seeing all the pretty lights. There is one ride, that was closed almost al day because of being too windy, that I went on at night. It is like the mushroom at Gilroy gardens but about 5 times higher. I went on it at night and it was so beautiful. I felt like nothing could stop me as I saw the sparkling Copenhagen from above. So wonderful. So simple.

Later that night we went to the theatre in Tivoli to see one of H.C Andersen's stories being preformed by the Danish Royal Ballet. It was an amazing performance with very creative and colorful costumes designed by the Queen of Denmark. I wished that it could of been longer, it was so good!

We went home that night to a nice, warm house with a restful sleep awaiting. What a great day!

More pictures at Picasa web.