Vi lavede racerbil lyde på vores cykler (We made racing car noises on our bikes)

So, usually on Sundays, I'll do a weekend overview. However, Friday was lame and I didn't do Shot-Up (in fact, someone else took first place which bumped me down to third, shitty) and the music sucked so I'm not even going to bother with that.

However last night was a pleasant surprise. I was absolutely dead yesterday. Completely useless, pretty sure I spent six hours watching Grey's Anatomy. So when the Frenchies asked me if I wanted to drink again, I had little-to-no motivation. But I peeled myself out of bed, trucked up to the corner store and got some Carlsberg despite my better judgement.

Let me put this in context for you. I wore Lulus to the bar. That useless.

But here's the thing, we weren't even going to go to bar, we were really only biking in town to get pizza. Yes, in true form I biked ten minutes downtown only to get pizza.

But as a side-note, on the way downtown we were walking our bikes out of the residence parking lot when something about the size of a small cat crawls across the road. Being from a city, my first thought is that it's a rat.

However...

Blurry photo and shit flash brought to you by iOS 7

Meet our new friend, Hedgehog. Clearly creative naming is not a talent. 

Apparently hedgehog parents teach their kids to play dead when confronted by screaming drunk biddys and so that is what Hedgehog did. We were concerned that he would get hit if we left him in the road so we tried to push him using our feet but the dude would not budge. Solene was adamant about the fact that Hedgehog was an extremely good actor. That he was Solene, that he was.

Anyway so we left him and went downtown in search of pizza. However, by the time we got downtown we were once again craving alcohol and so we did end up going to Wunderbar. It was completely dead there. I don't know what it is about Saturday nights here, but no one seems to want to go out. Anyway, a couple of other friends ended up joining us and we ended up grabbing a booth and actually having a pretty chilled-out night. 

We ended up heading home around 1am and at this point the town was pretty dead. We were on our bikes and we cut through a grocery store parking lot to get home. Apparently in our drunken state we thought that it was a big deal that the parking lot was completely empty (usually it takes some manoeuvring around parked cars to cut through it). At which point we started driving around in circles, tucking and making race car noises on our bikes.

Maturity. 

Anyway when we tired of the parking lot, we started back down our road and who do we come across... Hedgehog. No word of a lie, in the three hours since we had seen him last, he'd made it like two kilometres up the road. Not bad for a guy who freezes anytime something larger than him passes by. We once again tried to ease him off the road but he was not having it. So we bid him farewell and went on our way.

So, another low-key night but I'm okay with this. Next weekend is Intro Tour. Another Orientation event, except this time they're taking us away for a weekend to an undisclosed location for undisclosed activities. Jesus.

In other news, I woke up with the cough that has been going around, I still haven't gotten around to doing my economics reading (all 150 pages of it to be done for Tuesday) and I spent my night watchng Dirty Dancing with the Germans. Productivity at its finest.

PS. Went for a walk with the Germans today and got some picture-taking in. It's still hard to believe that I actually live here. Unreal. But then I think how much it looks like Nova Scotia and I realize how much I take for granted the place I call home. 

Tour Sønderborg (Tour du Sonderborg)

Ou, the title is translated from French, soo multi-cultural.

I am hungover. Probably top five worst hangovers. Meh, okay no, but definitely top ten. I went up to the corner store this morning at about 9am in a desperate search for blue Powerade and I think I almost cried with relief that they had it. That shit is like the elixir of life.

So yesterday was the Dorm Race, another Intro-Team Orientation event. At first I didn't want to go because my bike is stupid. And I know that sounds whiney, but it's pink and it's an upright sitting bike and occasionally the wheel makes a weird sound. I never claimed to not be a brat.

But, I'm actually very happy that I went, because it was definitely one of the top Intro activities so far. We started off at the school in Cafeen where we had a few beers to start off. We all decorated our bikes and my theme was butterflies (I know, it didn't help the whole pink bike situation to have butterflies, but they were the cheapest stickers)

At about 6pm we left to ride off to the first dorm. The Dorm Race is not so much as a race as it is a cruise. The plan was to go to every residence around town and drink for 45 minutes at each and then move on. Kind of like a pub crawl on bikes. 120 bikes to be exact.

It was a complete clusterfuck. People were squished together, wheels were hitting each other, we had to start and stop on hills, all the while looking out for cars and making sure we were going in the right direction. And this was when we were sober.

By the time we finished up at the second residence, things were getting dangerous. We had a fifteen minute ride to the next residence through a commercial area and people were pretty drunk. Bikes were crashing left, right and centre and literally no one could drive straight. It would've probably been one of the funniest things I'd ever seen, if I hadn't been so scared to die.

And then it started to rain. Shit. So now the roads are slick, it's dark and I have no lights, oh and I can't keep my front tire straight. Things were looking pretty dismal, until... I saw it. Out of the darkness, like a beacon of hope; golden arches.

Sweet baby Jesus.

I hadn't had McDonald's in four weeks. If you know me at all, you know that this is far too long to deprive a girl of McNuggets. I looked at Maud and we both knew where we were headed. Hello, old friend.

Now I did feel a little bad. Apparently the Intro Team members thought we were too drunk to be left alone and so we were given a chaperone. That's embarrassing, but totally worth it. As a side-note, Danish McDonald's have hot wings. Whut.

Anyway we got our McDick's then headed off to the last residence. Drank there for a bit, then we all left to go back to Cafeen. Again, I should've died last night because the ride to Cafeen was mostly downhill and we were cruising.

Get to Cafeen, do three JagerBombs in a row because someone handed them to me and get a beer. After that, the night is kind of a blur. I keep trying to do a tally of how much I drank and the fact that I can't remember might be the reason for this hangover. That, or a gross amount of cigarettes. (Moment(s) of weakness) There will be no judgement here.

Anyway, overall, great night. The girls and I were going to do this thing where we took "before" and "after" pictures, so here's the "before" but we never actually got to the "after" one. Too bad.

Or it's probably for the best...

PS. The music they play at bars here is actually wicked. It's all music from high school basically, (think Flo Rida's "Low") but I forgot how great all those get-drunk-and-dance songs were. 

En lang dag (A long day)

Usually a long day implies that it was a hard day or just a tiring day.

Today was tiring, but mostly because I woke up that way.

It's about 12:30am so I'm going to make this short and sweet, but I just wanted to write down a realization that I'm having.

When I first got here, I counted. 16 weeks. 16 weeks until I get to go home, until I can say that I did it. That I went out and I tried something new. For a long time, I think that the fact that I could say I went on exchange meant more to me than the exchange itself. It was the bragging rights of it all.

That's changed. And I didn't even realize it had. I counted again today. 13 weeks. But it wasn't 13 weeks until I got to go home, it was more like 13 weeks until I have to go to home. And it wasn't until today that I noticed that the mood of the count had changed.

I know it's only been three weeks, so I'm still a long way off from being officially home here and being settled and feeling like I'm okay where I am. I know better than anyone that things can be great one week and then shitty the next, and of course there was have been struggles here, like not knowing how to make pasta because I can't read Danish instructions and trying to stay in shape and of course beating my head off the floor.

But it's been so long since I've felt like I'm doing something new in my life. Like I've detached myself from my normal routine. It's nice to get a break from my normal life. From the school stresses, the future considerations, the stupid and complicated (or lack thereof) dating life, the ups and downs of friendships, the unpredictable worklife and of course, the sometimes crazy family. It's nice to get away and to feel like I'm someone else. I can't find any other way to describe it. It kind of seems like the problems I had this summer don't really exist anymore, they seem so far away and detached. It's like now that I'm removed from the situation I finally have a clear view.

That's not to say I don't have issues over here that are much the same as they were back home. But they're different and it's like a breath of fresh air.

And this is when I realized, I'm going to miss it here, terribly. I already know that. I'm having an amazing time here and I love all the people I've met and I know this is going to be one of the most memorable experiences of my life, but mostly, I love this hiatus from my normal life. And going back to that life is going to be surreal and weird and tiring.

I'm jealous of the people who get to stay here and I hate remembering that this adventure has an expiry date. Never has the phrase "enjoy every moment" meant more to me than it does during this time. And I'm looking forward to seeing what else Sonderborg and Europe have in store for me.

PS. On a less deep note, Dorm Race (which is like a pub crawl of the dorms) is on Thursday and Cafeen makes its return on Friday. Get ready for tumultuous blog posts. Who knows what kind of shit I'm going to get into this weekend.

Bevæger sig langs ... (Moving along...)

Ahh Sunday, a day of rest and recovery...

Hopefully more so on the recovery end...

So my eye has steadily gotten worse-looking. Not so much pain, but definitely more obvious. The good news is I can finally open my left eye. The bad news is the bruise has spread to cover most of my eyelid and under-eye area (clearly).

Gonna be great going to school tomorrow with this thing on my face.

Add to that my tear ducts seems to be on hyper-drive so it looks like I'm crying all the time.

True it looks tough as shit, but in the meantime I just want it to clear up and the swelling to go down. The swelling is the worst part because it make my eye super itchy and it feels like there's some kind of sticker on it, like something on my eyelid that I can't get off. It's driving me crazy.

Gah, my life.

PS. Had breakfast at the bakery for the third day in the row. This is getting out of hand. The question as to whether I'm gaining weight will probably no longer be a question.

Jeg spiser mine ord (I'm eating my words)

Remember how I said yesterday was going to be great?

Damn.

Friday the 13th for the win.

So as I said, last night was Intro Party. Huge party, supposed to be lots of fun. We got there at about 9 and played some beer pong. Keep in mind I had had a beer before coming, but c'mon I do five shots in a row and it only puts me at a stage 3 level of drunk. I was nowhere near intoxicated by 10:30 which is when the night took a bit of a turn.

Solene and I were on the edge of the dancefloor and we were going to cut through to get another drink at the bar. The last thing I saw was that weird couple who always dances stupidly, then my face hit the floor.

I'm not even really sure how it happened. It was like a took a step and my leg just went out from under me. And of course I wasn't ready for it at all, so I didn't have time to break the fall with my hands, hence I broke it with my face.

Anyway mostly out of shock I bolted right up and left the scene of the crime, but I was about halfway to the washroom when I knew that I had split my head open. I couldn't feel any pain which was weird, but it was more like I could feel a breeze where there shouldn't be a breeze.

Anyway I stopped and realized my hand was full of blood, at which point I sat down because, on a normal occassion I can deal with a bit of blood, but blood spurting out of my head I cannot deal with.

Anyway Solene quickly ran and got help and a lot of Intro Team members showed up and took me outside. This is where it gets a little fuzzy. I know a few things 1) Couldn't feel any pain, but was still bleeding a lot, I took my hand away from my head at one point and it was absolutely drenched in blood, I started to freak out a little bit and someone quickly wiped my hand. 2) Intro Team memebers kept coming out interchangeably to what had happened, I felt a little bit like I was making a scene 3) I know at one point I was crying hysterically because I didn't want to get frozen when I got the stitches. I have a tendency to pass out when that happens and it freaks me out. 4) I was really really realllly pissed about my shirt and missing the party, like more than anything else that was happening, that was my biggest concern. Obviously my priorities are in order.

So they were going to call an ambulance for me, but I was not having that, I didn't want to make any more of a scene than I already had. So Merete (an Intro Team member) got me in another Team members surfer van and off we went to the hospital. I did indeed get frozen and didn't pass out wooo. And it was all covered by my CPR number as well, so thank god I had the intelligence to get that the other day because nothing else about this situation was intelligent.

After we finished up at the hospital I was given two options: go home and rest or go back to the party and promise not to drink.

What do you think I chose.

We quickly ran home to grab me a shirt that didn't make me look like I had just murdered someone and then back to the party we went. 

Keep in mind that my eye was incredibly swollen from the freezing. So I pretty much looked like Quasimodo from the hunchback of Notre Dame. Or Two-Face from Batman. Take your pick, both are accurate.

And there was a face people kept making at me, either it was shock or they tried to be complacent when they asked me what happened. Both were amusing because I knew I looked like half my face had been shot with tranquilizer.

I also started telling me people I had been in a fight when they asked me what happened. You'd be surprised how many people believed me.

And I may or may not have had more to drink. Maybe.

Anyway, to sum it all up, interesting night. Ended up going home at 3am just because I was getting tired of being ugly and I wanted pizza. I got home and my window literally fell out of the frame in my bedroom, sweet. Plus I nearly had a meltdown because I couldn't get the Danish laundry machines to work so I could wash my bloody shirt. I soaked it in detergent in the sink though and it totally worked. Who knew. Maybe I do have housewife potential.

PS. Wrote this whole post like a pirate. Because my left eye is swollen shut and I can only see out the right. Which is harder than you might think.

I dag vil være stor (Today is going to be great)

This day is going to be awesome. I just know it.

And although it's Friday the 13th, this means nothing to me, because so much goodness is happening today.

1) Started off today with a lovely visit to a bakery that I've been meaning to go to since I got here. As usual, I underestimated this bakery. There was SO MUCH FOOD. Like every kind of pastry you can imagine and then some. Pretty expensive, but so worth it. I could've literally eaten everything in there. I was going to get this chocolate and vanilla danish type looking thing, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pronounce so I settled on a chocolate-chip bread which actually tasted way more interesting than it looks. And I got some hot chocolate because I'm a child like that.

Om Nom.

Hashtag, forever eating when pictures are being taken.

SO GOOD. 

2) Next stop was Kings & Queens which is quickly becoming my new favourite store, regardless of how expensive it is. I finally got around to getting a wool beanie which is something I've been meaning to pick up, given I forgot my own beloved one in Canada.

3) Went for a run with Birte, one of my new German friends. As I've said in previous posts, I'm really trying to not gain weight here but as you've seen I'm eating chocolate bread for breakfast and drinking constantly so it's difficult. Anyway, her and I have started a running regime and thank god for that, because without the gym for the next four months, I might've gone a little crazy.

4) WE'RE BOOKING A TRIP TO EDINBURGH TONIGHT!! Yes, moi et les Frenchies, plus Birte are all going to Edinburgh for the first weekend of October! Now yes, I know I said I was worried about money but let me just assure you that all of these trips are going on my Visa. Irresponsible and future-credit-score-wrecking at its finest. But still this is Edinburgh! With castles and a volcano and burly men with adorable accents and beer and whiskey and just greatness all around! Gah I'm so excited. Plus, we got a round-trip direct flight for only 75$. And hostel stay for just 50$. Like damn we are good.

5) TONIGHT IS INTRO PARTY. The biggest party of the year. Cheap booze, spacious setting in the school canteen and students from all school in Sonderborg. Plus I have the best outfit planned and brand new earrings! (It's the little things)

Anyway, as you can see, a lot happening today and it's all going to be awesome! Which is why I'm completely disregarding that it's supposed to be an unlucky day.

PS. Got a little basket today to organize the one shelf in my bathroom. Although this may seem like no news, it has seriously helped to organize the clutter and if you know me at all, you know that this has seriously improved my quality of life.

Gode ​​nyheder og irritationsmomenter (Good news and annoyances)

Okay, so let's start with the good news and then I'll start getting petty.

Thank god for Lanky and all my friends who have been abroad before because right now I feel like I've  struck gold.

I've been planning since I got here to go a meet Sarah in Munich during my weeklong break and travel with her to Prague. However I thought that would mostly be the extent of my travelling while I was here, mostly due to lack of funds.

However, I had a little bit of an epiphany this week. I'm abroad. And I'm 21 years old. Money should not be an object. That's what credit cards are for. And although I'm probably going to dig myself a deep hole of debt, I don't really care. Because Milan is a two hours plane ride away and there's Christmas fairs in Hamburg, Germany and it's still 35 degrees in Zadar, Croatia. I'm literally in the centre of it all and money and debt shouldn't scare me off of that.

Plus, Lanky advised me of this great site called Skyscanner where you can literally find flights for like 70$ round-trip. It's stupid cheap. And so, I'm throwing money woes to the wind because I don't think there's any way I'll regret it after going to some of these places. I'm going to make money and be in debt for the rest of my life, but I'm not going to get to experience the world at such a close-range like this.

Okay, enough of the deep talk. Annoyances.
1) I still don't have a full-length mirror. Now this may seem vain, but imagine not having seen your body in almost three weeks. Like I don't know if I've been gaining weight or losing it. I've been going for lots of runs, but I've also been drinking a stupid amount of alcohol and the school cafeteria has these little chocolate bun things and I eat one pretty much everyday. So again, it'd be great to know if my jeans still fit or not.

2) This class. This is the one where I'm pretty sure the teacher is crazy. Like Mt. A.'s own Dr. Polegato, only Danish. And without the weird colour coordinated outfits (too bad). But this woman seems way too happy to be teaching this subject and trust me it's really not that exciting. The second thing about this class is the brown-noser. And I say "the" because it seems like no matter where you are in the world and no matter which class you're in, there's always one. This one is particularly annoying. Somehow she always ends up sitting in front of me and I kid you not, she raises her hand for every single question the prof asks. Ou wait, no, she just refrained from answering one. But she's also nodding along with the girl who actually did answer it, so meh, no redemption there brown-noser.

I'm not really sure why I find these people so annoying. It's ironic really, because she's the one engaged in the class and I'm the one blogging and not paying attention and yet, I have the nerve to hate on her. Enh, whatever, I never claimed to be perfect.

PS. Tomorrow is the Intro Party. Basically it's a huge party in the school cafeteria and all the students from the different schools in Sonderborg are invited. This is already seeming like a prime Jessie-gets-wasted night.

PPS. Ouu two PS's, shock and awe. But there's currently a video of me circulating Facebook. Showing the Shot-Up extravaganza. If I can figure out how to post it on the blog I will. I'm not sure if I should be proud or ashamed, I guess it depends who sees it.

Rainy mandag (Rainy Monday)

Apparently there isn't a Danish word for the word "rainy". I would've changed the title to compensate for that, but I'm too lazy. Seems to be the theme of the day.

I woke up this morning feeling pretty productive, spent 30 min trying to do a fishtail braid, actually made a decent breakfast and got my shit together to bike to school.

That all went downhill as soon as I stepped outside.

Unfortunately, it's pretty much pouring. And while I figured since I was biking I wouldn't get as wet, I soon found out I was very wrong.

You know that mythbuster's type shit that says you actually get more wet when you run in the rain than when you walk. I totally believe it now. Not five minutes into the bike ride and I was soaked. Plus I was really worried that my purse was going to leak through and damage my laptop.

I didn't even really think about it. Just said "fuck this" and turned around. This whole pass/fail basis thing is really not beneficial for my motivation.

So, I'm spending the day cuddled in bed, watching Grey's and listening to the construction outside. Although I feel a little bit bad about missing class, I'm not too worried. It's still early in the semester and I know from experience that I can procrastinate a lot but when it's time to get shit done, I get it done.

PS. I know this was a boring post, but I feel like I should have some kind of "ordinary life" representation here. Just so people don't think I'm just an alcoholic.

Weekenden oversigten (The weekend overview)

Let me just say, I am never doing a bender again.

And let me just say, I'm lying.

So this weekend started out with a Thirsty Thursday done Danish style. It was Intro pub crawl night - the thing that I had been looking forward to all week. So we were told to meet in front of the castle at 7pm. From there we were told that we would be playing a few games before going on the crawl.

No. The last thing I want to do is play games.

Intro activities are basically frosh week activities. I've done frosh week, I know what happens. Lots of drinking (not a problem) lots of cheering (also not a problem) and public humiliation for the purpose of bonding (problem).

I publicly humiliate myself on the daily without any help from anyone. I've literally been told that I am the most awkward person someone has ever met. (It was a great day).

Anyway, as far as humiliation goes. It wasn't awful. The only really bad part was the cucumber race. Allow me to explain. The cucumber race is apparently done by all new students. Rite of passage and whatnot. We were put into groups and were told we'd be doing a relay. Run to your group leader, take shot, run back. Here's the catch, do it with a cucumber between your legs. Oh and when you pass that cucumber off the next person, no hands allowed. Cue awkward crotch contact with people you barely know.

Anyway, we get through all the games and off we go to the first stop on the pub crawl. We come to this little hole-in-the-wall bar that at first glance seems pretty small. However, I am starting to learn that you can't judge a bars fun factor on the basis of it's size.

This place was actually so cool. It had three different levels and the bar ran from the entrance of the bar right down to the back where there was a dancefloor. It's like the building just kept going. Oh and bonus, drinking games are allowed in drinking establishments in Denmark and so there were beer pong tables as well.

The second bar we went to smelled bad and played shitty music while serving us cheap bar. That is all.

Third bar would've Dad's dream. It had massive garage doors that opened up onto the patio, just like the Crow. However unlike the Crow, you can enter and exit the building through those windows. Really cool set-up.

The last bar was WunderBar. Apparently notorious for causing people to take off their clothes. I don't even know. Honestly at this point in the night I was useless. So I have nothing worth while to write about it.

Moving along to Friday. Wicked hangover. Woke up just in time to start drinking again. I swear to God, I'm not an alcoholic, it's just literally like frosh week all over again.

I can see Fridays becoming my favorite night of the week here. Cafeen is where everyone goes and I'm really starting to love it there, and not just for the cheap drink prices. As a side-note, I beat my shot-up record, but have still yet to beat 6.6  I'll get there.

Ou, and I met another North American FINALLY. American, but hey, beggers can't be choosers. I think I freaked him out a little by how excited I was to meet him. Should've toned that down just a bit. Stupid Canadian biddy.

Last night. Pre-drank in the kitchen. Kitchen parties are a thing here which makes me quite happy because it's a little taste of the Maritimes. I've also been trying to teach the Euros how to "talk Canadian" like for instance I had to explain the proper usage of the term eh? and by. (And yes, I am aware that by is an east coast thing, but everyone here seems to think that Vancouver is the epicentre of Canada and so I need to infuse some Maritime culture here). "Wheels" was a hard one to explain. Apparently, that term is something that is strictly Canadian.

We then proceeded from the kitchen party over to a friend's place where we played Crash Bandacoot (Don't drink and drive version) all night. Wild night I know. But the thing is, I finally starting to feel more at home here. This weekend resembled a weekend that I would've had back home (minus the cucumber) and that's pretty comforting. Still waiting on this supposed culture shock, but so far I'm really loving it here.

PS. I swear I'll start putting more pictures up and talking less about alcohol and more about school. But seriously, which one would you rather hear more about?

Ouu smukt billede (Ouu, pretty picture)

Ouu a picture.

Tangible evidence that I am actually in Sonderborg and not just making up this blog.

So this beauty is the harbour front and probably the prettiest street in Sonderborg. It still wows me that I'm actually here and I'm actually doing this because for a while this summer it didn't really seem like it was going to happen.

And come to think of it, on the plane ride from Montreal to Munich it didn't think it was going to happen because I thought I was going to die in a plane crash. Seriously, I might never get on a plane again after turbulence like that. I digress.

So life is going well so far. But I feel like I'm sitting in the middle ground of the calm before the storm. We were told during our exchange orientation day at Mt. A that we would have a period of culture shock. Meaning there would be a significant period of time where all the cultural differences would really become noticeable and we would start to hate our lives and feel alone.

Wonderful.

And I keep expecting this breakdown to hit because knowing the scale of my breakdowns, it could be bad. However, I feel nothing yet. As Rihanna would say, just living ma life (eh ehhh, eh ehhh, eh ehhh)

Oh god, I'm one beer in for the night and I'm making Rihanna references. Good sign or bad sign? Anyone's call.

Anyway I will be blogging tomorrow about the whole weekend because it was a doozy, and I'll keep ya posted on this culture shock timebomb that I am.

Peace out.

PS. APPRECIATE THE PICTURE

Godt dette er akavet (well, this is awkward)

I'm sitting in my Intercultural Business Communication course.

The prof is literally calling individual people out asking where the rest of the class is.

First day and only 27 of the 57 people in the class are actually here.

And now she's telling us about how we're all going to be working in groups.

Fuck this class.