And the winner is...

I'm too hungover to write a Danish blog title.

I'm so hungover that I am literally eating bread. Not toasted bread, not bread and butter, just bread.

Actually I'm not even sure that I'm hungover, I'm pretty sure I'm still drunk.

Never mind, I'm definitely still drunk. This is the first time in my life that I can honestly say I woke up still drunk.

I'm not really sure when the night took a turn for the worst, but I do remember leaning over the edge of the boardwalk with Victor offering to hold my hair. Fuck, I'm that girl. I'm a little shocked at myself for writing this on the Internet, but hey, I'm still drunk.

Ou, just figured out when the night took a turn. There were Jagerbombs. Five in a row if I'm correct. Fuck me, trying to show off. I really have to learn that I can't keep up with guys when it comes to drinking.

As a side-note, apparently I left my iPad in the kitchen when I was cooking dinner and some guy found it while I was drunk and sent me a message on Facebook...

Him: Hi, I've found your ipad, knock on 129 door if you want it back. Come with something for reasonable trade. ;)

HAHAHAHA. OKAY. I swear to god, I was way too drunk for this shit.

• 

  Sass was on level 100. More about this night later. Have to go to Edinburgh!!

Tilbage til normale (Back to normalcy...)

So we're all back in Sonderborg now from the weekend. Hopefully recovering quickly because the girls and I are off to Edinburgh this weekend. Excitement!!

I've also started to actually focus on school which is shocking and I honestly can't tell you how long this will last, but I've kind of missed having a routine and being motivated, so I'm trying to read and whatever. It's hard though because I don't have midterms here, we don't do assignments and on the odd chance that we have a presentation, we're not marked on it. So it's hard to keep myself on track without having due dates. It's a procrastinators worst nightmare.

I'm also thinking I'm going to get a gym membership. I thought I could make it four months without stepping foot in a gym and just running, but I'm going a little crazy here and I don't like the fact that I might be losing all the hard work I put in this summer. The recent purchase of a scale might also be a contributing factor in this decision.

Hmm, what else. I think that's about it. Boring post, but it's nice just to get caught up on things, especially since I've spent much of the past month drunk. I'm not proud.

PS. After Edinburgh, I'm off to Berlin, Munich and Prague. So I'll finally be writing about my travels woot! I mean I am in Europe after all, I think it's about time I explore.

Så lad os tale om Intro Tour (So let's talk about Intro Tour)

Yet another hungover post. This should not come as a shock to anyone. Seems to be the theme of this blog.

Okay so Intro Tour. Yet another orientation event brought to you by the Intro team. We were essentially told nothing about this weekend. Only that we would be away for three days, bring a sleeping bag, bathing suit and flashlights and no phones or any apparatus that can take pictures.

Shit. This is going to be interesting.

FRIDAY

So, Friday arrives and we bike to the school for 11am. Once we got there, we checked in and were given a number from one to ten. Mine was seven. Apparently these teams were "strategically" designed to help meet new people, so of course, none of my friends were in my group. 

This was okay though because I ended up with some pretty great people. Anyway we get on the bus and drive for about thirty minutes before we end up at this camp. It was kind of like the equivalent to a YMCA camp, with cabins and bunk beds and a mess hall.

We're corralled into the mess hall where we sit with our teams. The Intro team president comes out and basically goes over some ground rules, blah blah blah. Then the fun starts. Apparently there's a theme for Intro Tour every year. This year the theme was "The Circle of Life". So every team was a stage of life. For instance, Team 1 was sperm. (Classy, I know). Our team was marriage/divorce. Each team had two team leaders and they were dressed up as the theme. It was actually hilarious. Team 1 leaders were dressed in white sheets and entered the room spraying shaving cream all over the place, while Team 10 (death) entered the room as a grim reaper and skeleton.

Next, were the game makers. Now the reason we were divided into teams was not just for housing purposes. There were going to be drinking games all weekend and each game was worth a certain amount of points. Additionally, each beer we drank was worth a point if we returned the can to the bar. (They're really big on recycling here) The game makers were almost like the hosts of the weekend. They announced all the games, the rules and referee-ed. Anyway they came in dressed as Mario and Luigi. And these were like high-end costumes, not just the makeshift shit. Clearly this weekend requires serious dedication.

Then, came the start of the drinking. There was another competition for the weekend, called the King and Queen of Beer. One guy and one girl from every team were called up to the front of the room. We each had to chug a beer as fast as we could and the winner gets the coveted King/Queen of Beer t-shirt. Girls went first. Guess who got voted up there by her team. This girl.

Now I didn't win. The beer was so goddamn cold that there was no way I was winning. What came as a shock though, was that Maud won. Not that the girl can't drink, but I never imagined she could chug a beer that fast. 

So after being led out to the soccer field by the game makers, we were given the task of painting a team flag and coming up with a battle cry. Then we were given our team uniforms, which consisted of a veil and a white skirt for the girls and a tie for the guys. Adorable.

What followed was a few of the aforementioned drinking games. Let me just give you a sampling of what kind of games these were. One of them was we had to make shapes out of our bodies. The games makers would say bumblebee and we had to try it. Bunch of drunk kids piling on top of each other to make random objects... sweet. Another game was two member of each group had to go up and demonstrate as many sex positions as they could in thirty seconds. One team actually came up with 21. Whut.

After the games, we were given a break to chill out and drink. During this time, Sophia and I somehow got our hands on two massive waterguns that had been given to Team 4 (Kids). Hilarity ensues. Among the shit-disturbees, was Victor, one of the Frenchies from our group. He did not take very kindly to the water spraying and ran after us, trying to get one of our guns. Anyway, he ended up catching up to me and started reaching for the gun.

I take no responsibility for what happened next.

While we were fighting, I went to kick him and aimed for his kneecap. Kid moved at the last second. Poor guy never even had a chance.

Not realizing the damage I caused, I ran away. Apparently, the whole "being-kicked-in-the-balls-is-comparable-to-child-birth" is a thing, because I came back five minutes later and he was still on the ground. Anyway, I apologized five hundred times. I really did feel bad... even though I couldn't stop laughing. Again, I take no responsibility.

Copious amounts of beer/shots and some dinner later and we were in our rooms waiting to go on the Night Run. We had no idea what this was, only that we would be going through the woods. An Intro Team member finally came and got us and lead us down to the opening of a trail in the woods and told us to follow the glow sticks in the trees and stop at the stations. The first station was pretty tame... another cucumber race. Fuck me.

However, it was at the next station where things got interesting. The task was that we had to thread a string through all the clothes of our whole team in the least amount of time. Less clothes to thread it through, less time. Apparently the record was ten seconds; all the members of that team had gotten completely naked.

I don't remember what our time was, but I know that people wasted no time taking off clothes. A few of the members of our group got completely naked (me, not being one of them) and the rest went down to underwear or underwear and tank tops. This was fine, except let me stress the fact how fucking cold it was. I wear spandex, in the winter, the minus 30 for skiing. I was completely frozen standing there with some stupid string threaded through what little I was wearing. And let's not even talk about the cleanliness of the string in question, after having touched every other team.

Anyway, the rest of the stations followed suit, a few were drinking challenges, one was that we had to match pictures of various asses to their corresponding Intro Team member owners and the last one was a clothesline race in which we had to take of our clothes again and make the longest line of clothes in under a minute. By this point, I was not taking off anymore then my layers of shirts because I was frozen.

After that, we retired to the mess hall again where we proceeded to drink way more than we should've. Our team also sucked at giving our cans back to the bar and so we started stealing other teams cans. At one point, I went up to a girl and took her can right out of her hand, she literally watched me do it. I was so drunk that I adamantly lied my ass off and told her that I did not take her can, even though I had it behind my back and she was so drunk that she believed me and walked away asking people who took her can. 

At about 3am, after over 15 hours of drinking, I called it quits and snuggled up into my top bunk. Only to be woken up four hours later by someone yelling into a megaphone and someone else aiming a leaf blower at my head.

SATURDAY

So yeah, the leaf blower was wonderful. Want to know what was even better, taking a shot of alcohol at seven in the morning that tasted like cleaning solution. Danish alcohol is disgusting.

We proceeded from there to breakfast where everyone wasted no time in cracking open a few beers. Hungover does not even begin to describe my state at that point. I was so haggard, it was unreal. We spent some time in the morning playing games, I went and had a quick power nap before I joined the Germans and the Frenchies out on the lawn. It was here where Team 11 was born. We were all kind of getting tired of constantly having to be in our assigned groups instead of being with our friends. I don't know who came up with it, but someone said as a joke that we should be Team 11, and so it began.

From there on out, we kept cheering Team 11 whenever anyone else would cheer for their own teams. I think we pretty much drove the Intro Team members crazy with our drunk shouting and clear disregard for their order of things but it was hilarious. We also copped out on any chores we were supposed to do because "we're Team 11 and we do what we want". Such shit disturbers.

The rest of the day continued along those lines. We had a supposed traditional Danish dish for dinner, which was basically shaved beef and gravy and oh my god, it was just what my alcohol-filled stomach needed. We then participated in a few more games; guys had to take a girl's bra off with their teeth, while blindfolded, etc. and were then sent off to our cabins to dress up for the theme party that night; movie characters.

I was The Incredibles with Solene and I think we pulled it off pretty well. Although by the end of the night, we had lost our masks and the "i" symbol on our chests and we just looked like two people who decided to dress the same with elbow-length gloves. But it was cool while it lasted.

Anyway, around 4:30am, I decided that I was going to call it a night. I went to the washroom and apparently while I was in there, an announcement was made that there was going to be a "Naked Mile." I missed this announcement.

So I head outside to walk back to my cabin and was greeted by naked people. Everywhere. Keep in mind I had no idea why everyone had gotten naked. And given that I was on my way home because I too drunk to get another drink, I deemed it a bad idea to join in on this naked fest.

I got home and went to bed and only found out the next morning why everyone had gotten naked. Embarrassing.

SUNDAY

I have a list of top three hangovers ever. Sunday was the second worst. And it only didn't make first because I didn't puke. But oh my god, haggard doesn't even begin to describe my state. I was so hungover, I felt like I was dreaming. And when we were woken up the leaf blower and given a chemical shot yet again it didn't wake me, it only worsened my condition. I literally don't remember eating breakfast, I was so out of mind. I must've just had it in a daze.

Sunday essentially consisted of packing up our stuff and cleaning. We then got the bus home where all of us stayed in our beds all day. Fair to say that Intro Tour definitely got the best of us.

PS. Apparently what happens at Intro Tour, stays at Intro Tour. So maybe I shouldn't be spewing these details all over the Internet, but if it helps I did leave some stuff out... So whatever.

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.