Combine Harvesting

Yesterday Andrea and I got the opportunity to ride in a combine harvester to see how they harvest rapeseed. One of the Rotarians owns a farm and let us ride in the combine harvester and see where the rapeseed is taken after being harvested.

Combine Harvester

I got to ride in the combine harvester first, while Andrea was taken to see where they store the rapeseed once it's been harvested. It was really cool to see how the machinery works. First, it cuts the rapeseed and spins through these blades into the machine. Next, a cylinder separates the grain from the seeds. The seeds are stored in the harvester and the grain is disposed behind the harvester as it drives. 

If you would like a better understanding of how the machine works, you can read about it here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combine_harvester

The machine moves pretty slowly, but it's impressive how much it's able to do. When I arrived there, they had already harvested 86 tons of rapeseed, and they still had another field to harvest.

After being in the combine harvester, Andrea and I switched and I went with one of the other farmers to see where they deposited the rapeseed after it had been harvested. We drove in a little tractor pulling a big container filled with rapeseed to a little area with stables and people riding horses. They weighed the container before emptying it, then again after emptying it. They also had to take a sample and test it to see how much water was in the seeds. 

Rapeseed

Although we didn't get to see them today, they also had pigs on the farm. Erik, the Rotarian who owned the farm, works at the Danish Crown which is a Danish food processing company dealing primarily in meat processing of pork and beef. It is Europe's largest pork producer. He was telling me that Denmark relies primarily on exporting their goods to the rest of the world. According to the Danish Agriculture and Food Council, Denmark exports 90% of the production of pigs and pig meat. 

"Exports of pig meat account for almost half of all agricultural exports and for more than 5 percent of Denmark’s total exports. More than 70 percent of Danish pig meat production is exported to other EU countries, and the remaining part is exported to countries outside the EU."

(http://www.agricultureandfood.dk/danish-agriculture-and-food/danish-pig-meat-industry)

Denmark produces approximately 28 million pigs annually and slaughters about 20 million. The Danish population is around 5.7 million people, so the ratio is around 4.9 pigs per person. If we took that ratio and set it to the population of the United States (323 million), that would be around 1.5 billion pigs. So the Danes produce a LOT of pigs.

We also got to see an old farmhouse on the farm. Some Danish houses, farms, churches, etc. are preserved so that people can see what they looked like many years ago.

I'm not sure when this one was built, but it was very interesting to see how people were living in the past.

Thank you so much to Erik for letting us see your farm and ride on the combine harvester. It was really a very interesting day and I won't forget it. Thank you also to Per for arranging this, it was a great opportunity and I'm really glad we got to do it.

Danish Word of the Day:

gård- farm

  

Last day of Summer Holiday

Today was my last day of summer holiday! I can't believe I'm starting school already, time flies so fast.

Today Andrea and I went to our school to meet the four other exchange students in our class from Germany, Italy, Slovenia, and another Rotary student from South Korea. They were all super sweet girls and I look forward to getting to know them better and sharing this experience with them.

We met with a teacher who put us into two classes; a more arts oriented one, and a more science and math oriented one. I was put into the more arts oriented class, and I'm so relieved and excited. I also got to choose an elective and I chose to do a course on Film & Media. Apparently students study and create films which I'm really excited about, because I wanted to take a similar course at my high school in America, but it's a 2 year course so my exchange interfered with it.

After our meeting at the school, we said goodbye to the other exchange students and Andrea and I went back to my house and had lunch and went on a journey in Rønde to find some school supplies. 

After entering and exiting many stores empty handed, we met two lovely girls who recognized our pictures from the banner put up at our school, and helped us find what we were looking for. They are in the grade below us, but I hope to see them around again. Without their help we may have been walking around for a long time before finding what we were looking for.

Andrea and I both bought some basic school supplies; paper, pencils, pens, etc., and went about exploring the city.

We were able to find the bus station, which was very exciting for us, for we plan to make many trips together to explore more of Denmark, and visit some of our other exchange friends.

I'm very excited and nervous for school to start tomorrow. I hope it will be a good experience for me, and that I will be able to meet a lot of new friends and learn a little more Danish every day.

Danish Word of the Day:

vindue- window

Welcome Briefing

Yesterday we traveled to Nibe, a town about one and a half hours north of Rønde, for a welcome briefing by Rotary. There I met many other exchange students in my district, as well as some who have already been here for six months. It was so nice to meet everyone and to learn where they were from, and hear some stories and advice from the students who have already been here awhile.

Everyone I met was very nice and I look forward to getting to know them better and becoming a Rotary family.

Students living in Djursland

We also got to exchange pins and business cards which was very exciting and my jacket is looking a little less sparse!

I'm looking forward to seeing all the students again at the Intro Camp at the end of the month, and I wish them all the best on their exchange.

Danish Word of the Day:
øre- ear

Fanø

On Friday afternoon my host mom, Karin, picked me up and we began our journey to the Southwestern island of Fanø to spend the night at her friend's summer house.

Island of Fanø

We left at around 3 o'clock and it took around 2 and a half hours to drive to the ferry taking us to the island. It was a very pretty drive and I enjoyed talking to my host mom during that time. 

We arrived at the ferry and brought the bikes we had with us on board. It was about a ten minute ferry ride to the island.

When we arrived at the island we took our bikes off the ferry and started riding. It was my first time riding a bike in Denmark! The biking lanes made it so easy to travel by bicycle and I really enjoyed it. The ride was beautiful and the weather made it easy to travel in.

We arrived at their house within 15 minutes of leaving the ferry. I met my host mother's friend and her twelve year old son, Thomas. I had my first Danish hotdog, which was delicious, and learned how to play many new card games (thanks to Thomas). 

After a dinner we went out to the beach for a swim. It was very cold (as one might imagine), but it was very beautiful as the sun was setting. There was also a rainbow!

The summer house was very beautiful, and there was no wifi or internet so it was nice to have a little break from all of that and just talk with the people I was with.

In the morning we ate breakfast and it started to rain, however the weather did not hold us back. Karin, Thomas, and I went out into the rainy weather to visit some animals! Thomas took me to see some seals (the first ones I've seen outside of a zoo) and then (after turning around a few times) he successfully directed us to meet some wild pigs!

Thomas and I accidentally woke the pigs from a rainy nap and had a quick moment of panic as they started running around. They soon calmed down and were very gentle and friendly. They let us pet them, and even let Thomas pick one up!

After visiting the pigs, we walked around the town a little bit before heading back. We ate lunch together and soon said our goodbyes. Karin and I biked along the beach back to the ferry and had a nice drive home.

Thank you so much to Karin's friends for being so welcoming and letting us stay in their summer house. It was lovely and I had a great time it was so nice to meet everyone. I hope to see you all again some day!

Danish Word of the Day:

svin- pig

Busy Day...

Today was a very busy day! Andrea and I went to get our CPR numbers and ended up meeting the mayor! He was very nice to us and it was an honor to meet him.

After this, we went to a town called Ebeltoft which was full of beautiful, old, vibrant houses and cobblestone streets. Andrea and I plan to go back and explore the town a little more. We stopped in the Town Hall at Ebeltoft, which is now a museum full of old documents and paintings of royal figures in Denmark. It was built in 1789 and is apparently a very popular spot for public marriages.

After this, Andrea and I met with the headmaster of our school who gave us the grand tour. It's a beautiful school and is really modern, and was rated the #1 Public Gymnasium in all of Denmark. I'm so excited to start attending school there and to meet new people. The school has beautiful views of the ocean and it seems like a very welcoming atmosphere.

We also went to our first Rotary meeting this evening, and each gave a presentation about ourselves. Everyone was very nice there and I look forward to getting to know all of the Rotarians better. I am so beyond thankful to each and every one of them and I can't wait to learn more of their language and culture.

Tomorrow I think Andrea and I will try to explore Rønde a little bit more and go into some local shops. This is a very sweet town and I'm excited to see what it has to offer.

Thank you to our counselor Per for bringing Andrea and me everywhere today, it was really very kind of you.

I am so grateful for this experience and feel so very lucky to be here. I hope to use my time wisely here and make the most out of this experience. Thank you so much to everyone who made this trip possible for me. I've only been here a few days, but I already love it, and I can't believe I'm going to be living here for a year.

Hiking in Denmark

Yesterday my second host mom took me on a hike at Mols Bjerge with my second host brother. Living so close to the ocean is very new to me and it was amazing how much you could see from the tops of the hills we were walking.

It was a beautiful day for a hike (although it got a little hot with no shade) and there were giant wheat fields with wildflowers growing in them that was very beautiful.

After Mols Bjerge they took me to Helgenæs and bought me my first ice cream in Denmark! It had a sweet topping called Guf that tasted kind of like strawberry whipped cream, but it had the consistency of a marshmallow, and a flødebolle, which is like a marshmallow dipped in chocolate. It was very good:)

I had solbær and jordbær ice cream (sunberry and strawberry ice cream). I had never had sunberries before coming to Denmark, but they are very bitter and sour raw, but in an ice cream or a smoothie they are very good.

After our ice cream we went on another hike across the beach and ended up in a concrete tower built in WWII looking out over the ocean.

It was very windy and sunny but very beautiful (the photos don't do it justice).

Thank you to my second host family who took me on the hike, I really did enjoy it and it was nice to learn a little more about the landscape in Denmark.

After coming home I went to visit another exchange student who lives down the road from me; Andrea, who is from Mexico. We talked a little bit about our experiences on exchange thus far and what we expect. She gave me some Mexican candy before I left to share with my host family. I've only had the Paletas so far (it's like a caramel lollipop) and I really liked it and I am excited to try the rest.

This was my view walking to Andrea's house:

I live in a very beautiful neighborhood with a bunch of hiking and biking trails nearby that I can't wait to explore. 

Today's Danish word of the Day is:

Gaffel- fork 

First Day in Denmark

I left for the airport on August 5th at around noon and arrived a little past two. My flight was at 5:35, so I had plenty of time. I checked my bag with no problems and proceeded to say goodbye to my family for a year:( I will miss them, and I know that they will miss me, but I have a feeling this trip is going to be worth it.

I boarded my 8-hour plane ride and tried to get as much sleep as possible. We were given two meals on the plane; a dinner and a breakfast, which were both very good.

I was sitting at a window seat so I got to enjoy the nice views as we flew over Denmark. I even got to see the bridge connecting Denmark to Sweden!

On the flight I sat next to a nice Swedish woman who spoke Swedish, Danish, German, and English and was writing a book. She was very nice to me and gave me advice and even waited for me after we had landed to give me a hug and wish me good luck.

I landed in Copenhagen at around 7am Denmark time (1am New York time) and waited for around 4 hours for my connecting flight to Aarhus. The Copenhagen airport is very large and one of the prettiest airports I've been in. There I met another exchange student, Randi, who isn't living far from me. We talked about our nerves and how excited we were while on the scariest plane ride ever. It was the tiniest and loudest airplane I've ever been on, and landing was not very graceful, but we made it to the ground.

While in the Aarhus Airport, Randi and I retrieved our bags and met a Danish girl who had just gotten back from exchange in Colorado. She gave us some reassuring words and told us she thought it was brave of us to go on exchange while not really knowing a lot of the language. After our interaction with the Danish exchange student, Randi and I walked through the doors to meet our host families and counselors for the first time. It was quite the welcome party...

After I was welcomed at the airport, my first host family brought me back to their beautiful home and showed me to my room. My host mom took me on a walk with the dog to show me where my school was and showed me a bit of the town I'm going to be living in. It's a very cute little town and everyone seems very nice. I'm very excited and nervous to start school, but I think all will be well in the end. 

Here's the view from my bedroom window:

There are several very pretty willow trees in their yard and everything is very green. There are also a lot of shrubs that serve as boundaries for property. My family also has a very beautiful garden where they grow vegetables as well as an apple tree.

I think that's all for now, just a quick little update. So far everything is lovely; my host family is very nice to me, my room is very comfortable, and I am getting along with my host siblings. I can't wait to see where this adventure is going to take me.