Seasonal changes and significant events tend to induce blog. However lack of time mixed with a diteriating language ability also tends to put it off.

We have time today. There's not much chance of anything happening today on acount of the current weather situation.... I'll get to that bit latter.

I've got scraps of blog attemps lying around. Events. Thoughts. I'll stitch them togeather and hopefuly accompinied by photos they could illusrate some of my life and therefor accomplish the purpose of blog.

From the weekend of the apples...

I'm pretty sure it was a Sunday. After breakfast someday in September we all (the family) worked togeather to clean he house so that after that Brit, Knud, Katrine, and I went on a little adventure to and apple orchard on Fyn. Seventy kilos appeared to be enough to last us through the season and I think I ate 2 apples a day for almost 2 months which was when they finall went bad (to my standard).

The next lot of photos are taken from AFS Autmn camp. A not particually exciting weekend to be honest. It was likethe camp was divided into Smokers and Non-Smokers. The weird thing about talking to exchange students, is that we almost all have the same thing to say. We are almost all experienceing the same thing. Basically the same story of their first this and that. On the last day we wrote some goals and a letter to be opened in winter camp. I thought of it as a bit of a chance to step back and figure out things a little. Set things in their palce. Have reason.

Following Monday brought me to Copenhagen. Copenhagen. Copenhagen: One of the most loveable cities in the world, glowing with European Renaissaice and the Danish echoes of art, literature, and Vikings. The trip was for all of 2nd g, a bit of a warm up for when in 3rd g they go to London or Barcelona or whatever. A a class, we followed the schedal drawn up by our Danish and Geography teachers who basically said that we could do whatever we like as long as we follow the plan. The plan ment early Monday mornng train. Cards and so on for a coupple of hours and you've made it to the other side of the country.

I love the sound of a train station. The sound of busy people and busy machiens. Screaching and clicking shoes. Always moving. So were we. Up the escalator (classic 'lets line up and wait 'case we can't be bothered taking he stairs') and around the corner to the possibly most dodgy 'Hotel' in all of Copenhagen.

Hotel Absalon. Halls wide just enough so that I could strech out my elbows and touch each wall. Two to a room, each with the lingering stench of cigerette smoke. A look out the window would provide insight on how the local prostitution industry is running and if we walked about 3 minutes down the road we would have past at least 3 different gentalmens clubs. That was the worst of it though, with a complementry breakfast and only a 10 minute walk to the main walking street I wouldn't mind staying there again.

Photos tell the best of the trip, and I feel like I've written this too many times. Basics:

We walked through the city to look around.

Ate Thai food with Fir, Stine, and Kafiya. Bad Thai food for cheep.

Met the class again to see a musical consisting only of Beetles classics. Winwinwin.

Met everyone else from school in town and all hungout in the tourist bars singing Karaoke.

Experimentarium. Kids MOTAT-like place. We all 'played a game' which was all bout educating us about the worlds problems.

Ate some BK

Went to The State Museam of Art where we got tosee the real life paintings that we had studied in class.

Experienced Jensens Bøfhus for dinner where I paied for a glass of water.

The last day was mostly freedom to take in the last of it all. Photos.

Trained home that afternoon.

The week after was school holiday. Three nights were spent with the family in a summer house on Sjæland. On Monday we visted Copenhagen (again for me) where the temperature had tragically sunk down to 6. Tuesday ment Tivoli, one of europes oldest amusemant parks and I rode one europes oldest rolercoster. It was exactly like those old classic French amusement parks you see in films only with a haloween-esque fringe.

Haloween. Seasonal shift. Atumn. Where this time ALL the leaves fall in bright yellow and orange. It also rained a lot and I freaked out about how cold it had become. I got home one day, sat down on the sofa, wraped a blanket around me and just kept thinking 'Why is it so cold?' So cold that I didn't know what to do about it. Inside it' toasty and warm, but to get from 'a' to 'b', to just catch a bus, means to have as much clothes as you can carry. I think in the end it just took a little getting used to. You do what you can to make do. Obviously I managed becase right now I'm looking out the window at something far below zero.

So the best part of Autmn went away. It got soggy, dark and darker, cold and colder. I foud a great satisfaction in knowing where The Salvation Army shop is. A stupid little thing that made me feel so confident in figureing out things formyself. I became sure of busses. The where, when, and how. I think that's a significant part of the whole thing.

November went by kind of slowely. School was the same everyday, 8-14, 8-15, and the weekend always seemed too short. I thought a lot about everyone finishng up at NC and where everyone was moving on to next. I missed the sun.

On the first of December I decided to do something about it. I joined the gym. I stoped whineing. I stoped trying to hold onto thngs that were far out of my reach. I stoped stressing so much about not having perfect Danish ability. I rememered so much of my persnality which got buried somewhere in my suitcase a while ago.I read more of the books that I brought with me and realised that I love English too much to let it go.

So that's recent.

I'm absloutly in love with how luck I am so see how th seasons change around the word. It's so unbelieveably amazing and it's what these people see every year.

Thismorning when I woke up at 6:30 to go to school my window was covered in snow. I opened my window are everything was white. We stood around the radio waiting to hear 'Kolding Gymnasium Lukket' so we could start Snow Day. Yesterday it was 17cm, but today it rose aboe your knees in some places and was far too cold to even roll snow balls, let alone a snow man. Apparenty it's been something like 13 years since it went this high and I think it's going to say for another 5 days or something. I don't know how else to describe it. It's beautiful and white and everywhere. I'd never thought that I would ever experience diving into deep snow that lay right on the driveway. Then we come inside all cold, wet, and tired, and sip hot chocolate. Merry Christmas.

SNOW!

I hope that's sufficient.

Love From Sylvia.