School and Scouts

Well hello again.

I've had the full Danish school experience now, and, it's pretty boring, cause I don't understand the language. On the other hand, the English teachers are really happy to have me. There's a lot of differences to Australian school, so here goes:

• No uniforms (One of the major ones)
• The teachers come to you, instead of you walking around the school (Just plain weird)
• You can leave the school grounds during lunch, which Australian health and safety laws will never allow
• Everything is in Danish (Not surprisingly)

The people at school have been really nice to me, and there's been a lot of questions about Australia.

We ride bikes to school every day, which is really cold, but nice, because I get to see the town. It is a nice little place, Randers, but it's too quiet. I can cope with the small town feeling, but the people are just so quiet. On the train here, Ryan and I were the noisiest people, and we got death stares from businessmen!

Aside from all that, I've been to scouts twice, once as scouts, and once as leaders. On Tuesday night, we went into the city for a sort of scavenger hunt thing, where we walked around, doing different bases. These were: making Christmas decorations (twice), and a blind taste test, where I got to taste lots of Danish Christmas lollies. On Wednesday, school was pretty boring, but Kristjan sorted out my internet, so I had Netflix!

At Scouts that night, we were leaders of what we would call cubs. We helped them to make a nesting box for birds, which involved a lot of saws and power tools. You could never get away with that at home, thanks to health and safety. Ah well.

It was pretty cold today, but thankfully, the central heating is AMAZING. The view out of my bedroom window across town is really nice, and it looked as though it might snow. It didn't, but there's a chance in the next few days. An observation: nearly every house has a flagpole. I made good use of Kristjan's, and flew an Aussie flag. Tomorrow afternoon, Kristjan and I will get the train to Copenhagen, and stay there for the weekend, so expect lots of photos.

Bye for now,

Jack Roberts

Here's the photo dump:

Kristjan's front yard

The Backyard

Come on Aussie!

Looking out the lounge room window

Looking out the lounge room window

The Scout Den (with a fire!)

View out my window

More view out my window

Copenhagen train station

Dubai Airport

Dubai Airport

Dubai Airport

Dubai Airport

On the way to Brisbane

An Aussie Christmas-my tree at home, put up before I left

Travel. A Lot.

Well, I made it. It was painful and tiring, but I made it.

I left Townsville late, which made for an interesting connection in Brisbane. My plane landed at Brisbane domestic 40 minutes late, and the bus to the international terminal was late as well. Once I eventually got there, we had to run!

We got through customs, with 3 of us done for extra tests, as always, when you're in a hurry. We were walking through the shops when the final call went over the intercoms. We had to run, all the way to the other end of the terminal, and only just made it!

Once we sat down, with me by myself because I checked in separately, we settled in for a really long flight-14 hours, 35 minutes. The food was okay, edible, but not nice, and the seats were cramped and uncomfortable. However, in-flight entertainment is your friend! I watch the 2nd Guardians of the Galaxy, and a few other things, before I dozed off over WA, and woke up just before the equator, then drifted between asleep and awake until India. Once we landed in Dubai, we had to go through security, which was thankfully quick, and walk to the gate, which was-thank goodness-in the same part of the terminal. We just had to wait for the rest of the contingent. After resting for a while, we jumped on the next plane, flew around the Middle East, not over it, and eventually landed in Copenhagen, after 7 hours flying from Dubai. It was still Monday the 27th-and it had been for over 24 hours. Unfortunately, I had to take a 4 hour train to the other side of Denmark to get to Kristjan. It was nice, but it got dark really early, which I'm not used to. I got to Randers around 7pm, went to Kristjan's house, had food, and slept off the jetlag. I'm at school right now, and I'll do another blog entry in a few days.

Jack Roberts

It's Time to Fly

 Good Morning everyone,

Well, today's the day. My suitcase is full, and I hope I haven't forgotten anything. My bag just scrapes under the domestic limit of 23kg. I'm leaving Townsville on a beautiful Spring day, blue skies, and the temperature is about 25 degrees. This afternoon, I'm going to get to the airport around 3pm, for my flight that leaves at 4.45. It's the start of a marathon 32 hours in transit, before I reach Randers, Denmark, where I'm staying.
Once I get to Brisbane, I do a mad dash to the international terminal, and meet up with the other SISEP Scouts from Queensland, my companions on this journey.
The prospect of travelling so far is a bit terrifying, but I am very excited, although, going from about 13 hours of sunlight every day, to 8 or less, is going to be one hell of a shock.
I'm really excited to see Denmark, and see Kristjan again, and meet his family.
I think my favourite part of being in Denmark will be to experience a Danish Christmas, and see how it differs from Australian celebrations.
I will have to teach them about boxing day though.

I'll write again once I arrive, and recover from the inevitable jetlag.

Talk to you in a few days,

Jack

Here's some photos of my house, and my packing.

 There we go...Some photos before I fly. Next time, I'll have photos of the flights, and the 4 hour train trip to get to Randers.

Goodbye and farewell.

Two Weeks to Takeoff!!

Here we are, first post, and two weeks until I leave.

This is what I'll be leaving-the sun and the sea, for freezing cold Denmark.
I've been getting ready, sorting out all the paperwork, buying a suitcase, and doing my final exams at the same time. I finish High School in five days.
I'm really excited about my exchange to Denmark, and the great thing is, I'm staying with the person I hosted in July.
That's all for now, but I'll be back in a few days with more photos of home, and news of my preparation.

Jack R