Hello again everyone!
Sine my last post, I have said some very sad goodbyes to Kristjan and family, my other Danish friends, and, Denmark itself. On Saturday afternoon, I caught the train to just near Copenhagen, where I stayed with Cameron's host family, before we went to the airport the next morning. Of course, nothing went smoothly-I couldn't find my name on the check in machine under my booking number. I went to a help desk to get things sorted out, and everything was fine from there. There's a lot to be said for good, old-fashioned service from a human. It was a pretty uneventful flight to London, and we got through immigration and customs without any problems. Lise and Andy (the UK leaders looking after us) met us there, and we all got on the tube to BP House. That night, Felix (Victorian Venturer) and I went looking for a currency exchange, and found one in St. Pancras Station. We explored a little before going back to the hotel.
Yesterday (Monday), we walked to Kensington Palace and Gardens, and wandered around there for a while, before ending up in Hyde Park. Then, we went to Marble Arch, and down a little of Oxford Street. After that, we got a bus to Buckingham Palace. The Queen wasn't home, but we still had a good time looking at the buildings.
Then, we got cheap food from tesco for lunch, and went to Westminster Abbey. It was phenomenal. That is the only word for it. After the Abbey, Felix and I walked to Leicester Square, where three of us (me and two girls) bought tickets to Les Mis on Thursday. I am really excited for that.
Finally, before dinner, Felix and I walked for a few minutes to the London Transport Museum.
All the walking is really tiring.
Today (Tuesday), me and Felix split off from the others, and went to the Tower of London, which was great (saw the crown jewels as well), and Tower Bridge (I went on the glass walkway!).
After that, we caught the DLR to Canary Wharf, and looked around there, and got a really cheap lunch. Next, we went south to Greenwich, the Maritime Museum, and the Royal Observatory. It was all really good, and the view from the observatory was incredible.
We then caught a bus to the Imperial War Museum. It really showcased the history of World Wars One and Two. There was a whole floor dedicated to the Holocaust, but I have no words to describe it. We didn't finish it because the museum was closing for the night.
For dinner, we had cheap Indian that was actually really nice.
That's all for now, I'll update in a few days, and all the photos will eventually be uploaded once I'm back in Australia.
Bye for now,
Jack R.
Tuesday, 9 January 2018
Friday, 5 January 2018
Photo Time
Here is the next batch of photos, it's gonna be a lot, cause my computer was out for a while.
Enjoy the photos, my next post will be from London.
I have met some amazing people, and made some amazing friends in Denmark, and I am going to really miss it. I'll be happy to get home, but what I wouldn't give to stay for another few weeks.
Ah well, life goes on, and I am definitely coming back once I can afford it.
Bye for now,
Jack R
 |
| Randers Rainforest - inside massive glass domes. It was a normal temperature inside, a mild summer's day for me. |
Enjoy the photos, my next post will be from London.
I have met some amazing people, and made some amazing friends in Denmark, and I am going to really miss it. I'll be happy to get home, but what I wouldn't give to stay for another few weeks.
Ah well, life goes on, and I am definitely coming back once I can afford it.
Bye for now,
Jack R
Thursday, 4 January 2018
Scout Scoop, and New Friends
Hello everyone,
Two days ago, I got back from scout scoop. It was heaps of fun. Even better, the camp was harry potter themed!
I'll start with day one-Wednesday the 27th.
I'll start with day one-Wednesday the 27th.
We all met outside Kolding station at noon, and played games until everything was ready for us to go. We had a sort of scavenger hunt around the town, where we had to find certain places, and send photos of them to the leaders. Next, we started to walk to the scout centre. We bought food to cook on the way, and had to camp at a random house. It was a bit of a surprise to do this, because it would never be allowed in Australia. My patrol slept in a garage for the night.
Now, Thursday:
We arrived at the Scout Centre around 9.30, had a tour, and got settled in. Lunch set the theme for the next few days, with vegan food (I found out later that some of the meat had gone bad). After lunch, we had activities, which I can't remember much of, but the session was called 'missing the point of life.' It involved doing completely useless things, like tying knots with our feet, and someone else's hands. Next, we had dinner (more vegan food), and a harry potter themed campfire (amazing!) with skits, games, and entertainment, followed by workshops. I chose a workshop with the Finnish leader, Satu, where we learnt how to do some Finnish needle felting (I chose it not only because it sounded fun, but because it was inside-in the warm!). Thoroughly exhausted, I went to sleep afterwards.
Friday:
It was an early morning (7.00), and we were woken by music blaring from speakers. We played games in the yard until breakfast was ready. After breakfast, we reported ready (all the patrols line up, each has a 'yell') and got organised for cooking lunch. The eight patrols were combined into 4, and each was given an area of the world to cook food from. The areas were: America, Asia, Scandinavia, and one more I can't remember. It was great fun, although it was could, because there was a breeze coming off the water. The best part was, we ate all the food for lunch.
After lunch, we had two workshops. The first one I did was an Australian workshop, and the second was axe-throwing. The Aussie one was great, I got to watch people taste Vegemite, and eat ANZAC biscuits. Axe-throwing was amazing as well. For half the time, all I could think of was the risk assessment you'd need to do that in scouts at home!
The workshops took up a lot of time, and, before we knew it, it was time for dinner. Hallelujah! It wasn't vegan.
After dinner, we watched the first Hunger Games movie. Outside. In our sleeping bags. In the freezing cold. I enjoyed the movie, but I couldn't feel my face afterwards. When the movie was done, I went straight to sleep. Scout camps, as any Scout will tell you, are very tiring.
Saturday:
We were woken early, by music again, and played games in the yard until breakfast. In the morning, we had an activity called 'hunger or games?' It had different, hunger games themed activities that we did in patrols, and a winner was announced at the end. I will definitely use something similar for my scouts.
Then, it was lunch, with much better, non-vegan food.
After lunch, we played a sort of olympic games, and each of our teams was named after a European scout centre (why doesn't Australia have more scout centres?). There were lots of random games-it was a lot of fun.
After that, it was dinner, which was pretty good, but I can't remember what we had. Then, we did an activity called '100m of activities.' There was a rope set up, roughly 100m long, and it had 75 activities tied to it on little bits of paper. They were completely random, like 'solve this code,' or 'do 40 star jumps,' or 'tie this knot.' There were tables set up to keep score. It was a lot of fun, even though it was raining (as usual-typical Danish weather), and really cold. After that, it was another workshop period, and I chose music, like all the music people did. We had boom-whackers (plastic tubes tuned to a note), and the more musical people went away and played star wars. Then, exhausted, I went to sleep.
Sunday, the last day of the year!:
Honestly, by now, I couldn't believe how quickly the year had gone. Right, so, Sunday. They let us sleep in (Hurrah!), before waking us up, and dividing us into groups for decorating, entertainment, and kitchen, for the new years party preparation. I was in the kitchen group, so I spent the day cooking harry potter themed food, and talking to my friends. It really is amazing that, no matter where you are in the world, if you meet a fellow scout, you are basically instant best friends. I love the sense of friendship that exists in the organisation. Of course, the whole point of Scout Scoop was to make new, international friends, and to have a great time, which we all did.
The new years party finally came around, and everyone reported ready in their Harry Potter costumes. We then went inside to watch the Queen's speech, and the International scouts had a live translation from the Danish subtitles. It was pretty good, she talked about the same sort of things as Elizabeth does in her Christmas message. After the speech, we were sorted into our houses (I was Gryffindor), and sat at our house tables in the Gilwell Hut. There were skits, sing alongs, quizzes, games, and, of course, the food that we cooked earlier. Everything was great, especially the cream cake we had for dessert!
When 11.30 came around, everyone gathered at the projector to watch a comedy skit from the 1930s called 'Dinner for One' (apparently a Danish tradition to watch it?), and then watched the countdown live from Copenhagen. At midnight, everyone joined in singing some Danish traditional songs, and then the national anthem (even me, it was subtitled, and I can always carry a tune), before going down to the water to watch the fireworks from about eight different towns. It was absolutely beautiful. Before we watched the fireworks, I got together all the people who knew Auld Lang Syne, and sang it at the top of our voices.
I ended up sleeping at 1.30, just so I could survive the next, and last day of the camp.
On Monday, they woke us around 8, and got started with cleaning. They said we had 10 minutes to get our own bags packed and outside, and boy was I glad I'd packed on Sunday. My patrol had to clean the eating building. After all the cleaning was done, we got photos, and it was time to say goodbye. It was very sad, as I made lots of new, amazing friends, who I won't see again for a few years.
We were bused to Fredericia, and dropped off at the train station for the ride home. It was all very sad, and tiring.
When we got home to Randers, I ate, then slept.
The next day was the last day of the holidays, so I just relaxed, and started to pack my things, because I leave Denmark on Sunday.
Yesterday and today, I've been at school, talking to friends, and watching netflix. I've bought the last of the presents I need for everyone back home, and I am getting all my packing in order.
I will be very sad to leave Denmark on Sunday.
Now, very sorry for the long post, but there was a lot of stuff to talk about. Tomorrow, I'll post as many photos as possible, and, on Saturday, before I get the train to Copenhagen, I'll write one more post about Denmark. I'll probably be crying by then.
On that happy thought, happy new year, and bye for now.
Jack Roberts
We arrived at the Scout Centre around 9.30, had a tour, and got settled in. Lunch set the theme for the next few days, with vegan food (I found out later that some of the meat had gone bad). After lunch, we had activities, which I can't remember much of, but the session was called 'missing the point of life.' It involved doing completely useless things, like tying knots with our feet, and someone else's hands. Next, we had dinner (more vegan food), and a harry potter themed campfire (amazing!) with skits, games, and entertainment, followed by workshops. I chose a workshop with the Finnish leader, Satu, where we learnt how to do some Finnish needle felting (I chose it not only because it sounded fun, but because it was inside-in the warm!). Thoroughly exhausted, I went to sleep afterwards.
Friday:
It was an early morning (7.00), and we were woken by music blaring from speakers. We played games in the yard until breakfast was ready. After breakfast, we reported ready (all the patrols line up, each has a 'yell') and got organised for cooking lunch. The eight patrols were combined into 4, and each was given an area of the world to cook food from. The areas were: America, Asia, Scandinavia, and one more I can't remember. It was great fun, although it was could, because there was a breeze coming off the water. The best part was, we ate all the food for lunch.
After lunch, we had two workshops. The first one I did was an Australian workshop, and the second was axe-throwing. The Aussie one was great, I got to watch people taste Vegemite, and eat ANZAC biscuits. Axe-throwing was amazing as well. For half the time, all I could think of was the risk assessment you'd need to do that in scouts at home!
The workshops took up a lot of time, and, before we knew it, it was time for dinner. Hallelujah! It wasn't vegan.
After dinner, we watched the first Hunger Games movie. Outside. In our sleeping bags. In the freezing cold. I enjoyed the movie, but I couldn't feel my face afterwards. When the movie was done, I went straight to sleep. Scout camps, as any Scout will tell you, are very tiring.
Saturday:
We were woken early, by music again, and played games in the yard until breakfast. In the morning, we had an activity called 'hunger or games?' It had different, hunger games themed activities that we did in patrols, and a winner was announced at the end. I will definitely use something similar for my scouts.
Then, it was lunch, with much better, non-vegan food.
After lunch, we played a sort of olympic games, and each of our teams was named after a European scout centre (why doesn't Australia have more scout centres?). There were lots of random games-it was a lot of fun.
After that, it was dinner, which was pretty good, but I can't remember what we had. Then, we did an activity called '100m of activities.' There was a rope set up, roughly 100m long, and it had 75 activities tied to it on little bits of paper. They were completely random, like 'solve this code,' or 'do 40 star jumps,' or 'tie this knot.' There were tables set up to keep score. It was a lot of fun, even though it was raining (as usual-typical Danish weather), and really cold. After that, it was another workshop period, and I chose music, like all the music people did. We had boom-whackers (plastic tubes tuned to a note), and the more musical people went away and played star wars. Then, exhausted, I went to sleep.
Sunday, the last day of the year!:
Honestly, by now, I couldn't believe how quickly the year had gone. Right, so, Sunday. They let us sleep in (Hurrah!), before waking us up, and dividing us into groups for decorating, entertainment, and kitchen, for the new years party preparation. I was in the kitchen group, so I spent the day cooking harry potter themed food, and talking to my friends. It really is amazing that, no matter where you are in the world, if you meet a fellow scout, you are basically instant best friends. I love the sense of friendship that exists in the organisation. Of course, the whole point of Scout Scoop was to make new, international friends, and to have a great time, which we all did.
The new years party finally came around, and everyone reported ready in their Harry Potter costumes. We then went inside to watch the Queen's speech, and the International scouts had a live translation from the Danish subtitles. It was pretty good, she talked about the same sort of things as Elizabeth does in her Christmas message. After the speech, we were sorted into our houses (I was Gryffindor), and sat at our house tables in the Gilwell Hut. There were skits, sing alongs, quizzes, games, and, of course, the food that we cooked earlier. Everything was great, especially the cream cake we had for dessert!
When 11.30 came around, everyone gathered at the projector to watch a comedy skit from the 1930s called 'Dinner for One' (apparently a Danish tradition to watch it?), and then watched the countdown live from Copenhagen. At midnight, everyone joined in singing some Danish traditional songs, and then the national anthem (even me, it was subtitled, and I can always carry a tune), before going down to the water to watch the fireworks from about eight different towns. It was absolutely beautiful. Before we watched the fireworks, I got together all the people who knew Auld Lang Syne, and sang it at the top of our voices.
I ended up sleeping at 1.30, just so I could survive the next, and last day of the camp.
On Monday, they woke us around 8, and got started with cleaning. They said we had 10 minutes to get our own bags packed and outside, and boy was I glad I'd packed on Sunday. My patrol had to clean the eating building. After all the cleaning was done, we got photos, and it was time to say goodbye. It was very sad, as I made lots of new, amazing friends, who I won't see again for a few years.
We were bused to Fredericia, and dropped off at the train station for the ride home. It was all very sad, and tiring.
When we got home to Randers, I ate, then slept.
The next day was the last day of the holidays, so I just relaxed, and started to pack my things, because I leave Denmark on Sunday.
Yesterday and today, I've been at school, talking to friends, and watching netflix. I've bought the last of the presents I need for everyone back home, and I am getting all my packing in order.
I will be very sad to leave Denmark on Sunday.
Now, very sorry for the long post, but there was a lot of stuff to talk about. Tomorrow, I'll post as many photos as possible, and, on Saturday, before I get the train to Copenhagen, I'll write one more post about Denmark. I'll probably be crying by then.
On that happy thought, happy new year, and bye for now.
Jack Roberts
Tuesday, 26 December 2017
School, Scouts, and Christmas
Hello everyone, and Merry Christmas.
This is gonna be a long one, so here goes.
First, we had the last Scout meeting as leaders on Wednesday. We finished the Christmas presents they were making, and played some Christmas games, and generally had a great time. Scouts Australia could take a few lessons from the Danish way of doing things-it's a lot more organised, with more hands-on activities, and less paperwork.
Anyway, school.
The last few days of school were great fun. No one did much work, and it was very Christmassy.
On Thursday, which was the last day, there was a giant present game slash quiz, that involved the whole school. I couldn't understand a word, but it looked like great fun. I have roughly three days of school left in the New Year, and I will get photos with all of my friends.
On Friday, we all stayed home and relaxed, and Kristjan and I walked up the street to buy a Christmas tree. A REAL tree, which is something that I am not used to. When we got home, we left it outside, so the branches could fall down to normal places, after being wrapped up for ages.
On Saturday, we decorated the tree, with lots of beautiful ornaments, as well as some wood carved Aussie animals that I brought with me.
Eventually, Sunday came around, and it was finally Christmas. 'Santa' delivered a lot of presents. I should add that, every Sunday in December, the Danish 'Nisse' (elves-sort of) delivered a present for all the children in the house. Anyway, back to Sunday. Around 3pm, people started arriving, and we all started getting ready for dinner. Danish Christmas dinner is a very organised thing, and starts with roast duck, which was prepared the day before. I discovered that I really like the taste of duck. Next came the roast pork and pork meatballs, everything accompanied by a healthy helping of potatoes, gravy, and potatoes coated in sugar and fried (didn't like those). After we gorged, we let that go down, and then came the next course - Ris à l'amande. It is a rice pudding with sliced almonds mixed in, and is served with cherry sauce. The Danes only eat it in December, so I'm very lucky that I'm here now, because I love the stuff. I am definitely getting a recipie.
After all the food, everyone (roughly 14 of us) sat and talked for a while, before it was time for yet another Danish tradition-dancing around the Christmas Tree.
Well I say dancing, but it was more like walking, and singing out of tune, but it was still fun. I was forced to sing Aussie carols as well, which went pretty well. We all had a great time.
After that, it was time to open the presents. I got some exercise clothes, which will be very useful when I go home, for the gym.
My Sunday finally ended around midnight, when I went to sleep.
On Monday, we relaxed and recovered from all the food, and Tuesday was another day to laze around. I did have to pack for Scout Scoop, however, so I hope I didn't forget anything.
Tuesday afternoon was spent at Ivan's mother's house, an adorable little cottage in a small, quiet village. We had afternoon tea, which was biscuits and cake, and stayed for dinner, which was soup. All in all, it was a great way to spend an afternoon.
I haven't got much more to say for now, other than that we leave for Kolding, and Scout Scoop, tomorrow. I'm all packed and ready to go, and I promise to take lots of photos.
All the photos from the last few weeks will be uploaded on the second of January, in one enormous photo drop. I really don't feel like doing it now.
I might do another post during the week, as there's apparently wifi at Scout Scoop, but I think we'll probably be too busy. We'll see.
Bye for now,
Jack R.
This is gonna be a long one, so here goes.
First, we had the last Scout meeting as leaders on Wednesday. We finished the Christmas presents they were making, and played some Christmas games, and generally had a great time. Scouts Australia could take a few lessons from the Danish way of doing things-it's a lot more organised, with more hands-on activities, and less paperwork.
Anyway, school.
The last few days of school were great fun. No one did much work, and it was very Christmassy.
On Thursday, which was the last day, there was a giant present game slash quiz, that involved the whole school. I couldn't understand a word, but it looked like great fun. I have roughly three days of school left in the New Year, and I will get photos with all of my friends.
On Friday, we all stayed home and relaxed, and Kristjan and I walked up the street to buy a Christmas tree. A REAL tree, which is something that I am not used to. When we got home, we left it outside, so the branches could fall down to normal places, after being wrapped up for ages.
On Saturday, we decorated the tree, with lots of beautiful ornaments, as well as some wood carved Aussie animals that I brought with me.
Eventually, Sunday came around, and it was finally Christmas. 'Santa' delivered a lot of presents. I should add that, every Sunday in December, the Danish 'Nisse' (elves-sort of) delivered a present for all the children in the house. Anyway, back to Sunday. Around 3pm, people started arriving, and we all started getting ready for dinner. Danish Christmas dinner is a very organised thing, and starts with roast duck, which was prepared the day before. I discovered that I really like the taste of duck. Next came the roast pork and pork meatballs, everything accompanied by a healthy helping of potatoes, gravy, and potatoes coated in sugar and fried (didn't like those). After we gorged, we let that go down, and then came the next course - Ris à l'amande. It is a rice pudding with sliced almonds mixed in, and is served with cherry sauce. The Danes only eat it in December, so I'm very lucky that I'm here now, because I love the stuff. I am definitely getting a recipie.
After all the food, everyone (roughly 14 of us) sat and talked for a while, before it was time for yet another Danish tradition-dancing around the Christmas Tree.
Well I say dancing, but it was more like walking, and singing out of tune, but it was still fun. I was forced to sing Aussie carols as well, which went pretty well. We all had a great time.
After that, it was time to open the presents. I got some exercise clothes, which will be very useful when I go home, for the gym.
My Sunday finally ended around midnight, when I went to sleep.
On Monday, we relaxed and recovered from all the food, and Tuesday was another day to laze around. I did have to pack for Scout Scoop, however, so I hope I didn't forget anything.
Tuesday afternoon was spent at Ivan's mother's house, an adorable little cottage in a small, quiet village. We had afternoon tea, which was biscuits and cake, and stayed for dinner, which was soup. All in all, it was a great way to spend an afternoon.
I haven't got much more to say for now, other than that we leave for Kolding, and Scout Scoop, tomorrow. I'm all packed and ready to go, and I promise to take lots of photos.
All the photos from the last few weeks will be uploaded on the second of January, in one enormous photo drop. I really don't feel like doing it now.
I might do another post during the week, as there's apparently wifi at Scout Scoop, but I think we'll probably be too busy. We'll see.
Bye for now,
Jack R.
Tuesday, 19 December 2017
More Scouts
So, last night, we had Scouts for the last time. It was a great Christmas dinner. So, we got there, ate, and there were a few games. One of them was to get all the washing up done. Two people sitting next to each other rolled 2 dice, and if they got two fives, or sixes, they had to stand up, yell 'we failed,' and do the washing up. It was more fun than just making one patrol or group (of venturers) do it. Australia take note.
After that, we had the dessert, rice pudding with cherry sauce, as always, and the game was, if you had a whole almond in your food, you won.
After that, I had to bolt home to Kristjan's place to get the Aussie flag for the group, that I forgot to bring with me at first.
I made them do an Aussie scout parade at the end, and I had a great yap with the leaders, who are rover age. The Danish have a great program for youth leaders, there's even specific courses you can do. Also, Danish scouts has next to no paperwork (National, PLEASE take note). They just change the rules to make it harder to do an activity if something goes wrong.
Now for school.
It has been pretty uneventful, but today, I am being forced to eat Danish food by the English class I've been teaching. Just remembered, I forgot the Vegemite, and my Aussie slang dictionary. Ah well, I can improvise.
I biked back home quicly to get them, so the problem is solved.
Well, school's over, and I didn't die of Danish food. I had a great time with the class, and I will miss them.
There's not much more for me to say, other than that I'm having a great time, and I'm really excited for a Danish Christmas.
I'll blog again at the end of the week, with some photos (hopefully). Also, I've given up on my computer.
Lots of love to all my friends and family.
Jack R
Monday, 18 December 2017
Here's some photos, if my phone cooperates
Photos are of Den Gamle By, the museum town in Aarhus, and the separate bike lanes (Australia, take note).
Sunday, 17 December 2017
My Weekend
Hello all,
So, here we are again, and it's nearly Christmas. Yesterday, we drove to a prison that is now a museum. It was still a prison until 2006, but the old part (built 1853) really reminded me of Old Melbourne Gaol. They had stories of some of the prisoners, that we followed around the prison.
It was really cold, the central heating was built as bad to annoy the prisoners.
At school on Friday, I taught some more English, we talked about national stereotypes. It says something about Australia when most of them are partly true.
So, today, we relaxed for the morning, and then drove to Aarhus to see a historic town/museum. They have buildings and artefacts dating back to the 1500s, up to the 1970s. Walking inside those buildings was really like walking into the era they were from, especially the 70s building. There was teak panelling everywhere.
They had a shop where I did buy presents, then, lo and behold, there was a band playing Christmas carols. It was great.
Afterwards, we drove home, and I've been relaxing. I managed to get some photos on my phone, including proof of the separated bike lanes, which I love.
Anyway, there's not much going on at the moment, I'm waiting for dinner.
Although I've been mostly too busy to notice it, I am missing home. Aside from family and friends, which is the hardest part, I really miss my violin.
It's also the little things, like the white noise of Australia-the wildlife, and the constant sounds of dad's guitar in the background.
All in all, I do miss home, but I'm too busy to notice it, which is great.
I think that's all for now, I'll update on Wednesday about school.
Jack R
P.S. I can't upload all the photos from my phone onto the blog from the app I'm using, so I'll take a chance with my computer tomorrow afternoon.
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