Spring and Language Tests

Spring has officially arrived in Copenhagen! The trees are finally blooming and the city has come alive with outdoor cafés and park picnics. These cherry trees, which are near Amalienborg (the Royal family's residence), have blossomed.




















One of my American flute friends, Tim, was stranded in Scandinavia last week due to the Icelandic volcano. He stayed with us for a week, during which time we took a walk to the beautiful park Kastellet. Started in 1626, the pentagonal park has some of the best preserved fortifications in Northern Europe. There are some beautiful buildings, lakes, and walks inside the park, including this cool fountain and the beautiful Anglican church. I look forward to having many picnics in this park over the summer.




I had my Danish language test last week! I had to prepare five different two-minute monologues: three monologues were about three little Danish books I've read, one monologue was on my new life in Denmark, and the final monologue was on my lifestyle. I randomly selected the lifestyle monologue, so I spoke for two minutes about what kind of foods I eat, what I drink, if and what type of exercise I do, and how my lifestyle in Denmark is different from the way I lived in the US. After I spoke, the proctor presented a photo. I had to ask 15 questions about the photo. Then I was done! I passed the test, so now I start the second (of five) semesters on Monday. The proctor told me my sentence structure was good, but I need more work on pronunciation. Almost everyone in my class (pictured here) passed, though a few did not. To celebrate, our teacher took us on a field trip to the Amalienborg castle. It was a very nice treat (the school paid for our entrance fees!) and it was a lot of fun to hang out with my teacher and classmates outside of school.


This past Wednesday was the final Connecting Friends dinner club. The dinner was a pot-luck, which was really fun because most people brought foods native to their home country. There was yummy chicken and curry, chili con carne, doro wat and injera (Ethiopian chicken stew and bread, one of our favorite dishes!), chips and salsa and brownies (prepared by Bobby and me). We both really enjoyed the Connecting Friends program and will stay in contact with many of the people we've met.