Arriving in Denmark - DAY 1

05/08/16

I woke up at 5am in my room. I didn't have much sleep because of the anxiety but I was suprisely not tired. My bags were already packed, all the documents organized and everything was ready. I dressed the only clothes that were in my room, on top of a chair. I remember looking at my room one last time before closing the door for a year. My parents were already up and had prepared me breakfast. Everything was so normal, but at the same time, every second seemed very profound and meaningful. 

I can't really remember how was the trip to the airport, I can only remember my parents giving me some last advice and my little brother sitting next to me, still sleepy. My mind should be full of expectations, fears, questions and mixed emotions, but for some reason, I just felt incredibly normal. It felt like any other normal daily routine.

We got to the airport where the AFS Portugal president was kindly waiting for me and my other friend that was also going to Denmark called Joana. We had met in one of the AFS camps and we were very excited about choosing Denmark. I'll write about why I chose Denmark in another time. She explained everything to us and our parents about the travel, the flight number, etc. Everything was very simple and easy, which was important to keep the stress out of my parents. I didn't feel stressed nor anxious, just slightly excited and curious.

Flight board in Portugal with my flight

After some time, I had to go through the gates, so I said goodbye to my parents and my little brother. It was a weird feeling. A feeling that I knew I was going to miss them but at the same time of relief, a feeling of growing up and becoming independent. It was harder to leave my brother, who was only 10 years old and I knew I would miss him a lot. He told me he wouldn't miss me but I know that's a lie. My parents had tears in their eyes. It was hard to say goodbye, but as soon as I went through the gates with my friend everything felt just fine. It seemed right. We talked to each other about how we were feeling, kinda confused and a repressed excitement about to explode. But everything felt so casual, it was weird and amazing at the same time!

FLIGHT

We got in the plane and settled in. The engines started and in no-time we were flying. And it was at the moment that I saw the earth from so high just passing by that this all hit me. I woke up to the fact that it was actually happening. Until then I was taking everything as casual. But from that moment I understood that my life had changed, everything was going to be different. I was alone on a plane, without my parents, without any knowledge of what experiences were in front of me. The future was my only present. 

Photo taken on the plane to Denmark

There was no way back now. I felt this anxiety, but a really good one. An explosive ecstasy rushing through my body. I couldn't stop thinking about what was going to happen. I had not really thought about it that deeply. Of course I knew that I would get a host family and go to school, but that's it. What would happen immediately after the landing? I had no idea!

LANDING IN DENMARK

The plane landed. I checked my phone and there it was, the roaming message. It was about mid-day. We got out and walked through the airport halls and every sign was in Danish. I lifted some money in an ATM and I got to see the danish money for the first time. The official name is DKK and 1€ corresponds to 7.44kr (krones). We waited to get our bags and after some long time waiting a really shy AFS volunteer aproached us. He was wearing an AFS blue shirt and the only thing he did was ask us our names. After a while we followed him to the store center and met a group of AFS volunteers that welcomed us very cheerfully. Some exchange students from other countries were there already so we presented to each other and played some cards while waiting for the buses to take us to the camp.

I remember going to the toilet and found something really interesting. The bathroom was for both men and women. It was a common room with spaces to wash your hands, one big mirror and several divisions for both men and women. The taps were also very weird. They had one handle to make the water flow and another one to control the temperature, and even in the public toilets, there was hot water in the taps! This was a surprise to me because in Portugal there are no hot water taps in public toilets.

Anyways, after playing some cards we got handed our lunches, which consisted of a sandwich and a banana inside a bag. I had the chance to taste rugbrød for the first time. It's a typical danish bread full of cereals. I didn't like it at first but now that I eat it every day at lunch I got used to it! The water was also different from Portugal. It seemed less heavy, so I could drink a lot without feeling full. In Denmark, you can also drink water from any tap.

After this, the buses finally arrived and we packed up inside. We were still very few and very shy so the ride was quite silent, except some people talking in their own languages with their friends. We were all very tired and confused with all the sudden changes to our lives, so we slept the whole ride.

The first photo taken in Denmark (on the bus)

FIRST AFS CAMP - FOOD

This camp was from 5 to 7 of August and it was one of the best experiences that I've even had. 

As we arrived at the camp, located in a rented school, I noticed the amount of people that were part of it. Some exchange students were already there, some were arriving in buses and some were still to arrive. I could see people from all around the world, all different cultures and stories, uniting there, to share the beginning of the greatest year of their lives. The danish volunteers were very excited and wanted to help us with everything. We left our bags in the shared rooms, where some mattresses were ready for us. There were 2 rooms for the boys and 1 big room with triple bunk beds for the girls. 

After this we met the volunteers and did some fast presentations in a big group. We were more than 100 but some students were still to come. The day was pretty relaxed. It was good to rest from the travel and to meet some new people. We shared expectations, stories and it was a lot of fun.

The dinner was in a big cantine, where we tasted some really traditional danish dishes, such as remoulade, leverpostej (paté with mushrooms and bacon), kartoffel and frikadellen, served as a lunch, on rugbrød! I really liked the food, since the start. 

Leverpostej

Frikadeller

Højtbelagt smørbrød The presentation of the dinner was like this. Food on top of rugbrød.

I learned that the Danes eat sandwiches at every lunch, mostly, bringing them to school.  The lunch is, for that fact, cold and light, and it's usually eaten at 11:30. The dinner is heavier, usually hot potatoes with fat meat or meatballs and, sometimes, with a salad of fruits and cereals. The dinner's schedule is at 18:30! Super early compared to Portugal's 20:30. It is because the sun in the Danish winter goes away very early and the sky is all dark at 16:30. The breakfast is usually milk or yogurt with corn flakes or muesli. Most adults drink coffee or tea and eat rugbrød or white bread with cheese or jam.

Muesli

After the dinner we were very tired, so our activities were limited to talking a bit and play some cards. After a while, everyone went to bed. A volunteer handed out sleeping bags and towels for a shower in the morning. 

At 23:00 everyone was sleeping, wondering what would happen in the next day...