Since my last blog I have gotten much more comfortable at the school and I actually know where most of my classes are now! This would not be such a big accomplishment at Athenian because there are only 6 classes. Here at Herluf I have 11 different classes, which are Standard Math, Chemistry, History, Social Studies, English, Visual Arts, Beginner Spanish, Hard Spanish, Beginner Danish, Mentoring (basically a period long of advisory) and PE. Not only is it different having this many classes and not only is each class in a different room, but each lesson of each class is in a different room. One day I could have Math in a history classroom and the next day I could have Math in a Spanish classroom. Besides adapting to this unique system and the freezing cold weather, I’m having a great time and I have made a lot of new friends.
Last weekend was a long weekend so Peter’s dad took Peter and I into this little town inside Copenhagen called Christiania. I’m not quite sure how to explain it, but it is a very socialist, relaxed, somewhat “hippy” environment where about 900 people live. There is a beautiful lake in the middle of it and dogs are running around everywhere. If you ask a Dane where to go while you are in Denmark, the top place he will say is Christiania because it is so unique. They do not allow people to take pictures inside Christiania because there is so much tourism that the locals get annoyed. If you pull out a camera, expect a local to come up and start swearing at you in Danish.
Besides visiting different places on the weekends there are a lot of school-related activities and events. There was the ball two Saturdays ago that I wrote about in my last post. Last Thursday there was a rock concert at the school and, yes, this was on a school night. Tomorrow night is an event called “Herluf on the Rocks” which is another type of concert. It will be outside with a lot of different students performing, which sounds cool–but I might freeze. It’s been around 10 degrees Celsius every day which is around 40 Fahrenheit. This is MUCH different compared to Danville. I’m really happy I brought warm clothes. There is a very strict uniform rule if you are a Herluvian, but I am an exchange student so I can wear whatever I want. I have worn the uniform a few times just to fit in a little better and not get as many weird looks, but now I just wear my casual clothes because it’s much more comfortable.
The Athenian School Exchange Blog 