Junior Youth

As I adjust to life here I've been getting acquainted with the local Baha'i community which is much larger than what I'm used to. One of my great joys over the last month or so has been helping to establish a Baha'i junior youth group. The participants are all about 11 years old and are full of energy and enthusiasm. Together we have started studying a book called Glimmerings of Hope as well as playing games, learning new prayers and planning a service project. The project they have chosen is to organize a food drive for the local food bank but they are all full of ideas for other service as well so I'm sure we will have much more on the go in the near future.

The Books

Just before Halloween I walked into a second hand store called Rescued Treasures which had a sign in the window saying "Going Out of Business." My friends are in the middle of starting their own business so I decided to ask if they would be willing to sell some of their shelves. It turned out that they were but most of the shelves they were willing to sell were in their book section. The deal I ended up making involved me ending up with all the books that were left over at the end. I am now up to my eyeballs in books!

Kitchener Market

Entrance to the Kitchener Market

A local farmer selling produce.

One of the things I'm enjoying most about my new location is being walking distance from the local farmer's market. Of course this is not the first time I've lived near a market but this one is much bigger than I'm used to with more variety. In addition to the expected selection of fresh produce they also have an amazing selection of meats, cheeses and baked goods. It's also an indoor market so as the weather cools down we can keep shopping without freezing.

The New House

Here's a picture of my new home.

A Quick Trip Home

I've just had a short trip back home to visit my family and was slightly surprised to notice the difference in weather. Kitchener is a bit south and further inland from home making it a few degrees warmer. Even though I knew this was the case I didn't really notice the difference until I went home and saw how much of the leaves have fallen from the trees. Here we are still covered in brilliant yellows, oranges and reds. Back home things are starting to look bare. Does this mean I won't be as cold this winter?

But of course the leaves were not the reason for the trip. It was good to see everyone again and I have to say that it is nice not being on the other side of the world this time. As much as I love traveling it is nice to be able to visit home when you want to.

Oktoberfest Begins

When I left my house this morning I found the city getting warmed up for Oktoberfest. There have been signs of it for a few days - tents being set up, streets being blocked off - but today things really get started. I live right downtown so the festivities start only a block away.

As a child I watched the Oktoberfest parade on TV for Thanksgiving and up till now that's about all I've known of the festival. Now that I'm here in person though I'm discovering there's much more to it. Beer and sausage are reported to be major components. A good chunk of King St. downtown has been closed off and a midway is being set up. Another chunk of King St. is closed further up the road in Waterloo as well. When I went to the market this morning I noticed signs for various activities being held today including a kiddie keg tap. I guess the get 'em started young here.

City vs. Country

So my new city is Kitchener and I've been here a month now. I've lived in cities before but this is reminding me once again of some of the differences there are between living rurally or living in a town. I don't think people realize what a change it makes to have everything so close together. For people in the country they just get used to having to drive everywhere and the extra time and money are automatically factored in. For people who have only lived in the city they often don't realize just how much they have.

It's interesting to note how stereotypes about each place have developed and how misguided they often are. For example, there is a notion that people in cities don't have a sense of community, that there are too many people to get to know and that people in the country and small towns are like one big family. But when you live in the country you don't see your neighbours. I don't mean you don't take the time to be buddies with them, I mean you physically don't see them. There's often at least an acre of land between your houses and since you need to drive to get anywhere you tend to go from your house to your car to wherever you're going in town without even a quick wave to say hi.

Here, on the other hand, there are people milling about the neighbourhood and I could have three of them will say hello, ask me how I'm doing or comment on the weather before I get anywhere near my car.

Another thing is stress. Many people tend to think that urban dwellers are bogged down by stress and that the country is the place to get away from it all. I say that's just silly. In the country not only do you have all the responsibilities and bills to pay that you would elsewhere but if your car breaks down you're screwed. Here if that happens I can take the bus. I also don't spend half my life trying to get to other places. That means I have more hours in my day.

And forget the idea of rural people being fit from physical work. I am giving up my gym membership because I'm so much more active here.

Back By Poppular Demand

It has been requested that I start this up again. I was originally blogging to keep in touch with friends and family while on my year of service in Denmark and since then there hasn't really seemed like much of a point. I was home. People knew where I was and what I was doing. I didn't feel like my ego was big enough to keep broadcasting my life while doing what I normally do. However I have recently moved and, while I am still in Ontario, it is far enough away that the suggestion has been made to revive the blog.

So for me it will feel somewhat like going about my normal life but this is a different part of the province and there are new things to discover. I'll do my best to share what I can and keep people back home up to speed.

Danish Christmas Traditions

A group of us were sitting around last night and had an interesting conversation about Danish Christmas traditions. Here are a few of things that were mentioned.

-The big day for celebrating is Christmas eve.
-Christmas day is mostly for visiting and playing with presents.
-Boxing day is known as second Christmas day and the 23rd is sometimes reffered to as little Christmas.
-One person remembered that one Christmas eve morning his mother would serve hot chocolate and æblesivers (little apple dounuts that look like Timbits) for breaakfast. Most of the others thought that much sugar for breakfast sounded terrible but the man pointed out that it was no worse than North Americans eating pancakes for breakfast.
-Turkey is not big thing here. It tends to be a certain kind of roasted pork or, if you want to get very traditional, goose.
-Desert, aside from æbleskivers, is traditionally rice pudding with an almond in it. Whoever finds the almond, gets a prize.
-Presents are opened on Christmas eve.
-Candles are lit on the Christmas tree. Yes, with real fire. My Danish family in Canada do this too.
-Santa Clause is called Julemand. I asked what he does over here and was told he delivers the gifts in person on Christmas eve. I guess there's no need for milk and cookies then.
-Apparently many people here feel that believing in Julemand is healthy for children. Teaching them about God, however, is indoctrinating them with superstition.

I just booked my ticket out of here. It feels kind of weird to think that I've been here almost a year and it feels just as weird to think I'll be leaving so soon. But I won't be going straight home to Canada. The month of February is going to be spent in Ireland doing a bit of extra Baha'i service and seeing the family again. In the mean time there are still about six weeks left to go in Denmark, including the Christmas holiday. The weather has stayed pretty warm here and we still don't have snow yet but there's been pleanty of rain and almost no sunlight. I've been told that I've been very lucky when it comes to the weather, that's it's usually much worse, but that doesn't really help.

God Jul

Even with everybody over here trying to abandon religion Christmas is still a big deal and now that winter is here I can see why. It's dark. The days are getting very, very short and the few hours of daylight we get are usually full of thick, grey clouds. It's not that cold though so we aren't getting snow and that makes it even worse. At least when there's snow it reflects the light. We are very much in need of a cheerful hoilday at this point so people cling with all their might to those strings of Christmas lights.

There are a few differences I've noticed. One is that the decorations tend to be more old-fashioned. Lots of evergreen branches and candles. The lights are mostly white, not the mulit-coloured ones we put up. I think there are also a lot of people who tend to feel they need a little extra something to get them through the dark time because there's a special juleøl ...Christmas beer with double the alcohol.

God Jul

Even with everybody over here trying to abandon religion Christmas is still a big deal and now that winter is here I can see why. It's dark. The days are getting very, very short and the few hours of daylight we get are usually full of thick, grey clouds. It's not that cold though so we aren't getting snow and that makes it even worse. At least when there's snow it reflects the light. We are very much in need of a cheerful hoilday at this point so people cling with all their might to those strings of Christmas lights.

There are a few differences I've noticed. One is that the decorations tend to be more old-fashioned. Lots of evergreen branches and candles. The lights are mostly white, not the mulit-coloured ones we put up. I think there are also a lot of people who tend to feel they need a little extra something to get them through the dark time because there's a special juleøl ...Christmas beer with double the alcohol.

Halloween

Halloween is a fairly new holiday in this part of the world and seems to only be celebrated due to North American influence. I was out that night and saw no sign of trick or treaters anywhere. When I tried to tell friends about Halloween costumes from my past I was met with blank stares. The only way I know it was even celebrated at all is that an old woman was telling me that she had a group of kids come to her door looking for candy. She didn't have any candy so the kids told her money would do just fine. I personally don't remember getting money for Halloween so we're wondering if some details were lost in translation.

The really big dress-up holiday over here is Festelavn in February when it used to be tradition to beat up cats.

Larissa's European Adventures

Since I've been away for 4 weeks out of the past 5 a breif review is probably in order.

Last Two Weeks of September

• Went to Northern Ireland via Dublin. The round trip flight plus a train ticket to Belfast cost me about 200 Canadian dollars.
• Sights seen included Giant's Causeway, Ards Peninsula, Anitrim Coast and Mourne Mountains.
• Spent time getting to know many relatives, many of whom I'd never met before.
• Saw the old family home.
• Learned a lot about Irish culture. They are very lively and outgoing over there and that was a bit of a shock after being in reserved Denmark for so long. It also turns out that they are very romantic people who like to flirt.
• The flight back was full of football fans flying over for the big match metween Ulster and Copenhagen. The city was taken over by drunken Irish men for the following few days. It was a nice change from the usual drunken Danes and I felt like my holiday was extended a few days.

One Week Back

After Ireland I was back in Copenhagen for one week during which time I had a three day workshop to attend as well as my usual study groups, meetings and social activities.

Junior Youth Training

The next week I was away in a town called Vinkel outside of Viborg. We had a guest trainer coming from Austria to teach us about a new program for starting junior youth groups. The whole thing was amazing and I can't wait to actually get a group going.

Italy

• Last week I was in Italy with my roommate.
• Sights seen included the Vatican, Colesseum, Pompei and the island of Ischia.
• Got lost as soon as I got there, bank cards didn't work and trains were never on time.
• Never go to that country if you're on a gluten-free diet.
• I prefer the Irish men.

Off to Ireland

It's amazing how much you notice the difference in sunlight here as the seasons change. I was getting used to still having light at 10pm but now the days are several hours shorter and it gets dark before 9. In a couple of months I might start to have regrets about deciding to stay here till January but hey, that's life. At least we are having fairly good luck with the weather and not getting too much rain.

Ireland, on the other hand, has been having some nasty weather lately and it has me a little bit worried because I'm supposed to go there in a few days. At least my main reason for going is to visit family not sight-see but a little sun would be nice.

I should be there for the rest of the month. Thought I'd give myself a break from these crazy Danish people who, by the way, are trying to talk me into living here permanently. I've tried to tell them that my visa expires at the end of January and that staying longer would be less than legal but the line I keep getting is, "Well, if that wasn't an issue, what would it take to make you stay?"

I'm think that I should make a list of demands and hold myself hostage. What all could I possibly want? A nice house. A car. A good job and/or money. Maybe a nice young man. Since this is Denmark I should probably ask for a good bicycle and a lifetime suply of Lego.

Now, of course, anyone who is thinking straight would take a look at that list, say "I thought you came here for religious reasons" and send me home in January but you never know.

Blessed Is The Spot In Danish

Velsignet er den plet, og det hus,
or det sted, og den by,
og det hjerte, og det bjerg, og det ly,
og den hule, og den dal, og det land,
og det hav, og den ø, og den eng,
hvor Guds navn bliver nævnt
of Hans pris sunget.

-Baha'u'llah

Summer Travels

Well, I'm a little cheesed since the pictures I wanted to post on here from my travels this summer won't cooperate. I've tried several times but they just won't load. Some were from the island of Mandø, off the west coast of Jutland. It's an interesting little place with about 54 permanent residents. (Or was that 53? One died this summer.) If you don't have your own boat there are two ways of getting out there: the first is to take "the bus" which is like a big wagon that gets pulled through the shallow water by a giant tractor and the second is to wait for low tide when the water goes down far enough to reveal a road. We took option number two and drove for six kilometers on soggy gravel, trying to avoid potholes filled with salty sea water.

The other pictures were from other places in Jutland but mostly around the city of Vejle. I spent about tree weeks of July in different places around Denmark including Baha'i summer school up in the north and a performance with the dance group at Kronborg castle where Shakespeare set Hamlet. That was an experience I never thought I'd have!

For now I'm back home in Lyngby (north of Copenhagen) but trying to make plans to get around some more over the next few months. Besides Denmark I would like to get over to Sweden at some point and I am very determind to make it down to Germany. Ireland is also a must!

Stay tuned.

The Beach

Well, we've all heard talk of European beaches but I don't think it every really sinks in until you see it for yourself. We are in the middle of a heat wave at the moment so I thought a quick dip in the sea might not be a bad idea. The last time I was at the beach it was before the summer holiday started, not as hot and not as crowded. When I got down there this time the place was packed and as I was trying to find a place to mark as my territory I was caught off guard by what I was seeing. There was a moment when I asked myself why all these skinny men had grown breast before I remembered that this is Scandinavia and what I was looking at were women. Topless women.

There were others there who were more modest, but that only means that they were wearing the other half of their bikinis and those of us with one-piece swimsuits were obviously in the minority. I think the strangest part of it was how normal it felt. Because everybody was mostly naked nobody paid any attention ...except me, that is.

So here's another experience to add to my life. Sorry guys, no pictures.

Lates News

I've been quite busy lately with lot's of interesting things. We had another holiday on June 23 called Sankt Hansdag (Sankt Hans being the Danish name for Saint John the Baptist.) At least this holiday didn't require everything shutting down. It was a celebration of Midsummer, a bit on the pagan side and had very little to do with John the Baptist. In the evening people go outside and light huge bonfires that have a doll sitting on top that's made to look like a whitch. In the old days that used to be a real person sitting up there. These bonfires are big community events a bit like we have for Canada day, with the early evening being fun for families with kids and then beer, beer and more beer. I was over on Jylland that day in a city called Vejle which is right on a fjord so we could look across the water and see all the other fires burning along the shore. The thing that really has me in awe, not just that day but all summer, is the amount of daylight there is. I didn't get there till almost 10pm and it wasn't anywhere near dark. Even last night I was walking home at 11:30 and there was still a sliver orange in the sky.

The dance group was in Vejle that weekend and the next day was spent doing a lot of consultation. Many of the members are getting older and over the past year it has been hard to get people to stay committed. We have also been very aware that the Danish Baha'i youth in general are growing and we really wanted to take a look at where things are going in the future. After a long time the dancers decided that this would be the last year and that after the summer holiday -and one last performance- the dance group will end.

Now, everyone back home knows that this was my original reason for coming to Denmark but I am actually quite happy to see the way things are turning out. It is refreshing to see the mature way these youth are handling a difficult decission making process instead of just letting things drag on and peter out. I will still stay here to finish my year of service but my energy will be spent on helping to set up other youth activities. The Danish community is in the middle of many changes right now and it is a very exciting time to be here.