A sunday without Halloween.

31/10 2010

I received a postcard this morning, and it is nice to know that Denmark or India is only a postcard way. Caroline came by today and we made some Calculus together. Afterwards I took a run in the sunshine, which was fantastic. I have spent all the day at home, and it has been very relaxing. Today it is Halloween over here, and I am glad that it is over tomorrow. I am even happier that we don’t celebrate Halloween in DK. Today is the 10/31 and we have less than a month back over here. I begin to miss Denmark, but I enjoy every second over here. 

An amazing day!

30/10 2010

In the morning Gorm and his Chinese friend, Peter, Signe and I went to the University district. We walked around and did some shopping in the rain. At 1 AM we met with about 20 other Danish students at the Lake Union. We took a two hour long Lake Cruise and it was very comfortable and relaxing. 


We experienced Seattle from another side, and we got a lot of good pictures.

After the Lake Cruise we took a walk in downtown before we went to Hard Rock Café. It was fantastic to sit 16 students at the café together. We all had a good dinner, but as we were afraid of, we could not use our Visa Electron cards to pay. It was a big problem because almost all of us had a Visa Electron card. We solved the problem - but it took some time.    

Our last item of the programme of the day was a Michael Jackson Lasershow at the Pacific Science Center. We run all the way from Hard Rock Café to the Pacific Science Center, but we made it. We were placed in a big round hall where we laid down at the floor. Before the show started all the light was turned off, and it was totally dark. Afterwards the music started and it was just amazing. We all lay down at floor watching the light show in the ceiling. I couldn’t stop smiling! Before we entered the bus i got a picture of the Space Needle - it was just an amazing evening!

Halloween Party

29/10 2010

Today is Friday which means Halloween party at the Campus. Janne, Emilie, Nicolai, Alexander, Emma and I met at Emma’s house before the big party. We had a lot of fun, especially because Nico and Alex should dress up as girls. I took more time than we expected to make Alexander look like a girl, so we missed our bus. That meant we had to wait about 30 minutes for the bus, it was very cold! When we arrived at the college we came in, but it was a short experience. A few minutes after we entered the party, the fire alarm started. It was a hideous sound, and within a few minutes we were all “evacuated”. Everybody knew that the smoke machine activated the alarm, but the fire engine came anyway. On the picture you see Superman getting ready to save all of us. It took about 20 minutes before we were allowed to party again. The party was okay, and I think it was fun to experience a party without alcohol – no drunken people. 

Burke Museum

28/10 2010

As planned we went to Burke Museum of natural History and Culture today. I respect those who thought it was interesting, but I found it very boring. It was okay to see the big false dinosaur skeletons, but fossils do not interest me at all! The fact that we had to answer a lot of biology questions as well did not make it better, but anyway I am just not the type of person who likes historical museums. 

I got a costume!

27/10 2010

Today Janne, Signe and I went to the Mall to buy a Halloween costume. At first I tried to different dresses, and we thought out that I could be either an old fashioned schoolgirl or a secretary. I liked the dresses, but I knew that I would never use them again, so I decided to proceed. I ended up in a Love Culture, which is an ordinary clothes shop. In that store I found a nice black dress, and I thought Maja, now you can kill two birds with one stone, while I needed a dress for Thanksgiving as well. So I bought that dress and a traditional dull mask – I am ready so for Halloween now!

Halloween costumes

26/10 2010

Tuesday – noch ein mal! Halloween is a big festival over here and there is a Halloween-party at the campus on Friday. That was why Mette, Emilie and I decided to go to a Halloween store today to get a costume. In the store I realized that I’m so happy that we don’t celebrate Halloween at home. All these costumes, masks and wigs are a kind of funny, but they are pretty expensive and I don’t want to pay 50 bucks for a costume I only wear once. It is ridiculous! I did not buy a costume today, but I have to do something – maybe I’ll just dress up as a soccer player – I already have clothes for that :)  

Potatoes

25/10 2010

I know I only write about food, but seriously no one can survive without food, and otherwise I like food! When Krystle pronounced the word “Potatoes” tonight I automatically started smiling. When I saw the “potatoes” in the pot I thought it was like the Danish “flødekartofler”, but I was wrong.  When I tasted it I found out that it was “cheese potatoes”. I became a little disappointed and sad, but still it was nice to taste potatoes again.  

Pumpkins

24/10 2010

Today I went to a pumpkin farm with Aiami, Krystle, Krystle’s boyfriend’s kids, Krystle’s sister and her friend. When we arrived at the farm we decided to take the “Corn Tour” with the hope of no raining. When we stood in the middle of the corn field the rain started pouring down monotonously. It was wet, but we had fun. After the “Corn Tour” we went to the Pumpkin field to find some pumpkins we could carve. We found that the pumpkins was too big and it was raining too much, so we decided to go to Fred Meyer to get some pumpkins. In the first Fred Meyer the pumpkins were still too big, so we went back to the cars and drove further to the next Fred Meyer. Krystle’s sister was ready to buy the pumpkins they had, but Krystle was not satisfied. There for we drove to the third Fred Meyer. At that store the pumpkins were prefect, and I was glad that we could drive come. Today I learned that pumpkins can be too big – even for Americans.  

Shopping and philippine food

23/10 2010

Janne, Gorm, Signe and I went to a huge outlet center to go shopping today. Signe and I woke up early to bake a cake before we left to the Outlet, and the cake made the waiting time for the bus very comfortable. When we arrived at the Outlet I realized that I had been there before with my family. After about half an hour we passed by a bench, and I remembered that my dad had been sitting there for two hours while his family had been shopping. (It is that bench you see at the picture – do you remember it dad?) We spent five hours at the outlet area and I bought five t-shirts to the value of less than 25$. Afterwards I realized that I have done too much shopping over here – I need a shopping break!

After a long day with baking, shopping and transportation I went home very exhausted. But when Krystle asked me if I would join her at her cousin’s child’s birthday party, I said yes. It was nice to meet her big Filipino family and taste some philippine food – it is different but fine.  

Hoe Down

22/10 2010

Tonight 26 of us went to a Hoe Down in a Baptist church. It was very funny and interesting to experience that part of the the US culture. After eating some traditional American food (coleslaw, chicken, beans, cornbread and apple-pie) we should dance - square dance. Dancing is absolutely not my favorite occupation, but I had fun even though. I think my cowboy hat and Kokulans confusion on the dance floor made the evening entertainingly. After the Hoe Down Signe went home with me. 

BIG BOEING!

21/10 2010
Today we took the ”Boing Tour”, which is a guided tour at the Boeing factory. It was very interesting and a little overwhelming to see the big airplanes and the bigger buildings. More than 29.000 people work at the factory, and like Emma said – “woaw, they must have some big company partys!” Everything was just enormous, and their production hall is bigger than Disney World – that’s amazing! We were not allowed to bring any electronic equipment, so I have no pictures, but I’ll not forget the experience anyway. 

The ability to learn

20/10 2010

Someone says that food has a big influence on the ability to learn, and they are absolutely right!!! Over here no one is able to preserve the concentration after 2 o’clock. That is absolutely not good, but the disastrous is that our “real” lessons start at 12.40. I think this lack of concentration is due to the different (and worse) food and especially the inactivity. We don’t do anything over here except eating, sitting in busses and working on our laptops. Maybe I’m right, maybe I’m wrong – but hopefully it will be better back home in Denmark!

French dip burger

19/10 2010

Normally we eat healthy at home, and I really like the food, but dinner tonight was an exception. Krystle served some “burgers”. It was white bread with a little piece of roast beef and a lot of cheese. The burgers were not very appetizing, but it was worse than that. Beside the burgers we had each our “soup” and we should dip our burgers into the soup before we ate them. That was just too much fat for me, and I decided not to dip my second burger into the soup.

My Monday

18/10 2010

I went to school in the morning as usually, and my day at school was as normal as it could be. After school I went to Old Navy and Best Buy with Emma and Janne – it was very relaxing and cozy. I live close to Best Buy, so I did not need to take the bus back home, but I followed Emma and Janne to the busstop. When the bus came nearer Emma and Janne were ready to get on, but the bus did not stop, WHY? We decided to do what most Americans would have done – we went to McDonalds until the next bus came.  

Church

17/10 2010

This morning I talked to my parents. It was nice to talk to them, but I realized that I want a fall-break too.

Anyway, I know I shall not complain.

Today Caroline and I went to church. It is a small church, which is located not far from our homes. During the church service we found out that a Lutheran church over here is not very different from a Lutheran church at home. Yet became I very surprised, when we came to the communion. The communion was only for the members of the church, which I found very mystic. The church says it is open to everyone, but still the communion is only for the members – isn’t that a little conflicting?

After the service there was Tex Mex lunch for the churchgoers. We decided to go, while we saw the lunch as a good possibility to talk to some American people. While we were eating we realized, that they had their own church community. They had their own school, and it seemed like every one knew each other.

We ate a lot of Mexican food – and there was desert too. It was very good, and Caroline and I have decided that we will go their another Sunday too – and then we will bring a special Danish dessert.

Snoqualmie Falls

16/10 2010

Signe and I met at the transitcenter at 9.15 AM – we wanted to see the Snoqualmie Falls today. We took the bus to Seattle, where we took a quick look at China Town before we took the bus towards the mountains. The bus trip was not just a waste of time. We drove through beautiful nature, long tunnels (which my sister loves) and we crossed bridges. It took about two and a half hour to get to the Snoqualmie Falls, but we were absolutely not disappointed. The waterfall is just amazing! It’s huge, impressive and beautiful.

We had brought lunch to the fall, and we found a nice plays to eat. It was just beside a forest, and when while we were eating, a roe deer came by. It was apparently tame, and we took some good pictures of it.  

After eating lunch we took a walk in the forest, and I really enjoyed being up their - far away from everything.  Afterwards we took a last look at the beautiful fall, after which we took the bus back to Seattle.

It has been a fantastic and unforgettable day – and if you go to Seattle, you MUST see the Snoqualmie Falls!

My unlucky day!

15/10 2010

Today Signe and I decided to go to the mall after our last class. After a few hours we wanted to go to Best Buy, which was only about 0.5 mile away. We wanted to take the bus, and we took the first and best bus. But after a few meters the bus turned right, and we realized that it was the WRONG WAY! There for we came to the transit center, where we had to take another bus back to Best Buy. So we’ll probably just walk from the mall to Best Buy next time. Sorry Signe, it was my fault!

In Best Buy I wanted to buy an external hard drive, but when I tried to pay my card was refused. I tried several times, but it did not help. It is not my day!

When I came back home at about 7 o’clock, there was no one home. It surprised me, and at eight o’clock I decided to make some Noodles on my own. Fie Fie came home at 9.30, and she saved my day. She had bought me a teddy bear and it is very cute – THANK YOU :) 

“Old Fashioned Quaker Oats” and cheap stamps

14/10 2010

I begin to miss Denmark a little: My family, my friends, the countryside, the school system, and especially the Danish food (my mum’s food particularly). There for I became very pleased when I found a box with “Old Fashioned Quaker Oats” in a big food mart today. I bought it and now I look forward to my breakfast tomorrow. I hope that I can find some sugar in the kitchen, but I haven’t found it yet.

Anyway, I was on the post office today to buy some stamps to Denmark. They cost 98 cent over here. It’s about 5,5 DKK which is the same as it cost to send a letter from Vildbjerg to Herning at home!!!
You can say that it is cheap over here, but I will rather say that it is extremely expensive at home.         

Why are the Americans generally bigger than Danish people?

13/10 2010

I have written an article with the theme:
Why are the Americans generally bigger than Danish people?
You can find the article on AOH.dk – but it is right here too. 

Årsagen til amerikanernes overvægt

 Der er utrolig mange, der løber i USA, og man spiser skam også grøntsager og salat i De Forenede Stater, så hvorfor er amerikanere gennemsnitligt større end danskere?

 Efter mindre end en uge i USA, havde jeg løst mysteriet.

Kogte gulerødder badet i smør

 Et par dage efter ankomsten fik jeg serveret kogte gulerødder. Synet af gulerødderne gjorde mig glad, da salat og grøntsager ikke er hverdagskost herovre.

 Jeg tog den første gulerod på gaflen med et smil på læben, men smilet forvandlede sig hurtigt til et mindre positivt udtryk, da jeg indså, at gulerødderne svømmede i smør.

  

Salat med masser af dressing

 Aftenen efter stod der en blandet grøn salat på bordet. Endnu engang blev jeg jublende glad, og denne gang forsvandt smilet ikke. Salaten smagte nøjagtig ligeså godt, som den så ud.

 Men så kiggede jeg over på den anden side af bordet, hvor min værtsmor sad. Jeg betragtede hendes tallerken og så, at hun havde mere dressing end salat på tallerken.

 En stående løbetur

 Et par dage senere besluttede jeg mig så for at løbe en tur, da ekspertens anbefaling om en times motion hver dag, ikke altid bliver opfyldt.        

 Jeg smuttede ud af døren og løb ned ad gaden. Men lige idet jeg følte, at jeg havde fundet det rigtige tempo, stod jeg foran et lyskryds.

 Jeg forsøgte at holde pulsen oppe ved at jokke på stedet. Men da der endnu ikke var blevet grønt efter et par minutter, indså jeg, at min puls var nærmere hvilepuls end maxpuls.

 Mysteriet er løst

 Når amerikanere har spist noget sundt, føler de tilsyneladende, at det er forkert, og derfor vælger de at spise noget usundt.

 Når de så indser, at de lever usundt, bestemmer de sig for at løbe i 20 minutter. Men otte ud af de tyve minutter går med at vente på grønt lys, og derfor hjælper dette ikke meget på konditionen.

 Derfor er amerikanere gennemsnitligt større end danskere.

Serious Soccer

12/10 2010

Today we were some guys who went to a soccer practice. Jesse, who works at the ISS office, had told us that he played with some guys and we could join them. We decided to do that, and even though we got lost on our way, we arrived at the baseball fields, where we should play soccer. We wondered where the goals were, but then we realized that they used garbage cans as goal posts. It was not a very serious practice, but we all had fun and it was fantastic to touch a soccer ball again. The sad thing is that I miss soccer even more now. 

Maja's Monday

11/10 2010
Today I went to school as usual, and it has been a Monday like most Mondays are. I had dinner with Fie Fie, and at the dinner table I realized, that everything thing would be easier, if we just all talked the same language. I wanted to tell her about a waterfall. But it is not easy to explain what a waterfall is, when she neither knows the Niagara Falls or the Snoqualmie Falls. Anyway, I think she knows what a waterfall is now. 

Relaxed Sunday

10/10 2010

I am wondering: are a lot of people getting married in DK today?
Anyway, I slept till 10.30 today which was lovely! We had all breakfast together at 12 o’clock, but in my opinion there was too much bacon. After breakfast I went over to Caroline’s house to make calculus. Afterwards I took a walk, and we had dinner already at five o’clock. So today I have only had breakfast and dinner, but have not been hungry at any time. After dinner we all (Krystle, Fie Fie, Aiami and me) decided to watch a movie. We watched “Step Up 2”, and it was very cosy. 

Weekend in Seattle

09/10 2010

Today we were a group of Danish people in downtown Seattle. It takes only about half an hour with the bus from Lynnwood to downtown, and we took the bus at about 9.30 AM. In Seattle we were shopping and we tried to form a general view if downtown, but it was not easy. We had lunch at a brilliant Mexican restaurant, and we were all satiated after eating. After using too many money on shopping we took the bus back to Lynnwood. At home on 24^th Avenue I realized that I had the house by myself. I decided anyway to take a run. It was delightfully to do something active, but it was a little frustrating to wait in the traffic lights. 

Fabulous Friday

08/10 2010

Who says school is easier over here? Today I was home at 6.30 PM, and its Friday. Actually it was not that bad, but I would rather have been at the rave party at the gymnasium at home. I know it’s an indifferent topic, but nothing interesting has happened today. In fact we were the only class on the whole campus today. 

Shopping

07/10 2010

Our last class was finish already at 1.30 today; therefore we made a class trip to Alderwood Mall, which is a huge shopping center. I have never before used so many money on shopping. I got a lot of clothes and seriously, everything is cheaper over here! Todays best buy was the fantastic Nike Free shoes. They are just amazing, and now I don’t understand that I could live without them at home. 

A new home

06/10 2010

Today I met my new host family. It does not consist of two sisters as I thought, the youngest sister has moved. The woman, I live with, is young a very nice. She has a boyfriend, but he works in the air force and is in Iraq for the moment. The house is new and neat, and we are three international students in the house. Fifi is from China, she has lived here for more than a year and is very kind. The other one is from Japan, she has lived here for less than a month and she is not good at English. I like to be here, and it feels nice to breathe normally again. I feel relieved that everything has worked out; my only problem right now is that I can’t sleep in the morning. I wake up at about 5.30 each morning, maybe because of the time difference? 

Downtown Seattle

05/10 2010

Today we went to downtown to visit the Space Needle and the Pike Place Market. It was nice to see Seattle at a height of 158,5 meters, and dad you’re right, it is pretty cool! In the Pike Place Market we saw souvenir stalls and fish stalls. Actually we saw people throwing fishes around. I tasted Starbucks for the first time today too. Unlike almost everybody else I just took a black coffee, it was really good, but big.

Moreover I got a new family today. I really liked my old host mum, but she had longhaired carpets all over her house, and I had big troubles with my asthma. My new host family consists of two young sisters which is great. 

A big campus

 04/10 2010

Today was our first day at college, and we had orientation all the day. Even though we got a guided tour on the campus, I still feel lost all the time. One of our teachers said “Oh, this is a very small campus, I think only 13.000 students go to school here.” I was shocked! We met our teachers today. It was nice to see them, but our chemistry teacher made me a little nervous because he had a very strange accent. I hope that I will understand him, but he is a little unintelligible. Today our classes were finish at 4.30 and I have realized that we should be glad to be finish and 3.15 at home in DK.

I thought I was in the US?

03/10 2010 

Today Marlene, Sara, her host mum and I went to Ballard and Fremond, which are two suburbs to Seattle. During the day we learn that there is a lot of Danish stuff over here. On our way to Ballard we visited a Scandinavian bakery, and it was wonderful to taste a “Napoleonshat”. A little later we saw a bank called “The Viking Bank” and we saw a Danish flag in front of it. We were on a marked in Ballard, and at the marked a woman advertised with Danish Ebelskiver. The funny thing is that they don’t use sugar for Ebelskiver over here; they use bacon, that’s a kind of gross. Last but not least, on our way back to Lynnwood we saw a store which advertised with Danish cheese. 

My first day over here

02/10 2010 

I woke up in the morning at 7 o’clock, my internal clock knew seemingly that it was afternoon at home. I chose yoghurt for breakfast, just because I knew it. During breakfast I had a serious talk with Lillian and I found out that people is also getting divorced in the US. Two marriages, two adopted sons, a lot of grandchildren and some great-grandchildren are what she has . Furthermore she has a new boyfriend and a lot of friends. I think that even though she is retired she has a lot of stuff to do – just like all retired persons.

After breakfast I took a walk in the neighborhood and luckily I did not get lost. After experiencing that all streets look like each other I asked Lillian if we should have something to eat. She made me a sandwich with more turkey than bread, but it tasted fine.

 I the afternoon Sara, who lives only one house away from me, and I went to the mall. It was infinitely great and after three hours shopping we had seen a fraction of the shopping area. But we got what we needed and much more than that.

Home at 67^th Avenue Lillian and I went to a “Ultimative Garage Sale”. It did not surprise me, but American garage sales are exactly like Danish garage sales.

A day with serious talks, good meals, a walk, shopping and a garage sale has ended. Wondering what tomorrow will bring I’ll stop writing, but more reports will come later.  

Arriving in Seattle

01/10 2010
We arrived in SeaTac – the international airport between Seattle and Tacoma - in the evening. I had been in SeaTac once before, but it did not make it uninteresting. In the airport came 3 persons from Edmonds Community College to welcome us. A bus took us from the airport through Seattle and up to the college, where all the hostfamilies were waiting. We were assembled, and the first meeting with my hostmum, Lillian, was a little awkward. She and I drove home and I realized that it would not be that easy to find the school again even though it’s only a few miles away. The car stoped in front of a big and well-maintained house. Lillian took me over the house, and I was absolutely not disappointed. It’s big, nice and comfortable. The long travel across the ocean had made me tired; therefore I unpacked all my stuff and went to bed early. I had no problems with falling asleep, so nothing has changed on this point.