Sorry for keeping you guys waiting for so long on the new post! It has just been crazy around here. Well to bring you up to date ill start off with last weekend.

It was the beginning of Friday when i was informed that one of the many people i met at wonder festiwall was having a Birthday Party and i was invited to attend. I was so excited that i had final began to make friends and get invited to go places! I accepted the invitation and asked my host family if i could go. Of course they said "yes" and said that i didn't have a curfew but to knock on their door so they knew i was home. I left for the party at 9 and yes i had to ride my bicycle in the cold. Yet on the upside, i no have that girly neon yellow bicycle with the basket! Once i got to the party everyone was so happy that i came. It's funny because they seem to have a hard time saying my name so allot of times I'm just called "The American!" Being at her house for the first time, she showed me around and i met her parents. They were very nice and the house was neat because the front of it was a dress store! Her mom apparently make wedding dresses and formal dresses for some VIPs(VERY IMPORTANT PEOPLES). One of these important people was the queen of Denmark. There were pics of her and the queen wearing her dress she made. Once the grand tour was over the party began upstairs and i met some new people and we listen to some new music. But of course when it was my turn to choose a song, i choose some American songs and they didn't know any of them! Later toward the evening they wanted to go for a walk around downtown which i thought would be fun. WRONG! When we got outside it was 7 degrees Celsius which is like 21 degrees Fahrenheit. So i declined and rode back home on my bike...freezing! The funny thing is, at midnight in bronholm the street lights go out to save energy. So i had to have a light on my bike (its a law), well the light i had wasn't very powerful so i was squinting the whole way home. Not noticing a bike barrier we have to go around carefully, i sort of ran straight into it! hahaha my back wheel came flying up and i almost did a face plant. Haha luckily it was night & dark so no one saw me!

The next day was a pretty relaxing day we hung out around the house and i helped my host family clean. That evening though i thought i would go and hang out with one of my friends from the party the other night. We walked around and talked and had fun, but she was getting cold so she wanted to get a coat from her house. But bc her dad and mom don't live together, we had to go to her dads house to get it. When we arrived it looked like a normal house and nothing special. Until we walked through the garden/courtyard to the front yard. I didn't think much of it at first but as we were leaving she showed me something...it was a plant and they seemed to cover the entire garden. I looked more carefully and it was what i thought it was...WEED! Things got really uncomfortable, i was like great I'm at a house with someone i barley know and there is weed, what if the cops come swarming in and I'm standing here. They would go American your guilty, i would get deported. hahah i made up some excuse and said i had to leave bc i had a curfew. Once i left for home the first thing i did was delete that person from my contact list in my phone. I know people back home that do that stuff, which is bad. But to be involved with people who do it here in Denmark is another thing bc it is still illegal in Denmark too. NO THANK YOU!

This current weekend was the best! On Friday afternoon there was a party at the Gymnasium and our class made a volleyball team to compete at the tournament. They asked me to make the name, so bc we are the science line which is tons of smart ppl(lol don't ask me how i got in there) so i said we should be the "Geek Squad!" Everyone busted out laughing when they heard it and said OK. We did pretty well at the tournament, we made to the third round but then lost. That night we had a party at our house for everyone from last years trip in the spring. It was great, i got to see so many ppl who are at different schools that i haven't see. We hung out and talked and caught up. Then we went to downtown to club moonlight and all had a great time.
Saturday morning we were all tired, we cleaned up and took naps. That evening we went to dinner on the northern side of the island (Svanyke) at some place called Restaurant Parkhuset. It was so good, i had my first true Bornholmer meal. It was a steak cooked on a wooden block and then mashed potatoes covering it so you cant see it, then baked in the oven to make a crust over it all. It was soo good but i couldn't finish it all.

On the upside to everything, my danish is improving week by week and i can now say some thing and answer questions. I also start French in school too!(Mrs. Nurisso would be so glad I'm not forgetting everything) So i am becoming a very tri-lingual person (English, French and Danish)

Cant wait to see what next week will bring and the stories ill have to share!

Thanks for reading
Keep in touch!
Kyle Lyon (USA2DENMARK)

Part 3 Wonder Festiwall

In america, the first thing that you picture when you hear of a festival is cotton candy and funnel cakes! Yet in Denmark, when you say festiwall the first thing they think of is blasting music, øl (beer), and most of all castle ruins!? The beginning of the weekend brought many opportunities to me that i have never experienced. It all began when i was invited to Wonder Festiwall. I was a little hesitant of course because i was invited by some friends that i did not know well. Although my host family urged me to attend and get the experience. So i accepted the invite. Now a danish festiwall is not one day, it is all weekend. Plus you dont leave and come back, you sleep there over night for 2 nights! So i packed up my sovepose (sleepingbag) and my toothbrush and hiked out of the house for the beggining of my adventure. When Christian arrived to get me, i threw my bag in the back trunk and we left town, but as i sat in the back seat i realized how long we were driving. I thought to myself, "If for some reason i get lost out here, i have no clue on how to get home!" Once we pulled up i saw the ruins of Hamershus Castle. Apparently the festiwall took place in the fields infront of these ruins. It was too cool!

Camp was already set up once i arrived, so i lucked out and didnt have to put together one of those annoying tents with a thousand peices. With in short time the music began to play and the drunks began to walk! It was soo odd to see so many young people so wasted. (Mostly because the drinking age in Denmark is 16)Another thing that was quiet funny was the way Danish ppl dance. They tend to sway their arms and point at each other. (hahahaha) I think if they flapped them any faster they may have taken off like a bird! When night fell the camp was filled with echoes of techno music blasting from the DJ's tent and people laughing. I called it a night around 1am thinking i would fall asleep easily and see what tomorrow brought. And then the wind came, along with the cold! I woke up in the middle of the night to temp. about 9-10 degrees celcius ( almost 50 degrees fahrenheit)And the wind was blowing strong enough to blow over tents!

When the morning arrived along did the RAIN! It poured till about 1pm and although it was raining, the music still went on. Luckley my host family didnt think i brought enough warm clothes so they brought me my big heavy winter coat and some money. (I think i have the best host family ever!) That night became more comfortable with my friends and opened up a little...more like alot! We were dancing and singing and having a great time! Let me tell you though, i am not very big on dancing in front of people. I think everyone is staring at me! Well to top this off i was pulled up on the stage where the DJ was and had to dance in front of everyone! I started slow but then i realized people liked the way i was dancing because it was a little different than others. It felt so good and i had a blast! I pulled up my other friend from Venezuala (NINA) and we broke it down foreign style!!!

The weekend brought so much fun and great memories! Surprisingly the music was really good and the castle managed to still be standing by the end of it! I thought from all the amps & BOOMS, it would be in peices. I went home on sunday afternoon Wet again (because it began to rain again) cold and covered in mud. Sunday ended in a hot shower and long nap!

Thanks for reading!

Keep in touch!
Kyle Lyon (USA2DENMARK)

Part 2

Have you ever been to a horse race??? Last night i was introduced to the world of Danish horse racing. They ride on these funny looking carts behind the horses and not on a saddle. UMMM...?OKAY! Yet i did get to bet on a horse i picked. Going up to the stand i put 20kr. on my horse #3. It was on, my horse had to win and especialy beat Nicolai's horse #2. The race began and #2 was in the lead, yet on the last strech my horse pulled in 1st and i won! I thought i was going to get sooo much money. I only got 44kr so minus the 20kr i only made 22kr witch is about $5. HAHA! So i bet it on another horse (all of it)... and guess what! I lost it all! Owell! It was an experience though!

The next day arrived aka today! It was great i didnt have to go to school till 1015. Besides the usual day, i did get to meet some new ppl and they invited me to go to the beach with them, but i had to cook dinner tonight! It was my night! I met my host family at the grocery store(yes, on my neon yellow bicycle!and dont forget the basket!)where we shoped for the ingredients we needed for my dinner. I thought it would be nice to make an American dish, WRONG! They dont have anything here. I wanted to make chicken with it alian bread crumbs. In danish chicken is Kylling! The y is pronounced like an O. Either way they dont have bread crumbs so i used flour. Along with that i made mashed potatoes, but then the potatoes here are small compared to idahoe potatoes. So here i am in the kitchen peeling amillion potatoes to equal the normal amount you would use for mashed potatoes. The only thing normal was the veggie i made. Broccoli! The meal was delicious and the Nicolai said it reminded him of Bojangles from when he visited the States! To top off the meal, for dessert i introduced them to Jell-o!! Chocolate pudding flavor! It was a hit and they didnt leave one crumb. (most likley bc the dog cleaned off the plate once we put it in the dishwasher! ahahaaha)! The night was concluded with the new show southland and Rush Hour proceeding it!

Keep in Touch!
Kyle Lyon (USA2Denmark)

The Begining!

This is my fair warning for any teachers that may be reading this, that my grammar and my spelling may not be perfect! "COUGH COUGH," (Ms. Deal & Ms. Roberts)! Hopefully everyone will enjoy this and get a kick out of the adventures i am having here in Denmark!



Can you only imagine sitting at the airport awaiting to depart on the flight that will take you to another country for 1/2 a year. You think it would be exciting! Wrong! It is so NERVE RACKING! Having to think of budgeting money, making your connecting flight, meeting your new family and attending a school where you only know 15 ppl. Yet, once my flight did touch down on the island of Bornholm; located off the coast of Denmark, I learned that it all sort of disappeared. My frets and worries seemed to drift away and that feeling of excitement Finaly arrived. The first few days were mostly about settling in and getting comfortable with my host family. I have a whole room to myself and my own bicycle. That bike will now be my new best friend!! hahaha. There are no Range Rovers driving around this island. AND NO!, they don't drive on the other side of the road.

When the weekend arrived, the parents had to go to Copenhagen for a wedding so Nicolai (My HOST BROTHER) had the whole house to ourselves. We went to this big paintball festival for his work that day and got to play paintball all day. It was soo funny because i think everyone saw me as the target because I was the American!! Yet, they were pretty surprised when the American was the one getting them out! I managed to come out of those battles with only 3 bullet wounds. Which in paintball, it is marble size welts that turn black and blue for days. That night Nicolai decided to take me out for a welcome party. lets just say it began with a long bike ride, and ended with a long bike ride!!!HAHAHA

The weekend brought so much fun to my life, and really made me not think about home. Yet on Monday i had to begin School! Surprisingly evrthing went great but i cant understand a word their saying. It is all in Danish!! I got to see many old friends from the Spring, from Emma to Kion to Nanna! I was tested with my Danish by them trying to get me to say ROD GROD MIL FLODE! and no it is not as easy as it looks. The o's have lines through them but the English keyboard doesn't have them.

Finally today i was going for my second day at school and i can say that saying with practice from my host family! Let me say Everyone was pretty impressed. But to start my day you will not believe what happened. I went to hop on my best friend (aka my bicycle) AND THE TIRE IS FLAT!! It stunk so bad. The resolution to this problem was i had to take this neon yellow bike to school today! I swear everyone was looking at me bc 1st of all i look foreign and 2nd of all, imagine a pretty neon yellow bike with a basket on the front being rode with a guy like me on it!!! LOL I DON'T THINK SOOO!

Although this is all quiet exciting for my first few days i wonder what adventures will await in the upcoming months I'm here.

Keep in touch!
Kyle Lyon (USA2Denmark)