Rødgrød med Fløde

We had our first danish lesson today [informal], and we found that currant pudding with cream, or rødgrød med fløde, is one thing we will NOT be ordering any time soon! Danish schools are extremely casual, something that will take some time getting used to. Teachers are called by their first names, and students are told to leave the room quietly without interrupting class for bathroom breaks, water fountain visits, or if they feel the need to leave class for any reason. We were really suprised to find that kids are not required to have a note to skip class if they have to go to the library and work on a project-just explain it to the teacher later.

Today was also a move-in day for the girls in the apartment or 'flat' as the Danes call it. We all met Natascha King, who is a lovely person whom we are all glad has finally arrived. Natascha is an Army Sergeant who was recently accepted into the World Class Athlete Program, and has agreed to share her living situation with 2 of the girls playing with the youth teams. The apartment seems nice, and will serve as a place for us in-town for us to hang-out in town between school and practices.

We spent the day in Århus yesterday, exploring, shopping, and celebrating what Allan called our 'Last Handball-Free day for a long time.' There was some sort of festival going on, which included what would best be described as Big Over-Friendly Giants. They were crudely constructed costumes, controlled by people inside, that were 15-20 ft high. These BO-FG's absolutely LOVED to start chasing anyone who made eye contact with them, and had creepy wooden hands that would reach down and grab you-quite the shock when you one sneaks up behind you! With the festival, many of the shops were decorated with Danish Flags, and many claimed to be having 'sales'-everything was the same price at nearly every store. The overall presence of Hummel gear [http://www.hummel.dk/Sport.aspx], which is practically unknown in the US, was ASTOUNDING. Everyone had Hummel gear, and we raided every store that seemed promising of low prices. We finally found a department store in which we found the deal of a lifetime-16 pairs of Hummel socks{a handball must-have}, a pair of Hummel shorts, a Hummel jersey, AND a Hummel bag for 300 kr; slightly more than $50.00 USD!

Tomorrow we will attend the Gymnasium's "Sports Day." This is a day in which the whole school takes off and classes compete against each other in Soccer [football], Volleyball, and "Something like Softball." The class to which we have been assigned is dressing up as bicyclists, and I've got my helmet ready!

Also, the qualifying matches for our youth teams to move up in divisions are this weekend. U-16 will play in Viborg, but U-18 will be at home in Bjerringbro. We are very lucky to have learned that extra parents have volunteered to drive us 'American Girls' to watch the match. Go Bjerringbro!!!