In short, I love it.
The longer explanation begins with its pronunciation. And, well, that's about all I can really tell you for certain about its pronunciation. I do know, however, that it's something like 'kho-whhhwwhup". Yeah, that's it. And Folkehøjskole, that's pronounced "Fahl-keh-hoy-skew-leh", or something similar. At dinner last week, I was trying to get one of the teachers, Garba (I think he either is an immigrant himself, or was born to immigrant parents), to teach me the pronunciation. I failed miserably, to the point that he grabbed a napkin and told me to shove it in my mouth. I thought he was making fun of me, but it turns out... If you try to say it with a napkin in your mouth, it works. Seriously.
So there's that.
We live here! Contrary to Google's assumptions, we actually walk through a forest and field to get to the train station. It's pretty awesome, but I've heard it can be scary when it's dark out -- which is going to be basically always, starting in about a month. Luckily, the fears are almost groundless, since it's a really nice town, and the Danes are basically all awesome. Either way, we'll be utilizing the buddy system and headlights.
The first few days we were here were pretty chill for us. Sunday and Monday nights, we all kind of gathered, went on some short exploratory walks, and basically hung out.
Tuesday night was the first party -- the Danes love to party, it seems. We started out the night with a hop into the Baltic around 10. It was pretty cold, but entirely worth it. I couldn't find any good pictures of me hopping in, but I did find one that basically sums it up.
Anyways, so after that, there was a party in what's called the "Night Box". It's a freedom-loving room where the teachers never go, so the students are free to party, crank loud music, and graffiti the walls whenever they please. That went until around 2, and then we all went to bed. We had more orientation in the morning.
We've got dinner every night at 6. That's starting to become a mixed blessing. On the one hand, the food is great, and at least mostly Danish. On the other, it's often difficult/impossible to make it back from Copenhagen in time. I don't make it out of class until 5:45 on three days of the week, which is less than ideal. Luckily, if I walk fast enough and don't get distracted, I can make the 18:00 train (6:00pm, suckas!), be in Humlebaek by 18:29, and make the tail end of dinner. Sometimes the food is still out, and sometimes it's not. Either way, there's always some bread left -- which is awesome, since this ain't no wonder bread. No, we're talking fresh-baked (and mixed, Bill. Beat that, Piggly Wiggly!) bread and some sort of tasty cheese. Nom-nom.
Saturday, the Danes decided to commemorate our presence with a Cowboys and Indians party. Offensive, probably. But it's Denmark, and they're widely considered an irreverent people, with a fairly deprecating style of humor. I love it. At any rate, my costume was war paint and a homemade bow. Sadly, I didn't have time to make arrows. Also sadly, I didn't manage any pictures from the occasion. Sorry!
Oh, I almost forgot! On Saturday nights, the tradition is for the school to give each hall a sack of money -- 25 kroner for each person -- and let you construct your own meal. It's a sort of bonding-happy-time, and I imagine it'll get more and more hygge as we get to know each other better, and as the weather outside makes the inside feel more and more comfy.
This past Saturday, we (Ethan, really) made a sorta chili, and we bought a bunch of fresh-baked bread, and -- and here's the part where it gets a bit risque -- a few bottles of wine. Gasp!
Drinking, by the way, is an integral part of Danish culture. My hypothesis is that it helps them A) understand each other -- the language is quite literally just grunting and making the oddest noises you can imagine; and B) to help them through the long winter. At any rate, drinking is acceptable at basically any time, in basically any place. A few times last week, we went out for a beer during a 3-hour lunch break. We weren't the only ones, not by a long shot.
That brings us to today, at least as far as Krogerup is concerned. I'm sitting doing homework and blogging in our little kitchen (which we were given for our own, since we often have to leave before official breakfast time).
Anyways, I'm having a great time over here in Denmark, and I hope ya'lls lives are doing well back in the States!
Peace.
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