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16. Watched a special about Ronald Reagan with a Dane and talked about global politics. 

17. Met a guy that was a Life Guard at the queens palace.  "Puffy hat and can't talk to people as they march"

18. Met a guy that was a bodyguard for the royal family. He is also the lead singer for Chookfeet and could be our neighbor John Sweet's Danish twin. 

Check him out singing http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oo9Rf22fJu0

15 things from week 1

1.  It has been more rewarding than I ever could have imagined staying in people's homes and getting to know them. 

2.  I watched a Danish rock band practice and had a shot with them!  rock on Chook Feet!

3. I have been to three castles and several churches. 

4.  Ate pickled herring!

5.  Drank alcohol at least once for 7 straight days.

6.  Saw the Crown Jewels of Denmark. 

7.  Went on a bike ride and ended up at a castle and then got ice cream at the coast. 

8. Saw a Viking fortress from 1000 years ago. 

9. Walked 3 miles inside a bridge.

10.  Took an elevator up 70 stories. 

11. Looked over the edge of a bridge that is taller than the Golden Gate Bridge. 

12. Had Schnapps for breakfast because it keeps you healthy. 

13. Went into a pub barn. 

14. Went into a dairy with robots that milk the cows 24/7

15. Biked 14 miles through the rain in the Danish countryside. 

Here's a picture of one of my hosts. Here's Pernille and I with the same book, except the language is different. 

Here's a picture of the bridge mentioned above. It's called the Great Belt Bridge and connects Zealand and Funen (2 of Denmarks islands)

Bike ride

My host family took me on a bike ride to an old farming castle and then to the coast for ice cream. This was the original castle of the farmer that owned all of the land in the area. It is still in use. There is a picture of Katherine, their daughter also. 

Funny stuff!

I went to a Gymnasium today, which is a little like a high school. The Councilors had never really thought about these two doors until I stopped for pictures!

Then I went to the kindergarten where my host mother works. Check out their student. 

Farming

I am staying with Jorgen, Pernille, and their daughter Catherine. They have 1000 hogs and 300 acres where they raise wheat and mostly spinach seed. 

Nyhavn

This is a picture of Nyhavn street. It's one of the more famous places in Copenhagen dating back to the 1700s. We caught a canal tour there and went to see the Little Mermaid. Very fun.  I had a waterside view in the boat but gave it up to a team member who take really good pictures. I have learned that all I do is hold up a camera and click, and if can do that from any seat!  Susan knows that about my scenic pictures!

It goes down smooth....

Well, I ate the fish. I usually don't post pictures of food, but I have to this time. The cup in the middle of my plate is pickled herring. It tastes just like you think it does, but I can keep my reputation of trying anything. You eat it on top of buttered bread. The small cup is aquavit, which is schnapps. It goes down hard!  This was for lunch to!  I had the fish platter and ate just about everything. We'll see what I have for dinner it smells like pork!

Church

Grundtvigs Kirke, or church. One of the largest Protestant church's in Denmark. Ole says he is a member, but is not sure it's not all bullshit. 

Six million bricks make up the entire church and none of them look out of place. 

For the first time in forever.......!

Today started our first day off with our host. My host, Ole Anderson picked me and we took off!  I dropped my bags at his house and we sped off to Kronborg Castle which is north of Copenhagen.  If you are in Susan's family, I would describe Ole as a Danish Bob Mork. He retired from the Air Force, tells lots of jokes, and has a fun time wherever he goes. We went to Kronborg, which is the castle that is the setting for Hamlet. 

It was great. Two pictures are below. One is from the ballroom which really reminded me of the Frozen movie. The other is of Holgier Danske, or Holgier the Dane. He is a sleeping giant in the basement of Kronborg. The legend is that if Denmark is ever in real trouble, Holgier will wake up and defend the country. 

The best quote of the day was from a tour guide. A girl pointed across the water to Sweden and asked is that Sweden?  He looked at her and said "no, it's Denmark, they just don't realize it."  There was also a Swedish flag hanging outside the dungeon. A little history between the two countries!

Koge

Stayed in Koge last night. Leave with my first host family tonight. Koge is small but had a pretty harbor and center square. We walked up on a town festival and a banana eating contes. Pics below. 

Biking!

You know a country loves biking when they have bike pumps next to the luggage carousel!

Frankfurt

Had a really good flight to Frankfurt. We were in an Airbus which is the largest airplane that a carries passengers today. At full capacity it carries over 500 people!  Watched Captain America Winter Soldier and Million Dollar Arm. Pretty frantic to get through the airport to our connection to Copenhagen. Now we are on a half full flight to Copenhagen waiting to take off. 

Took this picture for Noah while speeding through the airport. 

Leaving on a jet plane!

Our team when we were about to leave Euegene Airport.  We are at San Fran now waiting to board a giant plane to Frankfurt. 

Welcome from our family!

We made a short video to introduce myself and our family to the people that I will be staying with. Here it is:

Getting ready to leave!

Hello Family and Friends! I am excited to be getting close to our trip! I will be gone for just over a month, while Susan and the boys will be gone for 10 days. Here is a link to my itinerary if you want to see what I will be doing, or if there is any type of emergency and you need to contact me immediately. Itinerary I am going to try to post pictures and text everyday. I don't think I will be available by phone, but should have pretty good internet access from what I have been told. Stay tuned!

I am traveling with 4 other people. Two people from Klamath Falls that teach at OIT, one from Redmond with a small business, and one from Eugene that works with nonprofits.