http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Nicholai/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Nicholai en-us Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:11:14 +0000 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:11:14 +0000 Last 2 weeks in Denmark so things are busy. Im cleaning out my room and helping to renovate the youth room. Im working with a guy from Brazil who is a professional painter so it should look really nice once were finished painting the place. There will be a wedding here at Svanholm on Saturday and a number of parties the following week. There will also be a small market at Svanholm for my last wee http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-431616.html Hey everybody Things at Svanholm have been going well. Im keeping busy with the building group after a great summer vacation.After touring around Denmark with the family I went up to Sweden with a few friends for about 2 weeks to stay at my friends summer cabin. We didnt have a car so we decided to take our bikes and go by train. Once we took the train to Kalmar we decided it might be a good i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-428048.html Hey tout le monde Were biking to Frederikssund today and taking the train to Sweden to my friends summer house near the town of Hogsby. We should be up there for the next 2 weeks or so no electricity no toilet etc. Should be an adventure I hope we get some good fishing in.All the bestNicholas http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-421323.html Its my 20th Birthday today and some of the guys will be coming over from Skibby to have some beers and a fire. It should be nice and quiet I dont really like a big birthday party. The last couple weeks have been nice I got a Danish CPR number so I now qualify for Danish health care and Ive found some work as a waiter in Copenhagen although Im still looking at other jobs. I also went swimming in http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-406517.html All is well on Sjland at the moment. The weather is great folks are getting married the work is relaxed. Ive spoken to several Svanholmers about the family coming to visit and they all have the same response Well then once you invite one Canadian you get 5 eh They always like to joke with me and one of the Dutch guys here calls me The Bush Man. I cant write to much at the moment since I am http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-402552.html Tout le monde Everything in Denmak is going swell the weather is fantastic despite a lack of rain for the past 3 weeks or so. Well be going to Copenhagen for May Day Celebrations later on today where there will probably be around 100000 people in the central park waving red flags and drinking beer as usual.Ive been thinking a great deal about what I should do in Copenhagen in terms of wor http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-395362.html Denmark finally has summer. The weather over the last two days has been above 15 degrees with clear blue sky and no wind. We took the couches from out of the youth room and put them outside and had beers all of yesterday. Two days ago we went to Roskilde for the annual Rib Eating Contest and had as many ribs as we could. I had 6 whole ribs before I called it quits. One rule was that you could only http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-387638.html The last week at Svanholm has been fairly busy. This will just be a quick summation of what Ive been up to. On Tuesday I was shoveling gravel and making concrete to help finish a basement in the main building. One of the ladies on the middle floor had her 65th birthday so I helped washing the bathroom and cleaning up. This weekend we went to a party at my friends Gymnasium and didnt have tickets http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-385805.html Things in Svanholm have been a bit boring lately as most of the teenagers have gone to Ireland for a week with school. Lucky for them they will be there for St.Pattys Day which should be pretty fun. I also got some crappy news from the Roskilde Festival which told me that they have had far too many requests for volunteer work and I will have to apply for 2010 if I want to volunteer. But the guy http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-383140.html Svanholm Update Things in Svanholm are still going great. I had written a large message a few days ago but one of the other boys needed the computer and accidentally deleted the message. Anyway I thought I was just give a litte update.The wedding a few weeks back was really interesting and I forgot to mention a few things. The church service and the baptism for their son Danes often have http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-380879.html Six months from home The last few weeks have been full of fun and festivities. We had a wedding last weekend between two of the members at Svanholm and it was quite the party. Free beer and wine delicious pork and beer dancing and music. Lots of fun.This weekend was also quite the party I was invited by the boys to another event at their Gymnasium a Danish High School is called a Gymnas http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-377842.html Denmark has snowThe snow usually comes and goes every couple days or so but it finally decided to snow all day yesterday and it doesnt seem like its going away any time soon Its great we have snow ball fights during coffee break and the kids build snow forts all over the farm. Everybody who has seen me in the past 2 days has always mentioned You probably feel at home eh Unfortunately the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-374629.html Now that the basement in Svanholm is almost finished Im finally starting to get some alternative types of work. I spent my Monday working behind a tractor in a field in a giant machine with a few other Svanholmers as we sorted between vegetables and rocks. It sounds bad but it was actually fairly enjoyable. We had a radio hooked up inside the machine and the two folks I was working with spoke grea http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-368615.html Hi everybody Things in Denmark are still going well. I just recieved my new computer and Ive been spending the last few days playing new computer games and downloading some Danish movies. The days are slowly getting longer and everyone around the farm is talking about the summer. Sunshine and swimming. In the winter it is mostly gray and partly rainy with a constant breeze. I dont mind it th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Hovedstaden/Copenhagen/blog-367424.html Things in Svanholm are still going great. New Years in Copenhagen was just insane Everyone bought their own fireworks and we all headed out to a big house party in the middle of the city. At 1100 everyone rushed out onto the street and started shooting them off in every direction. It felt a lot more like Baghdad than downtown Copenhagen. After the New Years things have returned to normal. We c http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-362658.html God Jul Merry Christmas I'm currently sitting at John and Ingrid's house and the Christmas festivities have all died down for the moment. I had originally planned to stay here for only a few short days before going back to Zealand but I have run into a bitter sweet predicament that I didn't quite plan for. The Immigration Service had sent John and Ingrid a letter on the 15th of December an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Syddanmark/Esbjerg/blog-357271.html I haven't written in the blog for the last few weeks but the reasoning for that is fairly simple...things haven't really changed all that much. Besides the Christmas festivites here at Svanholm Christmas trees small parties a large Christmas festival similar to the farmers market back home things are still the same. I work from 83 and learn Danish and hang out here. Then to Copenhagen and R http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-352236.html Tout le monde It's the start of my third week at Svanholm and fortunately for myself things are going just great The work is comfortable I have some great friends at the farm and the chances of getting that tourist visa are looking better and better. My weekdays are fairly simple I get up at 730 I start work at 800 I have lunch in the main kitchen prepared for us by a small army of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-348258.html Just writing this message in response to a few questions.SO First I should point out that the idea to get an apartment in Copenhagen is simply an idea not something that I am seriously considering. Remember when you're in a foreign country things work at a snails pace especially when the country you are staying in has a government that is leaning against increased immigration ie Denmark Swe http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-346314.html Tout le monde Mickelsen Family Sorry that I haven't written in awhile. The last week has been really busy and TONS of fun I'm currently staying at a large commune about 50km north of Copenhagen and working as a volunteer with the building group. At first I was fairly lonely since Danish people are quite shy and I didn't really understand how the farm functioned. Now that I've been here http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Sjaelland/Roskilde/blog-345929.html