Happy New Year

In Australia it's already 2012, In Denmark it is 2012 in less than 4 hours, and here in the States it is 2012 in almost 13 hours. Isn't it wierd? I'm going to celebrate New Year's with 4 other girls, but we don't really have any big plans. I guess we are just going to be spontaneous as usual.

Since Christmas I've been enjoying having vacation which mainly means sleeping a lot and watching One Tree Hill season 8 which I got from my brother, his girlfriend and their daughter. Yesterday Rebecca, Elise, her family and I went to the amusement park Six Flags Magic Mountains, which had some sick rollercoasters. I love rollercoasters but I'm still shaking crazily on the way to the top. A few years ago I was actually pretty scared of rollercoasters, but I guess I've learned that sometimes you just have to take the plunge, because something great can come out of it. And I don't just mean with rollercoasters but in general. Taking chances pays off.

Besides that I've helped my dad getting Facebook. It may doesn't seem interesting to you, but that's because you don't know my dad. It was hilarious! But now my parents can follow my life here a little easier.

I wish you all a happy new year that will contain everything you want and wish for: whether it's success, family, friendship, travelling, love etc.

5 things I hate I have tasted in the US

Okay, I admit it – I like making lists, so this will probably not be the last one. I have tasted these 5 things for the first time, and I now hate that I have tasted them… ‘cause they are delicious!

1)      Corn dog

I tasted this odd invention in San Francisco for the first time. I haven’t had it since, but I know I probably will.

2)      Chili fries

I tried chili fries with onion and cheese today – yummy!

3)      Fatburger

Fatburger is a burger place (funnily enough) in Redondo Beach. They make the most juicy burgers ever.

4)      Hersheys

Hersheys chocolate is addicting!

5)      Peanut butter and jelly sandwich

What a match! And what an amount of fat! But it has a lot of protein?

Here are some mixed pictures from earlier in my stay and some recent ones:

 Hollywood, Griffiths Observatory, Skydiving, Halloween, meeting Roshon Fegan and Indian food... I love life!

Merry Chrismas!

I celebrated christmas in a Norwegian church the 24th - it was great! Today, the 25th, Elise and I watched 4 christmas movies and ate dinner at Johnny Rocket (which was extremely crowded - we now know the secret of christmas day: go to Johnny Rocket). Hope you all had a lovely day!

Thoughts from a Dane

Holding in line at the freeway on the way home from Flagstaff, a homeless man stood with a sign: “Homeless – need help.” The hopeless and fearful look in his eyes made me I grab all the coins I had, pull down the window and wave him over. I apologized since I only had coins, but he took my hand, looked at me with a great smile and said: ”Merry Christmas and a happy new year” And you could tell that he meant it.

The system in America is so different from in Denmark, and the amount of homeless people is enormous – I still haven’t gotten used to it, and my heart hurts every time I see one of these despairing souls. I feel selfish and materialistic, but also very grateful for what I have. I remember when I was a little girl, travelling in Asia. I remember seeing so many homeless people and asking my parents for money again and again. In the end my dad had to tell me: “Nadja, even though we want to, we can’t give all of them money – we can’t save all of them.” So I had to look away.

But even though I can’t save them all, I can still save one’s day. And that is what makes it worth it.

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Back to the road trip. After Yosemite Elise and I continued to Las Vegas for one night. We didn’t do much else than eat some good food and wander around. Eeeeearly next morning we drove to Zion National Park, Utah where we spend the rest of the day hiking in the beautiful mountains and experiencing some incredible views. When the sun went down we chilled in the Jacuzzi (with a mountain view, just saying) and had some lovely dinner in the restaurant. Thursday we went to Grand Canyon – beautiful place but freaking cold! We drove to a point, ran out of the car, took some pictures, ran back to the car and continued to the next point. It was difficult to enjoy because of the weather, but I still find it unbelievable that places like that exist. We spend the night in Flagstaff and drove home today, Friday. Great road trip! It is definitely a different, yet fun, way to travel.

 If there's anything you want me to know, anything you want me to write about, you are welcome to leave a comment :) Thanks for the comments so far!

Rooooad trip

Just wanted to share this beautiful song :-)

Christmas is near which means decorations, "Santa Baby" in the radio, christmas food, presents and of course - vacation! Two days before the christmas vacation started Elise and I started our road trip. We headed towards San Francisco, but stopped in Solvang , the Danish Village, on the way. It felt like a piece of Denmark was placed just outside Santa Barbara, California. It had a copy of the Little Mermaid and Rundetårn; it had danish bakeries and chocolate stores; and then it had a café selling Æbleskiver (a danish christmas dessert) - Elise tried it for the first time and loved it!

When we came to San Francisco we just relaxed the rest of the evening and went to bed. The day after we walked a lot! Walking in San Francisco is like walking in the mountains! Up and down and up and down. We took the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf, walked down Pier 39 where we had our first Corn Dog (quiet good actually), walked to the top of Lombard Street, walked down againg and towards Coit tower, after which we took the street car to the Castro District and had a good lunch; after that we walked to Haight Ashbury and went back to Union Square for shopping. After a long day we went to China town, had some good dinner, went home and hit the sheets. Saturday was Alcatraz day. We cruised to the island from pier 33, saw the introduction video and took the audio tour through the cell house. Yeah, sounds really boring as most audio tours are, but it was actually really well made! It showed Alcatraz' interesting story in an exciting way. Read about it here: http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/website/history.aspx After that we went shopping in Westfield Shopping Centre... again.

Sunday we took a quick trip to Alamo district and to the Golden Gate brigde before heading for Yosemite National Park. We arrived in the afternoon so we made a short visit into the actual national park, stopping a few pictures on the way. When it got dark we went back to out lodge, had some dinner and went to bed. Monday was a long day spent in the national park - we drove to Glacier point, hiked to the top of Vernal Fall and took a small trip to lower Yosemite falls. What a beautiful and peaceful place - I will definitely try to come back here one day. Tomorrow we will go to Las Vegas!

Red carpet event, fieldtrip and host family

Sorrounded by palm trees and beautiful beaches, lack of snow and frost makes it difficult to find the Christmas spirit. The extreme Christmas decorations, the lights and the Christmas songs help though. Back home I’m used to be a part of the decorations and preparations, which now makes it unbelievable that it is already the 12^th of December. But that this year will be different is my own choice – and I don’t regret anything, but will enjoy it as much as possible.

Monday was a great day. The premiere of the new movie “New years eve” was held in Hollywood, and since it is filled with stars, the event was pretty big. Three hours before the actual premiere started we placed ourselves on the other side of the red carpet where the actors and actresses arrive in limoes. We saw a lot of celebrities that night, and some of them even up close: Josh Duhamel, Hilary Swank, Lea Michele, Abigal Breslin, Katherine Heigl, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ludachris, Robert Di Niro, Jake T. Austin and of course - Zac Efron and Ashton Kutcher. Ashton Kutcher was even patient enough to take a picture with me! It took a while to get down to earth after that…

Zac Efron - without zoom!

Ashton and I

Friday I went on a field trip with the media/arts team. We went to Technicolor, the company who invented color film, where we saw some of the studios and was introduced to their work. After that we visited the Hollywood Bowl, a modern amphitheatre, which hosts big concerts. Indyra and I snuck into the stage, because how many people can say they’ve been on the Hollywood Bowl stage?

Besides that I’ve been asked to tell about my host family. I have to say that I’m very lucky when it comes to my host family: I live 2 minutes from the school, 2 minutes from Biltmore where a lot of my friends live, they are very friendly and open-minded, and very importantly, they cook good and healthy food. I have to admit that I don’t use much time with my host family, but I still celebrated thanksgiving etc. with them. So they give me the opportunity to spend time with them, but also let me have my own life.

5 things I miss from Denmark:

 1)      Family/friends: Yeah, I know it is kind of easy, but what would the list be worth without them? Love you all.

2)      Leverpostej: Real, Danish sandwich spread – extremely delicious after a night out. The best ever..

3)      DSB (public transportation company) – believe it or not! I will never complain about DSB again after experiencing the public transportation her. You can never count on it and it’s full of types. They are either creepy, smelly or picking their noses – and I have started to wonder which group I belong to?

4)      Rulle: My lovely cat and best friend. I miss him!

5)      Tennis: Being used to playing it most days of the weeks, makes not playing it at all very weird. I constantly have the feeling that something is missing, and I know for sure that I will start right away when I get home. It is just a part of me.

I could go on and on and on. But even though i have things and people at home that i miss, I still don't look forward to coming home. I can't imagine leaving and saying goodbye to so many people here. I think it will take me some time to get used to being in Denmark again - it will take some time to feel home.

Bigger is an understatement - part 2

USA is not just bigger looking at it from a material point of view. The other day my friend Indyra (Belgium) told what she likes the most about USA: “That Americans think big.” And that made me realize how right she is. USA has big houses, big cars and big supermarkets – but they particularly have a population that think big. Nothing is impossible here and every dream is welcome. In Denmark, or maybe even the most of Europe, we are more rational and realistic; we think more safely and some would maybe call it more sensible. But aren’t we also more small-minded? Afraid of taking chances maybe? Yes, it is a generalization, but compared to Americans, we think smaller. Americans aren’t afraid of dreaming, which I admire them for.

Wednesday night we went to Nokia Theater where The Grammy Nominations Concert was held. We arrived in a limo and found our very good seats – but we also realized that we were 45 minutes late. But we just tried to keep our good mood and enjoy the rest of the show. We still saw a few Celebrities such as David Guetta, Kary Perry, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. But the highlight of my night was definitely when I met the Disney Channel star Roshon Fegan – he was really nice and polite and took his time to take a picture with us. The funniest was when Silvio (Mexico) exclaimed: “That’s Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter!”, pointed at a blond girl and ran over to her and asked if he could have a picture with her. When he got closer and the girls confused asked “with me?” he slowly realizes that she was just a girl who looked like Luna Lovegood. Embarrassing.

Saturday was Elise’s birthday, so Alyssa, Rebecca and I woke her up with birthday cake, breakfast and a balloon. We spend the day in Laguna Beach and Newport Beach – both places were very beautiful, but I kind of missed Ryan and Seth. In the night we ate dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, where I probably had my best meal since I got here.

So besides being sick, I am enjoying life to the fullest here in Cali!

In front of the limo

Inside the limo

The birthday cake

Laguna Beach

Newport Beach



Newport Beach

American Football

After a well-earned day of rest on top of the thanksgiving dinner, some other students and I went to USC (University of Southern California) where our very own Bo attended college some years back. USC Trojans were meeting the rivals UCLA Bruins. We arrived 5 hours before the actual football match, and walked down the street where all the fraternities and sororities* were. It was exactly like walking into an American Pie movie – I was just waiting for Steve Talley** to run naked down the street. The houses were amazing (most of them at least) and it was obvious that mom and dad had money here. We walked towards campus where the mood was crazy – the party before the game is called tailgating, and I can’t compare it with anything else. Go home Danish soccer. By a coincidence Tommy and I met a guy and a girl (brother and sister) where the guy had studied in Denmark. When I told him that I was from Ølstykke he yelled: “You’re from Beerpiece???” Because that is actually what Ølstykke means. It was such a surreal and odd experience, since Ølstykke is a very small town, and most Danes don’t even know where it is.

After some hours of partying we walked to the Stadium, bought pulled-pork sandwiches (not as good as my dad’s!) and found our seats in the gigantic stadium – College football is not for fun! I only knew the basic rules, but it was still easy enough to follow. It was, in addition, actually the atmosphere and the people around me that made it such a huge experience. After a victory to USC (of course) we turned our faces towards home. Oh and by the way – Trojans kicked Bruins asses 50-0…

*Fraternities and sororities (from the Latin words frater and soror, meaning "brother" and "sister" respectively) are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In modern usage, the term "Greek letter organization" is often synonymous, in North America, with the terms "fraternity" and "sorority" (wikipedia). I kender dem, Gamma beta kappa phi delta etc.

**Steve Talley is best known for his role as Dwight Stifler in American pie: the naked mile and American Pie: Beta house – and the Pepsi commercials of course.