Endnu en måned i Danmark

Marie: Like the first month went by pretty quickly, so did the second one.

We’ve been really busy and some things have changed. For example, right now I’m the only volunteer in the project, because my roomie Eliza has left.  It’s weird being alone in the apartment but it’s not gonna be for long. 

Hopefully someone new will come along soon! 

Eliza (latvian volunteer) wasn’t the only one who left. My mentor Claus changed jobs. Even though I have known him for only 2 months I relied on him a lot and it was sad to say goodbye.

But these changes are all for the best. In Italian we say “when a door closes a bigger one will open”, meaning that when you close a chapter a bigger one will open. So, best of luck to all!

Of course we had some happy moments too! We did an egg coloring workshop, organized a Fernisering, had a metal concert and took part in the municipality’s welcome meeting.

We also had a farewell party and I baked tiramisù with Guna. It was so fun to share this recipe from my country with my colleagues.Actually, it was my first time cooking this dish and it was really fun to figure things out with my new mentor and colleague. We had fun figuring out how to make the alcoholic version, and since we were already experimenting we added some chipped bits of dark chocolate inside.

For Easter Eliza and I decided to organize a workshop revolving around latvian easter eggs.
It was my first time experiencing something like this! In Italy we just give chocolate eggs to children or go egg hunting.

The procedure is actually pretty simple, you just need eggs, some thread, herbs and flowers, red onion peels, and a pot filled with water. You choose the plants that inspire you the most and wrap them around the egg with a thread, then boil them with the onion peels and it's done! 

It was quite magical to work with all these kinds of different herbs and flowers. I felt a bit like a witch who's making a potion and from what I've gathered the youngsters enjoyed the experience as much as I did!

They were very gentle with the eggs and took their time with decorating; it was really charming to see skaters take care of something so fragile. 

Personally, I´m looking forward to repeating this experience back home too! Plus, you can actually eat the eggs you’ve boiled. It would be really nice to share this with friends and family and see what everybody comes up with, just like with the guys at Kultur.

I hope this encourages you to look up this Easter tradition and try it for yourself! I promise, you won't regret it!

Also, I experienced my first real Danish Easter! Totally different from what I am used to and what I was expecting.

I thought that in Italy we ate the most, but I stand corrected. I have never eaten so much in my life and I couldn’t finish everything that was on the table.

Plus I tried drinking snaps, little shots of this strong liquor in between courses. Of course I didn’t keep up with everybody else, my Italian constitution didn’t allow it. 

I highly recommend trying a similar experience no matter what country you’re living in right now. It’s not an everyday thing to taste homemade, original holiday cuisine.

Next thing on the list is what the Danish call "Fernisering".

It’s basically a presentation of all the artwork the kids at the picture factory did during the year. 

It was heartwarming to see the children’s families coming together and validating their hard work. We set up cookies, tea and coffee and it was such a cozy environment. Some grandparents brought some flowers and presents for the kids, it was really sweet and a really nice thing to experience.

I also took part in the welcome meeting. Twice a year Nykøbing’s municipality organizes it for new residents, just to show what the city has to offer and make them feel part of the community. 

We went there as Kulturfabrikken and brought some skateboards, caps and bags to paint over. 
Unfortunately, this time around there weren’t that many new kids but we got some new followers on facebook thanks to this event! And hopefully, next time there will be more young people who can benefit from what Kulturfabrikken has to offer. 

This month’s concert was metal! My first time attending/working at one. Thanks to this I got better at pouring beers and had more fun than what I was expecting. The band’s energy was amazing, so many people came and had the best night. 

April was also when I tried skateboarding! It was both terrifying and thrilling at the same time. I was a bit shy at first because I am surrounded by talented skaters and not having not even an inch of coordination in my body doesn’t certainly help.

But I got over my fears and tried it out! Luckily Guna was watching over me and telling me what to do every step of the way.

As I am writing this we’re already mid-may. I can’t say this enough times, time flies by so fast here and I want to enjoy everything as much as humanly possible. 

See you in the next blog!

Hugs,

Marie