High Maintenance

I've been the child that has always had to go to the doctor for little things and as my dad puts it, "I'm the broken one" out of the 3 of his kids hahha. To remain consistent in my ways, I went to the doctor again, after my visit on Wednesday which yielded no results, and found out today that indeed I do have Strep Throat! yay! I was actually relieved to find out that there were positive results so that I am able to get started on my antibiotics and feel healthy.
We had the local television station out at our practice on Thursday to film and interview coach Lars, Shelley, and myself. He stayed the entire practice video-taping and then interviewed us separately. It was so exciting to see how much attention our club is getting because we have been winning and making a name for ourselves! The news, with our part being covered, airs on Sunday and I am going to try and record it on my camera (I'll keep my fingers crossed that it works).
Now onto the big news, November 5th is going to be a huge day. We have our next cup game against the 3rd ranked team in all of Denmark, Bronby. I have been able to focus on nothing but this game and I cannot wait. I want to demolish them and show them how the under-dogs come up from the bottom to dominate. My mind is set on one thing and one thing only, a big VICTORY! HELL YA!

Sov Godt,
Knus
Britt

undskyld

Rossi, the dog I am house sitting/ dog sitting. He only understand Danish----it's been a struggle and he owns me these days hahha.

Oh the sore throat from hell. Yes that is painful

Karina, Shelley, Me, Sandie

I learned how to French Braid my own hair...I was so proud I had to take a picture!

On our way out

The step class

Kids are told to take their shoes off before going into the classroom so that they don't get it too dirty.

The title of my post means "sorry"/"excuse me" in Danish. I am sorry for not keeping up to date on my posts and it will not happen again (I hope) lol.

I have so much that I have done this past week and a half that I must update all about. First, and most importantly, we won our game on Saturday thus putting us at 5-0 and 1st in our league. Our next big, and I mean HUGE, game is on November 5. This is against the 2nd ranked team in all of Denmark and it is at home so we have been trying to recruit people to come to our game. It is going to be super exciting. In addition, we have been house-sitting and dog watching for the past week and a half for some friends who are currently on vacation in Florida.

Last week I visited my teammate Line at her school where she teaches third and fourth grades. It was a short day for her and all she had was to teach physical education, a step class, to her 4th graders and mathematics to her 3rd graders. I walked in and they were so amazed to have an American in their class. Being that Brittany is not a very common name out here I was automatically associated with Britney Spears and asked to sing for the class. Keeping their well-being as my main priority I graciously declined for their benefit. The step class was so much fun to watch, I forget how awkward they are at that age and that coordination doesn't necessarily exist for all of them. A song came on that I new during their aerobic class and I started singing only to notice that one of the little girls was staring at me like I had the voice of an angel (I will tell Line to recommend her getting her hearing checked). After class this little girl walked up to Line and asked her to ask me to sing another song for her because she "LOVED' my voice so much! hahah. Kids, they are too sweet.

After that class it was time to go visit her third grade class. Here in Denmark the children start learning English in third grade so they were all able to tell me their names and how old they were. Then the questions started flowing in. They wanted to know my age, if I was married, if I had kids, my mom's name, my dad's name, if I had a dog, what shoe size I wore, if I liked soccer, and etc. One of the girls raised her hand and said in Danish, "I think Brittany is beautiful" and Line translated it and it reminded me of how sweet children are. I wanted to visit every day! hahaha.

When we finished up with Line's school we went and visited our friend Casper who is a teacher at a school about 10 minutes away. His students had been patiently anticipating my arrival and when I came they could hardly sit still. Casper had told them a little bit about me and that I love to laugh. When Line and I walked through the door they asked which one was the American and Casper said, the blond one lol and they knew right away it was me. Automatically I started laughing and one of the kids said, "You're right Casper, she does laugh alot" hahaha. It was cute. I went outside and joined in a game of American Football they asked me to play with them and the teams are tied so I was asked to come visit again to settle the game. When break was over we went back to the classroom where they were about to have their English lesson. It was so cute hearing them speak and learn English. One of the ways they do so is to sing songs and that day they were Singing Jason Mraz (which I got on film). When time was up and it was time for them to go home I saw them run outside and then swarm around me with a pieces of papers asking for my autograph. I was honored and it made me feel so incredible that they thought so highly of me.

It was amazing going to Line's and Casper's schools and visiting with the children. I have promised to go back soon, maybe in 2 weeks, and visit some more. The kids are so cute and very curious about how I live and what my life is like.

Aside from my school visits, after our game on Saturday we went with my teammate Sandie to her house in Nykobing for Saturday evening and Sunday. It was a ton of fun hanging out with her, her boyfriend Gilbert, his sister Karina, and their friend Gabriel. We ate dinner, laughed, told stories, and went to the disco. I had to call it an early night because of not feeling well, I have a TERRIBLE sore throat that hit me hard and heavy. I got a taxi and went back to her place to fall asleep and her and Shelley stayed out till 4am. It was nice spending time with Sandie and her friends because she is a great person.

I am so excited for our game on the 5th that it is all I can think about. It would be amazing to pull off this huge upset and shock the nation and really make more people talk about this club from Vordingborg that has come a long way. We are preparing hard and will give them a good fight, I-along with my teammates- am expecting a victory.

Sov Godt
Knus ,

Britt

Big Game

WE WON! hahaha, that's all that needs to be said, we are still undefeated in League and we will continue to have tough matches leading up to our toughest on Nov. 5! Need to keep this Victory streak alive.

Sov Godt,
Knus(Hugs)
Britt

Shopping

Shelley and I decided to venture out yesterday to Naestved by ourselves via the train in search for the indoor mall we had been hearing fantasy stories about haha. We woke up, showered, and were on our way with one goal in mind, SHOPPING! We got to Naestved and were given instructions by a friend that all we needed to do was get on Bus 2 and it would take us straight to the mall. We sat and waited for bus2 and when it came we jumped on. Sitting there before we took off we thought we'd better ask and make sure this was the right one. Thank God for that. We asked and were told we needed to take the OTHER bus 2 (what the heck there are two bus2's lol) so we sprinted off just in time because that bus literally closed its doors as soon as we exited it. The second Bus 2 arrived and Shelley and I jumped on and rode it out to the glorious destination of the indoor mall; I almost shed a tear because it was glorious to see so many shops with so many options!
At the mall I was immediately attracted to the H&M where I bought a new sweater, pants, and belt. I am so happy with the way my wardrobe is coming along. Wearing all of these winter clothes is new and fun. The mall was a great way of spending the day, we were there from 11-4pm!
When we came home we dropped off our stuff and headed over to Gwen and Hp's house for dinner. They invited us over for dinner to not only be generous and feed us (the people here are so sweet) but also to show us the ropes to their house because we will be housesitting and dog watching for the 2 weeks that they are going to be in Florida. We start our "house sitting/ dog watching" tomorrow and it should be fun.
We have a game this Saturday at 12 and it is a must win(well all of our games are like that but I guess every time I write about the upcoming one it will always say 'it's a must win'). I will update as soon as I can.

Sov Godt
Knus (Hugs)
Britt

Amazing SUP-plies!

I received an amazing surprise today of supplies from my Auntie! I was sitting on my couch, in my pjs at 3pm, reading for the classes I am taking online, when all of a sudden Jesper came down with a package. Neither Shelley or myself were expecting a package so it was a toss up in who it was for. When my name was called I damn near jumped out of the chair and tackled Jesper! My auntie sent me a package! Inside I found scarves (totally necessary since it is now an average of 37 degrees at night) gloves, pistachio nuts, plenty of gum, and footie socks/slippers that I have been dying to have made for me! She made my day! Thank you and love you oodles Auntie!

sov godt
Knus
Brittany

Godt Morgen

OMG! had to put this up. This lady is selling roasted nuts with the cinnamon and other seasoning on it. My mom and I are always in heaven when we smell the fumes coming from such a contraption. It is a warming smell and one I wouldn't mind smelling over and over again lol. Ps....this is in Naestved

So, I woke up one morning with this cut on my face (look on my cheek). I was wondering, when will I grow up and stop having scrapes on my face. I have no idea how it got there, Shelley promised she didn't get mad and punch me hahha.

Shelley on the way to Naestved

Me on the way to Naestved to meet up with the Irishmen

This is the gym we played at in Copenhagen last weekend. This is the men's game that was going on when we arrived.

Godt Morgen (good morning)! I have a lot to update with since my last post since I was slacking and forgot to blog! This past week Shelley started working at the teacher's college in Haslev because they have a teacher there that wanted to use her knowledge in renewable energy and such in his classroom since he is teaching architecture and things like that. She was gone from 8-3 Tuesday-Thursday which meant I was by myself, my other American was leaving me hahhaa. I made sure to keep busy with walking around the town scoping things out for when my family comes to visit, working out, and getting things settled for when I start my classes on Monday (classes meaning at a JC in Cali so that I can stay on the health insurance program hahha).

We have been teaching these teen boys volleyball every Tuesday and Thursday at our gym because they play for the same club as we do. There are about 7 of them and they are actually good and seem love like having us as their coaches. I have coached girls before and now being able to coach boys it's nice to see the difference in their attitudes, confidence, skills, and coach ability.

Shelley came home from work one day with good news! She had set us up to meet with these two Irish guys who were exchange students at the college. They wanted to meet up in Naestved(the town about 30km from us) at an Irish pub. It was a Wednesday night and we weren't too sure how the life would be out there but everybody had told us Naestved is much bigger than Vordingborg and to go out there so we jumped at the opportunity. We took the train to meet up with Michael and Brian and hung out with them for about 3 hours before taking the train back home. They were so funny. It was refreshing being around these Irish guys not only because of their accents but they were laughing the entire time! Shelley did a nice job at finding us new friends especially of the opposite sex hahaha.

Thursday night, we had been told, was military night at the disco. Since the military base is at the end of our street and the disco is at the other end of the street we decided maybe we should go check out the scene and see these guys that are living so close to us haha. After practice we came home, showered, got ready, and were out of the house by 12am(ya that seems late but we didn't get home from practice until 1030pm and the disco is open till about 330 on Thursdays and 5am on Saturdays). We got to the disco and realized that it was going to be an interesting night, not only were we way over dressed, but we stuck out like sore thumbs being that we knew nobody there. I lead the way inside through all the military guys and 5 girls there at the time straight to the other side of the room so I could get a full look at the "fellas" in this place hahha. Both of us dressed up like we would if we were going out in Cali were in quite different attire than those who were in jeans and t-shirts at this place. We stood for a little while looking at them as they looked at us and assuming they knew right off the bat we were from another country. We decided it was time to get some drinks from the bar and as we are up there Shelley handed me my Coke Light (Diet Coke as we call it) and right away a guy comes up and starts speaking to me in Danish. I give him a glance and tell him English please and he asks why in the world we just bought our own drinks hahhaa. That was the beginning to it all. From that point on word traveled around that we were the Americans from California and a lot of them had seen us in the newspaper. It was funny watching them try and not let us talk to other guys because they wanted all of our attention and such. Shelley and I were loving every minute of it lol. They were all very nice and their English was good which made it easy to understand them. Some of them were only 19yrs old while others were 24yrs old so the age ranged vastly. In all it was a fun night and was a good experience and we were told we were REQUIRED to be there on Thursdays. Of course we told them only if we don't have a game on Friday, but we had no problem hanging out.

Speaking of volleyball, since that's what I'm out here for lol, we had a buy this weekend. Like I had mentioned previously we were trying to go on a trip somewhere but having to be back for practice on Monday and not having a lot of time to plan this we decided it wasn't the best idea and just to do stuff locally. We went with a teammate to Naestved again yesterday to go shopping. I was looking for boots, which I didn't find because my size is not a common thing to carry here and the stores that did have it I was too picky about. Instead, I found a dark grey leather jacket and black tank-top to wear under it. It was a successful day! hahaha. Afterwards, we met up with Line's(remember it's pronounced like Lina) friend Casper and went to watch his soccer game-he's injured so wasn't playing. It was sooooo damn cold! hahaha. Overall it was a good day and being out shopping was cool. I really like the town of Naestved with its downtown center and big church along with all the shops.

Last night Denmark played Sweden in soccer which is a HUGE occasion out here. We went to HP's house where Him and Pape were dressed in their national team jerseys and other garments to support their home country. It was funny to see them decked out with pride and also fun watching the game with them.

I am still having a blast here in Denmark. This week we really need to focus volleyball wise because our next 3 weeks are against tough teams and we MUST win! Miss you all at home and I will be sure ot keep you posted more frequently.

Hej Hej,

Knus(hugs)

Britt

Brittany Deen

So, I'm no Paula Deen in the kitchen, but let me tell you something....this taco meat I just made totally hit the spot and was SUPAH! It is nice to be in the apartment where I can cook my own food and actually do so, instead of eating out or living off of rice-cakes with peanut ahahha. I'm going to expand my horizons and try new things so be prepared for my new and mature taste-buds to come out haha.
We won our game in Copenhagen the other day in 3 straight. It was a good match but we need to work out our kinks and get things running smoothly again. Practice yesterday was cancelled because Lars, our coach was sick, so it gave everybody one more day to fire up for a great practice. Today, we had that GREAT practice. We upped our intensity and worked hard as a unit which was nice. I was happy with the overall outcome of practice today.
Shelley and I are deciding on whether or not we are able to leave the country this weekend because we don't have a match. Our options are; Paris, London, or Prague. We are still trying to work out all the details and we should be making our final decision tomorrow. If we don't go travelling we are going to go to the near-by towns with our teammates for a little bit of shopping and fun! Not much else to update with---I miss you all and will keep posting!

Sov Godt
Hugs and Kisses
Britt

Game tomorrow

pic from in the forest

from the bike path leaving the harbor going towards the forest

oh the beautiful harbor!

It's been a little while since I have updated this thing, sorry about that! Things are going very well out here. The weather is changing, getting colder, and the leaves on the trees are changing colors and starting to fall! Looks like it's time to start bundling up! hahaha. I was so excited to see the sun this past week and took advantage of it by going for a bike ride to the harbor and then riding on a path along the water and then through the forest for a solid 3 hours. It was so beautiful. In the forest we came across some pheasants and I definitely chased them on my bike while gobbling like a turkey. Shelley thought it was hysterical and wishes she had it on camera, I thought it was totally normal hahah.

Last night we went to my teammate Line's house (pronounced Lina) and had a great time with her, her boyfriend Michael, her friend Casper and then myself and Shelley. We ate dinner and then played games and enjoyed each other's company. It was nice being around such cool and funny people and having a good time.

Today we came home from Line's house and hung out for a little while before going to watch the men's team play in Copenhagen. They had a rough game and were not gel-ling as a team so it was a bit painful to watch. But it was nice none-the-less and cool to hang out with them.

Tomorrow we have a match in Copenhagen ourselves at 7pm and it is a must win. I will update asap with the results. The best news this week came from my parents when they told me that they are coming out in December! I am sooo excited and can't wait!

Sov Godt

Hugs and Kisses
Britt