I give up

Yes, I give up trying to understand this Canadian weather. It is so unpredictable, and so, so strange. It completely amazes me, and in the same time so annoying! Remember I told you around one week ago how 'summer had finally come to Canada' and how it was 23 degrees celsius? Well, that rapidly changed today. When I went out for lunch buddies today I was amazed; 3 centimetres of snow was lying on the ground that I had not seen just 2 hours earlier. THIS is called quick change in weather! And it was freezing! So I could say that I, Bella, have experienced snow the 18th of April. Dirt sauce!

Another student took this. But that's how it looked like!

Other than that I've finally got hold of some pictures from my Badminton tournament at another school (North Lambton Collegiate Vocational Institute) last wednesday, which went all right. It was a tournament for fun, to meet the other teams and such. We won 3 out of 5 games, hopefully we can do it better next time. I think we can! Either way, it was fun, and our team - the Lancers - are all so funny, so it was a good day.

My partner (his name is Lukas by the way) in action

Me in action. Yes, we wear protection glasses. 

Ever heard of Dill/Vinegar Popcorn? It's strange, but good

Let us hope for some better weather soon. In three days I will be heading to Thunder Bay to my family who immigrated to Canada generations ago. It's so exciting! Tomorrow is Arts Apprecation Night, next Tuesday a badminton tournament, next Thursday is the day of Spring Music Night, and in two weeks Unison!, and festival for JazzAttack. And then eventually a trip to New York will be in between.  So yeah, I've got a very busy schedule :-)

The soft beating,

The sound of movement

For the better 

Will make us walk

Stop load tweaking

The sound will pour 

And I will let it go

From the house in the woods

We can keep it, or watch it change

We might sleep, sleep comes the most

W can keep it, or watch it fall

Over the top till it all comes down

-- Efterklang - The Soft Beating ---

It's summer, it's sun, and it's sunday

Det er sommer, det er sol, og det er søndag! Yes, summer (or what is close to it) has finally come to Canada. It's hard to imagine that two weeks ago, snow was lying around on the ground, and now it is 23 degrees celsius! Talking about quick change in the weather...
So what is on everybody's lips is of course the talk about prom. Honestly, I haven't made many thoughts to it. The only thing I know is what group I am going with, and that is probably it. I haven't got a date or a dress yet, lol... We'll see how everything turns out. I'm just kinda excited for the 'after-party.'

Friday was the day of Spring Fling, it was yet another dance at the school. It was quite funny, not as funny as the other two dances, but decent :) Everyone were wearing very coloured clothes, I'll see if I can upload a picture to this blog post later perhaps. None were wearing formal clothes, it was actually very strange clothes... I saw one guy who I thought was going to yodel because of his very Bavarian outfit...

Yesterday went with more badminton practice and going to the cinema with my buddies Lindsay and Andrés, and today I went skating (one of the last times) and played soccer with the people from Oil Springs. Just felt like telling how awesome it is to sit on grass again, being out not wearing a sweater, it just felt sooo much like summer, it was great!

Maddie, Lindsay and me

King/Queen for a day

Today was a not-ordinary school day. The day started out with a usual Senior Band practise and  then afterwards I had music. Of course on the announcements they started out playing 'O Canada' and then afterwards they said something like this: "Bella Engberg has won the chair-for-charity contest and we hereby declare her Queen for a Day." (The competition was kinda a lottery I bought tickets for, where a club called Beyond Ourselves raised money for Japan.) It was absolutely hilarious and I turned completely red in my face... haha but everyone clapped in my class. After the announcements my two music teachers made me come down to sit in the middle of the class (the music room is set as a amphitheatre to help the placings of the instruments in the Orchestra.) I got smarties and root beer and a little crown (which I soon took of, haha.) So for the rest of the class, even when I played clarinet, I had to sit there in a comfortable chair. The whole school day people walked around and carried the chair to my classes. It was very funny! I got a refreshment in English class with yet another Root Beer and a bag of chips. 

Unfortunately I do not have any photos from today, but my teachers took some, so I'm sure I'll get a copy somehow or it will be in the yearbook. Instead of a picture I present to you the one and only video of me and my buddy Rachel singing at my Final Performance in Vocal Music back in January. As I like to mess up movies and make them more funny, I tried some things on this movie... but then afterwards I couldn't figure out how to turn it back! So now you'll have to see it in black/white. Another thing is that I feel that I've got a lot better at singing, so do not judge me! I put this up because of some requests and it is only an extract of the whole song because otherwise it'll take years to upload... Due to privacy and such I'm deleting the video in two months ... I think

Just keep your arms open wide

Don’t say no to anyone

But keep your heart safe inside

Don’t let go to anyone

And keep your heart safe from harm

Safe and warm in your hand

And raise above the trials of love

- Tina Dickow - 

Coming home

The 28th of March I came home from my vacation in Tobago. I stepped out after the immigration and realized that I ended at the same spot in Toronto Airport as I did when I came over for the first time. Except this time, a YFU representative wasn't there to help me, and this time I did not have the not-knowing-what-is-coming feeling, this time I knew what was coming when I got back to Oil Springs. It was a strange thing. But it felt good, it made med feel like I was home. Because Canada feels so much like home. I realized when I was on vacation that I missed my Canadian friends, and that when I will leave in July it will be absolutely horrible.


At school I've had a lot of things to catch up on. Because I've been sick almost the whole week, I haven't felt very good and because of the tons of homework I haven't had time to sleep really. So today I slept in till  about one o'clock in the afternoon. It was very appreciated.


Today I went swimming and playing badminton at the community centre, and after that I went to see my friend Rachel (who wanted to get mentioned in this blog, lol) play at Coffeelodge in Petrolia. She is a good singer, and she also sang with me for my final perfomance in Vocal Music. It is nice to sit there and listen to good music while chatting and just having a good time :-)


Allright I think that was all for now, maybe you did not understand the first thing I said in the blog. I just had to come out with it, you know? Cheers

Tobago (March Break)

Okay since I do not get much feedback from people considering going on exchange or just people generally, I'm a bit uncertain about how I am going to continue a blog that isn't being followed. So I'm not sure whether I will continue writing. Though I will, of course (as promised) tell you what I've experienced the last two weeks of my vacation. I will do this by translating some of the pages from my travel diary for you...


"March 14th 2011 - Monday - ...We had to wait 5 hours in Toronto Airport before we could board and we 'killed the time' by going on a restaurant, playing cards and such. I showed my host parents the 'Danish' way to play fish. Right now we are on the plane, it is a small plane, and we have a long way ahead of us. Now we are going to watch the new Narnia movie... don't know what is is called, but it is number 3...."


"March 15th 2011 - Tuesday- ...Oh yeah we landed in Trinidad and were able to take an earlier plane to Tobago. I got greeted with an unbelievable heat. Tropical, eh? Pat and Gordon (my host dad's sister and her boy friend) came and got us at the airport and we drove home to the apartment. We live about 15-10 meters from the beach, the view is amazing, and the apartment huge. I got a dip in the pool and in the salt water and suddenly realized that I was tired and had a jet lag. So I took a huge nap and I've been reading and drawing ever since...."


"March 17th 2011 - Thursday - ...Today we went to the south coast of Tobago. It was an amazing trip, very beautiful. We drove to Charlotteville, a small little village which had a very special atmosphere. Small (rotten) stores, freshly caught fish, salt water and old bikes and cars. You could hear Bob Marley singing in the background "No Woman No Cry." We walked around, talked with the locals, and saw fishermen in action...."


"March 19th 2011 - Saturday - ...I started out the day by spending an hour or so in the sun and after that on the beach. Few hours later I went diving with some americans who instructed me. What beautiful fish I saw! There were small ones, in yellow-blue-red colours, and I saw quite a big a flounder... I also saw a 'Scorpion Fish' which they all instructed me NOT to touch. When I got back to the apartment I heard the news about the coalition attacking in Libya; gosh, couldn't the world soon get better?..."


"March 20th - Sunday - ...Harris, our local guide came and picked me, my host dad, and Gordon up. We drove to the northwest coast in a minibus. Quite a terrifying experience because the roads were so narrow. It might even beat the small roads I've seen in the alps of Europe. But what a nice view: To the left --> coast and to the right --> rain forest. Finally we turned right and stopped in the absolute middle of the island where we got boots in the right sizes to protect us from mud. And then we went on a hike! I learned a lot about some biological stuff in the rain forest, and the Tobagonian history about the rain forest and how it was the first 'preserved' rain forest. Other than that I went swinging in the wines like Tarzan, which wasn't really that hard. Even my host dad tried. We also passed a big termite 'house'. When I just touched very slowly, termites quickly came out soo quickly. The guide said we had try to eat. And so I did... "Tasted like Chicken.." After the hike we drove to Argyle Waterfall which was absolutely beautiful and I enjoyed it very much. I went and took a dive in the pool underneath it and tried to be directly under the fall... It kinda hurt my head. I also saw huge Bamboo trees (no Pandas though, haha.) ..."


"March 23rd 2011 - Wednesday - Today I woke up early to get picked up by a guy called Michael who drove us to a Glass-bottom-boat tour together with to women from Quebéc, Canada. So in this boat you could see in the bottom what was underneath the boat. We drove pass Coral Garden, which was absolutely amazing. Sooo many fish.... And then they let us snorkel in Coral Garden too. 




I will write more. Just give me some time.,,, I have home work to do too.. Tomorrow I will put an end to this!


Here are some pictures from the trip: 

Waiting in Toronto International Airport

Bad Plane food

First view from the balcony

Yes they drive on the opposite side of the road, and they also play cricket  

BaBaQ? Oh so that's the rasta way to say it

Just a very nice sunset

King's Beach. Nice, eh?

In the rain forest

This is me feeling like Tarzan

A souvenir from the diving 

Argyle Water fall. The woman in the back is from America and the guy was our guide

My daddyoh and me... eating warm food... on a beach

Yeah the local fishermen said they created this  mountain  in a weekend

Another Tarzan picture

Me playing the steel drums which were invented in Trinidad/Tobago

I guess I haven't mentioned that I am now officially on the badminton team. My buddy Lindsay wrote to me that I was on the team. Of course I didn't know if I was going to play single, double, or mix. But I found out today. I'm going to play mix with a guy called the same name as my brother. It's going to be so much fun! 


I do very much agree with a lot of people now. This time of year as an exchange student has been the best so far. Not only because of the vacation, but also in school. Things are starting to melt together and I'm keeping myself busy and enjoying every bit of it. And I love my school here, my friends, my host family, just my every-day-life. Home sickness would be a complete waste of time by now, and I haven't experienced it for a looong time. 

We were lost in the dark but we've opened the door 
We're afraid cause this thing's never happened before 
There's a fear making noise in the back of your head 
But there's no need to be afraid crawl back in my bed 

Get in line for the sunshine 
Get in line for the sunshine 

- Ginger Ninja -

Badminton update

I just wanted to make a little bit of an update on how it is going with the try outs for Badminton. I've had two and there is one more after March Break,  I'm not going to be there because of my vacation, but that won't matter (...said the coach.) Okay, so I am hoping to get on the team since I really like the people on the team. I like the fact that we play singles/doubles/mixed doubles (boys and girls.)  And of course I will hopefully be on the senior team, which makes everything a bit more challenging! But that is what is funny! 


The try outs went well, and I think there would be a spot for me on the team. This all very exciting to me since I've never been on a high school sports team. I didn't play hockey, I didn't play volley ball, I didn't play basket ball ... No. This will mean that I'm very busy through all the weeks since I've got Senior Band and JazzAttack too. 


Now that we talk about JazzAttack... In the moment we are singing "Bohemian Rhapsody" which is a very cool piece of music, but also extremely hard to sing since a lot of the harmonies are terribly close together. But when we do it right, it does sound quite good. 


I am deeply sorry that I can not give you pictures, I haven't been active with my camera lately...  I will for sure change that on my vacation. So I am just going to warn you guys now; as of Monday the 14th of March till the 28th of March, there wont be any blog posts because of my holiday on the island of Tobago. I am very, very excited, and I am of course going to take a lot of pictures for you to see afterwards. 


Allright, thats all for now! I've been quite busy the last couple days, resulting in being tired all the time! I guess it is a thing to get used to. Cheers

The past week

This week has actually been quite un-eventful! But in another way it has still been nice. I have been trying several things with my gym class, including curling, broom ball on ice, and going to the fitness room... most of it has been fun, but it is things that we would never had done in gym in Denmark. I just do not like to land on my back all the time because of the ice -.-

We had another Reach for the Top meeting wednesday where I finally got my Reach for the Top-sweater. It looks... I don't know... strange? No that's not the word, it looks fine, it's just a bit big for me. Anyway, we won 2/3 games, and we were close to win against S. Pats with 20 points. And this means we are going to the semifinals!

I've signed up for the Badminton team, since some of my friends wanted me to join. The team plays Mondays and Wednesdays, so it wont interrupt my JazzAttack time. Wauw - it seems like everything fits! I have to go the try out's first though, and I hope I'm good enough. We'll see. It wont be that bad if they tell me that I am not. 

In Seniorband they made me play on the Timphany, it's three drums where you can change the pitch. They are extremely big, and I'm kinda honoured, even though I'm not quite sure how to change the pitches in the middle of the song. I have to play it to a very epic song of course; these drums are meant for those kind of songs!

I think it is fair to say that it is starting to warm up a bit, I've been some seeing grass on the ground since Thursday. It is still cold here. But since it is March (SPRING) and because I'm going on vacation soon, I thought it was a good idea to change to a warmer look on the blog. It's fun to do anyway :)

Today I am going to the cinema with my friend Lindsay, as an old reader of the blog you would probably recognize the name! Let's hope that it does not suddenly start snowing so that we can not go. 

And yes, it is Canada Geese in the picture on the top.

Cheers for now