January 2021
New year, new chances
As written in my previous post, I have spent some time in Austria. In the end, I had some fun days, but was quite happy to return to Denmark. My mother and my grandmother dropped me off at the airport and I wanted to get on my flight to Amsterdam, in order to take another plane to Copenhagen. Guess what - they changed their restrictions and I wan't able to board without a negative PCR-test, which I didn't have. Great! I took a test for 120€ (in Denmark it's for free) and we drove to the airport again 2 days later. This time it worked and I finally was on my 12-hour-trip to Ollerup.
Vincent, our dog, was extremely happy to see me, as Kristyna moved to another family and he missed his scratchies from us two.
Surprisingly it wasn't weird coming back to my 'host-house' at all. I was greeted warmly again and nothing seemed to change. It was like I never left. The first day, I was feeling a little unsure about the whole Corona situation, but I settled again quickly, so there were no problems at all.
Coming back also made me realise one big thing: how much my personality and habits have changed over the past four months. Not to the worse, but to the better. For example, I don't stress over little things so much or I could leave some things that happened behind. I could move on from so many things, I was surprised. Additionally, I started genuinely enjoying cooking and baking, which i NEVER did in Austria. In fact, I even dreaded cooking. But now, I am curious to learn more and get inspired by my host mom. We try our best. Since I also go on a lot of walks, I can see it on my body. It looks healthier, feels well and functions better. I'm curious what the next half-year will bring!
Shortly after I returned to Denmark, I also returned to work, but a little different. We are all working from home (now even until the end of February), so I had to somehow adapt to that. But I got a lot of support from my mentor, who is very sweet and understanding in terms of home office and working pace. She regularly checks up on me and takes her time to explain my tasks, even if I sometimes need some time to fully understand what is going on. Additionally, our Monday morning meeting is moved to an online meet, which can be irritating, but I really value seeing my co-workers regularly, even if it's on a screen.
My mentor and I also had an "Evaluation Meeting" with ICYE, just to check in how we are doing, how the working atmosphere is and what I am working on right now. It went pretty well, I would say, as my mentor only stated nice and positive things. It made me surer in my tasks and the way I work.
On the other side of the office stands the second hand shops - which is open for Take-Away. That means, we are putting pictures of stuff in the shop on Facebook and people can call to buy it. Of course there is a lot of other stuff (mostly sorting and organising), so I' helping there on Thursdays and Fridays. I love working there more often now, as it's a nice contrast to working from home the rest of the week.
Something else, which is fairly new (and guess what - from home!), is the fact, that I have changed Danish classes at school. From now on I am in evening classes and they only take place once a week. It is extremely annoying to do it at home, but hey, at least I'm learning, right?
Speaking of learning: one day the massive stress and pressure of university hit me. I panicked a little, as I had no clue when, where and how to apply to anything. But i got calmed down by seeing, that I still have some time until the deadlines, so that' okay, I guess.
Due to the Lockdown, we tried to keep ourselves somehow entertained. Baking, walking, reading, watching TV, cooking or being each other's company. But one SUnday, we decided to visit my host parents' daughter. It was a nice day, we got delicious food and spent time together. In the afternoon us girls watched TV, when a familiar intro started playing: Tatort! They showed some old episodes with the Austrian actors. To be honest, it was extremely weird to hear (Austrian) German on Danish TV!
Another thing that kept us occupied, was the handball world championship. Somehow my host parents turnt me into a handball fanatic and I found myself following the Danish team from the semi finals, over the finale until their victory. The only thing I can say: Vi er verdensmestre!!!!
By not going out that much anymore, I started looking after my body again. I even try to make some Yoga! Maybe not daily, but at least now and then. I realised, that fresh air and moving my body is incredibly important to me these days. And also, of course, it can be quite boring with nowhere to go, but I sure know how to keep myself occupied.
On one weekend, Rosa was able to sleep at our place, as my host parents were at their daughter's house. We had a fun evening - we walked, we cooked, drank wine and talked about everything and nothing. She was so sweet to dye my hair! I mean, yes, my host mom dyed over it a week later, but at least now I am happy with my hair colour.
(Beware: 3 pictures incoming)
Negative:
- sometimes feeling like I "loose" time because of Corona
- having problems sleeping
- having really weird dreams once again
- missing going out a lot
- being a little down because of our whole Lockdown-situation
- still having quite anxious days
- always enjoying the sun to the fullest
- finishing my first big crochet piece (even though it is way too big)
- growing fond of a lot of things
- getting used to my new routine really quick
- a nice walk in the sun at the sea with my host parents
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