The Højskole

After breakfast on Monday, we walked past the house to pick up one of the papers we needed to get our bank account opened, and were excited to see that we received our official "yellow cards" in the mail. That meant we didn't need the papers :) We can now go to the library, the doctor (hopefully not necessary), and anywhere else we need to go. Jeff, Svea and I took a walk up to the bibiotek so he could check on inter-library loan for the texts for some of his courses this semester, and the kind librarian showed us where the children's section is (complete with videos and cartoons that will help the kids learn Danish) as well as where the English section is for me. Then she showed us how to check out books ourselves. We were amazed that with the yellow card, you can access the library during off-hours, when it is not staffed! Starting at 6am, you can go to the library, open the door with your card and passcode, and check out books, or read, or whatever you need to do. Amazing! The library is staffed starting at around 10am.

I also received my letter from SURS about retirement, which I need to respond to within 30 days of starting this leave. I was surprised and impressed that it arrived here at our temporary home in a reasonable amount of time -the person I had talked to at SURS said he could enter the Danish address as a temporary one for me, and I was glad to see that it worked out just as it should have.

The boys are having a terrific time at school here! They come home exhausted each afternoon and just bursting with excitement to tell us all they did and learned. On the walk home, I asked what they had learned. Anders said "we don't learn here, we just play. We only learn on Mondays" :) That is the day they have their extra Danish language session. While I don't think it's true that they only learn on Mondays, it was fun to hear that they are having so much fun.

Svea likes the mommy-and-me time she is getting here. Each morning she plays for a bit, then seeks out her milk, her dolly, and sits in my lap until it is time for a nap. At nap time, she walks up the stairs and just goes to sleep. Then we go to lunch with Jeff.

I still haven't figured out the fancy coffee pot / espresso machine here at the house, but today I was able to use the French press and made some decent coffee :)

I realized I haven't yet posted any photos of the Højskole. Here are some of them: I love all the flowers everywhere, especially the roses growing up all of the columns.

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 This building below posts the 1863 date. It's very neat to see all of the very old buildings around here.

Svea thought she should go for a walk around the grounds. Someone had just gone inside that building, and she thought maybe she should as well.

 Below is the dining hall. What an ingenious way to store the chairs! There is a wire piece attached to the table, and you slide the chair onto it when you are finished eating, so they are all off the floor for easy cleaning. The tables in the middle are where the food is placed before people are dismissed to fill their plates.

 This is the new arts building. I haven't yet been inside, but hope to see more of the neat things they create in here.

This is one courtyard in the middle of the grounds. Just to the right of the photo is the residence hall, and the building behind the bench houses some rooms as well. It is very quiet and peaceful here.

 This also is a courtyard -Jeff said it's fairly new and they are trying to decide on the best ways to get people to use it. I believe the intent is for the students here to brainstorm ways to get good use of it.

 At the street corner, you see signs with an arrow pointing in the direction of whatever the sign indicates. Here, you see you will turn down this street to get to the Højskole.