Before modern times, Danish children used to have a week off from school each fall so that they could help their parents with the autumn harvest.  Although most Danes no longer grow their own potatoes, Week 42 remains a school holiday and has transformed into a work holiday for many adult Danes as well.  My host family is spending the week at my host mom’s parent’s summer house on an island near Jutland.  Though I was invited to join them, I do not have the week off from school and decided that, because I have two group presentations, a midterm, and a paper due next week, I would have to stay behind.  I have been home alone since Sunday afternoon.

The first night was lonely, and it felt strange to cook and eat dinner alone.  But as the week progressed I came to appreciate the silence.  I’ve discovered that cooking dinner for myself can actually be relaxing after a long day in Copenhagen.  I haven’t spent much time at home alone because I’ve spent most of each day in the city either going to class or trying to finish my assignments.  It’s been easier to get my work done when I don’t have to worry about making it home in time for dinner or being disrupted by noises in the house.  Still, I’m looking forward to tomorrow evening when my host family returns home.  After a few days to myself I miss the dinner table conversation and relaxing on the family room couch together with a fire burning in the fireplace.

This week has been my first time food shopping in Denmark.  I’ve been to the supermarket to pick up little things a few times, but I had yet to buy food for a meal.  I could not believe the prices!  I am used to paying outrageous prices here (about $8 for a beer and $12 for a cocktail at the bars), but I still had a bit of sticker shock at the supermarket.  Once I purchased my food for the week I had to get it home, which was no easy feat.  Somehow I managed to bike home with my backpack and two bags from the supermarket.  Then I had to cook the food.  My host family’s oven is pretty high-tech, and, though I often help out in the kitchen cutting potatoes, setting the table, or doing the dishes, I realized that I had never turned on their oven before.  After some trial and error (and a little bit of help from Google Translate) I was able to turn on the oven and cook dinner.

Today has been one of those days where you just want to climb back into bed and stay there until it’s tomorrow.  I had three meetings this afternoon into this evening.  I left the house at 12:45pm so that I would make it into the city by 2pm for my first meeting.  On the train, about 4 stops from home, I realized that I hadn’t brought my train pass with me.  I had brought my purse instead of my backpack and forgot to grab my train pass.  I don’t get my ticket checked every time that I ride the train, but it does happen frequently and the fine for riding the train without a ticket is 750 kroner (about $150).  So, I got off at the next station, nervously took another train back to Køge, rode my bike back to my house to get my train pass, and started my commute all over again.  I finally arrived in the city at 3pm, 15 minutes late for my second meeting.  I’m glad that I went back though, because I got my ticket checked on the way into the city and again on the way home, which means that I would have had to pay a whopping $300 in fines if I hadn’t gone back for my ticket!  Also, between my second and third meeting I lost my cell phone.  Luckily, someone who found it was nice enough to use it to call my friend and I was able to get it back.  After a tiring day in the city, I finally returned home at 9:30pm, chilled to the bone from riding my bike home from the train station in the rain.  Now I am snuggled up in my pajamas and fuzzy socks, drinking tea and typing away on my host family’s new iMac.