And everybody's bouncing off the walls.
(I dare you to guess this song)
Monday saw the my stay in Denmark officially reach the One Week mark. Far out. Anyway, waking up at 6:40 once again, we ate breakfast and ran, because I am always the last one ready. Freddy and I had maths (well, Freddy did maths, I ignored it and hoped it would go away) and then art history, which I actually engaged in. We had a look at realism and impressionism, and I showed Freddy some works by Salvador Dali, and some of his less famous works that I have researched in art. We stopped class early, however, because the class was having it's Christmas Lunch, where everybody brought something to share.
It was really cute, like a little family Christmas party. Freddy had made a ton of little tiny bikkies, which turned out to be far too many, so we ended up carrying the massive tin around for the whole rest of the day. We finished school before one, but Mathilde's bus to pick me up and take me with her to her music school wasn't coming until 10 past 2, so Freddy decided that in order to kill an hour we would go the the new trampoline park that opened next to the school last Friday. This proved to be a great idea.
First of all, when we arrived there was another Christmas tree (Yay Real Christmas trees), and then I had to sign a waiver saying that if I were to horrifically injure myself, mangingling every part of my body, I can't sue them. We were also given pairs of non-slip socks. I don't know how many of you have been to trampoline parks before and received these kind of socks, but they have strips of silicon on the bottom. The ones at my local trampoline park, The Big Boing, are black and all things considered, pretty tame. Not here. Oh no, not in Denmark, Christmas Lovers Supreme. Our socks were a fluorescent green colour, with the stylised face of rudolf gracing the top of my foot. The bottom was even more Christmassy, with red strips that rival the apparent shininess of the famous reindeer's nose.
We had to wait for 20 minutes in the change rooms for the safety briefing video, that mainly consisted of employees demonstrating what not to do, which resulted in some pretty spectacular slo-mo falls that had me in stiches, much to Freddy’s embarrassment.
When we were let in to the trampolines, it became even more clear how out of place the two of us were. The eldest child there couldn’t have been more than 8 or 9, but we had already payed, so I was determined to have a good time. First, we did battle over a foam pit with giant padded batons, and unsurprisingly, I lost to Freddy and the height advantage given by his 6 ft. 5 stature. We raced on the main trampolines and I came out victorious, possibly because I “Forgot to mention” that we were racing to the end *and back*. Front flips into a foam pit also proved eventful, as I was rapidly swallowed by the substance. This was my first time in a foam pit, and if you’ve not experienced it, it is a bit like falling into a ball pit, except unlike the balls, the foam pit is hell-bent on consuming you- constantly sucking you down to the depths of the pit with remarkable resemblance to quicksand. One on one dodgeball demonstrated to Freddy just how little physical exercise I have undertaken in my lifetime, as probably 1 in 20 balls thrown hit their mark. To be fair though, Freddy was bouncing around more than Bindi and The Jungle Girls on stage.
With the time the bus was to come rapidly approaching, we packed up and left the Trampoline park to get to the bus stop on time, where we found Mathilde waiting. Successfully navigating the buses once more, Mathilde and I made it to her music school where she first had a private lesson. Despite not knowing exactly what was being said, trust me when I say that my music lessons are exactly the same, right down to the frustrated huffing when we mess up a note. Afterwards we had to wait for Orchestra, however that didn’t start until 5, so we took a bus to a convenience store nearby to get some snacks. On the way, I met the most adorable little 4-year-old called Ciara, who was apparently determined to talk to me despite not speaking the same language. Using her mum as a translator, she asked me about where I was from and what my name was. She then demanded that we have a playdate. Mathilde and I were awwing throughout the entire exchange, as the little thing really was too cute. Stocked up on lollies from the lolly bar and a bag of chips, we made our way back to the school.
When we arrived, a lady from the school gave me a viola, apparently to borrow for the next few weeks, and it was then that I discovered that Mathilde had arranged for me to play in her orchestra. That evening. Having never laid eyes on the music before. For those of you that are not particularly musically inclined, sight reading a new piece, in a group of people that have played it for months is really quite daunting, especially if you suck at sight reading as much as I do. ever the less, I was so grateful that Mathilde had gone to such lengths to make me feel included.
While waiting for orchestra to start, I thought it the perfect time to try some of the lollies I had gotten. The first thing I put in my mouth was a large flat gummy lolly covered in crystals that I had assumed to be sour. Good Lord, I was wrong. The immense saltiness hit me immediately, I swear, it was like I had taken a chunk out of a salt lamp. It kind of burned, and my first instinct was to spit it out so hard that it would not be in any vicinity of my person, however, I remembered that I was in a room with other people, so I persisted. Once I began chewing, in an effort to get it over with quicker, I realised my second mistake. It was not gummy. This was some unholy variation of Liquorish that looked like dark green gummy lollies at first glance. Combine this with the saltiness, and you have one of the worst things I have ever put in my mouth. Once I managed to get the thing down, I found myself wary of the rest of the lollies, suspicious of more deception. It was at this point that I made the courageous decision to get back on the horse and eat some more, however, like a soldier with PTSD, I kept having flashbacks every time I would take a bite.
After that horrifying experience over with, we made our way across the street to where rehearsals for Orchestra were. I readied the viola, that after 11 years of being leant out to students looked like a toddler had been at it with a chisel. I was introduced to the orchestra as the new viola player from Australia, so I felt the need to lower their expectations just a tad and let them know that I am not particularly good, in any sense of the word. That said, Orchestra went pretty well, all things considered, and I surprised myself at how generally okay I was. I was exhausted by the last piece though, and I figured out my ability to concentrate had slipped after I found myself not putting enough pressure on the strings to actually make a sound. Afterwards, the lady that have given me the viola let me know that I could take it home to practice with, which was quite lovely. Freddy turned up then to take us home, and after a nice meal consisting of fish in creamy noodles (a lot better than I have described) I made my way to bed.
One week down guys!