I survived the heat!

This past weekend was a very active weekend in the Shepler household! On Saturday morning my parents and I (and the dog) got up and out of the house at 6am to drive to Bonham, TX because my parents were part of a bike ride and I was going to cheer them on (and take care of the dog)! I was really excited for them and very happy to support them... until about 5 minutes after they crossed the starting line and I realized it would be 3 HOURS before I saw them (their moto when it comes to "racing" is "we'll get there when we get there!") Luckily I had brought some yarn and a crochet hook so I was able to stay occupied :) Duncan and I tried to walk around a little bit, but he got tired pretty quick so we'd come back to the chairs and he would sleep. My parents said the route was really challenging and they were just happy to finish! But I was really proud of them and I think they did great! :)

Sunday morning I had signed up for a 5k that was connected to the Plano Balloon festival that is literally in my parents back yard! So we got up early again and got to the field in time to see the balloons blowing up and launching before the race.  There was also a half marathon that left an hour before the 5k which at the start line I was thinking "I totally could have done that... " But once the sun came up fully I was REALLY happy I decided to stick with the 5k! lol! Considering that my training over the last few weeks had been at the park in Lyngby where there is PLENTY of shade and the high was only in the upper 60's the change in environment was pretty severe and I was completely unprepared!

The course was actually really nice and flat and if it weren't for the sun beating down and the HEAT I would have probably had really good time. But I had forgotten that half of the course was out in the open and there was ZERO shade to be found for the last mile or so, but thankfully I had brought a small bottle of water with me which was good and I only slowed down to take a sip a couple times so overall I was really happy with the race :) I finished in about 36 minutes so not setting any speed records, but it was a nice fun run! :) And I have another race bib for my collection! :)

 After the race they had a breakfast area set up for the runners and I had grabbed a little bottle of water, 2 bananas, a couple slices of bacon, orange juice and coffee and was heading back to find my parents when I saw one of the half marathon runners pretty much collapse in front of me!! He didn't pass out, but he knelt to the ground and was not looking so good so I went over and asked if I could bring him anything and he asked for juice first so I handed him my orange juice and then I gave him my extra banana because he said his calf was cramping up, by this time one of the actual medical people had spotted him and was bringing some ice compacts and towels so I asked if he needed anything else and he said no so I got out of the way for the medics to help but it was really crazy! I felt so bad for him! (But part of me wanted to ask "well WHY did you run so fast??? lol! Slow Down!!!" But I didn't think that's what he wanted to hear at that time lol!)

Other than that, I'm really enjoying my time in Dallas and I have LOVED seeing my friends and family, its been soooo nice to spend time with everyone again! :)

XOXO

Joy

Favorite things and not-so-favorite things

Since I will be heading back to the states in just about a week, I thought I would do a little round-up of things I'm REALLY looking forward to in the states and things about Denmark that I will miss while I'm there (keep in mind, this trip is SHORT so I will probably be too busy seeing everyone that I miss so much to really notice anything else, but my Nov-Jan trip will take some adjusting!)
Things I miss from the States (Aside from the people which I have mentioned countless times by now!)

1) MEXICAN FOOD!!!! I went to a cafe for a friend's birthday (who's also american) and we decided to split the "nachos"... I'm pretty certain all the guy in the kitchen did was take a GIANT plate/bowl thing and pour an entire bag of tortilla chips in it and sprinkle a little bit of cheddar cheese on top.... THIS DOES NOT MAKE IT NACHOS!!!! It also came with a cute little side plate with a tiny scoop of sour cream, salsa, "guacamole style dip", and a couple other dips that shouldn't really be associated with "nachos". To say the least I cannot wait to go to Fuzzy's and Chipolte and El Fenix. Not to mention being able to buy corn tortillas (those have apparently not made their way across the ocean yet... as a gluten free girl that's kind of a bummer)

2)Massive amount of choices in grocery stores! On that note, there are soooooo many things I took for granted that you can find at just about any grocery store in the states that is impossible or absolutely ridiculously priced. A can of frosting (Like the ones you can get in the states for like $1.50 in pretty much ANY flavor imaginable) costs roughly $7.00!!!!

3)SHOPPING! Not even fancy shopping- I've never been a designer label girl, but going to the craft stores and not having to spend a small fortune to get supplies for a couple projects is going to be cool. (Yes wedding related projects mostly, but some other stuff too) Mostly just not going into shock every time I see a price tag on almost anything over here! A friend of mine gave me the tip that I shouldn't try to convert things back to $$ but just go with it in DKK and sometimes I'm ok doing that but when I'm looking for toothpaste over here and realizing that every tube is like $15 its a little hard to bite the bullet and buy it! So I can say with certainty that there will be at least a couple trips to my favorite Clothes Mentor to stock up on new sweaters and cold weather stuff!

4)CUSTOMER SERVICE! I know we complain about rude waiters in the States, but honestly they are no where NEAR as bad as some of the waiters I've had over here (although I have had a couple very lovely waiters, but its definitely NOT the norm) I am convinced the difference comes from tips- in the states its standard to tip for good service so you have a little bit of leverage and your waiter is usually "working for their tips", but in Denmark it is not common at ALL to tip so the staff doesn't really care if you're happy or not. Last night I went to dinner with Klaus' sister and we had probably the WORST service I have ever had in my life and really the only thing we can do is just not go back to that restaurant.... :( The waitress still got paid the same and couldn't have cared less that we waited for 30 mins for our food AND drinks and then they were still wrong... :(

Things about Denmark that I will miss: (Again aside from the friends who I will miss dearly!)
1) KLAUS but that's pretty much a given! I've gotten so used to having him close that going back to Skype dates and emails is going to be pretty tough, add to that the fact that we will be trying to plan a wedding from separate continents... :( Yeah definitely not looking forward to leaving him here in Denmark...

2)Hyggeligt or "Cozy-ness" of Denmark- There's actually not a good translation of this word, but cozy is probably as close to one as possible. It refers to the atmosphere and mindset mostly. Danes will refer to dinner with friends as Meget Hyggeligt or "very cozy" This comes into play a lot when you consider that going out with friends is much less common and typically people will spend time at home with friends instead. Its very relaxing and a big change from what I was used to of going OUT to meet my friends for dinner or whatever. And I've been told Denmark gets even MORE hyggeligt when the weather gets colder! :)

3)Nature- I mean seriously I only have to walk a couple of minutes and I can be in the middle of the most gorgeous wooded area or near a beautiful lake or the park with all the deer! Its stunning here and I still have to pinch myself to make sure its all real!

4)Transportation without a car! I haven't driven a car since I left Texas- yes we have one, but Klaus uses it mostly to get to and from work, otherwise we typically take public transportation (buses, trains, metro) or we walk or I ride my bike! :) And I LOVE IT! :) Danes like to complain about their s-tog (one of the trains) system but I have had very little trouble with it and actually really enjoy using it to get to and from the city, its only about a 15 minute ride and it gives me time to read or play on my phone or whatever instead of being stressed out by traffic and other crazy drivers on the road! And riding my bike is AWESOME! I use it almost everyday to get to and from the gym or the grocery store or any of my other errands that I need to get done! The thing about bikes in Denmark is that the roads are actually set up for them, literally almost every road has a lane between the cars and the sidewalk called the "cykelsti" (like pigsty but bike-sty) and drivers are used to seeing bikers around and know to look out for them when making a turn. As well as other bikers and walkers too. So I feel very safe riding my bike along a busy road because I'm in my lane and I know that when I signal that I will turn the cars know what that means! :)

 

5) THE WEATHER!!! I have been trying not to brag about the weather here because I know how hot it is in Texas, but I gotta say I'm totally going to miss the 60-65 degrees when I'm sweating to death in triple digits!!! :( I've signed up for a 5k while I'm in Texas so we'll see if I pass out from heat stroke before I cross the finish line or after... I really like running here when its nice and cool and there's a soft breeze... And I love the fact that I've actually had to break out my nice comfy sweater jacket to wear around the apartment in the evenings :)

 

I'm sure that there's a lot of little things from both sides of the ocean that I will begin to realize are missing, but for now I am loving my life and I am also super excited to go back to Texas for a few weeks! :)

XOXO,

Joy