Camino 2014: Day 0.6 Copenhagen, Denmark to Paris, France

Bags were packed, apartment cleaned, postcards sent, and very quickly, too quickly, we were all saying goodbye to Copenhagen, Denmark.  It will always be these kids first international travel experience and I believe the bar was set very high.  I think their experience in Copenhagen is best exemplified by the Danish words they very quickly picked up.  "Tak" is the word for "thank you," and the girls began to use it whenever was appropriate, which it turns out, was quite often.  Expanded sentences soon followed, but the kicker is that they always revolved around the word "Tak.". "Tak for mad" they would say, which means thanks for the meal.  Or "Tak for cycletur" or Tak for dag" for a bike ride and thanks for a nice day.  Everything was about saying thanks.  

So, in other words, the reason these kids had such an amazing time in Copenhagen was due to all the people involved along the way.  From Sahra and her immediate family providing food, lodging, and entertainment, to her friends taking us in for dinner and providing rides, you have all made a huge impression on my students in unimaginably positive ways.  We even had Lanie's family's exchange student from ten years ago greet us at the airport. 

Denmark has had a special place in my heart for the last three years, and I'm sure it just won three more enthusiastic fans.

However, we must continue our journey, which has us now flying to Paris despite air traffic controller strikes delaying and canceling some flights.  We will hope for the best and tonight we will sleep with the anticipation of wandering around such places as, the Eiffel Tour, Notre Dame, and The Louvre all day tomorrow.  

Take care!

James

Camino 2014: Day 0.5 Copenhagen, Denmark

Today involved perhaps our best opportunity for the combination of training/sightseeing.  I think all in all, we walked about 8 miles just getting around town.  It started with another wonderful breakfast spread of homemade bread, jam, granola, juice, fruit, and a carton of yogurt.  Yes, a carton of yogurt, like a milk carton.  This was endlessly fascinating to us Americans. 

Rested, showered, and fed, we took off by foot through the now crowded Monday Copenhagen streets.  We were lucky enough to get our bearings on the weekend with fewer people to worry about bumping into, fewer bikes weaving among us, and fewer cars awkwardly driving around in a city where moving about is very much human powered.  We set our course back through the famous shopping streets where we picked up postcards and stamps, and explored some touristy shops for shirt and souvenir ideas for when we return.  We then explored further into the city, stopping briefly at a beautiful church and listening to an organ from the 16th century.  However, our goal for the morning walk was a place called Christania, a semi-autonomous, portion of the city.  It is a really interesting place.  Turns out in 1971, perhaps because of the lack of affordable housing, or the general disillusionment of society, several people broke into what were abandoned military barracks and occupied them.  Eventually declaring themselves a free society, they made a flag, created their own form of government, made new laws, and succeeded in surviving several raids and pressure from the outside. Funny thing is that this "freetown" that broke away from society is that very same society's fourth largest tourist attraction.  We probably didn't see many of the Christania's 1000 permanent residents, but we sure did see a lot of tourists.

On the way back to the apartment, the afternoon thunder showers that made some of the Tivoli rides the day before so interesting, returned.  We took refuge inside a sandwich shop and had lunch.  Intermittent rain followed us all the way back, but we were excited for the second half of the day where we were scheduled to join Sahra's friends for another traditional Danish dinner.  We have been so lucky on this trip to Denmark so far.  Every meal has had some sort of historical or cultural connection.

In order to get to Johanne's house, Sahra walked us over to another friend, Line's apartment, who was kind enough to drive all of us. A short drive later and we were greeted at the door by Johanne, her husband Bjorn, and their two kids, Snorre and Kalle.  Not two seconds after walking in did Lanie have Snorre, the 11 month old in her arms.  I never knew it, but Lanie is great with kids!  A wonderful dinner and dessert followed.  Emily, Lanie, and Mimi have all shed their initial shyness with new culture over the last two days and were in full question mode, which was great.  We learned about Danish culture, history, a few new words, and even learned about underwater rugby.  Seriously!  Look it up!  Johanne is on the Danish National team:)

Line drove us all back, smiling the whole way listening to our attempts at the Danish language.  I couldn't for the life of me get the kids to say one Danish word prior to this trip and now they won't stop.  I suppose that is the difference between learning something just because and learning something that is relevant.  It has now become relevant for them to learn Danish and they are having fun doing it.  

Our night was capped off with another stroll back through the streets to watch the summer bonfire. We arrived a bit late and didn't stay very long, but it was good people watching.  

All in all, another "fantastisk" day in Denmark.  Tomorrow, we pack, clean, and head out to the airport for our flight to Paris, France.

Farvel,

James

Camino 2014: Day 0.4 Copenhagen (Emily)

Today we got to finally meet Sahra's parents, Hanne and Niels-Christean, and they were really nice! After eating breakfast we all walked through the beautiful Kings Garden to Nyhavn (Pronounced as Newhound) After walking around for a little they took us to a hotdog stand for a famous Danish hotdog. The hotdogs came with onions, pickles, spicy mustard, remoulade, ketchup, and fried onions. Mimi and I like our hotdogs plain so we got what they call a "French Hotdog" and everyone is still continuing to give us a hard time for it. 

After Nyhavn we walked down through their famous shopping area on our way to Tivoli, an amusement park near by. Sahra's parents bought us tickets so we could go on any ride we wanted. We started with the oldest wooden roller coaster, the one ride March is comfortable doing. Once we finished that one we headed to the bigger rides, planning on doing every single one. The biggest ones were Dæmon (which we did twice) Vertigo (Twice again. This one pretty much against our will, we only went because Mimi wanted to so bad) The Golden Tower (This one three times because Lanie found a lot of humor in me screaming my head off) and lastly the Aquila which we did once. My personal favorite was the Dæmon.

Once we were done with our long day at the amusement park Sahra's dad picked us up and took us back to the apartment where her family had prepared a delicious dinner. We had stegt flæsk with potatoes and persille sovs (fried pork chops and potatoes and gravy) There we were able to meet her brother Nicolaj, his wife Signe, and their daughter Carolina who is 9 months old. The whole family was so nice, and very welcoming. 

After everyone was done eating, we visited for a while before it was time to say our goodbyes. March thinking we were done for the day went to lay down, only to find out we had some energy left in us and wanted to go down to the park. Sahra showed us the way to a park near by where me and Mimi could kick around a soccer ball, and Lanie and March could pass a volleyball back and forth. While Sahra took back a bike she borrowed, March had the idea to do two on two with the soccer ball. It was me and Mimi against him and Lanie. I'd like to think Mimi and I won :) At a soccer field right next to us a game was going on. It ended in a tie so we were able to watch an exciting shoot out before heading back. We ended our night with some yummy ice cream Sahra bought us and a World Cup soccer game on T.V.

Copenhagen is even better than I imagined! 

Emily

Camino 2014: Day 0.3 Copenhagen, Denmark (Lanie)

Our plane landed in Denmark at around 1pm. I was extremely happy that I made it through that long flight. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and was absolutely freezing the whole way because they ran out of the blankets they were passing out. It worked out okay because as I flipped through the channels on the tiny tv screen, I came across the movie; The Great Gatsby, which I've never seen before. To anyone who hasn't seen it, IT HAS A TERRIBLE ENDING! Anyway, we got off and had our passports stamped for the very first time. We also got to say our first Danish word to the man who was stamping, Tak! (Thanks) 

We walked through this tunnel looking archway to a crowd of people waiting for their friends and family. We were greeted by Sahra, Kathrine (my family's former exchange student), and her friend. It was so cool to see her again after 10 years! They were waving little Danish flags with our names on them which was super cool also. Then we all hopped on a little train that took us to a downtown station. We were in the city of Copenhagen!!! It was crazy beautiful with all the tall old looking buildings. Sahra took us to her brothers apartment we would be staying in and made us a typical Danish lunch for the seven of us. I got to try a couple new things such as a spread they put on bread that was sort of a pâté which I didn't particularly like and hyldeblomst (elder flower) which is a drink that they water down with sparkling water because it's too strong. To me, it tasted like pickles, but it was still pretty good. Haha. 

After lunch, Kathrine asked me if she could take me around town and go on a boat tour. I of course couldn't pass that up. We walked all around while her and her friend talked about the history of almost every building. I took a bunch of pictures in the process. We got on the ferry after we walked around all of the buildings. I was very glad that the tour lady recited her little history lesson in English along with Danish and Russian throughout the ride. About fifteen minutes into the ride, the skies went gray and it started to pour down rain! I got soaked! Kathrine said "Denmark does this and then after ten minutes, the sun is out again." That reminded me of Oregon. Overall, I enjoyed the boat ride with them. We started walking back to apartment after and stopped at a very pretty tall tower called Doctrinamet Dirige. We walked all the way to the top to look at the amazing view. It was cool! 

They dropped me off at the apartment at 7pm and Emily and Mimi were passed out. I was also dead tired and wanted to take a nap, but March told me that it would be easier for me to adjust if I just stayed awake and waited for bedtime and be able to sleep all night. After a little while, we woke them up for dinner. Sahra made lasagna and it was awesome! After that, we went bike riding around town on some bikes that Sahra managed to get for us before we arrived. (Thank you Sahra!) It was very fun experience. We rode to the Little Mermaid statue by the water and took some group photos. We also saw some other statues and the Queen's house along with the other royal family houses. They were gorgeous. Fun fact: When the danish flag is up on top of the house, it means that one of the royal families is home. When the flag is not up, they are away. We were all curious to find out what they were doing inside. Haha! 

I was totally beat when we arrived back home. I got my teeth brushed and March had put in Napoleon Dynamite. I didn't even get to watch ten minutes of it before I slowly drifted off to sleep... 

Goodnight! 

Lanie 

Camino 2014: Day 0.2 New York (Mimi)

I learned quickly that airplanes do not suit me well.  Still recovering from yesterday's night flight and a nice nap after that, I still did not feel fully rested.  

Day two in New York City consisted of sleeping in until 10:30-ish and we took our showers before the long day began.  Breakfast was simply the stash of bagels and croissants Emily had bought in Portland airport.  With a hearty morning mid-day walk we headed to the pier to meet our destiny; the ferry boat tour of Manhattan.  

This boat ride was like no other. One, it was in New York, but also due to us being in NYC,  if you wanted to take a picture, expect twenty other people to be in it with you!  We had many many people in the tour who did not speak English which allowed us to enjoy the different dialogues that surrounded our booth.  

Traffic, immense traffic, surrounded us and I continuously was on my toes ready to dodge a speeding taxi.  We went to get Villa (Pizza) so Em could cross off her bucket list, 'eating pizza in New York' and spotted people walking with Coldstone IceCream, so guess where went next. 

Retreating with our ice cream, another tour bus came so we headed now to the southern part if Manhattan.  We have our bags the whole time so trying to learn how to walk with the bags for the entire day was interesting.  As we headed down to the southern region, our main goal was to see the Twin Towers Memorial.

This historic spot, the Twin Towers Historical Site, held great meaning to March, but I was only five when the Towers were hit.  As he walked ahead to take in the historic values of the site, we held back, giving him space, staring down into the 30 ft fountain.  Real quick fact, the new World Trade Center is 1,776 ft tall.

As I saw all these people there was a quiet sense of sadness and mourning, but barely 20 yards from the North Tower stood the new World Trade Center.  The somber aura was quickly covered by hope and I realized something.  Despite, me barely knowing the history of the Twin Towers, as I was only five years old at the time, this was one of the events that was supposed to divide our country, but it didn't. "E Pluribus Unum"  

So we had barely an hour before we needed to get to the airport to head to Copenhagen, so we were going to take a bus, funny thing is, we couldn't find one that we to Central Park in our allotted hour.  We unfortunately returned to the tour bus and made it to Central Park to get a picture! 

And let us end the day with a grand recognition of the next six to seven hour plane ride. I will tell of how terribly fun we had walking again through security this time hoping our bags were light enough and stressing about our passport legitimacy. So lights out was at midnight- thirty after we boarded our plane 45 minutes late and had a wonderful take-off that accelerated us up to 41,000 ft (12,476 km) over the Atlantic Ocean.

Off to Denmark!

Mimi

Camino 2014: Day 0.1 Portland to New York

The epic, sheer wattage of Times Square is enough to impress anyone, even the travel weary, eyelid heavy kids I loaded onto a double-decker bus for a night tour of Manhattan.  Lanie, Emily, and Mimi survived the twelve plus hours of airline travel, layovers, and delays starting Portland the night before only to succumb to a deep nap in the middle of what was supposed to be a full day of New York City sightseeing.  We were able to get some food from a pizzeria, but by the time 3pm rolled around, all we could think about was that nap.  Time changes can disrupt even the most enthusiastic of travelers.  However, the power nap worked and with showers all around we set out for a night tour of Manhattan.  I had done these tours in South Africa and loved them so when I knew we would get the opportunity to do one in New York, I couldn't pass it up.  Luckily we have a really supportive Boosters Club at our school and they agreed to cover the costs of the tickets for us.  Thanks!  And the tour didn't disappoint either.  Our guide was funny, insightful, and involved our kids several times on the ride.  We laughed, saw beautiful buildings and bridges, and by nightfall rounded a street corner to the fully decked out, lit up wonder world of Times Square, equal in its ability to both inspire awe and overwhelming commercial revulsion all at the same time.  You couldn't help but smile, though.  We even continued to smile, chuckle I dare say, as it began to rain quite heavily and persistently right at the end of our tour.  Emily spotted a Disney store through the sheets of rain and made it very clear that it would be nice to go inside.  We sliced and diced through the throngs of people, avoiding only the largest of the puddles to the entrance.  It continued to rain as we left, now looking for a dinner of some sorts.  A suitable place which allowed us to grab what we wanted cafeteria style and pay by the pound appears in front of us and we dig in and again, smiles abound.  It's really nice to know that even after a long long day of travel, these three kids can muster enough to go out and experience new things.  For what I know about the journey they will  take on the Camino, this bodes well.

We are currently sitting in our room, making phone calls home to family and friends, journaling, and trying to sort out what tomorrow has in store.  All we know are the "musts."  We must check out of the hotel by noon and we must be at JFK early for a flight to Denmark and 6 more hours ahead in time change.  Other than that, we have a lot of time and a really big and interesting city to further explore.

Tomorrow, I pass the journaling on to the students to reflect in their own words their thoughts, experiences, wise musings and other such notable things.  I hope you enjoy!

Buen Camino,

James

Click on the Facebook link for additional photos!

One More Month! Get Involved!

It's crunch time here in Springfield, Oregon.  Flights, lodging, and other logistics are being finalized as the students make one last push on fundraising.  Whether cleaning houses, doing yard work, or auctioning off beautifully crafted items, the kids have been busy working and collecting donations from friends, family, and anyone else simply inspired by their adventure.  At the same time, not only do these kids have to fundraise to fulfill the financial side of this journey, but they also have to physically prepare themselves.  Just this weekend we did a quick gear test and hike up along the Mckenzie River.  Shoes held up, packs were adjusted, and smiles were shared.  I can't wait for this adventure to begin!
If you are reading this and looking forward to the kid's daily updates and pictures, please take the time to consider how you may support their journey.

There are many ways to contribute to their trip:

1.  If you know one of the students directly, consider providing a donation straight to them.  Each kid has a journal where they are recording mile sponsorships ($1 per mile) and day sponsorships ($50 per day).  They will thank you directly on the blog when those miles and days are completed on the journey.

2.  If you don't know these kids, but have heard of or followed one of our trips in the past, you may also donate to our club account.  The Adventure/Cycling club at Springfield High is where we are keeping our communal funds.  We will use this to help pay for lodging in the cities we will visit both before and after the trip.  All funds from this go to the kids lodging, not for me or Sahra, so your tax-deductible donation will go directly to the kids.

3. If you have hiked the Camino in the past, or have done some other similar journey and want to share your thoughts/advice with the kids, please email me at james.march@springfield.k12.or.us

4. If you like this blog, please share it!  It just takes a click and these kids reach a whole new audience of people who may feel inclined to help them out.

Buen Camino!
James