Parking Lot Party

This Saturday evening I had the privilege to join my host family and all their neighbors at a neighborhood party. First we went out to what seemed like an old landing strip in an abandoned military base, sounds sketchy but it was just a place that had open space. Here we made kites from sheets of plastic and wooden sticks. The Children as well as the adults were having a great time, and even heavy rain on and off didn't stop these people from enjoying each others company, having fun crafting. It was a very light competition of whose kite would fly the best, unfortunately Morten's (and my) kite didn't end up functioning too well, but it was fun working together with my host brother and the neighbors to make this kite.

After we went home to dry off and warm up for a little, we headed down the street to where they had a tent set up with tables in a sort of parking lot area. As we approached I could hear people talking and laughing and my nose was met with the scent of mouthwatering food being grilled. Kirsten introduced me and everyone seemed so pleased to have me there.
I sat there for hours through potatoes and sausage and numerous desserts including the delicious cinnamon rolls Kirsten made, and I listened to the people laugh and speak jovially to each other in danish with intermittent English to keep me in the loop.

 All the neighbors sitting around me made sure I felt included, they talked to me and asked me questions about my stay. Two of the men were talking about football (soccer) clubs and I said I used to play and one of the men said that maybe I could play on his daughter's team that plays in the next town over, because they were short on players and would love to have anyone come play. I'm hoping he will give Kirsten the contact information for me to try and join them for a game or two. I also was asked to show off the minimal Danish I know so far, and even though I'm sure it was rough pronunciation, they were really glad to hear me put effort into learning their language and maybe got a chuckle out of it too.
It was a really enjoyable night and I felt so comfortable with those people, I really felt immersed in danish culture and thought all of the neighbors were some of the nicest people I've ever met.
And apparently I must have made a good impression too because today Kirsten tells me that one of the couples at the party asked her for DIS contact info because they want to get a student like me next semester. What a compliment!
This is why I wanted to stay with a host family, if I stayed in a dorm I would have missed out on this special time spent with the Danes. It is these sort of things, where I really get to interact with danish people, that I was looking for.