Hitchhiking to Nordjylland

Before starting this new job, I was tasked with writing a letter to the headmaster - Gerda - at Nordjylland-Dagskolen, giving some details about myself. She was away for a couple of days and so I stayed at Tvind longer than anticipated. I took it easy and hung out with Diana (twisted Dee) a lot, and I also practiced a nice Romanian Gypsy song called Ederlezi along with Louis, Lucie and Laura. 2014 team had officially started their program so a "trial" was put on for them which was cool.

After a couple of days, Gerda had gotten back to us and said I was perfect for the job and it was decided that I would leave the following day, by way of the thumb! I was feeling pretty confident hitchhiking alone and prepared for the journey with Michael's help. Once I was told some hotspot locations, I wrote them down on cardboard, said my farewells to some of the 2014 lot and Mika, and off I trekked to Ulfborg.

My bag was slightly lighter than last time as I opted to leave behind my sleeping bag and mat (as well as a few clothes l left at Puning 5 for the clothes container), although in hindsight it probably wasn't the wisest decision. Still, it was easier for me to walk without becoming too exhausted which was nice seeing as it was about a 4km trek to my first hotspot. By time I reached a shop to purchase a cool drink, my feet already felt sore and blistered. I wasn't wearing the most suitable footwear it turned out, but I stubbornly refused myself to change into my sandals on the grounds that the shoes I was wearing were heavy and I didn't want my bag to become encumbered. Silly me.

Luckily, Camilla saw me and pulled over before I reached the hotspot. She offered to drive me just outside of Holstebro which I was grateful for! She stopped off beside some traffic lights before turning off and continuing her own journey. This was it. I was finally alone and in unfamiliar territory now. I saw what I thought was a pretty good spot to stand with my cardboard to Viborg in one hand, thumb out on the other with a big grin on my face, making sure to make eye contact with every driver that went past, lest they don't have sympathy for this poor stranded soul. The grin eventually turned into a frown as the umpteenth driver went past, quickly averting from my pitiful stare at them. A couple thought it would be oh-so-hilarious to slow down and drive off as I approached them. Wankers! 

My feet were now even more sore as I stood in feigned hope for somebody to stop. About an hour and half later, someone finally did! An old man offered to drive me, although not to Viborg unfortunately, but a little closer he said. Sod it I thought. This hotspot of mine clearly wasn't hot. Just a mere spot that everybody ignores. I jumped in his van and after almost 15 mins of silence, save for the obvious questions that every driver is bound to ask, he let me out in the middle of nowhere, but it's a main road to Viborg. Well, it was road 16 so it would do I thought. 

Once again I painfully stood with patience as vehicle after vehicle paid me no mind until a middle aged lady stopped and she put her window down and said something in Danish. "Er, Engelsk?" I asked. She then said to me in quite good English, "Do you like heavy metal music?" I think hell yeah was my answer to her. "Good. Get in then." 

She too was unable to drive me all the way to Viborg but offered to drive me at least 15km closer. It was a pleasant albeit brief drive with her. Her music taste is pretty cool and she has a good outlook in life for someone with a neurological disorder. She laughed and said she has electrical superpowers as she pointed at the battery pack that had been surgically inserted into her torso. She can't work so she enjoys her time going to gigs. 

True to her word, she dropped me off roughly 15km up the road. I stood only for a couple of minutes before the next person stopped and said he could take me to Viborg. Finally! This young chap was pretty cool too. His names Ben and he told me some stories of his travels with his girlfriend and his work on dairy farms. He told me that he often picks up hitchhikers as he finds that they are always interesting to converse with. Swell guy! He took me just outside of Viborg near a large roundabout. As soon as I got out, said goodbye, got my next cardboard ready, a car pulled over and I was offered a lift. To Aalborg too! Finally, lady luck was bestowing upon me her good fortune it seemed!

This gracious driver is a logistics person in the Danish military. He was built like a brick shithouse and was quite stern. Nach, he spoke of the recent conflicts happening around the world and stated bleakly that we are due another world war. He then quoted Einstein after I said it'll be our last: "I know not with what weapons world war III will be fought, but world war IV will be fought with sticks and stones." He then went on to talk about bunkers and cannibalism. The topics are all related, believe me. 

Once we finally reached Aalborg, he dropped me off at what he thought was a good strategic place to hitch a ride. It wasn't . Quite the contrary actually. I was still in the city, near the start of the E45 motorway and no could really pull over. Well, they didn't want to anyway. I tried walking to other nearby places where maybe someone would stop, but to no avail. Lady luck was bedding another man now - the promiscuous mare! 

A few hours went by and I was now having to sit as I found it too agonising to stand on my feet. I must've looked like a tramp sitting on the pavement with my hat on the floor, holding up a tatty bit of cardboard. I did get some looks from pedestrians. No one tossed me their change though! Tired, in pain and hungry I thought fuck waiting around any longer for a ride and texted Michael saying I may have to use public transport for the remainder of the journey. Wait just 30 more minutes he texted back with optimism. You can do it! So begrudgingly, I got up and limped to the middle of the road to try my luck. 

The sun was starting to set so I had to give up. I really was struggling to stand too. As so off I limped to find a bus/train station. I found a bus stop which is the next best thing I suppose. I asked some old man where I could get a train to Frederikshavn. Luckily, the next bus could take me to the nearest station. Awesome. I had to stand on the bus which was a struggle as I tried not to fall on the floor whilst trying to balance my sore feet into a comfortable position. The old man from the bus stand informed me when to get off and pointed out the station to me. I thanked him and slowly hobbled across the road to the station.

I paid 100dkk for a train ticket and got myself a much needed snack and drink too. I decided to have a look at my feet once I sat and waited for the next train. I had three big blisters on the bottom of each foot and redness all over. I rummaged through my trusty little first aid kit for a needle to do some surgery on my feet. I finally stopped being a stubborn tit and opted to swap my shoes for my sandals. It only took me all sodding day when the damage had already been done!

I had to wait 45mins or so for the train bound for Frederikshavn arrived. I was relieved to have a nice comfortable chair to sit on for the duration of my journey which took over an hour. I talked with Gerda on the phone once I got off the train and she arranged for Jonna to come and pick me up which was nice. On the way, she told me a little about the place that I would now be living at and working. It was about 10pm when by time I finally arrived at Nordjylland-Dagskolen. So much for it only going to take me 4 or 5 hours. Pfft!

Jonna had cooked some food earlier and said I could heat up the leftovers. I gratefully took her up on this offer and soon stuffed my mouth with pasta and mince. Delicious. There were problems with the student - Rasmas - who I'd be sharing a house with and so for my first night, I had to sleep in the staff house. I didn't mind. I was so tired I could've slept anywhere to be honest. Well, maybe not since I left my sleeping bag with Nadina. Yeah, I think it'll be a good idea to bring it everywhere from now on. Just in case I can't get to my destination sometime. Hitchhiking is a cool experience and all, but it relies on the goodwill of strangers of which there aren't enough of it seems.

To be continued soon.

Olympics at Tvind and 1st Study Weekend

We had arrived at Tvind during a busy time - the Olympics! It's an annual event at Tvind where different schools around Denmark come to participate and compete in a variety of sports and games. Having arrived fairly late in the evening before the games commenced, I chilled out and had an early night after speaking with some fellow students.

Because so many people were attending (I think around 600 someone said), a canvas gazebo had been set up for everyone to eat in. I had not initially been aware of this and had proceeded to have breakfast in the common hall before someone informed me about the gazebo besides the large kitchen; I must've been half asleep still to not have noticed!

After eating and drinking some coffee, I was told I would be helping with food production so off I went to the large kitchen. Burgers was on the menu and so I helped Romas and Annelies cut up some tomatoes then, like a production line, we prepared the burgers. It was very reminiscent of when I once worked in McDonalds, except here it was pretty fun and wasn't stressful. No managers there being power hungry twats to boot. Our goal up until afternoon was to make around 1000 burgers.

After we had finished, I decided to have a wander around with Gaile and perhaps participate in something. Although I'm not into sports as I don't find competitiveness appealing at all, axe throwing seemed like fun so I opted to have a go. And another. Then another. Damn, guess I succumbed to the human nature of competing!

After a few attempts of trying to knock some logs over with axes (only getting a measly 5 points!), Dariush asked if I could take over writing names and points down, so I obliged. After about 30 minutes or so, someone else took over and I after visiting the OL committee, I was tasked with litter picking. Fortunately, I bumped into Annelies who kindly offered to help and we got it done fairly quick!

I had a little time left before going back to food production at 5pm, so I watched a few people wall climb, then it was back to work. Loads of pizzas had been ordered as well as Chinese food, and we had been tasked with serving them. As soon as we prepared everything and the food arrived, people quickly came flocking! The pizzas were gone in no time. I then helped the others serve up some Chinese food, tucking into some myself.

After dinner, the first day of the olympics was over and as it was also our (DNS 2015) first study weekend, we had a meeting. It was good to finally see the team together. Since working in Munster, some more people had enrolled and I was finally introduced to them: Two Mykolas's, Kristiana, Migle, Janne and Milan (whom we had already been introduced to via skype some weeks back). After getting properly introduced to one another, Michael told us what the plans were for the rest of the weekend and then for the rest of the evening, I just hung out with various different people.

The following day I was once again tasked with helping out with food production and burgers was still on the menu, so 'twas a day of preparing another thousand or so them. At least I got to have first dibs on the burgers! I was going to take part in the marathon in the afternoon, but due to heavy rainfall, it got cancelled and so the day was cut slightly short than planned. 

Spirits were still high though as the closing ceremony commenced in the sports hall. Some music was being played and there were also good dance performances just before the headmaster announced the results. Tvind didn't do too well if I remmber correctly, but no mood was dampered as everyone seemed to really enjoy the couple of days. I missed out on a lot of it, but from the photos and a video I have seen, the atmosphere was really good! It's good that Tvind is accepting enough to host many "troubled" children there and let them participate in whatever they desire. I'd wager not many places would be so daring! 

So olympics was now over leaving us to get on with our study weekend. Michael went more in depth about our team economy and showed us how to fill out out our economy sheets. We also discussed issues we had in Munster and then we were told what jobs we would be doing. I would be going to work in a school in Nordjylland which was exciting to hear! This sounded much more up my street. 

Hitchhiking From Munster to Billund

If I got a quid for every time someone here said the word "super", I'd be super rich by now! Sorry, I got lost in an entirely irrelevant train of thought as I just overheard a conversation where someone uttered the word super. Again. Super interesting and super cool. It's said quite frequently here in tvind! Anyway, onwards with typing about me leaving Munster and my first hitchhiking experience.

So after Michael's departure back to tvind, taking with him all enthusiasm, optimism and just an overall positive vibe, we were back to our reluctant selves as more issues arose. I'd rather not go into details and turn this into yet another moan about work and our manager, so I'll just say the last straw came when Antonio and myself had a very heated argument that had escalated far too quickly for me to remember what was exactly shouted amidst all the profanities. I no longer wanted to stay, period, and for Antonio the feeling was mutual. Same for Honza too.

So it was time to leave and our only option was to hitchhike back to Denmark at least and maybe use public transport once we get close enough to tvind. Honza suggested we write several locations on different cardboards (pictures further down), so drivers could see straight away where we wanted to go. We decided that the key locations to hitch rides to were: Bremen, Hamburg, Flensburg, Kolding and then Holstebro - if things go accordingly anyway. I suspect that hitchhikers destinations are always subject to change depending on the drivers who stop to pick us up. After spending our last day preparing, planning, relaxing and packing, we had an early night as we were going to leave fairly early.

We left Puning 5 at around 7:30 so we could catch a bus to Munster then another one to the outskirts of Munster. Unfortunately, the second bus didn't quite take us where we wanted to be dropped off and thus we had to walk a few kilometres, which was exhausting as I had two bags with me and the large backpack on my back was straining my shoulder and neck muscles. I was relieved once we arrived at our desired petrol station on the (A1?) highway and got bought us both a cup of latte. Now it was time to play the patient waiting game.

For my first experience, it wasn't going particularly well; we kept being rejected by everyone that we asked for a lift off of, and after an hour or so of crossing my fingers in anticipation of the next person we asked, I became exasperated. After about an hour and half of being constantly declined of getting a lift, Honza came running to me with a smile upon his face. "Finally, we got a ride!" A man who drives a transport van had approached Honza offering a ride and was luckily heading to Bremen himself. We didn't converse with our driver much so it wasn't a particularly exciting ride, but I didn't care. After what seemed an eternity of waiting, it was nice to finally be out of the vicinity of Munster. Honza got a map up on his phone and he agreed to drop us off at a gas station on a highway close to Bremen.

Once again, we played the waiting game. I got my ukulele out as we sat with our cardboard sign stating we wanted to go to Hamburg. This time we waited for around an hour before two blokes around our age offered a lift and conveniently to Hamburg as that's where they were heading themselves. These guys were a lot more talkative than our previous driver and their company car was more comfortable to boot. They are work colleagues who travel around and build stages for concerts which sounds like a pretty cool job. After the driver dropped off his colleague in the city, he generously took us about another 15km north of Hamburg to another gas station on the highway for which we were very grateful for!

There was a cafe at this stop, so we opted for a quick refreshment and ate some lunch we had packed before sitting with our sign to Flensburg. Although I was getting some looks and smiles as I played my ukulele in hope that it would better our chances of getting approached by someone, none did. Eventually though, a Danish guy in military uniform approached us and asked where we were heading. I told him that although our next planned stop was at Flensburg, we would rather skip that place and cross the border into Denmark and he could perhaps drop us off close to Kolding. As it happened, they were heading 20 kilometres south from Kolding and although they are not allowed to pick up hitchhikers, "Fuck it. It's no problem," he said, which was delightful to hear! So we walked over to his military jeep, met with his comrade and off we went.

As a bloke who is anti-military, I was somewhat weary of riding with these two fellas, but I was just very grateful for a long ride that would mean us being a lot closer to our final destination. As I mentioned before, plans change and for the better in this case! And as it turned out, they were NATO soldiers which is the lesser of the two evils I suppose. Unlike the army, they don't just go into a war zone all guns blazing but rather try for a diplomatic approach first - from what I gathered anyway. Our driver was very talkative and him and Honza talked a lot about the current conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and politics in general. I mostly abstained from engaging in their conversations lest I let slip something that would offend our courteous and charitable drivers, who even gave me a cigarette, and they sling us out. There's a time and place for such debates and being on the highway on a tiresome journey, for me, was not it. Though, it was certainly interesting to hear his opinions. I remember the driver (also the guy mostly talking), talked of how he would eventually like to leave and pursue a job in protecting wildlife as he very much likes nature. All the best to the guy! 

We also found ourselves in somewhat funny situation 10 kilometres after we crossed the German/Danish border: there was a random police check going on and they signalled even us over (not so weird apparently, as this military jeep was a German one) to a stop amongst other cars. All went well and then our NATO driver said, "Thank fuck they didn't have sniffer dogs on them because of what we've got in our bags, we'd be in big trouble." Curiously, I asked him what he had in his bag that would be problematic for them. "Bags of weed," he replied with a sigh of relief and then laughter. Thank fuck indeed!

True to their word, they dropped us off about 20 kilometres from Kolding. They even gave us a parting cigarette! We said our farewells and off they went leaving us at a somewhat desolate gas station; very few vehicles seemed to be passing through this stop which left us rather pessimistic. The sun was starting to set by then and Honza was certain that no one was going to want to pick up two blokes in the evening. After waiting for quite sometime, it started to look like he was right and we had to either go on separately or find shelter and stay the night; both weren't too enticing for me, but I was ready to hitch hike alone if need be. I felt like a pro already!

Fortunately for us though, a middle aged Danish bloke offered us a ride after seeing us sitting and waiting for so long. He was heading to Billund and offered to drop us off at the airport. I then called Michael and asked if we could use public transport from Billund to Ulfborg and he said he'd pick us up instead. Awesome! This guy seemed quite nationalistic in his views but was pleasant to converse with. As Billund is the place from whence Lego was first produced, he gave us tidbits of information regarding Lego. None important enough for me to remember except that Lego is now currently the most profitable, erm, toy? Manufacture? Product? Whatever.

So we got off at the airport and thanked our driver for taking us there. We were very hungry after a long journey without eating much, thus we opted to get something to eat at the cafe in the airport. After eating much bloating meal, we waited for about an hour before Michael arrived and to take us, finally, to tvind.

For my first time hitchhiking, it was overall a good experience. Sure, waiting to be approached can be tedious and being declined a ride for the umpteenth time can be exasperating, but once you finally get into a strangers vehicle, one thinks that there are still many good charitable people out there that'll go the extra mile for a stranded man that just wants to get somewhere, and you can't help but smile and be pleased. Media has caused a mass hysteria regarding hitchhiking and often when a story is told of hitchhiking, you can bet your arse it'll be a negative one. Many a malleable person is now weary of stopping to pick up a stranger in fear of being raped or mugged (although, strangely, most are fine with getting in a taxi and taxi drivers certainly have no problems?!). So like most other anecdotes of hitchhiking (not stories that tabloids are likely to publish), this one too is a positive one. I look forward to many more hitchhiking experiences. It's super cool!

Living in Puning, Clothes Collecting and Singing

It was quite late in the evening once myself and Erwin finally arrived at my new temporary home in Puning, and we were immediately greeted by two girls from DNS 2014 team - Stef and Gita. They showed us around the house, which I took a liken to straight away! We are a little isolated, surrounded by agricultural fields, though not too far away from towns and a city - Munster. Anyway, the girls made us a cup of coffee and shortly after, Erwin left for his home in the Netherlands while the girls took me dumpster diving with them.

I had a rather restless sleep that night; perhaps nerves or excitement of starting a new job, and the fact it was bloody hot and a mosquito kept bugging me for my blood. I killed that fucking parasite the following morning.

I got up at around 7:30am (a time I currently set my alarm for now) and got myself into my finest work clothes, ate breakfast with the ladies just before my first meeting with my new manager - Antonio. He likes to have daily meetings at 8:30 to discuss any issues and hand out routes for clothes collection. My first impression of these meetings wasn't so good as I seemed to arrive at a time when Antonio had many issues with the girls! I would rather have had abstained from these first couple of meetings, but I guess it meant I could learn from the girl's mistakes and brace myself for future conflicts.

After the first long, drawn out meeting I finally set off with Stef. My initial excitement and enthusiasm I had for this job was quickly quelled not more than five minutes in to unloading heavy bags of clothes from the van into shipping containers. As sweat dripped off from my brow and I gasped for air, I murmured profanities about not wanting to do this for six sodding months. As a languid bloke, any work that requires physical exertion is not going to be my forte; I knew it was going to be hard, but I guess I had underestimated just how hard it was going to be. Being unfit and quite weak, suffice to say I don't think I'm cut out for this job! And I soon started to realise this over the next few days. At least I have an incentive to carry this out though; I just hope I can cope long term. For now, I find solace only in driving around the scenic countryside mountains and bustling towns lined with those traditional timber framed buildings on cobble stoned streets.

For those who are curious about what I do exactly, I collect second hand clothes from many containers dotted around Westfalen area in Germany for Humana. Also, due to many inconsiderate people, we also take trash that gets dumped in them, much to my exasperation. We bag them, compact them and stack them in the van. I usually collect between 1.5 - 2 tonnes per day as does Honza, and we unload them into shipping containers first thing in the morning, where they eventually get sent to second hand shop's in eastern European countries.

Speaking of Honza, he is a fellow 2015 DNSer who had arrived at Puning 5 a few days after me. Stef had left by the time he arrived and once Gita had spent a few days training him, she left too. Unfortunately, Humana only have enough budget to employ two clothes collectors when I think it would be more apt to have four.

When I'm not working, I usually read, practice playing my uke or draw. Usually, by the time I get home in the evening, it's not too long before I hit the sack. Sometimes I'm too knackered and I skip dinner and/or shower and just lay down instead. On Sundays, we have a team meeting via Skype. Our teachers had us do a task for our first meeting; me and Honza had to write and sing a song. So I spent around 30 minutes to write a song about dumpster diving to the tune of "You Are My Sunshine"*

On our days off, me and Honza went to Munster. First time, we walked around the city and took some pictures. Greta and Svetlana visited us one weekend as they were on their way back to Denmark, after travelling around Europe promoting DNS. We spent a couple of evenings in Munster; one we chilled in a shisha lounge and another we went to a club. I'm not much of a dancer so I sat as the guys danced. The girls also helped us with work one day for which I was very grateful for! Recently when we went to Munster, a past DNSer who was staying at Puning 5 also, called Agnes, took us around the city. It was a pleasant day and we had Chinese, took a dog that Agnes looks after for a very long walk, and met up with some of her friends in the evening.

Unfortunately, the pleasantries on our days off wasn't enough to take our minds off from the unpleasantness off our job. I can only speak for myself, but I find myself becoming miserable and I'm getting more and more reluctant to get up in the mornings. This is the sort of monotony I wanted to get away from when I was England. Is the incentive of going to Africa next year enough motivation for me? If I leave Munster, will many people back at tvind be disappointed with me? Will I be disappointed with myself for not finishing this? So much internal conflicts. When I had problems in past jobs, I just kept them bottled up and got on with it. Or quit. But now, it's not so simple as I'm here to save up for our team economy.

Due to mine and Honza's issues, our teacher Michael came and stayed with us for a few days. With him, he brought a positive vibe and motivation for us which is just what we needed I think. I'm not sure if it's a fact that I worked better and more efficiently, but I felt like I did due to his presence. And when he left, it was back to square one.

*To end this on a lighter note, I shall now transcribe my lyrics "An Ode To Dumpster Diving"© (sing to the tune of "You Are My Sunshine").

I like to dumpster dive, 
I like to dumpster dive,
When it's eleven o clock at night.
The bins may be empty,
Or we'll be lucky,
And the fruits will still be ripe.

We'll flip open all of the bin lids,
Scavenge anything that's nice.
We'll hold our noses
'Cos they may stink,
But at least we don't pay a dime.

Fruits and veggies,
Cakes and pastries
And about twenty cartons of milk.
Tubs of butter,
Plenty of cheese -
Tonight we shall have a feast!

People may say
That it's disgusting,
But so is wasted food!
So why not take,
What is chucked away
And let's go dumpster diving!