Busy, busy, happy weeks <3

Hej guys,

It is crazy how the time flies, feels like the last time we posted a new blog was only two weeks ago! But no, it has actually been four and a lot of exciting things happened :) By the way, I hope that you guys are doing well and are not drowning in stress during this busy Christmas time!

Let's begin with the fact that I started to take harp lessons here in the music school in Nykøbing :) I played the harp for 10 years and Mette so kindly helped me to get in contact with the harp teacher (whose name is also Mette), so I could stay in touch with the instrument. It is so nice to be able to play and practice again and I am unbelievably grateful for Mette's support in making this work🥰 Once I could also attend the rehearsal of the UnderStrømmen Youth Orchestra and it was amazing to play music together with the other youngsters in such a warm atmosphere! 

Then the day after, on the 23 of November, Zoé, one of my best friends from home, came to visit me for a whole week🥳🥳! I looked forward to it enormously and it was just so great to finally have my first visitor here in Nykøbing💘 That crazy week was filled with so many nice things, for example Zoé came multiple times with us to Kulturfabrikken and got to meet everyone, experience the open workshop and the designstuen, chill in the café and we all climbed several times together with Lily and August. We also had the vernissage of the picture school that week, so Lily, Lena and I prepared things for that and it was very sweet to see all the artworks and the kids showing them to their families. At home we cooked, played games together and Zoé brought her sourdough starter (he’s called Fried), so she actually made bread for us, which was amazing (now Lily and I have a part from the starter, so we can make bread every week). On Thursday we said goodbye to Ronni, who will work somewhere else. We will miss you Ronni! Furthermore, Emil, Lily’s boyfriend, came from Germany and so on Friday Zoé and Emil could also attend the Sebastian Kerff, Andreaz and D’larm concert at Kulturfabrikken. Lily was taking photos with the camera and Guna and I were standing behind the bar. It was so cool to see these young people play music and show their skills and passion! After the concert we had a nice evening with all our friends :)) That’s why Zoé and I hadn’t slept much when we were on the train to Copenhagen the day after… We still had such a cozy time walking around, enjoying the city and relaxing in Espresso House. In the evening we met again with Lily, Emil and August and went climbing in the amazing bouldering hall. On Sunday Zoé had her train at 6 in the morning and after a week of having fun together we had to say goodbye😢😢 Later that day Nanna, her husband Rasmus, August, Jonas and Solly came to our apartment, because we had a trial dinner with Lily’s and my specialties from our home countries. It was to test if we could cook it properly for Jul på Fabrikken and we were very grateful for the tips for how we could do it better! In the end Nanna topped the hyggeligt evening with a delicious Danish dessert😋

And then already the first of December came, which means: I finally got the green light from Lily to play Christmas music in our apartment🎉🎄! For her sake the time before I only listened to it in secret, but now Santa’s melodies also found a way to our home. We as well got both advent calendars from our parents via post, so the Christmas hygge was complete. As we’re speaking of Christmas, at work the focus really went to preparing everything for Jul på Fabrikken. Guna, Lizzy, Lily and I painted the photo background and together with Nanna we ordered all the ingredients for our specialties. Apart from that there were some pretty big meetings in the concert hall and we helped prepare everything for it. 

But before telling more about Jul på Fabrikken, let me first write about two other exciting things that happened. Firstly, we finallyyyyyy started language school!!! On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we have morning classes from 8:20 to 11:40. To be back in a classroom and get to learn Danish on an intense level is actually so fun. I really want to make progress and Lily and I are having the best time practicing our broken Danish together and with our colleagues as well <3 Secondly, on the weekend of the 6th to the 7th of December I went to Kolding to meet some volunteers from the On Arrival Training again and attend the big light festival. It was a fever dream to get there (because for the first time in my life I stepped on the wrong train…🙈), but seeing everyone again made it so worth it. The wonderful city shimmered in the night as we were walking around, enjoying hot coco and admiring the lights and fireworks🥰 Over the night I could stay at the apartment of Nora, Olga and Samuele and we had some nice talks in the evening and in the morning.

And then the grand day arrived: Jul på Fabrikken🥳🌟🕯️! The day before, Lily and I stood the whole day in the kitchen to prepare the food and even in the morning on the day itself I came earlier to Kulturfabrikken to finish the cooking. It was exhausting, but the event itself gave so much back to us! There was the coziest atmosphere with all the families walking around, the buzzing workshops and the smell of æbleskiver. Lily was working together with Guna and Lizzy at the photo station and I was in the kitchen together with Nanna and another volunteer, Sophie. We were a pretty good team and people were constantly buying things, which was so nice. We also with the whole team did the Santa Lucia-walk around the house, which was a magical experience💛

Now Lily and I will start packing, because tomorrow we will go home for Christmas😍!! I am very excited to see my family and friends again and to celebrate Christmas in my dear home town Brussels. I hope you’ll all have a very happy Christmas and I wish you a great start into the new year🤗🤗!

Vi ses i 2026,

Hanna