the perception-tsunami is robbing me of all of my senses (i kinda like it)

Decemburrrrr is here!

But before I can say anything about December, I have to fill you guys in on November! We started the month off strong with the Filuka concert! She’s such a super cool, amazing, and strong up-and-coming Hip-Hop artist with a powerful voice! We had so much fun at the concert and it felt like a perfect start into the month

With the cool concert behind us, we started planning all kinds of nice events like the Fredagshyggebar-skate-movie event and, of course, Jul På Fabrikken!

In between all the meetings and preparations, our wonderwoman Guna somehow still managed to study for her final written language school exam—and she passed with flying colors!! AAAAHHHH, I’m so happy for her! As Guna finished her language school journey, Tabea and I are just now really getting started! Oof, these morning classes really make my brain smoke—but in a good way. :-)

I don’t understand half of what’s being said, but I know that will change soon if I stay on track! Hearing my new friends from class talk in Danish motivates me even more to go to school!! Tabea’s evening classes are less intense and more chill, but I think that’s just what she needs (and what I sometimes wish for when my alarm rings at 7:15 in the morning ..and at 7:30 ..and 7:45 - that really is the latest!).

The weather,could taken an example and also have been more chill and less intense.The weather could have taken an example by also being more chill and less intense because oh my god, that crazy mix between beaming sunshine and heavy rain really made my head spin. Still, in between all of that, I managed to befriend the company car, and Tabea and I had our first road trip to Dodekalitten (it was sunny but SO cold). Those cool statues with the slightly creepy music were so impressive!

A few days later, we were just getting off our bikes on the way home from work when we noticed that the city square was lit up with all these crazy Christmas lights everywhere! That must have kickstarted something because the next day we woke up to a stunning snowy scenery outside of our windows! It didn’t last longer than two days, but I'll take what I get!

With the first snow, this year’s art class season came to an end, and it was time to hold all the vernissages. The proud looks on the kids’ faces were the very best part of it all and made all the setting up, packing down, and the tons of cookies and saft we had to lay out so worth it!

Around that time, the language school girls I became friends with (Emma, Leenette, Christina, and Jovic) invited me to a Friendsgiving dinner! WAAAH! It was so wonderful, fun, and cozy! They’re all older than me, which is so nice and not something I’m used to. But generally, I’ve never hung out with so many people who are so much older than me. Such interesting conversations and dynamics emerge!

The day after Friendsgiving, it was time for our movie night-skate-Fredagshyggebar event that we’d been planning all November. We prepared homemade pizza dough and different toppings so everyone could create their own pizza slice. But before that even started, we met to hang up all the Christmas lights at the factory. It looks so beautiful and cozy now—I love it!

The skate movie hyggebar thing that happened afterward turned out to be very chill and cozy. At some point, we even all skated together for a little bit, which was so fun!

The DIY pizzas we had that evening were so yum, and the movie was also really cool, making the evening a total success and a perfect end to November!

The next Monday, I went shopping with Ronni, which is one of my absolute favorite activities! We checked out foods to offer at the café that’s planned to officially reopen in January— very excitinggg! For now, we settled on æbleskiver and kanelsnegle.

On Tuesday, Guna had her FINAL oral exam for language school, which she’d been SO nervous about—but she totally rocked it and passed with no mistakes!

While Guna is moving on to Danish pro-level, I’m harassing everyone with my broken language school Danish. BUT learning by doing has always worked for me, and I'll gladly absorb every correction of my language or Danish conversation snippet within my hearing range.

On Wednesday, we opened the café for the first time as a test period before reopening in January. It’s been pretty slow, but this week there’s been a lot more activity.

This week is also busier in general because the Jul På Fabrikken preparations are reaching their peak, and we need all hands on deck to make everything happen.

The Christmas joy, however, has been overshadowed by the passing of our beloved colleague Ulla. Though we never officially got to meet her, her cheerful spirit can still be felt within Kulturfabrikken’s walls. On Tuesday, we got to say goodbye to her.

Moving forward, there was still a lot to do before Jul På Fabrikken on Saturday. On Monday, we turbo-painted the background for the traditional Jul På Fabrikken photoshoots (thanks to Elisabeth’s super energy force!).

On Wednesday we moved the wooden background into the meeting room and Friday was spent with the last preparations like hanging up the christmas tree in the skating hall, preparing the tables and of course, for Tabea and I, with preparing our homecountry dishes.

I decided to make "Kepta duona su suriu", a Lithuanian appetizer or beer snack made out of fried garlic bread and a cheese sauce, and "Tinginys" a simple fudge consisting of chocolate and cookies. Tabea made "Linzer Augen", a kind of butter cookie with a jam filling, and "Vanillekipferl", Vanillacookies.

Even though we spent most of our day in the work kitchen it was just such a fun day bustling with preparations and filled with anticipation for the big day!

On Saturday we all met up early to prepare the last bits and pieces and soon after we already had the first people in the house - it turned out to be SUCH a fun and cozy and festive day!

I was mostly in the cafe, helping out in the kitchen and staying near our dishes to introduce the to anyone who was interested and Tabea had a cozy time outside at the fire together with our colleague Susanne.

We had a really wonderful time and everyone was just caught in this cheery and festive mood!

It was so nice to experience all of our colleagues outside of the office setting and I got to see whole new side of everyone! Even Emil had time to come by and say hello (despite not working here anymore) which was a really welcomed and fun little surprise! Thank you, everyone, for this beautiful day!

That’s about it—time is flying. My feelings, perceptions, experiences, and impressions are all over the place, flooding my consciousness with wave after wave of colors, sounds, emotions, and memories. It feels like we’ve been here for two weeks and two years at the same time.

As usual, here are my blog song recommendations: “Girls on Film” by Duran Duran, “Ch-Check It Out” by the Beastie Boys, “Right Side of My Neck” by Faye Webster, and honestly, the entire new Tyler the Creator album.

I decided to also share my Danish progress here! “Glædelig Jul!” and “Jeg elsker dig!” have been spinning in my head aaand I’m getting comfortable with inversions (they’re the same as in German) and also starting to use the past tense. What’s blowing my mind is that there’s apparently no actual verb conjugation? How convenient! Or maybe I’m just not that far yet, haha.

While I’m writing this, I’m feeling kinda snotty. Honestly, I’ve been sneezing way more than usual—I hope I don’t have a cold coming, especially since I’m going home for Christmas in a few days! AHH! I'm going to miss everyone but I also really REALLY miss my family! Let's see how it all goes :)

On that note, stay healthy and enjoy this beautiful festive time of year!

Bye bye and .. GLÆDLIG JUL!

- Leyla ⋆˚✿˖° (17.12.2024)