Struer, Denmark

Struer, Denmark

November 26th- December 3rd

Theme of the Week: Now What

Christian, Mette, Helene

Paola (Mexico City)

11-26-18 Monday

Travel day from Helsingborg to Struer took about six hours on a bus. We drove over many bridges that overlooked the beautiful water. The two coach busses actually went onto the ferry when we cross the canal to get from Sweden to Denmark. It was an out of the ordinary experience... all of the sudden the bus was on a boat and we needed to get off. When we arrived in Denmark, we had a short allocation meeting. Then Paola and I met our host family!! We have a 20 year old host sister who is super cool! They are extremely interested in our lives and we had a long conversation over dinner. Their house is so beautiful too. Paola and I called Jodi and Peter to tell them that we were hosted together again, and I got really excited to stay with them in Denver! I miss them so much!!

 

11-27-18 Tuesday
Today the acoustic promo squad went to a business park and had a really great performance. We sang our whole set in front of middle aged people who were eating. They were really interested in our songs!! Then we had another performance in front of the school when the children left. They enjoyed our songs as well. We thought that this could be our final acoustic promo of the whole semester, and we had an emotional goodbye. We rehearsed "Baby Shark" for expression session while we cried about leaving each other. I am really gonna miss having a group of talented people to sing with everyday. They give me so much joy throughout the week and I want to continue that through college. I am blessed to sing in this group.

11-28-18 Wednesday
Show Day!! In the morning, Ellen and I worked with the soloist for the Danish Song! Then we had 500 children from the school join the cast for vocal and dance warmups. It was one of the scariest things I've ever had to do. All 600 people were in a gym, and I was standing on a platform leading warmups and teaching a song in Danish!!! WHAT??? How did my life get to this point. I was actually nervous for the first time in a while just to do simple warmups, but it was a huge growing experience and I feel like I could do it in front of anyone now! I got to watch rehearsal as well and take show notes. It was a totally new perspective to watch the show from the outside, and that is why I love this internship! I am learning so much about stage presence and direction. I can't wait to facilitate this at camp. The show was really successful. Then we had to superstrike and I helped take down the entire stage in record time!

11-29-18 Thursday
Today, a group of us went on a CA called Vita. This is an organization that works with mentally disabled people when they want to live on their own. We did many fun activites with them like Christmas decorating, exercising, and drumming. It was so interesting to learn that Denmark's government funds places like this for disabled people to "work." They live at the facility as well, and play games all day. The staff really pours their heart into the residents and it was very impactful. Then when we went back to the facility, Ellen and I finished making the Christmas Medley for the opening lights ceremony. It was fun to be creative and write an entire combo of songs for a huge event in Denmark. We had a workshop about how to apply what we have learned in UWP back to our communities at home. When we went home, we met our host dad named Christian. He is very interested in our lives back home, and it was really nice getting to know him over a wonderful Danish meal called Medisterpolse. YUMMMM!

11-30-18 Friday
Ellen took all of her interns for this semester out for an internal day! She bought us coffee, and we had a two hour emotional outlet. So often in UWP, it's one event after the other, and there is no time to process feelings. It was so nice to be vulnerable with my best friends and share insecurities and realize that we are not alone in them. Then Ellen, Josh, Michael, Rodrigo, and I finished the Christmas Medley in the morning, and then we taught the cast. We started with Silent Night in 7 different languages. Then the medley was "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Don't Worry/ Winter Wonderland" (Pentatonix Version), to "A Very Merry Christmas/ War is Over." It was a bomb medley, and I am so proud of what we created in one day. Then we went into our usual unplugged medley. The best singers in the cast learned the solos in 30 minutes and we pulled off a great performance. At the end of our set, the Christmas tree was lit up throughout downtown. It put me into the Christmas spirit and I am so content with my life. Then Mette took us out for an amazing dinner at the cinema, where Helene works as a waitress. We ate Oksesteg med flodekartofler, Ris a la Mande, and Tuborg Juleol. It was an exciting Danish dinner! These experiences keep getting better and better.

 

12-1-18 Saturday
Show Day!! Today the show was started at three so that we could do Expression Session!! Before rehearsal started, we performed Ellen's goodbye medley for the cast. Since this is her last semester as staff, we wanted to make her feel loved and appreciated so we made a combination of her favorite songs and sang them for her. She cried and it was really special for her. Immediately after, I lead warmups in front of the cast, and it was the best time that I had ever done it!! WHOOP WHOOP! The cast is really starting to look up to me especially with anything related to vocals. I feel the same respect in that aspect as I did when I won the Christopherson award. It is really nice to be back in that place of leadership and responsibility. Many people were rehearsing their songs for the expression session, and they came to me for feedback! We had our last host family potluck for lunch, and my host family went above and beyond for it. They are great!! After the show we had two hours of acts in the talent show. It was exhausting, but really rewarding. I performed an acoustic version of "Better Together" with Ellen. Then the acoustic promo squad did a jazzy performance of "Baby Shark." It's now our new name. During superstrike, I got really sad because I just really want to be home for some reason, but I am absolutely dreading saying goodbye. This is going to be a really hard last week.

12-2-18 Sunday
Host Family Day! The awesome family took Paola and I to the West Coast to see the views. It was an hour away and drive their was filled with beautiful forest scenery. Unfortunately, it was grey, rainy, windy, and cold... but that was the adventure of it all. "This is the first time I have been on a beach with winter boots" -Paola from Mexico! Then we had lunch at this Danish restaurant with extremely Danish food. I can say with full confidence that I am not a huge fan of Danish food. It's a lot of really strong flavors and a lot of fish. After that we went to a Christmas market and really got into the holiday spirit. It was a really good day.

Helsingborg, Sweden

Helsingborg, Sweden

November 19th-November 26th

Theme of the week: Youth Development 

Eva

Yaz (Bermuda), Lieve (Switzerland)

11-19-18 Monday

Travel Day!! It was about an 8 hour drive from Stockholm to Sweden. This long relaxing bus ride was appreciated after a long week. I got sleep and just think for the first time in a while. While we stopped at a gas station, we encountered our first snowfall of the season. For many people in the cast, it was their first time seeing snow. Our facility this week is a Morman Church that has very strict rules. For example, there is no coffee or tea allowed on any church grounds. There is absolutely no cussing, smoking, or PDA. In normal everyday Up with People life, those rules are broken quite often and the cast will have a hard time adjusting. My host mom this week is the bomb! She traveled in 1981 and she lived with her boyfriend 20 minutes away. She gave us the keys to her apartment and let us do whatever we wanted. Every night she comes over for dinner to cook for us. It is the best set up because we can walk the church everyday and have complete freedom when we get home! I miss the feeling of being home alone. 

11-20-18 Tuesday

Today the acoustic promo squad went to a mall and did three performances by the food court. After our first set, Leah talked to the staff at a coffee shop and found out that a restaurant was having its grand opening with free food. We went to the restaurant and offered to perform for them to promote their restaurant, and also our show on Thanksgiving. Then we got a free buffet lunch with free drinks! We got really lucky and ate like royalty for the first time in a while. Then we hung out at the mall for about 4 hours and then went back to the church. Our host mom came home for dinner and shared her UWP scratbook with us. I am excited to start my own book to have in the future. 

11-21-18 Wednesday

Today was yet another acoustic promo day at yet another mall. Most of the day was free time, and our group spent the day jamming and making a medley for the final banquet. At lunch our group had a mini Thanksgiving at Mcdonald's and we shared what we were grateful for. I am learning a lot about how Europeans spend their days during this time of year... there is no thanksgiving, and no Jesus at Christmas. It's very sad actually. Also there was a very beneficial workshop done about skills that we have gained in UWP. The staff told us all the things that we can put on future job applications and resumes. There is so many things that this program offers that sets us apart from everyone else in the world. It was eye opening to see what an advantage I'll have in the professional world.  

11-22-18 Thursday (Thanksgiving)

Show Day!!!! I had an extremely stressful day today. In the morning, Ellen and I worked individually with soloists on various show spots. She gave me most of the responsibility to facilitate each workshop. I really got to dive in with the vocal techniques I have learned and then pass that on to others. Then during the vocal warm up with the entire cast, I taught them solfege. HAHA!! Most of the time we do meaningless warmups about cookies and M&Ms, but I am really taking the opportunity to experiment with different styles of teaching. It is a safe place for me to get comfortable because all these people are my family who want to see me succeed. I created chords in solfege and taught some more new warmups. Immediately after the warmup, I taught the Danish song to the entire cast. I had a new idea of teaching for Up with People that I got to try out with the cast. Instead of having the vocal intern teach the song for each part in big group, I thought we could try splitting up into smaller groups and then come back and put it together. In the past, teaching a 3 minute song took an hour and a half. I got two people to teach the soprano and alto parts and I taught the tenor part. We had the whole song learned in 15 minutes. We had so much extra time to polish and memorize the Danish words. It was rewarding to have so much responsibility and have it be such a success. Also, teaching a song in Danish while in Sweden to 100 people for a world famous show looks really good on any resume:) Immediately after I taught this song, we started "Fun Rehearsal." The production interns put this entire show together for the past week and kept it a secret from the cast. The Fun Rehearsal was a 45 minute run-down of any songs that we wanted. Then we could put any person in any random show spot. I got to choose all the singers and Yaz got to choose all the dancers. I put people who are completely tone deaf in really vocally challenging songs and it was hilarious. The whole point is to laugh and have a good time, but it was still a real rehearsal behind the scenes. I had the job of the vocal instructor so I needed to tell the soloist all the blocking and make sure that they had the correct microphones. Most of the people who were in these spots had never held a microphone before so I was running around back stage making sure they got their mic. It was sooooooo funny to see people do things they were so uncomfortable with, especially because they had no idea it was happening until five minutes before. After the Fun Rehearsal, we had our real rehearsal where I was allowed to watch from the audience and take vocal show notes. I had so many important things to do and I was so tired... Then we had to do a high energy two hour show in Helsingborg. But it was all okay because. Isa was there!! I have never met anyone who was so similar to me. She teared up when she saw me because she was so proud of how I had taken over the Hope character and it meant a lot coming from her. I also got to see Hanna who was a foreign exchange student in Minnesota last year. She came to the show to surprise me, and it was really nice to catch up with her again. After the show, Ellen and I worked individual with soloists again!! PHEWW! What a long and exhausting day with so much personal growth and happiness. I got experience with one-on-one voice lessons, public speaking, facilitating an entire show, and teaching a song in another language to 100 people. It was so awesome, but I wanted to fall over with exhaustion by the end of the day. I was pretty sad that I missed thanksgiving with my family though. I got truly homesick for the first time today.

11-23-18 Friday

SICK DAY!!!! I needed to rest! Yaz and Lieve also took a sick day so we just slept all day long and got better. I started to watch Stranger Things on Netflix again. I also continued applying for vocal instructor at camp.

11-24-18 Saturday

Today the cast had some free time to explore the city of Helsingborg. The acoustic promo group actually went across the canal and performed three sets in Denmark to promote the show that will occur in two weeks. This is one of the last acoustic promo days of the semester with the entire squad, so it was an emotional day. We have gotten so close as a group and it will be hard to say goodbye to an amazingly talented group of people from six different countries. We took a ferry across the water, and it felt like a cruise ship. After we sang for a while, we went back to Sweden to explore the city with the rest of the cast. Angelis, Ivy, Camryn, and I went to a cozy restaurant for lunch and had a deep conversation. It was a nice and relaxing day!

11-25-18 Sunday

Host family day! Today, Eva and Dan took us to Kullabergs. This is a Mountain that overlooks the Baltic Sea. The views were absolutely gorgeous, and the quality time with this host family was even better. We walked about a mile down the coast line, and when we turned back, it was all uphill. Yaz has asthma, and it was hilarious to see her reaction while going up a thousand stairs. After, we went to a cute restaurant named Mölle and Eva bought us mugs for souvenirs. It was such a fun host family day! Then we went back to the apartment for a goodbye dinner, and we had Glög. This is a traditional Swedish Christmas drink. Yay for Culture!!!

 

Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm, Sweden

November 12th- November 19th

Theme of the week: Refugees 

Annica and Magnus

Angela (Mexico) Fiona (Maine)

11-12-18 Monday

Travel Day from Jonkoping to Stockholm took about three hours by bus. When we arrived, we prepared for a flash mob in Sergels Torg. This is a very famous plaza in Stockholm where Avicii was celebrated. I have never been a part of a legit flash mob before! It started out with 3 dancers and ended with the entire cast. The Swedish people were so confused, and really enjoyed it. We ripped our jackets off and ran in with our green Up with People shirts. Then the cast went back for allocation meeting. The production interns ran everything for the staff, and it was a lot of pressure! Then I met my new host family and they are so sweet. We live about an hour outside of the city. They are an older couple with some children living out of the house and they have the biggest servant hears. Fiona was throwing up all night, so hopefully I don't get sick from her.

 

11-13-18 Tuesday

Public transportation was the challenge of the day. It started out by getting to our facility on time right away in the morning. We needed to take a train, a subway, and two busses in order to get there. Annica was so worried about an American and a Mexican using the Stockholm public transportation, so she came with us half of the way. We made it on time amazingly! Then the acoustic promo group rode the train everywhere from 9-3 and did many performances in the train station, the street, and many buildings. In Sweden, it's illegal to perform in the train station without a permit so we almost got arrested! haha We went all over the city on the subway and ended up walking 7.4 miles and went up 50 flights of stairs. I was in heels and by the end of the day, I was in so much pain. We also didn't have time for lunch because we needed to do so many performances. I was so HANGRY because doing that all day was exhausting and my blood sugar was low. At the end of the day, we went to a very prestigious school in Sweden and did a vocal workshop. We talked about immigration, and it was really interesting to hear the perspective of Swedish teenagers about this topic because it is a huge issue in this country. I got to teach a song called "Through your eyes" to a choir. It was my first experience standing in front of a choir and teaching them a song! I am absolutely loving this internship because it is giving me opportunities to do things that most people studying music education would not get until their student teaching. It was actually pretty successful too! This week is very important for Up with People because the entire board of directors, the CEO, and the Vice President are  here to see the sow and observe our impact. It was a crazy adventure trying to get home too with public transportation... It's a big cultural experience. 

11-14-18 Wednesday

Show Day!! Today is the most important show that we have ever had to do in the semester because of all the important people who were there. As the vocal intern, there was a lot that needed to get done before rehearsal started. Ellen and I talked about my goals for the internship and things that I wanted to learn. We worked with people on the Swedish medley, and then I lead the review workshop, and then lead warmups. It was a lot of getting comfortable in front of a huge group and teaching them... This is such good practice for the future. I taught three new warmups that Phil Brown uses! hahah! My production manager was extremely impressed that I brought new exercises in because we had been doing the exact same ones repeatedly. This show was the best show that we had done this entire semester. Everyone was performing their hearts out and actually enjoying the show as much as we did in staging. The dances, solos, and cast movements were sharp and impactful. After the show, I saw Autumn from camp!! She surprised me and I also got to see her dad, Rob. He was so flamboyant when he saw me and it made me giggle. I never thought that I would see Kyra and Autumn in Europe the same week! My life is surreal and I am still in shock. Also, I got to see my favorite counselor from camp who gave me the golden bandana, Max!! He came up to me after the show and gave me a big hug and congratulated me on how much better my voice has gotten since camp. Ellen and I worked on the vocal Excel sheet after the show and then we left to go home. This has been my favorite show day so far because I was given a lot of responsibility and the show was the best it has ever been!

11-15-18 Thursday
The cast had a panel with very successful social entrepreneurs who shared their stories of success. There was also an refugee from Afghanistan who shared his story of getting kicked out of his country, getting beat up, chased, and truly treated inhumane. I cried listening to his testimony, and I have a completely new perspective on the word refugee and immigrants. I have always heard about those people and automatically had a negative viewpoint. Regardless of political opinions, I will always hear them out at least. Then the cast went on a walking tour around the Tensta Area. After we had a globe smart workshop where we learned a little bit about ourselves and each other. Most of the cast is out with the plague this week! We had the best Swedish dinner that I have ever had in my life! Fish and Chips with Daim Ice cream for desert.

 

11-16-18 Friday
Today was one of the best days on tour so far!! The acoustic promo squad got to record a music video for the new song called Here and Now. First we recorded our voices in the studio but in the acoustic version of our song. Then we video recorded a performance of the group in multiple places around the city. It was basically a jam session all day with the most musically inclined people in the cast. After our shots were done, we went to espresso house and hung out. We started talking about how the semester is almost over, and how grateful we were to have a group of talented people like this to sing with daily. It got deep and emotional really fast. I realized how great of a support group I had in these people, and I will never forget them! I am so happy that the music video happened because now we can document a tiny bit of what we do with each other. After UWP hours, I got to meet some refugees from Afghanistan. We were in a circle and about 10 refugees, and 10 cast members who could play instruments and sing. Then we jammed for two hours straight. The refugees were brightened up with our ability to sing any song with joy and happiness. It was a truly incredible moment for them and for us.

11-17-18 Saturday
In the morning, the cast did a CA with Futbol de Forca which is an organization that empowers young women to play soccer and gain confidence in themselves. We played soccer with them and talked about our program. Then we had community discovery!!!! Kayla (From Bermuda), Javier (From Mexico), Joaquim (From Connecticut), Nannette (From Netherlands), Shannon (From Ohio), Ivy (From Indiana), Angelis (From Bermuda), Laryssa (From Colorado), Yaz (From Bermuda), Nasya (From Bermuda), and I explored Stockholm city! This group of people has become my tight night family within this organization... But when trying to travel in a group this big, we all were about ready to strangle each other. HAHA!! We went to different shops and stores downtown. Then Nasya and I broke away from the group to do our own thing for a while. We went to a coffee shop for some Fika!! It was a really fun day overall because we had the freedom to do what we wanted with no schedule. When we went home, we had an amazing dinner served with some drinks! I love Sweden!

11-18-18 Sunday
Host family day! Annica and Magnus brought us to Old Town in the city. We got to see gorgeous buildings, Swedish culture, the shore, and many coffee shops. Then we rode on a Ferry and saw the island across the city. We shopped again especially in H&M. Then their daughter came over for dinner and we had a really great evening. I will be really sad to leave this host family.