Skive, Denmark
May 27th- June 5th
Theme of the week: Now What?
1 Show, 2 BTS, 2 Acoustic Promo, 2 Flash Mobs
Michael, Helle, Line, Mikkel, Mathilde, Karolin
Ya (China), Kaede (Japan), Sam (Switzerland), Leo (France), Romane (Belgium), Nadine (Benin), Isac (Mexico), Katelyn (Canada)
5-27-19 Monday
Last Travel Day ever in my Up with People journey!! I sat next to Hayden, and it came full circle. He was my first bus buddy and now he is my last. I am really going to miss the deepest conversations that happen on 12 hour busses. We also sat next to Alicen, and it was really great to talk to her as just a person. When we arrived in Skive, I saw that I was in a special allocation. All of the recent hospitality assistants are hosted together for an after hour event! I have 8 roommates all from different countries. We have China, Japan, Europe, Africa, Mexico, Canada and I am the only American. My host family is the sponsor for Skive this week! They have dogs, cats, kittens, goats, chickens, ducks, cows, and llamas. I am living on a farm with a lot of people. We had a house tour that was 30 minutes long because they have four different apartments. We have beds in a tree house, in an apartment, and in a slumber party house. Three people slept in the apartment, and 5 of us slept in a little shed with two beds. We were sleeping very close together, and I couldn't change positions all night. There were bugs and spiders along the window and in the bed sheets. We all had the chills and were ichy all night. It felt like the beginning of a horror story, but it is probably one of my favorite memories so far. The sun came up at 3:00am and I woke up and went for a walk because it was so bright. It was one of the best mornings. I woke up in the middle of nature with dew on the grass and brisk air. I had a surreal moment in my life. I am very grateful to be here this week with an awesome family in an awesome house with awesome roommates. I couldn't ask for a better way to end my last week of Up with People. Life is really so good!!
5-28-19 Tuesday
Today we had an acoustic promo at a school in downtown Skive. We performed twice for little Danish students in their gym. This is one of the last acoustic promo days I will ever have in Up with People. This is the week of final activities and it is bittersweet. I had the most impactful acoustic promos at a hospice center today. There was an lady in a wheel chair on her last couple weeks of life in the audience. She was taping the beat with her finger even though her body couldn't move. All of the sudden she started crying while attempting to sing along. Her daughter was there by her side crying over her mom's reaction to the music. We were in the room singing our set quietly and passionately. It wasn't until that moment that I realized the message of the songs that our in our set. "Mama Said," "Till Everyone is Home," "Give the children back their childhood..." Angelis grabbed my hand and started to tear. It was really touching to physically see how music can change a life. The band had our last PA time ever. We talked about how far we came as a band, and how close our bond has gotten. We are a family and the fact that we will never play together after tomorrow breaks my heart. We laughed about all of our struggles in staging, and cherished the memories we had together. When we got home, I was in charge of cooking dinner. This host family wants food from every country we have represented. Katelyn from Canada and I decided to do a northern themed meal. I cooked tater tot host dish and she made a Canadian desert. Everyone loved it, and it was really fun to share a little bit of my home with my family in Denmark. Sam and I cleaned out the tree house, and we are facing our fears and sleeping out there tonight. It's high up and in the middle of the forest over the river!!
5-29-19 Wednesday
Last Show Day!! In the morning, I helped with set-up. This may be the last time that I ever help in the process of constructing an Up with People stage. We are in a huge theater with a lot of space on stage and in the audience. After lunch, we had the infamous Fun Rehearsal. The cast was so confused, and it was priceless to see Danielle perform "What does the fox say." I had to dance Party and I totally embarrassed myself, but it was fun! Then rehearsal started... I entered in the anger stage of loss. For my last show in UWP, they put Julia in for Hope. I was LIVID!! For all of Europe, I have been singing and playing piano, and all of the sudden I got taken out of all my singing parts. The worst part is, they didn't even tell me why! My last rehearsal in UWP was so bad and that totally sucks. After I got over my anger, I just wanted to focus on the band. Last semester, I got to sing Keep Hope Alive with the whole cast crying behind me. But now, I am going to enjoy every second I have with the band. During rehearsal, Fiona came up the piano and told me that she was going to play Home. This is my favorite song to play on the piano. I was not doing anything in my last show and it made me really angry. I got extremely bitter and became a total jerk to everyone. I just wanted to skip the last week and go home... It was a very pessimistic 2 hours. Then we had our final greenroom where we danced the Mexican, Belgian, German, and Danish medleys. Once I got out of the negativity, I tried to focus on what I loved about the production side of UWP. We had our final band circle and that lifted my spirits tremulously. This is the last time that I will ever play with Divine Dingus. I finally reflected on how much being apart of this has changed my life. We are a family of complete random opposite people, but we come together to create a beautiful unit. My favorite memories are with these boys and it's so sad to think that we will never play all together again. I played and performed so hard. Since I wasn't singing, I went on for every cast movement with Santa, and I got to feel the energy of the cast again. In the end, I was grateful... but still really bitter at the production team. Then we had our final strike!!!! The tech team had the closing truck ceremony where they tricked us and threw champagne everywhere!! Then we sent energy into closing the truck, and then it was all over...
5-30-19 Thursday
The beginning of the internal days started today. The cast went to the school and we spent the day with host families and community members. They went to the forest to clean up trash, but I stayed at the school and took a nap. Yesterday took it out of me because I was physically and emotionally burnt out. I needed 2 hours to sleep and chill. Then the cast split into home teams and created dances to different EuroVision songs. It was hilarious. My home team won, but I didn't participate because I was still asleep when they were creating the choreography. Juliette and I spent time writing our final banquet letters. It made me realize how many people I wanted to appreciate in this cast. We got home, relaxed a bit and drank hot chocolate. It was a wonderfully chill day and I really loved it. Then Kaede and Ya made an Asian Cuisine dinner for 20 people. We had healthy noodles, vegetables, meats and traditional dishes! This was one of my favorite meals and communal dinners so far in UWP.
5-31-19 Friday
Today was one of the best days that I have had in such a long time!! We started off the morning with our last home team time. We all took time to appreciate each other and acknowledge growth. With my love language being words of affirmation, this activity put me in a good mood. Spencer and Fredrick encouraged my heart and it meant a lot! Then we went into rehearsal, but the band took time together in a ascetic gazebo. We played Mafia during every break we had throughout the day. Up with People flooded the streets of Skive with a big flash mob. This is the first time that I felt happy and connected to the cast. We all disguised our shirts and pretended to be shoppers in the street. Then the music started, and the dance line entered. The rest of the cast joined in and mingled all along the street and the square. We had two flash mobs and two backing track shows. During the last BTS, I performed with all of my energy and soul. It was the last time that I will truly perform any UWP song in my student semester. Since my last show day wasn't the best, I treated this like my last show. During "Home," I was standing next to all of my best friends. I made eye contact on stage with Liam, Virginie, Romane, Tylene, Sara, Momo, Angelis, Aaron and Spencer. I felt so close to the cast, and I felt complete joy singing this song outside in the middle of Denmark. Today was the day that lifted my negative mood that I have had the past two days. We got home and went to bed. Sam and I had a really deep conversation in the Tree House!
6-1-19 Saturday
My entire allocation this week is previous hospitality assistants. We all had to wake up at 5:30am to serve bread and coffee to community members in the square. We arrived at 7am and nobody was there for us to serve. The acoustic group had our last performance for about six community members. The cast arrived and we had free time downtown for 5 hours. I spent a few hours with the two rooms from the second semester retreat. We got coffee, walked around and shopped. In the street, there was a live band playing 80's music. Everybody danced and created a spectacle in the street. A random lady offered us free smoothies. Then, we had our final band pull together. Affe, Talin, Liam, David, Daniel, Aaron, Brody and I went to a bar. We ordered drinks and played a VERY intense game of Mafia. This has become our legend in the cast, and it is so fun to play that game with people who get extremely worked up about it. As I think about how I got into the band in the first place, I am amazed that it all worked out so well. I am beyond grateful to have this sense of community. I thought I knew what it was like to be in a musical family with choirs, camps and UWP. But, being in the band is even more than all of that. I'm going to miss some of my best friends in that group of dudes. Tonight, Isac made a Mexican Cuisine dinner for everybody. He made enchiladas and we watched a scary movie.
6-2-19 Sunday
Last host family day in Up with People!!! Today was a really great day. It started off with a few hours of extra sleep in the tree house. The view in the morning instantly put me in a good mood. All 15 of us went to a Danish market in the morning and looked through traditional trinkets. Then we went rafting in the river. It has been cold weather all week, but today it was warm enough to go swimming. However, the water was frigid. We took tubes and peacefully floated down the river for an hour. I am really appreciative of this host family and the week that I have had here. I got unbelievably lucky for my last week on tour. Nadine and I went horseback riding with the three horses that our host family owns. I was on a golden-brown horse that was very slow and farted during the whole ride. We have gotten to do really awesome things today and we haven't even left the house. They have a unique set-up and I feel like I am on camping retreat. For dinner tonight, we had typical Danish food. Michael cooked for us, and it was so good. I have loved the variety of foods we are eating this week! We chilled the rest of the night and got ready for our last full day tomorrow!
6-3-19 Monday
Last full operational day!!! The cast was together for the last full day and we spent quality time together. In the morning, we had a workshop about all the things we could put on a resume and CV after traveling with UWP! Sometimes I don't realize all of the major life skills that I am gaining until I write it down on paper. Then we had Gallery! There were pictures hung up all around the room with memories from the entire semester. We watched videos and just took time to reflect as a cast. I remember being very sad when we did this last semester. Now, I just feel grateful and ready to leave. It's a great place to be in. The staff did their 12 days of summer tradition with staffings, bad pickup lines, dancing, singing, quotes, UWP when's and memorable moments. It really was a great day, and I'm ready to start the goodbye process.
6-4-19 Tuesday
Sam and I woke up in the tree house for the last time. The view in the morning was gorgeous, and I am really going to miss this place. The nine of us spent the morning writing letters, packing, getting emotionally ready and physically dressed up for the final banquet. Then Helle and Michael dropped us off at this barn type place where the final banquet took place. I loved my outfit so much and it made the night that much better. For dinner, there was two roasted pigs and an entire salad bar. It was totally awesome!! There were many pictures, lights, decorations and memories hung up all around. They had a beer pong station set up with water instead of beer! Hahah, the life of UWP:) People were taking pictures the whole night and the staff was trying to make us realize how much of an amazing semester we have had. There was a full circle at the end of the night where we all wrapped our wrists in yarn to represent the web of connections we have with each other. Then we played the tapping game where we went around the room and tapped people that we appreciated. Right then and there I realized how many people I care about in this room. Then we cleaned up, said goodbye and jumped on the bus to the Billund airport. I sat with Virginie as our final goodbye!
5-28-19 Tuesday
Today we had an acoustic promo at a school in downtown Skive. We performed twice for little Danish students in their gym. This is one of the last acoustic promo days I will ever have in Up with People. This is the week of final activities and it is bittersweet. I had the most impactful acoustic promos at a hospice center today. There was an lady in a wheel chair on her last couple weeks of life in the audience. She was taping the beat with her finger even though her body couldn't move. All of the sudden she started crying while attempting to sing along. Her daughter was there by her side crying over her mom's reaction to the music. We were in the room singing our set quietly and passionately. It wasn't until that moment that I realized the message of the songs that our in our set. "Mama Said," "Till Everyone is Home," "Give the children back their childhood..." Angelis grabbed my hand and started to tear. It was really touching to physically see how music can change a life. The band had our last PA time ever. We talked about how far we came as a band, and how close our bond has gotten. We are a family and the fact that we will never play together after tomorrow breaks my heart. We laughed about all of our struggles in staging, and cherished the memories we had together. When we got home, I was in charge of cooking dinner. This host family wants food from every country we have represented. Katelyn from Canada and I decided to do a northern themed meal. I cooked tater tot host dish and she made a Canadian desert. Everyone loved it, and it was really fun to share a little bit of my home with my family in Denmark. Sam and I cleaned out the tree house, and we are facing our fears and sleeping out there tonight. It's high up and in the middle of the forest over the river!!
Last Show Day!! In the morning, I helped with set-up. This may be the last time that I ever help in the process of constructing an Up with People stage. We are in a huge theater with a lot of space on stage and in the audience. After lunch, we had the infamous Fun Rehearsal. The cast was so confused, and it was priceless to see Danielle perform "What does the fox say." I had to dance Party and I totally embarrassed myself, but it was fun! Then rehearsal started... I entered in the anger stage of loss. For my last show in UWP, they put Julia in for Hope. I was LIVID!! For all of Europe, I have been singing and playing piano, and all of the sudden I got taken out of all my singing parts. The worst part is, they didn't even tell me why! My last rehearsal in UWP was so bad and that totally sucks. After I got over my anger, I just wanted to focus on the band. Last semester, I got to sing Keep Hope Alive with the whole cast crying behind me. But now, I am going to enjoy every second I have with the band. During rehearsal, Fiona came up the piano and told me that she was going to play Home. This is my favorite song to play on the piano. I was not doing anything in my last show and it made me really angry. I got extremely bitter and became a total jerk to everyone. I just wanted to skip the last week and go home... It was a very pessimistic 2 hours. Then we had our final greenroom where we danced the Mexican, Belgian, German, and Danish medleys. Once I got out of the negativity, I tried to focus on what I loved about the production side of UWP. We had our final band circle and that lifted my spirits tremulously. This is the last time that I will ever play with Divine Dingus. I finally reflected on how much being apart of this has changed my life. We are a family of complete random opposite people, but we come together to create a beautiful unit. My favorite memories are with these boys and it's so sad to think that we will never play all together again. I played and performed so hard. Since I wasn't singing, I went on for every cast movement with Santa, and I got to feel the energy of the cast again. In the end, I was grateful... but still really bitter at the production team. Then we had our final strike!!!! The tech team had the closing truck ceremony where they tricked us and threw champagne everywhere!! Then we sent energy into closing the truck, and then it was all over...
5-30-19 Thursday
The beginning of the internal days started today. The cast went to the school and we spent the day with host families and community members. They went to the forest to clean up trash, but I stayed at the school and took a nap. Yesterday took it out of me because I was physically and emotionally burnt out. I needed 2 hours to sleep and chill. Then the cast split into home teams and created dances to different EuroVision songs. It was hilarious. My home team won, but I didn't participate because I was still asleep when they were creating the choreography. Juliette and I spent time writing our final banquet letters. It made me realize how many people I wanted to appreciate in this cast. We got home, relaxed a bit and drank hot chocolate. It was a wonderfully chill day and I really loved it. Then Kaede and Ya made an Asian Cuisine dinner for 20 people. We had healthy noodles, vegetables, meats and traditional dishes! This was one of my favorite meals and communal dinners so far in UWP.
Today was one of the best days that I have had in such a long time!! We started off the morning with our last home team time. We all took time to appreciate each other and acknowledge growth. With my love language being words of affirmation, this activity put me in a good mood. Spencer and Fredrick encouraged my heart and it meant a lot! Then we went into rehearsal, but the band took time together in a ascetic gazebo. We played Mafia during every break we had throughout the day. Up with People flooded the streets of Skive with a big flash mob. This is the first time that I felt happy and connected to the cast. We all disguised our shirts and pretended to be shoppers in the street. Then the music started, and the dance line entered. The rest of the cast joined in and mingled all along the street and the square. We had two flash mobs and two backing track shows. During the last BTS, I performed with all of my energy and soul. It was the last time that I will truly perform any UWP song in my student semester. Since my last show day wasn't the best, I treated this like my last show. During "Home," I was standing next to all of my best friends. I made eye contact on stage with Liam, Virginie, Romane, Tylene, Sara, Momo, Angelis, Aaron and Spencer. I felt so close to the cast, and I felt complete joy singing this song outside in the middle of Denmark. Today was the day that lifted my negative mood that I have had the past two days. We got home and went to bed. Sam and I had a really deep conversation in the Tree House!
6-1-19 Saturday
My entire allocation this week is previous hospitality assistants. We all had to wake up at 5:30am to serve bread and coffee to community members in the square. We arrived at 7am and nobody was there for us to serve. The acoustic group had our last performance for about six community members. The cast arrived and we had free time downtown for 5 hours. I spent a few hours with the two rooms from the second semester retreat. We got coffee, walked around and shopped. In the street, there was a live band playing 80's music. Everybody danced and created a spectacle in the street. A random lady offered us free smoothies. Then, we had our final band pull together. Affe, Talin, Liam, David, Daniel, Aaron, Brody and I went to a bar. We ordered drinks and played a VERY intense game of Mafia. This has become our legend in the cast, and it is so fun to play that game with people who get extremely worked up about it. As I think about how I got into the band in the first place, I am amazed that it all worked out so well. I am beyond grateful to have this sense of community. I thought I knew what it was like to be in a musical family with choirs, camps and UWP. But, being in the band is even more than all of that. I'm going to miss some of my best friends in that group of dudes. Tonight, Isac made a Mexican Cuisine dinner for everybody. He made enchiladas and we watched a scary movie.
6-2-19 Sunday
Last host family day in Up with People!!! Today was a really great day. It started off with a few hours of extra sleep in the tree house. The view in the morning instantly put me in a good mood. All 15 of us went to a Danish market in the morning and looked through traditional trinkets. Then we went rafting in the river. It has been cold weather all week, but today it was warm enough to go swimming. However, the water was frigid. We took tubes and peacefully floated down the river for an hour. I am really appreciative of this host family and the week that I have had here. I got unbelievably lucky for my last week on tour. Nadine and I went horseback riding with the three horses that our host family owns. I was on a golden-brown horse that was very slow and farted during the whole ride. We have gotten to do really awesome things today and we haven't even left the house. They have a unique set-up and I feel like I am on camping retreat. For dinner tonight, we had typical Danish food. Michael cooked for us, and it was so good. I have loved the variety of foods we are eating this week! We chilled the rest of the night and got ready for our last full day tomorrow!
Last full operational day!!! The cast was together for the last full day and we spent quality time together. In the morning, we had a workshop about all the things we could put on a resume and CV after traveling with UWP! Sometimes I don't realize all of the major life skills that I am gaining until I write it down on paper. Then we had Gallery! There were pictures hung up all around the room with memories from the entire semester. We watched videos and just took time to reflect as a cast. I remember being very sad when we did this last semester. Now, I just feel grateful and ready to leave. It's a great place to be in. The staff did their 12 days of summer tradition with staffings, bad pickup lines, dancing, singing, quotes, UWP when's and memorable moments. It really was a great day, and I'm ready to start the goodbye process.
6-4-19 Tuesday
Sam and I woke up in the tree house for the last time. The view in the morning was gorgeous, and I am really going to miss this place. The nine of us spent the morning writing letters, packing, getting emotionally ready and physically dressed up for the final banquet. Then Helle and Michael dropped us off at this barn type place where the final banquet took place. I loved my outfit so much and it made the night that much better. For dinner, there was two roasted pigs and an entire salad bar. It was totally awesome!! There were many pictures, lights, decorations and memories hung up all around. They had a beer pong station set up with water instead of beer! Hahah, the life of UWP:) People were taking pictures the whole night and the staff was trying to make us realize how much of an amazing semester we have had. There was a full circle at the end of the night where we all wrapped our wrists in yarn to represent the web of connections we have with each other. Then we played the tapping game where we went around the room and tapped people that we appreciated. Right then and there I realized how many people I care about in this room. Then we cleaned up, said goodbye and jumped on the bus to the Billund airport. I sat with Virginie as our final goodbye!
