vivi torontali

Not caught up? Read Episodes 1-13 here.

Welcome back to another episode of a blog I still don’t have an official name for! After giving you permission to yell at me in the comments if I haven’t finished the Duolingo course by this episode, I picked up the pace out of fear. I thought I’d get this little update out of the way to not leave you all hanging– I finished it mere hours before writing this. After 267 days, which is about 9 months, I finally won the war against the owl. Also, I’d also like to mention, they did not remind me two days before my trial ended. I outright refused to get the premium subscription because they advertise it as $13 per month but then charge you for a year upfront. That being said, I owe most of my current Danish knowledge to that annoying bird, and as I recently became aware of the Duolingo merch store, I thought that getting the Buff Duo Plushie would be a great way to celebrate this milestone. 

After a couple of weeks trying to tutor my dad in Danish, he decided to quit the school and restart in January. It hasn’t been going well for him because his ears aren’t accustomed to the spoken language. If you haven’t already noticed, Danish words aren’t pronounced even remotely similar to the way they are spelled. In attempts to align his ears, he started watching shows on DRTV (Danmarks Radio TV). When I hear words and sentences I already know, it sounds completely normal, but when it evolves towards full conversations and monologues, it morphs into nonsense that sounds so alien to me. It feels a bit like having an out-of-body experience.

In other news, the video I made for the café has been posted. I was told that because the café has a lot of followers, I shouldn’t be surprised if people recognize me at work or on the street of this small city. I can only hope to be that effective as an influencer. 

My first week of work was a bit rough as you have read in the last episode, but luckily this week has been much better. I know a little more now and can get orders done a little faster. I even made a cappuccino worthy of being served even if the latte art is still a bit lacking. Now I have a deeper understanding of how the milk steamer works and how the crema needs to sit in the cup. I didn’t realize how big a deal air bubbles are when it comes to making a servable cup of coffee. As Duolingo once taught me, “at lave kaffe er både en videnskab og en kunst,” meaning “making coffee is both a science and an art.” With some triumphs come many epic fails including (but not limited to) spilling a bunch of matcha powder all over myself, burning my hand on the oven, making the most laughable waffle that thankfully was only made for me, and looking like an absolute fool struggling with things that I think require brainpower but ultimately only require brute strength. My next challenge is identifying which cups to use for which drinks– I think I’ll be struggling with that for a while.

Things have been smoothing out for my dad and I, the working members of the family. My mom is still searching for a job– no matter how qualified she is to work in a fashion boutique or a grocery store, age discrimination unfortunately exists and has not been serving her. My sister just had her last day as an admissions counselor. She got a nice send-off from her colleagues and is excited about starting her new job. She’s just about ready to get on that one-way flight and officially move in! Nudli, on the other hand, is almost at the ripe age of two and should also be getting a job, but if an hour-long walk can tire him out enough to sleep for the next three hours, I have a feeling he’s only going to find work as a part-time housesitter. He was given the opportunity to do some free labor in my video but has not worked a day in his life before or since. The good news is that I was able to film his ears flapping in the wind as I drove him around on my bike. I like to think of them as little sails that are steering us down the road.

As you may know, there was a total lunar eclipse observable by 85% of the world’s population on September 7th. I was lucky to witness this beautiful phenomenon after a long day of work, though it was very hard to catch at first because the moon was so dark. On April 8th, 2024, a total solar eclipse hit the Vermont area, one day before my birthday. I was in New Zealand at the time so I was very upset about not being able to see it, especially because the entire state of Vermont was raving about it even months after it happened. Somehow I feel like this lunar eclipse makes up for that– the fact that it was visible in so many parts of the world, including Denmark but not including North America, feels like I’m in exactly the right place at the right time. I was able to use my dad’s phone to take some incredibly cool pictures, both in totality and when the umbra lit up the edges. My parents, dog and I had to find a high point to witness it in this endless flat expanse, and our only option was the mall’s rooftop parking lot. The moon rose over the flat cement H&M exterior of the mall, and I was the first one to notice it out of everyone who was there to watch the eclipse. There’s something poetic about the way this natural cosmic spectacle contrasted the manmade industrial landscape.

Though life seems like it should be slowing down and getting boring at this point in our journey, it’s been the opposite. I’m taking a little trip to Aarhus this weekend which I am excited to write all about. I’m also looking forward to making decent latte art– my artist ego gets bruised every time I create an abomination. I hope you are as excited to read about these future adventures as I am to write about them. Somehow I feel like I am able to give you sneak peeks of my next episodes even though they depend entirely on what’s happening in my life. It feels good to be stable and also have so many new beginnings to look forward to. If you like what you’re reading, consider subscribing to this blog and sharing my story with your friends. Also, please feel free to leave a comment, I will always benefit from honest feedback. I just need to hear through the brick wall first.