4'th of July weekend

I år falder Independence Day på en lørdag, og det har betydet noget så luksuriøst som en ekstra fridag dagen inden. Den slags hænger jo ikke på træerne herovre, så det føles altid meget ekstravagant. Vi lagde hårdt ud fredag morgen. Første stop var universitetet – mus holder jo ikke op med at spise selvom resten af nationen har fri, desværre. Heldigvis er jeg godt dækket ind de næste par ugers ferie, da jeg har en summer intern på slæb fra Iowa. Hun er supersej både sådan helt generelt og især også til at holde styr på mus og rotter, så jeg kan slappe af med god samvittighed.

This year Independence Day falls on a Saturday, and that means something as luxurious as a day off the day before. This is rare and it feels almost extravagant. We started early. First stop was the university – mice don’t stop eating just because the rest of the nation has a day off. Luckily I have a good backup while I am gone on vacation as I have a summer intern from Iowa with me right now. She is way above average in general and also she gets along well with mice and rats, so I can relax for good the next two weeks.

Efter et starbucks pit stop blev kursen sat nordpå, hvor vi skulle hente Luca efter en uges summer camp på Spring Hill (samme sted Ulrik og Teresa var I vinters). Det ere n KÆMPE camp. Her er et billede fra een af de indkØrsler, hvor man henter sit barns baggage. Derefter skal man parkere og registere sig I en kæmpe hal, hvor man får en slip papir, man kan bruge til at få udleveret sit barn. Det er organization paa et helt andet plan end at hente unger på en dansk sommerlejr, hvor de selv bestemmer om de gider gå I bad og I øvrigt skal skrælle kartofler og gøre rent den sidste dag selv. Luca havde selvklart haft en fest – intet mindre. Direkte adspurgt om at bedømme lejren på en skala fra eet til ti, var svaret 3000!

After a Starbucks visit the GPS was set north, where we had to pick up Luca after a week of summer camp at Spring Hill (same place where Ulrik and Teresa went in the winter). It is GIANT. Here is a picture from one of the entrances, where parents could pick up their kids stuff. After that you has to park and enter a big hall, where you get to register and get slip, that you use for getting your kid handed over. It is quite different from the Danish way where things are much less organized and kids even decide for themselves whether they bother to shower, and on top of this has to help peeling the potatoes and even have to clean the camp themselves before leaving.  Needless to say Luca had a blast. When asked how high he would rate the camp on a scale from 1-10, the answer was 3000.

Efter at have været nordpå blev kursen sat sydvest, hvor vi var inviteret I sommerhus I South Haven. Og – oh fryd – på vejen mødte vi et telt, hvor man kunne købe fyrværkeri. Det er nemlig lovligt at fyre lige så meget af som man lyster her I Michigan, og Luca var HELT oppe at ringe. 

After going North the GPS was adjusted for going southwest, where we had been invited to spend the weekend in a Beach House in South Haven. On the way there we passed a firework sale. Yay! In Michigan you are allowed to fire off fireworks as much as you want to for 4’th of July, and Luca did not need to hear that twice.

Vi kom frem til huset lige til aftensmadstid. Det var STORT. Et sommerhus I South Haven er at sammenligne med en patricier villa I Hellerup sådan rent størrelsesmæssigt og selvom vi blev mødt af 3 hunde, 4 andre 12-13 årige tøser, en anden familie (udover ejerne) plus det lØse, så fØltes det  på ingen måde klemt. Ydermere var der så tykke gulvtæpper, at det ikke gjorde så meget, at der ikke var senge nok, da flere af teenagerne bare rullede en sovepose ud paa gulvet.

 Noget af det allerførste jeg gjorde, var at gå ned til stranden. Nogle gange savner jeg havet helt forfærdeligt, og selvom Lake Michigan jo ikke er et hav, er det svært at se forskel:

We made it there just about dinner time. The house was BIG. It was as big as some of the biggest houses I have seen in Denmark, and even though we were greeted by 3 dogs, 4 girls Teresa’s age, another family (apart from the owners) plus a few extras, it never felt crowded. Also the carpets were so thick that it didn’t matter, that there weren’t enough beds, as the teenagers just rolled out their sleeping bags on the floor.

 One of the first things I did, was to go down to the beach. Sometimes I miss the ocean so bad, and even though Lake Michigan is not an ocean, it can be hard to tell the difference.

Vi så stort set ikke Teresa igen resten af weekenden, da hun havde travlt med at hænge ud med de andre tØser. De var vist I hot tub, tog ind til byen med barnepigen, så film, satte hår og alt hvad den slags tøser ellers laver.

We hardly saw Teresa at all, as she hung out with all the girls. They were busy being in the hot tub, going to town with the nanny, watching movies, doing hair and whatever else girls that age come up with.

 

LØrdag blev brugt med både mandehygge (fx var der en Ferrari, der var løbet tør for batteri strØm hen over vinteren, der lige skulle ha noget start hjælp), jeg gik en tur med Ulle og vi så slangespor I sandet. Ydrk. Luca og Alessio havde travlt I projekt “hent ler på stranden og lav hjemmelavede pile af grillspyd og spred dem ud over hele huset”, og der var jo også hunde, der skulle nusses, espresso ad libitum osv. Perfekt afslapning. Nå ja, vi fik også “green card kage” og fik sunget “happy green card to you” komplet med stjernekastere – LOL.

Saturday was spent with quality time for guys (there was a Ferrari that ran out of battery over the winterm and needed some help to get started), I went for a walk with Ulrik where we saw snake tracks in the sand. Yikes. Luca and Alessio were extremely busy with a  “go to the beach, get clay, make homemade arrows and spread the all over the house” project., there were dogs that needed attention and espresso machine ad libitum. Nothing short of perfect and just what we needed. And also, we had “green card cake” and “happy green card to you” singing with sparklers – LOL.

Kan aftenen på nogen måde hamle op med sådan en dag? Oh yeah! Det kan den når man tager til Saugatuck, hvor der var reserveret bord på en restaurant med terrasse lige ned til havnen, så vi sad I første parket til fyrværkeri show efter at have spist en hel del sweet potato fries. Jeg er endnu en gang fyldt af taknemmelighed over at møde så meget gæstfrihed og samtidig også en undren over hvor absurd vores liv ind I mellem er blevet, efter vi har bevæget os ud af de trygge rammer, vi kendte hjemme I Danmark.

Did the evening in any way match up to the rest of the day? Oh yeah! It sure does when you go to Saugatuck, with a table reservation at a restaurant where there is an outside deck right by the harbor to see the firework show after stuffed yourself with sweet potato fries. Once more I am more than grateful to meet so much hospitality and also I am struck by how absurd life can become when moving out of the comfort zone in Denmark.