House-Hopping In Europe

I love it. And as a result, I have promised several families that they are welcome to stay at my home (rather, my parents' home) when they come to Canada. Right now I am staying with my friend Anna's family in Borum, a village just outside of Aarhus, the second major city in Denmark (it's sort of the "university town"). This is the second Danish family I have lived with since arriving in Denmark. And they're certainly not the last family I'll be staying with while I'm in Europe, or even before the end of the holidays.

On Monday morning, I will be taking good ole reliable cheap RyanAir to Stansted Airport in England to stay with my relatives (on me pa's side) for the week surrounding Christmas! After that, I ship off to Stockholm to be picked up in the middle of the night by my friend Vilhelm to stay with his fam for the week surrounding New Year's. And it looks like he'll have at least one other film school friend joining us.

When it comes down to it, there are two main reasons why house-hopping is the best. One of them is logistical: it saves money. If I stay in a hotel in Aarhus, Brighton, (I will be in a hotel for my few days in London but that's still being with family), and Stockholm, it'll be mega-expensive. But if I stay with families, then my rent and food expenses are drastically reduced (or eliminated!). It means I have money to spend on touristy things, like visiting the Gamle By (historic town) in Aarhus! I can spend my money on these things.

Secondly, staying with a family is way more fun than staying in a dumb ole hotel (exception: if you are staying in that hotel with said family). You get to have family dinners, go to family outings (e.g. family birthday parties, holiday celebrations like St. Morten's Day), and talk to the families about cultural/family things ("Oh you do that here, too!", "Interesting! In our country we do things this way," etc.). It's harder to get those interactions in hotels or hostels. You have to work for them.

So this holiday, I will be a loving member of... three families. I plan to join many more before heading back to Canada in the summer.