Discovering Iowa

World Super Bull, Butter Art and much, much, more at The Iowa State Fair

Johan and I have been on a recent quest to discover the greatness of Iowa. Iowa is known to be a state filled with corn, cattle and more corn. While there are some large cities (The Cedar Valley Area where we live has approx. 127,000 people) Iowa remains to be mostly filled with farms. And the Iowa State Fair was the perfect place to discover the richness of Iowa's farming community.

We drove a week ago to Des Moines to visit my parents and to take advantage of the opening day at the fair and their half price tickets! After eating dinner in the Beef Quarters...which included beef, beef and more beef.

Big Black...

We visited the livestock where we met the World's Largest Bull, named Big Black and big he was setting a new world record weighing in at 3,406lbs.

Big Boar

After visiting Big Black we went on to see one enormous PIG...Big Boar to be exact, weighing in at roughly 1,340lbs, this is certainly the biggest (and most disgustingly fearsome boar I have ever met...but they again how many boars have I actually met?)

Joern and his butter...

Growing up in Ohio I have grown accustomed to the famous Ohio State Fair Butter Sculptures. However, little did I know that Ohio's Butter Sculptures appear to not only be an Ohio State Fair Phenomenon. This year's Butter Art theme at the Iowa State Fair was Neil Armstrong's Moon Walk.

Johan was quite fascinated by pounds and pounds of butter. (Maybe it has to do with Joern's (Johan's dad) childhood dream of eating butter behind the dunes...) I guess the butter fascintation runs in the family...

All In All...

When all said and done, it was a fabulous evening at the Iowa State Fair. We learned a lot about corn, bulls, boars, butter and ice scultpures, good entertainment, and even better people watching.

It seems that we have stumbled upon the hidden greatness of Iowa and their love for all things agricultural.

Stay tuned for our next posting as we discover the beauty and history of Lake Okoboji...

Danericans and Rosenstjerne

So we have finally broken down and decided to join the blogging craze! (Ok. well I - Kelly broke down). As newlyweds, and newly moved to the U.S. I felt that now was as good a time as any. That, and as I am still searching (desperately searching) for a job, I needed something to pass my days out here in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Danericans:
Everyone at this point know this, but in case you didn't - Johan is Danish and I am American. But see here is the twisted part. Although it would seem natural that I would be flourishing here in the U.S., on my "home turf" and Johan would be experiencing the "culture shock" and "homesickness" is appears that the roles are reveresed. Of course Johan has his days when he misses Denmark (he always misses his family and friends)...It seems that all in all, he is adapting well.
I am a completely different story. Coming back to ths U.S. has been quite a struggle for me. The process of being uprooted is painful. I figured out the other day, that I have been living out of a suitecase (on the go) for the past FOUR months. That's a third of a year! That's a long time! No wonder I am feeling the strains of 6 weeks in Asia, turning in a thesis, pre-wedding Danish party, moving to another country, getting married, and moving to a completely new state, and searching for jobs. It is so bad that they other day I seriously broke down and started crying over my lack of Paelegchokolade! (thin pieces of chocolate you put on top of bread)...

Moral of the story:
Although Johan is the Dane and I am the American...some days it feels like Johan is American and I am Danish. I guess that is just the process of two people merging into one. It's what we like to call Danerican.

Lesson 1:
Some would call an international marriage THE BLESSING of being able to live in two countries...while others would merely call it THE CURSE...We are still undecided on what to call it, but either way - it's an adventure.

Rosenstjerne:
The newest and most exciting discovery for Johan is that he is indeed part of the Royal Danish Knighthood...Yes that is right, we are dealing with a bonefide 100% knight here. And according to Johan: "A knight is pretty much the same thing as a prince...right?!?!?" Johan's great grandfather, Martinus Bjerre was a decendent of Niels Torkilsen Lim who was knighted in 152o by King Christian II, under the name Rosenstjerne. And even better, we are equipped with our very own family shield.