I think it is safe to say that I cried more last night than I have all semester (granted, that's not even a lot). Now that the goodbyes & the tears are out of my system... it's time for one last blog post.
This past week has been, in a word, INCREDIBLE. I turned in my final paper for art history on Tuesday, and then I was completely done with school for the semester! Monday night, Becky came over to say goodbye to my host family... and we went out on a limb & decided to cook them a good, Amurrrican meal (burgers and mac&cheese, obviously). We used Martha Stewart's tried and true recipe for the macaroni... and even though Denmark doesn't have half of the ingredients, it turned out surprisingly well. Tuesday night, I went to Becky's house to say my first goodbyes - to her host family. Afterwards, we met up with some of the other girls and went through our traditional Tuesday night routines. I insisted that we swing by the Moose so we could grafitti the walls (I left a note for Tara to find in the spring!) and of course we finished up the night with some karaoke. Even though Sam's Bar was being mean to us the last night, and cheating us out of our songs, it still holds a very special place in my heart. <3
Wednesday was a day of great exploration. I met up with Ariel in the morning and we wandered the red light district, and ventured out to some part of Copenhagen that I had never even seen before! Crazy that that can still happen. It was cold & snowy, and it was at this point that I realized I was getting a cold, that I have managed to keep relatively under control this whole crazy week. For dinner, I met up with our little group of Rome friends at Chili Milli, and it was wonderful. HYGGE!
Thursday was spent returning books, loitering around DIS and the city in general. I did some extremely last minute Christmas shopping, and bought myself a little Danish flag :)
And then, there was Friday. We all assembled at some theater at 2:30 for the DIS concluding ceremony. It was really, REALLY cheesy, but I loved every second of it. They had a string orchestra from the University of Copenhagen, some presentation of awards, and funny speeches about the "you just saw the whole world.... now what?" issue. The DIS choir sang "Don't Stop Believin'" and Jamie and I were like allllll choked up, but pretty much everyone else was laughing at how corny it was. There was a little reception after, with some cookies and glogg ("what's better than wine? HOT wine!") I said some goodbyes there, but it was super crowded so unfortunately I missed a lot of people.
I came back and made pasta with my favorite pesto sauce ever, that my host family is obsessed with, and got ready to go back out. I took my final ride on the 6A to norreport, to go to the DIS party. It was oookaayyy I guess. I was hoping that more people would be there, but there got to be a pretty solid crowd by the end. I started with the waterworks pretty early, when Allie and Carolyn left because they had morning flights. It was at that moment that it finally hit me that it was the end. I'm not usually THE most sentimental person ever, but goodbyes really get me.
Eventually, we made our way to La Hacienda, a club right near DIS that I had never been to before. Fortunately, there were tons of my people there, too. Medina (a popular Danish singer) was performing, and it was all around tons of fun. Until I had to say goodbye, of course. There were lots of hugs, and then I got on the night bus and put on my "songs to cry to" playlist on my ipod (DON'T JUDGE ME). Ahahaha it's really stupid because like half of new friends go to Gettysburg and I'll see them in 3-4 weeks anyway, but it was the other half... and the random acquaintances that I'll never see again... that REALLY made me sad.
AHhhh this is getting long. Today is a packing/hanging out with the host fam day. I just said goodbye to Thomas and the dogs, as they are headed to Jutland until late tomorrow. Anst is coming over tonight and Iben is making my favorite Indian food :) Happiness is Denmark.
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Lastly, I stole this idea from Allie.... I have learned SO much more this semester than I have in the past 4 semesters at Gettysburg. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration... but I have learned a lot. Academically, and otherwise, we are all much, much wiser now. So here goes.
- Danish is an impossible language.
- However, I have mastered the basics: "Hi," "My name is," "Can I have a...?", "I don't know", "What?", "Beer," and "Ham and Cheese."
- 2 minute showers are possible.
- Pickled herring doesn't taste nearly as bad as it sounds.
- The easiest job in the world is that of a meteorologist in Denmark. You can say whatever you want, and most likely, at some point in the day, you'll be right.
- Underwear is a luxury, not a necessity.
- There is no correct answer to the health care issue.
- As dumb as this sounds, the Euro is NOT the same as the Dollar. And kroners are not monopoly money.
- Don't eat licorice here.
- A little impulse never hurt anyone. A little rationality never hurt anyone either.
- Dryers are bad for the climate. Cold, crispy clothes are the Danish way.
- I am even more awkward than I previously thought.
- HIV numbers are low in Scandinavia.... but really high in Estonia. (Which kind of debunks Nat's "it's because they wear more clothes" theory)
- The 6A is the best bus ever. The 82N is the worst.
- It is socially acceptable to date someone who is half your age, plus 7.
- I can pass as Danish very easily, but only when I dress nicely.
- You shouldn't travel to places just because there's a song about them. A wise irishman once told me "There's a song about Alabama... but I would never want to go there!"
- It is pretty easy to convince Europeans that NJ is the best state ever. I like that about them.
- "Party in the U.S.A." can be easily changed to fit any country, and the outcome is always hilarious.
- "Kulor boots" are just as essential as "frat flats."
- Sketching buildings is the best way to understand them.
- St. Peder's Bageri and Hey Bagel make the world a better place.
- If you put your mind to it, you really CAN do anything. (or anyONE ahahahah jk jk jk)
- "The simplest explanation is always the American explanation," and the world is made up of humans, microorganisms, and elephants and rocks. (Courtesy of Peter Christensen)
- Life is wonderful, and shouldn't be wished away.
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