Oslo

Today we're headed on the Copenhagen - Oslo cruise, returning Sunday....wish us luck? (: Have a good weekend!

Feels like Home

Well, as you all predicted, I did finish packing in the end. After the second entry in one day, I realized that I just had to throw everything into a bag and then I wouldn't have to think about it for another month or two. It only took an hour or so more to finish, to vacuum, and to un-make my bed.

Finally feeling accomplished, I went into Copenhagen to meet Alex so we could walk to the concluding ceremony & champagne reception for DIS. I realized I couldn't have been more happy to be done with DIS - after the terrible academics, and miserable professors, I was ready to walk away from the institution forever. I didn't think DIS had contributed to my life really in the least, but after listening to all of the speeches and seeing all of the photos, I guess my opinion has changed some. While looking around at the people around me, I realized I HAD made friends. It was never something I cared to do. At the beginning of the semester, I just wanted to be immersed into Danish culture - I only wanted to meet Danish friends, hang out with my host family, and learn Danish. I blocked out the Americans (maybe that's why I didn't have any close friends in my core course) as best I could, because I didn't see the point - why should I meet Americans while I'm in Denmark? Americans that all live far away from me, ones that I'll never see again. I mean, eventually I realized I couldn't go through DIS without making ANY friends, but even so, I had two or three close ones and Tali, and that was all I needed. Eventually though, life became a lot more stable here in this cozy little corner of the world, and I was content with the level of immersion I had achieved. I began to relax in classes, talk to more people, and trade travel experiences for insight. I began to make good friends, and even summer plans to visit different places in the States - future plans to visit different colleges, and plans to keep in touch with each other. I realized that I was starting to make memories - ice cream and walks to Vestebro with Tori and Sarah, bartending with Emily at Studenterhuset, shopping with Shea, trips around the city with Lauren. The thing that I never intended on doing happened - I made friends with many of the American students at DIS, and now I half regret it for two reasons: I've made even more people to miss, and I didn't do it sooner.

I guess I do try to think about it in an optimistic light as well - I really took advantage of my time abroad in Denmark. I didn't miss out on a single thing while I was here - I did everything I promised myself I would, from wearing bright socks outside of black leggings with black converse in public (I looked ridiculously stupid), to singing outloud in front of my host family (was so much fun!), to traveling the world by myself (was amazed), to finding the most wonderful boyfriend (was shocked), to becoming friends with my host family (was so happy). Aside from the friends that I didn't meet sooner, I don't regret a single thing about my time in this wonderful little country. I will be so disappointed to return to St. Lawrence next year - it will seem so far from my second home in such a beautiful and busy little city. The thought of going to Canton, New York makes me feel a little sick - I will miss the cobblestone, the long walks in the city, seeing new sights every day, the parks - just everything.

Now I'm here in anonther room that I've learned to call my second home in Denmark - 5 Rebaek Sopark. It is now, for least a little while, what I'll have to call my first home. It didn't take long to move in all of my stuff, and it'll be a cosy place to live temporarily. I'm happy here, and I know I'll miss it so much when I return to SLU. I'm already plotting different ways to find my way back to Denmark after I graduate from St. Lawrence.

...

We're running late for dinner with Stefan's parents & sister, so I guess I'll have to finish this later....maybe. I'll have a lot of time to kill, now that I'm not really doing anything with my life...except studying Danish with my private Danish tutor.

Vi ses for nu! (:

...

I told you I'd be updating a lot more now that I have to pack. This is the second time in one day - that's right. That's how much I HATE packing. I'd rather be sitting here telling you all about NOTHING than throwing stuff into organized piles.

On the brightside, I've at least accomplished something. My clothes are now arranged into two piles - things that Stefan has to take back to the States, and things that I have to fit into two suitcases. Though now I'm wondering - will it really be that hard? I'm not sure. It seems easy enough, so I guess I'll just work on it. It doesn't seem like I have hardly anything - I guess it helps that I'll have used six bottles of Shampoo/Conditioner by the time I leave this country...and I guess other things have gone as well.

And, even better, cleaning has benefitted! I have found:

-The train map that I've been looking for since January
-100 Kroner!!! Woohoo!!!!!!!
-$47!! It was really, REALLY nice to see American currency again - it's so funny though, I've forgotten what it looks like in the past four months. It looks foreign to me now, and that's just weird. It's strange that it's all the same size, the same color, and that there are no holes in the coins - so I guess I'll even miss Danish currency when I'm back in the States.
-All my city maps!
-Some Nyquil..................excellent

Also - In Denmark, it's 11:11, but I can't figure out if I'm allowed to make a wish on that, because in military time, it's 23:11. I'm wondering if that means in the morning I can make wishes on 11:11, and then at night, I have to make wishes at 22:22.

Any insight?

Anyway, I'm off to bed finally. Tomorrow is the DIS concluding ceremony - I can't wait to be done with it for good. I turned in my books today, but accidentally forgot one of Janis' that I didn't use all semester - damn. DIS is dragging out it's time with me - not cool. But tomorrow, I will be 100% DONE, no more DIS classes (namely: Photojournalism and News Media in Transition), no more silly e-mails from DIS about "Hygge Movie Nights", and thank GOD, no more field studies! Hooray!

I'll probably update again tomorrow, to procrastinate some more from studying...but then again, maybe not. It'll be a busy week with DIS ending, me moving, and tons of goodbye parties that I'm invited to, but not actually saying goodbye. It's sad to see the friends from the States I've met go home, but it makes me happy to stay in Denmark for just a little longer when I see how sad they are to go.

On the other hand though, it makes me really, REALLY homesick when they talk about how excited they are to be leaving to see their home states again. I'm caught somewhere in the middle - grateful to stay, but counting down the days until home - so I guess I'm happy, and am looking forward to something. Good place to be in for now!

Rambling will stop now - sorry. Have a good night!

I don't want to pack.

But that's no surprise.

I can't motivate myself to do anything, really. I just finished up for the year, and I guess that makes me a senior. Two other girls who were in my last exam and I went out for a drink at the end - mild celebration for finishing DIS and junior year. I can't really believe that time has gone so fast...but not just DIS, my entire college career is now 3/4 over. Weird to think about.

(For real, I just DON'T want to pack....)

Now all I have to do is move all of my stuff across town - but it seems like a lot of stuff has accumulated in this little room of mine on Tavlekaersvej (yeah, try to pronounce my street name - it took me almost three months to get it right). It's become my little hole in Denmark - when I want to disappear I can always come here. I will also, of course, miss my host family. They've been so wonderful in the last few months, and I can't believe I've lived with them for so long.

The culture shock of Denmark has finally gone away for me - everything seems so normal now. I think it'll be really interesting to see how Alexis takes it, just being here for one week. It's normal for me to see gorgeous people everywhere, I'm no longer phased by the bikes all over the streets, and public transportation is my daily route. It should be fun to show her around the city that I've fallen so much in love with, and to show her all the best places to go. I haven't had that experience yet, but it'll be good practice for when Stefan comes to Vermont.

(I really, REALLY don't want to pack.)

I'm in the process of doing laundry, but it sucks so much here. It takes forever to dry, and I need to have everything clean in order to pack really well. I think I'm just kind of screwed. And none of you are around to motivate me to do it!!

Crap. Alright. I think I really have to go do this. Damn. I'll probably talk to half of you online before I actually start to pack.

Blah.

Hm.

So apparently I'll never update in full on South Jutland and Hamburg. I can update now, though - I just don't have the energy to remember everything from that far back. They were both great, and meeting all of Stefan's family was wonderful. They're really cool to hang out with, and we even made a new friend in Copenhagen named Roland, who is 25 and the little brother of Stefan's older sister's friends who are twins (hm.). The city of Hamburg was a nice one, really modern. I don't think we caught many pictures of it, because we only went into the city twice. Bitten and Lothar (Stefan's sister and brother-in-law) let us stay with them for a few days, and it was a really wonderful change after the big city. They lived in this wonderful little countryside house, about a 40 minute train ride from the Hamburg. We hung out with them and their four friends - twins, their little brother, and one of the twin's fiances. It was interesting, but mostly in Danish. Fun to see how the younger generation of Danes act, I guess.

On Easter Sunday, we headed over to Brøns, Stefan's town growing up, at around 6:00a.m. It was a long drive, but luckily we didn't have to pay for transport, because Bitten and Lothar drove. We saw the sunrise over Germany, so that made up for it in the end. Brøns a really small town, smaller than my town in the ISLANDS (hm.) - just about 600 people. For me though, it was really nice to be reminded of Vermont and the Islands, since I haven't seen them in almost four months. We spent lots of time wandering around the town, even to the edge of some of the coastline. We spent a lot of time walking the Nielsen's husky dog, Sekina.


In Brøns with Sekina on Easter Sunday:

Stefan later drove me out to one of the Danish islands, one called Rømø, which is near impossible to pronounce. It was SO beautiful there - it looks like I went for a visit to some southern European country, but really, it's all in Southern Denmark. The water was really, REALLY cold, but it was fun to step into the ocean. This beach was huge - there was clean, white sand everywhere, and water as far out as you can see. Seriously, something I never thought I would see in this cloudy little country.


Anyway, Easter dinner was fun, I was able to speak a little better with the family, and it was really nice to be able to get to know them and see Stefan's hometown. It's so strange how similar we are, even though we come from so far apart in such different cultures. His family made me feel really welcomed into their home, and I hope I'll get a chance to go back to Brøns and Rømø before I leave Denmark.

Lately things have been hectic to say the least - Final two weeks of classes and exam week always seem to be. Crunch time really hit last week, when I had three papers due on Thursday, one due Monday, and an oral exam on Monday, too. I still have two more exams, each on noon on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm really looking forward to them being completely finished - I have extreme senioritis (hm.) at this point in the semester.

Last weekend, Stefan and I cleaned the entire place (dusted, vacuumed, everything...), and moved everything around to make room for me for the upcoming couple of months. We made it into a cosy little den, and I think now we can make due for a month or two. It shouldn't be so bad. After some grocery shopping and making finishing touches on the new room set-up, we went over to Valby, where Stefan's other sister, Nanna lives. It was Stefan's sister Nanna, her husband Andreas, then Andreas's brother, and his American wife, Mia, who is from the West Coast somewhere, Stefan and myself. We had a really good time chatting, and I think I was a lot more comfortable because there were two of us who could talk about home. Interesting dynamics, but a fun night. Afterwards, I went to Studenterhuset to bartend, which was fun as usual. I got back home around 1am, and then we went down to the Kollegium basement to hang out with everyone for their usual Saturday Bar-Night, where the dorm finances alcohol to be served.

Now, things have calmed down a lot, and I think we're just waiting around for all of our friends to leave. All the DIS kids are packing up and going off back to the States. At times, it's really hard to hear everyone tell me how excited they are to go back - but I feel happy when they start talking about how much they're going to miss Denmark. I know that I would feel incomplete if I didn't stay longer, so I don't really regret it at all. Sunday is my last day here in Hvidore, and on Sunday, I'll start in a new home in Rødovre (these translate out to whiteover and redover). Lars and Lene are having a dinner, and have invited some of Tali's family who'll be up visiting, and Stefan. It should be a fun night. I will definitely miss them, as they were a big part of Denmark for me. It's amazing that the semester's almost over - I can't believe I'm having ''wrap-up'' thoughts. It's strange, because in a way, it feels like I've been here for so long, but at the same time, feels like it was just yesterday I was scowling at the ''Wonderful Copenhagen'' signs in the airport.

But some things to look forward to before returning to the State:
-Cruise to Oslo on the 22nd - 24th of May!
-First Danish lesson on the 25th of May!
-Alexis to visit on the 27th of May!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I have my second to last final tomorrow, so I should probably get some rest...

I'm sure you'll hear from me a little bit more in the next couple days - I have to move, and you know what that means - PACKING! I'm sure Blogger will be a bit of a procrastination method - who knows, maybe I'll tell you more about Hamburg and South Jutland! (:

Sweet dreams,
Kristin