Okay, it's taken until the absolute last day of the year, but I've finally forced myself to sit down and write this concluding post. Please ignore the fact that I ignored this blog for my last three weeks in Copenhagen, as well as nearly three weeks home.
I'll start off this final post with a brief recap of my last weeks in Copenhagen. After my siblings made my host family and me a Thanksgiving dinner, they flew back the day before Thanksgiving to be home for the holiday. I began my final week of class, which became more of an excursion into Hell for me - thanks to every final project, presentation, paper, and exam being scheduled for that week, and then getting tonsillitis. I made it through, bruised and scarred, but also with all As. #ballin
My last week in Copenhagen, which should have been filled with finals (if my teachers hadn't scheduled them for the week before), became kind of a goodbye week. Throughout the week, I had to say goodbye to each member of my host family, my teachers, and my friends. It was tough, and ridiculously weird for me.
After packing my final bags, having a good this-is-the-end cry, and sleeping for a short few hours, I left my apartment at 6 am to head to the airport for the last time. Oh, and then I had an eight-hour layover in Oslo, only made bearable by my friends who shared my connection in Oslo.
And that's it - I arrived in JFK to my dad smiling in the same Toyota Corolla I learned how to drive in. My four months of jet-setting and go-getting had come to an end.
Now that it's been a few weeks, I've had a bit of time to reflect on my experience and I can honestly say that I've grown exponentially. Not only do I feel that I have a greater appreciation of other cultures, but also do I have a more diverse perspective of my own. It's really difficult to explain, but my limited perspective has expanded a thousandfold.
I'd like to say thank you to everyone who made this semester possible - my parents, my host family, my professors, my friends, and, weirdly enough, myself. Thanks, Timmy, for throwing me out of my comfort zone and into a culture and environment that I could never have imagined.
I get upset sometimes thinking about how I'll never have an experience like this again, but at the end of it all, at least I experienced this. It was amazing and I loved every minute of it. It was hard at times and there were days when the things I was afraid to confront back in the U.S. found their way into my life, but taking myself out of everything I've come to know in the U.S. gave me more clarity than I could have asked for otherwise and I feel more confident to face the things I couldn't before.
Anyway, I think that's all. I'm not very good at goodbyes, but I'm fantastic at hellos. And luckily, those are actually the same thing in Danish. So thanks for a great semester, Europe, and hej hej!
But seriously, I'll be back.
#TimmyTakesDenmark2k15
#TimmyTakesDenmark2k??
No comments:
Post a Comment