It's been about a month since I last checked in (4 weeks to be exact), so I thought I'd fill you in on my life as of lately.
First of all, I should address the looming questions that keeps getting thrown at me and how I feel about them.
"Have you picked your return date yet?"
"What day would you like to return?"
"Whoa, only 4 months left! You scared?"
"No"
"Never"
"Is this even a valid question?... Of course!"
My sixth months in Denmark has come and gone, and I am quickly approaching the dreaded 7 month mark. The thought of it is more terrifying than anything I have ever encountered before. There are multiple reasons for my fear. 1. It means I have to go home. 2. Going home means leaving all my wonderful friends and my three families. 3. Danish is a pretty cool language, and I know for a fact that not many people speak it in Alaska.. which makes me sad.
So there you have it. The three, boldly marked reasons why I have nightmares about plane tickets and return dates. Of course I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends, but I feel a bit torn. I am living in a world right now where I am (for the most part) independent, able to make my own (smart) decisions, and most importantly, spending every day in a completely different culture than I was brought up in ( which I LOVE). The thing that scares me most attaining the ability to somehow mash these two worlds together: 16 year old Mari who wears denim jeans everyday and still relies on Mom to cook something for her,
and almost 17 year old Mari (yes, that's really happening) who has adopted many of her own character traits/different styles simply because living abroad has challenged her to do so, and who cooks dinner every Tuesday night for the family. Is that even possible?
I know what you're thinking: I should probably just forget about all this and appreciate the moments I have left.. but it's coming sooner than I think I realize. I hope that sometime between now and July 20th (the dreaded estimated return date; because "never" isn't actually marked on the calendar.. Weird, right?) I can somehow wrap my head around all this and find a way to have some peace of mind.
Anyway, my life has been pretty busy. I spend a lot of my time with the lovely Sarah Aaen, doing various things like sophisticatedly sipping carmel macchiatos in the city, casually blowing all our money on clothes we want but probably don't need, watching romantic comedies until we fall asleep, and basically just spending as much time as we can soak up before I leave. I am so lucky to have found my best friend on exchange, and I refuse to think about having to go a day without seeing her. I am actually secretly contemplating trying to fit her in my suitcase.. but more on that later.
Besides spending time with Sarah, I also play basketball with a coed team in Silkeborg. It's just for fun, but it's also been really fantastic because I have been able to meet a lot of great people from it.
I mentioned above that I have to cook every Tuesday night for my host family. I am very grateful for that because it has taught me so much! I now feel comfortable enough to cook for more people than just myself, which I'm sure my mom will love when I get home.
Thanks for reading
xoxo fra Danmark
