The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.
- Saint Augustine

Friday, January 27, 2012

"Just click your heels together three times and say..."

There's no place like home.



Silly Glinda.


If only things were that simple. Or perhaps if each click corresponded to a 9 hour plane flight than maybe she would have been more on track.


While I like to think of myself as a positive person, I almost think it best to completely skip over the details of my flight home. I find that "Negative Nancy" at the core of my being trying to push her way through (she's holding hands with Debbie Downer)


What you should know was that there was a flight, two of them. There was airline food that I couldn't eat. There were children under the age of seven on every side of me. But to keep it positive I scored some black market NyQuil (it's illegal without a prescription in Denmark, but since I'm an American I had no qualms about guzzling down the little blue pills) and pretty soon those twisted little red faces just melted away.


I swear to Father Christmas this was sitting next to me.
She's even blonde, a true distraught Dane!


I have to say, one of the reasons this flight felt so long was because I knew what was at the end of it. Every hour I would get a drop in my stomach, a simultaneous flutter in my chest as I thought about arriving in San Francisco. There would be my mother, my father, my sister and my boyfriend waving me in a the gates, seeing me in person for the first time in five long months.


The certain gent I was waiting to see gave me these. (Representing Denmark in colors of course, and note the 5 kroner sitting on the table- I tipped him)


And so now, at the end of this journey, what is it to be back?
What does it mean to have an extra 25 kilos (I'm NOT going to apologize anymore for this) of weight in my suitcase of souvenirs? The endless roll of pictures I took, what does that prove?


All that I have concretely taken back with me are the memories. The things I've learned, the life long friends I've made.


A friend asked me "How was Copenhagen?"
How on earth could I sum up my five months of experience with the word "good? It was better than good, it was, at times less so. 
If I answered that way, we would both know I was lying, both know that I was leaving some crucial part out, by using the easy answer.
As a Literature major, it's become more and more apparent to me that even if I did have the correct words to express the way I was feeling, they never could understand what I went through in Denmark, the experience was singular to me.
And so I replied "It was a place."


But even if the souvenirs didn't sum up my trip, my family certainly liked them!
To leave you, a picture of my mother and sister drinking glogg out of the cups I got for them in Sweden.






SKOL! (cheers) my cheery readers, thank you for going on this quest with me.


Perhaps I'll begin a new blog about my life back entitled "A Dame who's Done!"


Farvel København!

9 comments:

  1. IX12: Voting starts today!
    Dear Casey,

    We wanted to let you know that the voting phase for the IX12 (International eXchange and eXperience) blog competition starts today. Your blog is listed with its page title in the list (sorted from A to Z) here:
    http://www.lexiophiles.com/english/vote-for-your-favorite-ix12-blog

    Any user may vote once until February 12 when voting ends. The blogs will be ranked according to number of votes and the winner will be announced on February 14.

    In order to improve your chances of winning, we recommend you spread the word through your blog, to your users, family and friends so they can vote for your blog.
    We wish you good luck!

    Virgínia
    On behalf of bab.la and the Lexiophiles team

    ReplyDelete
  2. IX12 - Voting ends February 12

    Hello Casey!

    This is just a quick reminder that voting for IX12 (International Exchange & Experience Blog Competition) ends on February 12, 11:59 PM German time.

    We have received over 7,000 votes so far! There is still time to get your blog on top of the list - just keep promoting it amongst your readers.

    The top 100 blogs will be announced on February 14th.

    Wishing you good luck,

    Virgínia
    on behalf of bab.la and the Lexiophiles language blog

    ReplyDelete
  3. IX12 – results are in!

    Dear Blogger,

    Congratulations from the bab.la and Lexiophiles team! Your blog has been voted number 9 in our IX12 blog competition. This year we had 239 participating blogs and more than 10.000 votes. You can find the entire ranking here:
    http://en.bab.la/news/top-100-international-exchange-experience-blogs-2012

    There you will also find a map showing where the top 100 bloggers are located around the world. You can place this map on your website by using the embed code underneath the map.

    In addition, we have created a button for you to put onto your blog telling everyone that you came in number 9 in the competition. Unfortunately I can't post it here, so please send me an e-mail and I'll send the code to you!

    We really enjoyed this competition and hope you had as much fun as well! If you have any additional questions do not hesitate to contact me.

    Best,

    Virgínia Rodrigues (virginia@bab.la)
    On behalf of the bab.la and Lexiophiles team

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi! I love your blog and your exchange experience stories. I'd like to inform you about an intersting project... Could I have your contact?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi mikelalice,

    Thank you for your kind words.
    If you could send me your e-mail address through my blogspot account I will get in contact with you that way.
    I am interested in hearing about the project.

    Best,
    Casey

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey Casey! I haven't had a chance to finish reading all of your blog posts, but just wanted to let you know that you are awesome and I love your writing style.

    You've been nominated for the Sunshine Award! Check it out: http://greenbeangal.blogspot.com/2012/08/sunshine-award.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sounds wonderful! Lovely blog!

    xo,
    Elyse
    shortandsweetelyse.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. So does it mean you finished with the blog? No entries any more?

    ReplyDelete