closing // farvel
it is now july and I have been home for about a month and half after my year abroad. it is so hard to put into words how I feel; its difficult to articulate this the year, with all its experiences. I have certainly changed this past year.
it was just all so so so great, and nothing more can be really said.
the last few weeks, everyone started feeling the impending end to the year, and you could sense it. there was an urgency in fitting in the last bits of our copenhagen bucket list, and time to hang out with friends.
denmark was extremely difficult to say goodbye to-- it is beautiful in its green pastures, its peaceful sunset lakes, its lively chartreuse forests whizzing by on the train. denmark is sitting by the lake with your host mom, sharing a soda and just talking about everything and nothing. its sitting on dronning louises bro with a drink and a friend, watching the happiness ooze from the danes. its dancing in the meatpacking district at night and getting a hot dog after. its getting coffee with your professors on a rainy day and convincing them to buy pastries for the class. its cuddling with friends when the weather is glum and eating crackers and honey. its running with the friday night rollerbladers across the bridge. its taking your friend to the airport and stopping by the beach to revel in the overcast weather and your inevitable sadness from saying goodbye.
over the year, we accumulated our fair share of traditions. from sweden we learned the art of fika, tea and coffee (and cake) break. from our home university familiarity, we learned the art of family dinners. from the spring weather we learned the art of bridge dwelling and four lump fridays.
and as the weeks went by, our traditions became bigger and more extravagant. I’d say we perfected our arts. our last fika, we had potato rösti with cream and salmon and chives and salad, blueberry crumbles and blueberry cookies, eating in the danish golden light. we laughed and hugged and maybe cried a bit too.
our last family dinner, we gathered all our friends and did an all american barbecue, marking our soon to be transition back home. bispebjerg had become my 2nd home for me to crash at when the nights were late, and saying goodbye to the kollegium was a process in itself.
our last four lump friday, we went to the bridge after the last AD social, and everyone went. it was chummy, there was beer and wine, the weather was beautiful, and the company incomparable. friends I never knew I needed in my life.
we climbed to high places and observed our city from top floor windows, scaffolding, school rooftops.
the harbor, the lakes, and the sea helped us heal.
we dwelled in parks with the danes with uncontainable smiles and faces turned towards the sun like sun flowers. we biked across the city and back.
I went to a lot of farewell dinners and said goodbye for now to too many people. I’m not sure when exactly they became so vitally important to me, and I had not expected the friendships I made this year to make such a forceful impact on me. hugs were long.
to my københavn, tak for alt. I will see you again. to school, of everything, the confidence is what I learned the most. to the experiences, I hope I will never forget them and that time will never lessen their meaning. to the people, I truly truly love you.
farvel.
-a