All good things must come to an end...

Yesterday, Anne came by to say good bye despite being very sick... Anne is so sweet.

Today, I woke up to say good bye to Amanda as she went off to school... Amanda is now like my little sister and I'll miss her very much.

My taxi comes to take me to the airport in two and a half hours, then I will say good-bye to Pia. She has done SOOO much for me and I don't even know how to begin to thank her.

I bought all of them nice Christmas gifts to show them how thankful I am. Only, traditional Danish Christmas gifts are very small... And, while my gifts weren't extravagant, they were more than they were used to recieving... which made it a little awkward. But everyone loved their gifts. Pia and Amanda are shipping their gifts to me, and Anne got me a very beautiful necklace.

Writing this is very hard because I'm holding back tears because I'll miss them all so much. I am very much looking forward to going back to my friends and family in America, but its hard saying goodbye when you don't know when or where you'll see them again. We've made promises to come visit each other (Amanda and Pia promise to bring Anne.) But that won't be for at least 2 years.

I'll also miss Denmark very much. While, the things I miss in America are all people and less things... What I'll miss here is both. I love walking down Stroget, a walking street without any cars, when its dark at 4 PM, with the fir tree garland strung over the top of the street... With the lit up hearts and stars. Passing the store windows with their Christmas lights and holiday displays... I'll miss walking past the stands with glugg and roasted almonds... that are roased right there on the spot... with the smell filling the air as you pass another talented street performer playing violin... or the piano that he brought out there in a bike trailer... or just singing Christmas songs. The whole city is just filled with hygge... The Danish word for cozy that means so much more than just 'cozy.'

I'll miss the public transit. Here, when traffic gets bad, they add bus routes and bike lanes. I don't like driving. I love having a (reliable) bus or train take me places... Or riding a bike. Driving... just isn't enjoyable for me. But, in order to have any sense of independence in most parts of America, you -need- to drive. Here, you can take a train to any city in Denmark. And there will be busses to take you the rest of the way (for the most part.) I like that. I respect that.

I'll miss St. Peders Bakery... With their 12-kr daily specials... Tuesday is muffins. Wednesday is snails (like cinnamon rolls). And their chicken bacon sandwiches... So delicious. And, only 5 minutes from class. The chocolate filled croissants... AMAZING. I think I bought one just about every week. I will have to hunt down a place that makes them in America. They will get my buisness for sure.

There are so many other things... like how every cafe/restaurant has candles and is extra cozy and living so close to where everything is happening and feeling safe walking alone anywhere at any time and how for every thing you need, theres a separate, specialized store (it just makes things cute. Its worth the extra effort...) and how the city looks, with its colorful old buildings and no sky scrapers... just beautiful spires. Just... so many little things.

I have to come back. Most importantly, to see Pia, Amanda & Anne again. But also, I want to share this with friends and family from back home. I want to take them to La Glace to taste the best hot chocolate ever in an extra cozy cafe. I want to take them to Tivoli... and down Stroget at Christmas time.

And there are so many things I wanted to do that I never got the chance to... Like go to Amager Strand or to the Round Tower. I never got to go to the HC Anderson's Museum... Or take the ferry to Oslo, Norway. I just became so comfortable here, that I'd always just say "I'm here for 4 months. I'll do it next week." But now, there isn't a next week.

When people ask me, "Are you excited to go home?" Yes, I'm excited to go home. See people I haven't seen in at least 4 months. But I'm not excited to leave. Not at all. I'm almost dreading having to leave. I like it here.

DIS/Sandholm Soccer Match!

So. I'm writing a paper (LAST ONE!) But I found this on the DIS website:

Its an article about the soccer match I played in!

If you follow that link, there's a slide show of pictures from the soccer match. I'm in two of them! Can you find me?! There's the team photo... and an ACTION SHOT!

Nisser.

I love Danish Nisser.

Nisser are Danish Christmas Elves or Pixies. They live in your attic and wear red floppy hats (kind of like Santa hats, minus the white fluff.) They love rice pudding, so, throughout December you have to leave some out for them. If you do, they put presents in your stocking! If you don't... they tease you. They love rice pudding. There are two kinds of rice pudding, the kind you eat for dinner, which just has cinnamon, sugar and butter on. There's another kind for dessert. It has extra cream in it and you put cherry syrup on top and theres an almond in it somewhere. Whoever finds the almond gets a present!

A couple weeks ago, we had rice pudding for dinner. We had some left over, so Amanda put 10 spoons in the bowl as Pia went and got the ladder. We put the rice pudding up in the attic (which took some doing.) A couple of days later, the Nisser left Amanda a present in her stocking!

I love the Nisser and I think I will adopt some to bring home with me. I've bought a couple of them, because they're cute. They look like little old men with long beards and knitted red hats.

Other Danish Christmas traditions? Advent calendars! They're big here. Amanda has six. two give her chocolate. One gives her real gifts (stocking-stuffer kinds of gifts) that Pia has bought for her. And then we all have our advent calendar scratch ticket! I need 3 more reindeer to win 5,000-kr. There's a candle too- it has numbers down the side of it and each day you burn the candle down to the next day, counting down to Christmas! I'm tempted to buy a bunch to distribute for next Christmas.

One Week.

With one week left, I have finally decided how to answer the question "Are you excited to go home?!" The answer is not a simple one. I am looking forward to going home. I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends and to spend Christmas with my family and to see Keno... And to move into my apartment in Gettysburg. However... I'm not looking forward to leaving. I love Copenhagen. I feel completely comfortable here. Everything is gorgeous and I've made some great friends and will miss Amanda, Pia and Anne a lot. So, my answer is, "I'm not looking forward to leaving, but I'm looking forward to being at home." Its a complicated answer... One that many people I've spoken to agree with, though.

Something that makes the aspect of leaving easier is that I know I'll come back. I'm still young, so I still have so much of my life to travel. There are so many places I want to go that I'll never be able to get to all of them, but I'd much rather live a modest lifestyle and then travel more. And I know that I'll make it back to Copenhagen at least once. Something else that makes it easier: Amanda, Pia and Anne all want to visit. I've told them that whenever they want to come, they are welcome to stay with me. This... might be hard while I'm at school, but I'd work it out for them.

The last month has been fairly relaxed... At least as far as adventuring goes. The workload has been... horrible. Its been harder than most semesters back at home, simply to make up for the fact that the first part of the semester is decently easy. I've written two papers this week... And I have another paper due the last day of finals (Tuesday.) I have 3 finals, which isn't bad. I'm not too worried about them. This semester was more about the experiences than the work, anyway.

Christmas spirit is all around, as I've mentioned a couple times. Last Sunday, we had Julefrokost (Christmas Lunch) with many students and host families. It was a lot of fun. I tried Curry Herring... and it was actually pretty good! There was so much Rice Pudding- a Christmas staple. Always delicious. We sang deck-the-halls and just chatted. Great fun. We played a fun gift-game too... one that I might try to introduce at Christmas this year for our gift exchange. You start by having everyone pass a dice around, rolling it whenever they get it. If they get a 6, they take a dice. After all of the gifts are taken, you set a timer, and continue rolling. But, instead of taking a gift, you steal one from someone else. It was a lot of fun. I won a super-mini radio!

Leaving the Christmas Lunch... The kids all got balloon christmas trees... Great fun on the train :P

There was a balloon artist for all of the kids.

They played Christmas music the whole time.

Our table! Kara & her host mom in the front.

Entrance to the lunch...

Me and Amanda!

Me and Michael! He says he loves me and my hugs :)

Amanda pouring me some coffee.

Me and Pia and Michael, waiting for the train to the lunch.

Me and Amanda fighting over some candy... Lady and the Tramp style.

That night was all-nighter night (as in, we finished it 15 minutes before we had to leave to catch the bus...) for my big 15 page final paper for Cross-Cultural encounters. It... didn't quite go according to plan and I don't have high hopes for it... But its done and turned in, and I'm rather glad its over. Class was fun that day... haha. But when I got home, I napped, at dinner... Then we all went to Julehygge at Amanda's school! Basically, everyone in Amanda's class went and brought their parents. Some teachers came too. We sat around and socialized while eating desserts and drinking Glugg (warm red wine, that was cooked with orange rinds I think, with almonds and raisins in it.) All of the kids played a gift game and it was all hygge :D

Amanda, Me and Anne!

Me and Anne!

Some of Amanda's classmates.

Yesterday was the last day of classes. Some of my classes... I'm very glad their over. Others, Like migrants, minorities and multiculturalism and service learning class, I'm SO sad their over. I've learned a lot in both of them and the professors were AMAZING. All of the professors AT DIS were amazing. But anyway, after MMM (where we ate tasty, tasty pastries,) I went with a friend (and some of her friends that I hadn't met before) to the Christiania Christmas Market. I bought Pia her gift and another gift. Thought... I'm not sure who its for though... Today, I'm doing research for my LAST paper... doing a little bit of christmas shopping, and playing some indoor soccer with some Asylum seekers! Should be a good day.

Now, I shall leave you with some cute pictures:

Kara, Amanda, and one of those 'baby' rabbits.

Amanda and the 'baby' rabbit. (Her name is Mille.)

Amanda, with Mille on her back.

Christmas in Copenhagen: Pictures!

Illium! Department store by DIS, right of Stroget.

Ice skating on Kongen Nytorv! Giant ring around a statue- free... if you bring your own ice skates.

Bus, bike Christmas trees... Very Copenhagen.

Cute dog rolling around on the ice rink on Kongens Nytorv

All the trees around the rink had pretty lights!!!

More Illium! Note the garland above the street? Its on most of the streets. Makes everything look so cheery!

Kongens Nytorv at dusk.

So I may be a little obsessed with the Illium. I don't shop there. But its pretty and changes colors.

Me with the tree on Radhusplads! (Town Hall Square)

Tree with Town Hall!!! The little woven heart ornaments- very Danish. :)

I still have Czech Republic to report on... And 'Thanksgiving'... and probably some other stuff too. But thought you'd prefer some pictures!

Ode to SheZone.

Every weekend, when I should be doing my homework, I don't. I run off to Norrebro, to the Hillerodgade Swimming Pool. For 3 and a half hours on Saturday, and 2 and a half on Sundays, I'm there volunteering with SheZone. I'm going to go for the next to weekends too, not because I have time and don't want to see any more of the city, but because I'm really going to miss going every weekend. Sure, it was dissapointing finding out I wouldn't be able to spend my weekends traveling... But this was so much more. I can always travel. I have my entire life to travel. But, when will I have 4 months to volunteer in another country? The decision to volunteer while in Denmark was honestly the best decision I made. My regrets? Travel break, and missing two of the weekends. Now, with only two more weekends left, I'm just now solidifying the bonds I've made with some of the women and girls. Yesterday, before we even got in the water, one of the ladies came up to me and just started talking to me. It was one of the ladies I had worked with every Saturday since I started--she has some problems with her kick. She kicks... but doesn't move. At the end of yesterday, I finally said something that made sense... And she could move! It was the same thing I'd been saying since I started, just in a different way. The smile that it put on her face when she finally got to move, though... Was amazing. I worked with her and another lady earlier in the day. The other lady, who doesn't speak any english, was one I'd worked with a lot just so she could overcome her fear of the water. "Bange! Bange!" She would say, while clutching her kickboard to her chest. I learned that that meant "afraid" then gave her another kick board and a floaty noodle and helped her across the pool. Since then, she's trusted me, despite the language barrier. Working with the two of them on floating, was great. The one I've helped with kicking knows english. So, she would translate for the other one. It was great being able to work with them and being able to build that relationship and trust with them. And, it was great seeing the bond that the two of them had made too. I'll miss the two of them.

They're all such sweet ladies and girls. Not a one of them gets angry at me for not knowing danish (like a few of the danes I've met...) and we try to work through it. One thing that still gets to me though... Is when we're in the pool, everyone is friendly and talks to me and smiles and everything. But, as soon as we get out of the pool and into the locker room or the lobby or to the bus stop... It all stops. Even the trio of girls who follows me in the pool talking constantly... Silence outside of the pool. I get smiles every once in a while, but nothing more. Even their demenor changes. Once they step foot outside of the building, everything gets a little more somber. Maybe it is due to the Danes and their stereotype of the Muslim Immigrant. They don't really give them a chance. I even heard a story of a bus driver who shut the door in the face of one before driving off... When he had seen him coming.

I want to do something nice for everyone there the last time I go... but I don't know what I could do? Just a little something, to thank them all. I feel a little bad, building up this trust and this sort of relationship... then just leaving. It doesn't seem fair. But, despite this, I'm glad I did it. And wish I could continue. I don't think there are any programs like this in America, otherwise I'd try to get involved. As it is, if I ever come back for an extended period of time, I'll be getting in contact.

SNOW!!!

It snowed today. A good bit too. Like... almost a centimeter? Maybe? Its SO pretty :) Gabi, Sarah and I went out and danced around in it. It was much fun.

Other than this, though, my day was quite nice. I had classes... but classes are interesting. After Migrants, Minorities and Multiculturalism I went grocery shopping with Sarah for dinner, then went to the Jul i Nyhavn (Christmas (Yule) in Nyhavn) market... And bought my ornament for the exchange! You'll love it ;) haha. We also walked through Kongens Nytorv... Which was decorated SO well and was BEAUTIFUL... with an ice skating rink that I'm very much looking forward to going to. :) Its in a circle around the statue in the middle :)

The whole city is decked out in the Christmas spirit and has been for... about 2 weeks. Its gorgeous. They counter the fact that it gets dark SO early by covering everything in beautiful lights. All of Stroget has pine branches draped across and lights and hearts... And the stores all have their Christmas window displays up... Just walking through town (especially in the snow) makes everyone SO happy. :)

Anyway, after going to the Christmas market, Gabi and I went back to her kollegium and hung out with Sarah in her kitchen. We made fruit pizza and ate a bunch of it while watching Love Actually and then we made dinner... Complete with fresh made tortillas! Yum! So good. It was also nice sitting there and talking to all of Sarah's friends that came in. There were three (Danish) students that we met and just hung out with. They were super nice and fun to talk to... And tomorrow they are throwing a christmas lunch for everyone in the hall!!! Fantastic. Kinda wish I could have done a Kollegium... But my host family is great too. I shall talk to Gettysburg about this.

But yeah. I hope to get pictures of the snow fun soon (Gabi and Sarah took the pictures.) And SOON I will get pictures of Stroget and all of the pretties that lie there :)

Have a great evening everyone! Season's Greetings!

Random Snow Pictures: