At the end

Today was my last day in Denmark. Last. Day. I still can't believe how fast this semester went. I went to the end of semester party last night, and my friend and I decided to try to stay up all night, but gave in around 3 am. Fail. So I was on the struggle bus (strugelbussen in danish) for most of the day. But I still managed to get packed, go into Copenhagen one last time, and have one last dinner with my whole host family.

Today was just so unbelievably bitter sweet and nostalgic. All the "lasts" that I had, the goodbyes to people I may never see again...ugh! I actually started crying when I had to say bye to my host mom. But I know that I'll stay in touch with the people that matter, so its not saying bye forever. Its just hard to accept that you will eventually start to lose touch with the people you've met and come to know so well.

About the semester as a whole...frankly, I'm proud of myself. I did it-lived, studied, and attempted normalcy in a completely different country. Studying abroad is nowhere near as easy as you think. One of the student speakers at the DIS ceremony likened it to a fairytale, but I completely disagree. For lack of having a better way to describe this semester, I have an analogy. Its a little cheesy, but bear with me. At the beginning of the semester I found sheet music for La Valse D'Amelie in my host sister's stack of music, sat down, and started to learn it. The song starts out very pretty and slow, then gets progressively faster and more difficult. I struggled with the tricky parts and gave up a couple times. But I kept coming back to it and working at it. Tonight, I sat down and played the song with ease. Thats how this semester felt. It was full of highs and lows, but in the end, it proved to be a beautiful, amazing experience. I know its cliche, but hey, thats what I got.

So, tomorrow I'm leaving Denmark at 3:40-hopefully a little wiser than when I came- and 15 hours later I'll be home. The next day I'm flying to Indiana to go to graduation at DePauw and see all my friends there. Talk about jet lag. I can't wait to see everyone at school and back home! :)

Here's my nostalgia song-http://soundcloud.com/fadermedia/secret-cities-the-park

Bye Denmark, I'll miss you. Hello America!