My most European experience yet...I think.

I have had a few "I know I am in Europe" moments so far but I think I had one of the most, in my mind, iconic "European" moments today.  Let me back up a bit and put this into perspective.  I awoke this morning especially tired, so I hit the snooze button, which would have meant I'd get up at 6:11 instead of 6:01.  No big deal.  But then I actually woke to a call from Jesper at 7:20, asking me if I could see where Karina was because she wasn't answering her phone.  I didn't really have to be at school early for anything, but I still had that Oh Crap! feeling you get when you oversleep.  Thank goodness Jesper called because I probably would still be asleep if he hadn't! (ok, maybe not but I think I was tired enough it would've at least been 8 before I woke up).  Anyway, in that hour and a half between when I was supposed to get up and when I really did get up, I had the strangest dream.  I was "home" but it wasn't really Iowa, and it wasn't really Knox.  All I knew was that it wasn't here.  I was meeting some new people and telling them about myself. I was explaining that I spent the last semester studying in Denmark and in the midst of this explanation I started crying.  It was like I had not realized I was no longer in Denmark and I was bawling like a baby because I missed it so very much. And then there was something about a wolf and me running through a rocky parking lot without shoes....but that part was just plain weird and probably didn't mean anything.  Waking up after this dream, however, did put me in a strange "Time needs to slow down, I am not ready to leave" mood.  I do realize I have over a month left here and I do plan to savour each and every second of it (yes, even when I am sitting in my room writing my many papers...at least I am in Denmark writing papers :P )  But even though I have time left, it is getting painful to even start thinking of having to say good-bye to everything.  It was hard to say good-bye to my Iowa life, but I knew it would be there when I got back.  This life will never again be here.  I won't get to live in Europe with a wonderful family, go to school and experience the city as an almost-local.  Blargh, I just can't handle it.
 So I started my day in this odd mindset and then I went to the city for class. First I had Danish, in which we were reviewing for our final test which is on Thursday.  One of the phrases we are currently practicing is Jeg vil savne... which means I will miss...      Great. Now I have to actually think about the things I will miss when I go back to the states.  My answers included mine familie (my family), min cat (my cat), mine venner (my friends), og (and) weinerbrod (danish pastries).  And those are only a few of the things.  Then at the end of class my teacher asked us to get in groups of 4 and discuss our study abroad experience.  My mind flooded with a whiny voice saying things like "But it's not over!" "I still have so much to see." "My experience has just begun...how can I sum it up?"  While I do still have lots of adventures ahead of me, I do have to look back and realize all that I have done in the past 2 1/2 months.  I have already seen lots of things, gone a lot of places, and experienced a lot of Denmark.  And for that I am thankful.

But really...don't make me think about the end yet.  I just want to live in the moment.

After Danish I printed off my group's final paper for my Architecture class and eventually went to class for our final test.  It was 2 hours, 3 questions, 2 hand written pages each.  It was exhausting. I spewed words onto those pages as quickly as I could and the two hours were over before I knew it and I had a very sore hand with a funny dent in my middle finger from holding the pencil and scribbling away for so long.  As I turned my paper in and left the classroom, I was faced again with something ending.  Yes I am relieved to have that paper and test out of the way, but it will be weird having my Monday afternoons be free and not having to read about Nordic architecture each week. 

And that brings me to the "I really am in Europe" moment.  After the test I left DIS to go on a little bike ride because it was amazingly gorgeous outside and I had some time to kill before badminton.  I found a little pasta and pizza shop that my friend DeLayna recommended and I bought some pesto pasta to eat before badminton. This little restaurant was on a pretty quiet street between DIS and the main road that has my usual train station on it.  It was after 7 in the evening and the sun was still shining.  I was wearing boots, skinny jeans, my rain jacket and a scarf, and carrying my backpack with my badminton racket sticking out of it.  I was riding slowly because I wanted to really take in the experience (and also keep my legs from dying).  As I am riding down this nearly deserted street that is lined with the iconic colorful, tall, narrow Danish buildings, I hear Danish cheers and hollers coming from somewhere above.  I look up just in time to see a Dane stick his head out of the window to smoke his cigarette.  I don't know what it was about that moment.  I was just pleasantly coasting, by myself, on my bike, riding down an empty street, and I got a small glimpse into a lively Danish get-together.  Perhaps they were watching a sports event on TV...or playing a game of poker...or playing charades...who knows, but it did seem like they were having a great time and I got to briefly share a small smile with the random person at the window.  I guess I can't explain it as well as I thought I'd be able to, but it is very iconic in my mind:  wearing a chic outfit, riding a bike, watching some Danes be hygge on a Monday night.  It just screams Denmark to me and I love it.  

There are so many things that made it a perfect moment and made it something that could not happen in Iowa or Illinois...or probably anywhere besides here.  It was the architecture of the facades, the foreign shouts and cheer, the open window and the Dane smoking his beloved cigarette.  These are things I would've have never thought of as being especially European, but it turns out they were the things that held that authentic"I am really in Europe" feel.  

To top this all off, tonight was the last time I got to go to badminton.  They will meet for the next two weeks (while I am on break) and after that they will begin summer training.  I have only seen each of those girls around 5-7 times, but it was still really hard to leave, knowing I won't see them again.  I held back my tears for the train ride (Danes tend to not really show very much emotion so I would've felt super awkward looking like a sad little American), but I can't promise that my eyes didn't well up as I rode my bike home.  I guess that is life: ups and downs, going and coming from one home to another, and eventually having to say good-bye.  

But really...I still have a month and a half left! When I look at it like that I guess it seems silly to get worked up about it already.   For now, I better just stay focused on all of these papers I have to write so they will be done by the time the weather is absolutely ideal for sightseeing.  

As always, thanks for reading...and share a smile with the next person you see...you never know, you might just start a chain reaction  : )