Jeg er back.

It’s been about ten days since I left the United States, so I suppose it’s about time I gave an update on everything that’s been going on since my return to Copenhagen.

When I arrived in Copenhagen, I had the same feeling that I usually get when I go back to Washington, DC after winter break.  I felt at home, I felt all of the normal things that I felt when returning to school.  I was a bit sad this time, though, because most of my close DIS friends from last semester are gone now.  Walking into the DIS building and seeing it really crowded but not recognizing anyone was a really strange experience that threw me out of my comfort zone.

I’ve spent most of my time since returning either with my friends from last semester, my friends from GW, or my Danish/European friends.  Being with them now makes me kind of sad because I have bonded with them enough to consider some of them amongst my best friends, but I no longer have the comfort of telling myself that we have one more semester together, and I have to accept that Danish immigration laws are much too strict for me to realistically consider moving back here one day.  Unless we are all one day living in the same city by coincidence, this will be our last four months together until our friendships must rely on Skype and frequent flyer miles.

But I digress.  Being back in Denmark after spending several weeks in the United States has made me appreciate both countries perhaps more than I once did.  I loved the diversity that I saw in the States – it’s so weird being back in a country where everyone is white and everyone who isn’t is “otherized” (and even those who are not white are relatively homogenous within their own communities).  The amount of homelessness and poverty that I witnessed in DC was a startling reminder of the inequalities that plague America but are largely absent from Denmark.

Regardless, I have increased my respect for the United States.  The things about it that frustrate me still frustrate me more than ever (ahem, Scott Brown’s victory).  Still, the diversity in the United States is something that I appreciate.  Riding the Metro in DC and being in the ethnic minority was a refreshing experience that provided a reality check for someone who’d spent a little too much time in Denmark.  It is Denmark’s commitment to consensus and to classlessness, however, that made me realize just how much the United States frustrates me.  Also, the food is much better (and more fattening, I admit it) in the States.  Sorry Denmark, but I’m just not down with pickled herring.

I’m really looking forward to this semester, even if I don’t have much energy for meeting new friends at DIS and even if I am sad that it’s the end of my time with some of the best friends I’ve ever had.  I can’t wait to finalize my travel plans, to go on my long study tour to Istanbul, to do all of the touristy things I haven’t done yet, and to down some Tuborg with the greatest – if not most introverted and xenophobic – people in the world.

…and you thought the Scandinavian winter was harsh?

I’ve been home for winter break for a few weeks now, and it’s been pretty relaxing overall.  There were some moments, however, where I wasn’t sure if I’d even make it home for the holidays.

On my last morning in Copenhagen, I awoke to my phone ringing at about 6:00 a.m.  It was my mom: American Airlines had called my home phone number to say that my flight to JFK was cancelled due to weather in New York.  I was hoping to get a flight re-routed through Copenhagen, but I couldn’t get through to the airline’s reservation hotline, so I went to the airport to see what I could arrange (I had a connection to make at London Heathrow Airport and didn’t want to be stuck in another city if I could avoid it).

When I got to the airport, I spoke with a man at the British Airways counter since they were handling my flight to Heathrow.  He informed me that the flight was not cancelled, and that I should proceed with my British Airways flight.  Believing him, I boarded my plane hoping for the best.  A few other DIS students were on my plane, all of them connecting to either JFK, Newark or O’Hare.  None of them had been informed of cancelled flights, so I assumed it was going to be fine, just like the British Airways employee had told me.  Wrong.

When I got from the British Airways terminal to the American Airlines terminal, I found out that my flight was indeed cancelled.  The people from American Airlines said that ALL flights to New York were cancelled, so even if there had been available seats with other airlines, they couldn’t possibly get us to New York that evening.  This was not true: my friend’s flight to JFK with British Airways was delayed by three hours, but she still made it home that night.  American cancelled prematurely, I just know it.

After waiting in line for three hours, only to be told that there was no point to my waiting in line by a rather bitchy employee of American Airlines, I found out (by calling a number on a very generous woman’s cell phone and waiting on hold for 45 minutes) that the only flights I could get to the US were to Boston on Tuesday.  As it was Sunday, I was stuck for two more days.  I later found out that the nice (and gorgeous) Swedish guy behind me in line was able to get a flight to JFK on Tuesday, but since I was able to have Tom pick me up, it wasn’t a really big deal where I flew into as long as I was landing relatively close to Connecticut.  I did, however, miss my flight to Pittsburgh on Tuesday (I was supposed to fly home after spending Monday and Tuesday with Tom).  Since my itinerary had been changed previously, this was actually the second flight I had purchased to come home.

So anyways, being trapped in London was not the worst thing in the world.  It is by far my favorite European city (although I’m still eagerly anticipating Istanbul, Prague, Budapest, Stockholm, et cetera).  I took the Underground into the city on Monday and did my Christmas shopping on Oxford Street.  Still having all day to do whatever I wanted, I ventured over to Trafalgar Square to see the Christmas tree (I thought I’d been to Trafalgar Square before; I guess I had thought I was there but was at a different obelisk?), I went to Buckingham Palace even though I’d already seen it, and after dark – which was rather early, it being the solstice and everything – I went to Westminster to see Parliament lit up and reflected in the Thames.  Just as I arrived at Westminster, it began to snow (it had been snowing earlier in the day but had eased up for a while).  Seeing the snowfall in front of Parliament was absolutely beautiful, and it was also very pretty on Regent Street, where I did some browsing in stores to keep warm before deciding to go to Westminster.

Since getting back to my home town in Meadville after a day with Tom and an uncomfortable flight to Erie, I have been inundated with snow.  The only days on which I don’t think I saw snowfall were Christmas day and the day after.  In fact, the already enormous amounts of snow melted on Christmas – the one day on which everyone appreciates a white-out.  Tom arrived on the first, and from that point on it did not stop snowing for eight days.

I don’t mean that it snowed every day for eight days.  No, no – this is northwest Pennsylvania that we’re talking about.  I mean that snow literally did not stop falling from the sky for eight days, twenty-four hours a day.  It was impossible to say whether or not the roads were being properly plowed, because it just didn’t make much of a difference.  I haven’t experienced that much snow since my early childhood – I swear, there were at least five feet of snow on the ground in many places!

Tom and I didn’t do much during his visit, but we did catch up with some friends.  I felt bad that I didn’t get to see everyone I wanted, and most of the friends I did see, I did not hang out with more than once or twice.  I don’t keep in touch with very many people from high school, especially when I’m abroad, so it’s hard to get in ample time with everyone when I’m home.  In addition to hanging out with my friends, we also went shopping a lot (and not just at Wal-Mart)!

Well, now I’m back in DC, where I’ll be staying at Tom’s place until the 14th, when I fly back to Copenhagen overnight.  It’s so weird being back on the GW campus for the first time since May, especially since my visit is so transitory.  I forgot how much I love it here, and I love how well I still know the place.  Everything is just the same, and the same things amuse and frustrate me, and for that I’m really grateful.  It’s going to be damn near impossible to leave America when it’s not Meadville that I’m leaving this time, but my real home.  I love this District.