The End (?)

This is my final entry to this blog, it is inevitable, my exchange year in Denmark has come to an end. It took me about 5 days to interpret my leave, so here is a "Spark's Notes" guide to my year in Denmark.

On August 1st I left my home. I left my family. I left my friends. I left my comfort zone. And I left everything I knew a million miles away, and roughly 330 days until I knew it again.
It was devastating, earth shattering, and probably one of the most difficult things I've ever done in my life... or so I thought at the time.

On June 17th I will tell you it wasn't the most complicated thing I have ever done.
June 17th was the hardest day of my life. It was the day I said "vi ses" to everyone who captured my heart, and it was "vi ses" to a beautiful country named Denmark. Denmark, stole my heart, and changed me as a person.... I owe all my credit to the misfortune and incredibly fortunate experiences I encountered this year. They made me a stronger more educated person.

I am proud to say I have achieved great things this year. I solved things above my capability (or so I thought), I met impeccable people, and I experienced a new way of life.
My heart is deeply engraved with the memories (good, bad, ugly, and beautiful) of what occurred this year.

My heart weeps silently at the thought of not being in Denmark and not being able to hug my loved ones back in Denmark and around the world as a matter of fact, but it also is dancing a great dance of joy.

It is the most conflicting emotion to have ever been present in my emotions and in my thoughts.
I cry because I know it will no longer be present, what has occurred and was occurring is in the past now, it is only in my memories. However, I scream for joy because IT HAS HAPPENED.
I met the most amazing people, saw the most spectacular things, and have had the best experiences in my life. I know not everyone can say that they have done that. I know one day when I am on my death bed, I will smile to myself and think... " those were the best days of my life, those were some amazing sights, and wow... those were such amazing people with such beautiful souls... and yes... I did it all myself.... and yes, those people meant so much to me."
I know that no matter where I am in the world, I will be thinking of those people. We will forever be together in my memories. My mind holds a special place for those people. My memories will never erase this... my mind will never erase you.

You all know who you are. In fact, this second I am thinking of you all. Our beautiful moments together. You are the reason I write. You are the reason my fingers breathe this very instant. Never will I forget. You know who you are...

Denmark. Changed me forever. It is not the end. No. It is just the beginning.

I will not ramble on about how Denmark was as a country, that is just the outline of what really went on. I will not talk about how my danish was, what the fashion was like, school, families etc.
That is just the outside. I want you to read between the lines... feel as how I have.

I could not stop crying. I said goodbye to you at the airport. I saw the tears in your eyes. I hugged you goodbye. I walked past security with huge tears in my eyes, blurred vision, and mascara running down like dripping wet paint. It was the most terrible pain. I don't know when I will see you again. But I hope soon. People were staring. Thinking the worst probably. People must have thought... "that poor girl, must have said bye to her family... maybe a boyfriend?". It was 1000 times worse. It was my family, my friends, my home, everything I made... everything that was dear to me. It reminded me of August 1st 2009. But 10000 times worse. I knew I would see the U.S again... will I see you again? Will I see Denmark again? I hope so. I pray everyday to grant me that one thing. Bring me back to you.

When I say you, I hope you know who you (ALL) are.

My heart broke on that bus that one day. I said goodbye to most my exchange friends. The one group of people who could understand my every emotion. I wrote to you that day too. I hope you read that letter and think of me. I also hugged you that day, by the stairs, and as I cried you made one of your usual jokes, it instantly made me smile. You can make me laugh like no one else ever can. I hope you know who you are.

That one day I saw you last. I was running for the bus. We didn't get to say goodbye. I cried the whole way home. But then I thought of all our great times together, and laughed. You two bring a smile to my face.

I will never forget you all.

I loved my year. I loved my friends. I loved my family. And I always will.
I will never forget you all.

Most importantly. I want you to know this.

I want to thank you. SO SO SO SO MUCH. You changed my life. Denmark changed my life.
You opened my eyes. Denmark woke me up. You took my hand. Denmark leaded me. You loved me. Denmark supported me. You changed my life... and Denmark influenced it.
My year was amazing. It was spectacular. The terrible things that happened this year, do no longer count. They are over. And now, I only see the good.

This is not the end. No. It is the beginning of a new life for me. I have changed for the better, and constantly I see that Denmark is still molding me... even though I am no longer living there. Denmark is here in the states. It is growing inside me like a new root. It is giving my life and allowing me to breath even deeper then I imagined. This year, this new life, was more then I imagined it to be.

This is not the end. No. It is just the beginning.

Thank you everyone for this year. It couldn't have been possible without you.
I hope you know who you are. Names are not necessary. Only my love for you all and my words are just what we need.

Denmark, and you... will always, always be in my heart.


Thank you everyone who stayed updated with my blog. Its meant a lot to me. I hope you enjoyed it, even though I was pretty bad at keeping it well updated!
Look for me in the future, I'm sure I will have another blog up soon of whats going on now in my life and of some of my other works of literature... aka: me just writing for fun :)

All my love. To you the best, who always stayed with me,
Megan Elizabeth Bender

Most recent update (:

Im terrible at keeping my blog update, unskyld alle sammen :(
Ok so heres a DETAILED account of what has been going on in my life here in Denmark.

I moved to my third family about 4 weeks ago. I moved to another city about 15 km away, so a new area that I had to get familiar with. It was difficult for me to move at first because its always hard to be uprooted so many times when your so comfortable. But now 4 weeks later I will tell you those feelings no longer exist. I enjoy the time I am spending here VERY much with my new family. We have spent a bit of quality time together over the vinterferie for a week at their summer house. It was fun and and very realxing. It reminded me of the time up north at nana and papa's cabin- being lazy, eating great food, and just enjoying time together. I had a great time. Also, at the end of the break I went for a little trip to Monchengladbach, Germany to vist a former exchange student friend. Ricarda and I had a great time together. And it was such an experience to see how her exchange changed her, we talked as though we have been friends since we were litle! It wa great. Also, I saw quite a bit of the german culture. I saw a handball match, a regular weekend, meet her friends, and went to school with her. It was EXACTLY what I wanted in a trip, and that is to understand the lifestyle, not just see things, but experience them. It was great. It probably will go down as one of my best moments of 2010!
Currently things are going very well. This Friday I will be going to Shannon, Ireland to visit a family friend and to experience the irish St. Patrick's Day! I cant wait it will be great.
And in 2 weeks I will be going with my class for a week for a study tour to Barcelona, Spain. It will be great, and hopefully we will get warm weather there ! Then I will return home for 2 days and head off to Athens, Greece with my host family. We plan on staying there for a week and long enough to see a greek orthadox easter mass. So it will be a GREAT 4 weeks coming up. I really am excited to visit all these places.

So therefore, overall, things are pretty amazing right now. Its getting closer and closer to the end, but as of now Im just soaking everything in and enjoying what Europe has to offer me.
I am truly blessed for all these wonderful people making all these adventures possible. Thank you all so much.

All my love and best wishes <3
Megan

Updated Bucketlist

Have Done

- Visit Amalienborg (X)
- Visit Rosenborg Castle (X)
- Visit Kronborg Castle (X)
- Go to Statens Museum for Kunst (X)
- Take a Picture by the Little Mermaid (X)
- See the Hirschsprung Collection (X)
- Go to H.C Andersen House (X)
- Go to Louisiana Art Museum (X)
-Go to Thorvaldesns Museum (X)
- Visit the resistance museum (X)
- Go to Tivoli (X)
- Visit and open air museum (X)
- Go to National museum (X)
- Visit Arhus (X)
- Vist atleast one danish island (X)

Still Need To

- Spend a day at Bellevue Beach
- Visit the viking museum in Roskilde
- Visit Fredericksborg Castle
- Climb the stairs of famous church in KBH
- See and opera or ballet
- Go to Skagen
- Go to Bornholm
- Go to Legoland

Never going to happen list, but I'm hopeful :)

- Meet the Queen
- Have (specifically Sunset) tea with the Royal Family
- Have a conversation with Jacob Holdt
- Meet Nik og Jay and/or Medina ;)

Velkommen 2010! Godt nytår allesammen!

So today is the second day of the new year, and exactly 5 months and 1 day aniversery for my stay here in Denmark. And wow has it been an adventure.
As I'm looking back on the past 5 months I can already see a dramatic change in myself. Especially in my maturity, ability to deal with difficult situations, and in my understanding of the world. I also made a huge long list of things I need to acomplish by the end of the year, and I only have a few months to do it! I know that my time here is precious and I'm valuing every experience I'm getting. I love it here but I can tell the even when i go home in about 5 months I will have another adventure to begin, so therfore Denmark will never have ended for me, I will continue to grow from whats changed me here.

This new year will bring alot for me. I will be traveling to Barcelona in about 2 months, traveling Europe in about 4 months, and doing more sightseeing around Denmark. I will be taking the ACT test abroad and hopefully that will bring good results. My only hope is that I become the person I'm meant to become, and to live a life inspired and to do the best I can and achieve my aspirations. It will be hard, but what's hard is usually what is most rewarding in the end.

Happy New Year everyone, I hope and pray that 2010 will prove itself to be one of the best years.

Missing you all,
Megs

Jul i Tivoli!

The Danish Birthday Song :)

A General Update

So its been quite awhile with quite a lot of things to update on. Last Friday was my 17th birthday and my only wish was that it be celebrated in a very "danish way". Haha it was was :)
I started the morning off with rolls, coffee, tea, and penut butter my host mom so graciously found awhile ago. I opened my gifts and everything I recieved was danish! I got a H.C Andersen fairytale collection, history of Denmark book (BOTH all in danish), scandanvian design candles, HC Andersen candle, gift card for jewerly, and a danish doll from my former host family. It was such a sweet morning. Then of course school, where I gave out flodeboller (spelt wrong due to lack of danish keys haha). And was sung the danish birthday song :)
Then in the evening, my host sister had some friends over and we got ready all together to go to the school's formal, aka the biggest party of the year. It was SO much fun and everyone was in such a good mood. We ate dinner in our class room with our teachers, had a nice meal, and then had awards etc. Following we danced the waltz and the lanciers. It was very enjoyable!
The rest of the evening resulted in jazz music, and hygge :)

The next day I celebrated with my host family and my close north american friends. They came over for layer cake and hot coca. Then after we vistited Tivoli to see all of the Christmas decorations and to take a side trip to talk to the Julemand about what we want for Christmas... haha in danish ;)

It was a really sweet birthday, filled with alot of hygge and alot of joy.

As of today, unfortuantly I've been sick THEE entire week. I've hardly left my bed. Haha, and I left the house once to the doctors office. Its such a miserable feeling only because you cand do anything, you dont feel like doing anything, and you literally cant. And the most unfortunate thing is when you feel so miserable you start to think the worst. I've thought so much just lying in bed. I think about missing home, and what the holidays are going to be like without me etc. etc. So thats been my state as of the past few days. Im staying positive because Im getting healthier but still... its been a bummer feeling so mierable after such a great weekend.

Anyways, I will get pictures up soon of Tivoli!


Peace && Love.
Megs (: