1 year ago.

I can’t believe I didn’t do a one year post on the actual one year date.  Well, actually I can as both my boyfriend and my father were here visiting me in Denmark 🙂

Where to start?  I don’t even know where to begin.  This last year has been amazing.  I can honestly say i’m the happiest I have ever been in my entire life, and I can thank my move to Denmark for all of that.

Most importantly I’ve met the love of my life here.  Funny since all my friends said this would happen and it did.  Only it wasn’t with a Dane, it was with an Australian.  Could I have fallen in love with a man that is located any farther away, well… no since Australia is literally on the other side of the world.  There isn’t even a direct flight there… it takes 2 days (and it’s really long, but take Emirates, they give you the best service.  Hands down best airline I think, they win the Caitlin award for sure).  Is my happiness equated with falling in love?  Well i’m sure that has something to do with it, but I was happy before the butterflies hit me.  Now I am looking forward to moving countries again, after I finish my Master’s its off across the oceans again to start another journey with Daryl in Australia.    I can’t wait to bring him home for Christmas to meet all my friends and family, it will honestly be amazing and I can’t wait to share my life with him.

Moving to Denmark was everything I wanted it to be,  I fell in love with the country the minute I stepped foot here in the summer of 2011.  Something about the Danish air just felt right, and I wanted to breathe in so much more of Scandinavia.  Immersing myself in Danish life has been a challenge, it’s helpful that all Danes speak fluent english… yet they are very adamant that you speak Danish.  Which once sounded like a gurgle of a drunken mans mumblings I now latch onto, repeating every word and trying to lock it into memory.  I can speak pretty much fluently at the airport to my customers who speak Danish, and they understand me and we laugh, mostly I laugh when I don’t know what they are saying, I just speak Danish TOO good for my own good sometimes!  I actually find Danish to be quite beautiful, the film En Kongelig Affære (A Royal Affair) made me think twice about the Danish language.  It was also the Danish candidate for the Oscars, so if you haven’t seen it, its quite an interesting telling of a little of Danish history.

I don’t know why the Danes are the happiest people in the world, I haven’t quite figured out the exact reasons why, I just know they are, and it has rubbed off on me.  I said this before, but I am honestly the happiest I have ever been here; I have experienced tremendous personal growth over the course of this past year, growing in ways I didn’t even think possible and can’t even explain.  I just know i’m different.  I feel different.  I feel alive.  Maybe it’s my travels and the continents i’ve seen.  Maybe its the people i’ve met and shared stories with, while listening intently to them telling me their own.  Maybe its the struggle i’ve faced with my home being broken into and things ripped away from me.  Perhaps the excitement and frustrations of looking and finally gaining part time work here in Denmark and the hectic pace of the airport.  Maybe its being truly alone for the first time in my life and learning to rely on myself when your lifelines are no longer a phone call away and are miles across oceans.  Possibly it was meeting a whole new group of international friends who have now moved on home back to their countries, yet still keep in touch with you and share their days with you.  Perhaps its not one single thing, but the course of events this past year that have shaped my life into what I now see today, and what I will see tomorrow and in months to come.

I think most importantly is that I am able to share this all with you, and hope that you aspire to be something greater, to experience the world in batshit scary way.  Giving everything up and moving to a different country is not easy.  It was probably the scariest thing I have ever done in my life.  The struggles leading up to my move to Denmark were enough to make me want to quit every time, yet I kept pursuing.  When my loans didn’t come through, I was told I received a full scholarship.  When I had no place to live, 2 months before I moved I was offered accommodation.  I truly believe I was supposed to end up in Denmark.  This is the country for me, and I hope to one day live here again after I finish my life here in a years time.  Denmark is one of those countries that is just special.  It feels like a magical spell that i’ve been under, and through my realization that i’ve lived here a year now I finally have taken a step back and looked at my life and all that it has brought me.  And it’s wonderful.  It’s amazing.  I couldn’t ask for more, and I won’t ask for more.  I have everything i’ve ever wanted and I am so grateful.
Jeg Elsker Dig, Danmark.  and I always will 🙂