Goodbye Denmark!

It's so hard to believe that I am leaving Denmark in a matter of days. So much has changed since I arrived in the dreary month of January. When I moved into my yellow room in my host family's home in Humlebæk the days were short, the snow was deep and the environment unfamiliar. \nOn my second day in Copenhagen I got hopelessly lost -- and I mean hopelessly. Wandering around the streets of Nørrebro, it took all I had not to panic. Danish -- the language charmingly referred to as a disease of the throat -- was a mystery to me and I was late to my orientation. Thankfully, the Danes are a helpful bunch and I got where I was going only a few minutes late.\nNow the days are long, the flowers are in bloom and Denmark is a home away from home. Cards from friends and family dot my yellow walls, and trinkets from my travels clutter my tiny desk. The thought of someone no longer speaking Danish to me makes me break out in a cold sweat. Now, I just tell the natives -- in Danish -- that I don't speak well, but do speak English. Usually they're happy to practice their English on me when they get the chance. It's fun to listen to their opinions on anything and everything American. The Danes I have met have thus far have been brutally honest on everything from American fashion sense (sorely lacking, apparently) to American politics (not huge President Bush fans).\nI'm going to miss riding my creaky green bike ride to the train station every morning, hustling to meet my friend for the brutally early commute. I'm going to miss rushing home for whatever gourmet dinner my host dad Peter has whipped up that evening. I'm going to miss the awkward conversations I have with my host mom Helene where both of us end up more confused than when we started. I'm going to miss my host sister Cecile tearing through the house singing the latest Britney Spears hit. I'm going to miss the routine of life in my host family's home and I'm going to miss the routine of school with the friends I have met.\nCopenhagen has ceased being a mystery to me. I've seen the Little Mermaid, perched on a lonesome rock overlooking an industrial harbor. I've been to the Tivoli Pleasure Gardens. I've wandered around the Royal Palace's grounds. The museums, the treasures of the small hidden streets are no longer foreign. A city of only 1.5 million -- and that includes the entire greater Copenhagen area -- is small, friendly, and cosmopolitan. With the excitement of the royal wedding of Crown Prince Frederik to Aussie Mary Donaldson a fresh memory, I hop on a plane and get ready for the next big move of the year.\nFrom Copenhagen I am off to London -- six weeks of an internship are all that stand in between me and my home in Dyer, Ind. London will be a dramatic change from Copenhagen and I am ready for the challenge. Though I am sad to leave Denmark, I can't look back too long … I'm London-bound.