on the other side of a street i knew

Six months and counting, and while I wouldn't say the time is flying yet, I'm well aware that it will be in the coming days. I don't have an attachment to my community like most do, because I don't know as though I have a community, and I feel as though that will really be to my benefit in the long run. Living almost twenty minutes from any of my friends has always been a hindrance to me, and I feel sometimes like it's robbed me of a part of childhood, but in this facet of life it is definitely to my advantage. I will miss people - I'll miss Melissa, Haley, David, Cole, Sara, Kaela, Alex, and Dakota, and that isn't even touching on the family aspect - but I won't have a neighborhood to miss. My house won't be always there for me anymore, but I can handle that. I won't have to worry about leaving Hamilton behind, because I'm not attached to it; I'm only attached to its inhabitants.


This last weekend I had another Rotary retreat at Lindenwood, and the other two outbounds are great. The inbounds are phenomenal, too, and I have them to thank for answering a lot of questions that I didn't even realize I had. The Rotarians are magnificent, and I can't get over the vast amount of knowledge that they have at their disposal; knowing that I have people like that to get me through what will be (simultaneously) the hardest and most fulfilling year thus far in my life sets my mind at ease.


Danish is still a work in progress, but I can conjugate some verbs now. Add the 'r' to the infinitive, you're good to go. Jeg gå i seks måneder, if that tells you anything. And if I did translate it right, for that matter.

i could finally crash again

Danish is so incredibly difficult. I know that's something of a, "Um, duh?" statement, but it's really true; it's nothing like the French or Spanish I've taken, and while the grammar isn't terribly difficult, the pronunciation is something I've barely been able to wrap my mind around. I don't think it's an ugly language or anything, but there's something so guttural to it that I just can't comprehend.

It's starting to sink in that I'm leaving, and while I'm not having second thoughts, I am starting to feel the nerves, for better or for worse. I'm going to leave behind everything and everyone I've ever known, and I won't be able to come home for the weekend like I would if I was just going to college. I know I won't be alone - I'll have the support of the Rotarians in Denmark, as well as my host family - but I will certainly be without anyone I'm familiar with.

I don't actually know what I'm doing.

I just make it up as I go along.