First Day on the Ground

So originally, I had planned to write a pre-departure blog post about how I was sitting in the Logan Airport as a mix of nervousness and excitement weighed down with a backpacker’s backpack and a lot of heavy thoughts. But most of my nervousness vanished at 8:00 a.m. (Amsterdam time) when I saw a woman in the Amsterdam airport (which is GORGEOUS. Picture a very pretty mall filled with sidewalk cafes and grocery stores) wearing a knitted sweater that featured a dinosaur smoking a pipe. I figure any place that has a person like that in it can’t be anything to fear.

Which is not to say that the challenges I was expecting to face have evaporated. I had a long talk with my host parents tonight about navigating around the city. And while public transportation looks like it’s going to be extraordinary, it will still be a hassle to make train schedules and figure out what goes where and when. Although it’s worth mentioning that the house I am in is bordered by farmlands and STILL I’m ten minutes away from a train station where the train runs EVERY TEN MINUTES. This fact, in combination with the fact that Copenhagen has protected bike lanes (i.e. the cyclists have a part of the road designated for parking spaces or green space so that the cyclists aren’t inches from the sideview mirrors of passing vehicles) makes me SO THRILLED ABOUT GETTING AROUND THIS PLACE.

My battery is about to die (my damn converter doesn’t work with laptops–new challenge! yay!), so I’ll mention two things quickly. There is a popular type of tea in Denmark called “universel te” (I’m probably butchering the spelling), which is called “universal” because it’s made from whatever herbs and plants grow in the area. It’s very minty, and naturally sweet, and it’s DELICIOUS. My host family has a jar of the stuff sitting on their kitchen counter, and I can’t wait for that to become attached to me at the hip. The other thing I need to mention is that my youngest host brother knocked on the door of my room (which is really lovely–very tasefully and Ikea-y decorated) and invited me to install CounterStrike on my computer so that I can play against him and his brother. That, in combination with the key that my parents handed over to me (it’s attached to a Smiley Face keychain–oh Worcester [which invented the smiley face], how global you are!), really made me feel at home.

It’s good to be here.