Góoan morgun from the Copenhagen airport, everybody!
Where do I begin? The past few days have been full of difficult, emotional, beautiful goodbye's and farewell's. I've discovered that leaving places and people you have become close to can be very hard, but I wouldn't want it any other way. Difficult goodbye's come from close and special relationships with people, and leaving Northfield has helped me form one of my goals for my exchange: I hope that saying goodbye to the Faroe Islands will be just as difficult, if not more so than saying goodbye to Northfield.
I made my last goodbye at the airport this morning - or was it yesterday? - and it was by far the quickest - surprisingly enough. My emotions of detachment from my parents were quickly overpowered by excitement. My adventure had FINALLY begun! I made it onto my first flight with very little hiccups. I met up with two other girls in my district country group going to Denmark (Abby and Elle), although unfortunately we didn't get to sit by each other on the plane. My first flight took me to Amsterdam. 8 HOURS! The plane was packed full of different cultures, ages, accents, and conversations. I settled in fast and watched the movie "42", which I was very excited to see in the movie selections!
The greatest thing that happened to me on my flight to Amsterdam, and possibly all day? A simple five minute conversation with a stranger. About four hours into the flight, I got up to use the restroom. As I was waiting in line, a scraggly, unshaven, middle aged English man with a heavy accent looked at me from his seat and said "I see you finally figured out how to recline your seat." (I guess he had seen my 15 minute struggle at the beginning of the flight - I ended up having to ask the flight attendant). I laughed, embarrassed for myself, and looked forward in the line. He asked me where I was headed, and I told him I was going to be an exchange student in the Faroe Islands. He said something that really caught my attention, "You know, most American's don't have passports, because they don't need them. They think that everything they need is right there in the US. I'm glad you know better, and you are only 16." He also asked me what I wanted to do when I grow up. I told him I didn't know, but I brought my camera along and that could be a start. I had to interrupt our conversation because it was my turn to use the restroom. When I walked out, I told him it was nice talking to him. He reached out his hand and said "Even though you don't know what you want to do, you are off to a great start. Best of luck to you." We shook hands, and I returned to my seat. It was a simple conversation, but quite possibly one of the most memorable conversations I've ever had.
I have always wished for a connection like that with an absolute stranger. I still don't know his name.
Rotary Youth Exchange, I already love you. And I'm not even to my final destination.
Hav ein góoan dag,
Katie
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