Memories of Denmark

I've been spending a lot of time lately going back to the beginning stages of this blog and reading old posts. Some of them are actually quite funny, as I have laughed out loud several times. And some might bring a tear to my eye, as I remember our adventures in Denmark. Funny how sentimental I get over that place because as I was living there, I did nothing but complain about it. I do miss it though. What an experience that was! Sometimes I wish we could go back. Sometimes....

At least I had a lot of funny stories to share. Because we didn't really know anyone there or have a car, we were forced to spend a lot of time together, making things interesting. It wasn't easy to get to a movie theater, for instance, so that would be a rare treat. Instead, we did a lot of biking and hiking through the forest trails. Or even biking to the beach on occasion. Having picnics and visiting castles. I don't think I fully appreciated how amazing it was to be there until I moved back home.

Now that we are living in the U.S. again, (and it almost feels as though we never left) things are much easier. But we don't have as many adventures as we did then. There isn't really anywhere we can go for exciting day trips. We don't really go exploring much. All we really do is hang out at home. We are pretty boring people.

My kids have grown up so much and have lost pretty much all the Danish they knew. Eden was practically fluent at just 6 years old. I used to love listening to her and Andreas speak Danish to each other. I often wonder what life would be like if we would have stayed for 3 years. How much Danish we would retain. How many more adventures we would have had. If I could just have managed to get over the culture shock....

It was SO hard on me. I remember just sobbing on many occasions because I missed my family and everything that was familiar and comforting. I just couldn't get used to such differences. And with Andreas gone at work every day, I was terribly lonely and depressed. I felt so bad for him too because I was burdening him with my sadness and he tried so hard to do things that might cheer me up. I wanted to just leave. I was so heartbroken over having to leave our first home and the area that I had lived in my entire life, that if he would have told me I could go home, I would have in a heartbeat.

So it seems funny that I go through these periods of almost grief over the life I left behind in Denmark. Something I didn't really give a fair chance. I find myself longing to go back to that life, that town, that house and relive those memories. You never know what a move like that is going to do to you until you go through it. It was like jumping in with both feet, eyes closed. I had no idea what it would be like. But I did it. I went through with it. And now I know. At least I'm not sitting here wondering what it would be like. It was a big decision, a big move, but we went for it. And I'm glad.