I spent a semester of college in Copenhagen. Just weeks before I departed for study abroad and a single day before my 21st birthday, I got in trouble at my college for underage drinking. I got called to a meeting with the dean of students, who told me I was lucky they were still letting me go abroad but as punishment I would not be allowed to live in the international dorms I was so excited for, and instead they would be putting me in a last minute home stay with a Danish family.
Looking back this is SO laughable, by January I was 21 and living in a country where I had been of legal drinking age for 3 years, but I digress. Obviously, my parents were not comfortable with this living situation and reported it to the school, who hustled in the following days to find me a new host family who lived about an hour outside of the city. Safe to say, I had an unsettling start to my study abroad experience.
My next host family was lovely. My study abroad experience was somewhat of a blur, commuting an hour to school every day, going out partying at night and learning the hard way that the trains stopped running in the middle of the night, being drunk and alone, stranded with no cell service and little money in a foreign country. Looking back, I just want to give that girl a hug. Despite these dark experiences, I never faulted the city of Copenhagen. I understood even then I was just having a bad time given my circumstances, and vowed to return one day when I felt ready for a new experience.
This past spring following my break up with my long term boyfriend, I thought that I should take a trip somewhere, and immediately felt called to Copenhagen. As I began to plan, I reached out to my host mom who I had lost touch with long ago on Facebook. A few days later, I received a message back from her daughter, informing me that she had recently passed away. A chill ran down my spine and a lump rose in my throat.
I felt deeply sad as I went on with my day, kicking myself for not staying in touch, for not going back to visit sooner. The more I thought about it though, I started to feel that perhaps it was her spirit who was calling me back, telling me I was ready.
