After Wednesday's morning classes, we went into Aalborg, which is the city that we flew into a few days ago. It is kind of the hub of surrounding towns and where most of the school’s families go to get groceries, go shopping, etc. We split into groups of 6 or so and the Danish students led us on a walking tour.
Later that day, one of the boys’ mothers let us into the Aalborg zoo at closing time. To be honest, it wasn’t much different from the zoos I’ve seen in Canada, but it was still a really lovely way to spend the evening. By Thursday, I began to feel like there had been a significant shift in the tone of the trip. Rather than running from tourist destination to tourist destination desperate to take photos and document every cultural difference I noticed, it felt a bit more like I had settled into life with my host. We had inside jokes and a routine together, and we genuinely enjoyed spending time with mixed groups of Danish and Canadian students. Once we get past the initial differences of culture, it becomes clear that really we’re all just teenagers who enjoy running around an empty zoo and dancing without music. We’re all competitive yet terrible at bowling. We all fell asleep on the bus ride home and we all still find it funny to take snapchats of our sleeping friends.
On Friday night, all of the families met back at the school for a potluck dinner and going away party. As we sat down for a meal with our Danish friends for the last time, the sense of community was stronger than ever. It was heartbreaking knowing that these were our last few hours with this group of people, but I did my best to not let that taint the evening. Halfway through the meal, Hui Wen and I stood up to give a toast and thank the staff, students, and families of Støvring for their accommodation of us. We were a bit nervous and did our best to convey our gratitude, but really, I know I could have spoken for hours and not have accurately expressed how meaningful an experience they had provided.
After dinner, we followed up with an hour of dancing in the gym — a chaotic Danish social dance made up of students, teachers, and parents alike. Many of the Canadians were skeptical to say the least, but if we hadn’t yet learned the value of stepping outside of our comfort zones, that sweaty, laughter-filled hour certainly drove the point home. When it all came to a close a few hours later, the giddiness and exhaustion were stained with tears and tight hugs. It was a much tougher goodbye than any of us had anticipated.
Over my entire stay in Denmark, there was only one phrase of Danish that I found myself having the confidence to use. It could be said to a bus driver, waiter, tour guide, or even a student holding open the door in the hallway. Regardless, I find that upon leaving, it’s still the only thing I have left to say. To the staff that worked so hard to make this trip possible, to the families who decided it’d be a good idea to open their homes to a group of crazy Canadian teenagers, to the Danish students who let us follow them around like puppies for a week, and to my friends and family back in Canada that supported me along the way:
Tak. Tusind tak!