Not Goodbye

2012 Leavers Assembly

Do you know, it is awfully difficult to write a goodbye post. I’ve tried several versions and they are all horrible. I have plenty to say I just can’t seem to get it out as eloquently as I hear it in my head. So I’m not going to write a goodbye post.

I’m just going to leave as if I am flying home for Christmas and believe that one day I will return. And there are many reasons to return.

I have a danish drivers licence that is valid till I am 75 so this is one of many good reasons to return. It was hard work to earn and I need to get my monies worth. So no need to say goodbye.

If the many construction sites in the middle of my normal thoroughfares is any indication, great changes are taking place in Copenhagen. I would love to return in 2015 to judge whether it has lived up to my expectations. Maybe 2016 just to be on the safe side. Still not goodbye.

I have yet to do the Balkan cruise, visit the west side of Norway nor take a trip to Bornholm which I’ve heard is very good. Copenhagen is a great starting point for all these excursions. Let’s not forget all the other travelling in Europe I still have to do. Still not goodbye.

I have not taken a dip in the freezing waters of the Øresund in Summer let alone in winter. I have definitely not swum naked. Still not goodbye.

While I did start riding again and started to run, I have neither cycled across Zeeland nor taken part in a marathon through the streets of Copenhagen. Let’s be honest, I’ve never started a marathon. Since Copenhagen is so flat it’s the perfect place to start. Still not goodbye.

I have yet to master the complexities of the danish language although have begun to develop quite a fondness for it. I believe that I can now hear the breaks between words and generally!! manage to understand the simple statements made to me at the stores I frequent. Still not goodbye.

Still not goodbye.

Then there are my friends who I will want to visit. You may not all be here when I return but the memories will be. We had some great times. My three years here seems so short. So very, very short. With so much packed into it. It is amazing to think of the travel, the study, the coffees, the lunches, the driving test, the friends farewelled, the friends made, the volunteering, the exercise, and the amount of time still found to fluff around doing nothing. I outdid myself really.

Thank you and farewell but not … goodbye.