I'm planning my first trip through Europe. After talking to some people from England and Belgium, I've realized that when you live in Europe you really don't feel the same sort of obligation to travel everywhere in the union. To them a trip to France has the same sort of romance as a trip to Virginia. They have the time and they have the drive of not a kid in a candy store but a kid in a candy store he has lived in for the past twenty years. Now, eliminating the fact that you can't be a kid after living twenty years in any setting, I'm sure you can see my point.
But I'm from the US, so the whole kid in a candy store allegory holds true for me. As such, I need to experience every bit of Europe I can afford during my short stay here. I met I guy from New Jersey here who wanted to travel like I did. We decided to plan a trip that crossed through four countries over sixteen days. It sounded a bit ambitious, maybe a little irreverent too. But many international students have booked trips over the same period that go through ten cities, maybe more. For us, three days in Barcelona is quality time.
This is the story of us booking flights. Between credit card declines and website crashes, it took us around an hour to book each flight. I liked to break the monotony of the affair and voice by frustration with the websites' tendency to reject my payments and delete my contact information. Jack assured me my experience was normal and, in fact, better than most people's. I couldn't let him steal my spite so I directed my anger towards him whenever he tried to console me.
We finished booking our flights at three in the morning. I didn't know it until we hung out after, but dawn in Springm in Denmark, takes place at four. It's a horrible sensations, seeing the white light of the sun reflect off the cold modern windows around Amager. I used to think of dawn as a reminder that you were alive. Here, I feel like the sun is your parents scolding you for not doing homework. It hurts my eyes and gives me a headache. Even if I haven't had a drop of alcohol the night before, the second I spot the cruel Scandinavian Sun I feel like a vampire at the sight of a Catholic's crucifix. I cover my head in blankets and pretend it will go away, but after a few hours it's a battle long forgone.
Have you ever heard of A Spanish Apartment? It's a French movie set in Barcelona about a French erasmus student studying in Barcelona, the city I just mentioned. It's great. It totally captures the philisophical essence of studying in another country. Of course, it's nothing like what I've experienced here, where I cling to alienation like it's an old friend I only get to see on holidays. It makes Spain look like a real happening place, so I'm excited to see it.
Did you know that Europoeans call "study abroad" "erasmus?" Did you know that there's a difference? Did you know that difference is that they get money from the government? Did you know that Danes get paid $1000 USD every month to go to university? Each month? Did you know that the minimum wage in Denmark is almost $20 an hour? Did you know that they are charged 40% income taxes? Did you know that Danes, after taxes, are paid almost twice as much as I've ever been paid? Did you know the sun rises here at 4am?
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