We Are In the Room. Reflections.

As Bri puts it, "We have both feet over the ledge now. We are in the room."

I have no idea what either of those things mean, but I do know that it was in response to my comment that we've been here for 3 weeks, approximately 20% of the total time we'll be spending abroad. How absurd is that?

I fluctuate (by the hour?) between feeling that I've been here for years and feeling that I got here yesterday. I'm gonna go ahead and assume that's totally normal. When I was Skyping David the other day, he said he feels like he's been at 'nova for months already, so it sounds like I'm not alone.

Because the last few days since my short study tour have been (relatively) low key, I want to write a little bit about my house and how I've been feeling. (emotions, what?)

Some of the wonderful people I live with: Josh, Dorothy, Kyle, Bri, Me, Aimee, Ben, Connor, and Sarah

I live in Ravnsborggade, aptly named because it is located on a street called Ravnsborggade. It's a DIS Residential Community. Basically a dorm. There are 25 of us living here (a PERFECT size) and we share 2 kitchens and a large common room. I have my own bedroom on the third floor, which is where the common room and kitchen are located.

Look at all dem shoes

I'm lucky to have a huge skylight window in my room. It opens up to a (very steep) roof and a view of the street below. It's so nice to open it when the sun's out. 

My bed, desk, tapestry, night stand, some shelves... etc. I really have plenty of space for just one person. I'm very comfortable and loving having a single. Notice the picture of Minor Problem in a frame and the unhung, blurry photo of me and Colleen Francke on my desk.

I live only 1.8km from the very center of the city. On my bike, it's very very fast. I get to class in under 10 minutes. We live right near some of the lakes in an adorable, young neighborhood, so I really love the location. We got lucky as far as housing.

The last few days have been great as far as feeling like I'm part of the city. I really feel like I live here, recognize streets and places, and am starting to get really attached to this place.
That being said, though, I had a really rough time being away from Villanova during acappella auditions on Sunday!

Firstly, and most importantly:

WELCOME TO MINOR PROBLEM, 

Pat, Cedar, Adam, Dylan, Anika, and Jen!!!! 

It was almost physically painful knowing that Minor Problem was listening to a full day of auditions while I sat by my computer and waited to hear any news. I just wished so badly I could be there with them. I even Skyped with them at about 6pm during the day of auditions to get some of their feedback. The biggest comfort was knowing that I fully (like somewhere around approximately 200%) trust everyone in the group. I never had any concern about the decisions they'd make. Rather, it was a matter of being so far away from this group of people I feel so passionately about as they make a monumental decision. I just wanted to be near them. They were, as they always are, very accommodating as far as keeping me updated and letting me know what's going on, especially Nina. Thanks guys, I loved seeing your faces on Skype :)

And their work paid off fully: We have 6 new Problems that are officially part of the family. They even had their first rehearsal together yesterday and I heard it was great. And I can't wait to meet them and be back with the group in a few months.

Generally, I'm doing really well. I'm happy and I'm constantly aware that everything I'm doing is an incredible opportunity and I'm lucky. I'm visiting Stockholm, Sweden with about 10 friends for the weekend this weekend, so I'll probably blog again after that mini adventure.

Until then...xoxo