Camp Excerpt...

So I just found this blog that I started to write at the camp in Denmark but never finished! Camp was so much fun and so busy that I never quite found the time to write blog entries there. But I thought I would post this partial blog now! Written on July 28th. And yes, the ending is rather abrupt, but something happened and I was called away!

Even as I am sitting here writing these words, I have no idea what this blog entry is going to be about. I was just asleep on the bus a few minutes ago when suddenly an orange was dropped into my lap and I jolted awake to find several of my fellow campers standing around me watching and laughing. Hmmmm...not quite sure what to think about that one. So now, as I'm far too tired to read a book or do anything else (and I don't dare go back to sleep), I decided to stare at this lit up screen and write a blog entry.

So... I guess I'll write about camp!

This is no ordinary camp. There are 28 of us here and we represent 19 different countries. 

The flies outnumber us at least 4:1 (there is a pig farm not far from the camp) and while sitting here in the

The end!

Proud to be an American

To be completely honest, I never thought I would be writing anything with this title. Ever. I have found myself so frustrated with the USA in comparison to other countries for many years, particularly in attitudes and environmental efforts (or rather, lack thereof). However, in coming to Europe, I have begun to appreciate many aspects of the United States that I never realized were unique before.

Like talking to strangers. I love it. I will ride the city bus simply because I want to hear the life story of the person sitting next to me. If I'm standing in line next to someone, I'll strike up a conversation. I guess I never realized how culturally unique that is until I asked a gentleman how his day was going while we were waiting for the bathroom. He said it was going well, then informed me that he is from Denmark. Of course this was no shock considering we are in Denmark, so I kind of took it as a message that they don't do that here, and that I was an obvious foreigner for starting a conversation. After we left, my Finnish friend told me how surprised she was to see someone start a conversation with a stranger. Is it truly that odd? Everyone I asked from Europe and Asia also said it would be unusual in their homes countries; they would sit on a bus for 5 hours without saying a word to the person next to them. I love that in the USA I can talk to strangers on a daily basis without anyone thinking it's weird.

The other major thing that I've grown to really appreciate about the USA is our ability to choose what culture and climate we want to live in. If I want to live somewhere that is warm all year round, I can pack up my bags and move to Florida or Arizona, and it's not that big of a deal. If I lived in Denmark (just an example, but this can apply to any European country) and wanted to move somewhere warmer, like Spain for example, it would be an intense process; I would have to learn a new language, become accustomed to an entirely new culture and way of living, and go through a whole big process to become a citizen. I truly appreciate the freedom I have in that aspect of living in the USA.

The USA is made fun of a lot, and when I first arrived at this camp, I was honestly a bit embarrassed about it. Now, after seeing the differences, all embarrassment is gone. I wouldn't want to call anywhere else in the world my home.

A 3-year-old Dane

I cried today. I shut myself in my room and just let the tears fall. Why? Because I have an amazing friend whom I have grown to love with all my heart the last couple weeks. And I have to say goodbye to him tomorrow. Possibly forever.

The internet has connected our world so much that it's easy to say goodbye to adults, because it's not really goodbye; I'll see them on Facebook tomorrow. With kids, it's truly goodbye. Sure, I can see photos and videos of them as they grow up, and maybe even talk to them again someday. But there's no relationship in that. There's no play, no sand castles, no rolling each other around the yard. It's all distant.

Now I've befriended many a child in my time here on planet Earth, but there's something different about this little boy. I mean of course there are differences between every child, but the obvious thing here is that he speaks about the same amount of English as I speak of Danish. Which is practically none. And he is quite the talker! He talks and talks, sometimes about the most random things! (We were on a walk today and he informed us randomly that he doesn't like onions.) So here I am playing with him and he keeps talking and talking and I have absolutely no idea what he is saying to me. But somehow, we make it work. We read body language until we both know exactly what we are doing. And it's amazing.

We have played hide the Lego person (AKA throw it in the garden and make Katie walk barefoot all over the wood chips and pine needles until it is found, then repeat the process), drums, catch, roll the person, and so much more.

And what's funny is that he keeps talking to me, in Danish, even though he knows that I only speak English. He taught me a word today (kept repeating it until he was satisfied with my pronunciation, then informed his mom that he was teaching me), yet he still talks to me in Danish and assumes I'll understand.

I've grown to absolutely love hearing that little voice saying "Nej, Katie!" (Pronounced NYE, Cat-ee)  even though it means I'm doing something wrong. I've tried countless times to get said phrase on video, but it never seems to happen when I expect.

To really emphasize my point, I've begun making exaggerated sound effects to go with my actions. Whenever I lift something heavy, I accompany it with a pained "oof," etc. When Bertil decided to roll me around in the grass, he accompanied each push with an oof. Not a pained oof, just saying the word, as if that's what is to be said whenever any type of heavy work is done. Cracks me up!!

Anyway, I just find it completely amazing that I became such good friends with this little boy with an entirely different culture and language. God is amazing at connecting the most unlikely of friends.

...please pray for me if you get the chance, as I predict more tears in the future of tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!

Dansk? English?

I made a list. I know 55 Danish words. Now envision a dictionary, envision a single page of a dictionary. 55 words is nothing, right?

Although 55 words is definitely better than nothing...

I guess I wasn't quite expecting there to be so much of a language barrier. 86% of the population of Denmark speaks English, so I figured I'd be fine. Granted, I haven't exactly run across many people who DON'T speak English, but EVERYTHING is in Danish! All the signs, all the newspapers, all the surrounding voices.

I feel like a small child at times. I can't just read the street sign; I have to ask someone what it says. The adults discuss what we are doing next, and I have absolutely no idea what they are saying, so I blindly follow until someone decides to clue me in on the plan.

I personally think this is awesome. Yes, there have been times when I've felt a little lost, a little lonely. But it is an incredible experience! How many times have I wished I was a kid again!? Well here I am!

Also, I finally found a practical use for all those times I pretend to be listening but am actually lost somewhere deep inside my head. At those times, I give a generic response based on the tone of what is being said. Here when I don't have the option to listen, the only thing I CAN do is exactly that. It's a skill that comes in rather handy indeed.

I figured since everyone here could speak English, they would. What I have discovered though is that although they can speak it, it's somewhat difficult, or rather it doesn't come as naturally or easily as Danish. I can definitely speak Pig Latin, but ask me to communicate using only that for a day and I think I would lose my mind. I think it's very similar for Danes with English.

'Miay  oinggay  otay  rytay  otay  peaksay  nlyoay  igpay  atinlay  orfay  neoay  entencesay. Yep, already going crazy with this.

I took a minor survey of a few people to ask how they felt about speaking English to me. Some people were happy about it - they had been wanting someone to practice their English with. Others informed me that their head hurt from translating all their words to English in it.

I just find all of this, this experience and these discoveries, to be extremely interesting. I hope you do too!

Farvel/moin/hej hej!! (Yes, I know 3 ways to say goodbye. That has to count for something!)

Cultural Differences

Life and culture in general are very similar between Denmark and the States. BUT, there are some very notable differences:

• Rings - I wear a ring on my right ring finger, simply because that's the only finger it fits on. Here in Denmark, a ring on the left ring finger means engaged, and on the right it means married. So I guess everyone who looks at me thinks I'm married...

• Cars - The majority of the cars on the road are station wagons. I find this kind of ironic, since I've often heard people get made fun of for having a station wagon in the States. I was told they are popular because cars are more expensive here but people still need lots of space, so the station wagon is a happy medium between space and decent pricing.

• Architecture - The architecture in general is amazing and very advanced here, but the roofs are the most different. Often, I could fool myself into thinking I'm in the USA still...but then I look at the roofs and realize I'm very much in Denmark.

• Meals - I've noticed the most drastic cultural differences at the dinner table. Meals are very slow, and when they are done everyone sits there for a very long time, even if not much can be found to talk about. I've been told that the average dinner at a restaurant is about 4 hours long! There are also differences in table manners. Everyone eats with their knife in one hand and fork in the other (there is no cutting eveything ahead of time and then setting the knife down). Napkins remain on the table except at a restaurant.

• Water - It costs money in restaurants. Only about 5 kroner, which is less than $1 USD, but still. And refills are not free.

• Time - Speaking of meals being slow, everything is actually rather slow! Not in a bad way, the Danes just like to take their time and avoid rushing, yet they are still prompt. One day we were going to be leaving the house at 11, so they said breakfast would be at 9. And they all get dressed and everything ahead of time. What!?? I would have called for breakfast at 10:45 ...and gotten out of my pajamas after.

• Toilet Paper - I mentioned in my last blog that the toilets are cool... did I mention that the toilet paper is cool too? Each square is 150% bigger than a square in the USA (yes, I did the math), and the roll is flushable!

• Bicycles - They're EVERYWHERE! Everyone watches out for them on the roads, there are bike lanes on almost every road, and there are so many bike trails I legitimately got lost on them!

• Random Trees - I keep being surprised by the random trees in the middle of the road. The cars have to go around them. They are either in the middle of the road for decoration, or on the sides bringing the road down to one lane and forcing the cars to slow down and be cautious of pedestrians and bicyclists.

• Traffic Circles - There are far more traffic circles here than intersections that look like this +. This was the most obvious difference that I could see flying in. Some of the traffic circles have 6 or more roads attached to them! And there is always something interesting in the middle of the circle.

• Stoplights - On the rare occasions when there is not a traffic circle, there is a stoplight. I have not seen a single stop sign. The stoplights flash yellow and red before turning green!

• Greetings - When walking down the street, people who pass each other do not acknowledge each other at all! Apparently, if a person says hi to someone they don't know on the street, they will seem creepy or weird. I'm going to seem super creepy and weird, because I can't seem to break myself of the habit!

• Hanging Out - I basically ask everyone I meet where they have traveled to and how they liked it. I was asking about the UK, and someone said they thought relationships weren't as personal there because no one ever invited friends to their house, they always go to a restaurant or something to meet friends. I said it is largely the same in the USA, because inviting people over involves cleaning the house, and it is far easier to just go out than it is to clean the house! They all laughed, but I don't think they had ever thought of that! Every house I've encountered here is spotless, so that's not an issue for them.

7 in 1

Greetings from Denmark! I am presently typing on a Danish keyboard with Danish spell check, so six words in this blog so far are spelled wrong apparently. 11 now. Twelve. Thirteen! This could go on forever... Hahah! And check out what I can do by just pressing a button! æ ø ü ë ¤! Sweet, right? (I just had to search the keyboard to find the question mark.)

Here, I'll take a photo of the keyboard to show you!

I titled this blog "7 in 1" because I have 7+ blog entries I have wanted to write but have not found the time for. So, rather than do 7 different entries, I made the executive decision to write them all in one. I hope you enjoy!

A God's Eye View

I really enjoy flying because when I look out the window, I get a glimpse of what God sees. I see all the fields and the houses and the cities. I see the clouds and the cloud horizon line. I see the sun rise and set, and the moon out there. Quick sidenote: we were over the Atlantic ocean in the middle of the night, the most deserted and dark place to be, and I looked outside and saw the moon directly out my window. It followed us until the sun rose. I thought that was amazing. 

...something white and fuzzy just walked by outside...what in the world?? Anyway, sorry. Distractions.

Back to what I was saying, I look out the airplane window and I feel like I can see life. I can see everything from a totally different perspective. Even flying into Detroit gives me a new perspective on my own life and how it compares to the lives of others elsewhere.

Brandon Heath must have felt the same way when he wrote the song "Give Me Your Eyes," (at least I assume he wrote it...) because it begins by talking about looking out the airplane window and then the rest of the song is about seeing through God's eyes. If you don't know this amazing song, I recommend looking it up! One of my favorites...and one of the 4 I can play on guitar!

Love at First Flyover

This is kind of awkward, because this title actually refers to the Netherlands. When we were nearing Amsterdam, the pilot informed us that the runway was busy and we had to do some circles, so I got to see a lot! The first thing I saw was a giant wind farm with 43 windmills. I thought it was super cool...and then I saw the ship right next to it. Apparently, some people were so against the windfarm messing up their good views that they decided on a compromise to put the windmills in the ocean. What even!

The fields were all in super interesting shapes, and the cows had an abundance of space to roam in! There was a train and oh so many bicyclists! I have never seen bicyclists biking on a bike path on the side of the highway next to an airport in the USA.

I can't even explain all that I saw, but I found everything unique and in a way that was incredible. Definitely on my list to return to. 

I unfortunately didn't have time to explore any further, as my first flight was 30 minutes delayed, so upon exiting my plane I had 25 minutes to get through customs and to the opposite side of the airport in time to board my next flight. And despite all the broken escalators up which I had to carry my freakishly heavy carry-on suitcase, I MADE IT!! 

The USA Outside USA Borders

I continue to be impressed by how much things inside the USA are known outside the USA. In Mexico, there were so many things around that I had thought were distinct to the USA, I can't even remember all of them. Here, the amazement continued. A Dutch guy, about my age, sat next to me on the flight from Holland to Denmark. At one point, he quoted Eddie Murphy and proceeded to explain the entire plot of the movie to me. He next brought up Conan O'Brien and said he watches it everyday. What!?? I had no idea anyone outside the USA watched those things.

By the way, this guy was fluent in English and heading to Denmark to visit his girlfriend. I asked two questions: How did you learn English, and how did you meet your girlfriend if she lives in a totally different country?? The answer to both was video games. Kind of cool how video games are connecting our world.

When I arrived in Denmark, I was informed that the majority of the movies they watch are from the USA with Danish subtitles. I never thought about movies in other languages! I never realized how narcissistic I was until I began to travel and see that everything I thought was distinctly American is indeed not.

Not Spanish

I never thought coming to Denmark would improve my Spanish, but I guess life is full of surprises. The grandson of my host family, Bertil, is three. He knows zero English. I know approximately 5 words of Danish. For some reason, I have it in my head that anyone who doesn't speak English must speak Spanish, so I kept talking to him in Spanish accidentally. 

Even the Toilets are Cool

They really are. They've got this button on the wall where you can choose how big the thing you just deposited in it was, and it will use the appropriate amount of water for the job. The water shoots from the sides in a big spiral so quickly!! I'm totally going to take a video one day. It's THAT cool.

The showers are cool as well, so cool in fact that I had no idea how to use it. It was getting dark and I couldn't read what the labels said, so I decided to turn on the light ...I couldn't figure out how to work the lights either.

Most Epic Playground...Since Ever

IT WAS AMAZING!!!! There were these giant tubes all over that I only got stuck in a little... and there were awesomely creative swings, a mini rock wall, and thsee little pathways that would be perfect for the ultimate round of fox and goose!! ...I may have gotten lost in the pathways...

I have to admit, this spell check thing is really making me question some of my spellings!

I somehow managed to accidentally delete this post before, only saving part of it. So it has been changed, involuntarily. Very sorry...

Post-Departure Panic!!

"There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace."

-Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Right now happens to be the time to panic!! I leave for Denmark in THREE DAYS and my camera charger is nowhere to be found at the moment. That's a problem...

Three crazy days remain between present time and the time I fly across the Atlantic Ocean! I can't even believe it. The word "excitement" does not even come close to describing how I feel at this moment!!!! :D (Although "stress" might not be too far off - there is much to do between now and then!) 

I have no idea if I will be updating this blog at all during my adventure. I don't want to mentally live in a blog. I find that if I blog too much, my mind is focused more on what I will say about a certain event later rather than actually living in the moment and fully experiencing it as it happens. A goal for this trip is to find a balance. So final answer: I have no idea if I will be updating this blog at all or not, but it's worth checking (if you're interested!) Or you could just wait and I'll tell you stories in person when I return... :D

Looks like I might be a bit lonely on the flight there...

I've never seen such a deserted airplane seat before! At least I won't be too cramped in.

SHOUT OUT TO THE LIONS CLUB FOR SPONSORING THIS EXPERIENCE!!! Especially the South Park Lions for being my sponsor club (and for being super nice and fun when I visited!), Dave Wineman for rushing all my paperwork through the system the day before the deadline, and Debra VanTol for making all the arrangements with Denmark! Thank you thank you thank you!! I appreciate each and every person who has helped make this trip of a lifetime possible!!

And now, I must go find my camera charger. We have been searching the house for the past hour (that might be an exaggeration, I really don't know, but that's how long it feels) with no luck. Time. To. PANIC!

God's got this.

Everything Except The Grand Canyon

As our trip began to wind down, my aunt and I traveled from Sedona to our final destination: The Grand Canyon. I was expecting it to be nothing; I had seen so many photos, how exciting could it be?

Answer: magnificent. I won't even try to deny the fact that my mouth was gaping open wide for a couple minutes. The Grand Canyon is yet another wonder which people try to photograph yet continuously fail to capture the true essence of its being.

I tried too! 

The funny thing is that I enjoyed Grand Canyon National Park to the extreme, but it was for unusual reasons. It wasn't the canyon; it was the culture.

Even within the first few minutes at the initial overlook, I heard so many different languages I lost count. People come from literally everywhere on the planet to see the Grand Canyon, and that intercultural presence makes the park even more worth it. I talked to people from several different states, as well as people "touring" (as they call it) from Australia and England. The person who rang me up in the gift shop was from the Philippines, and the person refilling waters at dinner was from Peru. 

I always thought it would be awesome to work at an airport kiosk because each day would involve meeting so many different people with so many different stories going so many different places for so many different reasons. Turns out, many National Parks are similar in that way.

And the people were all friendly!! It had been a long time since I was in a place with such a large quantity of smiling, genuinely happy people.

I also loved the bus system. In Michigan, the closest bus stop is a 7 minute drive from my house, at which point it becomes useless to ride the bus; we're already almost to our destination. Perhaps that is why I found the bus system at the Grand Canyon so enthralling. It was free and stopped everywhere. there were buses that went from the hotels to the eating areas to the visitor centers, and other buses that hopped from one scenic overlook to another. It instilled a sense of freedom in me. We used our car a grand total of zero times between check-in and check-out. 

I am failing to communicate the thing I am trying to communicate. To sum it up, I will say that Grand Canyon National Park is amazing, and the amazingness spans far beyond the canyon walls. I would totally live there if I could.

Top 10 Worst Places to Feel Light-Headed (or Shaky, or to Have to Go to the Bathroom Very Badly)

This blog entry is a rip off, because I don't actually have a list of the top 10 worst places to feel light-headed, shaky, or to have the urge to use the bathroom. However, if such a list ever did exist, I have found a place that would most likely be on it. It's called the Cathedral Rock Trail in Sedona, which I braved with my aunt on Thursday (April 9th).

One of my aunts who was not on this trip but who was recently in Sedona called this particular hike "moderate." I call it "life-threatening." It was basically a climb up a series of short cliffs, followed by a ledge, then another short cliff. The views were gorgeous, but when I was climbing the mini cliffs, my mind was on everything except that.

I arrived at the top light-headed, shaky, and completely exhausted. I also had to use the restroom, but there's not exactly anywhere to hide on a trail of open rock. I befriended the "End of Trail" sign and held onto it for dear life (there was a cliff just beyond it).

I was desperately searching for a more gently sloping trail to take back down, but no such luck. I basically treated the entire thing as a giant slide on the way down, scooting everywhere on my butt (it was actually quite fun!)

I admit, I am making this sound a lot worse than it actually was. I must have a slight fear of heights, though I'm not willing to admit it, because every time I climb a rock wall I become extremely shaky and my palms sweat (which is basically the worst thing that can happen when climbing a rock wall). I thought this hike was terrifying, but there was a family that brought their young children up with them, and another guy who was jogging the trail. I cannot fathom either of those, but if people can jog a trail that I just described as a series of cliffs, it must not be as bad as I described.

It was definitely beautiful though! That is something I cannot deny.

P.S. Can you find me in the bottom photo? I became a daredevil for 20 seconds.

What Fits in a Square

After spending a few fun-filled days in Scottsdale, my aunt and I began our trek to Sedona. As we were driving out Wednesday, we stopped in Phoenix. My aunt needed to take care of some things at the post office, so while she did that I walked around the immediate area.

Right outside the post office was a park.. Er, maybe a city square would be a more accurate term. I decided to take a walk through it, a walk which lasted less than five minutes.

The abundance of diversity I saw in that five minutes is what is absolutely astounding to me. Under the trees were a couple of homeless men, dozing in the shade. A jolly bearded and shirtless man sat in the sun talking loudly on his cell phone. There were some tables on a large cemented area, and several ladies were enjoying a snack while chatting; others were engrossed in work on their computers. 

A bit further up there were several benches and a bus stop. I saw a family of Asian descent with their packs speaking to each other in some language I could not quite place. Several people of various ages sat on the benches in rugged clothes with ripped grocery bags filled with what I assume is everything they own. A nun sat on a bench waiting for the bus and conversing in Spanish with another person. An elderly gentlemen in a motor chair passed me on the sidewalk. Throughout the entire area I just described, there were college students walking with their backpacks and conversing in a joyful manner. 

In a walk lasting less than five minutes and covering an extremely short distance, I saw such a wide variety of people - different ages, languages, social classes, ethnicities, and stories. Yet they had something in common: they were in the same location, whatever their reasons for being there. There were no conflicts, and everyone seemed to be treating everyone else in a very friendly manner. 

This is the way the world should be; so often we let little differences come between us, but it doesn't have to be that way. It is possible for everyone to live in harmony despite the things that set us all apart. It only took a walk through a square in Phoenix to teach me this.

Insignificant in Saguaro

Sunday we had many fun adventures here in Arizona! We began the day with a bilingual sunrise Easter service on top of Sentinel Peak - it was gorgeous, both the views and the message! We then went to Old Tucson, the Senora Desert Museum, and Saguaro National Park West!

I have no words to describe Saguaro National Park. I spent an entire hike trying to come up with some; I couldn't. I took 200 photos in attempt to capture what I found unworthy of words; turns out it was unworthy of photos, too.

As we climbed the mountain associated with the Hugh Norris trail, we became more and more immersed in the cacti. The saguaros were everywhere, all around us, on every wrinkle of every mountain. We reached a peak; more saguaro covered mountains as far as we could see. Behind us: mountains silhouetted in the sunset, and more saguaros.

I felt so insignificant. I kept thinking, "Wow, God made all this. His world is so vast with so much beauty, yet he cares so much about me?? I am so unworthy. There's a song by Jason Gray that goes,

Tell me once again who I am to You,
Who I am to You.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to You,
That I belong to You.
To You."

I kept singing it in my head throughout the entire hike. It fit so perfectly! I was (and still am) completely awestruck! Ephesians 3:18 says:

"And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is."


Saguaro National Park gave me a true picture of something that is extremely wide, long, high, and deep; yet I know it doesn't even come close to the extent of the love God has for all of us. The love of Jesus is truly amazing!

Here is a photo from our hike. As I said, it doesn't come close to showing the true beauty of the national park, but it's still worth sharing.

Lost in Tucson

Hello again! Saturday my aunt and I flew into Tucson, Arizona! It is super nice to have a break from the cold and unpredictable Michigan winter (supposedly spring... I think not). Michigan State was in the Final Four, and my aunt being the MSU fan that she is desired to watch the game. My take on the situation: ARIZONA! Who cares about sports? And so, the decision was made that I would be dropped off on the University of Arizona campus for the couple of hours while my aunt watched the game. I was excited to have a few hours to aimlessly wander and explore!

What an adventure those few hours turned out to be! I started out walking around the student union and then out into the surrounding area of Tucson. We had just driven through an area with many cool attractions, so I was attempting to get back to where we had been driving. Apparently I'm not as good with directions as I thought, because I missed a street somewhere and ended up walking approximately 14 blocks out of my way in the hot Arizona sun.

I eventually arrived back on the University of Arizona campus hot, miserable, and completely exhausted. I decided I needed a plan. I went to the information booth, where "friendly brochure guy" as he became known gave me a campus map (his name is extremely sarcastic - he acted like I was the biggest pain in the world for asking him to hand me a map from the pile directly next to him). I was hot, so what combats heat? Ice cream or a smoothie! I plugged "Tucson ice cream shops" into Google Maps and found a gelato place that seemed not too far away, so off I went!

Places look a lot closer on Google Maps than they are in real life. Several miles later as I was walking through a very sketchy part of town, I decided that gelato wasn't worth risking my life and I should turn around. The crowds of college students were long gone, and the only people surrounding me were men smoking and drinking, and a Spanish song blared from a nearby store. I could only understand one word that the song kept repeating; it translates to "penis" (either that or it was a super interesting song about a comb...). This was not a good area, and though I had my pepper spray, I still felt very alone and unsafe. I walked past a Dairy Queen and settled for an Oreo Blizzard, then quickly walked back to campus.

You'd think that a person would smile back if I smiled at them. You'd think that if I was within two feet behind a person, he would make sure the door didn't slam in my face. You'd think that if I was on a footbridge and there were three people walking shoulder to shoulder coming towards me and taking up the entire width of the bridge, someone would move over to make room for me. But no... No to all of the above. I was genuinely trying to smile and look friendly; maybe I had a sour look on my face from being hot, but I don't think so! Everyone was being so unfriendly. One guy even stopped and said to me, "Yeah, just be excited!" and walked away laughing with his friend. Really??

I finally arrived back on campus, exhausted and ready for the MSU game to be over already. Then I saw it. Right next to campus was a Jamba Juice, my favorite smoothie place in the universe with a grand total of zero locations in Michigan. And I walked all that way through a sketchy area for a Dairy Queen.... Life sometimes.

Well, that was my Tucson adventure! I do love the architecture here and how the culture is truly a mix of Mexican and American. Diversity is cool!

God and Denmark

I received official word on Monday that I will be traveling to Denmark for the month of July! I'll be spending the first two weeks of the trip living with a Danish host family, and the remaining two weeks at an international youth camp with people from around the world. How cool is that!? I can't wait to (potentially) make friends from all over the world!

This life excursion is cool indeed, but how God brought me to it is even cooler. Here's the backstory:

I discovered the opportunity to travel via the Lions Club one day while googling international youth exchanges.  After further research, I discovered that there was a super cool camp in Australia where they teach you how to surf and do high ropes and all sorts of other fun things. I had my mind set on this camp, and eagerly awaited the day when I could apply.

The day came to set the ball rolling; I contacted people and began the application process. It was not long after that the catastrophe set in - I discovered that there were no Australian camps listed for 2015. NOOOO!!! Reluctantly, I began to research camps in other parts of the world, and eventually narrowed it down to Italy and the Netherlands. However, despite how exciting they likely are in reality, I found myself unenthused, especially after noticing that the countryside near the camps, particularly in the Netherlands, appears to look little different from the roads near my house.

I was praying and asking people for advice on where I should go. For some reason, Denmark kept popping into my head. Each time, I would do a little research on it and narrow it out. It had a strange culture, there were very few vegetarians, they spoke a strange language; why did it keep popping into my mind, though?

Eventually, it was so present in my mind that I decided to send an email to the Denmark camp director to inquire about my concerns. His response was EXTREMELY welcoming and accommodating, and I realized that Denmark actually would work! It felt right, and I was excited - so excited that I put it as my first choice destination on my application! (My original plan was to still put Australia first in the off chance there would be camps available there in 2015, but Denmark overruled!)

I recently saw the list of youth heading out from Michigan, and one of the people is going to Australia. It WAS an option! If it had been listed though, I wouldn't have even given Denmark or anywhere else a second thought. Also, I requested a particular camp in Denmark, but for some reason they placed me in a different one.

This is SO God led! I'm going to a place so far from my original plans and I don't know why, but God made everything fall into place perfectly, and I'm so stoked to see what He does while I'm there! AHHHH getting excited just thinking about it!

Well, I'll go wallow in my excitement now. Have a super duper blessed day!

Hello everybody! I'm going to be traveling much in the near future, so I thought I would set up a blog to put some thoughts on. It will mostly be a travel blog! Probably with a few random non-travel thoughts thrown into the mix from time to time. Anyway, that's what this is. More to come in the next months! Stay tuned...