week forty-four
10. june 2024 - 13. june 2024
how am I doing mentally

mentally it felt like I could not be too nostalgic and sad about leaving but I could also not be super excited. I was somewhere in between because I felt both emotions very strongly. I was so sad about leaving but also knew what was waiting for me at home and I couldn't wait to see all my people again! therefore I was left with just accepting everything the way it is and living in the moment and not thinking about what's happening too much!
the last 4 days in denmark

to walk you through: on monday I had my last exam and had a little goodbye gathering. on tuesday my parents arrived by car and I did a lot of packing and all my furniture that I sold got picked up that day. on wednesday morning we left odense by car drove to kassel in germany, stayed there for one night and then did the rest of the journey on thursday when I also arrived at home! this is the short version of the end of my study year abroad but all the details are following now:)
goodbye gathering

on monday evening I organised a small gathering at storms the food mall and we were very lucky with the weather so we could sit outside. but before going there three of my closest friends and julia surprised me with my favorite ice cream that I had in odense: pistachio ice cream from gooodis. it is so yumm because the flavors of sweet and salty are combined very well. so we ate this ice cream together on our balcony and I was very happy and loved the surprise, I felt very appreciated. after that we headed to storms and met the others. we took cute pictures and ate dinner. after that I wanted to go to the harbour one last time and it was beautiful. this was my perfect little evening and it was nice spending it with those people! saying goodbye was sad because seeing these people again obviously takes much more effort than just meeting up at the city. but I'm sure I'll see some of them soon and I'm already excited about it!
progress of packing

monday and especially tuesday were all about packing. I was a bit tired from monday night because we stayed up late. so packing the whole day was very tiring! it was crazy to see how my room got emptier along the process and it reminded me of the day I set up my room and put in all the furntiure. it felt like that was yesterday and it was kind of a full circle moment.
day with my parents + last evening with julia

on tuesday my parents arrived which I was so excited about!!! they came by car and brought another suitcase which was very much needed because I had to bring home almost double the amount of things compared to when I arrived in denmark. so on tuesday I sold all my furniture and did the final packing. for lunch we went to café sølle and met julia there by coincidence. it was great to enjoy my favorite place for the last time! for my last evening my parents, julia and I went to the restaurant hanzo. I got ready for this evening for the last time in an almost empty room, which was really crazy! I enjoyed my evening with my comfort people!! all those things that were happening felt so surreal!!
grateful for the whole experience

I am very grateful that I was able to do this year abroad! it helped me develop in many different areas of my life. I grew as a person and learned a lot more about how I want to live my life and what I want to do with it. being away from home also makes you realize how much you appreciate your life at home and how much it means to be surrounded by your loved ones. this year was a challenge and made me get out of my comfort zone all the time. just going through my normal everyday life sometimes felt challenging. but these are the things that make you grow! I will forever cherish all the special moments these 10 months brought me. and especially copenhagen will always have a special place in my heart as it was and still is my comfort city! while writing this it still feels so surreal that all of this happened because it went by soooo fast. I would do this again for sure but for now I'm happy that I can be home surrounded by the people I love!
the co-authors of my story
  • Méloée (melo)
    from France
  • Agatha
    from Poland
  • Olga
    from Estonia
  • Noémie
    from France
  • Hortense (orti)
    from France
  • Louise
    from Belgium
  • Julia (jule)
    from Swizzyland
to jule <3
my literal partner for this life experience. my roommate. my home and my family. my dear friend. I have never really managed to tell you how much this whole experience means to me and how much it means to me that I got to do this with you. hopefully when writing I can express every single emotion I feel a little bit better! just for all the others: when julia and I arrived in odense and started living together we knew each other but were not very close. we obviously went through the same thing (being in a new country, where everything is new) which in the beginning I think was not easy for both of us. also I think I'm allowed to say this that living together, seeing each other everyday and having the exact same schedule in uni posed challenges for both of us. challenges we were willing to overcome, even though it was not always easy. however through this whole time we knew we were in the same situation and I personally believe we were put there to help grow each other and learn. and that's what we did. I am so grateful for all the conversations we shared about our mental health, our relationship, talking about situations that did not go well but also talking about life and literally everything else. looking back I know how much I grew as a person, but I can also see how much you did. and I am really really proud of ourselves for doing so. I am thankful that I got to grow so much because of you. I learnt sooo many new things.


you inspired me to cook more often and try different things. cooking with you was ACTUALLY fun. you showed me different approaches on life and that being spontaneous is actually quite fun. you showed me so much love with bringing me tea, cooking dinner for me, taking over the parts I hate cleaning, and many more things I honestly don't even deserve. you were the reason why our flat felt like home. you were my home. and living with you was always always a great pleasure!! I loved coming into your room and just start a conversation or cuddle up next to you in your bed. I loved how you fell asleep every. single. time. when we tried to watch a movie. I love how you always needed your sweet treat after a meal and that it made you the happiest girl in the world. I love how we have the same social battery and would almost never get tired of each other. it often were the small things that made me feel so safe and comfortable. knowing that you would always be in the room next to me and whenever I would need someone to talk to or just a hug or someone to lift my mood I had you there, this made me feel so secure. I just really loved living with you!! and I already miss it! I could have never imagined that when leaving odense the one thing I can take home with me is this genuine and loving friendship. I am so so so grateful for how our relationship evolved and that I got to experience this with you. you were my hardest goodbye and I'm beyond happy that while I'm writing this I got you back already!
to my boyfriend marc <3
when deciding on doing this bachelor degree it was clear that we will have to do long-distance. you always truly supported me in this decision and it was always clear that we will just make it work. when it was time to leave you came along and you were there for me when taking this challenging step. I am so grateful that you got on that plane with me, so I didn‘t have to do it all by myself. the first week in Denmark you did everything(!!!) for me because it was mentally so exhausting for me to do the smallest things, even though for you it was far from easy!! you literally (and that sounds sooo cheesy) were my rock, I don‘t know how I would have done it without you. even though it was emotionally so hard for you as well you always stayed strong for me, which was never my expectation but helped me a lot! after you left for the first time we did not know how often exactly we will we able to see each other. but you took so much time off of work to come and see me which made it possible for us to meet up every month.


you always gave me the time and space to fully live in the moment and showed empathy when I could not be 100% present with you. it was never easy for me to balance my two lifes but you made it so much less complicated and I will never take for granted that you did this for me! you gave me more mental support than I could have ever asked for. you were always there and you listened, no matter what. I could talk about 100 more things you did that made me feel so appreciated. but all I really want to say is thank you. thank you for going on this journey with me and thank you for showing me that everything is possible if you really love someone. thank you for always believing in us and loving me at times I could not love myself. I am so proud of how far we have come and the way we have grown individually as well as a couple. I am beyond grateful that you chose to do this with me and I will forever be. I could have never done it with anyone else but you.
to my parents <3
thank you for helping me make this possible. it would have been way harder doing this all by myself and I want to thank you for making it so easy for me. I know you had to work way harder than I will ever have to, to be where you are now and make this possible for me. that is why it means even more to me and I appreciate it so so much! I think in switzerland so many people (maybe also just in my bubble) are able to go study abroad or just spend a year of their life abroad, that it is often forgotten how special it is to do something like that and how priviledged we are to experience something like this. I do not take it for granted that I get to do this, without my parents this would not be possible!
the trip home and the arrival

on wednesday morning we packed the car (it was FULL) and drove off to the city kassel in germany. there we stayed overnight because the drive from odensen to where I live takes about 13 hours. going home by car really helped me processing all of it, so for me it was great and I enjoyed it a lot. on top of that I had some quality time with my parents which was great! on thursday afternoon we arrived at home where my boyfriend was waiting for me. it felt incredibly good to be at home and I was overflowed by love and joy! the cutest thing was that my boyfriend organised a small gathering at my place and invited my closest three friends. it was a surpise so when they arrived at my house I was so so happy to see them. it was the best arrival I could have wished for and it all felt so surreal!!
the end

I thought that when I come home I‘ll be in my routines right away because everything is familiar. turns out that was not the case at all. first I had to unpack everything which took me quite long. it‘s not about the unpacking but about finding a place for every new thing I bought and reorganizing my room. once this was done it was easier to get back into routines but there were also new things I wanted to implement into my daily life. routines that I developed in Denmark. so doing this and adjusting to my life here took me way longer than expected. but now I‘m back and feeling comfortable! this is the end of my journey in Denmark and my experience of my study year abroad. thank you so much for following me along and for all the nice feedback I got from some of you on my blog. it was a pleasure writing this and sharing it with all of you!
Made on
Tilda