November 28–December 11, 2007, Number 170
The first flurries of the year fall outside of my university, the Engineering College of Copenhagen in Denmark. (Click photo for larger version).
A Time for Everything
This week I was running through some thoughts and I began thinking about how, in just a couple of short months overseas, there have already been so many different seasons. I don't mean winter or spring, or such, but about how there are different times for different things, a time for everything. There has been a time for learning, a time for meeting and getting to know different people, a time for exploring, and now seems to be the time for working. Although my current work-focused season isn't as exciting as my traveling season, it is still good and beneficial.
This "time for everything" observation of the last few months is just as relevant to the bigger time period known as our lives. Every life has different seasons. There is a time for uprooting and going abroad and a time for planting and being home. With each of these life seasons therein exists seasons inside seasons. I think that's completely normal, and its almost necessary to have these different seasons. With each new season, there comes appreciation for the other seasons.
To illustrate this more clearly I'll resort to an example most of the readers of this article are familiar with. Pretty much everyone lives in a four season upper Midwest climate. I think some have contemplated the question, Why do I put up with these winters? I think it is a subconscious appreciation for change. We appreciate the other seasons in life more when seasons change. Think of how beautiful the transition is from summer to fall, and the changing of the leaves. Or, think about how much you appreciate summer when it's January with a below zero wind chill. The same thing happens with life, and with studying abroad.
Take pleasure in your family's traditions and be grateful for the changing seasons around you— growing, learning, and grasping valuable lessons that each different time in your life has to offer.Leaving familiarity for four months, missing birthdays, holidays and time with those I love, has for sure brought me to a new and exciting season of life, a season that has taught me to appreciate and desire the things I left behind. Appreciation for things previously taken for granted has been exemplified with the Thanksgiving holiday this past week. I will, forever, more appreciate the traditions of my family now that I have been away during such a time. I think my loved ones understood this, and so they sent me a Thanksgiving care package. Complete with cranberry sauce, noodles, seasoning mix for potatoes, beef jerky (not sure if there is such a thing as turkey jerky), and a pumpkin pie. Unfortunately, the pumpkin pie more closely resembled pumpkin soufflé after its long trip to Denmark. Regardless, it was a thoughtful gift that had perfect timing. It provided encouragement during this time of nose-to-the-grindstone school work. It is also good to know that when this time of hard work is through, there will be a period of rest and excitement with my planned trip to Oslo, Norway.
If college has taught me one thing it has taught me to enjoy the times when things are manageable. The time when school, fun, and friends are in balance. This phenomenon seems to take place only the first couple weeks of each semester. Lurking around the corner, there always seems to be the times of unbalance and school-work overload that dominates much of the school year. So to get through the hard seasons there needs to be that "light at the end of the tunnel" nice season waiting for us.
With the holiday season upon us I would like to expand on an observation from a while ago. Way back in week four, I talked about how much we are influenced by the culture around us, how it silently provides answers to questions that we don't even know are being asked. Questions that form our moral, social, and spiritual perspectives. There is another interesting cultural observation I would like to add to that. That is the celebration of holidays.
It may not be known or maybe just not given thought, but unfortunately the pilgrims didn't land in Denmark, and they didn't celebrate Thanksgiving with the Vikings. This means no Thanksgiving outside the United States. Crazy to think that people would do things differently than us? Anyways, it is intriguing as to how much we are affected by holidays. They determine how much some people work, or where someone will be during a certain time of the year. And, as surprising as it may be, life is pretty normal elsewhere in the world. I knew that my family was getting together and celebrating, as much as I wanted to be excited, it is difficult while being so far removed from any of the actual happenings. I also find it comical that holidays are created. Someone has to say it's a holiday and then it's a holiday. For us in the States, usually a governmental declaration or religious belief denotes a holiday. It appears though that the holiday is much less about the actual date of it being held, as it is about the meaning that is created by those who celebrate it. Sometimes even the meanings behind holidays are missing whether it is intentionally or unintentionally by the erosion caused by time. But the form that surrounds the tradition is still very much practiced. This is shown to some extent in the Danish culture. Denmark is a Christian culture that is as much about form as it is about faith. Everyone gets excited about this time of year. Presents, candles, decorations, special drinks, are all things that everyone participates in. Even those who are not Christians get excited about this time of year; a fun-for-all type of attitude. Maybe it's not so much different from us here in the U.S.
Today we had the first snow since I have been here. Wasn't much, just a dusting that quickly turned to slush. Weather reports say that November and December are the wettest months of the year, so I'm pretty excited about that (thumbs down). My host family has been gearing up for the holidays with decorations that are seemingly similar to what I am used to, so that's refreshing. Christmas seems to come at the perfect time of the year as the days are short and darkness comes quick. The holiday cheer is the ideal remedial pick-me-up needed to finish out the year, and the semester, strong. My team's project is in its last week of creation. Finishing up the writing, and different models, to better explain the concept. Hard to think that all the work from a whole semester is being put into its final compilation. It is very much a joy because soon the hard stuff will be behind me, coinciding with feelings of bummed-outness as the end of this great memorable season of life is finishing up.
I do believe that will do it for this week. I'm appreciating the comforts of home and enjoying the fun that lies with the changing seasons of my time abroad. So, please take pleasure in your family's traditions and be grateful for the changing seasons around you—growing, learning, and grasping valuable lessons that each different time in your life has to offer.
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Happy Holidays,
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