The Return

Good afternoon, all.

Well, I misspoke about updating from Indianola; right now I am back at Grinnell. I have seen so many people that I have missed for such a long time; I am so blessed to have so many good friends and such loving parents.

Coming back was interesting, though uneventful. I flew from Copenhagen to Chicago and then Chicago to Des Moines; the Copenhagen-Chicago flight was interesting in that I left at 3:40 and arrived nine hours later at 5:15. There were a few other DIS students who flew back on the same plane, which was a pleasant surprise.

I did have, however, numerous bursts of culture shock in my transit. First, during the long flight, I talked local, state, and national politics with the woman sitting next to me; she was an avid supporter of Obama, and she decried how the Republicans had become the party of "No!" This experience was rather perplexing to me; to be frank, I agreed with most of her points and arguments for her political beliefs, but I quickly realized that she was locked in this politically-polarized mindset demonizing the opposition. I then realized that I, for maybe the first time in my politically-aware life, was somewhat removed from this polarized system. I began to realize that American politics are always in a constant state of deadlock, while European politics are much more conducive to compromise and even consensus (well, on many things, anyway; some things still completely divide the EU, like the Iraq War). Given my gradual realization that I was returning to the American political atmosphere, I merely stated that compromise was necessary for us to really enact positive and lasting change.

Upon arrival in Chicago, however, I was veritably assaulted by American-ness: I noticed dozens of differences immediately, ranging from the gruffness of airport employees to ridiculously long security lines to cowboy hats to American fashion to weight problems to English-everywhere to American dollars to the English measurement system. After transferring my luggage, I went to a Chili's Restaurant in the airport and ordered the least-Danish thing on the menu: Chili Bacon Burger. Not only was it a sandwich, but I ate it with my hands, it was spicy, it was a mix of all sorts of flavors, and it was indescribably messy. While breaking my fast of American food, I just sit and watched people, noticing how different everyone looked and how they interacted with each other. I find it hard to put it into words, but I looked at my fellow Americans as... interesting.

On the flight to Des Moines, I had another sociopolitical encounter of a different variety. I spoke with a strong conservative who expressed his concerns about how country's tendencies towards socialism. After I told him that I had just gotten into Chicago from Copenhagen, he was curious to know how the Danes handle issues such as taxation and gun control; as could be expected, my responses surprised him. Here was an entirely different political discussion; while I did not sense this man harbored any hostility towards those of the "other side" here, I was exposed to arguments that were so different than any European or DIS student political arguments. With these three experiences, I realized that I was going to have to navigate American politics and culture again.

After much longing, imagining, and waiting, I finally arrived back home in Indianola and then went to my other home at Grinnell. The inevitable "How was Denmark?" was asked again and again; I felt that my answers have been getting more creative over time. I have indeed developed inter-cultural skills; I had a lot of fun; I saw many places that I had only dreamed of seeing before.

However, the answer to, "How was Denmark?" is not nearly as interesting as "How did your experience in Denmark change you?" That is a question that is much deeper and requires much more thoughtful contemplation. That answer will come in the next post, in what will likely be the final post before the closing of this Blog. Stay tuned.