Copenhagen 20 / 20 from here

Found this as an unpublished (presumably unfinished) draft of a post. It seems to be from June 2010....

Its all in hindsight now. The belt of life was moving full speed ahead upon getting off the plane on my 30th Birthday in Portland. It is now mid June, and I have not had too many down minutes since the Jan 2nd touchdown to reflect on the dazzling flash of my life that I rolled through from August through January in Copenhagen, for which the last month was shared with my beautiful wife to be. I just graduated a few days ago, and I am excited to turn the page to the next chapter (more to that below).

First a reflection on the Land of the Danes...
In my re-immersion back into my lovely life in Portland, one notable difference that comes to mind is the generally more rapid pace of life I live here compared to how the hours of the day got prioritized in Denmark. Even with a cognitive awareness of this difference, and a slight effort to curb that pace, there is something that seems somehow inevitable. While clearly not a single variable experiment, the pace of life is worth noting as I continue to articulate the differences in my experience in the 2 societies. As I perpetually re-evaluate my values moving down the incredible path of life, the bare necessities of my little 1 bedroom apartment in Copenhagen, with a duffle bag's worth of clothes, a computer, and some books, will be a guiding light as I strive for simplicity moving ahead. Maintaining an existence of minimized possessions is a hill worth defending in my opinion. I clearly prioritize at some level of cognition an empty Zenful platform for reflective contemplation, that is routinely available to step back upon.

I miss...

The concept of bike traffic (in theory if not practice).
A falafel pita from Christiana
The common drive between a motivated scholarship group to expand our cultural horizons.