Back (at home?) in Hawaii

I’m back in Hawaii. Maybe I’m back home in Hawaii. I’m not really sure where home is anymore. Can you have more than one place you call home? I know I have. When I go to Denmark I go home to Denmark. When I go to Oslo I go home to Oslo. And when leaving both of those places I fly home to Hawaii. The weird part is that I feel more at home in Oslo and in Hawaii than I do anywhere in Denmark. I’m Danish (and I do feel Danish) but I feel more at home outside Denmark than I do whenever I’m in Denmark. I used to live in Copenhagen, and every time I go there I expect to be going home, but lately I’ve been feeling as a stranger whenever I get to Copenhagen. I almost don’t recognize the city anymore - so much have changed since I lived there. I feel like I should feel at home in Copenhagen, but when I get there I feel like a tourist who doesn’t know how to get from The Central Station to Strøget and doesn’t have any Danish currency. But it’s my favorite city. I love Copenhagen and I still think it’s the greatest city in the world. However, I do feel much more at home when in both Oslo and Honolulu.

To follow up on the previous post… The flight here went pretty well, and my new favorite airline is KLM. The service and the food was so much better than that of United Airlines, Lufthansa and American Airlines. I hope I’ll never have to fly anything else than KLM now. On both of the long flights I was lucky enough to have an empty seat between me and my neighbor passenger. Well - I guess I can’t thank KLM but rather the financial crises that!
As predicted I was taken aside in the customs in SFO and interviewed in a small dark room. This happens every single time I’m entering the US, and in details I’m asked to account for why I visited the US in… 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003, 2001 and finally 2000. Why don’t they write it down and put it into my file or something?? The first few times it happened I was totally paranoid thinking that they were not gonna let me in, now the only thing I care about is whether or not I’ll make my connecting flight. This time the police officer even looked at me and said: This happens to you every time – right? I confirmed while thinking that I must look like I’ve tried it all before. They always accept my explanations and I always have to run through either LAX or SFO like crazy to make my connecting flight. I made it, and when my luggage actually showed up in Honolulu I was happy thinking that the trip couldn’t have been any better.

Mette picked me up in the airport. I guess that’s one thing that makes me feel like coming home… My good friend picked me up and drove me back to my place. And before I’d made it back to Waikiki both Susanne and Hege had called to ask if I was back and how the trip went. Thanks guys! You’re the ones who make me feel at home so far from home!
Having showered we went out for a drink at The Big Kahunas. (The Big Kahuna means The Big Wise Man in Hawaiian). When the waitress arrived at our table 10 minutes later with a fish bowl (a huge blue drink in an actual fish bowl) from some guys at the neighbor table I instantly knew I was back in Hawaii. It’s tough to be three blond girls partying in Hawaii…

When I finally lay down to sleep around midnight I slept until 8.36 the next morning which is quite impressive taking the time difference and jetlag into consideration. I must have been exhausted. The next morning I woke up to a beautiful sunny day and 25 degrees Celsius. It was like spring had arrived during the night. Being back on the beach in my bikini felt almost surreal after a month in the snow in Scandinavia. It felt soooo good… (Except that everybody’s so much more tanned than I am! That’s the downside of going home for a month – you loose your tan!) The first day back in Hawaii was spent on the beach with a book, on a booze cruise with plenty of mimosas, and on a restaurant with good friends. It does feel good to be back. Home.

Denmark and Norway

I’m in Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. I’m waiting for my 11 hour transatlantic flight to San Francisco. From there I have another 6 hour flight to Honolulu. I’m on my way home to Honolulu having spent a month of winter vacation in Denmark and Norway.
I keep asking myself why Hawaii is so far away, why I had to choose to live in the most isolated group of islands in the world. Well – I guess it’s worth it. Worth the long, long flights. I know I’ll feel different about this flight tomorrow morning when I’ll be back on Waikiki beach with my friends. I’ll soon have forgotten how terrible I think it is to sit squeezed in between strangers in a small airplane 10 km. above the ocean for 11 straight hours. If I manage to get through customs without too much trouble I still have 6 more hours from San Fran to Honolulu. Most people think that when you’ve made it all the way to LAX or SFO you’re practically there. Surprise! You’re nooot… Don’t get me wrong. In the end I still think Hawaii is worth the trouble, and I also don’t wanna scare all the potential visitors away…
However, I do have one piece of advice to offer to everybody thinking about taking this trip. Do not start out with the worst hangovers ever when you board the first flight! Talking from experience I’ll promise you that hangovers are not going to make the 30-hour trip more pleasant. Especially not when you’re seated next to an 85 year old American man who insists on sharing his entire life story with you together with his famous cheese cake recipes. And when the children’s seat placed in seat behind you prevents you from laying your seat down. And when you have a nine hour layover in Dallas Forth-Worth Airport before boarding the transatlantic flight, hangovers, no badass hangovers, are a really bad idea. It’s actually rather simple. Simply do not go to Mooses on Tuesdays when flying out on Wednesdays. We all learn by our mistakes… I hope! Except from the fact that I have a sore throat and feel rather sick I think this trip will be more pleasant. No hangovers or long layovers. At least not if I make my connecting flight in San Fran. I tend to have trouble getting through customs; they always pull me aside into that small room and interview me. I’m always shaking thinking that they’re not gonna let me back in to the US. I think I’ve been in and out of the US too many times on too many different visas. It makes going through US customs very interesting…
I could go on and on about airports, flights and airlines forever, but I guess it’s really not that interesting for most people. Having travelled quite a lot the last few years I have come to feel very strongly about certain airlines and airports. And US customs for that matter. Let’s try not to dwell on that…
I’ve spent an entire month in Denmark and Norway. Two weeks in Denmark and two weeks in Norway. That’s the great part about being a student – my winter break is 5 weeks and summer break is… almost three and a half month I think. I get to go home and say Hi to family and friends – and not to forget… Celebrate Christmas in Denmark with my family and eat traditional Danish Christmas food, and go to Norway for skiing. This was my third year in a row skiing. I’m beginning to get impressed with my cross-country skiing skills. You have to bear in mind I’m Danish! Having grown up in Denmark I have absolutely no basis for skiing skills. This time I didn’t even say: “I’ll NEVER go skiing again” one single time during the entire week of skiing. I’m quite proud of myself. I’ll usually say (or rather… shout that) at Magnus at least once during a week of skiing. The funny thing is that I’m really serious and I mean it when I say it, but I’ll always end up putting the skis back on. But this year went very well, the weather was beautiful and I really enjoyed being in the snow. Even though the temperature difference was… Overwhelming. Leaving Hawaii the temperature was about 30 degrees Celsius, arriving at the cabin in Norway the temperature was minus 18 degrees Celcius. That’s a difference of almost 50 degrees! However, I had a really good time skiing in Norway and it was so good to see everybody again. Check out the pictures! I guess we’re boarding now. You’ll hear from me again when I’m back in my favorite island.