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.