Hello out there. I’m wondering if anyone is still following my blog. I haven’t been updating in a while. On May 31st I left Kansas, and so ended my exchange year abroad. It took me two days to get home due some delayed flights in Chicago. I haven’t updated here on the blog, because I did not know how to express myself. It was really hard to leave. And much harder than I had ever expected to go home again. First of all, it was the weirdest feeling to leave my American house and McPherson, not knowing when I will be back there. Plus, it will never be the same, even if I visit. For a long time I was so excited to go back to my old routine, friends and family. As the day drew closer, the excitement faded away. In the airport I couldn’t keep my tears back, and it was so heart breaking walking through security waving goodbye to my host family. As if it wasn’t hard enough, our first flight got delayed 3 hours. By that we didn’t get to our connecting flights in time. It was literally a nightmare. We were a bunch of exchange students running around Chicago Airport, tired, filled with emotions, trying to figure this out. Chicago Airport is huge, if you didn’t now. It was so complicated to get from one terminal to another with two big suitcases and two backpacks. We had to take the train from terminal 1 to terminal 5. In terminal 5 they send us to terminal 3. Terminal 3 wouldn’t help us either. Oh, well. We slept in Chicago Airport on cold floor. I was crying. A lot! A police man came to us, and told us not to take the train during nighttime. I was freaking out. I didn’t even care about my suitcases anymore. All I cared about was my money, phone and passport. I just wanted to go home. After almost 24 hours in Chicago Airport, British Airways booked me and 3 other Danes on a flight to London. Even though I didn’t know these people very well, we all gave each other a big hug. We finally departed from Chicago. I have to mention, we were told it could take 3-4 days to book us on a new flight. But God was with us in that moment, and we departed from Chicago. When we came to London we quickly got tickets for a plane to Denmark, and from there it didn’t take much time. Our suitcases didn’t arrive with us, but all I cared about in that moment was to see my family and friends. I ran out, with the weirdest feeling, oily hair, super sweaty and shaking. My sister was the first one to give me a hug. A 5 minute hug with a lot of tears.

It’s been two months now since I got home, and I must say I still have days where I feel “homesick”. See, a lot of people don’t think about the homesickness you feel when you go home. That’s why this is also so hard for me to write. I started making a scrapbook, but I can’t seem to finish it. I miss my host family. I miss Kansas (believe or not, but it was actually really nice). I miss choir. I miss Laynie and Olivia. I miss simple things like my drawing class. I miss listening to Nicki Minaj with my host brothers. Coming home was not as good as I expected. I remember telling my mom “I miss this, and this and that” after only two days in Denmark. She said “I knew you were gonna be like that, and I know you’ll back and live there some day”. She is right. It’s such a weird feeling, but I feel homesick no matter where I am. My heart is split in two pieces. I’m definitely going back to the U.S to live again – as long as Donald Trump doesn’t become president of course. But seriously, if you ever get the opportunity to travel, study abroad, live somewhere else, take it! Don’t expect anything, just do it. It has been the best decision I’ve made in my life so far

Thank you so much for following my journey!
Much love, Emilie