Apron Strings

My little sister had her second baby today and I can't stop hearing the song 'Apron Strings' from Everything but the Girl in my head. It's one of those songs that is very appropriate for this day, especially since the movie 'She's Having a Baby' was one of our favorites in the 80's. That movie was also the first time we heard the song.

My sister and I have been inseparable since birth and moving to Denmark is by far the furthest we have ever been from each other, which has forced us to wait the longest to spend time together. She was pregnant when I decided to get married and move to Denmark, and we knew the life we always thought we would have after we were both married and had kids (which included living in the same city of Madison, WI) was probably not going to happen any time soon. That was confirmed after she and her husband decided to move back to the town we grew up in to raise their little boy just over a year ago. It was the right decision for their now growing family, but both of us being so far apart from each other and the life we enjoyed before the distance began has been hard.

However, some sacrifices are worth making. Being close to both parents has been a blessing in disguise for my sister and her husband, and their little boys are going to be raised in a safe and small community, surrounded by the beautiful countryside. The same way their Dad enjoyed growing up. And I am experiencing something I have always wanted to. Life in another country and the chance to study abroad, all with the love and support of an amazing husband and family. Life is good and we are both grateful, but boy would I give anything to be there today. "I was happy, I knew that. While experiencing happiness, we have difficulty in being conscious of it. Only when the happiness is past and we look back on it do we suddenly realize - sometimes with astonishment - how happy we had been." Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek

Semester from Hell

It's been a long time since I have written. Much longer than I would have liked, but as it turns out the 3rd semester of the Masters program happens to be the most challenging. I clearly underestimated this as I was way too focused on the fact that I get to pick classes I am interested in and didn't factor in the amount of reading and project management skills that would come into play. Four different classes in the first three days of every week means my weekends are spent reading and any free time before or after class during the week goes to project meetings. Not to mention 15-20 hours of work on top of that. All I can say is working in one group on 3-4 different projects, as was the case last year, is much easier than 4 different groups and 4 totally different project topics.

Since the classes are not related to each other whatsoever, there is no method to the madness which means deadlines can be closely related which forces you to plan ahead and get creative. The reason I am able to write now is because I have one project (of 4) done so far and this week we get a break from classes. It's called "efterårsferie" or Fall break. The one thing that keeps me going, or makes me feel better anyway, is the fact that I am not alone. Everyone I talk to is just as overwhelmed and has either dropped a class to better manage their schedule, or are powering through and accepting their life will be insane for the foreseeable future.

Crazy or not, I have chosen the latter. And intend to take a week off to go back to the States for the Thanksgiving holiday in the midst of it all as well. The good news, or silver lining in all of this is I should be done by Christmas. The bad news, is I won't have much of a balanced life until December 15th. A small price to pay for the end goal which is a Masters degree from Copenhagen Business School which will give me the chance to do some cool new things with my career.