My Life in 2006

Two broken chairs, one destroyed laptop, three cups, one sauna, and a carpet full of spots from drinks and puke. That is how my new year ended at a penthouse summerhouse where I celebrated New Years together with 22 other people, some friends and some strangers.

We almost had a, what I called, “Murphy’s law + extra” party. Murphy’s Law says that everything that can go wrong will go wrong. At my New Year things that couldn’t go wrong also went wrong. Nevertheless, we managed to have a great party and an even better warm-up party the day before.

My friend Martin (who is a chef) and I cooked the nicest dinner for everyone – sometimes it is very practical to have a friend who is a chef. If this last party of the year is the standard of the many (inshallah) more parties in the future, then it is looking to be a good and splendid 2007. Now I can just wish that the first day of 2007 is not my standard for the many days to come, because I have some really bad hangovers.

This time of the year is a moment of looking back, remembering the past (and maybe even more important, forgetting the past).

2006 started on Antigua for me and it was not only a start of a whole new year for me, no, it was also a personal change for me. I stared to travel alone to a whole new continent, the long bus rides gave me time to think about the past, the present and the future – it also gave me time to the Weltschmerz that is so common for every “post-uwc” person, or just for many teenagers. An Weltschmerz that I somehow still have deep inside my soul.

I only met altruism on my way throughout the continent and I would like to thank Pedro, Pablo, Fiorella, Andés, Alita, Mariano and Micas family or/and friends who all helped me. Also a special thanks for UWC in Chile who found a place for me to stay in Santiago, and only with two days warning. All these impressions that I met on my way gave me a potpourri of feelings and thoughts. The countries and people I visited gave me so much new energy that I sure that I will come back again one day.

January month 2006 was also a time of the notorious Muhammad drawings, all over the world muslims raged against the Freedom of Speech that we have in Denmark. Danish embassies, flags and products were burned in Somalia, Lebanon, Gaza, Indonesia and Pakistan. This was for many Danes the first sign of “the clash of civilization”, should we change our deep values and ideas for a religion? It was interesting to see how the Muslims in Denmark didn’t do anything aggressive and most of them actually went out to tell the world, that the newspapers could write and draw whatever they wanted to. Still, as I wrote in my blog, I cannot agree more with Kierkegaard that when he said that “People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid.”

I came home from South America by plane – a strange feeling to be transported in that way when I had crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a little boat, though it was even stranger to come home again. I ended up in feel of not having any “roots”. I guess that my PUWCD came later than for most other people. I had been visiting people from the college on my travels, Margret and Ace on Iceland, Itay, Donia and Olga in Israel, Hamzah, Noor, Nareg in Jordan etc. etc.

My way of getting out of it was to apply for a job, first I became a substitute teacher in my own town, but the job and the kids killed me in the end. Instead I took the job onboard a “cruise ship” going between Oslo and Copenhagen. In that way I could get away from Haslev (my town) and at the same time earn a lot of money for further travels. This was all in March 2006.

April came and with April came also Operation Flekke Storm. A trip back to the college was just what I needed at the time and I think it was healthy for me to see how much it had changed (and not necessarily in a good way) and it was not the same Flekke anymore. Also to meet my co-years and see that they have changed as well (luckily) was a good thing.

In June I got promoted to the job I have now in the Guest Service Centre onboard the boat, it is a much better job than the job as a “steward” I had before. However, the best occasion in June and maybe even the best occasion throughout the whole of 2006 was Roskilde Festival. One week of sunshine, beers and good music, furthermore I had some of my best friends around me.

A flower needs rain and sun to survive; if it only gets sun then it will burn out. The Sun was Roskilde for me; the rain came in July with the Lebanon conflict. It was the first time that I realized the problems with having UWC friends, because I was so nervous in that period. I feared that some of my best friends were going to face each other with weapons in their hands. I am afraid that the conflict in the region is going to escalate in 2007, however I wish for a peaceful solution.

Rain is important, but only if it gives energy for other things to grow.

The sun came back though, first the conflict was stopped by the international community and later on I had a great trip to Stockholm with AK, Max, Charlie, Linnea, Matilda, Lisa and Malin. It was really one of the highlights of the year.

Nonetheless, the majority of the time of the last half year of 2006 has been spent on working, working and working. The only things I remember from October and November is the waves coming to the northern sea and my “re-discovery” of music. I also started to read a lot more in this period.

December is my favourite hate month, but I had a fairly good one with working for two weeks, drinking with good friends, waiting for the month to finish and meeting all of my best friends. Either on sea or on land.

Looking back, all in all, I am glad that I took my second gap year. I am glad that I stayed in Denmark and I got to see so many people. Negar and Max in Sweden and DK, AK (better late than never) in Århus, Klaus regularly, Mathias, Louise and Pablo, Mette, Matt this summer, Michelle, Patrick and Nikolai in CPH last week, Matilda in Oslo, Stockholm and DK, Alejandro on Roskilde, Charlie, Malin, Lisa, Linnea in Stockholm, and I could continue the list for a long time.

2006 was also a year in blogging for me. I was close to stop at my time, but Sitemeter has given me the energy to continue. I have been asking myself a lot of questions in the blog and one of them fits very well to this time of the year.

If my Life was a film, would I watch it? Looking back…I will most likely watch some of it, but also fast forward long parts of it.

I wish you all a Happy New Year.

Seems to me now
that the dreams we had before
are all dead, nothing more
than confetti on the floor
it’s the end of a decade
in another ten years time
who can say what we’ll find
what lies waiting down the line
in the end of eighty-nine