The poster rule:

As a student of architectural theory, I should have come up with this ages ago: the poster rule.

The poster rule goes, "One cannot feel truly settled or at peace in a place, unless one's wall is festooned with the trappings fit for a long-term abode -- posters."

Simply put, "Until you've got some posters on your wall, good luck feeling at home, Sport."

Well, the other day I finally went out and bought some posters, and things have been on the up and up ever since. The posters themselves (highbrow art prints, of course -- Magritte's Empire of Light and Rauschenberg's America: the third century) cost me an arm and a leg, but the financial hit was well worth it. It's funny how symbolic a move spending a couple minutes to tape some paper to your wall can be, but simple as it may be, actually manipulating one's space gives it a sense of permanence that is otherwise unachievable. This summer, despite the fact that I would be living in my room for only three months, my room was fully decked-out with posters, and I had the time of my life. In comparison, during my postgraduate year at Northfield Mount Hermon, I never took the time to put anything on my walls, and my experience there reflected it. While my year there was an enjoyable and successful time in my life, I still treated it as nothing more than a stopping-over point. I owe the school a lot and I look back on it fondly, but my lack of communication with friends from that time is a testament to my lack of personal investment in making my stay a lasting one. I should have learned from all this, I suppose.

Here in Denmark, I've acted in much the same way. I've resisted altering my environment to reflect the time I will be spending in it, instead treating it as borrowed space that I will be leaving shortly. I'm pretty sure that if Denmark broke its streak of peacetime tomorrow and the military started moving into Copenhagen, I could have been out of here in under twenty minutes. Now, that's still mostly true, but at least I'd have to take my posters down first.

Undoubtedly, in the past few weeks I have been reluctant to really emotionally make the commitment to being here long-term. I've failed to make the investment both financially and mentally in my next few months, instead washing the dishes and sweeping the floor with thoughts of keeping them in good condition for the next person to temporarily occupy this space.

But now, posters, and the difference is clear. I don't mean to pretend that within seconds of admiring my masking-tape handiwork my perspective on Denmark was completely changed, because it wasn't. However, I do feel that much more settled at the end of the day, and mentally I've been able to make future plans for my time here besides remembering when to be at the airport for my departure.

I think I've realized that I may even be having a better time here than I thought. I've reconsidered my real goals, which, although running contrary to those that I elucidated in an earlier post, are that much more reasonable:

1) Get to know as much about Denmark as I can.
2) Travel extensively.
3) Search for the perspective that only time in a foreign environment can provide.
4) And maybe meet some new people.

With those new goals in mind, I've realized that I have accomplished much more than I originally thought. I may not be fluent in Danish or nightly making love to my Danish bride-to-be, but I've gotten to know the country pretty well. I've only scratched the surface, for sure, but I still think that I've been able to identify what exactly makes this country work so well, and what might not. I haven't traveled extensively yet, but with my tickets now booked and my plans solidified, that will happen soon enough. I've certainly come to some new conclusions about myself, Denmark, and the United States -- conclusions I couldn't have reached without this experience. And while I still might not have accumulated as many good friends as I would have hoped, there's time for that too.

In short, I've realized that just because I'm not having the time of my life out on the town every night or filling volumes with rewarding work from my classes doesn't mean that I'm not having a good time. That's not what I'm here for. I can go to the bar anywhere, and academic exploration would be better served elsewhere. Instead, I'm here to learn what I can, immerse myself in the Danish experience, and get a better idea of how the world works.

So while I've previously lamented the fact that I spend more time cooking dinner and riding my bike than collecting crazy stories to tell, I think I'm fine with that. Chalk it up to the posters.



Also, I just finally wrote about day three of my western Denmark study tour, and boy is it a doozy! (I'm being sarcastic. It's mostly unentertaining.)