Adventure before the Adventure

I firmly believe in the self-fulfilling prophecy. You should too.

For instance, before I actually carried out the process of applying to DIS I posted a googled image of the Copenhagen harbor. Every time I opened my laptop I looked at the destination I hoped and prayed I’d witness in person some day. Today I took my very own picture of the colorful historical harbor! For those of you who are not familiar with Denmark, Copenhagen literally translates to “merchant’s harbor.”

Now for a little backtracking actually related to the title:

I wanted an adventurous travel experience to Copenhagen. Thank you self-fulfilling prophecy, you taught be to be careful what sort of energetic vibes I send out into the universe because I CERTAINLY received my wish. When I arrived at St. Louis Lambert Airport I found out my initial flight to Dallas was delayed due to snow storms in Chicago (how that directly affected my flight I have yet to understand). I sat at the desk making small talk with the woman rescheduling my flight for about 30 minutes. I was blessed with a very pleasant woman with a son in the Marines so I commented on her pin supporting our troops informing her that I was an Air Force brat. Note to self: find a commonality with workers you need patience from. It works. Of course, small talk masked the lurching drop in my stomach aware that if I didn’t arrive in Copenhagen on time I would have to find my own means to my future home in an unknown city. She found me a hop over to Chicago and a direct flight to Copenhagen. Enjoying the relief, I looked at the situation as an opportunity to have lunch with my parents before leaving them for 4 months. Anyone would sacrifice more long hours exploring airports and endless people watching for a safe arrival to a cozy bed. Just my luck, I arrived to my gate in Chicago 5 hours early and joined 3 other DIS students. Little did I know the 3 DIS students quickly grew to at least 80 by the time we took off! 7 hours before I never imagined I’d land in Chicago and make friends before I even arrived. Things happen the way they were meant to. Always keep that in mind.

You never know what can happen while sitting in a plane for over 8 hours. I was crammed in the middle aisle between two middle aged men that certainly were not DIS students, let alone American. Luckily, the man to my left was a kind Norwegian named Bob. Small talks led to deep discussions about politics, mindsets about life, his career as a computer programmer with IBM in the 80’s to his fulfilling role as a loving father and husband.  Instead of spending the hours on my laptop like I anticipated, I actually slept between conversations with Bob!

He highly recommended reading The Island by Victoria Hislop and mixing honey and blue cheese atop bread.

Interestingly enough, when I asked about his career he automatically jumped to the values of IBM. The founder stressed the significance behind focusing on employees, customers, and stock holders. IBM sought to understand the valuable aspects of their employees’ lives through their spouses and family. Thus, the customer population would naturally grow through word of mouth and satisfaction of the product via employees. Stockholders would eventually give back to the company if value was embedded in the entire process of natural marketing. Brilliant, a company with value back in the 80’s. Show me more of that, America!

I also received cultural and historical lesions about the Scandinavian region from Bob. Apparently Norway is known for their salmon exports. Their staple foods include potatoes, cheese, and bread which are all my core comfort foods! Norway also employs fish sniffers who are actually paid to sniff fish with an expert nose determining freshness. More importantly, he gave me little tidbits about Copenhagen and the rest of Denmark. Denmark ruled Norway for a while in history, for example. He also informed me of a variety of ski methods, hunting birds and shooting guns as a hobby rather than killing living creatures. Bob also introduced the Scandinavian phrase “only bad clothes, not bad weather.” Danes repeated this phrase a few times the past few days!

The best part about conversing with Bob for hours on end was that he confirmed my gut instincts that I was heading to a cultural region with similar values to my own. We discussed how a good life should not be defined by a job but rather discovering meaning through relationships you gain through impacting their lives. His passions changed once he became a father. Bob’s facial expression changed when he spoke about his family and his love for them proved undeniable. With every negative topic we discussed, Bob brought up the positive aspect. As for the recurring theme in our conversation: balance. Beautiful application of positive psychology in everyday conversation!

The real surprise happened when I received an e-mail titled “43-E?” from no other than my new friend from Norway! He simply asked if he e-mailed the right person and assured him with hope he made it safely to his family at home. I was inquisitive about how he tracked me down and asked him his research method. I should have known a computer programmer could find me by a simple google search! He even print-screened images of the search [see below] and found me through this blog. Bob also stated:

“The world is a funny place - sometimes a witty, funny and enjoyable encounter make an imprint. Just wanted to give you a good hug when we separated at Copenhagen airport, but wisely controlled myself not to embarrass you :-) Therefore - you get a virtual hug now instead. Hope you don't feel offended. Take good care of yourself, enjoy Denmark, become a fantastic psychologist and stay vivid as you are now. The future is bright and thanks for the flight! Bob ;-)”

Scandanavians are big on smiley faces and don’t have any taboo meaning behind adding you on Facebook or e-mailing you. He was very sweet, made my day, and served as a reminder that there truly are kind people out there in the world!