That is, from Washington, D.C., capital of the United States of America, to Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, and back.

And really, it’s kind of like from capital (D.C.) to capital (Copenhagen) to capital (London) to capital (Copenhagen) to capital (Stockholm, Sweden) to capital (Helsinki, Finland) to capital (Brussels, Belgium) to capital (Paris, France) to capital (Dublin, Ireland)… and well, you get the point.

It’s been a long journey. And a fun, exciting, exhilarating one. But one I’ll certainly never regret, nor ever forget.

As we drove down Interstate 66 on Saturday morning, coming up into the District, I began to get that sort of rush that I usually get when I make my way into a big city. If you’re from a big city you won’t understand it, but after spending my entire childhood in a small town, it’s a totally different experience. When you see the lanes widen, the traffic thicken, and the city skyline appear off in the distance, your heart starts beating faster, your mind races, you think of all the potential and opportunity and excitement a city offers that you just can’t really get in rural America (most of the time).

I got that feeling when I arrived in Copenhagen for the first time, too, but it vanished pretty quickly. By the end, Copenhagen began feeling more like the medium-sized city it really is. It’s a fine, fantastic city, but to me at least, it still doesn’t quite match the grand manner-style sheer power that a city like Washington, D.C., New York City, or even London exudes.

Being back in D.C. is a surreal feeling. In some ways, it feels like just yesterday that I was leaving to study abroad. In others, it feels like it’s been years since I’ve stepped foot in the city. The differences between D.C. and Copenhagen are remarkable: people are friendlier here, drivers more aggressive, stores bigger, sidewalks more crowded, bikes totally absent.

The food is better.

In many ways, I even think D.C. is a cleaner city. There’s less graffiti, no glass in the sidewalks (one of the advantages of open-container laws), and less run-down buildings–especially in my neighborhood (northwest D.C.).

It’s younger: a baby-aged city when compared to Copenhagen’s 1000+ year history. But despite it’s young age, I’m in awe of the history that has transpired here. The documents enclosed in our museums; the histories transcribed in our archives; the art, science and knowledge held in our museum vaults — they never cease to amaze me. Copenhagen’s history is fascinating in it’s own right, but it’s ancient history. Modern Danish events lack the passion and excitement of American history. In many ways they’ve moved slowly through the past century, changing passively only in reaction to the world around them, whereas the U.S.–while not always first–changes rapidly, dramatically and often only after fierce debate and struggle.

I’m not saying either one is better than the other–just observations.

The politics–oh the politics. It’s hard to draw a more radical comparison than Copenhagen and Washington. Washington is full of fiery debate, heated rhetoric, flaming insults and scandal. Copenhagen is… silent. Politics seem almost an afterthought in a city that is focused on living “happily”, enjoying their “hygge” and consuming copious amounts of alcohol. It’s not, really–politics play a key role in Copenhagen just as they do in any capital city–it’s just quieter. Changes are less dramatic (for the most part) and less controversial. With a strictly consensus-based political system, and seven political parties that lay incredibly close to each other on the political spectrum, people simply agree more in Denmark.

I’ll be honest, it didn’t get my blood flowing like politics here in D.C. do. One evening at the birthday party of my good friend Laura Bryson (who is starting an excellent blog as part of her New Year’s resolutions), for example, a fellow DIS student and I argued American politics for well over three hours. It was a heated, yet civil, debate, and ridiculous fun. In stark contrast, the most heated debates I’ve seen over Danish politics regard their immigration policy. Even there, most debates end with one side simply being labeled racist and the other “demanding” reform. Feebly.

I learned a lot in Copenhagen. I experienced a country that only a lucky few get to experience. I opted for an experience a little outside the norm, something more out of the way and unexpected than London, Paris, Madrid, Tokyo or Beijing. Denmark is a fascinating little country and Copenhagen is a fascinating little city. It’s got a lot to love (especially if you can get past the terrible weather). It’s not perfect, and to be honest I can’t see myself ever living there, but it was a fantastic experience.

I’m going to miss it.

But D.C. is just another adventure. I’ve lived here for two years already, but I am far, far from scratching the surface of what the city has to offer. Tack this on for another New Year’s resolution: I pledge to experience this city like I experienced Copenhagen. I will take advantage of all it has to offer at every possible opportunity. I want to know the people, the streets, the neighborhoods, the museums and libraries. The events, festivals, restaurants, bars and clubs. I want to see it from every perspective in every season. I want to learn its history and its hidden gems.

I’m glad to be back. Here’s to a great semester. Skål!

I, like any busy person, love lists. I love being able to flick through a news article or blog post, read a two-sentence introduction, and allow my eyes to flip quickly from bullet point to bullet point. I love numbered lists, where I can tell not only how far I am down the list, but how many more I have to go.

It’s a psychological thing. Anyone versed in business writing knows that it’s easier, quicker and simply more efficient to read lists and bullets than big long paragraphs. And nowadays, we’re all about reading short things, quickly (i.e. Twitter–140 characters, doesn’t get much shorter and quicker than that).

But I’ve just about reached my limit of end-of-the-year/decade/whatever top 10 lists. I just can’t handle it anymore! It seems like every where I’ve looked–starting December 1st and still ongoing–there’s another top 10 list for something. There’s lists of the top celebrities, top people on twitter, top books, top gadgets, top political scandals, top news stories, top movies, top albums… everybody and their brother has their top 10 list of [insert subject here] they want to share.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m guilty too. Even today, I’ve tweeted at least one link to a top 10 list (Engadget’s wonderful Top 10 Gadgets of the Decade). But there just needs to be some kind of restraint here, it’s overwhelming!

I like how Time Magazine does it. They put ALL of their top 10 lists in one place, a neat little index for you to flip through, nice and organized and not too much to handle. But for things like Twitter, I feel like the service is just swamped with everyone’s lists for this and lists for that. It’s drowning out the content. The breaking news. The #FollowFridays (it seems I’m not the only one who almost forgot about that today–it seems totally absent from my feed, at least).

Thankfully, this only comes around once a year. And in a way, it’s a bit of a guilty pleasure, reading all these lists. But when it gets to the point where all media is just saturated with it–like now–and the real content seems to disappear, I feel like it’s time to step back and ask: do we really need all these lists? What do you think?

Yea, you read that right. Don’t try to start with “two thousand ten”, I’m not having it. It’s 2010 pronounced “twenty-ten” and that’s that. There’s even a Web site for it.

Goodbye and Growing Up – “The Learning Decade”

First, goodbye 2009, and goodbye to the “oughts” (or the “naughties” as I prefer to call them). I’ll be perfectly honest, it’s been a fantastic decade for me personally. Not only did I, well, grow up (going from age 10 to 20 is pretty significant, ya know) but I’ve learned to play instruments, learned to drive, graduated high school, moved to the nation’s capital, traveled the world, voted in the election and witnessed the inauguration of America’s first black president and worked my first real jobs and internships. I’ve had my first girlfriend, my first serious relationship, gained and lost numerous best friends and met people from all around the globe. All in all, I have very few complaints.

It’s a shame, though, the decade was so brutally painful for so many others. Time magazine kicked off the decade-bashing with their cover “The Decade from Hell” and plenty have picked up on that theme since. From things that sucked in the media to the decade in a tweet, few have left the decade, and 2009 especially, unscathed. It’s hard to argue with them.

I was oblivious to many of the world’s happenings until about 2005, when I was introduced to Mr. Thomas Moudry, my high school AP English teacher. He showed me that the world was a bigger place than just the little bubble that is Leitchfield, KY and that I should be aware of what all is out there. He introduced me to politics–sparking my passion for them–and solidified my interest in literature, news, technology and the creative process (despite my obvious lack of skills in creative writing). And for that, I’m forever indebted to him and I cannot thank him enough.

But now that I am aware, and now that I’m a real live adult (!), I recognize the rough time the world’s had these past ten years. There have been plenty of ups–the election of Barack Obama, for me especially–but almost all the positives of the decade seem overshadowed by 9/11 and terrorism, George W. Bush and corrupt politicians, Wall Street greed and auto bailouts.

The past ten years have been my “learning decade”. Let’s all look at it that way. The oughts shouldn’t be looked at as the “decade from hell” because, truth be told, there’s not a damn thing we can do about it now. Instead of looking back and bemoaning the problems and wallowing in self-pity for all our failures and screw-ups, let’s look at the decade as a learning experience. I shouldn’t be the only one who learned a lot in the last decade. I think we’ve all grown up, in a way, thanks to the trials and tribulations of 2000-2009. So let’s use that to make the next decade better.

Into Twenty-Ten, Expectations and Resolutions

It’s hard for me to make resolutions, because I usually forget about them pretty quickly–as do most people, I imagine. But I read something the other day on Twitter that really stuck with me (I don’t remember who tweeted it, if it was you let me know!): focus on the resolution as a process, not as an end-goal. I like that.

I feel like if you set strict goals for yourself starting out, you only set yourself up for failure. Setting a goal like “read 20 books this year” or “lose 30 pounds” won’t always be achievable, and will rarely stick. So this year I’ve decided to make my goals more process-based. I want to change the way I live, my habits and my routine. Expectation-wise, I expect it to be a good year (maybe this is just because I’m a constant optimist) and I expect to achieve a lot. By working hard with my resolutions, I’m hoping this’ll be a reality. And using tools like 43things, dailymile, and twitter (and my excellent twitter friends!) as motivation, this should be easier than ever. Never forget there’s an endless amount of tools at your disposable to improve your own self and life–take advantage of these!

Finally, here’s a quick list of some of my New Year’s resolutions. I say some because I hope to add new resolutions all the time. A resolution doesn’t have to come around only once a year, you can add them anytime, even in July. Here’s what I’m starting with:

1. Read for pleasure. I want to start reading books I want to read, not just textbooks. There’s endless things to learn out there and much of it can be fun. I’ve already started a book list and I’m hoping to work my way through it as the year goes on. I can’t wait.
2. Exercise every day. This past summer I worked out a lot, usually multiple times a day, and it felt great. I felt more refreshed, energized and motivated than ever before. While abroad my exercise routine largely got pushed to the side–I was busy, I was biking every day, I wasn’t feeling motivated in the dreary Copenhagen weather. Now that I’m back in D.C., I’m looking forward to starting a new routine. This includes waking up at 7:30am every day for a run, and doing a quick afternoon workout every day before dinner. Keep me on my toes, fearless readers!
3. Write every day. While I won’t guarantee a blog entry every day, I want to ensure I stay writing. Whether it’s schoolwork, a blog entry, personal writing, letters or even just some extra Twitter activity, I want to be sure I’m putting my thoughts on paper. It’s easy, healthy and intellectually stimulating. Gotta keep it up.
4. Network–in person and online. I’m building a network. A network of friends, family, fellow students and professionals. It’s wonderful. I want to keep that up in the new year, and I want to expand my networking more in person, not just online. So for all of you on my “peopleIwouldlovetomeet” twitter list, let’s meet for coffee or drinks. I can’t wait to meet you IRL!
5. Be more independent. While I have no illusions of becoming financially independent this year (thanks Dad), I’d like to become more independent, in general. In past years I’ve still found myself very dependent on some of my close friends, girlfriend, whatever. I’d like to be able to do my own thing this year–whether it’s going places, participating in new activities, volunteering or even the way I dress. Here goes nothing.
6. Volunteer! In Copenhagen I jumped right into the environmental movement volunteering, and I had an absolute blast. It felt like I was making a difference, and for a cause I’m truly passionate about. This year, I want to keep up my activity with the environmental movement and I’d also like to take up a role in a local D.C. nonprofit (I’m thinking maybe Miriam’s Kitchen).
7. Stress less. An omnipresent goal, I really mean it this time. I did a decent job last year with keeping my stress level down, and I’m hoping I can relax even more this year (while still achieving and succeeding with work and school!).

In Conclusion…

I’m excited for 2010 (twenty-ten!). Who’s with me?