How to Expert When You're Expatting

My high school buddy Jeremy came to visit Sarah and me this weekend. He flew out to Sweden for work and then rerouted himself through Copenhagen to put a Danish notch on his passport belt.

In the "What should we show Jeremy?" planning process, Sarah and I compiled a list of things to do that probably would've taken about a week, and could in no way be shoehorned into the day and half Jeremy had to see the city.

Whenever we found a new kebab place (the one under Nørrebro Station) or remembered how much we liked our jazz spot (Blågård's Apotek) we added it to the impossibly large list of things to do in our new city.

Sarah asked me why I wanted to have so many things on the list, and it's because having someone visit you is the test of whether or not you've done a good job of making a place your home. By comparison, you're now the expert. Sure, you're not a native, but you're a local, or at least the closest thing they have to one. There's only one person to recommend elderflower soda, the cafe that serves cumin with soft-boiled eggs (around the corner, and they have a student discount), and what to drink with your herring smørrebrød to make it taste right (schnapps, or Gammel Dansk if it's brunch). You've picked up a lot of knowledge that'll only be useful for another 4 weeks, so it's time to be a humble know-it-all.

With someone here to visit so many feelings get confused. You realize that you actually have learned a lot just by being here, and simultaneously you realize that you could've learned so much more. You had three months to be able to string a sentence together, and although you blow the menu out of the water ("Agurk?" "Cucumber, sucka! Give me something hard!") you order in English.

What's even stranger is that showing someone around helps you see your city as a tourist again. The gold tipped spires are actually kind of magical-- how could you have taken them for granted? The bread is so dense and delicious. It's all so new. At the same time, you understand how little you actually know about your surroundings. There are questions that haven't come up since you arrived about what that building is (don't know) and what the history of Tivoli is (don't know, but it's old).

We sent Jeremy safely on his way to the airport via reliable public transportation (taxis are rip-offs), but I was left not knowing whether to feel proud or not. There's so much more I could've learned about Denmark. I know it's not too late to figure out a bit more, but it is too late to start over.

It's enough. It will have to be enough.

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