Friday, September 1, 2017

The Experiment in International Living.... where it all began

Expect the Unexpected was not a haphazard choice for my blog.  It was one of the first things I learned in February of 1974 while traveling to Denmark with The Experiment in International Living.  A semester abroad was unusual in the 70s, but clearly spoke to the 20 students from across the USA that were part of my group.  I can't speak highly enough about The Experiment and my experience, but that is not the story, simply the background for an amazing reunion and continued world exploration.

A little background on The Experiment

A naive, and very young 19 year old, this was my first trip to Europe.  When our flight was rerouted to Liege due to an airline strike, Lori and I found each other.... and our love for Europe!

Yes, we sat on a sidewalk eating fresh bread and drinking wine (probably out of the bottle).

After 3 weeks of intensive language instruction in Copenhagen, we ventured to Askov where we took classes and mingled with Danish students.

Askov is about 54 km due east of Esbjerg. (in the center of the peninsula)







I met Peter, probably at one of the late night beer socials, and it didn't take me long to fall madly in love. From Askov, I went to Odense to live with my Danish family, and then had several weeks to work on my independent study. I spent as much time as I could with Peter.

Peter and me in Askov.  A little grainy; before the days of digital cameras!




Our plan was for Peter to come to the United States while I finished my college career.  Of course, we would live happily ever after!!!

Plans have a way of falling apart.  After living with me in Natick, moving to Lori's apartment in Boston, then moving to Keene, Peter returned to Denmark.

Life went on.  I graduated from college,  moved to the North Shore, got married a few years later, had two children, divorced, and moved again.  At this point I was nearing retirement.

As I was checking my email at school one day, I was very surprised to see something from a "Peter Langdal".  I only knew one, and that had been 40 (yes, 40) years ago.  He asked if I had studied in Denmark in the 70s, and remembered a "Peter Langdal".  Of course I did!  We emailed back and forth, he asked about Lori, and we shared stories of the past years.  Through Peter, I reconnected with Lori.

Over the next few years, we sporadically updated each other.  Peter has two daughters he seems very close to, and a wonderful wife.  Unfortunately, Annie (his wife)succumbed to cancer a few years ago.  Lori has two children, her son living in Europe, and her daughter in NYC.  Her partner, Kenneth, is a successful artist.

In February (the depths of winter), I discovered an amazingly low fare (on Norwegian) to Copenhagen.  Peter and I had discussed visiting each other, and this was too good to pass up.   After being assured my visit would be welcome, I booked an extended stay in September.  I don't know about Peter, but I certainly went back in forth about the prudence of this decision!

Meanwhile, Peter booked a flight to NYC to stay with Lori in July.  Realizing it might be good to see each other before spending 16 days together, I found a $5 MegaBus trip!  Although there were more than butterflies rolling around in my stomach while I waited for Peter to arrive, it took no more than 10 minutes to pick up our friendships where we had left off.




My stay in NYC was far too short, but in just a few days......