Some days ago my mom received a letter. With the letter came a beautiful necklace with two pearls. It was from her cousin who is very sick with cancer. Her husband died last year and both of her sons just moved out. She is all alone and sick. Therefore my mom has taken a lot of time trying to be there for her, helping her and writing her positive messages sometimes a week.
Because of that my moms cousin sent her the necklace with a letter saying thank you. My mom and I were both stunned that even though she is facing cancer she has the time and energy to be grateful and say thank you when nobody expected it from her.
I think many of us – at least myself – can learn from this because we in general are way to bad at helping each other out, being there for each other, being grateful and saying thank you. I don’t think one can say thank you too much.
With the year ending and a new one approaching a good New Years resolution for all of us could be to start being more grateful to everything in our lives, our families, our friends and acknowledge and recognize when somebody does something for us it is very important to remember to say thank you.
In the end of November 2014 I was lucky to go to Marrakech for a couple of days and I completely fell in love with the city. It is amazing that you can leave Europe in four degrees, just fly for four hours, and you get out of the plane, it is 20 degrees and you are in a completely different world. The weather is different, the people look different, the food tastes different and the buildings look different.
Three full days were not enough to see everything I wanted to see, but it was a perfect first trip to Marrakech and it gave me a good taste of the city and now I am even more excited to go back sometime soon.
Mini guide to Marrakech
♥ Eat a lot of lamb, chicken and beef skewers with vegetables, tagine, Moroccan appetizers and drink fresh juice and mint tea. These restaurants were great:
♥ Café de la Poste (a more fancy, international restaurant that still shows the traditional Moroccan style. If you are tired of eating too much meat skewers, this place’s menu card also contains dishes like pasta and salad)
♥ Café Arabe
♥ Al Fassia
♥ Dar Moha (a hidden gem – through a little door you get in to the most beautiful garden with a pool and tables surrounding it. Enjoy an amazing dinner or lunch in this lavish, quiet garden)
♥ Visit:
♥ Jardin Majorelle – the Yves Saint Laurent garden. A beautiful garden with palm trees, flowers and cactuses. It is a perfect little tourist attraction and you spend around an hour walking around. Treat yourself to a cup of tea or a little meal in the idyllic café that is located in the middle of the garden.
♥ The square in old town (Djemaa el-Fnaa) – The square in the Medina is the central spot of the old town and here you will see snake charmers, belly dancers, African people looking for work, and tourists that are amazed by everything that is going on around them. It is in a place like this you really feel that you are not in Europe anymore.
♥ The souk – In the souk, that is Iocated close to the square you can find everything from handmade leather bags, spices, Moroccan argan oil, Moroccan eyeliner, scarves and beautiful, handmade rugs.
♥ Palace of Dar Menehbhi – A stunning palace builded in the 19th century. Take a walk through the rooms, atriums and gardens decorated with exquisite mosaics, colors and tiles.
♥ Trip to the Atlas Mountain – We spent half a day visiting the Atlas Mountain, which was a great experience. We hiked, walked, saw a full rainbow, visited a Berber village and had a very authentic Moroccan meal in a obscure little restaurant.
Monday I spent with several hours of working. After work I headed to get the last Christmas gifts, and of course I wasn’t the only one running around town to find the last minute presents… The night I packed my carry on suit case (thank you EasyJet for only allowing me to bring one bag!) I am gone for around 9 days and I had to pack for both Christmas eve, different Christmas parties and New Years Eve. Let me just say that all my stuff doesn’t fit in ONE carry on luggage. It’s gonna be exciting to see if I have enough clothes to wear for the next couple of days…
Tuesday the last day at the office was filled with a lot of excitement and less work… Tuesday night I finally arrived at Copenhagen Airport and my favorite family was there to pick me up. We spent the night wrapping up the last presents and making Danish Christmas sweets and candy.
Wednesday started off with breakfast in my friends new apartment. I haven’t see her in a long time so it took us a couple of hours to catch up and talk about everything that happened for us the past months. The night was spent at my grandfathers house with my whole family. We had an amazing night with too much food, extreme amounts of presents and good mood.
Thursday I slept very long. It’s the first day in a very long time where I didn’t have to get up to do anything and it felt more than amazing sleeping in. Later I met up with some old friends that I’ve known since I was eight years old and I am so grateful that we are still staying in touch so many years later.
I hope that you are all enjoying your Christmas days!
With the year 2014 coming to an end, I am spending some time thinking about how my 2014 was, what I learned, the times that were not so easy, and the times that were amazing. 2014 was the year where I..
♥ Landed an internship and a good job
In the beginning of 2014, I got an apprenticeship at Agency V in Berlin. I was there for six months, had a lot of fun, made great friends, learned about fashion, marketing and PR and most importantly how it is to have a more-than-full-time job. The good thing about trying different kind of jobs and internships is that you get to know more about what you want to do in the future by trying it out on your own. After finishing at Agency V, I was more than lucky to land a job as country manager for a coupon website. Sometimes I still wonder how and why I got this job without having much experience and an education. Taking this job also meant that I had to postpone my plans about studying and moving back to Copenhagen.
♥ Got to know myself even better
Being 19/20 years old means that there are still a lot of things that you have to go through and learn from. It is in this age where you most likely separate yourself from your parents and become your own person that has to learn to stand on own two legs. I had quite a few hard episodes this year but in the end, I came out stronger and with more knowledge on the other side. Knowing myself quite well by now means that I have more good days than bad days, and at least most of the time I know how I can turn a bad day into a good one.
♥ Got to travel and visit new countries
One of the things I enjoy most is to travel and it is fair to say I have had my travel share in 2014. In 2014 I visited Oslo, Barcelona, Rügen (North Germany), Rome, Napoli, the Volcano Islands, New York, Marrakech, New York again, Miami and then I travelled between Copenhagen and Berlin more than I can count. I feel so blessed to be able to live a life than includes constantly looking forward to the next place to go and my secret dream is to one day have visited all countries in the world…
♥ Learned more German and English
The end of 2014 means that I have now lived in Berlin for almost a year and a half. What I overall can say about this experience is that it has been one of a challenge! One of my goals moving here was to improve my German, and I did, but unfortunately not as much as expected or what I hoped for. The problem is that so many people in Berlin are not from here, so they speak English instead. On the bright side, it made my English better, and of course, I also improved my German a lot.
♥ Missed a lot
Living in Berlin and having my family and closest friends 450 kilometers away can be tough at times. It is hard knowing that all my friends are in Copenhagen gossiping and catching up over a cup of coffee in our favorite café or that I am the only grandchild missing at my grandfather’s Sunday dinner. Those are some of the things, you have to deal with when you decide to move to another city. Luckily, my friends and family come to visit quite often and we have had many great weekends in Berlin in 2014.
♥ Kissed a lot of frogs
… and one of them turned out to be a prince. 2014 was also the year where I was lucky enough to find a great guy that totally makes it worth giving up the other frogs.
2015 – I am ready! Let’s hope for an even better year with more travels, great experiences and moments.
After days of excitement, I arrived safely in Copenhagen last night and it is finally time to see friends and family and enjoy the holidays.
Now I am getting ready for the biggest feast of the year – The Christmas Dinner. I am going to my grandfather’s house with my family and we are going to eat potatoes, duck, pork, cabbage and other traditional danish Christmas dishes.
After digesting all of the food we ate, we dance around the Christmas tree while holding hands and singing carols (I know, weird Danish tradition), we will open up presents and enjoy the rest of the night in company with the whole family. I can’t wait!
Some days ago my mom received a letter. With the letter came a beautiful necklace with two pearls. It was from her cousin who is very sick with cancer. Her husband died last year and both of her sons just moved out. She is all alone and sick. Therefore my mom has taken a lot of time trying to be there for her, helping her and writing her positive messages sometimes a week.
